What is Yttrium?

As the work week draws to a close, we thought it would be neat to post a video that delves a little into the origins of Yttrium, an element that's often combined with zirconium to create Yttria-stabilized zirconium, a technical ceramic that's used for a variety of applications.

• Valve components for acids;
• Plugs and pistons;
• Ceramic balls;
• Press tools;
• and wear plates.
  

A Growing Trend in Japanese Investment Signals a Huge Market for Water Filtration

There is good news for ceramic water filter manufacturers. A recent Forbes news story reports that trading in Japan seems to indicate that the global water market could surpass $1 trillion by 2025. The nation’s sic largest trading companies are all vying for water supply and sewage treatment contracts, signaling an aggressive shift toward clean water assets.

As water shortages become more of a global phenomenon, the demand for clean drinking water will skyrocket. Presently, the World Health Organization estimates that more than 900 million people around the world lack adequate, safe drinking water. That number will only increase without a ramped up global water purification and desalination effort.

This is great news for makers of water filtration, purification, and desalination products. Large investment companies and governments are eager to invest in resources and develop infrastructure to handle the growing need for clean water. The article goes on to speculate that in some instances, makers of cutting-edge ceramic water filtration technology may go on to function as plant operators rather than merely as equipment and parts suppliers.

Ceramics Engineer Cum Novelist

Here's a lighthearted story for a Friday. Ken Butcher, who has a a B.S. in ceramic engineering from Ohio State University and owns his own company that specializes in projects related to fuel cells and material processing, has just published his first novel, The Middle of the Air. Butcher worked for two years as a reviewer for the Department of Energy’s fuel cell–related projects in the National Labs, holds 15 U.S. patents, and has published numerous scientific papers. In his own words, Butcher parlayed his technical writing experience and discipline into fiction writing.

I guess in my case the breakthrough I had to make was not to try to plan it out too much and just devote a certain amount of time every day. In my case what worked was to do it first thing in the morning. Find something that works for you and just stick to it. You heajavascript:void(0)r a lot about the struggles of writers but the most positive interpretation I can make is everybody wants you to write a good book. Everybody does. The publisher would love to get a great manuscript in the mail. Readers would love to find a good book, with a new author, and even people that don’t read like good movies so they want good books to make good movies out of. So just remember everyone’s on your side.

Check out Butcher's site here. And if you're in the technical ceramics field and have a passion for creative writing, let this be an example to you: You can have your cake and eat it too.

Ceramics Stops Bullets, Saves Lives

The American Ceramic Society has some really awesome videos about ceramic body armor. It can literally stop a bullet from a gun whose muzzle is directly in front of the armored area. Be sure to click through and check them out. The footage of the soldier being shot by a sniper and then immediately rising to his feet is breathtaking and cool.