Monthly Archives: July 2017

Williams has used its Formula One technology to come up with a hi-tech carrier for critically ill new-born babies needing emergency transportation.

The dubbed "Babypod 20" is being built by Williams Advanced Engineering -- a sister business of the F1 team and part of the Williams Group -- to provide a safe environment for new-born infants that require transporting to hospital either by car, ambulance or helicopter. The firm has been working on the new design alongside Advanced Healthcare Technology (AHT), a company which has produced transport systems for babies for several years.

Constructed using materials and techniques used to build Williams' F1 cars, the sleek carbon fibre transport device will be able to withstand a 20 G-force crash, while offering a more cost-effective and lightweight option -- weighing just 9.1kg (20lb) -- as oppose to heavier, cumbersome incubator alternatives used in the past.

Williams Advanced Engineering managing director, Craig Wilson, said: "The parallels between a Formula One car and transport device for babies may not be immediately apparent, but both demand a lightweight and strong structure that keeps the occupant safe in the event of an accident, and can monitor vital signs whilst remaining easily transportable and accessible.

"We have taken the existing Babypod product and worked with AHT to create a device that is not only more compact and user-friendly but, crucially, can be scaled up in its production so that more hospitals can benefit from this Formula One-inspired technology."

Mark Lait, the design director of Advanced Healthcare Technology, added: "As a UK company we are particularly pleased to have the opportunity to work with the designers and engineers at Williams, to develop this 'next generation' of BabyPods, and to harness their knowledge and skills to make this new model available.

"This design, with reduced weight and increased strength, has also delivered improved features of protection against vibration and noise and of course the dangers related to impact, which inevitably sometimes occur with medical vehicles traveling at speed."

The manufacturing process will take place at Williams' Grove-based headquarters alongside its F1 operations. The pod, which costs 5,000 per unit, will be used by the Children's Acute Transport Service (CATS) of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London initially, though plans are in place to market it much more widely.

CATS operational manager, Eithne Polke, says greater flexibility and manoeuvrability in the new design will make a significant difference to her team's transportation process.

"The new Babypod has an adapted design that allows for greater flexibility and manoeuvrability when moving critically ill infants from one mode of transport to another," Polke explained. Not only is the environment controlled at a constant temperature, but the visual opportunity afforded by the redesigned cover allows the baby to be constantly monitored and for better accessibility.

"Overall, we're delighted with the updated Babypod design and safety features and believe it has made a big difference to our transportation processes."

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Williams Formula One technology creates 'Babypod' carrier - ESPN

An Israeli company that affordably extracts water from thin air signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday to bring its proprietary technology to India.

Rishon Lezion-based Water-Gen and India's SUN Group announced their collaboration in Tel Aviv that afternoon, agreeing that the latter will be responsible for distributing the former's technology in the Indian market. According to the memorandum of understanding, the partners are focusing on providing a potable water solution to the Indian military, official institutions and government agencies in particular.

The partnership announcement coincided with the arrival to Israel of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his accompanying business delegation among whose members is the vice chairman of the SUN Group, Shiv Vikram Khemka. The signing took place at a special event held by the Israel Association of Industrialists.

"We are a business company, but our vision is a humanitarian one, said Water-Gen executive chairman Maxim Pasik. In the 21st century, there is no reason for any society to suffer shortage of water.

The agreement with the SUN Group is just one of many recent such collaborations cemented by Water-Gen around the world. Most recently, the suburb of Miami Gardens declared that it would be launching a pilot program using the company's system.

Water-Gens technology first made waves at the AIPAC Policy conference in Washington at the end of March, when Prof. Alan Dershowitz presented the companys device on stage and pulled water out of thin air. Trapping humid air on-demand, the device cleans and dries the air and extracts the resultant clean water.

The company claims to offer a far more affordable option than other systems that have tried to extract water from air, as the heat exchanger in the device is made from plastic rather than from aluminum. Generating 1 gallon (3.79 liters) of water requires only 1 kW of energy, according to the firm.

Water-Gens system is available in three sizes: a small home appliance, a medium-scale model and a large-scale industrial water generator with a capacity of up to 6,000 liters of water per day.

