Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the November 21, 2001 edition of
U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Life in the Fast Lane
French telecommunications company Alcatel named the
Sarnoff Corporation to its prestigious research partner program. While
10 international educational
institutions have already become partners with Alcatel, Sarnoff is
the first private company to join this program. "Alcatel’s
relationship
with Sarnoff grew out of professional associations among scientists
from both companies," said Niel Ransom, chief technology officer
for Alcatel Americas.
Sarnoff, which has been working on wireless technologies for some
60 years, already has completed the first stage of a wireless project
for Alcatel. Called DAMAN, it is a routing protocol that allows
computers
to link to one another without the need for a central infrastructure.
At a press conference on November 15, Jim Carnes, president and CEO of
Sarnoff,
said DAMAN has broad implications. Not a specific product, but rather
a technology that could be included in any number of devices, Daman
means that, "You will be able to get any information anywhere
in any form," said Carnes.
Jim Kaba, a member of Sarnoff’s technical staff, demonstrated the
technology. "DAMAN allows one laptop to reach distant laptops
by routing through a series of other laptops," he explained. The
routing is fluid: As one group of laptops moved around the room, they
adjusted to their slightly altered geography by connecting to one
another differently.
Theoretically, Kaba said, the chain of linkage could go on
"infinitely,"
connecting over any distance. It would be especially useful in
situations
where communications needs to be set up quickly, or where a greater
than normal number of users suddenly come together. Examples include
the scene of a disaster, a military campaign site, or even a city-wide
celebration.
Jacque Magen, Alcatel’s director of external affairs, said the company
is now scouting for test sites for the technology, which would be
layered onto existing software applications. The company has signed
a second contract with Sarnoff for further development of the
technology.
Sarnoff’s work on DAMAN was one reason the research company
was chosen as an Alcatel partner, according to Magen. It has named
seven research partners
for this prestigious program and is looking for three more. Sarnoff
is the only partner so far that is not a university.
Through the partnership Sarnoff and Alcatel will collaborate on
research,
may exchange researchers, and may form early stage companies to
commercialize
new technologies. Terms of the partnership are fluid, and will be
reviewed every year, said Magen, "to prove that each side is happy
with the collaboration."
Alcatel’s $32 billion bid to acquire Lucent Technologies fell through
last May. The French telecommunications maker has 110,000 employees
and operates in more than 130 countries.
Sarnoff and Alcatel have not yet announced specifics of any other
projects on which they might collaborate.
Promising avenues for Sarnoff, however, were on display throughout
its auditorium during the press conference. The central theme was
security. A display on perimeter security drew a great deal of
interest.
On a laptop, a man was tracked as he moved along a row of hedges.
Other displays showed "bug-eye" cameras, stereo 3D motion
detectors, tracking devices, voice ID, unmanned tanks, night vision,
and more.
Sarnoff and Alcatel both say they see a bright long-term
future for telecommunications. But for now, at least, security is a
hot field, and DAMAN will certainly have a role.
Princeton 08543-5300. James E. Carnes, president & CEO. 609-734-2000;
fax, 609-734-2040. Home page: www.sarnoff.com
Top Of Page
Expansions
Building
E, Cranbury Plaza, Cranbury 08512. Charles Sahyoun, president.
609-409-9790;
fax, 609-409-9788. Home page: www.stratusservices.com
In an usual twist for an architecture and engineering firm, this
company
has a staffing organization, Stratus Services Group in Manalapan,
as its parent company. Charles Sahyoun, the president of the growing
engineering
firm, and Joseph Raymond, CEO of the staffing group, are cousins.
With 55 employees, Stratus Engineering firm has added an additional
3,200 feet at Cranbury Plaza for a total of 15,000 feet.
Founded in 1997 by Charles Sahyoun and four partners, the
engineering
group does construction, expansion, or retrofits for industrial,
commercial,
and utility clients. Their clients include ConEdison New York, Lucent
Technologies, and Hoechst Celanese, Hartford Steel Technology, the
Plainfield Fire Department, Orion Energy, and Entergy.
Sahyoun went to New Jersey Institute of Technology, Class of 1981,
and worked at Nuclear Power Services, later acquired by Day and
Zimmerman.
There he met Tom Foley, Al Ribaudo, Gene Porzio, and Art Abrusseze.
"My cousin Joe already had the infrastructure — the financing,
human resources, and the benefits and 401k plans — so we started
as a subsidiary of his firm," says Sahyoun.
