SUBSCRIPTIONS
If you've been
forwarded this newsletter by a colleague and require your
own free subscription
go to:
http://www.webcontentnow.com/
and sign up or sign up
by e-mail to: me@webcontentnow.com.
If you do not require this newsletter, follow the
instructions at
the end.
You can read back issues at: http://www.webcontentnow.com/News.htm
89 day
hit totals 41,622
BUSINESS
AND INDUSTRY
ABP
& PGGM OUT OF HEDGE FUNDS
[BIZ: Maastricht, July 30]
The major Dutch Pension funds, Limburg-based ABP and PGGM, which
covers health and Welfare workers, are moving their money out of hedge
funds, according to a report in today's Dagblad de Limburger, quoting
an ANP source. ABP manages a fund worth EUR 147bn and PGGM, a modest
EUR 50bn. Moody markets would appear to be the reason.
http://www.limburger.nl
HOW
TO SAVE EUR 200bn
[BIZ: London, July 29]
According to Proudfoot Consultants (Europe) Ltd., management failure
reduces productivity by 39%, worth EUR 200bn, in German SMEs alone.
Key findings in the recent Proudfoot productivity study entitled 'Lost
Time' which is based on 1500 in-depth studies reveals that
productivity levels were 57% across the board. This productivity loss
equates annually to 97 working days per person, per company. Poor
management in terms of inadequate planning and control and
insufficient supervision is the biggest single reason for productivity
loss -65% in lost time. Other key reasons for productivity loss are
poor working morale, IT-related problems and an inappropriately
qualified workforce. Germany and the USA were the most productive
countries with levels of 61%, the UK had the lowest level at 48%.
Optimum productivity levels, according to Proudfoot, are 85%. This
means that the businesses in studied have productivity reserves of
around 30%.
http://www.proudfootconsulting.com
MAASTRICHT
TOPS IN OFFICE SPACE
[BIZ:
Maastricht, July 26]
Maastricht now had 465,000 m2 of office space. This includes buildings
that have been completed this summer, among them the prestigious
flower-shaped complex Il Fiore in the Céramique district. New offices
have also been recently built for DHL, CMG and the Chamber of
Commerce, most of them are in the Randwyck, Céramique and de Geusselt
districts. With its 450,000 m2, in Limburg (NL), Maastricht now leads
Heerlen which has 430,000 m2. This report comes from Dagblad de
Limburger.
http://www.limburger.nl
DSM
Q2 OPERATING PROFIT RECOVERY
[BIZ:
Heerlen, July 25]
DSM’s operating profit on ongoing activities for Q2 2002 at EUR 102m
is up 12% from Q2 2001 and 26% from Q1 2002.
Net profit was EUR 959m, including extraordinary profit of EUR
840m. Sale of DSM Petrochemicals has been completed producing cash
revenues of EUR 2.0bn. The interim
dividend is EUR 0.58 (2001: EUR 0.58). The outlook
for operating profit on ongoing activities for 2002 is substantially
higher than that for 2001.
See below for life science results.
http://www.dsm.com
SABIC
EARNINGS DOWN
[BIZ:
Riyadh,
July 21]
The Saudi petrochemical company SABIC that took over DSM's
petrochemicals division for EUR 2.25bn in April has seen a fall in its
net earnings of 35 per cent to EUR 262m. 70 per cent of SABIC is in
the hands of the Saudi government.
http://www.limburger.nl
CHAMBER
SPLIT UP
[BIZ:
Maastricht, July 19]
In a letter to all of the political parties the president of the
Chamber of Commerce for South Limburg proposes the division of the
Chamber into two parts: South Limburg and Central and North
Limburg. The Chamber would not be averse to a merger with the Belgian
province of Limburg and South East Brabant. The intention is to
include this proposal in election programs for March 2003. According
to Chamber president Wöltgens this would give South Limburg more
scope within the Euroregion for cross border development. In the
Chamber's view South Limburg should only have five large
municipalities Maastricht, Parkstad, Sittard/Geleen and two in the
hill country.
http://www.limburger.nl
20
PER CENT CHANCE OF SPALLATION SOURCE IN JUELICH
[BIZ:
Jülich, July 17]
The European Spallation Neutron Source, a major project for which
equipment is now budgeted at EUR 1.54bn and which is expected to
spin off 2,000 jobs has a 20% chance of coming to Jülich. Jülich's
position will be assessed by a German committee in September and, in
addition to a German competitor site in East Germany, there are three
other competing sites in Europe. The state of North Westphalia is,
however still prepared to put up 10 per cent of the construction
costs, according to the State Ministry for Education and Research.
