NEWTON, Massachusetts—Sonesta International Hotels Corporation announced that it has entered a strategic alliance agreement with AKEN Hotels & Resorts LLC a hotel group with a growing portfolio across South America and the Caribbean The agreement represents a milestone in Sonesta’s international growth strategy The companies intend to finalize a definitive agreement by mid-year “This is a significant agreement in Sonesta’s international expansion,” said Brian Quinn and South America represent tremendous potential for travel demand Collaborating with AKEN allows us to scale quickly in a high-growth region while aligning with a brand that shares our commitment to exceptional service and guest experience Sonesta’s approach to growth has three pillars – to be fast and we see this as the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial relationship.” “As travelers continue to look for authentic experiences this agreement represents a unique opportunity for Sonesta to create a strategic alignment with AKEN a brand recognized for its experience in ecotourism and conscious luxury,” said Keith Pierce Sonesta’s EVP and president of franchise and development “Latin America offers both cultural richness and untapped growth opportunities and AKEN Hotels is an ideal collaborator with local insight and operational excellence This relationship will bring Sonesta immediate critical mass in this new luxury market.” The strategic alliance will integrate AKEN’s properties into Sonesta’s global loyalty ecosystem The collaboration is designed to drive mutual value and elevate the guest experience across markets “We’re thrilled to begin a relationship with Sonesta to bring the spirit of South American hospitality to a broader global audience,” said Luis Gallotti co-founder and co-CEO of AKEN Hotels & Resorts “This collaboration allows us to amplify our reach strengthen our global sales distribution and accelerate our growth while remaining true to our roots—offering guests immersive local experiences we are creating new pathways for discovery and growth—both for our guests and our teams.” we believe that true luxury is found in conscious living where Lifestyle and Wellness are seamlessly integrated into every guest experience,” said Lisandro León Liguori co-founder and co-CEO of AKEN Hotels & Resorts “Partnering with Sonesta allows us to share our philosophy of mindful hospitality with an even wider global community We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns - Applications are now open for the CHIO Aachen 2025 CVIO4* Applications are available on the athlete dashboard and can be found in the “Online Applications” section Individuals and squads may apply with one application each Pas de Deux partners must each submit a separate application For more information on the application process, including qualification criteria, visit the FEI Vaulting Athletes Resource Page on USEF.org More information on the CHIO Aachen World Equestrian Festival can be found here.  Selection criteria for oversubscribed CHIO or CVIO Events can be found here.  Keep up with the latest news. Follow USA Vaulting on Facebook and US Equestrian on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok MA – Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (Sonesta) today announced that it has entered a strategic alliance agreement with AKEN Hotels & Resorts LLC a premier hotel group with a growing portfolio across South America and the Caribbean to join the Sonesta system The agreement represents a major milestone in Sonesta’s international growth strategy and will significantly expand opportunities for Sonesta Travel Pass loyalty program members to earn and redeem points across new destinations offering members new destinations for redemption and deeper regional access Lorie JulianoSonesta International Hotels Corporation +1 617 421 5429 Sonesta Airlines Cancel Flights to Israel After Missile Strike Near Airport Bowman’s Travel Brief: Avoid Newark Airport Mastering the Art of Group Travel Bookings Fiesta Americana Travelty Celebrates Travel Advisors The Top 24 Most Powerful Travel Agencies of 2024 The Strategic Art of Pre-Planning Luxury Vacations: A Perspective for Travel Advisors For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter. Collette - Expertly Crafted Tours for the Modern Traveler Cross Border Xpress Mexico: What Travel Advisors Need to Know Noreen Kompanik is a San Diego based journalist who is also the co-owner and publisher of Rovology, Travel By Vacation Rental... Copyright © 2025 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 301 Route 17 N, Suite 1150, Rutherford, NJ 07070 USA | Telephone: (201) 902-2000 2025 — Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: FR0014003TT8 DSY.PA) today announced its 10-year collaboration with the Chair and Institute for Machine Elements & Systems Engineering (MSE) at the RWTH Aachen University one of Europe’s best engineering universities to boost the engineering and industrial product development skills of Germany’s future workforce MSE will integrate Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud into RWTH Aachen University’s mechanical engineering curricula for up to 13,000 mechanical engineering students making the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) the core technology of its education programs MSE and partnering chairs can train students and junior engineers in MBSE integrating the latest virtual twin applications The 3DEXPERIENCE platform connects modeling with physical and AI-based simulation and creates traceability of system parameters in one collaborative environment Students gain practice-oriented learning that can be applied to jobs across all industrial sectors facilitating their entry into the professional world and eliminating the need for long training processes joint research activities of MSE and Dassault Systèmes are fostered to enhance model-based systems engineering methods and processes are transferred to industry by the Center for Systems Engineering (CSE) CSE is an interdisciplinary hub on the RWTH Aachen Campus dedicated to strengthening collaboration between academia and industry to advance engineering practices.  