The company stressed the importance of bringing its solution to India, which is the second most populous country in the world and suffers from a chronic water shortage. In rural areas, where 74% of the Indian population resides, only about 21% of the people have access to sanitation and only 84% benefit from a regular water supply, the firm said. In urban areas, where the situation is better, just 54% of residents have access to sanitation and 96% enjoy a regular water supply, the company said.

Across the entire world, there a more than a million children under the age of five who will die every year from diseases related to water shortages or water contamination, added Pasik, Water-Gens executive chairman.

In this sense, the technology Water-Gen has developed is a humanitarian one and we see it as a moral obligation to distribute it as much as possible where it is needed, Pasik said. It is no secret that there is a need for technology like Water-Gen's in India and this is why we are so happy about the memorandum of understanding signed yesterday between us and an Indian company sharing this vision.

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Israeli water technology firm inks deal with India - The Jerusalem Post

July 5, 2017 Gold microchip. Credit: Lancaster University

Counterfeit products are a huge problem - from medicines to car parts, fake technology costs lives.

Every year, imports of counterfeited and pirated goods around the world cost nearly US $0.5 trillion in lost revenue.

Counterfeit medicines alone cost the industry over US $200 billion every year. They are also dangerous to our health around a third contain no active ingredients, resulting in a million deaths a year.

And as the Internet of Things expands, there is the need to trust the identity of smart systems, such as the brake system components within connected and driverless cars.

But researchers exhibiting at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition believe we are on the verge of a future without fakes thanks to new quantum technology.

Whether aerospace parts or luxury goods, the researchers say the new technology will make counterfeiting impossible.

Scientists have created unique atomic-scale ID's based on the irregularities found in 2-D materials like graphene.

On an atomic scale, quantum physics amplifies these irregularities, making it possible to 'fingerprint' them in simple electronic devices and optical tags.

The team from Lancaster University and spin-out company Quantum Base will be announcing their new patent in optical technology to read these imperfections at the "Future without Fakes" exhibit of the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition.

For the first time, the team will be showcasing this new technology via a smartphone app which can read whether a product is real or fake, and enable people to check the authenticity of a product through their smartphones.

The customer will be able to scan the optical tag on a product with a smartphone, which will match the 2-D tag with the manufacturer's database.

This has the potential to eradicate product counterfeiting and forgery of digital identities, two of the costliest crimes in the world today.

This patented technology and the related application can be expected to be available to the public in the first half of 2018, and it has the potential to fit on any surface or any product, so all global markets may be addressed.

Professor Robert Young of Lancaster University, world leading expert in quantum information and Chief scientist at Quantum Base says: "It is wonderful to be on the front line, using scientific discovery in such a positive way to wage war on a global epidemic such as counterfeiting, which ultimately costs both lives and livelihoods alike."

Explore further: Invention of forge-proof ID to revolutionise security

More information: Optical identification using imperfections in 2D materials. arXiv. arxiv.org/abs/1706.07949

Journal reference: arXiv

Provided by: Lancaster University

Scientists have discovered a way to authenticate or identify any object by generating an unbreakable ID based on atoms.

The quantum internet, which connects particles linked together by the principle of quantum entanglement, is like the early days of the classical internet no one can yet imagine what uses it could have, according to Professor ...

Evident Technologies announced that it has received a Phase 1 SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant to develop advanced anti-counterfeiting materials based on its proprietary quantum dot technology. Work under the ...

Researchers from the Cambridge Research Laboratory of Toshiba Research Europe Limited and the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge will today present the world's most secure chat and video conferencing network ...

Bernard Naughton and Dr David Brindley from Oxford University's Sad Business School and Medical Sciences Division discuss the problems of identifying fake, substandard and expired medicines.

The first 3D barcode which can be built into products during manufacture has been developed by UK engineers.

(Phys.org)An international team of researchers has developed a new way to measure the mass of a proton and found the particle to be approximately 30 billionths of a percent less than previously thought. The group has written ...

Counterfeit products are a huge problem - from medicines to car parts, fake technology costs lives.

