American money + Swedish greentech (CNET News.com)

My article on Michael Wood's visit and the meeting between Fredrik Reinfeldt and George Bush was posted on the 14th May, day before the meeting.

An example of how Swedish innovations in renewable energy gets U.S. attention.




U.S. Ambassador in Sweden, Michael Wood

Article: http://news.com.com/Matching+American+money+with+Swedish+green+tech/2100-11395_3-6183700.html?tag=item

Using the sun to cross the Atlantic

Many things that happens in New York are very business oriented. One thing that recently happened was not only business oriented, but could be categorized in many different beats. If there existed an innovation news feed, this thing would clearly belong there.

The 14 meter long catamaran Sun21 just arrived to New York. It is the world's first boat to cross the Atlantic, by just using solar power. The people behind Sun21 showed that it is not only possible, but also a pretty good idea, to make more use of the sun while on the sea.

The business aspect of this is that a sun powered boat does not need any traditional fuel. The political aspect is that this is an eye-opener for environmental issues. There is even a slight sport aspect, since both sailing and motor boating are considered as sports.

However, to make the article interesting for Spectrum's web readers, I narrowed it down to focus on the technology aboard:
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may07/comments/1823

Innovative projects

In beginning of May, I went to the Interactive Telecommunications Program's spring show, arranged at New York University. There, some student artists and innovators (yes, that's how they described themselves) were showing interesting projects. It was fun to see how they mixed old stuff with new technology, even though I would categorize most of the projects as innovative, rather than as innovations.

In terms of covering the event for Spectrum, I realized that a slideshow with some captions would be one of the best ways to cover it. Innovative journalism for innovative stuff; An innovation journalism approach is probably more suitable for other articles.

Article:
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may07/comments/1824

Chinese invasion

Two more Chinese solar power companies filed for initial public offerings. So far there are five Chinese solar firms being traded in Nasdaq, and investors have just loved them. We'll see what happens to LDK and Yingli.

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=22259&hed=Chinese+Solar+Firms+File+IPOs

EnerNOC made its debut on Nasdaq, and it was also well received by investors.

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=22333&hed=EnerNOC+Jumps+in+Nasdaq+Debut

Girls of Engineering: Smart is Sexy

Everyday, I go to the gym with two of my colleagues at Spectrum. Everyday, we discuss article ideas and how to improve the magazine. And we are especially interested in increasing the hit rate for the online version of Spectrum. What do many people search for on Internet? Nudity! What can a magazine for engineers do about that to attract readers, but still be considered as proper by readers and advertisers? How about an investigative behind-the-scene article about the photo calendar Girls of Engineering 2007?! My gym buddy Philip E. Ross did some interesting findings, enough for him to produce the most questionable article IEEE Spectrum has published for quite a while:

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may07/5099

Ergonomic computer mouse

Who would pay $ 200 for a computer mouse? Since problems with carpal tunnel syndrome are on the rise, maybe people will be willing to pay more for an ergonomic mouse that hopefully both can prevent and heal the much-dreaded syndrome. That's at least what Napa Valley entrepreneur Mike Sjoblom (yes, he's Swedish) is hoping with his new pointing device Trackbar Emotion. He says that $ 200 isn't that much if the alternative is long sick leaves and loss of production.
In today's San Francisco Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/14/BUGFQPP7V91.DTL&hw=hermansson&sn=001&sc=1000

Cleantech boom-and-bust and weird cars

Wait a minute, did you just put all your savings in cleantech companies? Oh no, you should have read Red Herring first. Poor you.

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=22146&hed=Energy+Tech%e2%80%99s+Bubble+Warning

And while the Air Car still lives in Injo fellows' hearts - and only there, not in reality - it might be fun to read a bit more about peculiar cars. After the article linked below was published, one of the Feel Good Cars' shareholders contacted me and said he's worried about the company's EEStor deal. He said there are major errors in EEStor patented technology, and the energy storage won't work. He had informed the company president about this with no response.

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=22161&hed=Life+in+the+Fast+Lane%3f+