http://www.wdr.de
A
COME BACK FOR ELSA
[BIZ:
Aachen, July 17]
As we reported earlier, in issue 42, Devolo AG in Aachen, with its
large complement of staff from recently wound up ELSA AG, has taken
over ELSA's microlink and vianect branches. However, a Bremen
investment group is going to take over the ELSA brand and start up the
business again in August employing 100.
http://www.wdr.de
interview
with nedcar president
[IND:
Born, July 13]
Radar, the corporate communications magazine of NedCar in
Born has published a front page interview with Günther Butschek
(41),the new president of the company. The interview is largely
concerned with the personal preferences of the president who admits to
being a Harry Potter fan and a drinker of South African red
wine. As far as his experience is concerned, he ran a plant employing
3,400 in South Africa producing 64,000 right-hand drive Mercedes
C-class vehicles per year- not E-class as an earlier press
release reported - and 10,000 Mitsubishi L 200. In 2.5 years Mr
Butschek changed what was a completely knocked down assembly
plant and produced cars for global customers. He had considerable
experience in logistics, purchasing, HR and production; and, in answer
to a question as to what the most important job would be at NedCar he
said that he was in favor of a cross functional team, optimization and
standardization and of course quality. He agreed to be interviewed
again within a year.
http://www.nedcar.nl
AUTOMOTIVE
SUPPLY CHAIN PROJECT
[IND:
Hasselt, July 6]
The Automotive Supply Chain project to be subsidized within the EU
Interreg III program for the Benelux Central area (Benelux
Middengebied) has been approved. The objective of the project is to
establish a transfrontier association for automotive suppliers in the
Netherlands and Flanders. Various clusters will develop programs for
specific areas. The project has been awarded EUR 1.3m. An objective
is for 70 per cent of the companies participating to achieve quality
certification and 50 per cent environmental care certification.
http://www.vkwlimburg.com
A
TEN DAY SHIRT
[BIZ:
Hasselt, July 4]
Michel Byvoet of Douëlou in Hasselt established an online shirt
business four years ago, enabling clients to order made to measure
shirts and other items of apparel online. This is now to be expanded
to shops where the house brand Jean D'artès is sold and the
tailor-made shirts will be ordered in the shops and delivered there
ten days later where the clients can pick up their orders.
http://www.bivolino.com/index1_ie.html
CORDEEL
CONSTRUCTION TO EXPAND
[BIZ:
Hoeselt, July 4]
The East Flanders construction company Cordeel is going to expand its
industrial location in Hoeselt to 6 ha. This will allow another
7 ha to be freed for other companies. Cordeel took over the Hoeselt
construction company Vangronsveld in the nineties and now employs 600
and has an annual revenue of EUR 150m.
http://www.cordeel.be
EUR
50M FOR PHILIPS AACHEN
[BIZ:
Aachen, July ]
Philips is investing EUR 50m in the production capacity of its Aachen
automotive lighting plant. In September the new production facility
for Xenon lamps will be completed. There is rapid growth in this area.
Xenon lamps produce twice the amount of light as halogen bulbs, but
consume half the power. The life span of a Xenon bulb is also equal to
the life span of the car. The new production facility at Philips
Aachen will mean 120 new jobs, bringing the number of those employed
to 1270.
http://www.eur.lighting.philips.com
LOGISTICS
AND INFRASTRUCTURE
BORN GOES
MULTIMODAL
[LOG: Born, July 29]
PLC, the Public Logistics Center will be revealing the first phase of
its new development program in Born August 28. The existing Barge and
Rail Terminals have been forged into a major new multimodal hub for
northwest Europe. Warehousing alone covers an area six times that of
Maastricht's great central Vrijthof square and docking facilities
allow cross channel coasters to reach Meuse-Rhine at the heart of
Europe. We shall be covering this story at greater length elsewhere.
http://www.plc-born.com
E-TRANSLOGISTICS
2002, LIEGE
[LOG:
Liège,
July 28]
Demonstrating
its own major hub status, Liège will be hosting E-translogistics
2002, Liège, a
major transport and logistics conference, ‘A vision of logistics
through the year 2010’ , November 28 and 29 at the Palais de
Congrès. The conference
will be organized by Liège’s transport center (Pôle Transport)
the Belgian Association of Purchasing and Logistics Executives,
members of the European Logistics Association, PICS [Production
and Inventory Control Society]
Belgium and SOGESCI, the Belgian Society for Scientific Methods of
Management. Major players
in the logistics world will be there.
