The Connecticut Departments of Energy and Environmental Protection
(DEEP) and Transportation (DOT) along with Middlesex Community College
are hosting an electric vehicle (EV) expo on Tuesday, July 9, 2013 from
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM in Chapman Hall on the campus of Middlesex Community
College, 100 Training Hill Road, Middletown.
The expo will feature electric vehicles
currently on the market and offer the opportunity to speak with both
enthusiasts and brand representatives. A selection of electric vehicle
charging stations will also be on the display.
DEEP and DOT will highlight state efforts to increase the number of
electric vehicle charging stations, including an effort to catalog all
electric charging stations open to the public by this fall. Incentives
will be announced to municipalities that install charging stations.
“Electric vehicles combine two of the five major priority areas
outlined in Governor Malloy’s Comprehensive Energy Strategy –
transportation and energy efficiency,” said DEEP Commissioner Daniel C.
Esty. “Not only are electric vehicles cleaner and less harmful to the
environment, they are also more energy efficient and on average cheaper
to operate than conventional-fueled vehicles. By aggressively
increasing the number of charging stations in the state, we are making
it easier than ever to purchase, drive, and maintain an electric
vehicle.”
More information is available at the EVConnect website on DEEP’s homepage.
This article was written by Lon Seidman for CT Tech Junkie.
...As larger news publications cut the size of their staffs and print
circulations as their ad revenues deflate and their audiences migrate to
online, they’ve pulled back on local coverage. The one area of growth
has been on the hyperlocal level, as smaller publications and blogs pop
up to fill in the cracks that have opened in the coverage of larger,
daily newspapers. Various estimates say there are anywhere between 6,000
and 10,000 hyperlocal news blogs and 17,000 independent community
newspapers in the country.
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The niche of hyperlocal publications became [Dick O’Hare of Local Yokel Media's] focus after stints
with DoubleClick, AOL Media Networks and Yahoo Inc. over the years. What
he realized, he said, were opportunities to improve how an ad reaches
its intended audience.
The company has both a supply and demand arm to its business model.
First, it aggregates a list of hyperlocal websites, blogs and the sites
of community newspapers, and then organizes them by ZIP code. Then, it
matches up advertisers with publications based on the intended audience,
going further than simple “geo-targeting” of an audience in a certain
geographic location.
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“In essence, what we are building is a marketplace,” O’Hare said, adding
that working with hyperlocals gives a more authentic approach to sales.
“We think hyperlocal publishers are pillars of their communities.”
For more, read the full text of Mark Lungariello's article from the Fairfield County Business Journal.
On June 25th, Governor
Malloy and DOT Commissioner announced Transform CT, an 18-month outreach
campaign that will culminate in the development of a strategic transportation
plan for the state. Residents and stakeholders will play a key role in
the development of the plan.
As of today the Transform CT
website has received over 8700 ideas. Please log on to the website, www.TransformCT.org, and express you
views. It is extremely important that decision makers are aware of your
support for increased and improved bus transit in Connecticut. Include
the importance of bus transit to get to work, school, medical appointments and
shopping. Also note the importance of timely bus/rail connections,
express bus service and dial-a-ride programs.
Two topics posted on the
website today are: “What transportation investments should we make today
that our children and grandchildren will thank us for tomorrow?” and “ What
transportation systems or elements of transportation systems do you admire in
other parts of the country that Connecticut could learn from to improve our
quality of life?” Bus transit needs to be up there along with roads
and rail. Bus transit is the backbone of Connecticut’s transportation
system and improving bus transit will improve the quality of lives for all
residents of the state.
Please add the importance of
adequately funding bus transit and the need for the state to use transportation
funds for transportation and to invest wisely in transit projects that will
generate economic benefits, reduce congestion, and provide much needed
transportation options.
Connecticut Innovations is taking a new investment approach as it
prepares to launch a $200 million fund to spur bioscience research and
development in the state.
The fund, originally pitched by Gov.
Dannel P. Malloy and approved by lawmakers during the recent legislative
session, will provide grants, equity investments, loans and loan
guarantees to bioscience related initiatives over the next 10 years.
In
addition to investing in early stage companies, however, CI will
provide capital to researchers who are still only in the idea stage,
meaning they've made a discovery in a lab but haven't yet formed a
viable business.
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The goal, however, isn't just about boosting Connecticut's research
capacities, officials said. The state wants to translate its research
investments into viable businesses that add jobs and stir economic
development.
