Aerospace - Defense

« June 2005 | Main | August 2005 »

July 28, 2005

Finger Lakes Sales and Service Launches New Online Inventory RFQ System

Finger Lakes Sales and Service, a brokerage firm for commercial aircraft parts and components, today announced a major redesign and launch of www.fingerlakesales.com incorporating its new Online RFQ system.

Waterloo, NY (PRWEB) July 28, 2005 -- Finger Lakes Sales and Service, a brokerage firm for commercial aircraft parts and components, today announced a major redesign and launch of www.fingerlakesales.com incorporating its new Online RFQ system.

Said CEO Scott Pirong, "We are very excited about the launch of this new site which has been in development for the past few months. The new site features online inventory enhancements that will make it much easier for clients to search and find the parts they need as well as submit online requests for quotes (RFQ's)."

The new Online RFQ system developed by Flightfunds Inc. is just one of several current initiatives by Finger Lakes Sales and Service to address challenges in locating aviation parts and components. Some of its new features include:

Search by part number and description
Full inventory display
Improved part information display
RFQ tracking
RFQ confirmation

About Finger Lakes Sales and Service
Finger Lakes Sales and Service located in Waterloo, NY is a brokerage firm for commercial aircraft parts and components. Clients range from single owner operations to large corporations in the United States and abroad. More information on Finger Lakes Sales and Service is available through the Finger Lakes website at www.fingerlakesales.com

About Flightfunds Inc.
Flightfunds Inc. located in Schaumburg, IL is an Internet solutions provider for aviation companies that specializes in website design and development, search engine optimization, online marketing campaigns and online inventory systems. More information about Flightfunds Inc. is available through the Flightfunds website at www.flightfunds.com

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 03:43 AM | Comments (0)

Instrumentation Engineering (IE) Awarded Test Systems Contract From General Dynamics-Electric Boat to Design & Manufacture Test Systems for New Virginia Class Submarines

General Dynamics-Electric Boat awarded the test system contract for Virginia Class Submarines to Instrumentation Engineering based on a high-quality, cost effective, modular test solution that demonstrated both technological expertise and substantial industrialization experience.

Oakland, NJ (PRWEB) July 28, 2005 -- Instrumentation Engineering (IE) today announced that it is manufacturing the first Submarine Flight Critical Component Test Bed (SFCCTB) for General Dynamics- Electric Boat. This test system will be used for the revolutionary Virginia Class Submarines. The stealth, firepower and unlimited endurance of these submarines will play a key role in the United State's defense well into the 21st century. IE intends to deliver an equally robust test system and is committed to providing test support throughout the lifecycle of the program.

"I am very proud General Dynamics selected IE on this critical program," said Pat Cupo, President of Instrumentation Engineering. "The SFCCTB requires not only IE’s in depth military test background, but also draws on our extensive optical and RF engineering expertise."

The key to the test system is the same as the key to the submarine—maximum technological and operational flexibility. The SFCCTB is currently designed to test 31 different flight critical components, configured as single or multiple UUT’s. IE’s design provides for future high volume capability and a monitored upgrade path. Operation, maintenance and reconfiguration are simplified by IE’s comprehensive documentation package, and sustainment issues are addressed by IE’s staff support specialists as well as IE’s commitment to non-obsolescence.

About General Dynamics Electric Boat:
With more than a century of experience, Electric Boat has established standards of excellence in the design, construction and lifecycle support of submarines for the U.S. Navy. Primary operations are the shipyard in Groton, CT, and the automated hull-fabrication and outfitting facility in Quonset Point, RI, with a current workforce of 11,300 employees. For more information, please visit www.gdeb.com

About Instrumentation Engineering (IE):
Instrumentation Engineering (IE) designs, develops and supports ATE system integration, test technology solutions and TPS development for the Military & Aerospace, Communications, Medical, Industrial, Automotive, Office Automation and Consumer markets. For 36 years, Instrumentation Engineering has been approaching production test issues with a unique combination of innovative test technology and practical manufacturing experience.

Founded in 1969, IE has the necessary engineering experience and time-tested development processes to create a virtual in-house test team. IE’s comprehensive test engineering approach simplifies the manufacturing process and compliments in-house talent. For more information, please visit www.ietest.com

This press release can be found on the Internet: http://www.ietest.com

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 03:42 AM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2005

Troux Announces Metis Enterprise 5.0 Technology Availability

Market leader rolls out integrated offering to help improve IT governance through Enterprise Architecture processes

Austin, TX (PRWEB) July 26, 2005 -- Troux Technologies, the global leader in IT Governance and Enterprise Architecture (EA) solutions, today announced the general availability of Metis® Enterprise 5.0, an industry-leading Enterprise Architecture Modeling and Repository offering for Global 1000 companies and the government market.

Delivering on the successful acquisition of Metis earlier this year, Troux's Metis family of EA products now combines the visualization and analytic capabilities of the Metis modeling tool with Troux's highly scalable repository for automatic capture and management of enterprise IT and business data. This comprehensive offering gives enterprise architects, business analysts, IT planners and other decision-makers in even the largest and most complex organizations a toolset capable of centralizing the management of all IT governance processes.

"This release of Metis 5.0 will, for the first time, include not only support for an enterprise repository to store all of the different model artifacts, but also a methodology for collecting, reusing and distributing the information to the Metis client and other reporting tools. This simplifies the handling of extremely robust datasets, which is a prerequisite for an organization's success in using IT governance to manage change," said Jonas Lamis, Troux's vice president of product marketing. Lamis also noted that the essence of Enterprise Architecture as foundational to IT governance means that this powerful combination will accelerate business and government agency transformation.

With the Metis Enterprise 5.0 technology offering, U.S. commercial and government customers can choose from three levels of Troux products to meet their EA maturity level and enterprise architecture needs:
* Metis Desktop – Metis Desktop is Troux’s entry-level package for Metis visual modeling tools for the U.S. commercial market. The basic offering for Enterprise Architecture teams includes client tools and an architectural template of choice.

* Metis Workgroup – The mid-tier offering for collaboration within Enterprise Architecture teams includes client tools, templates, and Metis Team Server 3.6.

* Metis Enterprise –The Metis Enterprise package is the industry’s most powerful offering for scalable Enterprise Architecture and Governance activities. Metis Enterprise includes Metis Client tools, Metis Enterprise Architecture Framework (MEAF), and Metis Enterprise Repository. Metis Collection is an optional add-on. Metis Enterprise is the foundation for successful IT Governance and is a pre-requisite for Troux IT Governance applications.

In all three cases, available offerings include a set of EA consulting services, training, support and maintenance for successful EA initiatives.

Pricing and Availability
For pricing information, contact Troux Technologies at 1-866-273-9371. All Metis 5.0 products are generally available.

About Troux Technologies
Troux Technologies (pronounced "true") is a global provider of IT Governance software that accelerates IT and business transformation. Troux's IT Governance solutions enable organizations to strategically plan the enterprise, capture and analyze critical IT and business data and deliver actionable decisions to transform the business. Troux's breakthrough technology provides the enterprise-class information, policies, and analytics critical for IT excellence. With Troux, organizations succeed in breaking the traditional IT silos and effectively aligning IT with core business goals.

Based in Austin, Texas, Troux Technologies serves the Global 1000 and government marketplaces. For more information, please visit www.troux.com or call (866) 273-9371.

Copyright 2005 Troux Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. Troux and Metis by Troux are trademarks of Troux Technologies, Inc. All other company and product names mentioned are used only for identification and may be trademarks of their respective companies.

Media Contacts:
For Commercial and EMEA Inquiries:
Matt Ceniceros
GCI Group
(512) 542.2854
e-mail protected from spam bots

Government:
Julie Keyser-Squires
Softscribe Inc.
(404) 256-5512
e-mail protected from spam bots
www.softscribeinc.com

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 02:26 AM | Comments (0)

MÄK Technologies Announces MÄK HLA/DIS Toolbox for MATLAB and Simulink

Brings the power of VR-Link to MathWorks users.

Cambridge, MA (PRWEB via PR Web Direct) July 26, 2005 -- MÄK Technologies, the world's leading supplier of distributed simulation software, announced the release of the MÄK HLA/DIS Toolbox for MATLAB and Simulink. MÄK’s newest product brings the power of the High Level Architecture (HLA) and Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) communications protocols to MathWorks users. With the MÄK HLA/DISToolbox, users can import live or recorded HLA/DIS data into MATLAB for analysis, integrate MATLAB models into an HLA/DIS environment, and link Simulink models with other HLA/DIS applications.

The MÄK HLA/DIS Toolbox is built on MÄK's best-selling VR-Link® networking toolkit. VR-Link provides a high-level protocol-independent API to HLA and DIS so users can make applications compliant without writing large amounts of code. It is the best-selling toolkit of its kind. The MÄK Toolbox provides the ability to access key VR-Link functionality directly from m-code - MATLAB's programming language, or from Simulink - MATLAB's visual programming environment.

"The release of the MÄK HLA/DIS Toolbox brings the power of distributed simulation to a new set of end users," said Len Granowetter, director of product development. "With the increasing importance and complexity of distributed simulation, MathWorks users who were previously unable to participate in distributed exercises, can use their high fidelity models in distributed simulations."

Pricing and Availability
The MÄK HLA/DIS Toolbox for MATLAB and Simulink is available July 19, 2005 for Windows®. For pricing or more information, please contact the MÄK sales department at e-mail protected from spam bots or at 617.876.8085 x2.

About MÄK Technologies
MÄK Technologies develops software to link, simulate and visualize the virtual world. We create tools and toolkits for distributed simulations, develop PC-based military tactical trainers, craft custom solutions, and research and develop the latest simulation technologies. We build commercial off the shelf simulation software that is flexible, portable and supported. Whether you choose our best-selling networking toolkit, VR-Link or our computer generated forces toolkit, VR-Forces, you have purchased a product backed by the industry's leading distributed simulation experts. Our worldwide customers include ITT Industries, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Tenix, Dassault and BAE. Please call 617.876.8085 or visit www.mak.com for more information.

Contact:
Michelene K. St. Amand
P: 617.876.8085 x144
F: 617.876.9208
e-mail protected from spam bots

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 02:24 AM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2005

Highwall Technologies First to Market with Sensor Capable of Monitoring for Pre-N Wireless Devices and Associated Intrusions

Support for Pre-N Demonstrates Product’s Extensibility to Support Emerging Standards and Related Threat

Sarasota, FL (PRWEB) July 26, 2005 -– Highwall Technologies, a leading provider of wireless security and management products, today unveiled the Highwall Sentinel, the first sensor in the market capable of monitoring and defending against intrusions caused by Pre-N wireless network devices. The Highwall Sentinel now supports 802.11a, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth and Pre-N.