http://www.e-translogistics.be
CUTTING
THE GRASS
[LOG: Tongres, July 25]
Hydro-Gear has chosen SKF in Tongres, the ball bearing people, to take
over its European distribution. SKF expects a jump in business as a
result of this. Its distribution center in Tongres currently employs
230. Hydro-Gear, located in Sullivan, Illinois, U.S.A. is a world
leader in the design, manufacture, sale and service of quality
hydrostatic drive systems for the lawn and garden industry. They
produce high-performance hydrostatic transmissions, gear reduction
drives, piston pumps and wheel motors for both the consumer and
commercial markets. The company with Original Equipment Manufacturers
worldwide has distributors in the U.S., Europe, South America, Canada,
Australia, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Rim.
http://www.hydro-gear.com
http://www.skf.com
ICE
AND HIGH SPEED
[inf:
Aachen, July 24]
Raimund Neuss writing in the Aachener Zeitung points out that
for various reasons the German ICE high speed train will be
restricting its ambitions to the domestic market in the intermediate
term. Connections like the TGV Brussels-Cologne will however provide
other solutions, as will Switzerland Italy connections from Basle. One
thing slowing down activities in cross border traffic is the need for
a step by step upgrading of high speed lines.
http://www.aachener-zeitung.de
BIOMASS
[inf:
Siersdorf, July 23]
The EBV subsidiary Wärme-,Energie-und Prozesstechnik [heat, energy
and process technology] wants to build a new Biomass power plant at
the latest in 2004. The location suggested is the Emil-Mayrisch
industrial park in Siersdorf, which represents an investment of
EUR 7.5m and will deal with 17,000 tons of Biomass in the form of wood
each year.
http://www.wdr.de
WIND
FARMS
[inf:
Bütgenbach, July 18]
Electrabel is to build a wind farm at Röderhöhe in Bütgenbach (Hautes
Fagnes) East Belgium. The four 2MW wind turbines scheduled for
completion by the Danish company Vestas in Spring 2003 represent an
investment of EUR 6.2m for Electrabel. An initial objection by a
nearby Belgian airforce base reduced the proposal from five to four
turbines. At the same time, objections to a wind farm in the
neighborhood of Aachen have been rejected and four companies have
submitted plans to develop a wind farm in the neighborhood of
Koningsbosch in central Limburg. Candidates in Koningsbosch are
the project developer Ruijters, the Belgian company En Vision, Arcadis
Consultancy and a construction company in Sint-Joost. En Vision
plans a farm with six turbines. [Speaking personally, the sight of
these looming monstrosities have helped me to understand Don Quixote's
delusion. Ed.]
http://www.vestas.dk
http://www.ld.nl
NEW
AACHEN MAP
[inf:
Aachen, July 15]
A new map for the Aachen district, called the City and District of
Aachen, has been published on a scale of 1:50 000. It covers the area
of the city and the district of about 700 km2, including every
municipality from Gangelt in the north to Hellenthal in the south and
the municipality, district and state boundaries are given. It not only
provides information about highways, but also footpaths and facilities
for walking and cycling, as well as motoring in the Aachen and north
region. Various topical features are also covered, as are GPS
reception coordinates. The map costs EUR 7.55 and is available from katasterservice@mail.aachen.de
tel. 00.49.241.432.6271 and fax 00.49.241.432.6299 and via local
bookshops.
http://www.aachen.de
GREAT
GARBAGE SWAP
[inf:
Maastricht/Weisweiler, July 9]
Limburgs Dagblad reports that an experiment will be started this year
on the exchange of compost between Limburg and the Aachen region.
Weisweiler has excess incineration capacity and Limburg has to pay
high costs for transport this waste to Rotterdam. European regulations
prevent the transfer of garbage across border, unless the national
government gives the green light. The project is for Weisweiler to
deal with 50,000 tons of Limburg household waste and for Aachen
to supply 25,000 tons of compost to Essent facility in the port of
Maastricht.
http://www.ld.nl
A
NEW port
[INF:
Liège, July]
A new port has been added to the complex forming the autonomous port
of Liège.
