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Crestron Wins 2018 Microsoft Global IoT Partner of the Year Award

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Crestron has accepted the prestigious 2018 Microsoft Global Partner of the Year Award for Internet of Things (IoT) in a ceremony at the Microsoft Inspire event in Las Vegas.

Microsoft® recognised Crestron for providing outstanding solutions in IoT in the form of Crestron XiO Cloud, a revolutionary IoT-based provisioning and management solution built on the Microsoft Azure® platform.

Crestron XiO Cloud is revolutionising provisioning and management of Crestron’s popular open UC, room scheduling, AV, and content sharing solutions at the world’s leading companies, resulting in up to 90 percent reductions in installation time, improvements in device uptime, and optimisation of people, space, and technology. 

Powering the digital transformation
As businesses across every industry continue along their digital transformation journey, Crestron IoT enabled automation and control solutions enable facility management and IT staff to control entire environments with a push of a button or click of a mouse, integrating audio, video, digital signage, scheduling, lighting, building management systems (BMS), HVAC and security systems.

The strength of Crestron IoT-enabled devices and systems is their integration in the Crestron XiO Cloud, providing all-in-one monitoring, management and control from a single platform.

“Intelligent workplace solutions are the springboard for digital transformation- but managing the devices that enable it can be costly and complicated. Crestron XiO Cloud reduces the complexities associated with deploying, tracking, managing and evolving the ecosystem of IoT enabled devices that make communication and collaboration seamless.

Crestron is honored to be recognised by Microsoft for developing game-changing connected technologies that help propel digital transformation at Fortune 500® companies worldwide,” said Ted Colton, Vice President of Unified Communication Strategies at Crestron.

Celebrating partner achievement
The annual Microsoft Partner of the Year awards celebrate top Microsoft partners who demonstrate excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Microsoft received more than 2,600 nominations from 115 countries for the 2018 program.

The IoT category was judged by a number of IoT stakeholders and leaders from Microsoft Common Data Service, One Commercial Partner, Windows and Azure. The judges selected the winners based on their commitment to customers, the solution’s impact on the market, and exemplary use of Microsoft technologies.

“Our ecosystem of partners is crucial to delivering transformative solutions, and this year’s winners have proven to be some of the finest among their peers,” said Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner, Microsoft Corp. “We are pleased to recognise Crestron for being selected as winner of the 2018 Microsoft IoT Partner of the Year award.”

Singaporean Students Lauded At National Engineers Day 2018 For Creating Life-Transforming, Smart Solutions

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(images courtesy of the The Institution of Engineers, Singapore – IES)

The National Engineers Day (NED) 2018 event in July 2018 celebrated the best of youthful creativity and passion in making a difference to the society through engineering. Mr. Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Finance presented the Energy Innovation Challenge (EIC) 2018 and the IES Innovation Challenge for the Community 2018 awards to winning students at the NED 2018 Prize Presentation Ceremony as the event guest-of-honour. He also witnessed the launched of the “I am a Young Engineer” Badge.

EIC 2018 Winners
EIC 2018 challenges students to design smart engineering solutions for health, living, mobility and services. This year’s EIC saw 120 teams participating across four categories, compared to only 73 teams in its inaugural year in 2015. This includes 18 overseas teams from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines for Category 4 (Local and Overseas Universities).

After a networking party in March 2018, participating students from Category 1 to 3 went through a series of workshops and camps that equipped them with design, finance, marketing, logistics management and technical skills to build their solutions. They also had the unique opportunity to be personally guided by professional engineers as mentors over a four-month learning journey.

The judges had shortlisted 80 teams of more than 252 students for the final rounds of judging, whereby participants had to display their projects at NED 2018 from 26 to 28 July, 2018. The four champion teams who eventually emerged are:

  • Category 1 (Secondary Schools): Team (S-24) – River Valley High School – An Eco- Friendly Barbecue Pit System
  • Category 2 (Junior Colleges): Team (J-10) – Dunman High School – Micro Energy Harvesting (μ-EH) and Its Application in Water Desalination under Emergency and Stressed Situation
  • Category 3 (Polytechnics and Institution of Technical Education): Team (I-06) – ITE College West – Robotic Helper FETCH
  • Category 4 (Local and Overseas Universities): Team (U-01) – Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology – Cheap Braille Interface for Ebook Reading

In recognition of their outstanding performance, the top prize winning teams from Categories 1 to 3 will earn an overseas educational trip to be hosted by BMW Group in Germany, while the second, third and merit prize winners will be awarded with $1,000, $700 and $300 respectively. The champions of Category 4 will walk away with an $8,000 cash prize while the second, third and merit prize winners will be awarded $5,000, $3,000 and $1,000 respectively. This year’s popularity prize for all four categories constitutes $300 each.

