2016-12-21



Acquisitions, expansions & partnerships

Trelleborg completes acquisition of leading high-precision seals and bearings manufacturer

Trelleborg, through its business area Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, finalized its acquisition of the El Segundo, California-based subsidiary of CoorsTek Inc., a leading manufacturer of high-precision seals and bearings produced from high-performance polymers and metals for aerospace applications.

Schneider Electric & Halliburton collaborate to transform upstream decision-making

Schneider Electric announced a collaborative project with Landmark, a Halliburton business line that provides integrated exploration and production (E&P) software. The ongoing project aims to provide total transparency to E&P decision makers — from oil field to board room — with a real-time, integrated view of their business’ performance. The two companies are coming together to connect Schneider Electric’s IoT-enabled open and interoperable system architecture and platform with Landmark to allow companies to build a real-time digital representation of individual assets and the overall portfolio.

PepsiCo enters definitive agreement to acquire KeVita

PepsiCo Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire KeVita, a North American creator of fermented probiotic and kombucha beverages. The transaction will expand PepsiCo’s health and wellness offerings in the premium chilled beverage space.

Siemens’ new awards help US government improve upgrade infrastructure

Siemens secured a series of federal contracts over the last year that are projected to save the U.S. government nearly $300 million and reduce energy use to help meet White House sustainability mandates. Since its inception in 2011, Siemens Government Technologies, Inc. is participating in dozens of projects in nearly every cabinet agency. From retrofitting the National Mall with LED lighting to upgrading the Pentagon’s largest helicopter repair facility to modernizing U.S. Navy ships with digital upgrades, Siemens is helping save energy and cut costs at a variety of federal agencies, buildings, facilities and installations.

hte deploys fully automated hydrocracking catalyst testing workflow at Chevron Richmond Technology Center

After several years of successful research collaboration, Chevron ETC purchased a hydrocracking catalyst testing workflow from hte for the efficient combination of key steps in research and development (R&D). The fully automated lab 4.0 solution comprises the latest generation of hte’s X4500 16-fold hydrocracking catalyst testing system as well as accessories for reactor tube filling, elaborate analytical equipment and sample handling tools. An applied software solution merges data from all high throughput processes in the laboratory, from Design of Experiments (DoE), through reaction, sampling and analysis, right up to data processing and fast reporting.

Novartis acquires Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation & SelG1 antibody

Novartis acquired Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a company that specializes in the development of therapeutics in certain hematologic and inflammatory disorders. Novartis exercised its right to acquire Selexys following receipt of results of the SUSTAIN study, a Phase II trial evaluating the use of SelG1, an anti-P-selectin antibody, in the reduction of vaso-occlusive pain crises in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). Results from the study were presented during the Plenary Scientific Session at the 58thAmerican Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting on Dec. 4 in San Diego, California.

Bimba announces acquisition of Vaccon Company

Bimba, a provider of pneumatic, hydraulic and electric motion solutions, announced the acquisition of Vaccon Company Inc., an innovator in vacuum technology that includes vacuum pumps, vacuum cups, end-of-arm tools and accessories. Founded in 1972 by Dick Ferri with headquarters in Medway, Massachusetts, Vaccon will continue to operate from its present location under the current management led by Ellen Ferri.

Evonik Corporation launches manufacturing operations & creates more than 50 jobs

Evonik Corporation, a German specialty chemical manufacturing company, is launching new operations in Berkeley County, South Carolina. The project will result in at least $120 million in new capital investment and the creation of more than 50 jobs. Construction on the new facility is expected to begin this month with completion expected by mid-2018. The new plant will supply the tire industry with high-quality precipitated silica to produce fuel-efficient tires with wet grip properties, which can save up to eight percent in fuel consumption compared to conventional car tires.

New Multiphase Machinery Test Facility available at Southwest Research Institute

A 5,460-square-foot facility for developing and evaluating turbomachinery exposed to multiphase flow conditions is now available at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas. The Multiphase Machinery Test Facility can accommodate large-scale turbomachinery and testing with a variety of fluids. The facility will support oil and gas industry programs primarily, although SwRI researchers also will seek opportunities in the propulsion industry and other energy sectors.

The Multiphase Machinery Test Facility includes a 3,000-square-foot-high bay with a 10-ton bridge crane, as well as a climate-controlled workspace. An outside concrete pad is included for fluid tanks as well as space for future concrete pads. A separate building houses a control room, conference room, customer office space and other amenities.

Hamilton Automation and Storage Systems will be built for All of Us Research Program

Hamilton Storage and Hamilton Robotics will build automated sample storage and liquid handling systems to be used in the biobank infrastructure for Mayo Clinic, which was awarded funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create the All of Us Research Program (formerly the Precision Medicine Initiative’s Cohort Program).

The All of Us Research Program biobank will be the repository for biological samples collected from one million individuals in the U.S. It will ultimately store and curate more than 35 million biospecimens, which will be a resource for researchers working to advance precision medicine.

Appointments

Siemens announces new US leadership

Siemens Corporation announced that Eric Spiegel, CEO of Siemens in the U.S., is retiring and leaving the company at the end of the year. Lisa Davis was appointed chair and CEO of Siemens Corporation, effective January 1, 2017. Judith Marks was named Siemens CEO U.S., effective the same date.

Marks began her career at Siemens in 2011 as president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies Inc., where she led the company’s approach to the federal market. Before coming to Siemens, she spent 27 years with Lockheed Martin and its predecessor companies. She will assume the CEO U.S. role in addition to her current position as executive vice president at Dresser-Rand, a Siemens business.

