ProjectWizards' Merlin Wins MacUser 08 Award!
Reported by Manfred Rieck in Wiesbaden, Germany
ProjectWizards has announced that Merlin 2.5, their project management application designed for the Macintosh operating system, has won the MacUser's 2008 Readers Awards in the Business Software of the Year category.
"We're delighted to have won," says ProjectWizards’ CEO Frank Blome. "Once again we are honoured the Mac community has chosen Merlin."
MacUser 08 readers voted in July and August 2008 for the best Mac products in several categories, including Audio of the Year, Graphics Software of the Year, and Reseller of the Year. According to the ProjectWizards news release on 28 October, Merlin, the only project management software entered, beat out all competitors.
Information about the MacUser 08 awards can be found at http://www.macuser.co.uk/awards2008/gallery.html.
A free demo version of Merlin can be downloaded at www.projectwizards.net.
ProjectWizards is a Melle, Germany-based project management consultancy that has combined its projects consulting experience and Macintosh development expertise to create Merlin 2.5, professional project management software designed for the Macintosh operating system. For more information, visit www.projectwizards.net.
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Bechtel Launches YouTube Video Channel with Project Videos
Bechtel Corporation, one of the world's largest engineering and construction companies based in San Francisco, has launched a new video channel on YouTube. The website, featuring videos about Bechtel and Bechtel projects around the world, can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/BechtelCorporation.
Bechtel also has a video channel on its own website, at http://www.bechtel.com/video.html.
Bechtel is a global leader in engineering, construction, and project management. Founded in 1898, the company has worked on some of the most challenging and important projects in modern times, including Hoover Dam and the Channel Tunnel. Today, Bechtel is involved in major projects in nearly 50 countries.
Bechtel's portfolio includes oil, gas, and chemicals, mining and metals, fossil and nuclear power, civil infrastructure, communications, and work for the U.S. government. The company has been ranked the top U.S. construction contractor for 10 straight years. For more about Bechtel, visit www.bechtel.com.
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Project Management Exhibition Included with 22nd IPMA
World Congress on Project Management in Rome
Reported live from the 22nd IPMA World Congress in Rome
The 22nd IPMA World Congress on Project Management in Rome, Italy held during 9-11 November 2008 included an Exhibition of project management companies,
consultants, suppliers and professional associations. Located in the front half of the Palazzo dei Congressi, which delegates passed through in order to gain access to the Main Hall, the exhibition included booths, representatives and demonstrations from approximately 30 commercial, industrial and project management organizations.
(Photo: Nelson Soucek, Morten Fangel & David Pells at PMForum booth at IPMA World Congress exhibition in Rome)
Organizations participating in the Roma 2008 World Congress Exhibition included the following:
(photos: Exhibition area from 2nd floor, Roland Gareis Consulting booth, PMA India booth at 22nd IPMA World Congress in Rome)
The local host organizations for the ROMA 2008 World Congress – Project Management to Run - were the Italian Project Management Academy and the Italian National Association of Industrial Plant Engineering (ANIMP). The President of ANIMP is Mr. Fabrizio Di Amato; the President of the Italian PM Academy is Mr. Roberto Mori; the Congress Chairman is Mr. Luigi Iperti; and the Project Manager for IPMA 2008 is Mr. PierMarco Romagnoli. For registration, schedule and other information, visit the conference website at www.ipmaroma2008.it.
Founded in 1967 and registered in Switzerland, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) is the world’s oldest project management professional organization. IPMA is an international federation of more than 45 national PM societies in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. IPMA’s Annual World Congress is one of the largest and most important gatherings of project management authorities and leaders each year. The president of IPMA for 2008 is Veikko Valila; president-elect for 2009/10 is Brigitte Schaden. Additional information about IPMA is available at www.ipma.ch.
Reported live from Rome by David Pells and Nelson Soucek who were covering the IPMA World Congress for PMForum, along with a number of PMForum global advisors and international correspondents.
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PMForum Named Media Partner for 23rd IPMA World Congress
on Project Management in Finland
PMForum has been named a Media Partner for the 23rd IPMA World Congress to be held in Helsinki, Finland during June 15-17, 2009. The media partner agreement was signed during the PM Days Project Management Symposium in on 18 November 2008.
According to Jyry Louhisto, General Manager of Project Management Association Finland (PMAF) and Director for the 2009 congress, "We are very happy to have PMForum as our partner for the 2009 IPMA World Congress. They have provided good visibility for the last two IPMA congresses, so we plan to take advantage of their expertise, global network and well-known websites. We are preparing an exciting program and expect the 23rd IPMA World Congress to be the biggest project management event ever conducted in Finland."
