Emerson Seeks Applications for Discrete Automation Scholarship

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Emerson is inviting US college students pursuing degrees in science, technology and engineering fields to apply for its 2024-2025 Discrete Automation Scholarship. Every year the merit-based award recognizes two ambitious problem-solvers with a $5,000 scholarship each, eligibility for an Emerson internship and $1,000 research grants to enhance their schools’ engineering programs. Applicants may apply through July 31, 2024.

Emerson’s scholarship rewards individuals pursuing STEM professions in fields such as engineering, instrumentation, systems, and automation that are critical to discrete automation applications. The financial support and recognition provided by the scholarship helps students with great potential emerge as leaders ready to shape their field.

In addition to sponsoring the scholarship program for over a decade, Emerson has also sponsored ground-breaking, student-led projects, and “We Love STEM” events that have reached thousands of students globally.

Only US citizens and legal US residents may apply. Eligible applicants will have completed at least the first year of a bachelor’s degree program or are enrolled in a graduate program at an accredited US educational institution of higher learning at the time of application.

Visit Emerson’s Discrete Automation Scholarship program details page to apply.

About Emerson

Emerson, headquartered in St. Louis, MO (USA), is a global technology and engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and residential markets. For more information, visit Emerson.com.

ASME Foundation Honors Industry Leaders

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NEW YORK, NY, Apr 23, 2024 – The ASME Foundation, the philanthropic arm of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), convened more than 250 industry and community leaders and STEM advocates to celebrate the promise of a diverse engineering workforce at its “Optimism Engineered: Empowering Future Visionaries” GALA 2024, held April 11 at the Mandarin Oriental, New York.

Pictured above, left to right: Autodesk President and CEO Andrew Anagnost, recipient of the ASME Foundation Excellence in Industry Award; Sylvia Acevedo, former CEO of Girl Scouts of America, former NASA Engineer, and recipient of the ASME Foundation Next Gen Award; and ASME Executive Director/CEO Tom Costabile

Highlights of the event included two award presentations and several inspirational speakers. The Foundation presented its Next Gen Award to Sylvia Acevedo, for her “exemplary work in engineering and technology, extraordinary leadership in bringing diversity to STEM, and commitment to advancing young women in technology fields.” Acevedo is a former CEO of Girl Scouts of America and former NASA Engineer, an author, entrepreneur, investor, thought leader and speaker on topics ranging from education and STEM to demographic trends, and leadership. The Excellence in Industry Award was presented to Autodesk President and CEO Andrew Anagnost, whose career spans more than 25 years of product, business, and marketing experience focused on driving strategy, transformation, and product development, and who was recognized for his “commitment to advancing engineering and next generation engineers, for support of equity in engineering and sustainability for the world.” Gala attendees also learned more about the Autodesk-sponsored ASME E-Fest Extended Reality Challenge, in which engineering students developed and tested sustainable solutions to clean up the oceans using Autodesk’s Fusion design software.

Pictured above: Keith Roe, third-generation ASME member, past president of ASME, and current chair of the ASME Foundation Philanthropy Committee, introduces GALA 2024 host Michelle Miller, award-winning journalist and co-host of CBS Saturday Morning.

“With this first-ever major industry event, the ASME Foundation celebrates its progress toward our philanthropic goals of equity in engineering and sustainability for the world,” said ASME executive director/CEO Tom Costabile. “It’s gratifying to see so many of our committed members, donors, and partners step up in support of our mission to advance engineering for the benefit of humanity.”

Pictured above, left to right: Abby Jo Sigal, executive director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development; ASME Executive Director/CEO Tom Costabile; and Ariel Marroquin, a student at New York City College of Technology (City Tech).

