Azure Dynamics,
Kidron collaborate on hybrid refrigerated truck system
Azure Dynamics Corp., the Oak Park
developer of hybrid and electric drive trains for medium-duty buses
and trucks, Thursday announced it has received an order from Kidron
Body Co. for nine Low Emission Electric Power (LEEP Freeze) systems
for Modesto, Calif.-based Foster Farms Dairy. The LEEP Freeze system
draws energy in an efficient manner from a vehicle's primary engine
during normal driving and delivers it to the UltraTemp cold plate technology
system, which allows the cold plates to maintain the set temperature
for the duration of a typical multi stop delivery route. The system
can also be plugged into the electrical grid for off-duty charging.
By eliminating the diesel engine that is part of a conventional refrigeration
system, UltraTemp with LEEP Freeze can save up to a gallon of fuel per
hour, maintains set-point temperatures even when the engine is off,
and offers much quieter operation. More.
Neogen
expanding into Brazil The Lansing biotech company
Neogen Corp. Thursday announced the formation of a new subsidiary in
Brazil, Neogen do Brasil. The new company, headquartered near Sao Paulo,
will distribute Neogen's food safety products throughout Brazil. Neogen
do Brasil was created to accelerate the success of Neogen products in
Brazil, which has become one of the world's largest food producers and
exporters. More.
Quizzle.com
adds credit improvement tool The Livonia-based personal
finance Web site Quizzle.com said Thursday that it had launched a new
online credit improvement tool. The company says the tool will help
Quizzle's more than 230,000 registered users improve their credit over
only four months and learn to manage it for the long-term future. The
new Credit Improvement Tool includes a "Credit Gauge" that
shows a user for free how much he may potentially improve his credit
score. If the user opts into the service for a one-time cost of $75,
he will receive a personalized action plan each month for four months
with step-by-step instructions on how to improve his credit based on
his unique credit and financial situation. More.
New digital
access for UM press titles The University of Michigan
Press is joining with HathiTrust Digital Library to open electronic
content for free online access. U-M Press plans to have 1,000 or more
titles available for full viewing by the end of this year. Launched
in 2008, HathiTrust is a digital preservation repository and research
management tool for the world's great research libraries, focused on
providing scholars in the digital age with the largest collection of
electronic research material this side of Google Book Search and large-scale,
full-text searching and archiving tools to manage it. More.
Wayne
State prof gets grant to fight retinopathy
Renu A. Kowluru, professor of ophthalmology, anatomy, cell biology and
endocrinology at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine and
the Kresge Eye Institute, has secured additional federal funding for
her work in combating diabetic retinopathy. The
$750,000, two-year grant from the National Institutes of Health was
made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009. This most recent funding will further Kowluru’s study, “Role
of Ras in Retinal Cell Death in Diabetes.” More.
Lawrence Tech forum Oct. 27 explores wood, sustainability
A special evening event at Lawrence Technological
University Tuesday, Oct. 27 will take the place of the Great Lakes IT
Report's regular last-Thursday-morning program this month.
The forum, titled "Wood: The More Sustainable
Structural System," explores the sustainability of wood as a construction
product.
It will run from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lawrence Tech, 21000
W. 10 Mile Road in Southfield. The program will be held in the gallery
of the University Technology and Learning Center (UTLC). Food will be
served during the registration period of 5-6 p.m. Registration is $10
for the general public and $5 for students and members of the U.S. Green
Building Council (USGBC); there is no charge for Lawrence Tech students.
Lawrence Tech, the Canadian Council of
Forest Ministers and WWJ Newsradio 950 will join in hosting the forum
with USGBC's Detroit regional chapter, which will receive the proceeds.
The Canadian Consulate General in Detroit is a partner in the event.
RSVP to Elana Shelef at eshelef@drc-usgbc.org
or (248) 228-3190.
A panel of green building experts will present new
techniques in the use of wood in residential and institutional construction
to maximize energy efficiency, create impressive aesthetic design and
minimize environmental footprint.
The panelists will include Peter Moonen and Marianne
Berube of WoodWorks who will demonstrate how to make green buildings
greener to meet the demands of an increasingly informed consumer. WoodWorks
seeks to increase the use of wood in commercial, industrial and institutional
construction.
Also speaking will be David Moses of Equilibrium
Consulting of Toronto who will focus on the recent remodeling of the
Art Gallery of Ontario.