Jointly organised by IES and Science Centre Singapore, EIC is a nation-wide competition that gives students the opportunity to create solutions that address global energy issues. It is supported by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore.

IES Innovation Challenge for the Community 2018
Tertiary students also received awards for applying their engineering knowledge and creativity to design practical, user-friendly solutions to enhance the quality of life of the elderly, the handicapped, the injured and the community-at-large. Participating teams from Category A have to cap their expenditure at $2,000 and demonstrate competence in the optimal use of materials and equipment.

This year’s challenge received a total of 35 project submissions across two categories. After a rigorous round of judging by a panel of academia and industry experts, 14 projects where shortlisted for presentations.

The 2018 Gold Award for polytechnics goes to Chua Chryston and Neo Yizhe from Singapore Polytechnic for building a “dementia patient tracking” using Sigfox, a LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) technology. The tracker periodically transmits its GPS location to a Cloud database and enables the patient’s care-taker to view the location on a Google map via a mobile app. The students hope that the invention can help dementia patients to move about without the fear of getting lost.

In the university category, the Gold Award winner is Subramanian Gowtham from Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) for designing a portable image- based cytometer for rapid malaria detection and quantification. His invention detects and numerically counts Plasmodium falciparum infected red blood cells (iRBCs) from Giemsa- stained smears derived from infected blood. Subramanian’s aim is to provide a cost- effective, rapid and accurate alternative for antimalarial testing without compromising on efficiency.

Launch of “I am a Young Engineer” Badge
IES also launched the “I am a Young Engineer” Badge for primary three to six students at the event, with Minister Heng as witness. This new initiative is a collaborative effort by IES and Science Centre Singapore to encourage students to discover the fun of engineering and instill interest in engineering from a young age.

The badge will provide students with introductory engineering skills and knowledge through self-directed engineering-related tasks listed on the activity card. Students can submit their completed works to their teachers or parents for verification to earn stars that will qualify them for the badge.

The badge is one of the outcomes from the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that IES signed with Science Centre Singapore in 2016 to stimulate interest amongst students in engineering and is sponsored by HDB, PUB, Micron and ST Engineering.

NED 2018
The Prize Presentation Ceremony also marked the conclusion of the ninth annual NED, the largest engineering youth carnival in Singapore, organised by IES to celebrate the achievements of engineers, inspire young engineers and intrigue the young generation in engineering.

Besides EIC 2018, the three-day NED 2018 presented a concentration of talks and workshops to help students discover the wonders of engineering and rapidly growing career opportunities for those with an engineering education and an aptitude to discover, imagine and create.

thyssenkrupp’s TeleRetail Delivery Robot Debuts in the US

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thyssenkrupp’s TeleRetail delivery robot was among the technical innovations and vehicles presented at a US Senate Field Hearing, held on January 24th, 2018 at the Washington Auto Show 2018 in Washington D.C.

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, convened a hearing titled “Driving Automotive Innovation and Federal Policies” at the Washington Convention Center. The session focused on self-driving vehicles, and thyssenkrupp Elevator’s and TeleRetail’s groundbreaking delivery robot was named as a benchmark product.

“Fast growing American Metropolitan areas need intelligent solutions to cover the last mile in delivering spare parts to our technicians. In connection with TeleRetail we are testing autonomous vehicles to solve this growing logistical problem,” explains Ivo Siebers, Senior Vice President of Global Logistics at thyssenkrupp Elevator.

Self-driving vehicles already play a major role in the future of urban logistics – not in the shape of cars commuting people, but also in the shape of robots carrying and delivering goods. In collaboration with software developer TeleRetail, thyssenkrupp Elevator launched a pilot project in which delivery robots transport spare parts and other material to maintenance job sites. Perfect for maintaining elevators in a contemporary way, the robots represent the future of smart maintenance logistics, reinforcing thyssenkrupp Elevator’s position as a future-oriented mobility provider.