By combining graphene with another two-dimensional material, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have created a prototype of a transistor-like device for future computers, based on what is known as spintronics. ...

By gently prodding a swirling cloud of supercooled lithium atoms with a pair of lasers, and observing the atoms' response, researchers at Swinburne have developed a new way to probe the properties of quantum materials.

New research from a team of DU physicists has the potential to serve as the foundation for next-generation computer technology.

Researchers at the University of Southampton have cast doubt over established explanations for certain behaviours in pulsars - highly magnetised rotating neutron stars, formed from the remains of supernovae.

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Yeah, in addition to all the "fake" science posing as news.

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A future without fakes thanks to quantum technology - Phys.Org

Alon Alroy Co-Founder and Chief of Marketing Bizzabo

By now, every marketer has heard of marketing and advertising technology stacks, but the idea of an event tech stack is fairly new. As business-to-business (B2B) events and trade shows become increasingly digital productions, however, event technology is now required to help companies manage and measure them. Alon Alroy, co-founder and chief of marketing at event management platform Bizzabo, spoke with eMarketers Maria Minsker about the fundamental components of an event tech stack.

eMarketer: What is an event technology stack? What are some examples of key event technology?

Alon Alroy: When it comes to events, theres a whole world of technology involved. For example, theres website creation. An event website should perform like any good marketing website in order to attract the right people and convert them to registrants. Companies also need technology for email marketing, registration and event apps, as well as on-site tools to manage real-time surveys, check attendees in and monitor audience engagement during sessions.

Technology is also required to enable networking capabilities and to build a community around the event. Plus, a whole suite of analytics has to come into play to analyze data from all of the pieces I just mentioned.

Another big module is contact management, or a CRM [customer relationship management] system that can segment the event database into speakers, participants, exhibitors and sponsors. And of course, there are other pieces of technology needed for venue sourcing, vendor sourcing and travel.

B2Bs can run a successful event without mobile.

eMarketer: What are the challenges that come with putting together an event technology stack?

Alroy: One of the biggest challenges is that the market is still very fragmented, and there are many different tools to choose from. Plus, B2B marketers sometimes need 12 different tools to run an event, so gathering insight from these separate pieces of technology makes measurement a challenge in the end.

eMarketer: How does using an event management platform overcome some of the challenges?

Alroy: An event platform can collect all of the data in one place. It can combine registration data with responses to surveys or polls and pull in information on who the most popular speakers were. A platform can connect all of those pieces of data to make it easier to gather insight and draw conclusions.

Once the event objective is defined, B2Bs need to have technology in place to actually measure data after the event is over.

eMarketer: Is a mobile app a must-have for a successful B2B event?

Alroy: B2Bs can run a successful event without mobile. Companies should instead focus on creating an amazing experience at events, and realize that mobile is just a medium. Its just one way to create engagement and deliver the experience that you want to create. Rather than building their event around one channel, B2Bs should focus on the holistic experience.

eMarketer: How can B2Bs measure event success and return on investment (ROI)?

Alroy: Measurement requires understanding the business objective behind the event. Is it lead generation, brand awareness or something else? Once the event objective is defined, B2Bs need to have technology in place to actually measure data after the event is over. The key is knowing the goal before the event, and then being able to measure whether or not that goal was reached after the event.

Originally posted here:

The Rise of the Event Technology Stack - eMarketer

How to value a sector with a mix of slowing growth, falling margins, fair valuations, steady cash flows and good managements? That is the predicament fund managers are facing these days as they sit down to assess whether it's worth investing in the information technology shares such as Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech and Wipro among others.

Prima facie, technology shares appear to be ripe picks at this juncture because of their underperformance in recent years. The BSE's IT index has fallen 2.3 per cent so in 2016 against the 17.2 per cent gain of Nifty. From January 1, 2016, the technology index has dropped 10 per cent, while the Nifty has gained 19.50 per cent in the period.

Given the liquidity sloshing around that has made its way to shares of various companies with questionable prospects, it would have been just a question of time before technology shares too rebounded. But, fund managers are still in two minds on whether to lap them up.