seamless digital product development process requires engineers who are trained on MBSE methods and tools we decided to use the tool chain of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform,” said Professor Georg Jacobs Director of the Institute for Machine Elements and Systems Engineering (MSE) “Our partnership with Dassault Systèmes is the greatest of that kind for a major technical university and will strengthen the ability of industry to innovate in the years to come.” MBSE has emerged as a key enabler in the efficient development of autonomous vehicles medical devices and other solutions combining mechanical Employees having advanced modeling and simulation skills in this domain are highly sought after by companies in regulated and competitive markets as they adopt the principles of experience and circularity in complex product development “Mastering systems engineering is an imperative for industrial innovation in the Generative Economy By training future engineering professionals with the right skills our partnership with MSE and CSE at RTWH Aachen University will help bridge the skills gap and accelerate industrial transformation in Germany This is the power of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform and the cloud in action,” said Valérie Ferret The collaboration was announced in Aachen during CWD & DSEC 2025 The Arcadia by the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights is scheduled to see construction start in March with completion set for Fall 2026 (RDL) When one project is completed at a megaproject district a good sign of its health is to see another project in same area start soon thereafter That’s what is due to happen in a couple of weeks in the area of the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights announced that it is about to start construction of the $62 million Arcadia mixed-use development at 3393 Warrensville Center Rd In its latest update posted on its project Web site company officials said while on-site activity will start in two weeks actual construction is about one month away “After many months of planning, we are excited to announce that Arcadia will be breaking ground in March 2025,” noted a project update at the Arcadia Web site posted last week “Site mobilization will begin on March 3 2025 and construction activities will ramp up quickly after that.” By Fall 2026, there will be a five-story, 250,000-square-foot building ready for leasing. It will have 141 rental units including a mix of market-rate and affordable apartments plus townhome-style rental units facing the residential area to the east of Helen Road, city officials said A low-resolution map of the Van Aken District area showing the site of the Arcadia development Across Warrensville Center are the first and second phases of the Van Aken District as well as the Warrensville Station with Blue Line light-rail service to Downtown Cleveland (City of Shaker Heights) More than 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space with offices above on the second floor will face west toward Warrensville Center Largely hidden from view will be a 181-space parking garage Shaker-based RDL Architects designed the new development and will be the primary office tenant Erosion controls will be established around the site staring on or about March 5 with set up of a construction trailer and other facilities to follow on the next day Metropolitan Holdings is also the project’s general contractor Site clearing and grubbing — the removal of trees stumps and rubbish from a site — is due to start March 13 A week later is when the actual construction will begin by establishing the building layout and construction of the concrete pad on which the new building will set Monthly construction updates are promised, to be posted at the project’s Web site The development site was a Qua Buick-Pontiac car dealership that closed in 2005 The city acquired the 2.4-acre lot in 2013 after which it has produced no tax revenue to the city or schools at the intersection of Warrensville Center and Farnsleigh roads will have ground-floor retail spaces with offices on the second floor for RDL Architects and others Multi-family residential is along the rest of the visible perimeter here (RDL) All structures on the site were demolished in 2015 and a request for proposals from developers for reuse of the property was issued. Metropolitan Holdings, which has numerous developments to its credit, won the bid in 2022 and will acquire the property It reached a tax-increment financing deal with the city in June 2023 that will exempt the building but not the land from property taxes for 30 years Metropolitan will make payments in lieu of taxes to the school district The city will receive income taxes from Arcadia’s residents and employees of its commercial tenants Metropolitan has a requirement in which it must set aside 25 units as affordable Thirteen units will be rented to households earning 80 percent of the area’s median income (AMI) and 12 units rented to households earning 100 percent AMI These income-restricted units will be held at the AMI levels indicated for 20 years Completed in December, the most recent major development project at the Van Aken District is the Raye Apartments — a pair of connected glassy towers 15 and 18 stories tall The 18-story tower is the tallest structure in Shaker at 170 feet reveals five for-rent townhomes to be built so as to transition the multi-family building and parking garage into the neighborhood to the east of Helen (RMS) The 228-unit apartment complex is about 65 percent leased according to the Raye Web site and Apartments.com at rents ranging from about $2.75 per square foot to more than $4 It was developed by The Max Collaborative and RM Investment Corp The Van Aken District is the result of a vision established by the city plus property owner and developer RMS going back 20 years mixed-use downtown for Shaker Heights on the site of faded strip shopping centers poorly designed roadways and a former light-rail transit railcar layover yard The transit-oriented development is located at the east end of the light-rail Blue Line from Downtown Cleveland. Not only is a new Warrensville light-rail station part of the project Van Aken Boulevard was removed southeast of Farnsleigh and three new streets were built in a pedestrian-friendly grid pattern for the new district included 100,000 square feet of retail featuring a food hall Above the retail is 64,000 square feet of offices and 103 apartments called Upstairs at Van Aken The future of our Website depends on revenue from our readers The Jack Wolgin Visiting Artist Sam Van Aken is best known for his “Tree of 40 Fruit”—a single grafted tree that produces 40 varieties of peaches eager hands and the hum of creative energy filled the air as students grabbed their grafting tools and got to work Buckets of rootstocks lined the classroom as contemporary artist Sam Van Aken Tyler School of Art and Architecture’s eighth annual Jack Wolgin Visiting Artist kicked off a series of experiential workshops and seminars integrating art science and horticulture in a way only he could “Sam’s singular ability to merge art and plant science paired with his talent for engaging students made him an ideal candidate for our artist residency,” said Susan E dean of Tyler School of Art and Architecture Cahan has followed Van Aken’s works for more than 15 years watching this project grow from the early experimental stage to its current state of worldwide impact Van Aken worked in Crete to restore an ancient forest “Sam’s visit enables Tyler to expand its offerings in meaningful cross-disciplinary hands-on learning and enhances our world-class curriculum,” Cahan said Internationally known for his “Tree of 40 Fruit”—a single grafted tree that produces 40 varieties of peaches plums and other stone fruits—Van Aken spent the week of March 10–14 sharing his passion and knowledge with landscape architecture horticulture and visual arts students at Temple’s Ambler and Main campuses he will return to both of Temple’s campuses over the next two years to offer additional learning opportunities to plant a “Tree of 40 Fruit” in Ambler’s arboretum to care for the trees at both sites and to deliver a public lecture on the cultural history of fruit in the Philadelphia region The week of programming provided students and the public with opportunities to engage with Van Aken’s unique merging of contemporary art The week culminated in the installation of one of Van Aken’s rare trees—the first of its kind in the Philadelphia region—in Tyler’s central greenspace courtyard adjacent to the school’s natural dye garden Van Aken’s passion for grafting—and its deep historical roots dating back to 1800 B.C.