(Photo: Jyry Louhisto of PMAF, IPMA President Veikko Välilä, and PMForum’s David Pells at PM Days event in Finland)
David Pells, PMForum’s Management Editor who was in Finland for the 2008 PM Days conference, stated, “We are pleased to continue our support of IPMA’s annual world congresses, and to be entering a new and exciting relationship with PMAF in Finland. Plans for the 2009 congress in Helsinki are well underway and I think it will be an exciting and ground breaking conference. I look forward to working with them, and to attending the event next June.”
The theme for the 23rd IPMA World Congress on Project Management in Helsinki next year will be “Refresh Yourself – Project World 2.0.” According to team in Helsinki, the event will be “a next-step endeavor aimed at regenerating project professionalism and helping to move a valuable industry forward; a learning opportunity guided by leading thoughts and designed to be attractive to management and leadership…” For more information, visit http://www.refresh09.com/.
The 2009 IPMA world congress will be held in the Helsinki Fair Centre, Finland’s International Convention Center in downtown Helsinki. Welcome party is organized by the City of Helsinki at the city hall. A traditional Gala Dinner will be held in Helsinki’s world famous Finlandia Concert Hall, and a special Finnish Summer Garden Party is being planned for the historic Kalastajatorppa hotel (now Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa). Mr. Louhisto provided David Pells with a tour of those beautiful facilities on 20 November 2008.
Here are some photos of those facilities.
(photos: Kalastajatorppa, Finlandia Hall, Helsinki Fair Centre)
The local host of the 23rd IPMA World Congress on Project Management (PMAF) in Helsinki will be Project Management Association Finland, based in Espoo, Finland. It is the national membership body for Finland in the International Project Management Association (IPMA). The general manager of PMAF is Jyry Louhisto, who is also the project director for the 23rd IPMA World Congress in Finland. For further information, visit www.pry.fi.
Founded in 1967 and registered in Switzerland, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) is the world’s oldest project management professional organization. IPMA is an international federation of more than 45 national PM societies in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. IPMA’s Annual World Congress is one of the largest and most important gatherings of project management authorities and leaders each year. The president of IPMA for 2008 is Veikko Valila; president-elect for 2009/10 is Brigitte Schaden. Additional information about IPMA is available at www.ipma.ch.
Established in 1995, www.pmforum.org was the world’s first website devoted to professional project management and is one of the world’s most popular sources of project management news and information. PMForum operates the pmforum.org website and produces the monthly PM World Today eJournal where articles, papers, stories and viewpoints by leading PM authorities from around the world can be found; free subscriptions at www.pmworldtoday.net. PMForum’s media partner program provides global visibility for major PM events worldwide. More information can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/events/partner_program.htm.
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SAIC wins NASA Project Management support contract for Kennedy Space Center
NASA has announced the selection of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) of Houston to provide project management support services at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The contract begins on Feb. 1, 2009, with a two-year base period and three one-year options to extend performance. The contract has a maximum potential value of approximately $69.3 million.
The contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract and has a total potential core value of $59.3 million if all options are exercised. An additional indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract line item is included with a possible ceiling of $10 million.
SAIC will provide engineering and technical services, project and business management, and administrative support to Kennedy's Ground Operations Project Office in support of NASA's Constellation Program. For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.
Source: NASA news release on 24 November 2008.
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Transport for London set to Renew £500m Project Management Framework
Reported by Miles Shepherd in the UK
According to reports appearing in Construction News, Transport for London (TfL), the department of the Greater London Authority responsible for most transport in London, is seeking to extend its project management framework. Currently, the framework consists of 32 firms but the number expected to make up the new framework has not been announced.
Andrew Quincey,director ofTfL’s group procurement is quoted in Construction News as saying "We're looking to encourage small and medium businesses to team up and bid."
The new framework is expected to run as a four-year contract covering 11 categories including civil and structural engineering, asset management and railway engineering. TfL is responsible for all underground trains, the Docklands Light Railway, busses and river transport in the capital. It works on a wide range of transport projects, some of which are Olympic Delivery objectives. Other work covers Tube station upgrades and London Overground extensions as well as tram and bus improvements.
The framework is also available to the Metropolitan Police, London Development Agency, London Fire Brigade, Greater London Authority and all the capital's boroughs. It is expected that the contracts will be in place by November 2009
