The Biden Administration has quietly dropped a key sanction that both Democrats and Republicans have been using to block the completion of the Russia to Germany Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. While the administration has announced that their opposition to the line continues, it’s scheduled to be completed by mid-summer.Automotive Tier One major Mahle has developed a new type of electric traction motor for EV use, one that promises low cost, very high efficiency and critically, no expensive permanent magnets. The technology does away with slip rings or brushes using an AC inductive pickup to pass power to rotor mounted electromagnets.Boeing has demonstrated the superiority of model-based engineering with a lightning fast 30-minute splice between fuselage sections on the new T–7A Red Hawk jet trainer. Dramatic improvements in build quality and assembly time suggest that match drilling and splicing may become as obsolete as dope and fabric.Access all episodes of This Week in Engineering on engineering.com TV along with all of our other series.