Industry News
Industry Funding of Campus Research Declines for Third Straight Year
Industry support of science and engineering (S&E) research and development (R&D) on campus fell in 2004 for the third year in a row, according to a National Science Foundation (NSF) survey. While private investment fell 2.6 percent that year, federal government investment rose 10.7 percent.
Federal spending on campus research totaled $27.4 billion in 2004, compared with $2.1 billion from industry.
Still, corporations continue to fund the bulk of R&D research in the United States--mostly in their own laboratories.
But on campuses, the federal government underwrote 64 percent of the research and development projects during the survey year, investing the most in biological and medical sciences. Together, those two fields received about half of the federal R&D dollars.
Psychology and mathematics received the least amount of government support.
The Department of Health and Human Services provided the most—$14.1 billion--for campus research. NSF provided the second largest amount—$3.2 billion--mostly in support of R&D in engineering and the biological, computer, environmental and physical sciences.
The data were obtained from 612 colleges and universities that grant degrees in the sciences or engineering and spend at least $150,000 a year on R&D. It appeared in an April 2006 InfoBrief published by NSF.
Among the universities surveyed, Johns Hopkins ranked highest in R&D expenditures in 2004. Other top institutions included several University of California campuses, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Washington.
Although industry support of campus research has waned steadily for the past 3 years, businesses spend almost 10 times more on R&D overall than the federal government does. In 2003, for example, companies spent a total of $204 billion on R&D, according to a survey conducted by NSF and the U.S. census bureau and published in a Dec. 2005 InfoBrief .
In 2003, some 38,000 companies performed R&D in the United States. In the manufacturing sector, the auto industry, drug manufacturers and the semiconductor industry spent the most. Software publishing led the non-manufacturing sector.
[ FYI Index ]
Alcatel Wins €53 Million Contract
Representatives of Alcatel announced Wednesday that the company has been awarded a €53 million (US$67 million) contract by the Spanish Ministry of Transport through ADIF, the Railways Infrastructure Administration office. The contract involves project design, execution and maintenance of the signaling systems, train protection, telecommunications network and associated elements for the 87-km long Madrid - Segovia high-speed line.
Alcatel will supply its interoperable 6481 AlTrac/ETCS Level 2 and 6413 AlTrac/ETCS Level1 solutions, which transmits train movement authorities and other specific information via GSM-R radio. Alcatel will also provide the electrical power supply system and the technical buildings, equipped with access control, fire detection and CCTV systems.
Additionally, Alcatel will be responsible for the design, build and installation of the state-of-the-art multi-services fixed communication network to carry and distribute voice, data, and video services to and from all sites, thus establishing reliable communication links.
This contract adds to a list of several achieved and ongoing projects in Spain. Alcatel is involved in the Madrid-Seville, Madrid - Saragossa - Lleida, Lleida - Barcelona, Segovia-Valladolid, Córdoba-Málaga and the Atlantic Axis high speed lines.
[ FYI Index ]
Raytheon Awarded $61 Million Contract to Support NOAA's R&D High Performance Computing System
Raytheon Company has been awarded the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research and development (R&D) high performance computing system contract to maintain, operate and upgrade high performance computing platforms. The contract award is valued at $61 million; the total ceiling value, inclusive of all options, is $368 million during the next eight years. Under the terms of the agreement, Raytheon Information Solutions (RIS) will lead a team effort to improve the cost-effectiveness and organizational alignment of the R&D high performance computing resources for NOAA's three primary weather and climate research labs. The new high performance computing system program will enhance the current high performance computing systems at NOAA's main facilities at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Camp Springs, Md.; the Earth Systems Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.; and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J.
[ FYI Index ]
Re-Manufacturing Contract Win for Fujitsu Telecommunications Ireland
Representatives of Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd, the leading supplier of high performance telecommunications solutions, announced that Fujitsu Telecommunications Ireland, its re-manufacturing and service division, has been awarded a two-year £1 million (US$1.8) contract from BT, covering the complete turnkey support of BT's Sovereign Paychoice coin-&-card payphones, including warehousing and logistics services.
The scope of the contract has also required Fujitsu to recruit additional staff for its Antrim-based operation, increasing the workforce by some 25%. Peter Bowman, director of Fujitsu Telecommunications Ireland, commented:
We won the contract on our cost-effective ability to validate, repair and refurbish electronic and electro-mechanical assemblies to a high level.
This contract win also underlines the breadth of services that Fujitsu offers the telecoms industry. On the one hand, our award-winning GeoStream Access Gateway MSAN technology is being supplied for BT's 21CN program, to transform the UK network, while on the other, we are prolonging the working life of previous-technology payphones throughout the UK.
Fujitsu will be processing the payphone components as they are taken out of service, whether due to fault or vandalism, and will be providing complete mechanical, electronic and aesthetic refurbishment of the products. This encompasses the coin management mechanism and all electronic components, as well as the re-coating of the casework.
Fujitsu Telecommunications Ireland is based in a purpose-built 25,000 square-feet facility in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and is located within minutes of Belfast International airport. The division's prime focus is on the repair, refurbishment and re-manufacturing of electronic and electro-mechanical equipment – from business telephone systems and payphones, to leading-edge broadband technology and laptop computers.
It also provides its telecommunications customers with specialist cable manufacturing services.
Fujitsu Telecommunications Ireland helps customers to comply with WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) legislation, by enabling existing inventory to be re-utilized and returned to the marketplace, to maximize its profitable lifespan and minimize the need for premature disposal.
