My must-reads this week are dominated by supply chain news, especially earlier this week. Topping the list is the Panasonic Taiwan factory fire, which we can expect to disrupt the laminate supply chain. In contrast and coincidentally, Ventec and MICAM announced plans to ramp up laminate production in Ireland. Qnity released a companion guide to its “On the Line With…” podcast series, and the topic is, naturally, advanced materials. We take one step out of supply chain to bring you Chris Mitchell’s column on what to expect in U.S. trade policy now that the midterm elections have set the stage for the next two years, and we wrap up by welcoming I-Connect007’s latest columnist, Dow’s Dr. Cody Schoener, writing on mil/aero and space resilience.

The retainer is one of the least glamorous devices in medicine: a thin plastic shell that patients are told to wear and mostly forget about. That obscurity is exactly what makes it interesting to device engineers right now. The mouth is a warm, wet, chemically rich environment sitting inches from the brain, in near-constant contact with saliva, teeth, and soft tissue. It is also one of the few places on the body a person willingly places a custom-fitted object for hours at a stretch, night after night, without complaint.

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