GSA Technology Council

The Worthwhile Company recently developed and released new Web sites for four clients: Grace Church of Alexandria, Cross Roads Baptist Church, Matra Systems, and Premier Insurance.

Grace Church of Alexandria Worthwhile developed a custom site for a new church plant in the Washington, D.C. area. The project involved blog, sermon and iTunes feeds, search engine optimization, and a clean design that captured the feeling of the city, giving the church a noticeable Web presence. www.graceofalexandria.org

 

Cross Roads Baptist Church A new church plant in Arizona needed a Web presence. Worthwhile used a template Web site and customized it specifically for this growing ministry. www.crossroad-az.org

 

 

Matra Systems For this software solutions company, Worthwhile implemented a custom design, integrated flash elements, and developed an interactive menu display. www.matrasystems.com

 

 

Premier Insurance Premier’s goal was to establish a Web presence that streamlined their insurance inquiries and provided a tool for people to contact them. Worthwhile created a new custom site featuring a unique interface highlighting their services. www.premierins.net

via Worthwhile

Numara Software, Inc., a provider of service management solutions for IT professionals, today announced that Clemson University has deployed Numara FootPrints across its campus to automate its help desk activities and assess campus IT needs for staff and students. Clemson currently enrolls more than 17,000 students and employs over 4,000 staff and faculty, all of whom can access Numara FootPrints, also known as TigerTracks on campus, and create work order tickets for facility and IT maintenance.

Clemson determined the need for a more formal process for managing its IT environment and a product that was scalable to meet the IT needs of the growing university. As Clemson moves up in the ranks of the nation’s  universities, Clemson Computing and Information Technology (CCIT) has selected Numara Software solutions to continue to address the organization’s IT and business requirements because of their flexibility and ability to let Clemson users track tickets from beginning to end.

“We were initially attracted by Numara FootPrints’ ease of use and customization,” said Tim Howard, TigerTracks project manager. “It was the obvious choice for Clemson because the product offers the extended flexibility and scalability we require, while providing us with a centralized platform to capture all of our IT-related activities.”

To better serve student and faculty needs, Clemson is going to employ Numara FootPrints, a 100% web-based service desk solution, to enable the users to create and submit their own tickets, track the progress from beginning to end, better meet compliance requirements as an organization and realize significant cost savings. 

“While we have only rolled out Numara FootPrints on July 31st, we are already seeing a great response from the students and staff,” continued Tim Howard. “As the academic year progresses we are excited to adjust the system to fully meet our needs and make TigerTracks the go-to program for Clemson residents.”

via Numara and Clemson

On behalf of the USC Columbia Fuel Cell Collaborative, SCRA announced that it is accepting white papers for the Greater Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge 2009 for projects focused on commercializing hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in and around Columbia, South Carolina. The call for white papers was issued at the 2008 National Hydrogen Association Fall Forum, “Hydrogen from Renewables” being held this week in Golden, Colorado.

This solicitation launches the third annual installment of the Fuel Cell Challenge. With a total anticipated funding availability between $500,000 and $1,000,000, the Fuel Cell Challenge 2009 will focus on accelerating the region’s efforts to become a premier destination for hydrogen and fuel cell innovation in the country. “This project demonstrates how successful collaborations within South Carolina continue to grow our state’s knowledge economy,” said Bill Mahoney, SCRA CEO. “The partnerships assembled under the banner of the Greater Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge are turning innovative ideas from researchers and companies across the nation into significant economic opportunities, both in the Midlands of South Carolina as well as across the state.”

Based upon a merit review of white papers received, invitations to submit full proposals will be issued in late November or early December, 2008. A major factor in ultimate award selection will be on how the proposed project would lead to generation of new jobs and/or creation of new or spin-off companies in near-term hydrogen and fuel cell commercial market segments.

