Friday, June 16, 2023

SSE Steel, UNO PIES on the move

ST. BERNARD, La. - SSE Steel Fabrication announced it is expanding its facility here with the addition of technology designed to enhance overall productivity and efficiency while creating 18 new jobs. 

The business is adding a fleet of welding collaborative robots (or cobots) to its existing robotic manufacturing line and incorporating augmented reality headsets and software into quality control processes.

“As a minority- and woman-owned business in a male-dominated field, SSE demonstrates the strength and talent of Louisiana’s small business community," said Gov. John Bel Edwards. 

Cobots will be utilized in the metal fabrication process and for pre- and post-welding tasks such as material handling, part manipulation and inspection. 

“SSE Steel Fabrication is investing in innovative and leading-edge technology that will position ourselves for growth, improved competitiveness and the ability to meet customer demands more effectively,” SSE president and CEO Mindy Nunez Airhart said.

The AR quality control system is currently in the testing stage and is anticipated to be implemented by the end of July. The cobots are expected to be delivered and fully operational by August. SSE Steel is a metal fabrication, structural steel erection, and precision CNC machining company. (Biz New Orleans 06//16/23) SSE Steel Fabrication Invests in Robots, Augmented Reality Headsets - Biz New Orleans 


UNO's PIES to tackle coastal environmental issues

NEW ORLEANS - The focus of the University of New Orleans' Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences (PIES) since 2001 has been to address coastal and environmental issues. 

A 3-year, $568,000 grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents will help PIES tackle problems facing coastal communities y providing state of the art instrumentation and equipment.

“Our coastal communities are increasingly vulnerable to rising sea level, storm surge, land loss, declining fisheries ... and pollutants,” said Robert Mahon, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences and the principal investigator for the grant. 

PIES' faculty have expertise spanning the threats and plan to pull that expertise together into a cohesive network.

The primary mission of the PIES is to assist in dealing with the region’s environmental and infrastructure challenges by using environmental research, skilled environmental management, social sciences and planning, Mahon said.

The new equipment completely revamps and modernizes PIES’ field and laboratory resources allowing them to address critical and timely problems facing Louisiana’s Gulf Coast 

PIES will establish a real-time monitoring network at eight sites across Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne to provide hourly, public data via satellite on wave conditions and water temperatures, as well as a variety of water quality and fisheries acoustics data, Mahon said.

The PIES team will include nine faculty civil engineering, chemistry, biological sciences, and earth and environmental sciences' departments.

The grant also provides updated equipment for UNO’s coastal education program based at the Coastal Education and Research Facility in New Orleans, which houses outreach activities for high school and college students. (Biz New Orleans 06/16/23) Tulane Study: Can a Perfume Ingredient Save Lives? - Biz New Orleans

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