Today, when architects and engineers design landmark
buildings, they often look to wood to express a contemporary beauty
that is rooted in nature and a respect for the environment. Wood is
sustainable, carbon neutral and a highly effective insulator that creates
superb living conditions.
Proponents believe the ‘green building' market
is the wave of the future and Michigan can look to its benefits to help
sustain and grow its economy.
Note: For information
on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Jeff Lasser
at (248) 455-7319 or jeff.lasser@cbsradio.com.
Donations
give Michigan Tech computer prof, varsity women's soccer Fundraising has become a particular challenge
due to economic conditions, but philanthropic support for Michigan Technological
University continues to be strong, the Michigan Tech Board of Control
heard at Thursday’s regular meeting on campus. Alumnus David House
presented a $1 million check to fund a third House Professorship at
the university. The new professorship will be in computer engineering.
Also, the board learned that
Pat Nelson, a longtime donor from Kingsford, has also given a gift to
establish a varsity women’s soccer program at Michigan Tech. She
and her late husband, alumnus Charles Nelson -- the inventor of the
paintball, how cool is THAT -- have supported other Tech initiatives.
More.
Sun Heating
and Cooling offers cash for HVAC clunkers
Bloomfield Hills-based Sun
Heating and Cooling Thursday announced the launch of a combined federal
and commercial rebate program that is designed to generate up to $3,900
in cash rebates and tax credits toward the purchase of a new, energy-efficient
heating or cooling system. More.
Federal
grant gives high tech to Flint clinic serving uninsured A federal grant is providing
advanced health care IT to Flint's Hamilton Community Health Network,
a 25-doctor, six-campus practice serving the Flint area's uninsured
and underinsured. The practice will get Centricity Practice for Community
Health Centers from Barrington, Ill.-based GE Healthcare, a provider
of health care IT systems worldwide. As part of the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration recently
awarded grants totaling more than $2 million to HCHN for capital improvements,
including the adoption of an electronic medical records system. More.
THE WORLD IN TECH
Justice
Department probing IBM's computer market conduct The
Justice Department is looking into allegations that IBM Corp. has abused
its dominant position in the market for mainframe computers, the data-crunching
heavy lifters of the computing world that IBM introduced in the 1960s
and which are now used to process some of the most sensitive data in
banking, government and health care. The accusations stem from claims
by IBM rivals that they've been illegally frozen out of the mainframe
market because of IBM's refusal to allow its mainframe operating software
to run on non-IBM computers. IBM doesn't have many rivals anymore that
make mainframe computers, but some smaller companies are trying to develop
technologies that would allow the software to run on cheaper hardware.
They allege that IBM, which used to license its mainframe software to
competitors and for the back half of the last century operated under
an antitrust agreement with the government, stopped doing so in recent
years to choke off competition. More.
Tech,
telecom industries brace for closer antitrust scrutiny After
eight years of light antitrust scrutiny under a Republican White House,
the technology and telecommunications industries are bracing for stepped
up oversight by the Obama administration's Justice Department. Christine
Varney, the head of the department's antitrust division, vowed in a
May speech that her office will take a tough look at potential abuses
of market power across some of the nation's biggest industries, including
high tech and telecom. Now the government is putting out feelers to
determine whether one industry giant, IBM Corp., has exploited its dominant
position in the market for massive data-processing computers known as
mainframes. The probe, which the Justice Department has not yet publicly
acknowledged but has been confirmed by IBM and an industry trade group,
is still in a very preliminary stage and will not necessarily lead to
a formal investigation. But it is part of a broader fact-gathering effort
by the feds, who are seeking to get their arms around a rapidly changing
sector that is a major engine for U.S. economic growth. No matter where
the IBM review leads, the entire industry is on notice that the current
Justice Department is likely to take a much more active approach to
antitrust enforcement than the previous one. More.
Changing
focus leads Dell to close North Carolina plant A
massive Dell Inc. computer assembly plant once seen as a job generator
worthy of the promise of more than $300 million in state and local inducements
will go dark in four months, a victim of new corporate calculations
and changing customer tastes. Dell announced it will close its desktop
computer manufacturing plant near Winston-Salem by the end of January,
shedding 905 workers. The announcement came two days after the plant,
which produces desktop units primarily for business customers, marked
four years in operation. Five years ago, politicians cited studies estimating
the plant would not only employ 1,500 and generate about 500 more related
jobs, it would have a $24.5 billion economic impact over 20 years. For
that reason, they lavished what by some measures was the richest incentives
package in state history -- a deal worth up to $318 million in tax breaks
and grants. Since then, consumers moving to laptops and handheld devices
have thinned a market for desktops that has also been battered by recession
and sharper competition. More.