—quickly enabled a class of 20 junior and senior horticulture and landscape architecture students to apply their education in grafting to a project that traces the cultural history of fruit in the region including indigenous and introduced varieties After mapping the historic transatlantic traversing of fruit trees through generations Van Aken summarized what was at the core of his fascination what’s become really interesting in my discovery process is that these heirloom fruits aren’t just agricultural products They are cultural objects and embedded in them aren’t just nutritional aspects or tastes it’s actually the history of civilizations around the world.”  While digesting the heavy weight of the history that fruit holds each student grafted their own pit fruit tree practicing the delicate skill of splicing branches to create new life “Bringing an artist to campus whose medium is trees is such an exciting opportunity,” said Sasha Eisenman associate professor of horticulture and chair of the Architecture and Environmental Design Department science and nature intersect is valuable for our students as they navigate their careers and align their passions with their professional pursuits provides opportunities to positively impact both the environment and people’s lives.”  Van Aken led a hands-on workshop creating botanical cyanotypes—distinctive cyan-blue prints created by a photographic process that uses a light-sensitive solution and UV exposure Fiber Arts and Printmaking departments worked elbow to elbow with each other and Van Aken using natural light to expose their cyanotypes on fabric and paper exploring the possibilities of blending organic materials with artistic techniques Junior photography major Jami Deluca was particularly inspired “I’ve been working with cyanotype in class for a few months now but seeing someone so masterful with the process was incredible,” Deluca said I realized he’s almost like a detective—tracking down rare plants researching their history and preserving them through his work but behind them is this deep scientific process from gathering materials to the chemistry of printing It’s a whole new way to think about art.”  That excitement of discovery and spirit of collaboration extended into Associate Professor Bryan Satalino’s design and illustration class where students took on a real-world design challenge—creating a 20-page care manual for Van Aken’s grafted trees they developed visually engaging and user-friendly guides which Van Aken will ultimately select from to be distributed to caretakers of his living sculptures across the country “It’s so exciting to see the teams working together pushing themselves and each other to think and create in new ways,” said Satalino “This project challenges them to consider not only aesthetics but also clarity usability and functionality—key elements in any professional design project.”  As Van Aken’s two-year engagement with Temple continues his work will remain an inspiration for students eager to explore the unexpected intersections of their fields “This was more than just a week of workshops and lectures,” said Nichola Kinch associate dean of academic affairs at Tyler who worked closely with Van Aken to coordinate the week of diverse “Sam’s visit sparked an ongoing dialogue—one about art science and the ways in which nature connects us all." Temple Now: The official source for Temple news.Copyright 2015 The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority will begin major upgrades to two aging Blue Line stations rider comfort and neighborhood connectivity with new amenities like ADA access and a heated bus shelter The article is published as part of an exclusive content-sharing agreement with neo-trans.blog Being on the same rail line isn’t the only thing these two station projects have in common They’re also both designed to better integrate with their surroundings and support station-area developments to spur new neighborhood investment Hired to rebuild the decaying East 79th station as a modern It registered with the Ohio Secretary of State in March for a period of five years It won a $9,984,587 contract from GCRTA by offering the lowest of three bids There has been a light-rail station at East 79th for 105 years, but the current facility was last rebuilt in 1981 and has decayed much since. Just up the street, the 1955-built East 79th Red Line station was rebuilt in 2021 The rebuilt Blue/Green Line station at East 79th will have something GCRTA has apparently never had before — a heated bus shelter It will be located at a bus boarding area next to East 79th 2 bus linking Steelyard Commons with the St Although it was requested by GCRTA GM India Birdsong-Terry station project manager Brian Temming said the shelter was a controversial project at GCRTA because of concerns about having people camping out there So there will be a push button that will activate an overhead infrared heater for about 15 minutes “It was a request by India to try it out,” Temming said otherwise if the request never came up through that executive level I don’t know if we would put in in there.” “Coming from an area with very similar in weather to Cleveland I grew up with those (heater) buttons in several different urban areas including places like Chicago,” Birdsong-Terry said “It is a lifesaver at times when you’re waiting for the bus or the train and you’re in inclement weather and you’re hoping to have a little bit of warmth.” She said GCRTA will monitor the use of the time-limited heater to see if the transit authority will want to modify its design and function and possibly expand its use to more locations throughout the bus and rail system “It’s not intended to be a place of respite and shelter aside from your public transit journey,” she added “But I do think the creature comforts in making our system a little more comfortable for passengers is something that we should at least try and see how it fares and then we’ll take it from there.” police call buttons and new lighting along East 79th under the rail bridge Temming said the lights under the bridge will have a color-changing aspect to them But some GCRTA staff expressed concerns that it would confuse or distract drivers Temming said staff can work with how they look There will be a provision for a walkway from the westbound station platform to future development north of the station but will be used as a service entrance to the station in the meantime has secured city landmark status for the decayed 122-year-old First Hungarian Reformed Church “The reason we didn’t build