Every year, the Washington Auto Show wows audiences with its cutting-edge exhibits and advanced technologies. More than 600 new models from over 35 manufacturers impress visitors while providing a glimpse into the future of mobility. Attendees can view thyssenkrupp’s TeleRetail delivery robot at booth MTI1 right in front of saloon H.

For elevator and escalator servicing, spare parts are needed quickly and a technician either has to drive back to base in his or her service vehicle or have it delivered by a colleague. But with increased traffic clogging up city streets, the pressure on the supply chains is rapidly. “This is a major urbanisation challenge that our service technicians are already experiencing today,” continues Siebers. “With driverless delivery robots we could fill a gap and get spare parts from our warehouses to the job site faster, more efficiently and with less impact on the environment.”

The delivery robots are just 85-centimetres wide and are suitable for traveling on sidewalks, thereby avoiding road congestion. They can also reach inner-city areas where vehicular transport is limited, carrying payloads weighing up to 35 kg. Information on delivery status can be obtained quickly via an online Logistics Automation Platform. “We hope to improve our service delivery in this way,” adds Siebers.

TeleRetail is developing driverless delivery vehicles, and for thyssenkrupp Elevator they could be an optimal logistics solution for elevator servicing. The cloud-based driverless systems could form complete supply and logistics networks; a promising solution with enormous development potential.

“With our platform we want to optimise logistics by saving time and costs, and minimising space requirements, energy consumption and emissions,” says Torsten Scholl, CEO of TeleRetail Mobility Automation. “thyssenkrupp Elevator and TeleRetail are looking forward to conquering the emerging 3D logistics automation opportunities together.”

Schneider Electric Named a Leader in Facility Optimisation Software

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Schneider Electric, one of the world’s leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, recently announced that independent analyst firm Verdantix has positioned the company as a leader in its Green Quadrant Facility Optimisation Software report.

By combining benchmark data from live product demonstrations and questionnaires with an independent customer panel, this year’s report recognises a market shift. Facility administration has evolved away from the reactive state of energy management and towards facility optimisation solutions that help save money, lower risk and improve efficiency. This evolution has been powered by the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), allowing even greater connectivity between systems.

The report placed Schneider Electric in the leader quadrant by assessing its wide range of software capabilities and strategic momentum in the market for facility optimisation software. As part of its report analysis, Verdantix examined Schneider Electric EcoStruxure Building offers and noted the following strengths:

  • Energy risk and utility bill management: EcoStruxure Resource Advisor received high marks for its energy procurement and risk management capabilities.
  • Facility data capture: EcoStruxure Building Operation building management software that achieved top scores for its ability to capture facility performance data from energy meters, sensors, HVAC and lighting systems, equipment and external sources such as weather data.
  • Energy monitoring and tracking of energy management projects: EcoStruxure Building Advisor recognised for its ability to identify energy efficiency opportunities and was noted for its ability to provide insight into HVAC system poor performance and faults.

“Schneider Electric breaks away as a leader in our Facility Optimisation Software report,” said Derrek Clarke, industry analyst, Verdantix. “Firms with complex operations that seek to future-proof their building system investments should shortlist Schneider Electric among their considered vendors.”

“We are honoured that Verdantix recognises us as a leader in facility optimisation software. Their independent analysis validates the work we do to make EcoStruxure the backbone of our clients’ smart building strategies,” said Laurent Bataille, executive vice president, Eco Building, Schneider Electric. “As buildings can produce massive amounts of data, EcoStruxure Building helps clients capture and use that data to create greater efficiency, productivity and sustainability,” he added.

The Green Quadrant report provides a detailed comparison of 14 facility optimisation software applications. The report provides guidance for senior executives and decision-makers, including CFOs, heads of procurement and directors of energy, facilities and real estate. It helps those in industries such as banking, commercial real estate, healthcare, hotels and leisure, insurance, media and retail select a software supplier to assist in improving the performance of their firm’s facility operations, from the office building to the enterprise level.

Bentley Systems Expands Concrete Offerings Through Acquisition of S-Cube Futuretech

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Bentley Systems, Incorporated, a leading global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing infrastructure, recently announced the acquisition of Mumbai-based concrete building design and documentation software company S-Cube Futuretech Pvt. Ltd.

The addition of S-Cube Futuretech’s applications expands Bentley’s offerings specific to the needs of concrete engineering design and documentation software users in India, South East Asia, and the Middle East.