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Highlights of Bioscience Fund:
• $200 million investment over 10 years
• $10 million annually years one and two
• $15 million annually years three and four
• $25 million annually years five through 10
• Funding will fill gaps in the marketplace, not duplicate current public funding
• Investments will be subject to a rigorous vetting process
• Creation of Advisory Board to provide oversight and strategic guidance
The full text of Greg Bordonaro's article from The Hartford Business Journal can be found online or in the print edition.
In a bucolic setting in Tolland,
software designers at CNC Software Inc. write a program called
Mastercam, in which a computer tells a machine how to cut or shape
nearly any kind of product from motorcycle wheel covers to hip implants.
"Our product is a software tool that creates CNC programs that allow
machines to cut certain shapes," said CNC Software President and CEO
Mark Summers. The software can look at a CAD file or 3-D model of the
object that is to be made, and produce instructions that will tell a
machine how to manufacture the part.
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It's also a family business. In addition to Mark Summers, 55, his
brother Brian is vice president in charge of marketing, sales and the
machine shop, where programs are tested. Mark's daughter Meghan West is
the chief operating officer, responsible for marketing, quality control,
and interaction with customers.
The company markets through resellers, with 50 percent of sales in
the U.S. and the remainder in 50 countries. The company has 135
employees, including about 30 software designers are at work tweaking
the program, which sells for between $5,000 and $12,000. The company
also operates an internship program for area college students, and
Mastercam is taught at local high schools including A.I. Prince
Technical High School in Hartford.
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Boeing is the company's biggest customer, and Ford, Chrysler and General Motors also purchase programs they use to make auto components. The company has just started selling its 17th version of Mastercam.
Click here to read the Anne E. Hamilton's entire article from The Hartford Courant
“Connecticut used to lead the world when it came to
innovation — we had more patents, more groundbreaking discoveries than anywhere
else in the world. Somewhere along the way the world caught up.
This is about to change,” announced Governor Dannel Malloy proudly on Thursday,
June 20th, as he signed the Next
Generation Connecticut bill into law in Hartford.
Image from today.uconn.edu
The bill, SB 840, allocates more than 1.5 billion
dollars to the University of Connecticut over the next ten years with the
objective of improving and growing the University’s programs in bioscience,
engineering, technology, digital media, and other in-demand “fields that we are
working so hard to expand here in Connecticut,” according to the Governor.
This will be achieved by hiring new faculty, constructing
additional facilities, and renovating and expanding existing spaces. Some of the particulars of the bill include a
30% overall boost in the enrollment rate at UConn’s Storrs and Stamford locations,
a 70% increase in the School of Engineering enrollment, and the construction of
new tech-oriented laboratories, workshops, classrooms, and other high-tech
incubation infrastructure across the state’s seven campuses.
Next
Generation Connecticut follows closely the goals and
rhetoric of the earlier UConn 2000
and 21st Century UConn
programs, both of which were put into law by former Republican Governor John
Rowland, which aimed to improve the academic centers and programs for the
state’s flagship university both at its main and satellite campuses.
The bill includes a provision to create a committee to
formulate a specific plan to implement these funds, whose final recommendations
are set to be approved by the University’s Board of Trustees no later than July
1st of 2014.
“Make no mistake, we are making Connecticut competitive
again,” the Governor added. Connecticut,
as a historical technology and innovation hub, is a formidable legacy to
maintain for any modern governor.
It was the Connecticut inventor, David Bushnell, who
put the world’s first submarine in the hands of Ezra Lee, the Connecticutian
who would become the world’s first submarine pilot in 1776. Connecticut’s fecund soil birthed the cotton
gin, the can opener, the vacuum cleaner, color TV, the hamburger, the
artificial heart, and ESPN.
Understandably, Governor Malloy wants to keep this
legacy alive and ensure that the next generation of innovation and cutting-edge
invention comes from well-educated, well-equipped, and motivated scientists,
engineers, and designers from the Constitution State.
Next Generation Connecticut is a crucial step in making
this a reality in the state, a position that has been echoed by over 100 local
businesses and trade groups in a report released a few months back while SB 840
was still in the legislature.
“From the big Fortune 500 companies to small and savvy
startups, their public support of Next Generation Connecticut is an affirmation
that its economic development mission falls right in line with what they want
and need for success,” explained UConn President Susan Herbst upon the
presentation of the lengthy endorsement document.
More information can be found at UConn's website, as well as the governor's.
The full text of the legislation can be accessed online, as well.
An unattributed article appearing in the Hartford Business Journal reports that the State Bond Commission has awarded a total of 7.3 million dollars to three Connecticut colleges in order to be able to increase and expand their advanced manufacturing programs.