Challenge will focus on expanding the innovation pipeline 
The Greater Columbia Fuel Cell Challenge was launched in 2006 to help create and expand an “innovation pipeline” for fuel cell technology, which include efforts to build a critical mass of research knowledge (the discovery phase), commercialize the fruits of that research in specific applications for product creation and company formation (the development phase), and then create incentives to grow and attract industries into enterprise clusters (the deployment phase). Potential activities for this new phase of the Challenge will align with these three broad innovation pipeline categories:

Discovery: The focus of the discovery phase will be on creating intellectual property by fostering research partnerships and activities, promoting educational awareness and outreach within the K-12 schools, technical and four-year college and business communities, and incentivizing individuals and groups to direct their talents and imagination toward fuel cell related technology.

Development: The focus of the development phase will be on establishing a local business and entrepreneurial environment conducive to company formation and successful start-up centered on the intellectual property developed at or in partnership with the University of South Carolina.

Deployment: The focus of the deployment phase will be on creating a commercial market for fuel cell products that, in turn, will drive fuel cell industry growth and create an economic “cluster” of fuel cell companies. This is a long term goal; in the near term the Challenge will focus on demonstrating the largest possible variety of market ready or near market ready fuel cell technologies and applications across the stationary power, portable power and transportation application spectrum, and connecting those demonstrations with the comprehensive “end-to-end” vision for the future of the Columbia region.

“The Fuel Cell Challenge is about the power of ideas and innovation,” said Neil McLean, Executive Director of EngenuitySC. “It may originate in Columbia, SC, but we’re hoping to connect to ideas in any lab, company, or region in the world.”

The Fuel Cell Challenge 2009 seeks to build upon the successes achieved in the first two years of this initiative, during which more than $4 million has been invested in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Fuel Cell Challenge awards to date include:

    * 10 awards in 2006 – the first year of the program 
    * 4 awards in 2007 
    * The Columbia hydrogen fueling station is under contract for delivery in first quarter of 2009. 
    * The FTA National Fuel Cell Bus Program will demonstrate a hybrid battery-fuel cell bus in Columbia for a year, beginning in the first quarter of 2009

Areas of particular interest for Fuel Cell Challenge 2009 include:

    * Hydrogen production from renewable sources 
    * A transportation project affiliated with the Columbia hydrogen fueling station 
    * A high visibility stationary power project that could be sited in the University of South Carolina’s new research campus facilities (“Innovista”) in the heart of downtown Columbia

for mor information visit http://www.fuelcellchallenge.com/

 

Duke Energy has submitted the first part of an application for a federal energy loan guarantee to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for its proposed William States Lee III Nuclear Station. This is another step in the process of keeping the new nuclear option available for customers.

“Filing this application with the DOE can lead to long-term benefits for our customers,” said Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers. “Loan guarantees allow utilities to lower capital costs for new nuclear construction, which ultimately leads to lower electricity prices for consumers.”

The federal government has decades of experience managing loan guarantee programs, which provide financing for support of critical U.S. infrastructure. The loan guarantee program supporting clean energy was established as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The program will follow defined procedures and practices that include rigorous reviews of all applications.

via Duke Energy

 

KEMET Corporation today announced that it has entered into a new medium-term credit facility in the principal amount of EUR 60.0 million (Facility A) and received a commitment for a EUR 35.0 million credit facility (Facility B) with UniCredit Corporate Banking S.p.A. (“UniCredit”), a financial institution headquartered in Italy and part of the Milan-based UniCredit Group. These two facilities replace a EUR 95.0 million credit facility with UniCredit that KEMET previously announced on July 30, 2008. Closing on Facility A is expected to occur in approximately two weeks. Closing on Facility B is expected to occur as soon as factoring mechanisms are put in place, but in any event no later than April 2009.

“We are pleased to complete another step in our efforts to reposition and improve our balance sheet,” said Per Loof, KEMET’s Chief Executive Officer. “While we remain focused on the execution of our plans to return to profitability, we will continue to explore alternatives that will improve our long-term liquidity and reduce our overall debt structure,” continued Loof.