S-Cube Futuretech’s applications, including RCDC, RCDC FE, RCDC Plan, and Steel Autodrafter, deliver flexible and powerful design and documentation solutions for structural concrete building engineers and designers. Automated concrete documentation is localised to regional requirements and provides users with compelling value and capabilities which are complementary to Bentley’s widely used structural analysis, steel design, and BIM applications, STAAD, RAM, and AECOsim Building Designer.

“More than two billion people will fill the world’s cities over the next 30 years. This growth will continue to be concentrated in the developing markets of Asia, particularly India, China, and South East Asian countries. Efficient, automated, concrete design and detailing tools will be instrumental to every nation’s ability to address this demand,” said Raoul Karp, Bentley’s vice president of design engineering analysis.

Since 2014, Bentley Systems and S-Cube have collaborated to develop fully integrated concrete design and analysis applications. The acquisition brings together the knowledge base of S-Cube and Bentley’s respective teams of experts, representing decades of combined industry experience to provide state-of-the-art structural design and analysis technology.

“We are excited to be joining with S-Cube’s expert team whose proven technology provides interactive and automated concrete design and drawing capabilities to our STAAD, RAM, and AECOsim Building Designer users. S-Cube brings a wealth of experience in providing concrete design and drawing automation for the India, Middle East, and Southeast Asia markets,” said Santanu Das, senior vice president of design engineering for Bentley.

Sajit Nair, CEO of S-Cube Futuretech said, “As a global leader in the structural analysis and design space, Bentley brings state-of-the-art BIM and structural analysis technology, a strong user-centric ethos, and global market experience that will help scale our solutions to a much broader market. We are excited about bringing more functionality and capabilities to more users globally, in a shorter timeframe than we would have been able to otherwise.”

Multivista and Procore Announce Partnership

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Multivista, a leading global provider of documentation and software services for the construction industry, recently announced a partnership with Procore, a leading provider of cloud-based apps for construction.

Through an advanced integration, users of both services can immediately attach and reference Multivista-captured visual data to perform critical project functions within Procore.

“We’re excited to launch the Multivista integration to all users on our Procore App Marketplace,” said Laura Paciano, Senior Manager, Partner Programs, at Procore. “With this integration we are providing direct access to critical information that will allow Procore users to deliver quality projects, safely, on-time, and within budget.”

Desktop, tablet, and mobile functionality included
The complimentary integration directly enables more robust and efficient processes for Procore and Multivista users. By leveraging comprehensive as-built project photo and webcam feeds, provided by Multivista, users can quickly respond to RFIs and change orders on Procore. Additionally, project teams in the field can use the visual data to quickly complete quality and safety items, like daily logs, observations and punch lists.

The partnership enhances workflows for the entire team, from the field to the board room, through all phases of construction. “An RFI that previously would have required a costly site visit and taken days or weeks to respond to can now be handled in minutes,” says Russ Bollig, Multivista’s Product Manager responsible for the integration. “Users just select a relevant photo from their Multivista database, click the new ‘Add to Procore’ button, and the image, precise location, and any comments they include appear in their Procore RFI within seconds.”

For maximum workflow efficiency, Multivista and Procore developers have ensured the functionality of this integration is the same on both the desktop and mobile versions of their respective platforms.

Schneider Electric and Bolloré Logistics Strengthen Green Partnership

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Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, and Bolloré Logistics, a major player in international logistics and freight forwarding, have strengthened their partnership through a new contract to upgrade the power management systems at the Bolloré Logistics Singapore Headquarters with Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ Power Monitoring Expert, with the view to improve energy efficiency and sustainability.

EcoStruxure™ Power Monitoring Expert helps to maximise system reliability and optimise operational efficiency by tracking real-time power conditions, analyse power quality and network reliability.

This new system enables Bolloré Logistics to collect and organise data gathered from the company’s localGreen Hub facility’s electrical network, including monitoring points for critical loads such as server UPS as well as transfer pump, freezer and chiller functions.

This data is then presented as meaningful, actionable information via an intuitive web interface, allowing the company to make informed decisions on energy saving measures to improve operational efficiency, reduce energy-related costs, as well as optimise equipment utilisation and cost of operations.

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ Power Advisor service will be used in tandem with the Power Monitoring Expert tool to identify gaps in the power management system and power quality issues within the larger electrical distribution system, and provide recommendations to ensure optimised performance and power reliability.

