SCW industry news

Washington, DC, September 28: The Department of Energy is accepting Phase I grant applications from qualified small businesses for the FY 2007 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. The detailed funding notice and application package are available at grants.gov, Opportunity Number DE-PS02-06ER06-30.

Voting Underway for World’s Greatest Materials Moments
Warrendale, PA, September 26: Voting for the world’s greatest moments in materials science and engineering history has begun via an online survey, developed by JOM, the journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS). The top ten materials moments will be spotlighted at the TMS 2007 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, to be held at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Florida, February 25–March 1.

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Summit meeting of the world's leading high-temperature superconductor companies in Erlangen

Erlangen, Germany, September 26: This year's International Superconductivity Industry Summit is taking place on September 28 and 29 in Erlangen. Celebrating "20 years of high-temperature superconductors - successes and challenges," leading researchers and representatives of the world's leading companies will discuss the current state and future of the technology. This year, the event is being hosted by Siemens Corporate Technology and the European superconductor industry trade group CONECTUS (CONsortium of European Companies determined To Use Superconductivity).

Magnet lab wins $11.7-million grant to build next-generation magnet
Tallahassee, FL, September 26: The National Science Foundation has awarded the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory an $11.7-million grant for construction of an innovative magnet that will have the potential to revolutionize a technique used to learn more about little-understood molecules.
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Intermagnetics' Shareholders Approve Acquisition by Philips
Latham, NY, September 26: Intermagnetics General Corporation (Nasdaq:IMGC) announced that shareholders at a special meeting in New York today approved the company's acquisition by Philips Holding USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Royal Philips Electronics, N.V. (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI). The merger was announced by Philips and Intermagnetics on June 15, 2006.

Superconductive Components, Inc., on behalf of SCI Engineered Materials (SCI), located in Columbus (Franklin County), will receive a $631,687 Innovation Ohio Loan at an interest rate of 7.5 percent for a seven year term for costs associated with the acquisition of machinery and equipment.

Mega-magnet adds to University of Queensland’s research attraction
Brisbane, Australia, September 25: One of the world's most powerful magnetic instruments has been officially commissioned at The University of Queensland, helping pave the way for research and development into the next wave of life-saving drugs.

Frost & Sullivan Selects American Superconductor as Recipient of 2006 Enabling Technology Award
San Antonio, TX, September 25: Frost & Sullivan selected American Superconductor (Nasdaq:AMSC) as the recipient of the 2006 Enabling Technology Award in the transmission and distribution (T&D) equipment market in recognition of the company's outstanding efforts in globally developing high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire and applications.

Ville Marie Medical Centre Acquires First Dedicated Breast MRI Unit in Canada
Montreal, Quebec, September 22: The Ville Marie Medical and Women's Health Centre has acquired Canada's first dedicated breast magnetic resonance imager with biopsy capability, a device that will make it easier for the Centre's specialists to detect and diagnose breast cancer.

Executive Vice President and COO at EADS North America Brings Wealth of Department of Defense and Business Experience to AMSC
Westborough, MA, September 21: American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, today announced that David R. Oliver, Jr. (Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, Ret.) has been appointed to the company's Board of Directors. Oliver's addition expands the Board to eight members, seven of which are independent.
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Sharp’s Kameyama Plant—Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing Facility Uses Superconducting Energy Storage System
Osaka, Japan, September 19: Sharp Corporation’s state-of-the-art Kameyama Plant No. 2 became operational in August of this year. This LCD manufacturing facility uses 8th generation glass substrates, the world’s largest (2,160 X 2,460 mm), and the 52V- and 46V-inch LCD TVs using panels produced from these substrates will be introduced simultaneously around the world starting from October 1, 2006.
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UK Particle Physics Steps on the Accelerator Pedal
Swindon, UK, September 19: Two major research centres opened today (19th September), bringing the UK to the forefront of international efforts in Accelerator Science and Technology. The Cockcroft Institute and the John Adams Institute will both be national focal points for UK scientists and companies to develop cutting-edge accelerator technologies for major new projects such as the International Linear Collider and a Neutrino Factory.

New power cable technology launched at AEP´s Bixby Station
Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 18, 2006 – An innovative High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) power cable system was launched today at American Electric Power’s (NYSE: AEP) Bixby Station outside of Columbus, Ohio. The launch begins a two-year test of a new HTS cable design that holds promise for lowering the costs of HTS cable and helping address concerns about growing electricity demands in an increasing number of cities.
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New Crystal Growth Program to Enhance FSU's Materials Research Efforts
Tallahassee, FL, September 18: Florida State University already has an excellent reputation for its various efforts to design, prepare and characterize new materials for research and commercial uses. Now that reputation is about to be burnished even further as scientists at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory ramp up a program for growing exotic crystals that possess special properties.
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Columbus, OH, September 18: A new technology that holds promise to transform the global transmission and distribution of electric power was formally energized today near Columbus, Ohio. The $9 million project uses a second-generation High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) cable system to efficiently deliver electric power to approximately 8,600 homes and businesses in suburban Columbus.

