Industry News
BP Solar to Invest $70 Million to Expand US Facility
Representatives of BP Solar unveiled its plans for a $70 million expansion project at its North American headquarters in Frederick, MD. The expansion will result in nearly doubling the facility's current casting and sizing capacity to approximately 150 MW. The company projects that 70 new jobs will be created. Other plans include an upgrade of the interior of the facility by employing sustainable design components.
Initial engineering feasibility studies into the project have already been completed and the company will now carry out detailed front-end engineering design work. This expansion will make BP Solar's Frederick facility the largest fully integrated plant in North America.
The expansion plans call for the construction of 140,000 square feet of new building space allowing the company to nearly double its casting, sizing, and wafering manufacturing capacity. Plans also include the relocation and integration of local warehousing and shipping facilities to the current site.
Construction is slated to begin in the first half of 2007 and finish by the end of 2008 pending approval of local permits.
Other planned improvements include additional office and meeting space, more daylight access to office and manufacturing facilities, an auditorium, and solar and environmental educational stations which will be available for tours and school groups.
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General Dynamics Awarded $46 Million by U.S. Marine Corps
General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a $45.6 million contract from the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command for 150 units of the Tactical Data Network (TDN), Data Distribution System - Replacement (DDS-R) program. DDS-R will fulfill an urgent operational need for the Marine Corps in Iraq.
TDN DDS-R will provide deployed Marine forces with a modular, scalable Internet Protocol (IP) data transport capability that enables high-speed transfer of electronic data among users throughout a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). The system is analogous to the local- and wide-area networks that many businesses use to share, transfer and store electronic files and data.
TDN DDS, the existing system, comprises a standardized suite of high-reliability Automated Data Processing Equipment (ADPE) and communication systems designed for use in a tactical environment. The TDN DDS-R will be a component of the overall Tactical Data Network and provides Internet Protocol (IP)-based data routing, information processing and storage capabilities. Consisting of rack-mounted computer equipment housed in portable transit cases, the system also will provide an extension of the Defense Information System Network (DISN) Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) and Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet), as well as coalition and joint-forces networking capabilities.
The contract includes funding for work efforts required to design, integrate, test, produce and prepare associated documentation for DDS-R. Work will be done in the General Dynamics Taunton, Mass., facility and is expected to be completed by March 2007.
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Microsoft Announces New Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Services
Representatives of Microsoft Corp. announced that Maria Martinez has been named corporate vice president of Worldwide Services, effective Jan. 5, 2007. Martinez will continue in her role as corporate vice president of the Communications Sector at Microsoft through the remainder of the calendar year. Martinez will work with Rick Devenuti, who recently announced his plans to retire from his role as senior vice president of Worldwide Services, as she transitions into her new role.
Martinez comes to the Microsoft Worldwide Services organization from her current role as the corporate vice president of the Communications Sector.Microsoft's Communications Sector works with service and content providers around the globe, addressing the specific needs of wireline and wireless telecommunications companies, cable operators, hosting service providers, and media and entertainment organizations.
Before joining Microsoft, Martinez served as CEO of a startup software vendor in the San Francisco Bay Area. Before that, Martinez was a vice president at Motorola Inc.
Martinez has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, and a master's degree in computer engineering from Ohio State University. Following college, Martinez worked for the prestigious Bell Laboratories for 12 years, developing and patenting disk storage systems and leading development of UNIX systems for symmetric multiprocessing and high availability.
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Raytheon Names Darlington to Lead Raytheon Technical Services Company Engineering and Technology
Fred Darlington has been named vice president of Engineering and Technology for Raytheon Company's Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC (RTSC).
Darlington will lead the planning and execution of RTSC's Engineering and Technology organization. He will be responsible for strengthening RTSC engineering capability, defining and supporting RTSC's current and future technology needs and working collaboratively across the Raytheon enterprise to leverage the company's diverse technology and engineering talent.
Darlington will report to Raytheon Vice President and RTSC President Bryan J. Even and will be located at RTSC headquarters in Reston, Va. He will also report to Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon vice president of Engineering, Technology and Mission Assurance, as a member of the enterprise-wide Raytheon Engineering and Technology Council.
With more than 25 years of experience with Raytheon, Darlington joins RTSC from Raytheon's Network Centric Systems (NCS). He previously served as director of the satellite communications product line in Marlboro, Mass., and director of engineering for the NCS northeast region, including Canada.
Darlington is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and the National Defense Industrial Association. He holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.