that (walkway) out as part of this (project) is that we’re not quite sure what that development looks like whether we want to take people from that location to the roadway or there could potentially be some kind of pedestrian street behind whatever development goes on that we’d want to connect to,” Temming said The East 79th Blue/Green Line station will be closed during its 12- to 14-month-long reconstruction An $8 million federal grant for the project was briefly put on hold by the Federal Transit Administration at the request of the Trump Administration But the grant was released and executed with GCRTA two weeks ago Mike Schipper, GCRTA’s deputy general manager for engineering and project management, said the Blue and Green lines will be shut down for four weeks in July to undertake small-scale enhancements at 22 stations in Shaker Heights simultaneously in addition to the major rebuilds of East 79th and Warrensville-Van Aken GCRTA’s board authorized hiring Mike Coats Construction Co OH for $6,702,676 to reconstruct the Warrensville-Van Aken station at the east end of the Blue Line in Shaker Heights Coats had the lowest responsive bid among three competitors The rail station will remain open during construction The station is a center piece of the Van Aken District whose first phase was completed in 2019 by RMS delivering 100,000 square feet of new retail/commercial space 65,000 square feet of office space and 103 new apartments the 15- and 18-story Raye Apartments with a total of 226 residential units proposed to be a 100,000-square-foot office building is planned by RMS “And then we have RTA’s piece here now that’s part of the puzzle to fit into the development and enhance the area,” said Matthew Marotta a resident architect and project manager at GCRTA The new light-rail facility will have a comfort station for GCRTA employees and a separate comfort station for the public The station tracks themselves will be shifted slightly south so the new station and busway will integrate better with their surroundings The busway is part of a transfer station to and from four GCRTA bus lines A separate but affiliated project at the Van Aken District is a public realm improvement effort The city undertook it using $1.5 million in Transportation Alternative Program funds from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency The goal of that project will be to unite GCRTA’s station investments with a streetscape and plaza site improvements off Tuttle Road Construction on this element featuring signature artwork doubling as shade structures should be done in the coming weeks For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features helpful guides and beautiful photography and design Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInSHAKER HEIGHTS Ohio (WOIO) - A person of interest is in custody after a shooting at the Shaker Heights Public Library Tuesday afternoon Police said they were called to the library around 4:45 p.m there was a confrontation in the library that led to the shooting He’s a little guy that’s why I don’t understand why that boy had to pull out a gun,” the witness said Police said the victim was given CPR by officers until EMS arrived He was taken to an area hospital in critical condition There were no other injuries in the incident The library is closed until further notice Shaker Heights Schools sent a letter to parents to inform them of the shooting and that counselors are available for students a shooting took place earlier today at the Shaker Heights Main Library involving past and present Shaker Heights students there will be no classes at Shaker Heights High School and the Innovative Center for Personalized Learning on Wednesday Students in CTE programs are not expected to report to their off campus sites All other school buildings will remain open.” Check back with 19 News for the latest information Aken Hotels & Resorts has announced its second hotel project in Mexico, the Aken Mind, Merida Hotel Other amenities include a locally inspired three-meal restaurant a rooftop pool and event space for up to 150 people The property will undergo a complete refurbishment of its public spaces including the lobby System deployed in the company’s IBM Quantum Data Center in Germany The system offers 156 qubits provided by the company’s Heron r2 processor Writing on LinkedIn Faller said the system is available to the company’s clients via the IBM Quantum Cloud Platform in its European IBM Quantum Data Center “Aachen complements our quantum systems Strasbourg and Brussels which have been available since the end of June 2024 each with 127 qubits of the Eagle processor generation It is also one of the fastest Quantum Systems in our fleet to date,” Faller wrote “Our German Quantum hardware team from the IBM R&D Lab in Böblingen was instrumental in installing and calibrating the new chip Congratulations and a big thank you to everyone for the great work.” IBM first unveiled the 133 fixed-frequency qubit IBM Quantum Heron processor in December 2023 stating at the time that Heron “yields a 3-5× improvement in device performance” and a five-fold improvement in error reduction over IBM’s previous flagship 127-qubit Eagle processors IBM has 13 utility-scale quantum computers – systems containing more than 100 qubits – operational in Poughkeepsie NY; its German data center; and in client locations around the world In total, the company claims to have deployed just shy of 80 quantum systems since 2016 according to publicly available data cited by IBM it was reported that between Q1 2017 and Q4 2024 IBM had almost hit $1 billion of signings since the inception of its quantum unit in the first quarter of 2017 Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. [email protected]DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia “The whole idea was to bring everyone together in a room like we do at Zhug and Amba,” Katz explains From that kitchen will come a flurry of appealing dishes that range from seasonal crudite with hummus to braised lamb shanks with preserved plums and mint including many vegan and vegetarian dishes “The servers will help guide you through the experience and say which dishes go well together,” says Katz “It’s about the hospitality.” Some of Katz’s favorite groupings include crudite mushroom tartlets and American ham or the vegetable tian ribeye steak tips in Burgundy jus and golden-brown popovers The wine program will be built around small American producers and come back for their table,” he says “It’s important for us to be able to get people in.” when the entire Katz team was down to just four people with three full-service restaurants in the portfolio executive chef Cameron Pishnery and director of operations Phoebe Connell Katz worked with designer Dana Sobota to create a simple but sophisticated dining room designed to unite guests in a spirit of conviviality Much of the work focused on decluttering the space and opening it up “We took away a lot more than we added to let the building be airy and spacious,” he explains Katz says that the time just feels right to welcome Kiln into the world — and that he and his team have never been more