Attendees included current and prospective donors to The ASME Foundation’s Campaign for Next Generation Engineers, ASME’s five-year, $50 million capital campaign to support its philanthropic work. The Foundation funds ASME’s array of high-impact programs in education, workforce development, and innovation support aimed at increasing equity in the engineering profession and advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“Optimism Engineered is more than a slogan; it’s an affirmation of our belief in the promise of diverse next generation engineers to innovate solutions to our most urgent sustainability challenges,” said Stephanie Viola, executive director of the ASME Foundation and managing director of ASME Philanthropy. “Publicly acknowledging engineering visionaries with prestigious ASME Foundation awards, and raising funds to drive our philanthropic programs, are just two of the ways we’re empowering tomorrow’s engineers to build a better future for all of us.”

Autodesk and the Kenneth & Hazel Roe Family Fund were Changemaker sponsors of this event. Innovator and Accelerator sponsors included Accuris/KKR, Ansys, Focused Wealth Management, and King & Spalding LLP.

About ASME

ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education, and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world. In 2020, ASME formed the International Society of Interdisciplinary Engineers (ISIE) II & III LLC, a new for-profit subsidiary to house business ventures that will bring new and innovative products, services, and technologies to the engineering community.

For more information, visit www.asme.org.

About the ASME Foundation

The ASME Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, supporting an array of programs in three core pillars: engineering education, career engagement, and global development. With the goal of empowering tomorrow’s technical workforce, the ASME Foundation advances equitable access both to professional opportunities and to engineering innovations that improve quality of life.

For more information, visit www.asmefoundation.org.

Cellares Launches Cell Q

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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Apr 23, 2024 – Cellares, the first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) dedicated to clinical and industrial-scale cell therapy manufacturing, today unveiled Cell Q, the first automated quality control (QC) workcell for cell therapy manufacturing. Cell Q addresses a critical challenge: the manual, labor-intensive, low-throughput, and expensive nature of cell therapy QC. Exclusive to Cellares’ industry-first IDMO Smart Factories, Cell Q will offer a substantial improvement in throughput, cost, and reproducibility compared to existing manual QC methods.

First cGMP Cell Q system for automated in-process and release QC of up to 6,000 cell therapy batches per year.

As Cellares Cell Shuttles have addressed upstream bottlenecks in cell therapy manufacturing, Cell Q resolves the downstream QC capacity challenges. Cell Q is engineered to automate the vast majority of cell therapy QC assays for up to 6,000 batches per year. To accelerate analytical method transfer and shorten the time to clinical readout for new IDMO clients, Cell Q includes a pre-qualified set of the most common assays. Additionally, each Cell Q utilizes a modular platform that can be expanded with new instruments providing the flexibility needed to meet varying IDMO client needs.

Setting a new standard in the industry, Cellares is the only IDMO to offer the same unprecedented capacity for upstream cell therapy manufacturing as well as downstream QC via its South San Francisco Center of Excellence and Smart Factory in Bridgewater, NJ. Additional Smart Factories will be coming soon to the EU and Japan.

“Cell Q was designed to match the throughput of our Cell Shuttle platform. This enables the Cellares IDMO to offer a real end-to-end solution for our customers, providing 10 times higher capacity and up to 50% lower batch price,” said Fabian Gerlinghaus, CEO of Cellares. “Our proprietary platform technologies support our mission of becoming the de facto standard for cell therapy manufacturing, accelerating access for patients, and meeting the total patient demand for cell therapies globally.”

To learn more about how Cell Q enriches Cellares’ IDMO ecosystem and how it alleviates the QC bottleneck for cell therapies, please visit cellares.com/technology.

About Cellares

Cellares is the first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) and takes an Industry 4.0 approach to mass manufacturing the living drugs of the 21st century. The company is developing and operating integrated technologies for cell therapy manufacturing to accelerate access to life-saving cell therapies. The company’s Cell Shuttles integrates all the technologies required for the entire manufacturing process in a flexible and high-throughput platform that delivers true walk-away, end-to-end automation. Cell Shuttles and Cell Qs will be deployed in Cellares’ Smart Factories around the world to meet total patient demand for cell therapies at global scale. Partnering with Cellares enables academics, biotechs, and pharma companies to accelerate drug development and scale out manufacturing, lower process failure rates, lower manufacturing costs, and meet global patient demand.

