Print
Email
Print Edition Stories
Courtesy photo
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tech Citizenship
Local techs lending a hand
By Mass High Tech staff
MHT's Galen Moore: Nerds and geeks flock to Boston conventions
MHT's Galen Moore: Tech sector lags in promoting women execs
MHT's Doug Banks: Frugal startups get creative with office space
Brain cancer survivor celebrated at EMD Serono
EMD Serono Inc. hosted Cheryl Broyles, a four-time survivor of glioblastoma, at a recent brain cancer awareness event held at the biopharmaceutical company’s U.S. headquarters in Rockland. Broyles’ life changed when in 2000 she was diagnosed with a grade 4 malignant tumor called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). According to statistics, she had less then a year to live; however, she did everything she could to prolong her life. In 2004, Broyles and her husband, Matt, climbed Mount Shasta to celebrate her survivorship. Now, 10 years after her initial diagnosis and after dealing with reoccurrences, she continues to inspire hope in many who suffer from brain cancer. EMD Serono donated $500 to the Brain Tumor Research Center at UCSF in honor of Broyles. The company is currently conducting a randomized Phase 3 trial in glioblastoma with cilengitide, the first in a new class of investigational targeted anti-cancer therapies called integrin inhibitors.
Middle school kids get STEMmed at IBM lab in Littleton
IBM Corp. recently hosted 150 middle school aged boys and girls at the IBM Mass Lab in Littleton to help promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning.
IBM provided a full day of fun activities and learning experiences, such as Building Gumdrop Towers where teams tried to build the tallest free-standing tower, and How to Program a Robot where students wrote exact instructions for a robot to make a cream cheese and jelly sandwich. One of the online exhibits/modules the students played was DNA Detective, a game that helps children learn about the DNA Basics, investigate simulated Crime Scene, experiment in the lab to analyze DNA and become a DNA Detective. IBM is a member of Gov. Deval Patrick’s STEM Advisory Council, and its Transition to Teaching program addresses a critical shortage of math and science teachers by supporting its most experienced employees — approximately 100 today — to become fully accredited teachers in their local communities after they leave the company.
Pietzo makes its electric bike fleet available for Tour de Cure riders
Bedford-based Pietzo LLC, a maker of hybrid electric bicycles, offered free use of its electric bicycles to support the North Shore Tour de Cure in Gloucester lask weekend, enabling more participants to ride. For riders who were concerned about their ability to complete the route because of their diabetes or other health concerns, reserving an electric bike for the day made the ride possible. The Pietzo eco-friendly, electric-assisted bikes give riders the choice to pedal in battery-powered mode for help up hills or going longer distances, or they could be pedaled as a conventional bicycle. North Shore Tour de Cure, in its 16th year, is a day-long celebration which was expected to draw roughly 700 cyclists to the mouth of Gloucester Harbor to ride through up to 15 different towns. Last year, the event raised more than $285,000 to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
Covanta energy crew cleans up at Eaton’s Pond in Braintree
Volunteers from Covanta Energy Corp., Mayor Joseph C. Sullivan of Braintree and more than 30 nearby residents spent five hours cleaning up around Eaton’s Pond in Braintree, which has been plagued with unsolicited disposal of unwanted items. A 30 cubic yard container supplied by Capital Waste held the waste for transfer and disposal at Covanta’s Braintree Transfer Station. The event was part of an Earth Day Clean-Up program for Covanta employees. Based in Fairfield, N.J., Covanta operates four waste-to-energy incineration facilities in Massachusetts, and a pair of wood-waste burning power facilities in Maine.
Shire provides bioreactor for new WPI biomanufacturing training center
Worcester Polytechnic Institute has received a donated 100-liter bioreactor from the Cambridge-based Shire HGT unit of Shire plc to help the university expand its educational programs that support life sciences economic development across Central New England. The commercial-scale bioreactor and associated equipment, which would cost nearly $200,000 if purchased new, will be integrated into WPI’s Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center planned for Gateway Park in Worcester. WPI’s BETC will be a near-commercial-scale biomanufacturing facility with industry-standard process areas of equipment preparation, buffer and media preparation, fermentation and cell culture, capture, purification, and analytics.
Comments
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
RSS Feeds