Under the terms of Facility A, KEMET will repay the principal amount in nine equal, semi-annual installments during the four and one-half year term with the first payment due in April 2009. The credit facility will be priced at EURIBOR plus 1.7 percent, and will be secured with land and real estate in Italy, certain accounts receivable in Europe, and a pledge of the shares of Arcotronics Italia S.p.A. and Arcotronics Industries S.r.l., two of KEMET’s subsidiaries in Italy. Facility B will be a factoring arrangement priced at EURIBOR plus 1.7 percent with repayment at maturity in December 2013. The use of proceeds from the new credit facilities will be to refinance two existing short-term credit facilities with UniCredit totaling EUR 96.8 million and currently scheduled to mature in December 2008 and April 2009.

via KEMET

 

Business growth program, Make Mine A Million $ Business, selected Greenville, SC – businesswoman Kristie Bohm Byrum of the Byrum Innovation Group, Inc., as one of the twenty business women finalists to compete for an awards package at the Charlotte, NC, event on October 7, 2008 at the Blake Hotel. The event will feature female entrepreneurs from North and South Carolina who will compete for business development packages that include money, marketing, mentoring and technology assistance to help their businesses grow into million-dollar enterprises. The event also includes educational and network opportunities in addition to keynote speeches by Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and Count Me In Founder, Nell Merlino.

Described as a cross between “The Apprentice” and “American Idol,” the competition provides these twenty finalists the opportunity to present their business in a 3 minute “elevator pitch” to a panel of business experts and a live audience. Ten winners will be chosen by the audience and judges who collaborate on the selection process.

Kristie Bohm Byrum is the CEO of marketing and communications firm, Byrum Innovation Group, Inc..

via: BIG

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Naren Vyavahare, Hunter Endowed Chair and professor of bioengineering at Clemson University, more than $1.5 million over four years to develop durable bioprosthetic heart valves (BHVs).

Aortic valves taken from pigs are used in thousands of human heart valve replacement surgeries annually, but they have a high rate of failure due to degeneration and calcification. It is estimated more than 50 percent fail within five to 15 years of implantation. Vyavahare’s goal is to extend the biological durability of BHVs beyond 20 years. 

“We’ve identified a problem where viscoelasticity is lost during tissue fixation and after implantation, and maintaining the structural integrity of the tissue matrix in the processed tissue is essential for these types of implants to work,” said Vyavahare. “Our recent studies show that the chemical linking of neomycin to tissue, an inhibitor of the enzymes that degrade the tissue matrix, lead to significantly better stabilization of the valve tissue.”

Vyavahare says improvements in durability will allow surgeons to implant the valves in the younger patient population.

Vyavahare and his group at Clemson have studied the problem of calcification in arteries and heart valves for nine years. The long-term fatigue damage study funded by NIH is unprecedented in the BHV field. The Clemson group has collaborations with the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Minnesota.

via Clemson

Did someone say “Free Lunch?” You should probably already know that our October lunch features Dr. Dave McQueeney from IBM on 10 Emerging Technologies and their Impact on IT. Take a look at his credentials and you’ll see that this is going to be a particularly engaging meeting. We’ve been talking about this presentation for months and a lot of our group is already excited about it. We sat around as a group, however, and asked the question, “How can we get even more people excited about this meeting, get them to tell their friends, and maximize the number of people exposed to this very strategic presentation?” Make it FREE.

The Deal

The October 8, 2008 learning lunch with Dr. Dave McQueeney is a $20 value if the speaker never opens his mouth. The double sawbuck just buys lunch. In this particular case, we’ve got an especially credentialed guy who is going to tell you what’s next for you if you are in IT, so we should charge more. Instead, we are going to charge nothing. To take advantage of this extraordinary display of good will on the part of our special presenting sponsor in October, you have to register online and we think you should tell a friend.

More Info about the meeting: (link)

or http://gsatc200810.eventbrite.com/ (link)

ps: If you are one of the early birds who have paid for this lunch, we’ll issue a refund.

Guigen Zhang, a University of Georgia researcher with a focus on micro/nanoscale bioengineering, has been appointed as deputy director of the Institute for Biological Interfaces of Engineering (IBIOE) at Clemson University.

Zhang, who received his Ph.D. in bioengineering at Clemson in 1994, began his research career at Northwestern University in Illinois and joined the University of Georgia in 2001 to pioneer a bio-micro/nanotechnology program.

His research focuses on the development of new devices that combine microscale and nanoscale structures for use in tomorrow’s sensors, testing systems and diagnostic devices, as well as a wide range of other applications.