The company is headquartered in South San Francisco, CA with its commercial-scale IDMO Smart Factory in Bridgewater, NJ. The company is backed by world-class investors and has raised over $355 million in financing.

For more information about Cellares, please visit cellares.com.

Velo3D Announces Executive Leadership Changes

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Appoints Hull Xu as Chief Financial Officer

CAMPBELL, CA, Apr 23, 2024 – Velo3D, Inc., a leading metal additive manufacturing technology company for mission-critical parts, announced changes to its leadership structure as well as that its re-alignment initiatives to maximize cash flow and operational efficiency remain on plan.

The company has appointed Hull Xu as its new chief financial officer, replacing acting CFO Bernard Chung, who will leave the Company on April 29, 2024 following the acceptance of another opportunity. Mr. Xu brings more than 15 years of corporate finance experience in the technology industry, most recently with Cepton, Inc. as chief financial officer as well as significant capital markets and investment banking experience at the Royal Bank of Canada, Barclays Capital, and GE Capital. He will be responsible for the company’s finance, accounting, treasury, corporate development, and investor relations activities. Mr. Xu holds an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Davis.

Additionally, Michelle Sidwell, the company’s executive vice president of global sales and business development has been appointed to the newly created position of chief commercial officer to unify sales, product strategy, and the company’s customer service initiatives. She will now oversee the company’s sales, marketing, customer service and business development organizations. The company also announced that Renette Youssef, chief marketing officer, will be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.

“We are excited to announce the appointment of Hull as chief financial officer. He is a highly accomplished financial executive who brings more than 15 years in financial, operating and capital market experience to Velo3D and his knowledge will be critical in the execution of our strategic priorities,” said Brad Kreger, CEO of Velo3D. “I would also like to thank Bernie for his dedication and guidance, especially over the last 6 months, as we positioned the Company for future success and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

“Additionally, we are also pleased to announce the appointment of Michelle Sidwell as our chief commercial officer. Michelle has been instrumental in rebuilding our bookings pipeline in addition to working tirelessly to improve the success of our customers. We believe that by combining all customer facing responsibilities into one organization, we will improve organizational efficiency, accelerate our ability to respond to customer feedback and provide a comprehensive go to market approach.”

“Overall, I am very pleased with our strategic initiative execution so far this year. We are successfully rebuilding our backlog and pipeline as we booked $27 million in new orders since mid-December 2023. Also, our efforts to improve system reliability are paying off as we are seeing increased orders from existing customers while rapidly expanding our footprint in the defense sector. Finally, we are continuing to execute on our cost realignment programs to improve margins and cash flow.”

About Velo3D

Velo3D is a metal 3D printing technology company. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), has a unique ability to improve the way high-value metal parts are built. However, legacy metal AM has been greatly limited in its capabilities since its invention almost 30 years ago. This has prevented the technology from being used to create the most valuable and impactful parts, restricting its use to specific niches where the limitations were acceptable.

Velo3D has overcome these limitations so engineers can design and print the parts they want. The company’s solution unlocks a wide breadth of design freedom and enables customers in space exploration, aviation, power generation, energy, and semiconductor to innovate the future in their respective industries. Using Velo3D, these customers can now build mission-critical metal parts that were previously impossible to manufacture. The fully integrated solution includes the Flow print preparation software, the Sapphire family of printers, and the Assure quality control system—all of which are powered by Velo3D’s Intelligent Fusion manufacturing process. The company delivered its first Sapphire system in 2018 and has been a strategic partner to innovators such as SpaceX, Honeywell, Honda, Chromalloy, and Lam Research. Velo3D has been named as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies for 2023.

For more information, please visit Velo3D.com.

