New Florence. New Renaissance.

The CERN asset management challenge

I have written before about the massive Hadron Collider at CERN and more recently about the Higgs Particle excitement there.  So, when my friends at Infor told me their Asset Management software helps with that complex, I had all kinds of questions.

Works Management describes the scope of the challenge below. Complex is the appropriate word.

“With more than one million pieces of equipment to manage, in addition to its internal personnel, CERN uses about 50 external service providers, with a range of service agreements, including fixed-fee contracts, performance-based contracts, task and component based agreements etc. Hence, says Martel, the requirement for a flexible management system, so that every equipment item and maintenance task can be traced – so helping to anticipate malfunctions and maintain uptime for CERN's scientific research programmes.

Today, a large part of CERN's infrastructure maintenance activities, such as caretaking, roads, heating and cooling, security etc, as well as part of its scientific instrumentation activity, are managed using Infor10 EAM, he says. The system generates more than 180,000 work orders per year, schedules preventative maintenance tasks, provides stock control functionality and organises maintenance and inspection programmes.
For the scientific instruments, a manufacturing control system has also been set up. With about 200,000 in-scope equipment items identified, Infor10 EAM has become the heart of this system. “

Photo Credit: Boston.com

The Digital Swiss Army Knife

It is a AM/FM radio. A NOAA Weather radio. A LED flashlight. An USB outlet to charge your electronics. It can be powered via its manual crank. Via solar. Or DC power. Portable at a little over a pound. The American Red Cross FRX3 made by Etón.

Retail Trends for VARs

Business Solutions magazine which is aimed at VARs has a summary of macro technology trends in Retail – Mobile POS, innovations in video surveillance and receipt printers and moving vertical apps to the cloud.

The “Fast Pool” at the London Aquatic Centre

The physics and technology that Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin and other Olympic swimmers are enjoying

 

"You Talk. We Draw"

Fascinating Concept from Ink Factory Studio

“By actively listening and synthesizing your discussion, brainstorm or keynote speech, we transcribe your words into real-time, hand drawn visuals. These visuals are the combination of written text and images that represent thoughts, concepts, key messages, strategic visions or just a simple summary of your conversation.”

 

The Amazing Olympic Cauldron

"Our very first briefing from the technical team ... was please can you come up with a design for the cauldron, and whatever you do, make sure there's no moving parts," designer Thomas Heatherwick told reporters after Friday's ceremony.

"And we were 'how are we going to persuade them, they are never to go for this'.

"It's the most moving parts that's humanly possible to have in a cauldron."

Reuters

“The cauldron is made up of the “polished copper objects” which are in the shape of flower petals about a foot long.

There are 204 of them, representing each of the countries taking part in the Olympics, and they are attached to steel pipes, each of them about 28 feet high, which contain a gas pipe connected to the mains supply.

The pipes are made of a special type of steel with a heat and acid chemical treatment that give them a colour called 'bad black’. Each petal is individually made and each had to be clicked into place into a specific rod. At the end of the Games the cauldron will be dismantled and the petals scattered to the 204 nations that took part in the opening ceremony. “

The petals were constructed by “Stage One, a metalworking firm based in Towkwith, North Yorks, which is one of the few companies in Britain with the expertise for the task.”

Telegraph

Photo credit above of the petals at ground level as they were lit by the 7 athletes given the honor, and below after they were raised and came together

Innovative Fruit

New Zealand is known for its wonderful dairy products. But they also have the perfect complement for cheese – fruit paste you can cut into chunks. My wife recently brought home some from Rutherford & Meyer. In fact, they say the pastes “are designed to be sliced not spread”. Also, they come in exotic flavors - Quince, Fig, Plum, Pear, and Apricot.

So, fruit in exotic shapes, texture and flavors. Innovative enough?

Photo Credit

64,000,000 points of light

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8,000 holes in each of the 8,000 torches used to bring the Olympic flame to the stadium.

From Welding and Gases today

“Arguably the most iconic symbol of the Olympics, this year’s Olympic torch is made from a special aluminum alloy originally developed for the aerospace and automotive industry. The alloy’s characteristics make it heat resistant, lightweight and strong.

The torch has a unique triangular design (symbolic of 3 Olympics in London) incorporating a complex pattern of 8,000 holes (representing the 8,000 people who carried the torch on its journey from Olympia, Greece, to London).

Along with their symbolic representation, the holes are functional. One of the torch’s designers, Jay Osgerby , says, “The wind moves through the torch, the perforations allow the metal to cool, and so the torch never gets hot.”

In creating the torch, the holes are cut from the alloy using a numerically controlled 2D laser cutting machine.

After this, the manufacturer uses 3D laser technology to weld the parts of the torch together in a smooth, seamless joint and cut additional holes in the welded areas.

As for the actual flame, the 2012 torch uses a gas mix including two-thirds propane and one-third butane.

Each of the 8,000 torches used this year (yes, they use a separate torch for every runner) has enough gas to burn for 13-14 minutes, although it only takes 3-6 minutes for each carrier to travel the 300 meters (328 yards) of each leg.”

Photo Credit

Technology at the London Opening Ceremony

This slideshow goes into some of the jaw dropping, technology enabled scenes from last night. 

They included LED lights at every seat, David Beckham’s speed boat “Max Power”, the AgastaWestland AW101 helicopter from which the Queen and James Bond skydive , amber light emitting diodes which created the image of flowing liquid steel accompanied with piped sulfur smell during the Industrial Revolution segment, flying bicycles and the synchronized fireworks.

Oh and btw, the event also honored Tim Berners-Lee, father of the WWW.

Photo Credit

The “Made for Home” Olympics Opening Ceremony

Confession – all week long as my wife and son have reported the festive mood in London (and Oxford and Cambridge) I wished I was there. As I have cataloged 15 different posts on various innovations inspired by the Olympics, I had wanted to be at the Opening Ceremony.

But watching it on TV last night, laptop and smartphone nearby, I was perfectly content I was on my chair and exercise bike. I got in the mood by listening to Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. I knew Danny Boyle’s production planned to have plenty of Britain’s countryside and the song always takes me rural with its lyrics which include brook, whispering wind and hedgerow.  I then watched a replay of the Beijing’s Opening Ceremony on the NBC Olympics site (which is  also best place to catch all the 302 events live and free if you register with your cable account) – feeling a bit sorry for what Danny had to benchmark against.

I need not have worried for Danny. He clearly learned a thing or two from Bollywood and Slumdog Millionaire. What a spectacle! The best and the most eccentric of what the British have to offer.

There were many segments I can argue looked better at home. The Queen/James Bond/Corgis (how can you forget them?) segment, David Beckham powerboating with the torch on the Thames, the close up of Rowan Atkinson during the Chariots of Fire segment, the parade of the athletes (NBC jammed in many commercials during the parade, and so thankfully edited the time for each country) and not needing binoculars to focus on the smiles and colorful costumes.

And at home, I could join many of my friends (Andrew McCarthy, Chris Selland, Bob Egan) virtually over Twitter and cheer and jeer. I have done so now for the SuperBowl in 2011, the Academy Awards earlier this year.  If you do a little research before the event, and if you have handy Google and Wikipedia, it makes for a much richer experience without having to fight traffic or security.

Besides, I doubt very much I could have ordered a Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat at the Games. And raise a toast to Consumerization of Technology.