“The Highwall Sentinel is simply this most advanced sensor on the market for wireless security,” said Rich Swier, CEO of Highwall Technologies. “Our ability to adapt to new and emerging wireless standards is a result of smart design and an open architecture. While off-the-shelf sensors become antiquated with the emergence of new standards like Pre-N, Highwall products stay ahead of the curve. The benefit to customers is clear as they maintain control of their environment and prevent having to implement new technology each time a new standard emerges.”

“Wireless technologies are rapidly evolving,” said Richard Shack, President of Gencotech Security Systems Inc. “In order to maintain your security edge, you need a vendor that can scale their solution to meet new and emerging standards. Of all the technologies we’ve evaluated, the Highwall Sentinel has the most flexibility to allow organization’s to handle today’s and tomorrow’s wireless security threats.”

The Highwall Sentinel is the key hardware component of the Highwall Enterprise wireless intrusion detection system (IDS). Highwall Enterprise incorporates the company's patent-pending wireless sensors and antennas with a centrally-managed software architecture that allows for an unlimited number of sensors to be monitored across multiple settings. Enterprise is the most scalable WLAN monitoring solution on the market, capable of monitoring multi-story buildings and campus settings with fewer sensors and less implementation costs than competitors’ solutions.

Highwall Technologies

Highwall Technologies is a leading provider of enterprise products that detect and locate wireless devices, and enable the management and security of wired networks. The Highwall Sentinel is a wireless network appliance that monitors the airwaves for all WiFi activity 24x7, capturing key information on every device that connects, receives or transmits wireless data in the covered environment. The Highwall Scout is an advanced, multi-sector antenna that provides the only true wireless device location capability in the marketplace today. For more information, please visit: www.highwalltech.com.

Media Contact:
Jason Broom
941.362.3502

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 12:49 AM | Comments (0)

"Shuttle Rising" Coincides With Nasa's Return to Flight

Release of a novel nine years in preparation by a Nasa author retiree, happens to coincide with Nasa's return to flight.

(PRWEB) July 26, 2005 -- NASA astronauts will soon return to flight. Their launch to the space station will coincide with the launch of “Shuttle Rising,” a space adventure novel by one of NASA’s own, author Charles Boyle, a veteran of 32 years with the space agency.

“The mutual timing is uncanny,” said Boyle, “given that I’ve been working on this story off and on for nine years.” Asked why the novel took that long to complete, Boyle said, “Decades of writing for the government were not good preparation for writing a novel. I had to retool.”

Boyle described government writing vs novel writing with three examples:
“First, and worst, is inexperience in writing dialogue. The closest we might get is to use an occasional quote. Next, is the need to break the practice of using the passive voice, which produces lines like, ‘Mistakes were made.’ And then, because we couldn’t ‘hype’ anything, we got little practice in using adjectives. I had to go to school on such problems. It was a long apprenticeship in seminars, courses and critique groups.”

“Shuttle Rising” shows the gratifying results. Subtitled “To Rendezvous With A Rumor,” Boyle’s gripping science fiction/techno-thriller/romance rings with authenticity, clarity, drama and excitement. Set in the near future, its plot is driven by the behavior of a Russia that has returned to Communism and is undermining a proposed UN treaty to inspect all nations for weapons of mass destruction, saying the integrity of its word alone makes inspection unnecessary.

In a stealthy space rendezvous, astronaut Adam MacGregor captures a derelict rumored to be a tomb, a failed manned mission from the early days of Soviet space flight.

The US President wants it opened in space and its contents televised live to the world. He intends to refute Moscow’s claim that no cosmonaut ever died in orbit, thus reminding the world that Communists lie and cannot be trusted. At stake are wavering votes for the “Open Lands” treaty. Russia, detecting Adam’s rendezvous, warns him to retreat. Adam presses on and discovers what Moscow is really hiding: a sensational space exploit that ended in tragedy. As the Russians attack, he fights for his life and for a chance at undying love with an aroused enemy, a revenant whom gravity will kill if she returns to Earth.

Charles Boyle served as Educational Programs Manager for Earth Sciences at the Goddard Space Flight Center, near Washington, DC. Prior to NASA, he worked at Bell Labs, Esso, Scott Paper, Western Electric, and US Steel.

Boyle is the author of Tailey Whaley, an illustrated children’s book, in which a whale, born “different,” faces intolerance. His 1970’s book, Space Among Us, described many of the emerging effects of space research on society. Boyle’s writing has appeared in Science and Omni magazines. For the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, he served as space flight editor. He wrote a column called “Space Appreciation” for the Journal of Aerospace Education and has been a contributing editor to various space advocacy publications including Space World, Ad Astra, and Aviation/Space Magazine. Time Magazine quoted from “Boyle’s Other Laws,” a gathering of his aphorisms.

Boyle received a Mechanical Engineering degree from Tulane, an M.B.A. in Business Administration from N. Y. U., and a physics major Masters in Education from Harvard.

A scuba diver, sailboat racer, and “ancient athlete,” Boyle won two gold medals in track at the 2001 National Senior Olympics. In 2004, he set a new American age-group record in the USA Track&Field Masters 3000 meter racewalk.

He served with the U.S. Maritime Service and the U.S. Navy, 1943-1947.

If a review copy is desired, please request.
Trident Publishing
1837 Cove Point Road
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-266-8523
410-266-3251 (fax)
e-mail protected from spam bots

Shuttle Rising by Charles Boyle
$15.95 paperback, 500 pages
CONTACT: Patrick Gallagher
ISBN 0-9657214-5-0
LCCN 2005902031 Pub.Date July 2005

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)

Bonaire’s Flamingo Airport (BON) partners with Pennsylvania-based Interspace Airport Advertising for Business and Tourism Showcase

Bonaire International Airport N.V. (Flamingo Airport) to get terminal-wide Business and Tourism Showcase by Interspace Airport Advertising Curacao, N.V. Program debuts November 2005.

Allentown, Pennsylvania (PRWEB) July 26, 2005 – Come this November, residents, tourists, and businesspeople flying into Bonaire’s Flamingo Airport will be welcomed by a vibrant new Business and Tourism Showcase. A variety of colorful murals, vivid flat-panel displays, and high profile sponsored windsurfing sails will showcase all that the island of Bonaire has to offer.

Pennsylvania-based Interspace Airport Advertising, through its subsidiary Interspace Airport Advertising Curacao, N.V., is creating the new terminal-wide advertising display program. Interspace will also manage the program through a 10 year partnership with the airport authority. The airport staff currently manages the existing program.

Interspace is no stranger to the airport advertising business in the Caribbean. Of the so-called “ABC” islands, Interspace built and manages the display programs in Curacao’s Hato International Airport and Aruba’s Aeropeurto Internacional Reina Beatrix. Interspace project coordinator, Christopher Betz, remarks “We have developed beautiful and successful showcases in Aruba and Curacao. We are excited to work on the missing piece of the puzzle – Bonaire.”

Other Caribbean airport program successes for Interspace include Nevis Airport, Princess Juliana Airport in Sint Maarten, Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport in St. Croix, and Cyril E. King International Airport in St. Thomas. “We won an Airport Council’s International (ACI) award for the design of our displays in St. Thomas,” says Betz.

A variety of high-profile promotional opportunities will be available in the terminal. “The current program at Flamingo Airport has good participation, but limited options. Our new state-of-the art graphic murals, motion displays, and flat-panel graphics will truly liven up the terminal and give everyone a chance to promote themselves!” Interspace will invest at least $50,000 (USD) in capital to create and expand the program over the first five (5) years of the partnership.

Interest in the new Business and Tourism Showcase is high. Over 70 companies and organizations have signed up to meet with Interspace representatives while they are on island August 1 through August 10. “We are even meeting with a couple of companies in Curacao on our way to and from Bonaire,” says Betz, “We want everyone to be a part of this very important enhancement of the terminal. From the smallest dive operator to the largest bank, there are opportunities for everyone.”

Anyone interested in meeting to learn more about participating in the program can contact Daniel Soria, Interspace project sales manager, at 001-610-395-7282 ext. 222.

Interspace Airport Advertising, founded in 1974, is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. The Flamingo Airport program will be handled by Interspace Airport Advertising Curacao, N.V. Interspace handles nearly 200 airport display programs across the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Guam, New Zealand, and Australia.

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 12:47 AM | Comments (0)

Travel Expert Arthur Frommer Emphasizes Growing Importance of Senior Citizens on the Travel Industry

Southwest Airlines launches availability of Senior fares online at Southwest.com.

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) July 25, 2005 -- Today's Seniors are savvier, more active, and more able to go, see, and do than ever before. Renowned travel expert Arthur Frommer emphasized the growing importance of this vital demographic recently during a speech presented to the Hotel Maritime Association in Hollywood, Florida.

"The statistics are staggering," Frommer said. "In 1950, one in 12 Americans was over the age of 65. By the year 2000, the ratio had increased to one in nine, and in just a few more years, one in every five Americans will be 65 years of age and older."

Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) recognizes the importance of this growing demographic and today announced the availability of Senior Fares on its website at http://www.southwest.com .

"Southwest has been offering Senior Fares to Customers 65 and older since 1971 but now we're making it even easier for Seniors -- or for people booking travel for a Senior -- to find a great deal by allowing them to book the discount fare online," said Anne Murray, Southwest's Senior Director of Interactive Marketing. "Southwest Airlines is dedicated to providing Seniors with low fares, flexible travel, and exciting destinations so they can enjoy the best years of their lives."

Starting today, Southwest's easy-to-use online reservations tool will include a new fare category specifically for Senior Fares. For more details on Senior Travel visit http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/seniors.html?src=

Southwest's Senior Fares are flexible, can be purchased one-way, and are currently capped at $129 one-way. That means Seniors over 65 will never pay more than $129 one-way for travel to any of Southwest's 60 destinations.

Fare Rules
Fares do not include a federal excise tax of $3.20 that will be imposed for each flight segment of the itinerary (a flight segment is defined as a takeoff and landing). Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9 and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5 one-way. Passengers must be at least 65 years of age and present a valid I.D. showing proof of age. Seats are limited. Other restrictions apply.

Southwest Airlines, known for being "high tech and high touch," has a reputation for legendary delivery of Customer Service that has not been compromised with the growth in popularity of the Web. Southwest was the first airline with a Web site, and March 2005 marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of its site. It's now one of the top travel sites and the only airline web site that regularly makes it in the top rankings for popularity, ease of use, and revenue generation (more than $3 billion annually is booked through southwest.com).

Customers who book their travel via the Internet can subscribe to Southwest Airlines' Click 'n Save e-mail updates. The weekly updates deliver the airline's latest fare sale information right to the Customer's e-mail "in" box. For more information, visit http://www.southwest.com .

