Industry News
BP and CAS Forge Partnership for Clean Energy Commercialization
BP and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) held a ceremony in Shanghai to celebrate the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), announcing their intent to establish the Clean Energy Commercialization Centre (CECC).
CECC aims to accelerate the development in China of clean coal conversion technologies and the creation of associated value chain investment opportunities through the commercialization of key technologies and coordinated management of large scale demonstration projects which primarily use coal as feedstock for fuel production, chemicals manufacturing and power generation.
According to the MoU, CAS and BP will join their efforts to make CECC a successful and profitable world class platform which will identify, evaluate, select, develop and commercialize strategic cleaner coal conversion technologies. It will also integrate and consolidate individual technologies from CAS institutes and other People's Republic of China (PRC) research and development organisations and elsewhere, both within and outside the PRC, into commercially viable technological systems and solutions in order to contribute to China's clean energy development and energy security.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Iain Conn, BP Managing Director and Chief Executive, Refining and Marketing said:
The partnership relations between BP and CAS can be traced back to November 2001, when the two parties jointly launched the "Clean Energy, Facing the Future" programme - a 10-year, US$10 million R&D initiative. The partnership in the clean energy commercialization centre announced today reinforced BP's commitment to working together with China to address its energy issues and also to contributing to the clean energy solutions to fuel the sustainable development of the Chinese economy.
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Intel Endorses Industry Specification to Simplify Blade Server Design
Intel Corporation joined more than 40 server technology providers in support of the new Server Systems Infrastructure (SSI) industry specification for modular server platforms. The Modular Server Specifications simplify and lower the cost of product development by providing design guidance that enables server builders to develop compliant and interoperable building blocks at the blade, chassis and manageability software level.
The Modular Server Specifications are designed by the SSI organization, an industry initiative with more than 185 members. This announcement includes design specifications for compute blades, mezzanine cards and system management interfaces. The latest specifications build on previous successes of SSI, which include energy-efficient power supplies and optimized server board form factors for pedestal and rack-mount server platforms. All design specifications from SSI are made openly available to the broad market.
Companies supporting the Modular Server Specifications include such industry leading I/O, board and system vendors as Acer, AMAX, AMI, Appro, Aquarius, Aragorn Computers, Asus, Chenbro, Colfax, Compusys, Dawning, Dedicated Computing, Digital Henge, Diode, Equus, FCI Connect, Flextronics, Gateway, Gigabyte, Hammer, HCL, IESC, Inspur, Intel, Iron Systems, Itautec, Kraftway, Lenovo, Maxdata, Mellanox Technologies, Melrow Technology NV, Microsoft, MPC, MSI, Pigeon Point Systems, Power Leader, Qlogic, Quanta, Seneca Data, Steel Cloud, Supermicro, Tarox, Teratec, Thomas Krenn, Transtec, Tyan, Viglen, Wipro, Wortmann and ZTE. These vendors are currently evaluating or developing to the Modular Server Specifications for intersection into their product roadmap starting in 2008
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Nortel Announces Appointment of New President for Japanese Market
Nortel has appointed Toshiyuki Hiramatsu, president, Nortel (Japan), effective August 1.
Formerly executive managing director, Nortel (Japan), Toshiyuki's new Tokyo-based position includes responsibility for sales, operations and marketing for the Japanese market. Toshiyuki will replace Nick Vreugdenhil, who will assume the leadership of a key nationwide wireless project in Vietnam.
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General Dynamics Awarded $605 Million in Defense Contracts
The U.S. Department of Defense yesterday announced more than $605 million in recent contract awards to business units of General Dynamics.
The announcements included:
- Three awards valued at $428.9 million to General Dynamics Land Systems of Sterling Heights, Mich., for system enhancement package (SEP) work on Abrams M1A2 Tanks. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights; Lima, Ohio; Tallahassee, Fla.; Anniston, Ala.; and Scranton, Pa. Work is expected to be completed by July 31, 2010.
- Two awards valued at $163.4 million award to General Dynamics Land Systems for Stryker vehicle hull-protection kits and materiel for Stryker Mobile Gun System (MGS) and Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV) variants. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights; Auburn, Wash.; London, Ontario, Canada; Germany, Iraq and Kuwait. Work is expected to be completed by Feb. 29, 2008.
- A $12.6 million award to General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, Charlotte, N.C., for production of Joint Service Lightweight Standoff Chemical Agent Detectors. Work will be performed in Charlotte, N.C., and is expected to be completed by April 30, 2009.
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Ohio Awards EDS $100 Million Medicaid Contract
EDS has signed a $100.8 million, 73-month contract with the state of Ohio to design, develop and implement a new-generation Medicaid Information Technology System (MITS).
The EDS Ohio interChange system will provide state-of-the-art IT services to Ohio's 43,000 Medicaid providers and 1.7 million recipients, the sixth-largest Medicaid program in the United States. The agreement includes a 36-month implementation phase.
The Ohio win brings to 21 the number of state Medicaid systems for which EDS serves as fiscal agent or principal IT provider.
EDS will implement its federally certified interChange Medicaid system, which has served as an industry model and is in operation or being implemented in a dozen states.
The contract was signed in June and was reflected in EDS' second quarter new business signings.
The new Web-based system will provide Ohio with greater flexibility and will provide faster and more reliable claims processing for health care providers. For example, it will allow Ohio providers to submit claims electronically rather than on paper, then receive prompt confirmation the claim has been processed and approved. It also will provide the state with vital data about health care trends and the medical needs of Ohio's Medicaid population.
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Raytheon Awarded $75 Million Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity Contract to Modify Air Force Weapons Training Equipment
A subsidiary of Raytheon Company has been awarded a $75 million indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract to modify data link equipment for F-15 fighter aircraft.
Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC will modify the weapons data link associated with the GBU-15 and AGM-130 weapons programs for frequency utilization to support the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act, which reallocates spectrum from governmental to commercial users. An initial $31.8 million delivery order was executed concurrent with the contract award.
The weapons data link (AXQ-14 Data Link Pod, ZSW-1 Weapons Control Pod) and associated support equipment are operational and training assets used to support the GBU-15 and AGM-130. Under the contract, RTSC will develop, prototype, qualify, and modify weapons data link equipment at its Indianapolis facility. Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah, is the contracting activity for the U.S. Air Force Training Frequency Relocation program.
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Bell Aerospace Services Awarded Support Contract from 2nd and 3rd Marine Air Wings
Bell Aerospace Services Inc. has received the award of a $4.5 Million contract for H-1 helicopter support from the United States Marine Corps. This is the fourth year of a five-year contract to provide field level support for their fleet of UH-1N and AH-1W helicopters.
BellAero, via its BA Support Services Business unit, provides technical assistance and maintenance support teams at a number of field locations throughout the world, including support teams embedded with operational units deployed overseas.
