WASHINGTON, D.C.-The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) board of directors unanimously approved the nomination of Charles E. (Chuck) Bunch, chairman of the board and CEO of PPG Industries Inc. (Pittsburgh), to become NAM chairman for the 2007-2008 term, commencing January 1, 2007. Bunch has served as vice chairman to NAM chairman John Luke since October 1, 2005.

MCLEAN, VA-August U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $300.15 million, according to The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) program, was up 3.4% from July and up 2.1% from the total of $294.1 million reported for August 2005. With a year-to-date total of $2,381.37 million, 2006 was up 22.3% compared with 2005.

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI-Leica Geosystems, a Hexagon Metrology company, has received a market leadership award in the laser tracker market segment from Frost & Sullivan, a New York-based global growth consultancy firm. Leica Geosystems was selected for this award based on the company’s sales growth and its commitment to emerging technologies.

MILWAUKEE, WI-Despite rising vehicle costs and gas prices, consumers are giving the auto industry its highest perceived quality rating in a decade, according to the Quarterly Quality Report, released by

• Intercomp Co.'s (Minneapolis) Eric Peterson has been elected the 2006 Society of Allied Weight Engineers (SAWE) president. Peterson works at Intercomp Co. as sales manager for their complete line

• Comet (Garbsen, Germany) appoints Jochen Dietel as technical services team leader. Dietel has more than 11 years of experience as a service manager in the field of micro- and

MCLEAN, VA-July U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $278.47 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA) and The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies

WINDSOR, ONTARIO-Delcam has acquired U.S.-based company International Manufacturing Computer Services Inc. (IMCS), the developer of the PartMaker suite of CAM software. The IMCS range includes applications for the programming of

ATHOL, MA-The L.S. Starrett Co. has acquired the assets of Tru-Stone Technologies (Waite Park, MN). Tru-Stone Technologies provides high- precision, custom-engineered granite machine bases and accessories to manufacturers of inspection

• In response to the needs of biophotonics customers, Edmund Optics (EO, Barrington, NJ) will introduce 20 new product lines designed to work in the ultraviolet. Products introduced in the