Kickstart: Seeing stars

We've been getting some amazing new photos of space and galaxies far beyond our own, thanks to the newly deployed James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

And those images are thanks, in part, to high-end materials such as the carbon-fiber composites used in the structure that serves as the telescope's spine, giving the essential strength needed to hold JWST still when taking images. The official name of the structure is the Primary Mirror Backplane Support Structure (PMBSS).

"While the telescope's 18 mirrors move, the [PMBSS] remains steadier than a surgeon's hand, especially because no operating room is as cold as space," Northrop Grumman, one of the companies involved in building the telescope, wrote in a news release. "The team demonstrated to NASA that PMBSS should not vary more than 38 nanometers — about 1/1,000 the diameter of a human hair — keeping the mirror stable.

"To put that into scale, if JWST's mirrors were as large as the distance between New York and Los Angeles, the tolerance error of movement from the backplane could be no more than 1 inch," the company said.

Toray Advanced Composites' carbon-fiber material also went into a variety of other parts, including a subsection of the assembly that stored the telescope sections during launch.

A pair of plastics companies won recognition in the Minnesota Manufacturing Awards from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, with pipe maker Uponor North America taking the top honor for large manufacturers and VistaTek Technologies LLC honored for sustainability.

Uponor has added 57,000 square feet to a distribution center in Lakeville, Minn., and 25,000 square feet in Hutchinson, the Journal noted in the award. The company, part of Finland-based Uponor Corp., has doubled its manufacturing staff since 2016.

Uponor also is set to receive its fifth Governor's Safety Award in recognition of its excellence in workplace safety and health.

Danny Mishek, a second-generation injection molder at Stillwater-based VistaTek, developed the SelfEco  line of products made using bio-based resins.

SelfEco makes items for foodservice and horticultural products, including a plant pot that was its first product.

Materials supplier Solvay SA executives know that current inflation rates — especially for food and fuel — are a big concern for employees.

So the Brussels-based company is making a total of 8 million euros ($8.04 million) available to supplement the income of "those employees most affected by high inflation ... who do not benefit from the protection of national regulations."

In a July 12 announcement, the company said it will distribute an "exceptional bonus" to employees most affected, especially shop floor workers, staff and lower-level employees and managers in regions facing the biggest hits. The money is "in line with the group's vision to create sustainable, shared value for all," Solvay officials said.

"We're helping employees cope with the increased cost of living — be it the cost of going to work, feeding a family or keeping the lights on," CEO Ilham Kadri said in a news release.