What is vexing them is whether the shares would be future winners or value traps at current levels. Considered the harbingers of India Inc's relatively late burst into global corporate scene in the '90s, technology companies are increasingly becoming pale shadows of their past.

The IT Index is trading at a price to earnings (PE) ratio - a widelywatched valuations matrix -of 15 times earnings. The total market capitalisation of the tech bigwigs - Infosys, TCS, HCL Technologies and Wipro - is roughly Rs 9.2 lakh crore, which is about 7 per cent of BSE's total market capitalisation.

Though the PE ratio is lower than its 10-year average of 19 times, various fund managers still do not consider these stocks cheap enough given the haze over their profitability. Analysts said the sector's growth is expected to slow to 4-5 per cent in the coming years from 7-8 per cent in 2016-17, forecast by Nasscom.

Various industry insiders and analysts have given their verdict that most of these companies, including the bigwigs, are unlikely to survive in their current form over the next few years. Automation is making several jobs redundant and clients are likely to squeeze technology companies further to cut margins.

This will force companies to bring down costs to survive. A rebound in the US economy is unlikely to be much of help either immediately.

Still, investors are not in a hurry to write off the sector. The biggest reasons for this are sound compa ny managements and steady cash flows -at least till now. These pa rameters are must-have boxes in the checklists of most seasoned in vestors while selecting companies.

The logic is that a good manage ment and cash will enable a smooth transition for a company in turbulent times. The top four technology companies had total cash balances of Rs 41,000 crore as on March 31, 2017, though there have been differences between managements and shareholders on how to deploy this money.

But, fund managers are not ruling out a brief rally in technology shares if the rupee weakens after the 4.6 per cent run-up so far this year. The rupee closed at 64.74 against the dollar on Tuesday. HSBC's currency strategists expect the rupee to fall to 66 by the year-end. Usually , when the rupee weakens, technology shares run up. But, a rally should not be construed as a turnaround in the fortunes of technology shares as the sector's prospects will remain fuzzy in the foreseeable future.

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Fund manager's dilemma: Is IT a future star or value trap? - Economic Times

Some of the robots climb hills and others tell jokes.

Students at the Virginia Robotics and Cyber Academy used their new coding skills to program robots to do a variety of activities.

The five-day robotics academy, through the Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities, served 24 high school-age students from across Virginia. It took place at the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired in Henrico County last Monday through Friday, serving students with disabilities ranging from blindness and low-vision to autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities.

Christopher Freeman, a recent graduate of Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County, programmed his robot to perform stand-up comedy.

Freeman, who is interested in information technology as well as animation, said he knew nothing past basic Java coding prior to entering the academy.

They teach you step by step how to (make the robot), said Freeman, adding that he enjoyed the hands-on approach at the academy.

Students were selected to participate in the program based on their knowledge of math and science. However, students were not required to be competent in computer coding.

Students worked from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., with lunchtime dedicated to listening to speakers from Capital One who discussed career opportunities in information technology.

At a Friday celebration, instructors talked to parents about ways students can prepare for good jobs, while students showed off their robots.

Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities hosts academies throughout the year to help high schoolers from across Virginia gain experience in fields such as technology and manufacturing.

Virginia received a $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2015 to help residents with disabilities gain skills and qualify for high-demand, high-quality jobs. It was one of four states to receive federal funding for this project. The others were Kentucky, Georgia and Nebraska.

We want to try to close the skills gap and create a pipeline of young adults with disabilities who are interested in working in the advanced manufacturing and information technology fields, said Emily West, project manager for Career Pathways.

The academies give the students a chance to see if they have the interest and aptitude in advanced manufacturing or information technologies, she said.

The five-year grant allowed the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to partner with the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired to create the Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities.

The robotics academy curriculum was developed by the National Integrated Cyber Education Resource Center in Bossier City, La., which is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to create and distribute free cyber and engineering curricula to public schools across the country.

We are using content that was pulled from our high school material, said Charles Gardner, curriculum development specialist at the National Integrated Cyber Education Resource Center. These kids are learning exactly what their traditional high school peers are learning.