Media Contact:
Public Relations of Southwest Airlines
+1-214-792-4847
Customers:
+1-800-I-FLY-SWA or +1-800-435-9792
en Espanol:
+1-800-VAMONOS or +1-800-826-6667

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2005

Tuff-Seal Aviation Flooring Line announced by Flooring Adventures

Tuff-Seal Aviation Flooring was announced today by Flooring Adventures. Designed for use by aircraft owners and aircraft homebuilders in hangers, workshops, basements, garages and other areas, Tuff-Seal interlocking tiles utilize a patented, hidden interlock system to create a secure, watertight and virtually seamless flooring surface. The tiles reduce noise, insulate subfloors, reduce dust and humidity, and are more comfortable to stand and work on.

Richmond, VA, July 25, 2005-- Flooring Adventures today introduced its Tuff-Seal™ Aviation Flooring line at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2005 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Designed for use by aircraft owners and aircraft homebuilders in hangers, workshops, basements, garages and other areas, Tuff-Seal interlocking tiles utilize a patented, hidden interlock system to create a secure, watertight and virtually seamless flooring surface. The tiles reduce noise, insulate subfloors, reduce dust and humidity, and are more comfortable to stand and work on.

Tuff-Seal tiles will not break, crack, deflect, loosen or shift even under heavy loads, do not require frequent repair or replacement, yet can be easily removed and re-laid in other areas. Tuff-Seal has a lower life-cycle cost than such flooring alternatives as epoxy coatings and rigid plastic tiles.

Flexible Tuff-Seal is easily installed over existing or uneven floors, cracks and stains with an “overlap-and-tap” process that needs no adhesive or subfloor prep. Once in place, it is watertight and will not support mold and mildew.

Backed by a five-year warranty, Tuff-Seal resists aviation fluids, abrasion, indentations, fire and water. It meets ADA slip-resistance recommendations and ASTM specifications for F-1700 solid vinyl tile, is 100% recyclable, easy to maintain and helps meet LEED criteria. Since Tuff-Seal tiles are generally not adhered to the subfloor, their cost may be fully deductible in the first year.

Tuff-Seal tiles are 18” x 18” (450 mm x 450 mm), ¼” (6.5 mm) thick, weigh 3.5 pounds (1.55 kg) and available in four surface profiles (stud, marquis, diamond and smooth) and nine colors (blue, red, teal, taupe, black, light gray, dark gray, white and canvas). Tuff-Seal Prime is made of virgin PVC and Tuff-Seal Recycled is made of premium-grade 100% post-industrial recycled PVC.

For Tuff-Seal Aviation Flooring information and samples, contact Flooring Adventures, 7453 Whitepine Road, Richmond, VA 23237, 877-779-2454, www.tuffsealtile.com

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 02:21 AM | Comments (0)

Should Overweight Passengers Pay More for their Airline Tickets?

Airlines.Ws revisit's this issue and is conducting a poll and taking your comments.

Minneapolis (PRWEB) July 25, 2005 -- Last November, the Centers for Disease Control released a report and published by The American Journal of Preventive Medicine that overweight passengers were costing the airlines over $275 million in added fuel costs.

It is no secret that the airlines are suffering under the high cost of jet fuel and that we have airlines in bankruptcy and airlines on the verge of bankruptcy and that the high cost of jet fuel is having a negative affect on the airlines.

But it's more than just extra fuel. The CDC also claims the added weight causes enviromental issues as the added fuel also increases the amount of carbon dioxide release by nearly 4 tons.

And while we may think that obseity is just about someone else the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics show that 30 percent of U.S. adults 20 years of age and older - over 60 million people - are obese. Are we getting so heavy it's costing industry and does the Airline Industry have a right to charge us for those extra pounds.

After a steady flow of emails from people wanting to discuss this issue http://Airlines.Ws is conducting a poll and accepting your comments.

Should airlines charge overweight passengers more for their airline tickets?

Are airlines simply trying to expand their revenue base? Is this simply a case of the health police? Or is this sound business charging overweight passengers the cost of added weight?

To vote or comment visit http://Airlines.Ws

Airlines.Ws is a leading directory of the world's airlines, airline news, polls and commentary.

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 02:20 AM | Comments (0)

California Green Designs' Solar Electric System Saves G/G Industries $12,000 Annually in Electric Bills

Considering the long hot summers ahead in Southern California, G/G Industries, a leading manufacturer of Whirlpool bath and spa equipment, has installed the second largest Solar Electric System in Santa Clarita Valley, increasing protection against the impending energy crisis.

Valencia, CA (PRWEB) July 20, 2005 -- G/G Industries has joined the ranks of many other Southern California businesses by recently installing the second largest Solar Electric System in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The 58 kW system will save the Whirlpool bath and spa equipment manufacturer an estimated $12,000 a year, while decreasing their dependence on the rising price of fossil fuels.

The Solar Electric System covers 5,000 square feet of roof top directly on top of the manufacturing facility, and is completely invisible from the street. The shade provided by the 342 Mitsubishi panels, not only prolongs the roof's life, but also reduces the temperature coefficient of the roof, allowing for a more pleasant temperature inside, on the factory floor.

It took California Green Designs, Inc., a company well reputed for its innovative designs and quality installations, a month to complete the installation at G/G Industries' newly built headquarters, in Valencia, Calif. The installation created no disruptions to the regular work flow at G/G Industries, as it was mainly performed on the roof.

G/G Industries is benefiting from several State and Federal Incentive programs that made investing in a large Solar Electric System very attractive. The incentives include tax credits, accelerated equipment depreciation programs and most importantly the Self Generation Incentive Program offered through California's Privately Owned Electric Utility Companies such as Southern California Edison Co., Pacific Electric and Gas Co. and a host of others. In the case of G/G Industries, the combination of these financial incentives benefits reduced the cost of their installation by 70 percent.

“After analyzing the financial and environmental benefits of Solar Energy, we decided to add Solar Power to our facility and reap the benefits of free electricity for decades to come”, said Graham Campbell, the President of G/G Industries. “With this system, we have also protected ourselves against the inevitable increase in electric rates."

Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity emits several pollutants into the environment such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter (a.k.a. soot), and a host of toxic materials such as mercury. Solar Power, through the use of Photovoltaic (PV) modules produces free and clean electricity. Generating electricity using uranium and other radioactive materials in nuclear power plants, although may seem to be cleaner than burning fossil fuels, the waste products are radioactive and there is currently no completely safe or permanent method of disposal. With solar energy, on the other hand, no such risks apply. Solar energy is simply transformed into electrical energy.

“The G/G Industries project was completed within scheduled time and within budget,” said Sevan Varteressian, president of California Green Designs. “It takes vision to invest in one's future and G/G Industries management had that vision to act on the financial opportunities available to implement a system that is both fiscally responsible and environmentally savvy.”

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 02:18 AM | Comments (0)

Atair Aerospace to Display Its Chimera™ Advanced Military Tactical Concept Vehicle at AirVenture Oshkosh - 2005

Atair Aerospace (Atair AS) will exhibit its Chimera™ Military Tactical Vehicle and inventive technologies before an estimated crowd of over 750,000 at the 2005 AirVenture Oshkosh.

BROOKLYN, NY (PRWEB) July 24, 2005 -- Atair Aerospace (Atair AS) will exhibit its Chimera™ Military Tactical Vehicle and inventive technologies before an estimated crowd of over 750,000 at the 2005 AirVenture Oshkosh.

Atair AS’s Chimera is an advanced military tactical concept vehicle designed to demonstrate special operations infiltration and exfiltration mission capabilities using manned aerial vehicles (MAVs). Atair AS developed Chimera an as advanced aerial concept platform to test and further develop enabling technologies for UAV, MAV, GN&C systems, and large-scale paraglider designs.

AirVenture is known as “The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration,” and will feature a lineup of air and space vehicles including Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipOne (the world's first civilian spacecraft and winner of the $10 million Ansari X Prize).

Headquartered in Brooklyn, N.Y., Atair AS is a high-technology defense contractor dedicated to modernizing military, government, and corporate logistics by creatively solving complex aerospace and engineering problems that integrate the state-of-the-art in parachute designs and guidance navigation & control systems.

For more information, contact Rick Zaccari at e-mail protected from spam bots or visit the Atair Aerospace website at www.atairaerospace.com.

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 02:17 AM | Comments (0)

WebHelps Announces Launch of New Wiki Package

WhatHelps?, Inc., a global provider of hosted social networking and online community web services, announces the launch of their new 'Wiki Package,' which was formerly the Work Group Package. New features have been added to provide users with the latest in web-based collaboration. The Wiki Package will be one of five packages of hosted interactive tools offered by WhatHelps?, Inc. through their web site at WebHelps.com.

Bellevue, IA - WhatHelps?, Inc., a global provider of hosted social networking and online community web services, announces the launch of their new Wiki Package.

The package lets users create a private business community for their project group or team members to communicate, collaborate, interact, share information and files, all within a private, hosted environment.

Setup is fast and easy; no training, downloading or special skills required. For those who need help building their Wiki, WebHelps Extreme Support™ with its small-team approach will deliver a level of service beyond most expectations. They place the most experienced, most highly paid people on each Support Team. Each Team is comprised of a team leader, support liaison, programmer, web designer and billing specialist.

Matthew Highland, WhatHelps? CTO, had this to say about the Wiki Package features: "The Package will include unlimited registered team members, One Click Customization, Project Announcements page, Objectives page, Task List, Known Issue List, Article Library, RSS Feeds, Team Directory, Activity Tracking, Create-A-Page, Instant Messenger, Calendar, Blog, Filesharing, Knowledge Base and IMail List."

WhatHelps?, Inc. CEO, Michelle Wilbers said, "The Wiki, which was until recently not much more than a browser-based web page creator, has come a long way fast in terms of features. Today, the feature-rich Wiki includes several easy-to-use, integrated, interactive tools that make it easy for people to collaborate across great distances or across the room.

"The Wiki's ease of use is what has made it so popular," she added. "The trick, which we have mastered, has been adding new features without making the Wiki more difficult to use. People can literally sign into our Wiki and begin working immediately with other members of their Wiki group. No training is needed. If you can email, you can Wiki."

"Because there is no software to buy, install, or maintain and no server required, Wikis are becoming increasingly popular among small businesses and organizations. They have found they can provide their people with some of the best real-time collaboration software available, on an as-needed basis, without making a big financial commitment. And, because Wikis are so easy to use, they do not have to spend a lot of time and money on training."

Educational institutions are using Wikis for student collaboration and projects. The pharmaceutical industry uses Wikis to manage clinical trials and develop new technology. Engineering firms have found Wikis useful in tracking engineering projects, bids and technology development. And organizations of all types are finding that Wikis are cost-effective ways to manage projects and documentation.