up to the task For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features UNMC leaders are creating a more vibrant academic health science center and a stronger economy for all Nebraskans UNMC is a welcoming organization working to make all our faculty we work from core values to achieve our strategic goals and vision for transforming the health of Nebraska and beyond The University of Nebraska Medical Center has campuses across Nebraska bonded through 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impact through writing Stay updated on a range of topics at UNMC through our blogs The Department of Strategic Communications works to tell the story of UNMC's impact on Nebraska and the world Seeking b-roll or photographs of our newsmakers Our press kits provide a single stop for media seeking digital assets related to major events at UNMC University of Nebraska Medical Center In The News Search our calendar for virtual and in-person UNMC events the “Ask UNMC” segments run initially on KETV Channel 7 newscasts answers: I hear intermittent fasting is a great way to lose weight but should I consider this a lifestyle change or temporary © 2025 University of Nebraska Medical Center Link IconCopy linkFacebook LogoShare on FacebookXShare on XEmailShare via EmailLink copied to clipboardA tree that bears 40 different fruits takes root in the Temple campusArtist Sam Van Aken's 'Tree of 40 Fruit' uses grafting to create wonder but also to preserve regional agricultural traditions Artist Sam Van Aken grew up on his family’s farm in Douglassville his favored medium to create art is a process called tree grafting and combining it with the rootstock of another The fusion creates a single plant that either sprouts the same fruit or shares elements of both trees He was introduced to tree grafting as a kid on the farm spending years nurturing fruit trees from seed to full bloom “It always stuck in my head,” Van Aken said “I thought it was miraculous that you could take a part of one living thing Only he didn’t stop at two combinations. Van Aken, an associate professor in Syracuse University’s art department, created Tree of 40 Fruit a live tree that sprouts 40 different stone fruits “I always felt like I worked in partnership with the tree but it’s also very much a partnership with the people where the trees are,” Van Aken said The first Tree of 40 Fruit was planted on the Syracuse campus in 2011 and there are 25 more of them in locations throughout the country including Maine The latest installation was planted on Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture campus on March 14 The Temple Tree will burst out in crimson and white blooms this spring and cherries are likely to sprout from its branches will be specific to the kinds that grow best in Philadelphia weather “One hundred years ago we were growing fruit for taste But now we grow it for how long it will last while it’s shipping or if it will look good at a grocery store Taste and nutritional value are like fourth or fifth priority,” Van Aken said Along with beautifying the Tyler courtyard the live sculpture will be a means of agricultural preservation as it will grow stone fruit varieties that aren’t commercially produced or widely available Students will be allowed to pick the fruits and eat them The agricultural artist often dives deep into the provenance An English settler stumbled on an apple tree they had planted and wanted to buy it “It didn’t register in their philosophy because you can’t own a tree anymore than you can own air,” Van Aken said and maintenance of such trees “can be prohibitive for individuals,” Van Aken said So he primarily aims to place them in public settings “Placing the trees in a public context also pays tribute to the Lenape philosophy that no one can own a tree To ensure Temple’s fruit tree thrives in the Pennsylvania sun Van Aken found a bulletin from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture that was released in the late 19th century The report listed fruit varieties that were recommended for the Philadelphia area and those are the ones he used to graft the sculpture Climate change, he said, “has become an overwhelming concern.” But it’s not necessarily one that hasn’t been paid heed to in the past. In Gettysburg, the site of the famous Peach Orchard battle the Sherfy family was monitoring cold hardiness in peaches in the 1870s “with the idea that long peach blossoms were better for colder climates than short-blossomed types.” Van Aken’s trees usually spend their first three to five years in a nursery after which the artist carves out a plan to graft them and plant them in soil “but it totally changes your perception of time that’s a year away?’ and it feels like it’s tomorrow.” “Sam’s work is absolutely ideal to bring our students together across different [disciplines] to see how those disciplines can be synthesized in the creation of a tree that’s also a sculpture and is also an embodiment of cultural histories,” Tyler dean Susan Cahan said She hoped he would bring students of differing disciplines together for a campuswide project Van Aken worked with Tyler students to plant an apple tree at Tyler’s campus site in Ambler is composed entirely of apple varieties and will ultimately grow 40 different types of apples originating or historically grown in Southeastern Pennsylvania who believes an intimate engagement with nature to be essential is excited to see how the Temple community members respond to the trees in full bloom “Seeing a seed grow into a plant,” he said The industrial and systems engineering department head at Virginia Tech reflects on decades of triumphs As the former president of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) and the current head of Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) at Virginia Tech, Eileen Van Aken is no stranger to tackling complex challenges and working directly with the next generation of industrial and systems engineers she completed her term as president of IISE —  the world's largest professional society dedicated solely to the support of the profession of industrial and systems engineering a role that serves as a mentor for the incoming president and provides transitional support for the organization Van Aken offers insights into the evolving role of industrial engineers and how she bridges her work between academia and industry she also opens up about the mentors who shaped her path how she applies engineering principles in everyday life and the joys of mentoring the next generation of engineers Reflecting on your tenure as president of IISE what were some of the moments that made you step back and think The pandemic has posed significant challenges for professional societies and associations like IISE which rely on revenue from conference attendance the executive committee has worked with volunteer leaders and IISE staff to apply principles from the book Race for Relevance which offers guidance for professional associations on defining member value in a post-pandemic world We've had many productive discussions on implementing these principles at IISE to enhance the value we provide to our members and customers