05 Mar 12. Northrop Grumman Corporation recently welcomed local students to its Woodland Hills facility for an event aimed at promoting student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Northrop Grumman’s Navigation Systems Division celebrated National Engineers Week, EWeek, by hosting an Engineering Student Day for elementary, middle, high school and college students on Feb. 24. The students toured the company’s labs where inertial navigation systems are manufactured and tested. Additionally, students partnered with Northrop Grumman engineers to participate in a marshmallow-and-spaghetti tower-building challenge using materials purchased from a mock store. The goal was to design and build the tallest, most affordable tower capable of supporting a toy gorilla using only stale marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti.

19 May 10. A pioneering member of the Nettlefold family has been honoured in his home city of Birmingham. John Sutton Nettlefold has been awarded a blue plaque at the historic Winterbourne House, home to the famous family who used to run GKN Nettlefold — the largest screw, nut and bolt manufacturer in the world. Mr Nettlefold, who was born in 1866 and died in 1930, was awarded the official recognition on Thursday. He was a long-serving Birmingham city councillor and head of the manufacturing firm. He was also the first ever housing committee chairman and was responsible for the concept and design of the Moorpool Estate in 1909. After becoming such a key figure he wrote several books on the subject which were used as University Text Books until the 1960s. The blue plaques are issued by Birmingham Civic Society, and the chairman, David Clarke said he was delighted to honour Mr Nettlefold.
“He was a pioneering town planner in Birmingham and dramatically changed the way the city looked,” he said. “He was the man who got rid of a lot of back-to-back houses and created more space. He was also very concerned that workers should have decent and affordable houses.”
The unveiling comes just a week after Winterbourne House opened its doors to the public following a £3m restoration. (Source: Birmingham Post)