About WhatHelps?
WhatHelps?, Inc., co-founded by CEO, Michelle Wilbers in 2000, is headquartered in Bellevue, Iowa. WhatHelps? provides its communication-oriented tools in packages of web site add-ons, or as individual web tools, on a subscription basis. For most small businesses and individuals, the cost of purchasing, installing and maintaining these types of tools is cost-prohibitive. By providing tools in a unique, shared hosting environment, WhatHelps? makes even the most expensive and complex tools affordable and easy to use. Should a particular tool not fully meet a customer's needs, WhatHelps? offers an Add-A-Feature service, which, for a reasonable fee, provides customers with the option of changing and/or adding features.

Tracey Kozelka
WhatHelps?, Inc.
306 N. 2nd Street
Bellevue, Iowa 52031 USA
(563) 872-4231 (weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST)
http://whathelps.com/helpform.htm

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 02:16 AM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2005

Aloft Technologies™ Introduces Stereo Sound in the World’s Finest Ultra-Light, Passive Noise Reduction Aviation Headset

Aloft Technologies introduces a performance break-through, adding stereo fidelity sound to the world’s most comfortable, lightweight aviation headset. The new Clarity Aloft stereo headset will be unveiled at the EAA AirVenture Fly-In in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 25- 31.

(PRWEB) July 22, 2005 -- Aloft Technologies introduces a performance break-through, adding stereo fidelity sound to the world’s most comfortable, lightweight aviation headset. The new Clarity Aloft stereo headset will be unveiled at the EAA AirVenture Fly-In in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 25 - 31. Previously the Clarity Aloft headset was offered in monaural only. Technical officers at Aloft Technologies anticipate high acceptance in the marketplace for a pilot headset that exceeds the sound fidelity typically offered by competitors.

"The magnitude of requests for stereo sound from existing and potential customers has driven this new product offering," explained Bill Waterman, President of Aloft Technologies. "AirVenture attendees look for new product offerings every year, and visitors to our booth will have new features and benefits to consider in the Clarity Aloft stereo headset." Aloft Technologies will offer free product demonstrations throughout the week during the Fly-In.

One core advantage behind the move to stereo is that pilots and passengers with any sort of differential hearing loss can benefit from setting the sound level of the left and right speakers separately. The headsets will have volume control, as well as a separate balance control, a more robust feature than the dual volume controls used in other stereo aviation headsets.

The new Clarity Aloft stereo aviation headset will also feature a stereo audio input. This will allow pilots to listen to their iPods or CD players in full stereo sound during their leisure time. Best of all, there is no need for batteries due to the headsets ability to draw only a small amount of power from the aircraft panel.

According to Bill Waterman, "many customers who purchased the original mono version are trading up to the stereo version and Aloft Technologies predicts that demand for the new headsets will be high."

Aloft Technologies, headquartered in Maple Grove, MN, produces high quality, technologically advanced aviation products. For information contact Aloft Technologies at 612-747-3197 or visit www.clarityaloft.com

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 03:00 AM | Comments (0)

Creative Materials Feeds Advances in Touch Screen Manufacturing

Creative Materials introduces inks for printing on touch screens. The use of touch screens has become prevalent in a wide variety of electronic applications: public information displays, retail and restaurant systems, customer self-service, control and automation systems, computer based training and assistive technology.

Tyngsboro, MA, (PRWEB) July 22, 2005 – The application team at Creative Materials, Inc., has introduced a family of three materials developed for printing on surfaces used in touch screen manufacturing.

The use of touch screens has become prevalent in a wide variety of electronic applications: public information displays, retail and restaurant systems, customer self-service, control and automation systems, computer based training and assistive technology. As the price for touch screens has steadily dropped over the last decade, touch screens have been more and more commonplace.

Creative Materials’ 118-09A/B-187, 118-09A/B and 118-41 are electrically conductive, modified epoxy systems that stick well to anti-reflective coatings, ITO coated glass and PET. These inks meet stringent requirements for thermal cycling and thermal shock, while maintaining good adhesion.

“As I travel across the country, I am frequently asked about appropriate inks for anti-glare and ITO coated surfaces,” said Joe Morano, application-engineering manager at Creative Materials. “For touch screen applications, I often recommend our 118-09A/B-187, 118-09A/B and 118-41 because of their stability and excellent adhesion. With these choices, the engineer can pick the product that best suits his requirements for pot life and heat cure.”

Creative Materials’ 118-09A/B187 is a two-component, solvent resistant, electrically conductive ink, coating and adhesive. The B-187 cures at the lowest temperature and has a shortened pot life (4 hours). The combination of 118-09A and B-187 curing agent allows for curing at a temperature of 65C. This material is very resistant to scratching and creasing, translating into user benefits such as extended life of the touch screen and prevention of surface-to-surface contact and scuffing.

Creative Materials’ 118-09A/B is similar to the 118-09A/B-187, but has a longer pot life (4 days) at a slight adhesion compromise to anti-reflective coatings. Other applications include, but are not limited to: EMI/RFI shielding of polyimide flexible circuits, polymer thick film circuitry, membrane switches and bus bars on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) sputtered surfaces.

CMI’s 118-41 is a one component version of the above. Because of its relatively high cure temperature, it can only be used where the substrate can be subjected to the cure temperature. This product features excellent adhesion to glass, polycarbonate, Kapton, and a variety of other substrates, and is very resistant to scratching and creasing.

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 02:59 AM | Comments (0)

New Website AirlineExplorer.com Gives Voice To Airline Consumers, Traveling Public and Airliner Fans

New website AirlineExplorer.com is launched giving a voice to travelers, airline industry employees and enthusiasts. AirlineExplorer.com will feature airline reviews submitted by the traveling public, reports on experiences going through airport security, news, and forums where airliner pictures may be posted, viewed and discussed.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Ventura County, California (PRWEB) July 22, 2005 –- AeroSpaceNews.com is pleased to announce the launch of its new airline portal website: AirlineExplorer.com ( http://www.AirlineExplorer.com )

Conceived to empower the traveling public with first person accounts of airline service, AirlineExplorer.com will also provide an opportunity for any registered user to tell their story to readers within and outside the airline industry.

By no means anti-airline, reviews are expected to reflect the range of service quality present across the industry. Visitors will also have an opportunity to post dispatches about airport security, currently the subject of AirlineExplorer.com’s first reader poll.

The dynamic mix of content on AirlineExplorer.com includes news, airline, aircraft and airport documentary video programs, podcasting, RSS feeds, and airline picture galleries where visitors may view, and registered users may post, exciting airline imagery.

AirlineExplorer.com’s discussion forums are open to everyone from airline enthusiasts to industry personnel such as ground crew, mechanics, flight attendants, management and pilots.

Airline job information will be exchanged in the professional forums and recruitment advertising running on the site. AirlineExplorer.com’s polling on security, labor, aircraft, service and destinations will keep readers informed about the very pulse of this dynamic and global industry which has been so incredibly transformed since the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001.

For additional information please contact us (see below).

About AirlineExplorer.com:

AirlineExplorer.com is the newest member of The Aeronautic Company’s family of web properties.

Websites in the network include the web hosting firm Aeronautic.net ( http://www.Aeronautic.net ), Aeronautic Pictures, a video production and photography company ( http://www.AeronauticPictures.com ), and AeroSpaceNews.com ( http://www.AeroSpaceNews.com ), one of the internet’s first aviation e-zines having launched on July 4, 1997.

AeroSpaceNews.com was founded to deliver trade level content to both industry and the general public via multimedia technologies in an informative yet entertaining manner. AeroSpaceNews.com has been honored with awards and recognition for its content and innovative use of technology.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Craig Schmitman
Publisher
AirlineExplorer.com
AeroSpaceNews.com
805-639-7901 tel
http://www.AirlineExplorer.com
http://www.AeroSpaceNews.com

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 02:58 AM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2005

Southwest Airlines Releases Economic Proposal to Serve King County International Airport

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) July 21, 2005 -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) today released its economic proposal, detailing the $130 million capital investment Southwest Airlines will make at King County International Airport. Southwest is proposing to construct facilities in order to move its airport operation to King County International Airport, from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where ever-increasing costs have become an obstacle to growth. To view the entire proposal, click on this link: http://www.southwest.com/about_swa/press/king_county_proposal.pdf

Southwest will use its own financial resources for the approximately $130 million improvement of King County International Airport (KCIA). Southwest Airlines proposes to build an eight-gate commercial airport facility, which will include parking garage, passenger concessions, rental car provisions, special accommodations for cruise traffic and buses, and the necessary facilities for Southwest's flight operations, including gates, office space, baggage claim, and baggage screening.

If approved by King County, Southwest's operations would start at KCIA in 2009 with 60 daily flights, and plan to grow to 85 flights. Under the terms of the proposal, Southwest will own, manage, maintain, and operate the terminal. Southwest will pay King County landing fees and land rental rates stipulated by the County. After the 50-year agreement expires, ownership of the entire facility will transfer to King County.

"We are giving King County a $130 million airport and by doing this, preserving low fares for all the people of the Puget Sound Region," said Gary Kelly, Southwest's CEO, at today's press conference. "The long-term economic benefits to King County and the region far exceed our initial investment. As a result of estimated direct expenditures, taxes paid, and the preservation of low fares, there will be a projected $1.6 billion total economic gain to the region."

The Puget Sound region will benefit from Southwest's proposal. Stimulation of low fares at KCIA also can be expected to stimulate low fares at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac), as the result of what has long become known as the "Southwest Effect," a term coined by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

One of the more significant aspects of the Southwest Effect is that traffic doesn't just surge at Southwest and the airport it serves; it also stimulates traffic at other airlines and at airports in the same region that are not served by Southwest.

For years, Southwest Airlines has initiated and maintained air service in cities served by more than one airport, including Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Baltimore/Washington DC, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Houston. Of the top U.S. 20 cities in terms of 2004 domestic airport passenger traffic, Southwest served 15 of these markets -- nine of which were served via secondary airports located within the metropolitan area. According to Airports Council International, all of the major metropolitan airports increased passenger traffic levels in 2004, even with airfare competition from Southwest's operations at a secondary airport.

"The high cost of doing business at Sea-Tac has diluted the Southwest Effect in the Puget Sound region," Kelly said. "By moving operations to King County International and lowering costs, the Southwest Effect can flourish to the benefit of all passengers traveling to and from the region."

Southwest Airlines cannot afford to operate its successful business model and preserve low fares for consumers at high-cost airports, which is why the airline looked for alternatives that would preserve its commitment and investment in the Seattle market. After more than five years of articulated concerns regarding increasing costs at Sea-Tac, Southwest looked to KCIA as a viable alternative.

"Southwest has a keen focus on keeping costs low, particularly in this volatile energy environment," said Kelly. "Southwest is fulfilling the obligations of its current lease agreement with the Port of Seattle and we have no plans to do otherwise. When that lease is up in December 2005, just as any lessee would, we have the option to move."

Southwest Airlines hopes the Metropolitan King County Council will allow Southwest Airlines to relocate to King County International Airport. Any permitting, design, or construction will be undertaken by Southwest only after a rigorous environmental review by local, state, and federal agencies. The airline believes its proposal to be consistent with the requirements of local regulatory agencies, and noise impacts will be minimal.