Hermalle-sous-Huy is in the municipality of Engis on the right bank of
the river Meuse. The area is 50 are, of which 35 are usable. It has a
192m of river bank, a 50 m unloading quay, a 60 m loading quay
and 2,500 m2 of storage space,
http://www.liege.port-autonome.be
GOVERNMENT
AND EDUCATION
AACHEN FINANCES
[GOV: Aachen, July 26]
Aachen lost 35 per cent in business tax revenues over the past year
and in the first half of this year receipts have also fallen from 12
to 20 per cent. According to Mayor Jürgen Linden, if this continues,
it means that Aachen could end the year in debt to the tune of xxm.
Mayor Linden has requested the federal and state authorities to make
changes, so that the city is able to benefit from tax revenues of
business located there.
http://www.aachener-zeitung.de
EURLINGS IN CDA
TOP
[GOV: The Hague, July 26]
Camiel Eurlings, Limburg member of the leading coalition party the
Christian Democrats (CDA), has been appointed to the executive of the
party and is second vice-chairman. The executive has seven members.
http://www.stemcda.nl
CHINESE ENGLISH
[EDU: Maastricht, July 26]
Dagblad de Limburger reports that the Dutch Ministry of Justice
is going to take a closer look at Chinese students arriving to take
English medium university courses in the Netherlands. This is at the
prompting of the Dutch Embassy in Peking which has noticed a good many
candidates for such courses are unable to speak English. The Ministry
is apparently concerned that these students may outstay their
residence permit. Let it be hoped that they are not enrolling for
courses where it does not matter whether they understand what's going
on or not.
http://www.limburger.nl
MIDWIFERY
TO MOVE
[EDU: Maastricht, July 24]
Negotiations have reached an advanced stage on bringing the School of
Midwifery from Kerkrade to the new Maastricht University campus in
Randwyck. The School will fit in with the new campus plans and it
would be housed in the same building as BioPartner Maastricht. This
means a move for 50 staff and 200 students.
http://www.unimaas.nl
NEW STYLE E,til
[EDU: Maastricht, July 22]
E,til, a private company attached to Maastricht U, provides a range of
services, covering the interface between society and the economy. It
reports on business parks, the labor market, local government
strategy, housing, and other topics. An attractive brochure details
their services and their new name does not avoid the comma but the
stop to distinguish them from the dot.com hoi polloi.
http://www.etil.nl
FLEMISH FUNDS FOR
tUL
[EDU: Hasselt, July 20]
The Flemish government has released funds for the transnational
University Limburg (tUL), which is a joint initiative of Maastricht
University and the Limburg University Center in Diepenbeek. The EUR
34m will be invested in a project over a period of 5 years. Total
investment will be EUR 56m. This money is intended to develop the
infrastructure and to get things going. Flemish Prime Minister Patrick
Dewael asks the Dutch government to make its contributions on a
reciprocal basis. Flemish funding comes from the Limburg Reconversion
Company (LRM) which manages the funds remaining from the closing of
the mine industry in Belgian Limburg. This report comes from Dagblad
de Limburger.
http://www.limburger.nl
WEST POINT MEETS
THE RUSSIANS
[EDU: Maastricht, July 15]
The Center for European Studies ,part of the University of Maastricht,
has started a unique American-Europe, Russian program (AMEURU)
developed by the University of Maastricht in cooperation with the
Military Academy at West Point. Cooperation with the Military Academy
started in 1998. The new program is a 3-week program where future
officers and political science students from the US, the Netherlands,
Central Asia and various former Easter bloc countries will meet to
follow courses and to get to know one another.
http://www.bu.unimaas.nl
ARCHIVES JOIN
HISTORY CENTER
[EDU: Maastricht, July 4]
To develop a multifunctional Limburg Historical Center, the State
Archives in Maastricht, the Municipality of Maastricht, the Limburg
Social History Center, the Veldeke Association and the Society for
History and Antiquity have joined forces together. The participants
believe that the whole will be more than the sum of its parts, at
least in respect of funding. The State Archives have produced a
Newsletter, which explains the procedure.
http://www.rijksarchieflimburg.nl
http://www.centreceramique.nl
http://www.shc.limburg.nl
COMMITTEE OF THE
REGIONS
[GOV: Brussels, July]
Committee of the Regions has published a small booklet explaining what
it is, and who does what. The booklet gives a history of the Committee
which started in 1994 and holds five plenary sessions in Brussels each
year. Its third four-year term of office began in February 2002. Sir
Albert Bore, leader of Birmingham City Council, was elected President.