CoStar Group to Acquire Matterport

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SUNNYVALE, CA, Apr 23, 2024 – Matterport, Inc., The spatial data company leading the digital transformation of the built world, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with CoStar Group, Inc., a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics in the property markets, pursuant to which CoStar Group will acquire all outstanding shares of Matterport in a cash and stock transaction valued at $5.50 per share, representing an equity value of approximately $2.1 billion and an enterprise value of approximately $1.6 billion based on the closing price for CoStar Group common stock on April 19, 2024. Under the terms and subject to the conditions of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Matterport’s Board of Directors, Matterport stockholders will receive $2.75 in cash and $2.75 in shares of CoStar Group common stock for each share of Matterport common stock.

Founded in 2011, Matterport pioneered the development of the first 3D capture solution to deliver dimensionally accurate, photorealistic virtual tours or “digital twins” for any type of property. Matterport’s proprietary and patented technology enables anyone to digitize a property using a variety of camera technologies including cameras found on most smartphones. Matterport also produces a line of innovative 3D capture devices, including the company’s flagship LiDAR-based Pro3 camera which is capable of high-precision indoor and outdoor capture. At the center of the solution is Cortex, a powerful artificial intelligence software engine that automatically generates the 3D digital twin and virtual tour while providing property insights like detailed property dimensions, room layouts, and more.

Matterport’s 3D technology is utilized in nearly every sector of real estate, spanning residential, commercial, hospitality, retail, and industrial spaces, among others. Over the years, Matterport has curated what is considered the largest and most precise collection of spatial property data worldwide, with over 12 million spaces captured in 177 countries, and representing more than 38 billion square feet of digital property under management. Contributing to this growth, Matterport has established a global network of several thousand photographers, capture services technicians, and service partners producing hundreds of thousands of new 3D digital twins for properties each month.

CoStar Group operates some of the most effective and widely recognized real estate information solutions and online property marketplaces in the world including Apartments.com, LoopNet, CoStar, and Homes.com, all of which feature Matterport’s 3D virtual tours. CoStar Group was one of the first adopters of Matterport’s technology, and currently has almost 300,000 Matterport digital twins available in the CoStar information product and online property marketplaces. Advertisers on CoStar Group marketplaces clearly recognize the value of Matterport virtual tours. In March 2024, there were over 7.4 million views of Matterport 3D Tours on Apartments.com, with consumers spending 20% more time viewing an apartment listing when Matterports were available. CoStar Group intends to utilize Matterport in a similar fashion on Homes.com to further enhance the most comprehensive agent, seller and buyer friendly residential portal on the market.

“CoStar Group and Matterport have nearly identical mission statements of digitizing the world’s real estate. I look forward to welcoming Matterport to the CoStar Group family and believe that we will be stronger together, in pursuit of our common mission,” said Andy Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group. “The world has changed and today a Matterport is the new open house or property tour. People now select their next home, apartment, office, store, hotel, or warehouse on their mobile device often without ever visiting the property. There is no better way to remotely experience space than via Matterport. CoStar Group intends to support and invest in research and development opportunities to further develop Matterport’s spatial technology, including the application of AI and machine learning to extract information from the 3D spatial data library as well as using generative artificial intelligence to imagine and reimagine physical spaces.”

RJ Pittman, chair and CEO of Matterport said, “We are thrilled to join forces with CoStar Group, a long-standing customer and partner with a shared vision for transforming global real estate through technology and digitization. This transaction is another significant milestone that acknowledges the groundbreaking work Matterport has accomplished in 3D digital twin technology and AI-driven property intelligence. With CoStar Group’s expansive reach and scale in property research and analytics and our joint commitment to innovation, we believe that this powerful combination will transform how properties are marketed, sold, and managed worldwide. Importantly, it offers Matterport’s stockholders the opportunity to participate in the value creation and future growth prospects of our combined efforts.”

The transaction, which is expected to be completed during the year, is subject to the approval of Matterport stockholders and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals. Directors, officers and certain other stockholders of Matterport, representing approximately 15% of Matterport’s fully diluted shares, have entered into voting agreements to support the transaction. The transaction is subject to a 10% symmetrical collar based on a CoStar Group share price of $86.02 as the midpoint.