Southwest Airlines has the largest all-jet fleet in the world, flying only Boeing 737s. The airline exclusively purchases "Next Generation" Boeing 737-700s, a quieter, more powerful aircraft that climbs higher and faster, thus diminishing the noise on the ground.

The scale of Southwest Airlines' proposed initial operations at KCIA result in just a 13 percent increase in daily departures for KCIA, which currently oversees more than 800 cargo and general aviation departures and landings each day. The under-utilized King County International Airport would produce a better return on the community's investment with Southwest Airlines' proposal.

"Southwest Airlines is committed to the Puget Sound region and its mission of low fares," Kelly said. "In allowing Southwest Airlines to launch commercial air service from KCIA, King County affirms its dedication to preserving the Freedom to Fly and to the airport's future success."

Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 60 airports in 31 states. Its 61st airport, Ft. Myers, begins service on Oct. 2, 2005. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates 3,000 flights a day and has 31,000+ employees systemwide.

http://www.southwest.com

Media Contact:
Public Relations of Southwest Airlines
+1-214-792-4847
Customers:
+1-800-I-FLY-SWA or +1-800-435-9792
en espanol:
+1-800-VAMONOS or +1-800-826-6667

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)

Blueprint Technologies Leads Federal Agencies to Mission Results with Architecture, Reuse and Metis by Troux

IRS, EPA, and the Department of Health & Human Services align IT portfolios to business needs, prioritize their investments.

(PRWEB) July 21, 2005 -- It is a truism that huge potential exists for the exchange of IT 'lessons learned' between the government and commercial sectors. Many government agencies are absorbing such lessons as systems integrators and consultants – wielding expertise in architecture, reuse, and modeling tools –expand into the government market from their traditional base of corporate IT customers.

A case in point is Blueprint Technologies, a fast-growing consulting firm specializing in enterprise architecture and reuse solutions since its founding in 1997. Building on architecting experience gained in IT engagements with Fortune 2000-class companies, Blueprint is now leveraging Troux's Metis®visual modeling toolset, and its own set of best practices, in the public sector. Projects related to mission fulfillment are in progress at a number of Federal agencies including the IRS, EPA, and the Department of Health & Human Services. In many cases, the goal is to help agency customers achieve mission fulfillment through reaching the Office of Management and Budget's assessment Level 3, a measure of agencies' maturity in managing IT using enterprise architecture. Level 3 represents a comprehensive and effective enterprise architecture, which has been a challenging goal for many agencies.

“Enterprise Architecture is a vitamin.”

“The government has a lot of enterprise architecture principles now being adapted by commercial companies; equally, we find the commercial market's solution architecture work is generally more advanced than the government's,” says Jeanne O'Kelley, Blueprint's president and CEO, whose small, woman-owned firm migrated from an almost 90% involvement in the commercial market to the public sector three years ago.

“We were drawn to the government by the opportunities for architecting on a grand scale,” O'Kelley continues. “We also realized that as commercial companies look for solutions, they are still buying pain killers, not vitamins. Enterprise architecture is a vitamin. Vitamins will solve the problems organizations face, it just takes longer and you need funding. Few CIOs want to take on that challenge during their budget watch.” For the visionary Federal CIOs who do, however, O'Kelley notes EA as it has been mandated by OMB is a discipline analogous to a healthy lifestyle, one that actually reduces the need for expensive and too-often ineffective
'short-term' fixes.

'Federated' architecting at multiple levels within HHS

The analogy is apropos to Blueprint's work as a subcontractor architecting at multiple levels within the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). O'Kelley notes that HHS has standardized on the Metis tool for architecture visual modeling. Blueprint's expert developers use the tool to build architectures at the department level (HHS), the operating division level (Food & Drug Administration; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services), and at the center level (three FDA Centers – for Biologics Evaluation and Research; Drug Evaluation and Research; and Food Safety and Applied Nutrition – as well as the FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs). “In a federated fashion, the architectural information at the lower levels all rolls up for use in creating the enterprise architecture at the departmental level, which in turn rolls up into the OMB's requirements,” O'Kelley says.

Most recently in its work for the FDA, Blueprint has begun implementing new Business Process Modeling (BPM) facilities within Metis for documenting the key business activities of the agency. With this information, FDA architects and managers can determine how their IT portfolios align to business needs and prioritize their investments accordingly. “Being able to look at proposed investments and assess how they align to their projected architecture is an invaluable benefit to CIOs, CTOs, and enterprise architects in the FDA and other agencies that are evaluating their portfolios,” says Craig Miller, Blueprint Technologies' Director of Enterprise Planning Solutions.

Compliance and analytics combine to achieve mission results, business transformation

Blueprint's O'Kelley agrees. She acknowledges that EA implementations are more advanced in federal agencies than in corporations, owing to legislative and executive branch mandates -- including OMB directives for agencies to align their strategic agendas with their IT investments in order to receive funding for IT projects. “Looking beyond the need for compliance, however, to the principles behind enterprise architecture, the real issue for our government clients is: how do they make better investments? To do that, they need to first align their technology infrastructure with their business processes, and then perform analytics on their EA models. This ability provides the foundation for true business transformation from an organization's current state to an optimized future state, such as the OMB's Level 3.”

As an example, O'Kelley cites early-stage work that Blueprint is doing for the Internal Revenue Service. “By creating custom extensions to the IRS metamodel, we have created a dashboard that allows users to choose the analytics they want performed on their models -- essentially mining the models to get statistical information and answer important business questions in real time. Without this kind of capability, there is a risk that an enterprise architecture might become just another piece of shelfware.”

Future forward: Scalable database provides the foundation for analytics, SOA modeling

The prospect for creating such dynamic 'actionable' models is an important new direction for Blueprint and its clients. Accordingly, Blueprint plans to use the forthcoming integration of Metis and the Troux IT Transformation Suite. “We see huge opportunities for implementing the powerful reporting and analysis capabilities in Troux and the unique facility for automated data collection in the integrated Troux/Metis solution,” says Blueprint's Miller, who is on a Troux Advisory Board guiding the integration of the two products. “Our customers will get the best of both worlds: Troux's data management and analysis, Metis' rich visualization, and Blueprint's architecture and reuse principles. This sort of product integration, which will include a highly scalable database, is essential for accommodating the volume of enterprise-wide data sets involved as the scale of enterprise architecture expands to service-oriented architectures on the Web.”

Blueprint's O'Kelley says that, for the immediate future, Blueprint is setting its sights on the federal lines of business in health and national security. “We expect to eventually devote resources to growing back into the commercial market, especially in pharmaceuticals, building on the expertise we have gained in working with federal health agencies.”

Blueprint for Growth
Blueprint Technologies, www.blueprinttech.com, is a small, woman-owned firm specializing in architecture and reuse solutions for the federal and corporate IT markets. Blueprint provides teams of expert enterprise solution architects who define and implement blueprints that modernize business services and IT capabilities to fulfill agency objectives. Its architects leverage an iterative, architecture-centric and model-driven process, state-of-the-art tools, and reusable assets to quickly produce accurate, business-relevant blueprints that decrease development time and effort, minimize maintenance costs, and reduce program risk.

Press contact:
Julie Keyser-Squires
Softscribe Inc.
(404) 256-5512
www.softscribeinc.com

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)

Mobile Armor, LLC Achieves Gold Certified Status in the Microsoft Partner Program and Earns Competencies in ISV/Software and Networking Infrastructure Solutions

Mobile Armor, LLC, a Saint Louis based leading provider of Enterprise Mobile Data Security (EMDS) solutions software, today announced it has been recognized by Microsoft for its expertise and total impact in the technology marketplace by achieving Gold Certified status in the Microsoft Partner Program.

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) July 21, 2005 -- Mobile Armor, LLC, a Saint Louis based leading provider of Enterprise Mobile Data Security (EMDS) solutions software, today announced it has been recognized by Microsoft for its expertise and total impact in the technology marketplace by achieving Gold Certified status in the Microsoft Partner Program. As a Gold Certified Partner with competencies in both ISV/Software and Networking Infrastructure Solutions, Mobile Armor demonstrated superior levels of developer certification and deep real-world experience and provided customer reference projects that were independently verified by Microsoft.

“We are extremely pleased to have attained Gold Certified status in the Microsoft Partner Program. This allows us to clearly promote our expertise and relationship with Microsoft to our customers,” said Chand Vyas, CEO of Mobile Armor. “The benefits provided through our Gold Certified status will allow us to continue to enhance the offerings that we provide for our customers.”

“Customers are looking for partner companies that can bridge the gap between their business demands and technology capabilities. They need to trust in someone that can act as an expert adviser for their long-term strategic technology plans. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners, which have certified expertise and direct training and support from Microsoft, can build a positive customer experience with our technologies,” said Allison Watson, Vice President of the Worldwide Partner Sales and Marketing Group at Microsoft Corp. “Today, Microsoft recognizes Mobile Armor as a new Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for demonstrating its expertise in providing customer satisfaction with Microsoft products and technology.”

About Mobile Armor
Mobile Armor, LLC is a Saint Louis based leading provider of Enterprise Mobile Data Security (EMDS). Mobile Armor develops and markets the next-generation software suite that enables dynamic organizations to fully protect business, financial, and operating information and data. Mobile Armor’s solution has been certified to meet the standards and guidelines for security set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the United States Government.

For further information about Mobile Armor contact:
Barb Johnston
400 South Woods Mill Rd.
Suite 110
St. Louis, MO 63017
Tel: 636-449-0239
Fax: 314-205-2303
http://www.mobilearmor.com/

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)

Large Variable Frequency Drive Motors Are Now Protected By Aegis Sgr™ Shaft Grounding With 74 Additional Sizes

Electro Static Technology – ITW, manufacturer of the patent pending AEGIS SGR™ Conductive MicroFiber™ shaft grounding brush, released 74 new sizes with additional part numbers to cover any VFD driven AC motor with up to six inch (6") shaft diameters.

Mechanic Falls, ME (PRWEB via PR Web Direct) July 20, 2005 -- Electro Static Technology – ITW, manufacturer of the patent pending AEGIS SGR™ Conductive MicroFiber™ shaft grounding brush, released 74 new sizes with additional part numbers to cover any VFD driven AC motor with up to six inch (6") shaft diameters. The full parts list for all 137 individual sizes for shafts from 0.311" to 6.020" is available to down load at www.est-aegis.com .
When variable frequency drives (VFDs) are used to control AC motors, currents are induced on the motor shaft. These currents build up until they are strong enough to discharge through the bearings, causing frosting, pitting, and fluting. Over time, these discharges can lead to premature bearing failure and motor failure. The AEGIS SGR conductive microfibers provide the path of least resistance for shaft currents to discharge to ground and prevent bearing damage and extend motor life.

