A Tier One supplier is using plant-derived nylon resin to produce automotive radiator end tanks. It is the first time that a bioplastic has been used in mechanical components exposed to the hot, chemically aggressive underhood environment.

Dual-clutch transmissions are popular because they help improve fuel efficiency. A Tier One supplier uses nylon to make integrated control units for its transmissions.

Last week, the much-anticipated Tata Nano “people’s car” went on sale in India. The $2,000 microcar, which has been hailed as the 21st century’s Model T, promises to open up motoring to an entirely new group of consumers. The car features a plastic air-intake manifold.

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI, Troy, NY) have developed a new type of light emitting diode (LED) that features significantly improved lighting performance and energy efficiency. The polarization-matched LED exhibits an 18 percent increase in light output and a 22 percent increase in wall-plug efficiency.

A new type of solar cell is so thin and flexible that it can be mass-produced like paper currency. The printable cells offer a number of advantages over traditional solar panel technology. For instance, they are lightweight and easily transportable, making them attractive to a domestic market and also flexible like a banknote.

A new software program that simulates assembly paths has been developed by engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM, Kaiserslautern, Germany). By using the software, components that only exist in the form of CAD data can be virtually installed in a new car model.

Nanotechnology may help aircraft manufacturers produce airframes that are lighter and stronger than ever. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Cambridge, MA) are reinforcing the plies used in advanced composites by stitching them with nanotubes.