The areas with which the Committee is concerned include economic
and social cohesion, trans-European infrastructure networks, health,
education and culture. Another five have been added: employment
policy, social policy, environment, training and transport. In
addition, the Committee can issue opinions on its own initiative in
other areas of interest to regions and towns, such as agriculture and
spatial planning. The members must hold a regional or local authority
electoral mandate or be politically accountable to an elected
assembly. The Treaty also provides for CoR members to be appointed in
the future by qualified majority in the Council, rather than by
unanimous decision. There is a Bureau which is elected by a simple
majority of the Plenary Assembly for a 2-year term that establishes
the policy program and monitors its implementation. It prepares and
coordinates the work of the Plenary Assembly and the commissions, is
responsible for financial and administrative matters and also decides
on the CoR's Internal Organization. CoR has six committees: COTER,
Territorial Cohesion Policy; ECOS, Economic and Social Policy; DEVE,
Sustainable Development; EDUC, Culture and Education; CONST,
Constitutional Affairs and RELEX, External Relations. In Meuse-Rhine's
case the Netherlands is represented in the Commission for Sustainable
Development. There are political groups and national delegations.
Belgium's representative is Luc van den Brande, Germany's Wolfgang
Senff and the Netherlands Fons Hertog. The Bureau reveals that
Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe , the Walloon premier, and Karl-Heinz
Lambertz Premier of the German-speaking community are also both
represented.
http://www.cor.eu.int
HOW TO KEEP MY
STAFF
[EDU: Maastricht, June 27]
Limburg's Labor Market Day 2002, a jubilee session, will be held on
October 31 at the Oranjerie in Roermond from 10.00-17.30 hrs. This
fifth annual meeting will deal with the problem of keeping one's
staff.
http://www.limburg.nl
LIFE
SCIENCE AND SCI-TECH
HostIT TO RESCUE ORACLE CRASH
VICTIMS
[TECH: Hasselt, July
30]
Hasselt-based full service hosting company, HostIT, is implementing
Oracle Enterprise Manager to enhance its customer service. The
'Enterprise Manager' tool provides a database maintenance and tune-up
service for customers at the HostIT datacenter. It is implemented in
cooperation with OraVision in Brunssum. Oracle Enterprise Manager
detects upcoming problems in Oracle databases and prevents crashes.
The database can also be easily tuned to improve performance. This
service is offered to databases at HostIT datacenters and to
customer-location databases. This is good news for companies using
Oracle databases but without the specialists to maintain them.
http://www.hostit.be
http://www.oravision.com
EUROPEAN BIOTECH PATENTS
'CHAMP' 2001
[LIFE-SCI:
Heerlen, July 29]
DSM filed 305 patent applications with the European Patent Office in
2001, of which 154 related to biotechnology. This made DSM the No. 1
biotech patent filer ahead of GlaxoSmithKline, Incyte Genomics,
Aventis and Human Genome Sciences, 2-5 in the rankings. Takeda
Chemical Industries which has its European base in Aachen came 20th
and the Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut
voor Biotechnologie was 27th out of 39
companies. Full details are linked below. DSM was 35th in the
overall patent filing rankings, where Philips Electronics heads the
list. 'The increase in the number of patent applications in 2001
mainly had to do with our genomics project,' explained Emmo Meijer,
DSM's Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
http://www.epo.org
INVESTMENT
IN THE LIFE SCIENCES
[LIFE-SCI:
Eijsden, July 28]
The Economist of June 29 noted that indices of biotech shares
on both Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange had dropped by 50%
since the start of the year - far more than the markets overall
had done. The total market capitalization of public biotech firms was
half of what it was in February 2000. The prices of shares in 13 firms
that went public in 2000 were, on average, 75% lower than when they
were first offered. Nevertheless, added the paper, private
investment had continued. So far this year USD 7.2bn had flowed into
the industry, as against USD 3.8bn in the same period last year. Some
of this had come from investors and some of it had come from the
pharmaceutical industry (see also item below), desperate for new
products to replace the lucrative drugs for which patents were soon to
expire. The University of Maryland, according to The Economist,
estimated that the annual revenue from drugs that would go off patent
this year was USD 2.8bn. Next year the figure would be USD 6bn.The
Economist concluded that the hope for biotech rested on new
scientific information generated by new technology, automation,
miniaturization and information technology which had accelerated the
