Google’s Schmidt Talks Future Tech, World Connectedness at Princeton Turing Centennial

Princeton University celebrated the centennial of Alan Turing’s birth in grand style from May 10-12, 2012. Turing, known as the “father of computer science,” earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton in 1938, before there was a computer science department at the institution.

The university hosted addresses by some eight winners of the Turing Award, considered to be the “Nobel Prize of computing,” as well as lectures by many other distinguished computer scientists. The range of topics was breathtaking, from quantum computing to modern programming languages and beyond.

A centennial celebration highlight was a public address by Eric Schmidt, Princeton graduate and executive chairman of Google. While not a Google founder, Schmidt has helped grow the search giant from startup to global entity and is credited with finding a way for the company to scale its infrastructure and diversify product offerings while attempting to hold on to a culture of innovation.

Princeton Tech Meetup members gathered beforehand at the local Panera Bread to walk together to Schmidt’s talk at McCosh Hall. Tickets had been reserved earlier. The event was so popular that it was being simulcast to several overflow rooms.

At the heart of Schmidt’s lecture was the belief that technology can be used to benefit all classes of society, including the 5 billion unconnected people on this planet, most of whom live in underdeveloped areas. He called this group “the majority” and was sure that “one day they, too, will be connected.”

TGI Solar Power Group’s Deal with Eliho Energy Systems Falls Through

05 Jan 2012 | by Esther Surden |

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Eliho Energy Systems Inc. announced recently that it would be terminating all talks with Red Bank-based TGI Solar Power Group Inc. and did not contemplate further discussions. In November, TGI had announced it would acquire all of Eliho’s assets, including two waste gasification projects already permitted by the state of Florida.

Eliho, which now operates out of Bucks County, Pa., is an environmental solutions provider. It offers a next-generation technology platform transforming municipal, industrial, forestry and agricultural waste into solid, liquid and gas-based renewable-energy components. The firm uses a decentralized renewable-energy platform that converts waste into components through a two-stage process meeting EPA standards.

NJTechWeekly.com asked Edward Stanojev, president of Eliho, why the deal fell apart. “Basically we didn’t think the other people [TGI] could complete the transaction” in a timely manner, he replied. “We started out thinking we would be on parallel tracks” with TGI, but timing-wise, things didn’t work out. “I’ve gotten alternative sources of support that are competitive,” he added. The combination of the two factors, timing and the availability of a competitive alternative source, made the deal unworkable.

To continue operations and carry the project forward, Eliho has signed nondisclosure agreements with two other sources, Stanojev said. At this juncture, “we will be staying private for a while,” he added, although one of TGI Solar’s attractions for the company was being a public entity.

TGI is a holding company whose strategy is to acquire new patented or proprietary technologies, components, processes, designs and methods with commercial value that provide market advantage and generate shareholder value, the firm says. The company recently announced it placed an order for an EKOPLAZ E5 medical waste and hazardous materials processing unit as an experimental unit to test using municipal solid waste, demolition materials, coal and medical waste for feedstock.

In an email to NJTechWeekly.com, Henry Val,CEO told us that TGI decided to proceed independently from Eliho. "There were too many moving parts and we were not sure if this was the right deal for us," he said. "We think our technology is far more advanced," than Eliho's and, he said, and TGI was not in agreement with some of the people in management at the company.

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