VSM announces appointment of new Director
Vancouver, British Columbia, September 15: VSM MedTech Ltd. (TSX:VSM), wishes to announce that effective September 11, 2006, Ms. Ljiljana Velimirovic has been appointed as a director of the company to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mr. Ross Smith

Mammoth CMS magnet reaches full-field at CERN: Tests show CMS detector will be ready for data
Geneva, Switzerland, September 13: The world’s largest superconducting solenoid magnet has reached full field. Weighing in at over 10,000 tonnes, the CMS experiment’s magnet is built around a 6-metre diameter, 13-metre long superconducting solenoid coil. It generates a field of 4 teslas, some 100,000 times higher than that of the Earth, and stores 2.5 gigajoules of energy, sufficient to melt 18 tonnes of gold.

Murray Hill, NJ, September 12: BOC Gases and Linde Gas, each a member of The Linde Group, announced that they will increase U.S. helium prices 10-15 percent, effective October 15, 2006, or as contracts allow. Larger price increases may apply to customers who are not currently paying fuel surcharges.

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania selected to '25 Most Influential' list in radiology
Philadelphia, PA, September 12: Addition of three new, high-powered MRI systems, a first in the US, lands The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) a top spot as one of RT Image's "25 Most Influential" movers and shakers in the radiology industry in 2006.

HYPRES Awarded $100,000 By Department Of Energy To Develop High Speed SQUID Array Amplifier

Elmsford, NY, September 12: HYPRES, Inc., a leading developer of superconducting microelectronics (SME) technology, has been awarded a nine-month, $100,000 contract from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a low noise superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID)-based amplifier chip for high speed applications. The amplifier chip will be used in wireless communications, non-invasive medical diagnostic instrumentation and cryogenic detector arrays.

American Superconductor's Power Electronic Systems Division Books $4.6 Million in New D-VAR(R) Orders for Wind Farms

Westborough, MA, September 12: American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: AMSC), a leading energy technologies company, announced today that it has received $4.6 million of new orders for D-VAR(R) systems for regulating voltage at wind farms in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. These orders are expected to enable AMSC's Power Electronic Systems business unit to achieve its forecasted 50% growth in revenues for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007. These latest orders will also increase the amount of wind-generated electricity served by AMSC's power electronics solutions to more than 1.8 billion watts (1,800 megawatts), close to the company's two billion watt objective for March 31, 2007.
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CERN switches on neutrino beam to Gran Sasso
Geneva, Switzerland, September 11: CERN has switched on a new neutrino beam, aimed through the earth to the INFN Gran Sasso Laboratories some 730km away near Rome. This is the latest addition to a global endeavour to understand this most elusive of particles and unlock the secrets it carries about the origins and evolution of our Universe. The start of the project was marked today by a ceremony at the Gran Sasso Laboratories attended by Italian Minister for Universities and Research, Fabio Mussi, and CERN Director General Robert Aymar.
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Praxair Announces Price Increases for Gases and Facility Fees
Danbury, CT, September 8: Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) is notifying industrial, medical and specialty gas customers in the U.S. of the following price and facility fee increases, effective immediately, except as otherwise permitted by the terms and conditions of customer contracts: 10-15% for nitrogen, oxygen, helium, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and argon.

Argonne, NIU physicists develop potentially groundbreaking approach
Argonne, IL, September 7: Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have devised a potentially groundbreaking theory demonstrating how to control the spin of particles without using superconducting magnets — a development that could advance the field of spintronics and bring scientists a step closer to quantum computing.
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Liver diagnosis breakthrough with Mayo Clinic MRI development
Rochester, MN, September 7: Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new technique for using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to accurately measure the hardness or elasticity of the liver. First tests show this technology -- called MR Elastography (MRE) -- holds great promise for detecting liver fibrosis, a common condition that can lead to incurable cirrhosis if not treated in time.
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Big Magnets, Big Molecules: University of Utah to Unveil $14 Million NMR Center on Sept. 8
Salt Lake City, UT, September 6: Magnets strong enough to stop a heart pacemaker, wreck credit cards and yank tools from your hands will be used to probe the structure of big molecules in a $14 million facility that will be unveiled Friday, Sept. 8 at the University of Utah.
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MRI On the Cheap and On the Go
Berkeley, CA, September 5: When we hear the term “MRI,” most of us probably think of a special treatment room in a hospital with a huge doughnut-shaped machine that costs a lot of money and makes a lot of noise. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) are looking to change that perception with the successful testing of a laser-based MRI technique that would make the technology compact and portable, relatively cheap, and quiet.
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Global MRI Market Expected to Top $4 Billion by 2010
New York, NY, September 5: With the development of open systems, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has evolved into the best imaging procedure for many organs and structures, including the brain, spine, bones, and joints, leading MRI equipment to become a $3.5 billion worldwide industry today.