The patent-pending AEGIS SGR is maintenance-free, lasts for the service life of the motor, and is unaffected by dirt, grease, or other contaminants. Now with the expanded part numbers, virtually any VFD motor, regardless of size and horse power, can be protected by this innovative new solution to prevent electrical bearing damage.

AEGIS SGR™ is easily installed by sliding the ring over either end of the motor shaft and locking it in place with simple screw-on mounting brackets. Because no machining is required, the SGR can be installed in minutes — even in the field.

Electro Static Technology is the global leader in the elimination and/or mitigation of induced electrical charges on rotating and moving surfaces. Other products include FLX-P™ flexible peel-and-stick passive static eliminators for printers, copiers, and other imaging devices. Electro Static Technology is a division of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a $10 billion multinational conglomerate operating in 44 countries.

For more information, contact:
Adam Willwerth, Sales and Marketing Manager, Electro Static Technology, 31 Winterbrook Road, Mechanic Falls, ME 04256, Toll-Free: 1-866-738-1857, TEL: (207) 998-3493, FAX: (207) 998-5143, www.est-aegis.com

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2005

QSI Offers New Version of the QTERM-G55 Rugged Graphic Operator Interface Terminal with Emergency Stop (E-Stop) Switch

QSI Corporation, manufacturer of rugged operator interface terminals, announces the availability of an Emergency Stop (E-stop) switch option on the popular QTERM-G55 human-machine interface (HMI) terminal. The QTERM-G55 with E-stop switch is a rugged, handheld HMI terminal using graphics and a keypad to interface with the user. It is the newest addition to QSI’s family of award-winning Qlarity™ graphic terminals and is now available.

Salt Lake City, UT (PRWEB) July 20, 2005 -- QSI Corporation, manufacturer of rugged operator interface terminals, announces the availability of an Emergency Stop (E-stop) switch option on the popular QTERM-G55 human-machine interface (HMI) terminal. The QTERM-G55 with E-stop switch is a rugged, handheld HMI terminal using graphics and a keypad to interface with the user. It is the newest addition to QSI’s family of award-winning Qlarity™ graphic terminals and is now available.

E-stop switches are used primarily in industrial robotics and automation applications; the intent is to provide fail-safe control to immediately shut down equipment operation when operator safety is threatened. The E-stop option for QSI’s QTERM-G55 provides the following features/benefits:
-The two-pole (four-wire) normally closed switch meets United States and European requirements for machine safety.
-The placement of the switch above the terminal display allows easy access without hindering normal terminal operation.
-The rugged switch and terminal housing can withstand one meter drops onto concrete.

The E-stop version of the terminal can be equipped with one EIA-232, -422 or -485 serial ports, Ethernet 10Base-T or a Power-over-Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af) interface. The QTERM-G55 has a 320x240 pixel, color LCD display measuring 96 mm (3.8") diagonal. (optional grayscale display available) and is viewable in most lighting conditions. Other industrial-grade features include 24-key or 40-key membrane / steel snap dome keypad with LEDs; 2 Mbytes flash / 16 Mbytes SDRAM; programmable speaker and real-time clock. The QTERM-G55 operator interface is ruggedized for use in harsh industrial environments (NEMA-12, CE certified housing). The terminal has an overmolded rubber boot, providing a superior seal, around an ABS polycarbonate plastic case. Terminal housing is available in blue, black or gray. The QTERM-G55 can be customized to be a part of your product with a custom key legend and company logo.

The QTERM-G55 operator interface uses an object-based graphic terminal programming language called Qlarity™ (pronounced Clarity). Designing a simple control panel interface or a complete stand-alone application has never been easier. The ability to use pre-defined objects, edit existing objects or author your own objects provides flexibility to the novice and expert alike. Qlarity Foundry™, a PC-based design tool, provides a Windows© environment for screen creation, application simulation, debugging and downloading to the QTERM-G55.

Graphic images of the QTERM-G55 with E-stop can be downloaded from http://press.qsicorp.com. A QTERM-G55 data sheet can be downloaded at http://www.qsicorp.com/pdfs/data_sheets/qterm-g55-ds.pdf. For more information contact QSI Corporation at 801-466-8770, Fax 801-466-8792, Web www.qsicorp.com or www.qlarity.com.

About QSI Corporation

Established in 1983, QSI Corporation is a manufacturer of rugged handheld, panel-mount and pedestal-mount terminals for industrial OEMs and commercial vehicle systems integrators. QSI’s human machine interface (HMI) and mobile data terminal (MDT) products include character and graphic terminals that are programmable, customizable, CE certified, and NEMA 4/12/13 rated. Numerous interfaces are available, including EIA-232, EIA-422, EIA-485, J1708, Ethernet and Power-over-Ethernet. Custom or semi-custom terminals withstand high levels of shock, vibration, humidity, and other environmental parameters. All QSI Corporation products are manufactured in the USA at the company's headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information, contact QSI Corporation at 801-466-8770.

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 04:24 AM | Comments (0)

Reva International Ltd. Adds $2.25 Million to Manufacturing Investment

Reva International Ltd. announced today that it will invest an additional $2.25 million to further increase the manufacturing capacity for its line of high-intensity illumination products.

Reno, NV (PRWEB) July 20, 2005 -- Reva International Ltd. announced today that it will invest an additional $2.25 million to further increase the manufacturing capacity for its line of high-intensity illumination products. In April 2005, Reva International Ltd. invested an initial $1.1 million for specialized manufacturing equipment at its new 60,000-square-foot facility in southeast Reno where 18 skilled manufacturing positions will be created.

"These ongoing investments in our capacity, infrastructure and workforce are designed to meet increasing customer demand for our products," said Tillman W. Frick, Chief Operating Officer, Reva International Ltd. "The steadfast support for manufacturing exhibited by Nevada's current leadership makes continued expansion in Reno an easy decision."

Reva International Ltd., based in Reno, NV, is the world’s leading developer, producer and supplier of high-intensity searchlights and digital flares for U.S. and allied military forces. In 2004, the U.S Congress, at the request of Nevada Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign, appropriated $3.4 million in funding for Reva’s HID searchlights to supply troops with the best high-intensity illumination technology available. "We are very grateful to Senators Reid and Ensign for their continued support of the Reno business community and Reva International," commented Frick. "They know what it takes to make a small business successful and have been terrific partners every step of the way." The company also offers high-intensity illumination products to law enforcement, federal agencies and select commercial markets.

Reva International Ltd. (www.revainternational.com), an FMG Company, is a privately held organization specializing in the design and manufacture of exclusive technology for government agencies and professional users worldwide. Embracing the benefits of strategic alliances, Reva International Ltd. also works with partners on an OEM basis to continually develop and introduce a wide range of innovative products to the global marketplace.

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 04:23 AM | Comments (0)

Southwest Airlines Hits 200 Daily Flight Milestone in Las Vegas; Las Vegas Still the Largest of Southwest Airlines' 60-City Operation

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) July 19, 2005 -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) celebrates a milestone today by breaking the 200 daily flight mark at McCarran International Airport. The airline is adding three new flights to its Las Vegas schedule, bringing the airline's total number of daily flights from Las Vegas to 201. With the additional flights, Las Vegas remains the largest of Southwest Airlines' 60-city operation.

"Breaking the 200 daily flight mark in Las Vegas is a real landmark for Southwest Airlines," said Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly. "This is the first time in our 34-year history that we have offered more than 200 daily flights from a single city. Clearly, Las Vegas is one of the country's most popular destinations, and we are thrilled to be the city's most popular airline."

Southwest Airlines' new service breaks down as follows.

As of July 17, 2005:
* Two additional daily nonstop flights between Las Vegas and San Diego (for a total of 14 daily flights).
* One additional daily nonstop flight between Las Vegas and Oakland (for a total of 13 daily flights).

To take advantage of these new flights click: http://www.southwest.com/jp/luvhome.shtml?src=PR_las_071905 .

"With more than 200 daily flights, our odds are always going to be better on Southwest Airlines," said Southwest Airlines Regional Marketing Manager Roz Santangelo. "And with our everyday low fares, Customers will love the great deals they find on southwest.com!"

Southwest Airlines began service to Las Vegas McCarran International Airport in January 1982 with five daily flights to Houston and Phoenix. Over the last 23 years, Southwest Airlines has grown to capture more than 30 percent of the Las Vegas market share, transporting more than 10 million Customers in 2004. Today, Southwest Airlines offers 201 daily nonstop flights to 49 cities including Albany, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham, Boise, Buffalo, Burbank, Chicago Midway, Cleveland, Columbus, El Paso, Hartford/Springfield, Houston Hobby, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Little Rock, Long Island/Islip, Los Angeles, Louisville, Lubbock, Manchester, Midland/Odessa, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Ontario, Orange County, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, Spokane, Tampa Bay, Tucson, and Tulsa, plus direct or connecting service to nine additional cities.

Southwest Airlines also is heavily invested in the Las Vegas community. In 2004, Southwest Airlines' direct economic impact in Las Vegas was nearly
$219 million (salaries and benefits paid to Employees, fuel, landing fees, and other expenditures). Next to fuel, the largest contributions come from the airline's large Employee base. In addition, Southwest Airlines has an investment commitment of nearly $650 million in Company resources dedicated to Las Vegas.

To commemorate the Company's milestone, Southwest Airlines' Employees today will host a black-tie celebration at McCarran International Airport. In typical Southwest style, airline Employees will be decked out in tuxedo T-shirts and shorts. Southwest Airlines' Customers traveling through Las Vegas will be entertained with gate games, Elvis impersonators, and beautiful Las Vegas showgirls.

Southwest Airlines thanks the people and travelers of Las Vegas for helping it reach new heights at McCarran International Airport. Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest airline in terms of domestic Customers boarded, currently operates more than 3,000 daily flights to 60 cities in 31 states. The carrier will begin service to Ft. Myers, Fla., on October 2, 2005.

To take advantage of Southwest Airlines' super low fares, Customers who book their travel via the Internet can subscribe to Southwest Airline's Click 'n Save e-mail updates as well as Southwest Airlines' newest technological innovation -- DING! DING! delivers Southwest Airlines' hottest deals directly to Customers' desktops allowing Customers to get a jump on the latest southwest.com sales! For more information, visit http://www.southwest.com/ding .

http://www.southwest.com

Media Contact:
Public Relations of Southwest Airlines
+1-214-792-4847
Customers:
+1-800-I-FLY-SWA or +1-800-435-9792
en espanol:
+1-800-VAMONOS or +1-800-826-6667

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 04:22 AM | Comments (0)

Southwest Airlines Applauds Senate Bill to Repeal Wright Amendment

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) July 19, 2005 -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) applauds the fact that today, under the sponsorship of Senator John Ensign from Nevada, joined by Senators John McCain from Arizona, Sam Brownback from Kansas, and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut; a U.S. Senate bill was introduced that would amend the 26-year old Wright Amendment. This complements the introduction by U.S. Representatives Jeb Hensarling and Sam Johnson (now joined by 23 House co-sponsors), of their "Right to Fly Act" in the United States House of Representatives.

