Researchers have developed a new type of light-enhancing optical cavity that is only 200 nanometers tall and 100 nanometers across. Their new nanoscale system represents a step toward brighter single-photon sources, which could help propel quantum-based encryption and a truly secure and future-proofed network.
from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161221125455.htm
It’s possible to make transistors and diodes from advanced semiconductor materials that could perform much better than silicon, the workhorse of the modern electronics world, researchers have shown.
from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161221124614.htm
Keepmoat has been appointed to build 195 luxury homes in the City of Westminster.
The £50m Maida Vale development for Latimer, part of the Clarion Housing Group, is the latest partnership model undertaken by Keepmoat.
The company will deliver flats for open market sale, affordable home ownership and social rent for Latimer.
Half of the scheme is being sold back to Westminster by Latimer and £20m created from the open market sales will be reinvested to support the remaining estate improvement works, including the remodelling of the 11-storey Tollgate House and community centre.
Originally built in the 1960s, the estate was identified as a priority regeneration project in Westminster City Council’s Housing Renewal Strategy in 2010.
The existing low-rise blocks will be demolished to make way for the new apartments.
Kerry Kyriacou, group director of development at Latimer, said: “Building for Market Sale is fundamental in enabling us to fulfil our core social purpose. Each year we invest every penny of our surplus, and more, in the supply of new affordable housing.
“This large-scale project demonstrates our ability to work flexibly to facilitate affordable housing.
“We are looking forward to working closely with Westminster City Council and Keepmoat to bring forward high quality new homes, community facilities and green spaces in this part of the city as part of what will be a flagship development benefitting not only current residents but also generations to come.”
Dan Germann, Regional Managing Director at Keepmoat said: “This project is delivering much more than traditional social housing, it is showcasing our ability to build high-end, mixed tenure, social rent, affordable and private sale homes at large scale, in an area where people genuinely want to live and where homes of all kinds are in increasingly high demand.
“We have a demonstrable track record of delivering large scale regeneration projects in partnership with local authorities and housing associations; and so are perfectly placed to work with Latimer and Westminster City Council on this ground-breaking scheme.
“We are also committed to liaising with local residents throughout the duration of the build process, to ensure everybody gets the best out of this project.”
Civil specialist Moulding Contracts Limited is being wound down with the loss of 90 jobs after being placed into administration.
Administrators now running the company said: “A process to find a buyer and additional funding support has not been successful.”
Moulding Contracts had a turnover of £18m and operated from bases in Greater Manchester, County Durham and Oxfordshire.
Joint administrator Mark Getliffe of CLB Coopers in Manchester said: “Moulding Contracts will complete some specific contracts but there is no prospect of it continuing to trade as a going concern.
“The workforce was already in a redundancy consultation.”
Getliffe added that “there is every prospect of creditors being paid a distribution.
“The expectation is that we will be able to distribute funds back to creditors in 2017. A plan has been agreed to effect this and creditors will be consulted early in the New Year”
Moulding Contracts was formed in 1950 as a family-run plant hire firm in the North West and grew into a major service provider for the quarrying and brick making industries throughout the Midlands and the North.
In 1996, following the success of a number of joint venture projects, the company merged with a North East regional landfill engineering specialist and the company name was changed to Moulding Contracts Limited.
The employees affected include groundworkers, site agents, site engineers, and plant operators.
Getliffe said: “It’s unwelcome to see people lose their jobs at any time of year but there is a chronic shortage of these skills across civil engineering and construction, so it’s our hope and belief that the workforce will be able to find alternative employment.”
Molecules 10,000 times narrower than the width of a human hair could hold the key to making possible wooden skyscrapers and more energy-efficient paper production, according to new research. The study solves a long-standing mystery of how key sugars in cells bind to form strong, indigestible materials.
from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161221091408.htm
Infrastructure services company FM Conway has bought Berkshire Macadam Ltd to boost its in-house supply of bitumen and asphalt.
Berkshire Macadam employs 13 staff and operates two asphalt plants at Reading, Berkshire and Aldershot, Hampshire.
Latest accounts for the company for the year to January 2016 show it had a turnover of £7.8m and made a pre-tax profit of £3.2m.
Conway said the acquisition is part of its strategy to ensure it is well positioned to boost asphalt supply for highways customers operating on both the strategic and local road networks.
The two new plants, which produce a total of 80,000 tonnes a year, will complement FM Conway’s existing facilities at Erith and Heathrow.
Michael Conway, CEO of FM Conway, said: “Continued investment in our plant infrastructure underpins our self-delivery model.
“This acquisition will strengthen our production capability and ability to provide customers with greater network coverage and the added security that comes hand-in-hand with on-demand access to high-quality materials.
“These two new plants will build on the success of our Erith and Heathrow facilities which have set a benchmark for asphalt recycling, ensuring that our clients can leverage the environmental and economic benefits which come from resource efficiency.”
A new study has revealed a technology how to cover biodegradable implants with a human skeleton similar mineral.
from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161220093946.htm
