Manufacturing & Industrial Technology

Birmingham, Ala. – September 15, 2026 -- The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Tribunal has published a decision confirming that the Government of Mexico violated international law through its treatment of Vulcan Materials Company and its investments in Quintana Roo, contradicting Mexico's claims that its actions constituted legitimate environmental enforcement.

Tribunal rejects Mexico's environmental counterclaims as inadmissible

The ICSID panel declared Mexico's counterclaims of environmental harm inadmissible and found that Mexican environmental authorities improperly used regulatory powers to target Vulcan, shut down its lawful operations, and prevent the company from meaningfully defending itself in Mexican proceedings.

Zurich – September 15, 2026 -- ABB and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have released a joint report concluding that 800-volt direct current (VDC) distribution is emerging as the defining architecture for next-generation artificial intelligence infrastructure, as surging AI compute demand pushes conventional electrical systems past their practical limits.

AI data centers drive urgent shift toward DC power

The report, titled 'The Strategic Case for Hybrid AC/DC Power: Shaping the Transition to the Next Electrical Architecture,' identifies AI data centers as the most immediate driver of DC adoption. Rising power-density requirements from AI workloads are forcing operators to seek architectures that maximize compute capacity within constrained grid connections while improving energy efficiency.

Boston – September 15, 2026 -- Nanoramic, Inc. has closed the first tranche of its Series 2 equity financing round at a pre-money valuation of $250 million, led by Catalus Capital with participation from GM Ventures and existing Series 1 investors.

Mass production shipments of Neocarbonix drive investor commitment

The capital injection arrives as Nanoramic scales mass production shipments of its Neocarbonix Slurry Precursor (NXSP), a drop-in battery manufacturing material now supplying programs with global battery manufacturers, automotive OEMs, consumer electronics firms, power tool makers, and defense contractors. Shipment volumes have grown over the past six months to meet rising customer demand, according to founder and CEO John Cooley.

Everett – September 15, 2026 -- WaterTectonics has acquired the patents and intellectual property of Dynamic Water Technologies (DWT), becoming the exclusive Original Equipment Manufacturer of the Dynamic Scale Remover (DSR), an electrochemical cooling tower treatment technology.

WaterTectonics gains exclusive OEM rights to patented electrochemical scale-removal technology

The DSR system uses a patented electrochemical process to strip dissolved scale-forming minerals from cooling water before they accumulate on heat transfer surfaces. The process simultaneously generates oxidants from chlorides already present in the water, cutting the need for added biocides while allowing facilities to run at higher cycles of concentration.

DeLeon Springs, Fla. – September 15, 2026 -- Sparton DeLeon Springs, LLC and Logos Technologies have combined operations under a new name, Twenty-Six Defense Maritime, marking a rebrand tied to the launch of parent company Twenty-Six Defense, formerly known as Elbit Systems of America.

Twenty-Six Defense emerges as 3,300-employee U.S. defense unit

Twenty-Six Defense, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, operates facilities across eight states and employs 3,300 people supporting the U.S. military. The entity is the American operating segment of Elbit Systems Ltd., a global defense technology company traded on NASDAQ and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker ESLT.

Hong Kong – September 15, 2026 -- SANY Heavy Industry (600031.SH) posted first-half 2026 revenue of approximately $7.89 billion, up 19.49% year-on-year, with attributable net profit rising 9.13% to $838.887 million.

Second-quarter growth outpaces first-half average

Q2 revenue climbed 24.39% to $4.328 billion, exceeding the H1 growth rate, while attributable net profit for the quarter rose 16.93% to $473.108 million. Operating cash flow reached $1.440 billion. As of June 30, total assets stood at $26.708 billion and shareholders' equity at $13.576 billion.

Overseas sales account for 61.33% of core revenue

Foreign revenue totaled $4.724 billion, up 21.82% and representing 61.33% of core business revenue. Africa led regional growth with sales up 47.66% to $790.234 million, followed by the Americas at 24.70% growth to $930.294 million, Asia and Australia at 17.38% growth to $1.981 billion, and Europe at 12.68% growth to $1.022 billion.

North Andover, Mass. – September 15, 2026 -- Tecnau and Sitma will present new print finishing and packaging automation technology at PRINTING United Expo 2026, running September 23-25 in Las Vegas, under the banner "From Print to Profit."

Revolution 50 AutoSetup eliminates manual changeover delays

Tecnau's Revolution 50 AutoSetup will demonstrate automatic format changes between applications without operator intervention, a capability designed to remove traditional finishing setup bottlenecks and increase throughput for print providers running diverse job mixes.

Palo Alto, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- SandboxAQ has completed what it calls the world's first reported test of a magnetic navigation (MagNav) system on an attritable drone platform, integrating its AQNav software into Northrop Grumman's Lumberjack Group 3 unmanned aircraft system.

Test marks first pairing of MagNav with visual navigation on a one-way attack platform

The flight demonstration also represents the first reported instance of a MagNav system operating alongside a visual navigation system on an attritable, one-way attack drone, according to SandboxAQ. Lumberjack, developed by Northrop Grumman in under 14 months from concept to first flight, is designed as a multi-use loitering munition.

Fort Worth, Texas – September 15, 2026 -- Elbit Systems Ltd.'s U.S. operating segment will now operate as Twenty-Six Defense, a rebranding that reinforces the Israeli defense contractor's long-term commitment to domestic manufacturing amid U.S. government pressure to expand industrial capacity.

New entity employs 3,300 workers with three decades of military support

Twenty-Six Defense, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, employs 3,300 Americans who have supported the U.S. military for more than 30 years. The company remains a reportable operating segment of Elbit Systems Ltd. and continues to operate under a Special Security Agreement, a structure required for foreign-owned defense contractors handling classified U.S. government work.

Solon, Ohio – September 15, 2026 -- Locus Agriculture is scaling deployment of Unpac, its glycolipid-based soil conditioner, across row and specialty crop systems after third-party lab testing showed reduced soil density and improved water penetration in California agricultural soils.

USDA data shows compaction affects nearly one-quarter of surveyed cropland

A USDA Economic Research Service analysis found growers identified soil compaction as a resource concern on 22% of surveyed wheat, soybean, oat and cotton fields. Compacted soil restricts root development and limits crop access to available water and nutrients, according to Locus.