Patents & Innovations/Book Recommendation
Cool Care for Turbines
TThe more efficiently a gas or oal-fired power plant works, the less fuel it requires to supply a given amount of electricity, and the less carbon dioxide it emits. Detlef Haje of Siemens Power Generation in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, has applied for a patent for a steam turbine with an innovative rotary cooling system that allows the turbine to operate under extreme vapor states.
Dr. Detlef Hajes discoveries have boosted steam turbine efficiency
Until now, steam turbines could not be used at temperatures from 600 to 700 °C and at a pressure above 300 bars. However, the new system now provides active cooling that can be concentrated precisely on highly stressed areas. Hajes improved steam turbine makes fossil fuel-powered plants more efficient, because they can achieve higher temperatures and pressures. As a result, power companies can operate their plants more economically and with less strain on the environment (see Energy for Tomorrows World and Clean Future).
Haje is extraordinarily productive. In the past six years he has filed 24 invention patents in the areas of cooling, sealing and efficiency improvement. He also played a vital role in the development of a new generation of steam turbines that deliver higher performance.
Dialing for Doors
Radio chip in a cell phone: A scanner on a door grants entry after identifying the cell phones ID
Before long, cell phones may be opening doors and paying dispensing machines. At the CeBIT 2004 trade fair, researchers from Siemens ICM presented a multimedia phone with an integrated data-reading device and identification chip. A radio scanner on an office or house door could, for example, recognize the signal from the phones identification chip at a distance of up to ten centimeters, whereupon the security system would allow entry. Commuters could also use the technology to pay for public transportation. A reader on a bus door, for instance, would recognize a passengers cell phone and identify its user upon boarding and exiting the vehicle. The fare would then be automatically debited from a prepaid card. In the entertainment sector, chips integrated into concert posters could, for example, transmit information such as performance dates, ticket prices and Internet links to cell phones within a certain radius. Users could then immediately purchase tickets with their phones. Behind these developments is the convergence of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and NFC (Nearfield Communication) technologies.
Write on with PenPhone
Writing with a cell phone. Software transcribes the users hand movements
Siemens developers have created a cell phone in the form of a pen that can be used to write texts and numbers by handthe ideal solution for people who find keying in text messages something of a pain. The PenPhone is used just like an everyday pen. The devices special image-recognition system allows users to write normal texts on nearly any smooth surfacea feat that is beyond the capability of computer organizers that are restricted to a special type of writing applied to their touchscreen displays. The writing function is activated when a small button at the tip of the pen makes contact with a surface. When this happens, a tiny infrared camera begins to record about hundred images per second as a rough pixel pattern that changes with every movement of the pen. Thanks to this high scan rate, the system is capable of recognizing the location of the tip in relation to its initial position in real time. The software subsequently uses these coordinates to display the text and audibly repeat it using a built-in speaker. The tri-band cell phone, which is 14 cm long and two centimeters wide, is equipped with a Bluetooth interface that allows it to be connected to a handheld computer or headset.
Looking Ahead to SuccessTomorrow and the Day After
The world economy is undergoing a radical transformation. Global markets with tremendous competitive potential are emerging, and IT, communications and biotechnology are setting the trends. Against this backdrop, companies will survive only if they push forward with new ideas. "Management in 20XX" by Georg Berner explains how they should proceed in order to achieve success.
Available in English and German from bookstores,or from: bestellung@wiley-vch.de or books.publicis-erlangen.de/en ISBN 3-89578-241-6 Price: 37.90
Will computer chips be able to repair themselves in 25 years? Will we be capable of implanting electronic intelligence into our bodies in 50 years? Will ubiquitous robots produce their own offspring in the next century? And will people be able to settle on Mars 500 years from now?
These and other questionsnot always meant to be taken too seriouslymotivated a new book by Georg Berner that aims to reveal what the future might hold and what we can do to make sure were ready to face the world of tomorrow. But the author is not concerned with discussing utopian visions that may or may not become reality; instead, he uses these visions as a starting point for a voyage into the technological trends of the coming years and decades. In detail and with an experts flair, he describes potential advances in materials development, IT, communications technology, the Internet and biotechnology. Berner, who currently works at the Executive Office for Information and Communications of the Siemens Corporate Executive Committee, is an expert in the field of future research. Previously with Siemens Corporate Technology, he headed the Information and Communications innovation unit and was one of the pioneers behind the development of the companys future-planning strategy, which is now known as "Pictures of the Future."
Technology Trends in Everyday Life. Berner also ventures further afield from technological trends in his book. Drawing on his professional experiences in sales and as the head of a global marketing department, he makes it clear that only by taking a holistic approach will a company be able to turn its visions of the future into reality. In addition, he discusses the impact that new trends in technology are likely to have on our daily lives in the future and vice versa. How, for example, will technological advances affect our homes and our leisure-time activities? How will freight and passengers be transported in coming years? What changes will we see in terms of our jobs and learning behavior? And how will health care and environmental protection be structured? Berner addresses all of these questions in detail. In the process, he takes into account the development of individual means of communication, as well as the influence of emotions and the needs of the subconscious.
Corporate Consequences. But if Berner had restricted himself to merely describing tomorrows trends, his book would not be called "Management in 20XX". In the second half of the book, he answers questions that affect managers in particular. What will all these developments mean for companies? What must managers do in order to play a successful part in shaping the future? Which strategies should they pursue? How should they modify corporate processes and structures to meet future needs?
In this section, Berner provides a specific list of measures that can be taken, backed up by theoretical considerations. These include everything from portfolio, market and customer analysis to operative implementation, project management, appropriate leadership structures, external partnerships and processes with regard to innovation, production and logistics. Berner also demonstrates that the rules of the market are changing, and that global competition is increasingly being dominated by time pressures and knowledge. In the future, structures are set to become even more open and networked, and the working world will be characterized by greater flexibility and the need for more individual responsibility.
Decision-Making Tool. Berner successfully presents a changing world in all its diversity and the implications that technological transformations will have for commercial enterprises in the future. In the foreword, Professor Claus Weyrich, member of the Corporate Executive Committee of Siemens AG and Head of Corporate Technology, writes, "For decision-makers everywhere, this book offers a whole host of new ideas, strategies and ways of thinking. It will surely be widely read in marketing, sales and R&D departments and beyond."
Ulrich Eberl