Scroll down for quick news summaries from Council partners.
CH2M and partner win innovation award
Salesforce recently selected East Sussex Highways, a joint venture of Council Lead Partner CH2M, Costain and East Sussex County Council, as a recipient of the Salesforce 2016 Partner Innovation Award. The award recognizes the team's contributions to public sector customer service. As part of the joint venture, the two firms are providing over 2,000 miles of highways maintenance, management, improvement schemes and services in East Sussex, UK.
Ruckus Wireless to provide smart WiFi in Malaysia
Council Lead Partner Ruckus Wireless, now part of Brocade, has installed a smart WiFi system for Sunway University in Malaysia. The WiFi network will provide service for more than 17,000 students and staff in several buildings on one of the university's campuses. A university official said several providers' services were tested, but Ruckus Wireless provided the strongest signals and integrated smoothly with its existing systems.
Enel acquires U.S. energy storage company
Council Associate Partner Enel subsidiary Enel Green Power North America has acquired Demand Energy, an intelligent software and storage systems provider. Francesco Venturini, head of Global Renewable Energies for Enel, said the acquisition would strengthen the multi-national utility's presence in the battery energy storage market and help it make further advances in renewables and storage.
Siemens wins its first offshore wind power project in Belgium
Council Associate Partner Siemens has entered the wind energy market in Belgium through a contract with Rentel NV, which is a member of a Belgian renewable energy companies conglomerate. Siemens will provide 42 wind turbines for the 309 MW project which is expected to provide power for 300,000 homes.
UL offers schools online platform for STEM education
A free online platform from Council Lead Partner UL will help middle school educators teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics encourage critical thinking, solutions development and working collaboratively, the company says. UL Xplorlabs is intended to bridge the gap between the classroom and real-world engineering challenges. The company's goal with Xplorlabs is to encourage students to appreciate and learn about science and to develop safety skills to reduce preventable injuries.
Doug Peeples is a Portland, Oregon-based writer specializing in technology and energy. Follow @smartccouncil on Twitter.