How has your role as the head of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech shaped your perspective on leadership in a national organization like IISE Have you found yourself blending the two roles in unexpected ways I’ve had the opportunity to share some of the best practices we’ve implemented in our department at Virginia Tech with other academic leaders I’ve learned from universities and industries worldwide about workforce needs for graduating industrial and systems engineers — for example the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the industry This knowledge has helped me guide departmental actions blending our faculty’s perspectives with insights from potential employers and peers You’ve spent many years leading in the industrial and systems engineering field—how do you stay inspired and motivated in your work I began volunteering for IISE (then called AIIE) as an undergraduate in 1985 helping organize the Mid-Atlantic Student Regional Conference which was hosted by Virginia Tech that year I’ve gradually taken on volunteer leadership roles with increasing scope and responsibility This aspect of my professional life has been one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had I’ve gained insights into what industrial and systems engineers are doing across diverse industries and sectors globally and learned how universities worldwide are preparing students for the future Serving our profession is a calling I hold in the highest regard and I look forward to continuing this journey after completing my term as past-president of IISE What advice do you wish you could give your younger self when you were first starting out in industrial engineering The one thing I wish I had done differently as a young researcher and faculty member in our department is to have pursued collaborations more broadly across the discipline—partnering with faculty and practitioners in areas like manufacturing systems My natural inclination was to work with others in management systems (or engineering management I realize I could have had a greater impact by collaborating more widely Industrial and systems engineering has so much talent and broader collaboration could help us tackle more — and bigger — problems and opportunities Industrial engineering often involves finding efficient solutions to complex problems How has this approach influenced your personal life Do you find yourself applying industrial and systems engineering principles at home or in your daily routines I think every industrial and systems engineer I know has a set of 'eyeglasses' we wear — not just in our work but in everyday life This perspective applies to everything from organizing your kids’ summer camp schedule to managing the waiting line at your favorite coffee shop even down to loading the dishwasher (believe it or not!) Was there a particular moment when you leaned on advice or lessons from a mentor to get through a tough situation we faced significant challenges concerning the institute's financial health I found myself relying heavily on the experiences of past volunteer leaders While they faced different challenges — like growing membership and increasing cost-effectiveness — their insights proved invaluable I’m continually inspired by the leaders who have given so much of their time and talent to our profession There’s always work to be done to strengthen our institute and enhance the value our profession brings to society What has been the most surprising or rewarding part of your journey in industrial and systems engineering so far Any experiences that you didn’t expect to have along the way Throughout my decades of research as a faculty member I’ve focused on improving how organizations are designed and operate This work has allowed me to make a meaningful impact solutions I’ve helped implement have saved costs and enhanced both employee and customer experiences There’s simply no substitute for the feeling of making a difference especially in fostering community among its members And what role do you hope to play in that continued evolution  The evolving role of IISE in a changing world is something our Board of Trustees has been deeply considering With more than half of our membership now based outside the U.S. we are continuously exploring how to use digital technology to connect members to the institute This is a challenge faced by all professional societies but given our expertise in defining and understanding customer needs I believe we are uniquely positioned to make a meaningful contribution in this area As both a department head and a leader in IISE you’ve mentored countless students and professionals What’s the most fulfilling part of mentoring others in this field I have absolutely loved the opportunity to mentor students both formally — through roles as a graduate and undergraduate research advisor — and informally After our departmental advisory board met on campus this semester I was reminded of how meaningful it is to help students advance in their careers and how fulfilling it is to see former students grow and make an impact This is the best part of being a faculty member and academic administrator What do you do outside of work to relax and recharge Any hobbies or routines that help you maintain balance while juggling your roles at Virginia Tech and IISE this is a crucial combination of outdoor time and practicing discipline I try to apply the concept of 'standard work,' so valued by industrial and systems engineers and the strategies are often like those we use in the workplace like creating safe practices or cost-saving methods I love how being an industrial and systems engineer benefits my personal life Some of my relatives might tease me about my spreadsheets but I'm always the one they rely on to organize family events Virginia Tech demonstrates impact as a global land grant – progressing sustainability in our community Get Directions  See All Locations  Contact Virginia Tech  © 2025 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 3D Printing Top Workplaces Industry News RWTH Aachen to integrate 3DEXPERIENCE cloud into curricula for 13,000 engineering students Dassault Systèmes announced its 10-year collaboration with the Chair and Institute for Machine Elements & Systems Engineering (MSE) at the RWTH Aachen University CSE is an interdisciplinary hub on the RWTH Aachen Campus dedicated to strengthening collaboration between academia and industry to advance engineering practices The collaboration was announced in Aachen during CWD & DSEC 2025 For more information, visit 3ds.com Text  © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's opinion and eye witness account of the competition)  - Photos © Eurodressage - NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED / NO SCREEN SHOTS for social media The youth classes at the 2025 CDI Aachen Festival 4 Dressage on 3 - 6 April 2025 overall became a Danish-Belgian battle with German Madlin Tillmann and French Mathilde Juglaret sneaking through to snatch the trophy in several tests The programme for the 2025 CDI Aachen Festival 4 Dressage was action packed with big classes in the pony A huge group of