The News Review:
- TCS SAP Partner on Launch of ‘Perfect Plant’ Center of…
- A wind-energy plant in Pattaya could be the harbinger to many more…
- Study shows vitamin C is essential for plant growth
- New faces new places
- China’s Chery group matures into global auto player
- Nuclear plants merit loan guarantees
- From conflict to oasis
TCS SAP Partner on Launch of ‘Perfect Plant’ Center of…
IT News nline – Sep 23, 2007
The center provides manufacturers with enhanced operations intelligence a 360-degree view into all plant operations and provides tight integration between planning execution and business processes for cost-effective efficient and coordinated “sense and response” to customer demands. “The Perfect Plant initiative is a model of how companies can derive maximum efficiencies” said Regu Ayyaswamy vice president Engineering and Industrial Services TCS. “The Perfect Plant Center of Excellence combines the strengths of SAP solutions in manufacturing and TCS’ engineering expertise in shop-floor systems and solutions to bring adaptive manufacturing closer to reality for global manufacturers. TCS looks forward to many other such collaborative initiatives in the future. TCS recently won an SAP Pinnacle Award for Industry Solutions in the Go-to-Market category. The Perfect Plant center of excellence is the outcome of the initiatives by TCS and SAP to drive co-innovation and to provide enhanced value to customers around the world.
A wind-energy plant in Pattaya could be the harbinger to many more…
Nation Multimedia – Sep 23, 2007
It will be the first wind-energy plant developed by Thai technologists tailored to suit local climate and weather conditions. Published on September 23 2007 After eight months of hard work 45 sets of wind turbines with 4. 5-kilowatt (KW) capacity each have been installed. Dr Weerachai Ruaynarin of Rajamongkol University Thanyaburi who designed and developed the plant says test runs are being conducted now and the turbines will be fully operational in a month. "The Bt84-million wind plant will be able to generate enough electricity to light up 100 houses all day long with around 200 kilowatts of installed capacity… While the state says it promotes wind-energy development it is a complicated process and costly for any wind-energy developer to link the surplus energy to the grid system of Egat" he says. Weerachai says his greatest concern is the shortage of human resources for wind-energy development. "I am the only PhD on wind-energy engineering today. We might have some wind-energy academics but not engineers. If we want to promote this clean energy seriously we need at least 100 experts like me and another 100 related engineers within five years" the expert said. Thailand kicked off the study of wind-energy development 24 years ago in 1983 followed by installation of a wind turbine pilot plant on Phuket's Phromthep Strait in 1992. It later added a solar-cell generator to help improve efficiency of its electricity generation and finally added bigger wind turbines due to technical problems in maintenance of the previous turbines.
Study shows vitamin C is essential for plant growth
EurekAlert – EurekAlert (press release) – Sep 23, 2007
This discovery could have implications for agriculture and for the production of vitamin C dietary supplements. The study which is now published online in The Plant Journal describes the newly-identified enzyme GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase which produces vitamin C or ascorbate in plants. Vitamin C is already known to be an antioxidant which helps plants deal with stresses from drought to ozone and UV radiation but until now it was not known that plants could not grow without it. Professor Nicholas Smirnoff of the University of Exeter lead author on the paper said: ‘Vitamin C is the most abundant antioxidant in plants and yet its functions are poorly understood. By discovering that the new enzyme is encoded by two genes we were able to engineer vitamin C-free plants and found that they were unable to grow. ‘The discovery also identifies the new enzyme as a key player in controlling vitamin C accumulation in response to light… In Britain we spend an estimated £20 million on vitamin C tablets each year making this the most widely-used dietary supplement. Vitamin C is currently produced by mixed fermentation and chemical synthesis. The new enzyme provides the potential to engineer microbes to produce vitamin C by a simpler one-step process. ###This research was funded by Bio-Technical Resources Exeter University School of Biosciences the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) studentship.
New faces new places
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription… – Sep 23, 2007
Ketterhagen is a graduate of UWM’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning and Yang has over 16 years experience. Becher Hoppe Engineers and Architects Wausau hired Matthew Graun as a civil engineering technician in the civil services group. He has an associate degree from Northcentral Technical College. Durrant Madison hired Jody D. Andres as an architect and Thomas R.