rate of growth in the discipline. The blurb accompanying the press
release on Ernst & Young's 16th-annual report on the future state
of the industry acknowledged that 2000 was a great year and it also
said that venture financing was the bright spot in 2001 with USD
2.4bn invested in the US alone. As a whole though, the year was
disappointing. Figures revealed thus far by Venture Reporter on
investing in Q3 and Q4 2001 as against Q1 and Q2 2002 show a marked
increase in pharmaceuticals, but in other departments Q1 and Q2 of
2002 would appear to be lagging, with Nanotechnology neck and
neck with last year's figures The general figure for biotech is
2bn raised in Q3 and Q4 2001 and 1.8bn in Q1 and Q2 2002. On the
pharma front, traditional Chinese and Ajurvedic medicines are looking
interesting. The market figure has doubled in 8 years to USD 23bn and
growth is strong in the US and Germany. Problems lie in
standardization and regulatory procedures
http://www.webcontentnow
DSM LIFE SCIENCE PRODUCTS
[LIFE-SCI: Heerlen, July 25]
| second
quarter
|
|
EUR
million
|
|
first
half
|
| 2002
|
2001
|
|
|
|
2002
|
2001
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 572
|
589
|
|
Net
sales including intra-Group supplies
|
|
1,103
|
1,165
|
| 95
|
94
|
|
Operating
profit plus depreciation and amortization
|
|
185
|
191
|
| 59
|
57
|
|
Operating
profit
|
|
112
|
118
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sales
in this cluster decreased by 3% compared with Q2 2001, mainly as a
result of divestments and a higher exchange rate for the Euro. The
operating profit, including income from the sale of technology
amounting to a few million Euros,
increased
by 4%. DSM Fine Chemicals posted slightly lower sales and a lower
operating profit, which was attributable to the pharmaceuticals and
aspartame businesses.
However,
the operating profit for the pharmaceutical products business was
better than in the first quarter of 2002. DSM Food Specialties and DSM
Bakery Ingredients posted clearly better operating profits, while DSM
Anti-Infectives’ operating profit was slightly below the Q2 2001
level.
http://www.dsm.com
SILICON
(Si) SOLDIERS ON
[TECH:
Aachen, July 23]
During the IWN (International Workshop on Nitrides) conference in
Aachen, researchers from the RWTH Aachen, the Stepanov Institute of
Physics, Minsk and AIXTRON presented the first optically pumped blue
laser chip based on InGaN/GaN using a Silicon wafer substrate. This is
a key result towards achieving low cost, highly efficient compound
semiconductor technologies. The key technical data of this InGaN/GaN
on Si substrate laser include wavelength in the blue of 447nm, a high
maximum operation temperature of 420K, a low threshold to achieve the
lasing of 270kW/cm2 and an output power of 8W, representing
results close to the technology of laser grown on much more expensive
sapphire and SiC substrates. Those results complement the findings of
the Research Center at Jülich, Aachen University (RWTH) and the
University of Magdeburg this year, where various GaN compound
semiconductors were grown successfully on wafers made of Si rather
than the usual cost intensive SiC or sapphire.
http://www.aixtron.de
DOLLAR
PERILS
[LIFE-SCI: Maastricht, July 19)
The biotechnology company Rhein Biotech achieved net earnings of
between USD 100,000 and USD 300,000 in the second quarter. Biotech
produces vaccines for Hepatitis B. As it denominates its prices in
dollars, the low rate of exchange for the dollar has meant a loss of
EUR 1.7m. Their revenues rose by 7.4% in Q2 this year, reaching EUR
22.5m. The company was recently taken over by Berna Biotech, the Swiss
company.
http://www.limburger.nl
BREAK
THROUGH IN COLORECTAL CANCER
[LIFE-SCI: Maastricht, July 17)
Researchers at the University of Maastricht cooperating with
researchers at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in Baltimore have
discovered genes that play a role in the development of human
colorectal cancer. The research team, headed by Johns Hopkins'
Professor Stephen Baylin and including Manon van Engeland and Matty P.
Weijenberg from Maastricht U, published their research in an article
in Nature Genetics entitled 'A
genomic screen for genes upregulated
by demethylation and histone deacetylase inhibition in human
colorectal cancer'.
http://www.grow.unimaas.nl
DSM
NEW VENTURE 2002 FOR PURISOIL
[LIFE-SCI: Heerlen, July 17]
Two
DSM employees have won the New Venture 2002 award (worth EUR
25,000)in a business plan contest for start-ups organized by De Baak,
the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW)
management center. The business plan submitted is for Purisoil, an
innovative soil remediation technology. The DSM Venturing &
Business Development business group is currently working on its
commercialization. DSM
can be expected to spin off
Terreco - the company established for the project - in the short term.