The two cousins’ firms enjoy a limited synergy. Some of staffing
projects
may need engineers. Or the engineering firm may need IT-related
functions
that the staffing company can fill. "We helped them out to go
public two years ago and now we own shares in Stratus Services,"
says Sahyoun.
"We usually work for final customers, not subcontractors to
another
architect," says Foley, a graduate of Penn State, Class of 1992,
with an MBA from St. Joe’s. "Many of our clients have their own
architects on staff and know what they want. Lucent is consolidating
their spaces so we are doing lab retrofits."
Top Of Page
Crosstown Moves
3600, Princeton 08540. Terrence Hurley, president. 609-799-3930; fax,
609-799-6576.
When its landlord, Montessori Corner, needed more space, Shawnee moved
from a one-story office building in Princeton Meadows Office Center
to the third floor at the Forrestal Center but keeps its phone and
fax. Founded in 1980, the company has a dozen employees in about 2,000
square feet. It sells PVC resins and additives.
Top Of Page
Leaving Town
Morrisville 19067. Lynn Sturgis, CEO. 215-337-9991; fax, 215-337-0960.
Home page: www.medicaled.com
Earlier this fall Medicom expanded from 4599 Main Street in Kingston
to Morrisville, where the firm now has 25 employees. The firm offers
medical communications, specializing in continuing education media
for physicians, pharmacists, and nurses.
Floor Wing 2, East Hanover 07936. Mark Sale, regional vice president.
973-503-3828; fax, 973-503-4046.
When Kraft bought Nabisco, this two-person Nabisco regional sales
office moved from 2681 Quakerbridge Road to Kraft’s headquarters in
East Hanover. Mark Sales is responsible for sales of cookies,
desserts,
and sauces to the food service industry, says his assistant, Pam
Mietzner.
Top Of Page
Contracts Awarded
Junction 08852. Scott E. Coleridge, president & CEO. 732-274-0037;
fax, 732-274-0501. Home page: www.synthoncorp.com
The carbohydrate-based drug discovery company has signed a research
agreement with Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital to work on
potential antibacterial candidates to treat highly resistant germs.
An oxazolidonone compound used in the drug Zyvox is
the most effective drug available today to treat drug-resistant
bacteria,
but already there is one type of staph infection that Zyvox cannot
cure. So Ying Wang, a Harvard Medical School professor and staff
member
at the hospital wants to speed up the search for more oxazolidones.
Synthon will create a wide variety of new oxazolidonone compounds.
Synthon, a privately held company, launched its drug discovery program
last May. Hollingsworth, a professor at Michigan State University,
moved the company from Michigan to New Jersey to get better access
to current and potential clients. (U.S. 1, May 24, 2000).
Suite 206, Princeton 08540. Donald L. Drakeman, president.
609-430-2880;
fax, 609-430-2850. Home page: www.medarex.com.
Medarex and m-phasys GmbH will collaborate on developing and
commercializing
a large number of cell membrane receptors that could affect disease
pathways.
Medarex Inc. develops monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics to fight
cancer and other life-threatening and debilitating diseases. Founded
four years ago, it has nearly 80 employees, including those at its
laboratory in Annandale. M-phasys, which was founded two years ago
in Tubingen, Germany, works on membrane protein drug discovery
"We are pleased to be working with M-phasys," said Donald
L. Drakeman, president and CEO of Medarex. "We believe that their
unique protein folding technology will help in accelerating the
discovery
and development of fully human antibody products."
Medarex doubled its R&D budget this year, raising it from $5.5 million
to $11.2 million, yet its losses went down, from $2.8 million last
year to $2.7 million this year, or four cents a share.
Suite 2400, Princeton 08540. James C. Russell, CEO. 609-987-2400;
fax, 609-987-9320. Home page: www.pfs.com
Princeton Financial Systems has licensed its investment management
and accounting system to Horace Mann Educators Corp., the largest
national, multi-line insurance company focusing on the insurance and
financial service needs of the educational community. Based in
Springfield,
Illinois, the firm sells annuities and insurance to teachers and their
families.
Princeton Financial Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of State
Street Corp. with investment management software that can be licensed
for in-house use or accessed via the Internet.
Top Of Page
Deaths
of the philosophy of Christian Education at Princeton Theological
Seminary.
anesthesiologist
at the Medical Center at Princeton and director of the Pain Management
Center.
husband had a law firm on Leigh Avenue.
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
Facebook Comments