However, the format in which they learn differs from the standard. The material is presented in a less visual manner, relying more on motion and sound than sight.

We are hoping that the adaptations that we have made here for people with disabilities to participate can be generalized to other camps across the commonwealth so young people with disabilities can participate, said Raymond Hopkins, commissioner of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired.

Students use speech software, allowing them to listen to the computer to understand what is happening on the screen.

As a result of grant funding, students took their specifically designed computers, as well as the robots they created, home with them at the culmination of the academy.

Students created and programed each Gobot individually. The robots functions were mostly sound-based, so students could learn together during programming stages.

It has not just exceeded our expectations; it has exceeded their expectations, said Hopkins of the robot academy.

All the teachers and students are great, Freeman said. I would recommend (the academy) to anyone if I could.

The Virginia Robotics and Cyber Academy is the first information technology and cyber technology academy hosted by Career Pathways. Programs are three to five days. Many involve manufacturing work.

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Virginia Robotics and Cyber Academy helps teens with disabilities gain technology skills - Richmond.com

Elise Zwicky of GateHouse Media Illinois

On any given day, up to 25 individuals with varied disabilities are hard at work in the EPIC Hub computer lab in Peoria, earning a paycheck and cultivating independence thanks to assistive technology.

The hub has a variety of adaptive equipment, including specialized keyboards and screen-reading software. Hub workers with disabilities design and print flyers, posters and calendars; create business cards; and even make and sell their own greeting cards.

Technology definitely helps them to work and live a more rewarding fulfilling productive life. Because a lot of them have those abilities; they just need a little bit of assistance, said Lauren Coyle, EPICs director of specialized programs.

Evolving technology is impacting millions of disabled Americans. According to the National Institutes of Health, one in five Americans about 53 million people has a disability of some kind. About 33 million have a disability that makes it difficult to carry out daily activities, which is where assistive technology comes in.

Kellie Branch-Dircks, a licensed clinical social worker who helps ALS patients, has seen first-hand how assistive technology can make a difference in a persons life. Most ALS patients experience difficulty with speech and movement and many completely lose the ability to speak and use their hands. Electronic communication devices can help restore a patients ability to communicate.

Communication is an element of quality of life, Branch-Dircks said. Communication devices allow patients to continue to express their thoughts and needs, even when their vocal ability is too compromised to be understood, if they dont have the stamina to speak or if they have no vocalization left at all.

Not being able to communicate would be devastating to patients, she added.

ALS robs patients of their voluntary muscle control but not their personality and thoughts, Branch-Dircks explained. Without the ability to communicate, patients would struggle emotionally with depression, hopelessness and anger more than some already do. Communication options are of value to the patients and the caregivers and family members.

Pekinite Perry Martin, who became disabled in a horrific work accident in 2008, said technology has played a big role in helping him overcome his disability.

My legs would be chattering nonstop if I didnt have a baclofen pump in me, he said. It delivers medicine right into my spinal cord that calms the nerve endings down.

Martin also has a specialized golf cart that allows him to play his favorite sport again.

It has a seat that swivels and a big leather chest protector/holder that goes around my chest and a seat belt. A toggle shift stands you up in a standing position to be able to hit the golf ball. Theyre specially designed to be able to go right on the greens and put less pounds per square inch than a person does walking, he said.

Martin has seen many ways that technology helps disabled persons through his involvement in disability advocacy groups.

New things are being invented and discovered all the time. Its almost like if you can think of it, somebody can build it and make life better for people who have disabilities, he said.

Lauren Coyle said in the past people who had difficulty communicating might use an actual book they could flip through to point at pictures that depicted what they wanted to say.

Now we have so many technologically based communication devices that look like a little iPad or laptop that mount on their wheelchair. Of course, those are really expensive, so we do still have some people that use the books, Coyle said.

For more information or to volunteer at EPIC, contact volunteer coordinator Angela Anderson at 689-3606 by email at aanderson@epicpeoria.org. For more information about assistive technology, visit the NIH website at http://www.nih.gov.

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Assistive technology can help disabled individuals live more productively - Peoria Journal Star