The EcoStruxure™ Power Advisor is a proactive analytics-based service for power management systems to deliver optimised performance and power reliability. This will be the first time Schneider Electric will be deploying the EcoStruxure™ Power Advisor within the logistics industry worldwide, as it is mostly used in critical facilities such as hospitals, data centers, oil refineries and more, demonstrating Bolloré Logistics’ commitment to be at the forefront of energy efficiency and sustainability.

“Our Green Hub office in Pioneer Turn is already equipped with Schneider Electric’s building management, card access, and CCTV systems. This new powerful energy management solution will help us operate in a more sustainable manner and adhere to the highest Quality, Health, Safety, Environment (QHSE) standards,” said Fabien Giordano, Regional Director – South East Asia of Bolloré Logistics.

Damien Dhellemmes, Country President, Singapore, Schneider Electric added: “Bolloré Logistics is more than a customer to us. We have been working for decades together in the transport and logistics field with Bolloré Logistics being a strategic supplier for Schneider Electric. More recently, we have supported BlueSG – car-charing programme by providing electrical components inside every EV-Charging station. We will continue to find synergies between us.”

Launched earlier this year, Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ is an open, interoperable, IoT-enabled system architecture and platform that delivers enhanced value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and connectivity. EcoStruxure™ leverages advancements in IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics and cybersecurity to deliver Innovation at Every Level.

This includes Connected Products, Edge Control, and Apps, Analytics & Services, which has been deployed in more than 450,000 installations, with the support of 9,000 system integrators, connecting over 1 billion devices.

Bentley Announces Finalists in 2017 Be Inspired Awards Programme

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Bentley Systems, Incorporated, a leading global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing infrastructure, today announced the finalists in the 2017 Be Inspired Awards programme. The annual awards honour the extraordinary work of Bentley users advancing infrastructure design, construction, and operations throughout the world. Ten independent jury panels comprising distinguished industry experts selected the 51 finalists from more than 400 nominations submitted by organisations in more than 50 countries.

The finalists will present their innovative projects to their peers, the jurors, industry thought leaders, and more than 120 members of the media as part of related infrastructure forums at The Year in Infrastructure 2017 Conference, October 10 to 12, 2017 in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

This gathering of leading professionals in the world of infrastructure design, construction, and operations will feature:

  • Thought-provoking keynotes by Bentley senior executives and prominent industry thought leaders
  • Live technology presentations from Bentley’s alliance partners – Microsoft, Siemens, Bureau Veritas, and Topcon
  • Opportunities for attendees to meet and have one-on-one discussions with awards finalists
  • Informative industry forums and panel discussions featuring speakers from Microsoft, Siemens, Bureau Veritas, Australia Road Research Board, Applied Research & Associates, Building and Construction Authority of Singapore, and more
  • Be Inspired Awards finalists’ presentations on October 10 and 11, 2017
  • Evening ceremony and gala featuring announcement of the Be Inspired Awards winners on October 12, 2017

The Year in Infrastructure 2017 Conference is an ideal opportunity for management-level executives in engineering firms, architecture firms, construction companies, and government or owner-operator organisations responsible for the design, delivery, and/or operations of infrastructure to share best practices and meet infrastructure professionals from around the world. All those who submitted a nomination in the Be Inspired Awards programme are also invited to attend.

Bentley Systems Chief Communications Officer Chris Barron said, “The Year in Infrastructure Conference is a one-of-a-kind networking and learning experience for infrastructure leaders from around the world. This year we have an unprecedented number of participants for the Be Inspired programme, and are pleased to congratulate and acknowledge all of the participants for their excellent work and inspiring projects. Conference attendees will have the chance to meet the awards finalists, and see them present their projects, which represent this year’s most outstanding BIM advancements in global infrastructure.”

This year’s conference will be held for the first time in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, one of the most iconic buildings in Asia. The structural design of Marina Bay Sands was done by Arup and was Bentley’s 2010 Be Inspired Award winner for Innovation in Structural Engineering.

Mike Lee, vice president of sales, Marina Bay Sands, said, “Marina Bay Sands is honoured to be the chosen venue for Bentley Systems’ first-to-Singapore conference. Our relationship with Bentley dates back to our construction days, as our iconic building was structurally engineered using Bentley Systems software. We look forward to welcoming Bentley and its delegates to our integrated resort to experience its multitude of business, leisure, and dining offerings under one roof.”

Click HERE to read more about the award finalists, conference speakers, supporting partners and more.