Belgian and Danish riders travelled to the hollowed ground of Aachen to compete in the historic stadium This year's edition of the Festival saw many Dutch pairs staying home as the CDI Tolbert the following weak stole their entries and also served as a magnet to more Danish and Swedish riders who saw their travel time shortened Blessed with phenomenal sunny weather the Festival remained a highlight on the calendar and kept all attendees in the best spirit Sofia Rosenkilde pats Cosmo RoyaleDanish pony riders came to the fore in the rankings in all three tests but it was German team rider Madlin Tillmann who returned home with all three trophies riding the 9-year old Mister Prime Time (by Movie Star x Hemingway B) The buckskin showed outstanding paces but was a little rushed through the test He could have shown more collection and self carriage overall for ever higher marks This was a general problem seen with a lot of the higher ranked combinations who had big moving ponies but appeared too chased forward Tillmann won with 73.143% in the team test and a whopping 78.958% in the Kur for triple glory Three times there was a different Dane in second place In the team test it was Rikke Schoubye Johansen on routinier D'Artagnan In the individual test Sofia Rosenkilde and the 11-year old Cosmo Royale (by Cosmopolitan x Casino Royale K) who finished second on 71.577% In the Kur to Music Victoria Bang Zindorff and the 9-year old German bred Del Classico (byD-Day x Classic Dancer) were second on a score of 75.692% Shirley Vanerom on Ogami van het BeukenhofThree Belgians were entered for the smaller Children division and it was newcomer Shirley Vanerom who persevered twice for the win The 12-year old Vanerom only recently made her international show debut in Lier in February and is clearly moving on up in the ranking Aboard the 11-year old Belgian warmblood mare Ogami van het Beukenhof (by Sir Donnerhall x Fidertanz) she was second in the preliminary test with 73.911% and then won the team test with 75.675% and the individual test with 80.227% Elise van Ost and the 8-year old Belgian warmblood gelding Reliv van 't Amaryllishof (by Ferdeaux x D-Day) won the preliminary and were twice in the other two tests Johansen on Baunehojens CarpaccioIn the junior division the Danish junior riders dominated the ranking taking the top two spots in all three tests Rikke Schoubye Johansen piloted the tall and impressive 12-year old Danish warmblood Baunehoejens Carpaccio (by Charmeur x White Talisman) to the win the team championship test with 69.798% there was quite a spread in individual marks with 71.212% as high score and 67.727% as low score the pair produced a consistent round but they lost some points in the extended walk Winner Carpaccio did not enjoy the prize giving and was led out before the lap of honour Danish junior team rider Clara Cordes Arnkjaer and her 13-year old Danish mare Brianna (by Bogegardens Boney M x Romancier) were second in the team test with 69.798% and went on to win the individual with 72.255% and the freestyle with 75.467% The Young Riders division turned out to be duel between French Mathilde Juglaret and Belgian Liezel Everars Liezel Everars on VenereMathilde Juglaret made her international show debut on Françoise Niclaus' 9-year old KWPN mare Lightning Star (by Ferguson x De Niro) at the CDI Ornago in Italy Three weeks later in Aachen they topped the board in the team test with 72.059% despite a fair bit of tension in the mark who was spooky and distracted in that first round in the Deutsche Bank stadium the French duo was third with 70,000 but on Sunday claimed victory again in the Kur with 76.083% Anne Sophie Serre and step father Arnaud Serre After tragically losing her junior rider's horse Vigo Gold in June 2024, Belgian Liezel Everars found consolation in full sister Venere (by Vitalis x Jazz) Although Liezel has one year left to ride at junior level she decided to move up to Young Riders and debuted the liver chestnut in Aachen after a series of winning national starts in Belgium They were second in the team test with  70.686% won the individual with 71.9612% and were second in the Kur with 74.758% Everars trains with Ton de Ridder and Suraya Hendrikx The Festival featured classes from morning till night four days in a row Suraya Hendrikx on BeniciaThe small tour division was won by Belgians Suraya Hendrikx and Jorinde Verwimp Hendrikx saddled her 13-year old Hanoverian mare Benicia (by Benicio x St Moritz) to top the Prix St Georges with 69.421% and the Inter I Kur with 76.192% Jorinde Verwimp and Korean Eon Jin Chin's 12-year old Holsteiner Vicomte de Reyves (by Viscount x Don Juan de Hus) was third in the Prix St Georges (68.774%) won the Intemediaire I (69.559%) and placed second in the Kur (75875%) Ten combinations contested the Under 25 division which featured two different winners The Short Grand Prix was won by British Harrison Ashton aboard Henri Ruoste's 9-year old Oldenburg Million Dreams (by Millennium x Sandro Hit) who recently relocated from Great Britain to ride professionally as an assistant for Finnish Olympian Henri Ruoste in Germany The kur was won by Swedish Siri Ehrnrooth on the 15-year old Danish warmblood gelding Moegelbjergs Romeo (by Rush Hour x Don Romantico) Related LinksScores: 2025 CDI Aachen Festival 4 DressageTreffinger, Verwimp, Plaster Book Big Tour Wins at 2025 CDI Aachen Festival 4 Dressage Stalls for Rent at Durondeau Dressage in Peer, Belgium Exceptionally Well Located Equestrian Facility in Wellington, Florida Well-built Equestrian Estate With Multiple Business Opportunities in Sweden Stable Units for Rent at Lotje Schoots' Equestrian Center in Houten (NED) For Rent: Several Apartments and Stable Wing at High-End Equestrian Facility Stable Wing Available at Reiterhof Wensing on Dutch/German border Real Estate: Well-Appointed Country House with Extensive Equestrian Facility in the U.K. Rémi Blot Metrics details no ML-based model is available to predict ICU mortality in patients with ACLF The primary objective of this study was to develop a ML-based model to more accurately predict ICU mortality in patients with ACLF we aimed at unlocking hidden insights from patient data and identifying relevant patterns that could revolutionize ICU mortality prediction in this challenging patient cohort Additional baseline characteristics are presented in suppl Comparison of existing scores for ICU mortality prediction (a) Comparison of median SOFA scores between ICU survivors vs (b) Comparison of median APACHE-II scores between ICU survivors vs (c) Comparison of median SAPS-II scores between ICU survivors vs In (a–c) an unpaired two-tailed t-test was used (d) Comparison of AUROC of scores estimating the ICU mortality in the whole cohort: SAPS-II (AUROC = 0.76; J = 42) Comparison of existing scores for liver disease mortality prediction (c) CLIF-C OF score and (d) CLIF-C ACLF score between ICU survivors vs (e) Comparison of AUROC of scores estimating the mortality due to advanced liver disease in the whole cohort: CLIF-C ACLFs (AUROC = 0.79 While established scoring systems exist for predicting overall mortality in patients with advanced liver