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2008 Direct Writing Summit Membership & Capability Directory DWA Members' Area |
Latest News...First International Direct Writing Conference Declared a Success!At the end of the first international conference on Direct Writing took place at the Ramside Hall Hotel in Durham on the 16th & 17th of April, DWA conference Chairman Dr Steve Jones hailed the event as an outstanding success. Delegates at the conference were treated to presentations on a wide range of direct writing topics, including the use of technologies like lasers and inkjet printing to build tiny aerospace sensors, medical implants and even the direct writing (layer-wise ‘printing’) of entire buildings. Many delegates commented on how much they liked the venue and how interesting, informative and useful they found the presentations of all the speakers. Delegates included individuals, academics from top universities and representatives from many national and international companies and organisations, and all took advantage of the networking opportunities. Support and sponsorship from bodies like the County Durham Development Company, NETPark and the DTI, and commercial organisations including Xaar, Printed Electronics Ltd, Ceram, Johnson Matthey, Ferro Corporation and Thermark contributed in no small measure to the success of the conference. Ferro's CerMark on International Space Station
Situated on the lower portion of the ISS airlock chamber, CerMark marks were exposed to the experiment’s harshest conditions, receiving the maximum amount of UV radiation and atomic oxidation. Created by radiation from the Sun, atomic oxygen is found in the upper atmosphere and is extremely corrosive. Siemens Symbology Research Centre (SRC), NASA’s lead contractor for the MISSE marking, applied various test markings to the samples, including data matrix symbols, human readable characters and line patterns. SRC used CerMark products LMM 6000 and RD-6005 to make the laser bonded marks. With the advent of reusable space transportation vehicles and satellites, NASA needed to rethink how part identification markings are applied – to survive the extreme environments encountered in space. The MISSE research will provide the insight needed to develop materials for future spacecraft and will also help researchers make materials and coatings that will last longer on earth. With its CerMark line of laser-markable materials, Ferro is at the forefront in the development of suitable materials and colors for permanent laser bonding on a variety of substrates - including metal, ceramic and glass. Marking parts has become a critical priority for many government and civilian organisations to assure the identity and authenticity of parts, to thwart counterfeiting, for quality control, security, decorative and many other reasons. For further information, contact Phil Maitland, Global Marketing & Business Development Manager, Ferro Corporation, Glass Systems: email maitlandp@ferro.com; mobile +44 777 1820251 |
Ferro
Corporation’s CerMark laser marking materials have successfully
survived nearly 4 years of exposure on the exterior of the International
Space Station (ISS). CerMark materials were used on aluminium and
glass samples to produce bar-code test marks, which passed the NASA
criteria for its Material International Space Station experiment
(MISSE).