About Matterport

Matterport, Inc. (NASDAQ: MTTR) is the World’s #1 Digital Twin Platform* leading the digital transformation of the built world. Our groundbreaking platform turns buildings into data to make every space more valuable and accessible. Millions of buildings in more than 177 countries have been transformed into immersive Matterport digital twins to improve every part of the building lifecycle from planning, construction, and operations to documentation, appraisal and marketing. Learn more at matterport.com and browse a gallery of digital twins.

*Largest digital twin cloud hosted platform for the built world sq. ft. scanned. Data on file.

About CoStar Group, Inc.

CoStar Group is a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information, and analytics in the property markets. Founded in 1987, CoStar Group conducts expansive, ongoing research to produce and maintain the largest and most comprehensive database of real estate information. CoStar is the global leader in commercial real estate information, analytics, and news, enabling clients to analyze, interpret and gain unmatched insight on property values, market conditions and availabilities. Apartments.com is the leading online marketplace for renters seeking great apartment homes, providing property managers and owners a proven platform for marketing their properties. LoopNet is the most heavily trafficked online commercial real estate marketplace with over twelve million monthly global unique visitors. STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry. Ten-X offers a leading platform for conducting commercial real estate online auctions and negotiated bids. Homes.com is the fastest growing online residential marketplace that connects agents, buyers, and sellers. OnTheMarket is a leading residential property portal in the United Kingdom. BureauxLocaux is one of the largest specialized property portals for buying and leasing commercial real estate in France. Business Immo is France’s leading commercial real estate news service. Thomas Daily is Germany’s largest online data pool in the real estate industry. Belbex is the premier source of commercial space available to let and for sale in Spain. CoStar Group’s websites attracted over 160 million unique monthly visitors in September 2023. Headquartered in Washington, DC, CoStar Group maintains offices throughout the US, Europe, Canada, and Asia.

Creaform Introduces HandySCAN BLACK+|Elite

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Creaform, a business of AMETEK, Inc. and worldwide provider of automated and portable 3D measurement solutions, unveils its next-generation scanners with the introduction of the HandySCAN BLACK+|Elite, and the complete redesigned of the HandySCAN SILVER and HandySCAN SILVER|Elite. These latest iterations of the BLACK and SILVER Series promise superior precision as well as enhanced user experience.

The new HandySCAN BLACK+|Elite provides a superior level of accuracy through the use of the Accu+ Kit, enabling the user to confidently rely on an optimized volumetric accuracy of 0.020mm+0.015mm/m. Boasting the new Flex Volume, it provides a greater scanning measurement volume, and allows for an adjustable scanning distance that is simple to use, from near (200 mm) to far away (700 mm). Leveraging its newly acquired certifications, the BLACK Series also ensures precision and measurement reliability through its VDI/VDE 2634 part 3 and ISO 10360-based sensor acceptance tests in its ISO/IEC 17025-2017 accredited laboratories, underscoring Creaform’s commitment to rigorous performance evaluation and quality assurance.

As for the newly revamped SILVER Series, it emerges as a transformative tool in product development. With a new ergonomic aesthetic, its heightened resolution catering to intricate details, versatile scanning capabilities accommodating various surface types, and user-friendly design accessible to all, the SILVER series still offers the most value for money. Without compromising affordability, it integrates the cutting-edge advancement of the BLACK Series, leveraging a proven design, compatibility with the recently launched Automation kit and benefiting from exceptional customer service and worldwide support.

About Creaform

Headquartered in Lévis, Québec, Creaform is present in more than 85 countries, through its 26 locations all around the world and a network of over a hundred distributors. A presence that enables the company to build relations and provide unmatched customer service. Creaform is a business unit of AMETEK, Inc., a leading global provider of industrial technology solutions serving a diverse set of attractive niche markets with annual sales of over $7.0 billion.

For more information, visit creaform3d.com.