The three recipient schools are Quinebaug Valley Community College in Danielson, Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, and Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury. Once these new facilities are realized, it will mean that seven out of Connecticut's twelve community colleges that will now feature infrastructure and/or programs in advanced manufacturing and related fields.
At a time when concern exists as to the future of manufacturing in the state, the community college system appears to have stepped up to ensure Connecticut will continue to produce an able and skilled workforce ready to keep building in the Nutmeg State.
Officials at Fairfield-based General Electric Co. are soliciting the help of what could someday be one of their biggest competitors in 3-D printing — the maker community.
Leveraging the power of crowdsourcing, GE recently announced a competition inviting “makers,” entrepreneurs and small companies to design hardware and parts using 3-D printer technology, also known as additive manufacturing.
“GE is making a massive investment in additive manufacturing,” Emily Iwan, a spokesperson for GE, said. “We see it as the future of manufacturing.”
As the new technology takes off, those using 3-D printers are, for the most part, split between major corporations and hobbyists, often associated with the national maker movement. Makers comprise anyone with a propensity to build, ranging from artisans and craftsmen to engineers and scientists.
Thousands of hobbyists have taken to 3-D printing, which someday could supplant certain forms of traditional manufacturing due to the relatively low cost of the technology.
The threat to major goods suppliers is obvious. But rather than cower, GE has embraced the community of engineers, asking them to help “push the boundaries of what is 3-D printable.”
The full text of the article by Jennifer Bissell appeared in the Fairfield County Business Journal.
In elementary school, about as many girls as boys have a
positive attitude toward science. But shortly thereafter, more girls than
boys begin to turn away from Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
(STEM). This results in the significant underrepresentation of women in
many STEM careers. (Credit: Author. 2004. Science and Engineering
Indicators 2004. National Science Foundation)
Studies of cultural beliefs indicate that girls begin to
conclude that STEM is not for them in middle school, and these beliefs
influence choices they make throughout their school years. Stereotypes of
who is a scientist are changing, but not quickly enough.
A key message from the Girls of Innovation program is to
show them scientists who are “like me” and to inspire girls with the confidence,
enthusiasm and persistence to continue pursuing their scientific
interests. We do that by bringing the girls together with women working
in STEM careers who can talk with the girls about their own career path and
interests and choices they made while growing up.
On Saturday, June 15th, the Girls
of Innovation Science Challenge took place at the Connecticut Science Center.
We had 36 great girls entering grades 7 & 8 that came to explore science
and its challenges in a fun, interactive way. An offshoot of CTC's Women of
Innovation® program, Girls of Innovation inspires today's middle school
students to consider studies in science and technology-related research, health
services and business areas.
In the morning the girls played ice
breaker games and heard fromJackie Jones and Kristen Langois from Covidienabout what it's like
to be a woman in a STEM field and what inspired them to follow that path.
Teams then spread out into the
science galleries to complete six team science challenges, and then met back
together to explore Covidien's surgical displays. After lunch, the girls had
team photos taken and completed the Cultural Pursuits Scavenger Hunt.
Next, they set off to explore the
Connecticut Science Center with their teams. The mentors who spent the day
supporting teams of girls were drawn from the Connecticut Women of Innovation®
program and CTC membership. They took time to talk with the students about
their careers and helped guide them through the science challenges created by
the CT Science Center Staff Scientists.
The Connecticut Technology Council would like to thank Covidien for supporting this event and our effort to inspire girls to go into the science, technology, engineering and math fields.
The Paris Air Show began Monday, and Connecticut companies large and small are there for the week to announce and find new business.
Already Monday United Technologies Corp., through its subsidiaries Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky and UTC Aerospace Systems, announced a few pieces of news, like engine orders, service contracts or future outlooks.
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More than a dozen of the state's smaller aerospace firms also set themselves up at Connecticut's display booth, where they plan to meet new companies and land new business.
From 2006-2011, Connecticut firms at Europe's two main air shows have brought in $162 million in new business, according to Laura Jaworski, the state Department of Economic and Community Development's international business development program manager.
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The smaller Connecticut firms exhibiting at the Paris Air Show include: ACMT AdChem in Manchester; ACT Robots in Bristol; Aero Gear in Windsor; AGC, Inc in Meriden; Alpha Q, Inc. in Colchester; Birken Manufacturing in Bloomfield; Consolidated Industries in Cheshire; EDAC Technologies in Cheshire; Flanagan Industries in Glastonbury; Jonal Laboratories in Meriden; Precision Sensors inMilford; Snappy Materials in Wallingford; SPX Precision Components in Newington; and Whitcraft Group in Eastford.
Follow this link to read Brian Dowling's full article from the Hartford Courant.
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