Southwest Airlines applauds the tremendous leadership and vision of Senators Ensign, McCain, Brownback, and Lieberman who are true benefactors of the people of America. This is another significant step toward the ultimate goal of opening the skies for greater access to low fares as a result of unfettered airline competition.

Studies show the Wright Amendment deprives people all across America of $700,000,000 per year in lower air fares and $3,500,000,000 per year in the economic and personal benefits conferred by 3.7 million more annual passenger trips. The Wright Amendment, restricting access to Southwest Airlines' low fares at Dallas Love Field, is truly a national issue.

The introduction of the Senate Bill is a major step forward in bringing the Freedom to Fly to 3.7 million more Americans per year, and the People of Southwest Airlines will remain diligent in their efforts to educate the public on the importance of stimulating the economy through greater access to low-fare air travel.

We are thankful for, and gratified by, the introduction of the Senate Bill today.

http://www.southwest.com

Note to Editors: To receive future releases automatically via e-mail, sign up for e-mail news alerts at www.southwest.com . Just click on "About SWA" and "Press Releases."

Media Contact:
Public Relations of Southwest Airlines +1-214-792-4847
Customers:
+1-800-I-FLY-SWA or +1-800-435-9792
en Espanol:
+1-800-VAMONOS or +1-800-826-6667

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 04:20 AM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2005

Stealth Introduces Small Form Factor PC Featuring 3 High-Speed Gigabit LAN Ports With Desktop Power That Fits In The Palm Of Your Hand

Stealth introduces small form factor PC featuring three high-speed gigabit LAN ports with desktop power that fits in the palm of your hand.

Toronto (PRWEB) July 19, 2005 -- Stealth Computer Corporation a leading ISO 9001 manufacturer of specialized computers and peripherals have continued their tradition of providing small form, powerful, PC based solutions to a growing marketplace. Stealth has introduced their latest model: LPC-401XG3 Gigabit LAN Little PC, delivering lightning fast network computing in a PC small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The robust anodized aluminum chassis measures just over 2 inches tall having the overall footprint about the size as a hard cover novel (10" x 5.82" x 2.79") and weighing in at about 6 lbs.

Stealth’s LPC-401XG3 LittlePC contains 3X-high-speed Gigibit front loaded LAN ports ideal for a myriad of applications such as security, multi-network communications, firewalls, and network diagnostics to name a few. In the past substantial hardware deployment was required in order to achieve the same high-speed multi-port connectivity performance. A multitude of I/O connectivity is integrated into the LittlePC such as; Serial, Parallel, 3X-USB, FireWire, Video, LAN, PS/2 Mouse & Keyboard ports. The LPC-401XG3 is available with a standard 80 GB IDE Hard Drive and is expandable up to 300 GB’s of storage space for archived data. For applications that require extra high shock/vibration an optional Solid State Hard Drive or Flash Drives are available. A slim CD-ROM is standard with optional DVD, CD/RW and DVDRW optical drives available. Systems are compatible with Windows XP/2000, and can be pre-configured with LINUX if desired. Stealth’s built to order manufacturing offers a wide range of configurations built to the customer’s exact specifications.

According to Stealth’s President & CEO, Ed Boutilier, “ We are delivering the most powerful, feature rich, small footprint PCs available in the marketplace today”, Boutilier says “small form factor computers are showing rapid growth in the marketplace as their little size and performance capability make them ideal to use in applications that were unthinkable in the past”. Stealth has been shipping numerous versions of their LittlePC products for over two years.

The LittlePC products serve a demanding market where powerful solutions are being deployed in space-challenged applications around the world. Thanks to the rugged design, compact dimensions, and high functionality, the LittlePC is ideal for diverse and demanding applications within the Industrial, Commercial, Scientific Research, Military, Public Safety, Utility, Transportation, mining and Telecommunications markets. Stealth Little PCs are available from stock for immediate shipping as part of Stealth’s QuickShip program. Pricing for LittlePC starts at $795.00 USD

Founded in 1990 Stealth Computer Corporation is quietly evolving as a leading provider of specialized Computers and Peripherals. The company is ISO 9001 registered with its headquarters near Toronto, Canada. Stealth continually develops innovative products designed to meet the exact needs of their clients. For 15 years Stealth, products have been used in industrial, commercial, scientific, Government and military applications. Stealth Computer Corporations impressive customer base includes Fortune 500 companies, Military installations and Governments worldwide.

Contact Info
Andrew Pakula PH: 905-264-9000 ext #243
e-mail:e-mail protected from spam bots
For a high quality digital image (TIFF) for this product news release click here

For additional product information on Little PC’s explore our website: www.littlepc.com

Stealth’s main website and corporate information is available at: www.stealthcomputer.com

High quality digital TIFF & JPG images, (300DPI) available on-line: www.stealthcomputer.com/images.htm.

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 03:15 AM | Comments (0)

Southern California’s Economy Will Grow through 2006, With Support From Aerospace, Business & Professional Services, Technology and Tourism

“Motion picture/TV production and International Trade are also expected to grow, but both industries face major problems,” said Chief Economist Jack Kyser, LAEDC in his Forecast to be delivered today in Downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 18, 2005 -- Southern California’s economy will grow at a healthy pace in 2005-2006, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s (LAEDC) “Mid-2005 Economic Forecast & Industry Outlook Update,” presented this morning (Tuesday, July 19, 2005) at a business breakfast at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Though not as strong as the boom years of the late 1990’s, the area’s economy still will turn in the best performance since 2000. The entire forecast can be found at http://laedc.info/pdf/LAEF.pdf and www.MayoCommunications.com.

A new feature of this year’s Mid-Year Forecast is an assessment of the performance of different areas within Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Among the risks on the 2006 horizon is the housing situation – will it be the “bubble” scenario or the “price ceiling” scenario? The LAEDC Forecast also asks questions about the business environment in the state. “Will there be a modest improvement or more slippage?” said Chief Economist and Vice President Jack Kyser, LAEDC. “To meet the growing demand from their customers, companies are willing to invest in plant and equipment but are still being cautious about hiring.” The Forecast also warns that some military bases in California are still on the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) chopping block; in fact San Diego County may lose two more military facilities when it’s over.

Nonfarm employment in California is estimated to grow by 1.8 percent, or 265,000 jobs, in 2005, and
by a forecast 1.7 percent, or 253,000 jobs, in 2006, compared to the one percent increase in 2004. In Southern California, the leader in job growth will continue to be the Riverside-San Bernardino area, where nonfarm job growth will run at 3.0 percent in both 2005 and 2006, or increases of 34,400 and 35,900 jobs respectively. Orange County should see a 1.9 percent, or 27,600 job, increase in 2005, and a 1.8 percent, or 27,400 job, gain in 2006.

Los Angeles County will continue to have muted nonfarm job growth, with a 1.0 percent, or 41,600 job, gain in 2005 and a 1.1 percent, or 44,500 job, increase in 2006. “There has been much hand wringing about LA County’s weak nonfarm employment performance, essentially 15 years of no job growth,” explained Kyser. “However, the civilian employment series (which includes the self-employed and unpaid family workers) indicates the County is at a new employment high. Clearly more people are working as independent contractors and in other ways that do not get captured in the nonfarm employment survey, and Los Angeles County is on the leading edge of this trend.”

The LAEDC Forecast ranks the performance of the region’s major industries, four of which received “A” ratings at mid-year 2005. These include classic aerospace, business & professional management services, technology and tourism. Two other industries got “B+” ratings – financial services and bio-medicine. The lowest industry ratings went to health services/hospitals with a “D”. The Forecast noted that while hospitals face intense financial pressures, there is a building boom in new facilities. The apparel design and manufacturing industry got a “C-“ with LAEDC’s observation that the industry is in a major transition that is not well understood by most people.

Ratings for two of Southern California’s signature industries were downgraded. Motion picture/TV production was moved from a “B” to “B-“. “While there will be job growth, this industry is coping with piracy, weak attendance/viewership, and a more intense threat of run-away production costs,” said Kyser.

International trade was moved from a “B+” rating to “B.” “Everybody will be holding their breath to see if congestion rears its ugly head at the local ports over the next few months,” said Kyser. “Another serious backup would have very negative business connotations for the region.”

A new feature of the LAEDC Mid-Year Forecas” is regional performance rankings for Los Angeles and Orange counties. The main indicator is employment, which was obtained from the California Employment Development Department’s ES 202 data files. These numbers understate the employment situation as they do not include independent contractors, which are a significant factor in Los Angeles County. The best performance in Los Angeles County’s regions, what the LAEDC called “overachievers,” came in the East San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley and West Los Angeles. Five regions turned in an “above average” performance, while three were noted as being “in transition.” “Two regions in Los Angeles County need more support – North Gateway (southeast area) and the South Los Angeles area,” said Kyser. “They need more thoughtful approaches to economic development and true involvement by business and government leaders.”

In Orange County, both the north and south regions have performed well job-wise, but the advantage went to the south. The LAEDC Forecast also contained 2004 gross domestic product (GDP) rankings. California placed eighth among the nations of the world, behind Italy and China (excluding Hong Kong) but ahead of Canada and Spain. The Los Angeles five-county area placed tenth, behind Spain and ahead of South Korea and Mexico. Los Angeles County ranked 17th in gross product, ahead of Switzerland and Belgium.

The LAEDC Forecast also spotlighted some longer standing concerns for the Southland including: congestion in moving both people and goods, K-12 education, and housing – both overall supply and affordability.

“The final concern is – who’s in charge,” said CEO and President Lee K. Harrington, LAEDC. “There is little confidence in the capability of politicians alone to devise solutions to Southern California’s many challenges. Business will have to become more involved, and that’s why we are forming the Southern California Leadership Council. The response so far has been strong and we believe that we can find solutions that will foster economic growth while improving the region’s quality of life.”

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation is a private, nonprofit 501c businesss association with a mission to retain and create jobs in Los Angeles County. From 1995 to 2005, the LAEDC has helped to retain or create more than 100,000 jobs in Los Angeles County.

[Editors: For advanced interviews call: George McQuade or Aida Mayo, MAYO Communications
@ 818.340.5300 or 818.618.9229.]

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 03:13 AM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2005

CoroWare Launches Conformance Test Labs Subsidiary

The new company will ensure interoperability for the mobile service robotics community.

BELLEVUE, Wash. (PRWEB via PR Web Direct) July 18, 2005 – Moving to streamline the process of robotic systems integration, CoroWare, Inc. today announced plans to form CoroWare Test Labs, a CoroWare subsidiary whose mission is to provide impartial, objective conformance testing to ensure interoperability and standards compliance among intelligent, mobile service robotics applications.