PuriSoil technology enables contaminated soil to be thoroughly cleaned
without any need to pull down the buildings on that soil. The
contaminants are ‘blown’ out of the soil and degraded in a
specially developed biolayer integrated with the top soil. This
technology is also much cheaper than other soil remediation
technologies. Terreco is expected to be operational by mid August.
http://www.dsm.com
THE
BLUE LIGHT
[TECH:
Jülich, July 15]
The Jülich Research Center held a Nitride semiconductor workshop at
the University of Aachen from July 22-25 called "International
Workshop on Nitride Semiconductors" (IWN 2002). Together with the
International Conference of Nitride Semiconductors (ICNS), this is the
most important conference of nitride semiconductors in the world.
These materials have attracted increased attention since light diodes
were manufactured for the first time in 1994. There were 400
participants and 337 papers were given. Topics of interest were
satellite born data communication, light bulbs using only 10 % of the
energy currently used, blue lasers which transmits short wave light
and can carry four times more information on optical data carriers.
Revolution is expected in 3-dimensional real time radar observation of
aircraft and ships. The high point of the workshop was the
contribution on nitride semiconductors on silicate substrates as
illustrated in the article on Aixtron.
http://www.fz-juelich.de/iwn2002
LIFE
SCIENCE REGION AACHEN
[LIFE-SCI: Aachen, July)
As we noted in our last issue, Aachen has produced a 55 page review of
the life sciences in the region. It is divided into four parts:
bioprocess technology, minimally-invasive medicine,
diagnostics/therapeutics and biomaterials. A random selection from the
review covers stem cells and molecular biology research at Jülich and
molecular biology research at the new Fraunhofer Institute, where they
are investigating the properties of proteins, including plant-based
serum albumen plants. Minimally-invasive technologies are also been
researched at another Fraunhofer Institute, including a
multifunctional, micro-invasive puncture needle made of carbon fiber
reinforced plastic for MRI-assisted operations that guarantees
trouble-free imaging for high-precisions tissue diagnosis and therapy.
The prototypes of the new needles have a diameter of 900 micrometers,
but still have three channels. The issue also covers new products and
methods, including optical methods in biomedicine, as in vivo cell
microscopy. There is research into artificial organs and a list of
activities and companies in the region, followed by a list of
research and educational institutions, including the Aachen Competence
Center for Biomaterials and Institute for Biomedical Technologies. An
article on start-ups is included, as is a series of company profiles,
including Aixacct, Alaris, BMP, H/Tec Zang, Impella, Innolabtec,
Matricel, Metabolic, MnemoScience GmbH and Paion GmbH. The
review also notes sources of funding and discusses regulatory
procedures and patents. All in all, a useful volume.
http://www.agit.de
SYNTRACK
TEST RESULTS
[TECH:
Germantown, Md., May 20]
Megisto
Systems, a leading developer of carrier-class Mobile Internet
infrastructure equipment, today announced that its Mobile Services
Delivery System has been certified by Vodafone in the
Netherlands-Ericsson Syntrack Labs and is moving into live service
trial environments. The Syntrack certification verifies
interoperability of Megisto's Mobile Services Delivery System with the
Ericsson AXB250 SGSN, with Ericsson's T39, T68, and R520M terminals,
and with personal computers connected to the GPRS network via these
terminals.
Syntrack BV is a joint venture between Vodafone, Ericsson and LIOF and
is located in the Centipedes building at the Avantis International
European Science and Business Park straddling the Dutch-German border
between Heerlen and Aachen. It has test facilities and provides
training courses, demonstrations, consultancy and R&D. It also
operates as a “fall-back center” for Vodafone in the Netherlands
in the event of any emergencies or problems in its mobile network.
http://www.syntrack.nl
HANDEDNESS
IN JUELICH
[Life-Sci
Jülich, May]
At the May Bioforum in Jülich, Jülich Fine Chemicals GmbH , a
spin-off from the research center, presented an interesting paper 'On
using intact microorganisms for asymmetric synthesis'. The company
offers a series of special enzymes for organic synthesis and their
focus in on the enantio-selective production of chiral compounds. Most
chemical compounds exist in two forms, which are mirror images of one
another. They look the same, but they are different in one
respect and that is their handedness. As drugs also have a handedness
being effective or active in one of the forms and inactive in another,
it is important to get the right hand in the right glove. Jülich Fine
Chemicals specializes in getting the handedness right in a broad range
of specialty enzymes for organic synthesis.
