The Society of Manufacturing Engineers continues to expand its national Science, Technology, Engineering Preview Summer camp program to introduce young women and men to the world of engineering for one of the 12-week-long summer camps being held on the campuses of five colleges and universities.

The five schools are Bradley University in Peoria, IL; Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI; the University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit; the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN; and the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, WI. Through the STEPS camps, 6th and 10th grade girls and boys will have the opportunity to experience the world of engineering through hands-on activities designing and building robots, airplanes and rockets.

STEPS camps were created at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 1997, with funding from SME with the goal of getting more young people, particularly women, interested in manufacturing and engineering early in their academic pursuits. The program hosts between 80 and 160 young people per summer at each camp location. By the end of this summer, nearly 3,600 boys and girls will have participated in the STEPS camps.

The program targets students at critical stages in their educational careers. Program curriculum is customized for each school location and the age of the campers. Previous participants have designed, manufactured and then flown their own remote-controlled airplanes, launched rocket payloads 3,500 feet into the air, and designed and tested autonomous robotic vehicles that can perform environmental tests.

Powder Coating Inventor Joins Industrial Paint & Powder's Editorial Board

Pieter Gillis de Lange has joined Industrial Paint & Powder's Editorial Advisory Board. De Lange is the inventor of thermoset powder coating materials and helped pioneer the manufacture and application of powder coatings.

He was first introduced to the magazine's staff when it joined DuPont Powder Coatings (Houston) on the company's first educational trip to Europe with its "Star Coaters," a group of custom coaters that works with DuPont for professional enrichment.

De Lange recently completed work on Powder Coatings-Chemistry and Technology, a revised edition of the well-known standard work Powder Coatings. It contains the latest innovations, trends and developments in chemistry and technology during recent years. Highlights include the replacement of TGIC by alternative crosslinkers, superdurable polyesters and other new resins. Two separate sections have entirely been devoted to additives for powder coatings and (semi) matte coatings.

For more information about the book, visit www.coatings.de.