China’s Chery group matures into global auto player
Economic Times – Sep 23, 2007
Chery’shome in the Yangtze river port city of Wuhu is today a massive industrial parkhousing not only the company’s vast high-tech plants but major AmericanEuropean and Japanese auto engineering firms. Theproximity of its overseas suppliers such as Visteon Bosch and Siemens has beencritical to the rapid growth of a firm that recognised from the start itsambitions had to be built on the back of foreign technology. “Wehave received a lot of help from foreign companies said Lei Gu a Ford trainedengineer who is one of 70 key engineers that has worked overseas for globalmanufacturers. Insidethe plant hums with the best German American and Italian machinery money canbuy as busy workers set about the complex assembly and testing that allow Cheryto produce 400000 independent-branded cars and engines a year. “Wespent a lot of money to bring in the best technology” said Zhao Baoming vicegeneral manager of Chery’s engine group. Cherysaw its millionth car roll off the assembly line last month a milestone in itsrapid expansion that the firm said took six years to make the first half millioncars and only one and a half for the second. Itexpects to add another 250000-300000 units after a new plant starts operationin ctober and aims to double exports in 2007 from last year to 100000 cars asthe firm races towards its target of selling one million cars annually by 2010… Theproximity of its overseas suppliers such as Visteon Bosch and Siemens has beencritical to the rapid growth of a firm that recognised from the start itsambitions had to be built on the back of foreign technology. “Wehave received a lot of help from foreign companies said Lei Gu a Ford trainedengineer who is one of 70 key engineers that has worked overseas for globalmanufacturers. Insidethe plant hums with the best German American and Italian machinery money canbuy as busy workers set about the complex assembly and testing that allow Cheryto produce 400000 independent-branded cars and engines a year. “Wespent a lot of money to bring in the best technology” said Zhao Baoming vicegeneral manager of Chery’s engine group. Cherysaw its millionth car roll off the assembly line last month a milestone in itsrapid expansion that the firm said took six years to make the first half millioncars and only one and a half for the second. Itexpects to add another 250000-300000 units after a new plant starts operationin ctober and aims to double exports in 2007 from last year to 100000 cars asthe firm races towards its target of selling one million cars annually by 2010. “IndependenceStrength Innovation Pioneering” reads a banner hanging at the plant thatserves as a reminder of Chery president Ying Tongyao’s lofty goals whichinclude building luxury cars under a new brand name by 2009.
Nuclear plants merit loan guarantees
Columbia Daily Tribune – Sep 23, 2007
To meet growing demand for clean energy 17 electrical companies are gearing up to build 33 nuclear power plants using standardized designs and advanced technology. Although improvements have been made in the reactor licensing process and project management to eliminate unnecessarydelays the first few plants will cost more than the rest because it has been many years since construction of a nuclear plant in the United States and the companies that build the first few new plants will face extra expenses that subsequent companies will not have tobear. For example there are "first-of-a-kind" design and engineeringcosts. Also there is no absolute assurance that hitches in licensing and construction might not happen causing project costs to rise as they did when today’s nuclear plants were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Recognizing this Congress in the 2005 Energy Policy Act authorized guarantees to new nuclear plants to provide some extrasurety. Without loan guarantees banks would not provide companies with the low-cost financing theyneed. The guarantees will enable nuclear plant operators to obtain financing at favorablerates… Recognizing this Congress in the 2005 Energy Policy Act authorized guarantees to new nuclear plants to provide some extrasurety. Without loan guarantees banks would not provide companies with the low-cost financing theyneed. The guarantees will enable nuclear plant operators to obtain financing at favorablerates. This directly benefits consumers because it will save about a third of the cost of electricity from a new plant. Nuclear power however will have to compete for the same loan guarantees with other clean-energy technologies including methods for sequestering carbon emissions from coal plants designing more fuel-efficient vehicles and using switch grass and other cellulosic sources to makeethanol. Now some members of Congress heedless of the economic and environmental consequences want to bar nuclear plants from the loan guarantee program or short of that place severe restrictions on the portion of the program reserved for nuclear power. It’s encouraging to know that despite differences over energy policy several presidential candidates recognize the need for additional nuclear power.
From conflict to oasis
Denver Post – Sep 23, 2007
Among the winners connected with the $50 million South Platte Reservoir: The Centennial Water & Sanitation District which has secured a new site to store water from the South Platte River. The thirsty residents and businesses of Highlands Ranch who will drink the reservoir’s water and irrigate their landscapes with it. Designers and engineers Deere & Ault and Tetra Tech who with Centennial’s project engineer Deborah Gallegos created a plan for converting the gravel pit to water storage. A series of subcontractors working on the project – concrete and rock provider Aggregate Industries steel rebar supplier Dalco Industries pipe welder Garney Cos. and landscape contractor American Civil Constructors – which will share $5. 3 million for services and materials provided… 4 million from the property condemnation but also became the project’s general contractor with a $25. 2 million construction budget. In addition Kiewit was able to continue mining gravel at the site for several years while preliminary design and engineering work was undertaken. A welcome reception The Centennial special district – created to supply water and wastewater management to Highlands Ranch – is pleased with the project’s positive perception in business government and residential circles especially after a series of critical media reports in recent years about rapid depletion of underground aquifers in Douglas County. Even environmental advocates often wary over building dams can find little to criticize. “I don’t know of any group that has a serious problem with that project” said Dan Luecke a Boulder hydrologist who has been critical of several Colorado dam proposals. “Generally the environmental community has encouraged the use of these gravel pits as storage facilities along the South Platte.