New Hubtech21’s blog and website! April 9, 2009
Posted by h21joubin in Uncategorized.add a comment
Please visit our blog and website at: www.hubtech21.com
Thank you!
Renewable-energy investments drop globally April 7, 2009
Posted by h21patrick in Clean Tech.add a comment
Source: R&D Magazine
New global investment in renewable-energy projects fell 53 percent in the first quarter, an indication money from government stimulus packages has been slow to reach the industry, a report concluded Thursday.
The steep drop-off shows the global economy’s continued deterioration despite a fresh emphasis on curbing pollution and promoting cleaner energy such as wind farms, solar parks and biofuels plants.
Without necessary financing, it has taken longer to finalize deals which could lead to industry consolidation, said Michael Liebreich, chairman and chief executive of New Energy Finance, an industry-research firm.
Other analysts are forecasting similar results for the quarter. “The economy in general, the capital markets overall have had a very difficult time of it,” Ernst & Young clean-technology analyst Joseph Muscat said.
For the January-March quarter, new global investment in clean-energy projects totaled $13.3 billion compared with $28.3 billion in the year-ago quarter, according to an analysis by London-based New Energy.
Stock-market investors cut new investments in companies devoted solely to clean energy to about $100 million from $2.1 billion, the consulting firm found. Companies that offer clean energy as a part of their overall business did slightly better.
New venture capital and private-equity investment dropped to $1.8 billion from $2.7 billion in the first quarter of 2008. Merger, acquisition, buy-out and refinancing – which is on top of new money – totaled $8.8 billion down from $18.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.
In the United States, asset financing for new projects was $500 million, compared with a little more than $5 billion in the year-ago quarter. To know more, click here.
R&D spending holds steady in slump April 7, 2009
Posted by h21patrick in Optics/Photonics.add a comment
Source: R&D Magazine
Major U.S. companies are cutting jobs and wages. But many are still spending on innovation.
Wary of emerging from the recession with obsolete products, big U.S. companies spent nearly as much on research and development in the dismal last quarter of 2008 as they did a year earlier, even as their revenue fell 7.7%, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The sampling looked at 28 of the largest U.S. R&D spenders, excluding deeply troubled auto makers and the drug industry, where R&D spending is dictated by government requirements. To know more, click here.
New people at Fianium April 7, 2009
Posted by h21patrick in Optics/Photonics.add a comment
Source: optics.org
Fianium has appointed Colin Seaton as vice president of sales and marketing. Seaton has more than 25 years professional experience, 18 of which were spent in senior management positions at Coherent where his focus was on business development and strategic marketing of ultrafast non-fibre lasers. His appointment is intended to maintain the company’s growth in industrial markets, including materials processing and biomedical applications.
Lidar probes volcanic plume April 7, 2009
Posted by h21patrick in Optics/Photonics.add a comment
Source: optics.org
Optics.org speaks to the researchers who braved Mount Etna’s most recent volcanic eruption in a bid to demonstrate the gas sensing capabilities of their lidar system.
Researchers in Italy have developed a lidar setup that they say can be used to track the spatiotemporal evolution of volcanic plumes and could even play a role in eruption prediction. The team from the Italian National Agency for New Technologies says that its instrument, which uses a carbon dioxide laser could be pointed at the mouth of a volcano to monitor for tell-tale changes in gas concentration (Optics Letters 34 800). To know more, click here.
World’s biggest laser powers up April 7, 2009
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Source:optics.org
Physicists are on the verge of demonstrating perhaps the ultimate application of the laser: creating nuclear fusion in the lab.
The US Department of Energy has given official clearance for experiments to begin at the $4bn National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. NIF is a huge facility consisting of 192 pulsed laser beams with a total energy of 1.8 MJ, more than 60 times more energetic than those from any machine currently in existence. The first experiments are expected to begin in May. To know more, click here.
E-health records hit Sam’s Clubs in three states April 6, 2009
Posted by h21patrick in IT, Life Sciences.add a comment
Source: Mass High Tech
E-health systems developed by medical software maker eClinicalWorks LLC and Dell Inc. are now available in Sam’s Club stores in Virginia, Illinois and Georgia. The companies said the e-health records could be available in Sam’s Club nationally later this year.
Electronic medical records have hit obstacles in the form of costs, according to a statement by Sam’s Club senior vice president Charles Redfield. Now, users can access the records through the Internet, using a software as a service (SaaS) model.
Last month, Mass High Tech reported on Westborough-based eClinicalWorks’ plan , noting that the company would provide training, software maintenance, services, and upgrades for about $25,000 in up front costs to physicians — about half of a typical installation. To know more, click here.
Articles in Photonics Spectra April 6, 2009
Posted by h21patrick in Optics/Photonics.add a comment
Source: Photonics Spectra – april 2009
State of the economy: A time of innovation and collaboration, p.41-44, with results from JDSU, Newport, Coherent, Zygo, IPG Photonics, etc.
Astrophotonics propels next generation telescopes, p.66-68
To read more, click here.
Federal stimulus gives Boston $6.5M for clean energy April 6, 2009
Posted by h21patrick in Clean Tech.add a comment
Source: Mass High Tech
Environmental activist and former vice president Al Gore joined Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to announce that the City of Boston has received $6.5 million from the federal stimulus package to create an energy efficiency organization for the city.
The $6.5 million, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, will fund Renew Boston, a public-private partnership aimed at increasing energy efficiency and alternative energy services for Boston residents and businesses. Renew Boston will create a $1.3 million residential energy efficiency program and a $1.3 million revolving loan fund. It will also go toward funding the top projects on the city’s list of municipal solar electric, solar thermal and wind energy projects.
The mayor also announced the formation of the Boston Climate Action Leadership Committee. The 21-member committee is intended to plan the city’s response to climate change. The committee is funded by grants of $250,000 each from the Barr Foundation and the Boston Foundation. To know more, click here.
Tech sector posted fourth year of job growth in 2008 April 6, 2009
Posted by h21patrick in IT, Travel & US.add a comment
Source: Mass High Tech
The technology sector, for the fourth consecutive year, added jobs to the U.S. economy, according to the Cyberstates report, a publication from technology-focused trade association TechAmerica.
Nationwide, the report found that 77,000 net jobs in the high-tech industry were added in 2008, bringing the total number of U.S. tech workers to 5.92 million. In 2007, 79,600 high-tech jobs were added, and 2006 yielded an additional 139,000 jobs in the field. The majority of the gains in 2008 stem from software service and engineering and tech service jobs.
The report provides the most recent national data from 2008, as well as state-by-state data from 2007.
Among its 2007 findings, the report shows Massachusetts as having the second highest concentration of tech workers — 87 per 1,000 workers in 2007 — trailing only Virginia.
High-tech workers also tended to make 88 percent higher wagers, on a national level, than average private sector workers in 2007, TechAmerica reported. Massachusetts was ranked second, behind California, in average high-tech wages at $100,500. To know more, click here.