Singer Valve Inc. hires two new engineers

Singer Valve added two new members to its engineering department: Justin Arseneault as instrumentation and automation engineer and Marc Li as applications engineer.

Arseneault designs and programs Singer’s UL-approved industrial panels, provides customer support for electronic products, is involved in training and R&D and does much of the technical manual writing.

Li is focused on designing and implementing the optimal valve solution for specific customer requirements. Li goes into the field to understand the full scope of the project from which he designs the engineering solution and works with the production team to provide the best solution.

Robroy Industries appoints new general manager

Robroy Industries Conduit Division, manufacturer of ETL-Verified PVC-coated galvanized rigid conduit (Plasti-Bond), named Keith Merrill as its general manager.

Merrill brings more than 20 years of experience in sales, business development and operations within the information technology and telecom segments.

New members named to NewAge Industries board

NewAge Industries majority owner and CEO, Ken Baker, appointed several new members to its board of directors.

Matt Sullivan, who joined the board last year, is president and CEO of the Dunmore Corporation, a family-owned business specializing in engineered films for coated, metallized and laminated products.

Cecil Ursprung joined the board in early 2016. His background includes positions as president, CEO and board member for Reflexite (now Orafol). Ursprung is currently on the board of the National Center for Employee Ownership, an organization of which NewAge is a member.

Pat Sacco has more than 30 years of experience in the life sciences and biopharmaceutical industries. He held positions as senior vice president of manufacturing and vice president of engineering, among others at Shire.



Image courtesy of Arcadis North America

Arcadis North America appoints Chicago executive

Arcadis North America announced the appointment of Alan Baxter as the company’s new city executive for Chicago. In his role at Arcadis, Baxter will be responsible for expanding the company’s market presence in the Chicago region and leading the firm’s delivery of pioneering engineering solutions and capabilities to serve a growing client base. Baxter brings more than 30 years of program and project management experience to the role.

Viega appoints new regional sales manager for Great Plains

Viega LLC appointed Matt Bohmer as regional sales manager for the newly created Great Plains region. Bohmer’s responsibilities include developing, implementing and managing Viega’s sales strategies throughout the Great Plains region which encompasses the central Midwestern states.

Bohmer has more than 25 years of experience in the plumbing and heating industry. He has led Viega’s Pacific Northwest Region since 2008. Bohmer joined Viega in 2004 as a district sales manager in the same region, based in Montana.

Viking oil tools appoints regional manager

Viking Oil Tools, a division of Wellsite Fishing and Rental Services LLC, a provider of drilling and completion rental equipment, appointed Michael Foster as its new regional manager. Foster will be based in Hobbs, New Mexico, and Midland/Odessa, Texas.

Huffman Engineering hires control systems engineer & mechanical engineer

Huffman Engineering Inc., hired control systems engineer Craig Torgerson and mechanical engineer Tanner Grieve to support the company in its development and execution of turnkey automation projects for manufacturing and utility customers.

Torgerson most recently served as mechanical associate at Union Pacific where he worked with diesel-electric power systems and data center infrastructure.

Grieve is a recent graduate of Illinois Institute of Technology and holds a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering.  While studying at IIT, he participated in several engineering projects, including co-leading an interdisciplinary team that created an interactive scientific exhibit at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium to increase public interest in STEM subjects.

Awards, milestones & achievements

Schaeffler Group shareholder earns Global Leadership Award

German entrepreneur Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann, shareholder of Schaeffler Group, was awarded the Global Leadership Award by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies. The award is one of the highest distinctions within the German-American relationship. Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann developed the company into a significant global player, and has greatly contributed to the German-American relationship.

Since 1994, the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) – a nonprofit policy institute affiliated with Johns Hopkins University – has awarded the Global Leadership Award to outstanding business leaders who contribute to cementing the German-American relationship through their entrepreneurial work.

Japan Institute for Design Promotion honors IDEC’s MicroSmart FC6A

IDEC Corporation’s MicroSmart FC6A PLC received the Good Design Award from the Japan Institute for Design Promotion, a public interest foundation.

The FC6A MicroSmart PLC received the award because it combines the power of a programmable automation controller (PAC) in a low-cost controller with a small form factor, making it an ideal fit for demanding applications. Before the FC6A was introduced, designers often had to choose between expensive PACs and micro PLCs lacking in features. The FC6A solves this dilemma by offering many of the features formerly found in PACs in a micro PLC.

Oregon, Texas students win Siemens $100,000 math, science & technology awards

Three high school students were awarded grand prizes of $100,000 scholarships for their significant accomplishments in scientific research in the 17th annual Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology.

Vineet Edupuganti, a senior at Oregon Episcopal School in Portland, Oregon, won the $100,000 grand prize in the Individual category for developing a biodegradable battery that can power ingestible medical devices that can track and diagnose conditions that affect internal organs.

Identical twin sisters Adhya Beesam and Shriya Beesam, juniors at Plano East Senior High School in Plano, Texas, shared the $100,000 grand prize in the Team category for their work developing a new approach to diagnose schizophrenia earlier in patients with higher certainty using both brain scans and psychiatric evaluations.

More than 1,600 projects were submitted for the competition this year in areas of computer science, physics, chemistry, mathematics, materials science, environmental science, biochemistry, biology and engineering.

The post Movers & Shakers: Siemens announces new US leadership appeared first on Flow Control Network.

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