Industry HORIBA (Edison, New Jersey) has received an order from the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, Washington, DC) to supply water quality sensors to be used in their medical intravenous (IV) fluid production device. IV fluid is essential for medical treatment and surgical procedures, and must be available at the International Space Station
(ISS) for future long-duration exploration missions. Limitations such as spacecraft capacity and expiration of shelf life
make it impossible to deliver enough fresh IV fluid from the earth to the ISS. Therefore, NASA is developing an IVGEN (Intra
Venous GENeration) system, which reuses the feedstock water in ISS to a purity level of pharmaceutical standards. The system
will be carried to space via the space shuttle launching in March 2010, and will be tested at the International Space Station
(ISS). • With the help of official technical partner PerkinElmer (Shelton, Connecticut), the Brawn GP Formula One Racing Team (Brackley, UK) won a double victory in the 2009 FIA Formula One Constructors' and Drivers' World Championships (subject to official championship
results to be published by the FIA). Advanced PerkinElmer instrumentation was used by Brawn GP this season to enhance the performance of the team's race cars
and to improve troubleshooting analysis, including the analysis of debris in engine and gearbox lubricants and detection of
degradation of worn seals. Since 2001, PerkinElmer has provided scientific expertise and instrumentation for the Brawn GP Formula One team's car performance
testing program. To accurately measure and monitor engine and gearbox degradation, Brawn GP maintains a PerkinElmer Materials
Testing Laboratory at its headquarters, where a diverse range of technologies are employed. PerkinElmer has provided Brawn
with exclusive access to its Seer Green (UK) demonstration laboratory, as well as support by Product Specialists for troubleshooting
as needed. • Agilent Technologies, Inc. (Santa Clara, California) today announced it is collaborating with Stanford University (Stanford, California) in a research program designed to explore a new class of nanoscale devices using combinations of the scanning probe microscope
(SPM) and atomic layer deposition (ALD). The research will enable the rapid prototyping and characterization of nanoscale
devices with breakthroughs in sub 10 nm scale for a wide range of applications. This program focuses on the integration of ALD, a thin-film technique capable of sub-nanometer precision in thickness, with
the nanometer lateral resolution SPM in a drive to extend the capability of scanning probe techniques to prototyping and device
fabrication. Historically, performance of electronic devices has been limited by traditional manufacturing methods, such as
optical and electron beam lithography, which are not likely to deliver feature resolution significantly below 20 nm. However,
the quantum mechanical effects of electron confinement in devices 10 nm or smaller result in phenomena qualitatively different
than those seen in larger devices. • Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (Waltham, Mssachusetts) recently announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of B.R.A.H.M.S. AG (Hennigsdorf, Germany) for 330 million Euros (approximately $470 million USD). B.R.A.H.M.S is best known for its flagship test, Procalcitonin (PCT),
and is a leading provider of specialty in-vitro diagnostic tests based upon patented biomarkers for sepsis, cardiovascular
and pulmonary diseases, as well as intensive care treatments and prenatal screening. Thermo Fisher will integrate B.R.A.H.M.S.
into its Analytical Technologies Segment, and plans to use the firm's former headquarters as the European Center of Excellence
for its clinical diagnostics business.
|
