Researchers at North Carolina State University announce they have vertically aligned carbon nanofibers, or VACNFs, through the use of ambient air.  The breakthrough allows scientists to manufacture the substance safer and more cost-efficiently.

Read the whole story at BrownPetro.com.

Of course there are a multitude of devices on the market for scanning and detecting the level of materials in containers like bins, tanks, and especially silos.  But as you well know, just calculating the inventory as a whole is often not enough.  Single measurements are not always accurate. Enter the next generation 3DLevelScanners.

Read the whole story at BrownPetro.com.

The US Coast Guard announces that it will widen its use of sonar when it comes to maritime security.  Currently the government agency has very limited resources when it comes to sonar technology and much of the time it must rely on other organizations like the navy or even commercial interests.

Want to make big money right out of college?  If so, then you might want to know that the highest paying jobs straight out of college (with just your bachelor’s degree) are in petroleum engineering.  Graduates coming out of the New Mexico Technical College are getting initial offers as high as $80,000 per year.

There are more and more stories turning up every day about how mechanical engineers are finally getting their due, especially in the booming oil and gas business.  While most stories focus on the US, the story is about a mechanical engineer in Canada. 

Read the whole story at BrownPetro.com.

ASME, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, has gone social.  The society has added a whole new array of social media networking features to its website which will allow engineers to meet up, exchange information, and even work together with colleagues all over the world.

One thing’s for sure, to start with just theoretical principles on an electronic device and to end up with a real-world solution: that takes real skill.  But this is what mechanical engineers do every day?  It’s not easy though, and this is just one of the reasons mechanical engineering jobs are on the rise.

Well not really, but it is true that not only have salaries for chemical engineers skyrocketed since 2011, they are especially high in the oil and gas business of Texas.  The Department of Labor reports that median salaries for chemical engineers in 2013 increased by 9 percent to $120,000 annually.  On top of that, unemployment in the field has dropped from 2.8 percent in 2011 to just 2.1 percent in 2013.

On the surface it would seem like the fallout from the Great Recession left all job markets in tatters.  While in some industries this is of course true, for welders the job market has never been better. Read the whole story at BrownPetro.com

Everyone’s getting in on the action from the new shale boom and that means electricians too. Electrical work in what used to be dimly lit parts of Texas is on the rise as satellite maps show what looks like whole new cities at night sprawling across South Texas.

Read the whole story at BrownPetro.com.

If you’re a mechanical engineer you know, no matter how big your brain is there is just no way you can memorize all the laws and formulae.  When it comes to making correct calculations, there’s no reason not to let an App help you get the fastest and most accurate data.