[ FYI Index ]
OpenAjax Adds 13 New Members
Representatives of OpenAjax, an open industry collaboration dedicated to developing and expanding Ajax, announced Tuesday 13 new members — expanding its participation to 28 companies. The OpenAjax members intend to promote Ajax's promise of universal compatibility with any computer device, application, desktop or operating system, and easy incorporation into new and existing software programs as well as foster Ajax's growth.
Created February 2006, OpenAjax is a collaboration among leading technology and software businesses to expand Ajax adoption and evolve tools and runtimes that will significantly reduce the development costs and skills required to incorporate Ajax Technology into Web Applications. Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript + XML) is a fast-growing technology that businesses are incorporating into their external and internal Web sites to simplify the browsing experience, and make it easier for users to shop, work, plan, correspond and navigate online. As a leading open software technology, Ajax makes it unnecessary to manually refresh a browser to send or receive information over the Web. Therefore, it can reduce the steps needed to complete a transaction over the Web or create a competitive edge for enterprise companies and Web designers. Additionally, Ajax enables Web Clients to bind to back-end servers using XML as well as the Ajax clients can call Web based Services creating mashups.
New OpenAjax members announced today include, Adobe, Backbase, Fair Isaac, ICEsoft, Innoopract, Intel, JackBe, Opera, SAP, Scalix, Software AG, Tibco and XML11. These new members join the initial members, including BEA, Borland, the Dojo Foundation, Eclipse Foundation, Google, IBM, Laszlo Systems, Mozilla Corporation, Novell, Openwave Systems, Oracle, Red Hat, Yahoo!, Zend and Zimbra.
The OpenAjax community plans to promote a vision of a common Ajax platform within the industry. The OpenAjax members plan to meet in mid-May 2006 at a Summit to discuss the present usage of Ajax, its growth into new markets and then create a business and technical roadmap by which the OpenAjax companies can work toward more universal Ajax support across the desktop and mobile devices.
[ FYI Index ]
Boeing Senior Vice President and General Counsel Douglas Bain Retires
Douglas G. Bain, Boeing senior vice president and general counsel, has announced his plans to retire from the company, effective July 1.
Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit will succeed Bain. As senior vice president and general counsel, Judge Luttig will report directly to Boeing Chairman, President, and CEO W. James McNerney, Jr., and will be a member of the company's Executive Council.
McNerney expressed his appreciation for Bain's contributions over his 24-year career, particularly during the past few years of legal challenges. "Doug built a team that has helped resolve extremely difficult issues for the company. Through his strong leadership, the legal team has fostered a culture of excellence and teamwork that will serve us well as we move forward," he said.
Bain joined the Boeing Corporate Law Department in 1982. He served for 14 years as senior counsel and then assistant general counsel. For three years, he was vice president of legal, contracts, ethics and government relations for Boeing Commercial Airplanes before returning to Corporate as general counsel in November 1999.
Judge Luttig has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for 15 years, since his appointment by President George H. W. Bush in 1991. At the time of his appointment, Judge Luttig was the youngest federal appeals court judge in the country. Prior to his appointment to the federal bench, he served as assistant attorney general of the United States and counselor to the attorney general at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Before beginning his service at the Department of Justice, Judge Luttig was associated with the New York law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell in the firm's Washington, D.C. offices. Previously, Judge Luttig had served as assistant counsel at the White House during the administration of President Reagan and was special assistant to the chief justice of the United States from 1984 to 1985. From 1982 to 1983, Judge Luttig served as a law clerk to then-Judge Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and from 1983 to 1984, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Warren E. Burger, chief justice of the United States.
Judge Luttig delivered his letter of resignation from the U.S. Court of Appeals to the White House this morning.
Judge Luttig was born on June 13, 1954, in Tyler, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976 from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va, and a Juris Doctorate degree in 1981 from the University of Virginia School of Law.
[ FYI Index ]
Flextronics, Nortel Complete Transfer of Calgary Manufacturing Operations
Representatives of Flextronics and Nortel announced that they have completed the transfer of the manufacturing operations and related assets including product integration, testing, repair and logistics operations of Nortel's Systems House in Calgary to Flextronics. Approximately 650 employees in Calgary will transfer to Flextronics as part of the final phase of the previously announced agreement.
Under the terms of the agreement, Flextronics acquired substantially all of Nortel Networks remaining manufacturing operations, including product integration, testing and repair operations carried out in the Nortel Networks Systems Houses in Calgary and Montreal ( Canada) and Campinas ( Brazil), and acquired certain activities related to these locations, including the management of the supply chain, related suppliers and third-party logistics.
Under the terms of the agreement and offer, Flextronics acquired Nortel Networks global repair services, as well as certain design assets in Ottawa and Monkstown related to hardware and embedded software design, and related product verification for certain established optical products. These design assets are being coupled with the manufacturing operations that are being divested so as to enable faster product cost reduction and improved time-to-market for new features that further leverage the lifecycle of these successful established optical products.
[ FYI Index ]
Dell Completes Acquisition Of Alienware
Dell completed its acquisition of Alienware Corporation on May 8. The terms of the purchase will not be disclosed.
Alienware will maintain its own product development, marketing, sales, technical support and other operations as well as brand. The current management and founders of Alienware will continue to operate the company as a wholly owned subsidiary of Dell.