Your
resources for tracking the swine flu H1N1
influenza, better known as the swine flu, is guaranteed to make an impact
across the U.S. and the rest of the world in the coming months. But
knowing what to expect, and how to determine if H1N1 is impacting where
you live, should be the first step in your evaluation of the swine flu.
And that's where this roundup comes in. Listed
at this link, you will find several resources that will help you
not only track the swine flu, but probably help you learn a little something
about it as well.
Stocks:
Shares climb after retail sales, Alcoa earnings The stock market resumed
its rally after getting encouraging readings on two of the best gauges
of the economy's health: consumer spending and corporate profits. The
gains added to the market's already steep climb for the week. Improving
signals about the economy pushed the Dow up 244 points Monday and Tuesday,
its best back-to-back advance since July. Traders pounced on news that
retailers last month had their first sales gains in more than a year.
A closely watched gauge of sales at major retailers rose 0.1 percent
for September. While still tepid, it was the first monthly rise in the
International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally since
July 2008. A better reading on the job market also fed investor optimism.
The Labor Department reported that new claims for jobless benefits fell
to 521,000 last week from 554,000 the previous week. Claims came to
the lowest level since early January. More.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP)
rose 13.6 points or 0.6 percent to 2,123.93. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average ($INDU) rose
61.29 points or 0.6 percent to 9,786.87. The Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index ($SOX) fell
1.58 points or 0.5 percent to 316.06. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35
Index (MSH) rose
4.65 points or 0.9 percent to 536.79. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index
(DRG) rose 1.69 points
or 0.6 percent to 288.88. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index (BTK)
fell 6.13 points or 0.7 percent to 901.19. Finally, the Standard &
Poor's 500 (SPX)
rose 7.9 points or 0.8 percent to 1,065.48.
All contents copyright 2009 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio & Eye logo trademarked and copyright 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. Written and edited
by Matt Roush, Technology Editor, WWJ Newsradio 950, Detroit. GLITR may contain material from the Associated Press, CNET, News.com, MarketWatch.com or Reuters, used by permission. For coverage comments or news tips, e-mail Matt Roush at
mnroush@cbs.com or call (248) 455-7380. For marketing and advertising queries, or with general questions or concerns, contact Pete Kowalski, WWJ's station manager, at
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Print Story
Lawrence Tech forum Oct. 27 explores wood, sustainability
The
Justice Department is looking into allegations that IBM Corp. has abused
its dominant position in the market for mainframe computers, the data-crunching
heavy lifters of the computing world that IBM introduced in the 1960s
and which are now used to process some of the most sensitive data in
banking, government and health care. The accusations stem from claims
by IBM rivals that they've been illegally frozen out of the mainframe
market because of IBM's refusal to allow its mainframe operating software
to run on non-IBM computers. IBM doesn't have many rivals anymore that
make mainframe computers, but some smaller companies are trying to develop
technologies that would allow the software to run on cheaper hardware.
They allege that IBM, which used to license its mainframe software to
competitors and for the back half of the last century operated under
an antitrust agreement with the government, stopped doing so in recent
years to choke off competition. 
A
massive Dell Inc. computer assembly plant once seen as a job generator
worthy of the promise of more than $300 million in state and local inducements
will go dark in four months, a victim of new corporate calculations
and changing customer tastes. Dell announced it will close its desktop
computer manufacturing plant near Winston-Salem by the end of January,
shedding 905 workers. The announcement came two days after the plant,
which produces desktop units primarily for business customers, marked
four years in operation. Five years ago, politicians cited studies estimating
the plant would not only employ 1,500 and generate about 500 more related
jobs, it would have a $24.5 billion economic impact over 20 years. For
that reason, they lavished what by some measures was the richest incentives
package in state history -- a deal worth up to $318 million in tax breaks
and grants. Since then, consumers moving to laptops and handheld devices
have thinned a market for desktops that has also been battered by recession
and sharper competition. 