http://www.juelich-chemicals.de
LEISURE
IDLE
CHAT
[LEI: Eijsden, July 29]
In the absence of our trencherman, horrified that the fox-shooters are
going to ban foie gras and make us all eat hamsters, and still
writing up his notes on the last asparagus season, with the game
season almost upon him, We have decided to introduce another catch-all
topic for things we could not put in anywhere else. There is, of
course, the ongoing story of the name to be chosen for the Liège TGV
station. Earlier on, the name of John de Mandeville was suggested,
which naturally pleased this publication as de Mandeville was an
Englishman; although, it must be said, at a time when Englishmen of
his type generally spoke French. The current proposal is to call it
the Charlemagne Station. However, this has unleashed a furious debate,
some of which can be followed at the Proxi-Liège site. To the
outsider, it looks very much like an argument between the Chiroux (the
suits) and the Grignoux (old labor). There are also some who say that
whatever its new name is, people will still use the old one. There is
concern too about the expense of moving the statue of Charlemagne from
its current location to one in front of the station. Though it must be
said that a bold move sometimes brings funding in its wake. Still in
Liège, discoveries have been made of medieval buildings originally
belonging to the great abbey of St. Jacques downtown and currently
behind the facade of houses due for demolition. Among the discoveries
are frescoes apparently by Jean Delcour. Moving east, the issue of
autonomy is increasingly being raised in the German-speaking
community, where farmers are now unwilling or unable to read
government documentation sent to them in French. While walking
in the fields on the outskirts of Eijsden, this editor noticed the
characteristic chalk marks referring to a wireless network hot spot on
a gate. This no doubt refers to new horizons in agricultural
communications.
http://www.webcontentnow.com
http://www.proxiliege.net
TAKING
THE WATERS AT CHAUDFONTAINE
[LEI: Liège, July 27]
Since the Chateau des Thermes opened in November 2001, 15,000 people
have visited it to enjoy the facilities. Half of the visitors came
from the Liège region and the rest principally from the Walloon
country and Flanders. The Spa is keen to attract visitors from the
Dutch and German markets. There is a great deal of interest. There has
already been a visit by the BBC team and by the Japanese. Currently
the hotel is under construction to complete the thermal spa and
restaurant facilities. The hotel will have between 30-40 rooms with a
swimming pool and reception area. With this addition the management
expects to raise revenues from EUR 1.5m for this season to EUR 5m.
This report comes from Le Soir. See also a 'World of Wellness' linked
below.
http://www.liegeonline.be/en/new/news/lol25.pdf
MAASTRICHT-FLANDERS BY WATER
[LEI: Maastricht, July 22]
The historic water route between Maastricht and Flanders will be
officially opened at the beginning of September in the presence of the
mayor, a representative of the Ministry of the Interior, the European
Commissioner and the governor. This attractive route begins in
Maastricht in the historic inner harbor the Bassin. It takes the
visitors past some interesting historical sites, including
fortifications, tunnels, ancient locks and it also reveals unique
flora. The restoration means a renewal of another connection to
Belgium.
http://www.vvvmaastricht.nl
A
NATIONAL PARK FOR LIMBURG (B)
[LEI: Hasselt, July 19]
Flanders is to have its own National Park, with 600 ha on the Kempen
plateau, and including As, Dilbeek-Stokkem, Maasmechelen, Lanaken,
Zutendaal and Genk. This will mean an investment of EUR 10m by
the Flemish government over the next ten years.
http://www.hbvl.be
ORGAN CONCERT IN HASSELT
[LEI: Hasselt, July]
There will be a concert on the 850 year old St.Quintinus cathedral
organ in Hasselt on Saturday August 3 at 15.00 hrs, where Edward de
Geest, the organist at Ghent cathedral, will be playing.
http://www.hasselt.be
AUGUST
IN HASSELT
[LEI: Hasselt, July]
August in Hasselt will include on August 14 the O-Bonfestival in
the Japanese Garden. This particular festival includes looking after
the tombstones of the departed and making offerings to the spirits.
From 21.00-23.00 hrs. Information from c.lelievre@hasselt.be
http://www.hasselt.be
WOLFGANG
METZLER
[LEI: Clermont, July]
There will be an exhibition of the work of Wolfgang Metzler August 3
through 25, at 14.00-18.00 hrs. Mr Metzler is a specialist in
woodcarving.
http://www.galerie-clermont.com/wolfgang.metzler
|