A library for materials

ORIGINAL: The Economist / Material Connexion

Material ConneXion (materialconnexion.com) (A Sandow Company) is the leading global platform for material solutions and innovations. Built on the belief that Every Idea has a Material Solution™, we are the trusted advisor for Fortune 500's, smaller forward-thinking companies, and government agencies seeking a creative or competitive edge through strategic material selections. With offices in New York, Bangkok, Beijing, Cologne, Daegu, Istanbul, Milan, Seoul, and Shanghai, Material ConneXion's international network of material specialists provide a global, cross-industry perspective on materials, sustainable alternatives, and their potential uses.

Sandow, a leader in publishing and in building multichannel, vertically integrated brands, acquired Material ConneXion in May of 2011, establishing a merger of forces from the design, materials and publishing realms.

Material ConneXion maintains the largest subscription-based Materials Library of innovative materials and processes in the world—an indispensable asset to a wide audience of designers and architects and a vital tool for the development of design, industry and economy.

Andrew Dent, vice-president of Material ConneXion in New York and keeper of a library of innovations, explains how recycling and biomimicry will shape the materials of the future

FLOAT Beijing Monitors Air Quality With High-Flying Kites!

ORIGINAL: Inhabitat

by Deren Guler , 07/02/12

Air quality in Beijing, China.
Urban air quality is a serious issue that affects rapidly industrializing cities globally, and it is an issue kept quiet by the government of China due to fears of criticism and protest from the public. At the same time, there is ample opportunity to use cheap, easily accessible microcontroller technology for grassroots air quality mapping. Through a series of workshops, FLOAT empowers and enables local residents to take air quality monitoring into their own hands, while establishing new relationships and networks within the community through the act of group kite making and flying.