CoroWare Test Labs, the first company to test for standards comformance in the robotics industry, will be located in Pittsburgh, Penn., a leading center for robotics research and development in the United States. CoroWare Test Labs is funded in part by a grant from The Technology Collaborative (www.techcollaborative.org), which operates various programs and initiatives designed to accelerate digital and robotic innovation in Pennsylvania.

"We’re looking forward to working with CoroWare as they apply their conformance testing expertise to agile robotics," said Chuck Brandt, chief technology officer of The Technology Collaborative. "The CoroWare Test Labs facility is yet another key step in the development of such products and systems, and signals the anticipated growth and acceptance of agile robotics solutions in the defense and early adopter commercial markets."

Slated to open on August 1, CoroWare Test Labs will develop test suites that assess conformance to the JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) standard, which transitioned in 2005 to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) AS-4 standard. JAUS was developed by the military to ensure communications among robots and robot subsystems from different manufacturers. As the SAE AS-4 standard, JAUS will move forward as both a commercial and military standard.

The mission of CoroWare Test Labs is to:

-Accelerate the delivery of interoperable autonomous / robotic solutions to commercial and military users.
-Accelerate the emergence of a standards-based robotics components market so developers can bring new robotics solutions to market faster using existing, proven, interoperable components.
-Verify basic interoperability among robotic platforms, subsystems and control systems.
-Support system level integration and testing processes and reduce risks and cycle times associated with the system level testing process.
-Eliminate variable results and duplicative cost when developers and integrators develop their own conformance and interoperability tests.
-Provide customers, certification bodies and other organizations with a means of verifying that their unmanned systems conform to the JAUS/SAE AS-4 specification.

"Before now, robotics vendors had no way to test their implementations against a fixed standard," said Lloyd Spencer, CEO of CoroWare and of CoroWare Test Labs. "This caused uncertainty among customers and long delays in development and testing time for vendors. With this announcement, we intend to eliminate much of the guesswork at the critical first phases of implementation, giving vendors a jump-start and assuring customers that the robotic systems they buy will interoperate with one another. With the formation of CoroWare Test Labs, we're accelerating the emergence of the standards-based mobile service robotics market."

"We're glad to have a team that knows standards conformance and brings their expertise in network interoperability to the robotics industry," said Todd Jochem, CEO at Applied Perception (www.appliedperception.com), a Pittsburgh-based robotics company. "Interoperability is especially important in military applications, where dozens of manufacturers are supplying robots that must communicate with one another. Having an independent evaluator able to certify each JAUS implementation is crucial as the industry matures. Overall, CoroWare Test Labs will help drive the growth of the mobile service robotics industry."

About JAUS/SAE AS-4:
The JAUS initiative was created to develop a reference architecture that promotes open standard communications with unmanned robotic systems. The JAUS standard has since been transferred to the SAE AS-4 committee for commercial and military uses. The JAUS/SAE AS-4 communication specifications comprise a component-based, message-passing architecture that specifies data formats and protocols for communication among unmanned robotic systems. Moreover, JAUS/SAE AS-4 defines messages and service behaviors that are independent of any specific implementation, including computer hardware, operator use, and vehicle platforms.

CoroWare Test Labs Management:
CoroWare Test Labs is headed by Martin Harvey. Martin has in excess of 30 years experience in the field of program and senior level management in IT development, implementation and consultation. During this time he has managed projects across a range of from one to 70 persons, a maximum value of $85M and profit/loss engagements up to $25M. His clients and employers have included large blue chips, a "Big 4" consultancy, small and medium size corporations, and start-ups -- domestically and internationally. Martin has an extensive background in telecommunications.

About CoroWare:
CoroWare is an innovative systems and mobile service robotics application integrator that delivers forward-looking solutions and services to help customers and communities realize their IT and business goals. CoroWare’s experienced team of professionals delivers integrated solutions based on Windows, Unix and IBM midrange platforms. CoroWare has depth of knowledge and breadth of experience in robotics integration, embedded/mobile system integration and market development. The company also designs and builds software for platforms that range from mobile handheld devices to mobile service robots. For more information, please visit www.coroware.com/.

Product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Press Contacts:
Steve Genova
CoroWare, Inc.
503-722-5148

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 01:36 AM | Comments (0)

Troops in Iraq Stay Cool During Searing Summer Temperatures

Arctic heat cooling vests keeping troops in Iraq cool this summer.

(PRWEB) July 18, 2005 -- Summertime in Iraq is scorching hot, regular day time temperatures reach in excess of 120ºF. It is difficult to imagine living in temperatures so extreme. Thousands of troops stationed in Iraq not only have to deal with these extreme conditions; they have to do it wearing a military uniform, body armor and other equipment. These troops are at high risk of suffering from related heat illnesses, such as mild heat stress or a fatal heat stroke.

Dehydration is a major health issue, the body sweats in an attempt to keep the body's core temperature stable, but in very high temperatures the body will sweat at a rate higher than fluid can be replaced, creating a dangerous situation. Heat stress has five major symptoms: weakness, confusion, vomiting/diarrhea, headache/visual disturbance and poor co-ordination. Working in Iraq is dangerous enough without having to suffer from the symptoms of heat stress.

One way to stay cool during the searing Iraqi heat is to use a cooling vest. Thousands of troops in Iraq from the Australian and US Military have started using special desert colored Arctic Heat Cooling Vests. The lightweight cooling vest is used to keep troops cool while on their patrol rounds, when working around their bases, to pre-cool them before their rounds and to quickly cool themselves when they return to camp. The cooling vests will not only help to prevent heat stress, but keeping cool will also help to improve the soldiers concentration and mental alertness in the stifling summer heat.

Arctic Heat is now the preferred supplier of “Cooling Products” to the Australia Army and their troops are now being issued with the cool vest during training exercises for deployment in the Middle East region.

“We have been selling large numbers of cooling vests to the parents of US soldiers stationed in Iraq who have been sending over the cool vests to family stationed in Iraq, or otherwise we receive email orders and ship directly to the soldiers.” says Dr John Surie, President of Arctic Heat USA.

The Arctic Heat Cooling Vests were used by US Olympic teams at the Athens Olympics, and are now used by leading sports teams worldwide to improve performance.

The lightweight Arctic Heat Cooling vest uses a two stage cooling process. The vests contain a gel-like substance that can be frozen or chilled. The cooling vests are manufactured using Woolmark's Sportwool, a special body cooling fabric which incorporates Vapor Management Technology helping to wick moisture away from the skin, allowing the wearer to keep dry.

The Arctic Heat body cooling vest which is suitable for industrial, medical and sporting applications retails for $174.95

The Military Cooling Vest can be purchased online at a special discounted price through the Arctic Heat USA website www.arcticheatusa.com .

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 01:35 AM | Comments (0)

North Korea, Iran and Al-Qaeda in Nuclear Terror Plot?

A new novel presents a frightening scenario involving nuclear terrorism in the United States perpetrated by Al-Qaeda, with covert asistance from Iran and North Korea.

(PRWEB) July 18, 2005 -- It is the ultimate nightmare scenario for intelligence agencies engaged in the war on terrorism: an alliance, based on shared enemies, between Iran, North Korea and the Al-Qaeda terrorist movement. The objective: provide Al-Qaeda with weapons of mass destruction, so it can launch a devastating nuclear attack on the United States. This frightening prospect is explored in explicit detail in the novel, "King of Bombs," just published.

“Though my novel is a fictional account of a future act of nuclear terrorism, leading experts in the United States have spoken eloquently of the near certitude that an act of nuclear terror will occur on American soil, perhaps within the next few years,” said, Sheldon Filger, the 47 year old author of "King of Bombs." He referred to a recent interview former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, who chaired the 9/11 Commission, gave to NBC’s “Meet the Press.” When asked if he thought it likely that he would witness a terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda involving the detonation of a nuclear bomb in an American city during his lifetime, Governor Kean said, “I believe that, and we talked to nobody who had studied the issue who didn’t think it was a real possibility.” Al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, are on record regarding their intent to acquire and use nuclear weapons against the United States (quotes from Al-Qaeda related to nuclear terrorism can be found on the author’s website, www.kingofbombs.com).

The author, Sheldon Filger, resided in New York City on September 11, 2001, and his experiences during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center inspired him to write "King of Bombs." Numerous terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda since 9/11 provided further stimulus for the author to explore, through his novel, the possibility of nuclear terrorism being initiated by the Islamist terrorist network. The covert nuclear weapons activity by North Korea, and suspected nuclear weapons program being undertaken by Iran, were further backdrops for a plot that many experts have speculated on; countries hostile to the United States providing clandestine assistance to Al-Qaeda in mounting a mass casualty attack on the U.S. involving unconventional weapons. Filger’s novel, "King of Bombs," presents a terrifying scenario, involving the possibilities of a nexus between rogue states, black market nuclear materials and Al-Qaeda, leaving open the potential for a calamity of nightmarish proportions. He currently resides in Winnipeg, Canada, and can be contacted for interviews by phone at 204-786-5845 (cellular 204-799-3605).

Complementary copies of King of Bombs, for review purposes, are available to journalists from the publisher, Authorhouse, by calling 1-888-519-5121, ext. 5244

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 01:34 AM | Comments (0)

Marotta Expands Electronic Controller Product Range

Marotta Controls, Inc. has been awarded a contract (customer name withheld) to supply electronic controllers for a multi-service, multi-mission fighter aircraft program. The controllers will be used in the thermal management system of the aircraft and will interface directly with the major on board sub-systems.

Montville, NJ PRWEB) July 17, 2005 -- Marotta has been developing a range of DSP controllers for use in Fan and Pump motor applications, including sensor and Sensorless versions, with power ranging from 1kW to 6kW and 270Vdc versions for both Military and Commercial aerospace applications.

“We have been working closely with our customer for almost two years and are delighted be formally selected for this exciting program,” said Michael Leahan, Vice President and Chief Sales Officer of Marotta. “Marotta has been providing electronic controllers for many years as a complement to our fluid control solutions. The development of stand-alone controllers is a natural progression for us and this award represents a major milestone in the development of our controller technology and the continued expansion of our core product line”.

About Marotta Controls
Marotta Controls, Inc., a worldwide leader in fluid control solutions, has over 200 patents and more than 60 years’ experience in providing customers with a wide range of fluid control systems for the most demanding applications in the marine, space, aerospace and pneumatic weapons markets. Marotta has subsidiaries in Cheltenham, UK, and Dublin, Ireland. For more information visit Marotta's website at www.marotta.com.

Posted by Industrial-Manufacturing at 01:33 AM | Comments (0)

Marotta Unveils M-PACT Pure Air Compression Technologies

Marotta Controls, a world leader in fluid control solutions, announced the launch of its long await