“Dr. Zhang brings a unique blend of academic and industrial experiences to IBIOE,” said Karen Burg, institute director and holder of Clemson’s Hunter Endowed Chair in Bioengineering. “He is an innovator whose leadership and entrepreneurial skills will be most valuable in the success of interdisciplinary initiatives with real-world focus.”

Zhang said he was attracted to the IBOE position because it offers “the opportunity to build a program much bigger than an individual faculty member can build.”

“You want to do research that leads to societal benefits,” he said. “If you can develop novel solutions to real problems, and also create opportunities for economic development and wealth-creating enterprises, that is very gratifying.”

Zhang has firsthand experience with the sort of spinoff businesses he hopes to encourage through his work at IBIOE. While he was at Northwestern University, he founded a small business and secured funding through the federal Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs for the development of a multifunctional testing system for biological tissues.

In addition to his focus on the development of integrated micro/nano structures for various biomedical, biological and engineering applications, Zhang uses computer simulation techniques to understand the underlying mechanisms of these structures.

“At the interface of micro and nano structures, the issues get very complicated,” he said. “Our approach is to take advantage of computers and use both simulation and experimentation to understand what is going on at these scales.”

A micrometer is one millionth of a meter. A human hair is about 50 micrometers wide. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or a thousand times smaller than a micrometer. Anything smaller than 100 nanometers is considered to be nanoscale.

The Institute for Biological Interfaces of Engineering is an interdisciplinary research institute focused on cellular engineering for biomedicine and the development of diagnostic tissue test systems for the improvement of health care. As deputy director, Zhang will oversee an array of research and industrial initiatives, including the conversion of the Clemson University Riggs cleanroom facility to a bio-cleanroom research and training facility for IBIOE initiatives.

“We want to develop close ties with industry to help them solve their difficult issues, and we would also like to see the development of spinoff businesses,” he said. “I am very excited about the possibilities and excited to be back at Clemson.”

Zhang has an academic appointment as a professor in the Department of Bioengineering.

via Clemson

 

Fluor Corporation announced today that it was awarded a contract for engineering, procurement, construction and construction services (EPC) of about $1 billion for USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. Fluor will book the revenue into backlog as the client releases task orders throughout the rest of 2008 and 2009.

Fluor performed front-end engineering and design and construction services for USEC from May 2004 to July 2007, with detailed design also underway on the project. A construction team has been mobilized to the site to perform preliminary construction support activities and to begin the demolition of some existing buildings. Employee staffing will peak in mid-2009 when about 800 workers are expected to be on site.

“We are extremely pleased to continue our work for USEC’s critical American Centrifuge Project,” said David Seaton, president of Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals business group. “This is an important project for both companies as well as for the future of U.S. nuclear energy,” he said. “We have had a long successful relationship with USEC and look forward to working with them toward the successful completion of this program.”

“This $1 billion engineering, procurement and construction contract with Fluor exemplifies the significant progress we continue to make on deploying the American Centrifuge Plant,” said Philip G. Sewell, USEC senior vice president, American Centrifuge and Russian HEU. “The American Centrifuge project is creating thousands of jobs at sites across the United States. This contract is expected to create approximately 1,000 new jobs, including 800 jobs at the Ohio site.”

Fluor’s work at the American Centrifuge Plant will assist USEC in providing dependable, long-term U.S.-owned nuclear fuel production capacity needed to support the country’s existing nuclear plants, as well as those expected to be built in the future.

On a separate program, Fluor is currently contracted with Toshiba for two new nuclear reactors planned for the South Texas Project (STP) Nuclear Generating Station in Bay City, Texas. The project is expected to be among some of the first nuclear generating units to be built in more than two decades.

“The valuable experience gained by our engineering and construction professionals who are designing and building the American Centrifuge plant, coupled with our STP nuclear work in southern Texas, positions Fluor with unique EPC qualifications for nuclear new-build projects,” said David Constable, president of Fluor’s Power business group.

USEC is currently the sole U.S.-based centrifuge technology supplier and therefore plays an important role in the nation’s energy and national security. Uranium enrichment is the process by which the concentration of the fissionable uranium isotope, U-235, is increased in order to make fuel for nuclear power generating units.

via Fluor