BSP Consulting, the civil and structural engineering firm, has promoted three of its members to new positions. Those are the chartered civil engineer Carol Ell and the chartered structural engineer Monika Anszperger who have become associates, and Tim Wilson who has stepped up to become the new associate director. Carol joined the company in July 2004 and works in BSP’s Leicester office in De Montfort Street; Monika joined in January 2014 and is based in the Derby office at Pride Park; and Tom has been with BSP since 2005 and is currently managing the civil engineering team in Leicester. “These changes reflect the much-increased responsibility levels that Tim, Carol and Monika now embrace and perform for the company. I and the BSP team congratulate them on their achievement,” said BSP Managing Director David Sumner. BSP Consulting is an award-winning civil and structural engineering firm offering services throughout the construction sector. It is based on Oxford Street, Nottingham and it provides a comprehensive range of consultancy services in civil, structural, geotechnical, transportation and environmental engineering to all sectors of the construction community, including architects, project managers, contractors, developers, and estate agents. Founded in 1999, the company has three offices across the East Midlands, in Oxford Street, Nottingham, at Pride Park, Derby, and in De Montfort Street, Leicester, and one office in South Yorkshire, on Solly Street in Sheffield. In 2009, BSP Consulting was awarded the prestigious title of Consultant of the Year at the East Midlands Property Dinner.

Although remote monitoring of data centre operations is not a new discipline, it is evolving rapidly into a continuous online process in which reactions to changing circumstances occur with increasing speed, accuracy and automation.   A new White Paper, number 237, from Schneider Electric entitled “Digital Remote Monitoring and How it Changes Data Center Operations and Maintenance” outlines seven trends that are defining monitoring service requirements and how they will lead to improvements in data centre operations and management. The power and cooling infrastructure in today’s data centres typically has about three times more data points and notifications than it had 10 years ago. This raises challenges for management with regard to managing both the maintenance data and the data centre itself for maximum benefit. Although remote monitoring is nothing new, notifications were traditionally intermittent—usually transmitted via e-mail—whereas today instantaneous online notifications are the norm. The trends described in the white paper include: Embedded system performance and cost improvements, cyber security, cloud computing, Big Data analytics, mobile computing, machine learning, and automation for labour efficiency. The appearance of sensors, meters, and data collection points in all manner of infrastructure equipment from cooling units to PDUs is driving the increase in systems-management.  The use of Big Data analytics and machine learning all help to increase efficiency and emergency response without human intervention, leading to quicker and more cost-effective operations. The white paper also discusses how data centre operations will evolve as a result of these trends becoming more efficient, more easily scalable, and more responsive to changing customer needs. The “Network Effect”, which causes activity to increase in value as more people use it, will become apparent as new insights and methods are derived from the data. Data centre operators should review the digital remote monitoring requirements discussed in the paper as they begin to assess the evolution of their own facilities. White Paper 237 “Digital Remote Monitoring and How it Changes Data Center Operations and Maintenance” is available for free download at http://www.apc.com/wp?wp=237    Source link

Details on how the different apprenticeships will be capped have still not been published despite summer recess beginning yesterday. Sources told Construction News they had been expecting a decision before recess but now feared this will be postponed until September at the earliest. The delays add to growing frustrations among contractors who need details on the caps to understand how they will pay for training once the levy comes in next April. The apprenticeship levy was formerly under the control of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, but this has now changed following prime minister Theresa May’s Cabinet reshuffle. It will now come under the remit of the Department for Education. A government spokeswoman said: “Our focus is on ensuring the levy works for businesses of all sizes as they adapt and seize opportunities in the coming months. “We are continuing to work with employers to design the apprenticeship levy around their needs and will shortly be publishing further details.” Construction News reported earlier this month that BIS had missed its original June deadline, with the department saying there would be “a short delay” to its release. The apprenticeship levy is part of the government’s plan to create more than three million new apprentices by 2020. The levy, which is due to come in next April, will see companies with annual wage bills over £3m paying 0.5 per cent of their PAYE into a government fund. As part of the levy, types of apprenticeships will be banded, with the government setting a maximum limit on what can be spent on each standard of apprenticeship. Contractors fear these limits will be lower than the amount it costs to train certain types of apprentices, and that companies will have to foot the extra cost. A number of employers have called for more clarity on the banding levels so they can calculate the cost of future training. CECA chief executive Alasdair Reisner told Construction News earlier this month that any long-term delay could result in BIS having to push back the implementation of the levy.       Source link