Anaren focusing on advanced beamforming technology in $7M Airbus contract

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DeWITT — Anaren, Inc. of DeWitt will use a $7 million contract to work on advanced beamforming assembly for use in the Eutelsat Quantum satellite program. Airbus Defence & Space, a division of French aircraft manufacturer Airbus Group, awarded the contract. Beamforming is a “signal-processing technique used to control the directionality of the transmission and […]

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DeWITT — Anaren, Inc. of DeWitt will use a $7 million contract to work on advanced beamforming assembly for use in the Eutelsat Quantum satellite program.

Airbus Defence & Space, a division of French aircraft manufacturer Airbus Group, awarded the contract.

Beamforming is a “signal-processing technique used to control the directionality of the transmission and reception of radio signals,” a definition provided on the website of Fremont, California–based Quantenna Communications.

Airbus Defence & Space is developing the quantum satellite program for Eutelsat as part of a public-private partnership with the European Space Agency, Anaren said in a Jan. 8 news release.

Anaren is a DeWitt–based developer of high-frequency technology deployed in space, defense, and wireless-infrastructure applications.

Paris, France–based Eutelsat Communications is an operator of communications satellites that are used by broadcasting organizations, telecommunications companies, Internet-service providers, government agencies, and other customers, Anaren said.

The company has a workforce of about 1,000 employees in 32 countries worldwide.

This new satellite-demonstration program is going to have a beam of radio-frequency (RF) energy, which can be moved, essentially, electronically around the earth’s surface, says Mark Kosalek, VP of business development for Anaren’s space & defense group. He spoke with CNYBJ on Jan. 12.

It will provide satellite-television and Internet-service providers the “ability to steer the beams into certain, more highly populated areas and be a little more flexible in how they use that communications service.”

“Essentially this beamformer is a key technology to form the beam and shape the RF beam and steer it to certain, desired locations on the earth,” says Kosalek.

It’s the first time that a commercial-satellite operator is attempting the technology in space, he adds.

Anaren will deliver its first flight-set hardware to Airbus Defence & Space in summer 2017, with additional system tests and production anticipated over subsequent years.

The hardware that Anaren will manufacture for Airbus will be about the size of a microwave oven, says Kosalek.

The Eutelsat Quantum program will feature the “world’s first fully reconfigurable” commercial satellite, allowing Eutelsat to adapt the satellite in response to new demands in coverage, bandwidth, power, frequency, and even changes in its orbital position, according to the Anaren news release.

Cornell receives $10 million grant for computing research

Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Health Care, Manufacturing & Engineering, Subscriber Only

ITHACA — The National Science Foundation (NSF) on Jan. 7 announced a new $10 million award to Cornell University Computer Science Professor Carla Gomes, director of Cornell’s Institute for Computational Sustainability. Gomes leads one of three “Expeditions in Computing” projects, each of which was awarded $10 million over five years by NSF, according to a

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Gomes leads one of three “Expeditions in Computing” projects, each of which was awarded $10 million over five years by NSF, according to a Cornell Chronicle news release. The grants fund interdisciplinary, multi-investigator research teams working on transformative computing and technology.

Gomes’ project will develop a large national and international research network called CompSustNet that will explore new research directions in computational sustainability, according to the release. With Cornell as the lead organization, CompSustNet will partner with 11 U.S. colleges and universities as well as with key organizations in the areas of conservation, poverty mitigation, and renewable energy.

Other Cornell faculty leads on the project include Bart Selman and John Hopcroft, Department of Computer Science; David Shmoys, School of Operations Research and Information Engineering; and Jon Conrad, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. The CompSustNet team includes many other Cornell researchers as well as international computational sustainability scholars, the release said.

“We will launch CompSustNet, a transformative computational sustainability network, bringing together computer scientists, environmental and social scientists, biologists, physicists, and material scientists to expand the nascent field of computational sustainability,” said Gomes, who also has appointments in the Department of Information Science and the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. ”Research will focus on cross-cutting computational topics such as optimization, dynamical models, big data, machine learning, and citizen science, applied to sustainability challenges.

“Advances in computational sustainability will lead, for example, to novel strategies for helping herders and farmers in Africa improve their way of life, saving endangered species, and scaling renewables up to meet 21st-century energy demand.”

Gomes also led a team that received one of the first Expeditions in Computing awards in 2008. Initial funding from NSF has led to more than $80 million in support from other agencies and organizations and helped stimulate a new field.

Universities in CompSustNet include: Bowdoin College, California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Howard University, Oregon State University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Southern California, and Vanderbilt University, the release noted.

CompSustNet seeks to be a virtual research lab, including educational, community building, and outreach activities to ensure computational sustainability becomes a self-sustaining discipline, according to Cornell.

Cayuga Community College’s advanced-manufacturing institute prepares for student training

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Health Care, Manufacturing & Engineering, Subscriber Only

The new advanced-manufacturing Institute (AMI) at Cayuga Community College (CCC) will provide training for any student interested in entering a high-tech, plastics technology or advanced-manufacturing career. The students can be recent high-school graduates, people retraining for a career, or dislocated workers or veterans who are coming back to school, says Carla DeShaw, dean of community

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The students can be recent high-school graduates, people retraining for a career, or dislocated workers or veterans who are coming back to school, says Carla DeShaw, dean of community education and workforce development at Cayuga Community College. She spoke with CNYBJ on Jan. 8.

“We are also focused on corporate training, which would be customized training for employers that need to upgrade the skills of their workers, expand their workforce. We do a lot of customized training,” says DeShaw.

The first classes begin Jan. 25.

Cayuga Community College formally opened the AMI at its Auburn campus during an event held Jan. 7. The school also dedicated its new plastics laboratory in honor of Raymond Currier, founder of Currier Plastics of Auburn.

“The plastics laboratory is one part of the AMI,” DeShaw adds.

“Our 3,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art AMI is designed to serve the training needs of Cayuga County and regional employers and students preparing for high-demand careers by offering a range of industrial courses with emphasis on mechanical, plastics, and electrical technologies. The strong relationships and support between local plastics manufacturers and the college distinguishes the AMI’s program offerings from any other college in New York … We are delighted with the continued support of the Currier family and industry partners for their contributions to this project,” Brian Durant, president of CCC, said in a news release.

AMI origin
Cayuga Community College created the AMI, in part, through an award of more than $629,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program.

Cayuga’s project has two parts, including the AMI and the four new programs involved, says DeShaw.

The State University of New York (SUNY) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED) both approved Cayuga’s request for a plastics-technology certificate and degree-option program.

SUNY and NYSED also OK’d the creation of four new options within Cayuga’s existing mechanical-technology degree program. Those include mechatronics, facilities design, computer-aided design, and precision machining.

Under the TAACCCT grant program, Cayuga Community College held regional meetings with employers in the plastics industry, collected data, and developed ideas to help train future workers.

“We were the only ones to develop a plastics lab … but we have a lot of employers that gave input … from Utica to Rochester,” says DeShaw.

From there, a group of seven people from Auburn’s Currier Plastics helped Cayuga Community College in developing and planning for the AMI.

That process, which involved the program approvals and development and renovation work, lasted about two years, according to DeShaw.

Currier Plastics of Auburn donated an injection-molding machine; Welch Allyn, Inc. of Skaneateles Falls contributed shelving, a band saw, a grinder, and work tables; and ITT Goulds Pumps of Seneca Falls donated a spectrometer.

Currier’s relationship with regional sales representatives also generated no-cost loan agreements on a Niigata electric-injection molding machine and a robot from Cranston, Rhode Island–based Yushin America, Inc., DeShaw says.

With the agreements, Cayuga Community College can “switch out the equipment every six months to a year, so that we always will have state of the art [equipment],” she adds.

The renovations for the AMI, which operates in a former book store, included electrical work, painting, and installing a new roof.

“The electrical [work] was our largest expense,” says DeShaw.

Architect Thomas Pratt from Fayetteville handled the design work on the project.

What a Gas: The story of the Syracuse Gas Lighting Company

Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Manufacturing & Engineering

Long before the advent of electricity, gas street lamps dotted the thoroughfares of Syracuse. Around 1850, Syracuse became the 21st city in the United States

SU will no longer provide health, IT services to ESF students under new agreement

Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Health Care, Manufacturing & Engineering, New York News, Nonprofits

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse University (SU) and the SUNY College of Environment Science and Forestry (ESF) have agreed that ESF will make health and wellness

Trump Scares Washington

Opinion, Subscriber Only

President Harry Truman said if you want a friend in Washington you should get a dog. If Donald Trump ever makes it to the White House, he will be lucky to find one that doesn’t chomp his leg. Can you think of anyone in the Washington establishment who would welcome The Donald to D.C.? I

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President Harry Truman said if you want a friend in Washington you should get a dog.

If Donald Trump ever makes it to the White House, he will be lucky to find one that doesn’t chomp his leg.

Can you think of anyone in the Washington establishment who would welcome The Donald to D.C.? I suppose there must be a few organizations. But not many.

Think of it. The capital teems with politicians, of course. And, their faithful staffers and assorted hangers-on. If Trump becomes president, he will have run a bulldozer over their political machines.

He will have defeated the army of consultants who advise the Republican elites. Many will have lost their jobs. All will have lost their reputations. That is because none of them saw him as a serious threat. They all advised their clients he would be gone by last Christmas.

Trump will have rolled over the elite themselves. Those who knew what was best for millions of Republican voters who thumbed their noses at them.

He will have done the same to the Democrats’ machine. Because in order to win, Donald will have had to win over many Democrats. Many pollsters are finding that Trump indeed is attracting Democrat voters.

Think of how the Democrats would feel. They have lost lots of governorships lately. Along with control of state legislatures. They have lost both houses of Congress.

Suppose Donald muscles their heroine Hillary’s chariot off a cliff on her route to the coronation. They would not be crazy about any Republican president. They will despise a President Trump.

Meanwhile, lobbyists and special interests will fight him. Donald has taken no money from them. He has railed against them. They stuffed the pockets of his opponents.

And he will have denied them one of their favorite tools. They love to say “Ahem. Be sure to remind the President that we supported him 200 percent over the last few years.” Meaning: We gave lots of bucks to his campaign. We expect a few favors.

They are not going to like him.

A lot of civil servants would also feel uncomfy with a President Trump. When politicians promise to cut waste in government, they lie. We all know this. When a CEO pledges to trim fat in his company, he trims. It is possible a guy like Trump might actually trim when usually Washington does no trimming.

Most of the mainstream media will oppose Trump. He does not like them and says so. They don’t like him. They have had cozy connections to top politicians for decades. This might not be so easy with a Trump administration.

Trump’s opponents can use a lot of this against him. They can ask, “How would he get anything done? Nobody would owe him a thing. He would have no favors to collect. He would have no leverage, no clout. The old corrupt pols would hold their noses. And work like hell to sandbag him. To drive him out of Washington. So they could go back to their old ways.”

These are valid points. Trump would at least have his voters, yes. He could rally them to pressure pols in favor of his policies. Reagan did a lot of this. Still, this only goes so far.

Thus far, Trump has been brilliant with campaign strategies. He has out-thunk entrenched elites of both parties. To win the big prize, he will have to continue to do so.

So maybe — if he wins — he will be just as brilliant in dealing with the establishment in Washington. He would need to be to get anything done. They are hunkered and bunkered and ready to do battle with him. Trump is an outsider now. He would be an outsider in the Oval Office. He would threaten reform. The establishment would welcome reform like farmers welcome pestilence.

He outsmarts a lot of people. Maybe he will outsmart them.

And if he is really brilliant, his choice of dogs will be an aged, sleepy Lab with arthritis. Blind and toothless. Fixed, declawed, and muzzled. Snoozing in a house way beyond the Rose Garden. And on a chain.

And every day he would remind himself to never turn his back on him.

From Tom…as in Morgan.

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta, in addition to his radio shows. Contact him at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com

This Year, Albany Can Make the Change for Good

Opinion, Subscriber Only

It is never too late to make a positive change. New York State government could certainly use a fresh start and be proactive. New York could and should be doing better, and that starts by taking advantage of opportunities when they are presented. I’d like 2016 to present a stark contrast to 2015 and previous

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First and foremost, the legislature needs to earn back the trust of the people, which it lost due to numerous scandals. The corrupt behavior of a few politicians has marred the efforts of the many honorable men and women I work with on a daily basis serving the people. Now is not the time to be weak on ethics reform in the State Capitol. My Republican colleagues and I have proposed ethics legislation, the Public Officers Accountability Act and the Public Pension Forfeiture Act, which if passed, would be among the most stringent anti-corruption laws in the country. The people of this state need to know there are laws in place to ensure their elected officials will be held accountable should they violate the public trust.

New York, our once-lauded Empire State, was the place to which people flocked seeking a more prosperous future. This, however, has not been the case in recent years. New Yorkers, especially young adults, are leaving this state because of regulations, taxes, and a lack of job opportunities. Municipalities are struggling with burdens from unfunded mandates, making it difficult for investment in the areas needed most by our communities.

There is no time for delay; there are a number of measures we can act upon immediately that would address the underlying problems with our state’s economy and costliness. My Republican colleagues and I have proposed numerous tax relief, small-business, and unfunded-mandate relief bills. We’d be happy to have all legislators partner with us to address these pressing issues.

It is my hope that during this year’s legislative session, the Senate, Assembly, and the governor commit to making this year a better year for the people of New York. Let’s make 2016 the year of seized opportunities and positive change.

Marc W. Butler (R,C,I–Newport) is a New York State Assemblyman for the 118th District, which encompasses parts of Oneida, Herkimer, and St. Lawrence counties, as well as all of Hamilton and Fulton counties. Contact him at butlerm@assembly.state.ny.us

Excellus is accepting applications for nonprofit community health awards

Health Care, Nonprofits, Subscriber Only

DeWITT — Excellus BlueCross BlueShield is calling on nonprofit organizations to apply for its community health awards that will provide a total of $87,000 to help fund health and wellness programs in upstate New York. The community health awards are available to nonprofits in the health insurer’s 31-county upstate New York region, according to a

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Mighty Taco to open Jan. 25 at former Tim Horton’s site in Cicero

Construction, Design & Real Estate, New York News, Sports, Entertainment & Tourism

CICERO — Mighty Taco — a well-known, Buffalo–based, Mexican fast-food restaurant chain — is returning to the Syracuse market on Jan. 25 when it opens

New York manufacturing index plunges in January

Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Insurance & Financial Services, Law, Accounting & Taxes, Manufacturing & Engineering, New York News

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business-conditions index fell 13 points to -19.4, declining for a sixth consecutive month. Business activity for New

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