diseases or ICU mortality in critically ill patients there is currently no such system available for predicting ICU mortality especially in patients with ACLF we utilized a ML-based model to develop an optimized scoring system for predicting ICU mortality representing the probability of the outcome as a categorical value between 0 and 1 it was important to use the fewest possible number of variables The logistic regression model with L1 regularization automatically selected the features without predetermined inputs We evaluated each model’s performance using various metrics and selected the top-performing models for subsequent analysis Among the evaluated models, the newly defined ACICU score demonstrated the best performance metrics. This score employs five features: Horovitz quotient, FiO2, number of organ failures, lactate, and CLIF-C ACLFs (Fig. 3). with higher values indicating a higher risk of ICU mortality An exemplary calculation for a high- and low risk patient of our cohort is given in supplemental Table 4 (Suppl (a) Confusion matrix of the ACICU score in validation cohort (b) Receiver operating characteristics of the ACICU score (AUROC = 0.96 J = 0.54) in comparison to CLIF-C ACLFs (AUROC = 0.91 (c) ICU survival days according to the ACICU score in whole cohort High risk of ICU death was noted in patients with ACICU score above 0.54 (d) Comparison of the values of the ACICU score between ICU survivors vs To assess the interrelationship among these variables an intercorrelation analysis was conducted This analysis revealed a strong positive correlation between the number of organ failures and CLIF-C ACLFs while the Horovitz quotient and FiO2 exhibited a negative correlation Only moderate correlations were observed for the other variables (Suppl Patients who underwent OLT due to ACLF were classified as survivors during the establishment of the ACICU score a subgroup analysis excluding OLT patients still revealed an average AUROC of 0.86 for the ACICU score (Suppl In addition to mortality prediction in ACLF patients we investigated whether the novel ACICU score could also support clinicians to decide which patient could especially benefit from OLT the ACICU score did not show a difference between patients who benefited from liver transplant and those who did not (Suppl Futility analysis according to the ACICU score ACICU score futility analysis was performed in the whole cohort (a) Confusion matrix for the ACICU score with a threshold of 0.94 showing a 100% ICU mortality rate for patients above the threshold (b) ICU survival probability according to the ACICU score High risk of ICU death was noted in patients with an ACICU score above 0.94 (c) Flowchart outlining the sequence of score calculation to identify ACLF patients with a CLIF-C ACLFs of ≥ 70 who may still benefit from ICU treatment international consortia have developed models to predict short- and long-term mortality in patients with ACLF these scores have not been specifically designed to predict ICU outcomes in patients with ACLF easy-to-use score derived from a ML-based algorithm using data from 206 critically ill patients with ACLF the ACICU score was superior to the existing gold-standard CLIF-C ACLFs for prediction of ICU mortality in patients with ACLF and could therefore represent a valuable addition to existing prognostic tools We opted for logistic regression as basis for our predictive model as it directly estimates the probability of mortality within a specific time frame This approach was preferable over time-to-event analysis for our study’s objective which focused on evaluating the risk of death in ACLF patients during their ICU stay logistic regression provided a straightforward and interpretable measure of mortality risk facilitating clinical decision-making and allowing futility assessment in this critical care setting the models based on logistic regression performed better than the miscellaneous evaluated models suggesting the feasibility of ML-based models in hepatology 118 clinical and laboratory features were evaluated using ML to identify key differentiation criteria resulting in the ACICU score that incorporates the CLIF-C ACLFs that the grade of pulmonary impairment should be considered in the risk assessment of patients with ACLF and introduced the CLIF-C ACLF-R score that our ML-based approach resulted in a score that combines three parameters that reflect pulmonary impairment – the CLIF-C ACLF itself Horovitz quotient and FiO2 – further strengthens the relevance of respiratory failure in critically ill patients with ACLF In an intercorrelation analysis we specifically found a notable correlation between CLIF-C ACLFs and number of organ failures as well as between FiO2 and Horovitz could be noted While these correlations may raise concerns regarding multicollinearity and potentially weaken the model’s predictive performance it is essential to note that the ACICU score still demonstrated robust predictive capability for ICU mortality Future studies may explore methods to mitigate the impact of intercorrelations such as feature selection techniques or regularization methods to further enhance the model’s accuracy and reliability we suggest calculating the ACICU score after CLIF-C ACLFs determination to identify patients that were misclassified as non-survivors and still could profit from ICU therapy although our study has yielded promising results the high AUROC of our score may indicate potential overfitting We have attempted to address this using fivefold cross-validation as well as lasso and ridge regression the generalizability of our score needs to be tested in external cohorts in future studies where hyperparameters can be fine-tuned to improve the robustness of our score our findings might not fully represent the diversity of patient characteristics and clinical practices seen in multiple centers we recommend that future research should focus on conducting multi-center studies to assess the model’s performance across different healthcare settings and patient demographics our study offers valuable insights into the potential of a ML-based approach for predicting ICU mortality in patients with ACLF The ACICU score achieved satisfactory performance and calibration metrics using readily available clinical parameters and outperformed the existing gold standard CLIC-C ACLFs our findings represent a significant step forward in prognosis prediction in critically ill patients with ACLF The ACICU score can be calculated for scientific discussion using the ACICU score calculator available at www.acicu-score.com Exclusion criteria were patient´s age below 18 years pregnancy or post-interventional observation after an elective procedure (such as portal vein embolization transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt insertion The study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee (EK 150/06) of the University Hospital Aachen and conducted according to the ethical principles outlined both in the Declarations of Helsinki and Istanbul Written informed consent was obtained from the patient her/his spouse or legal guardian upon ICU admission partial arterial pressure of oxygen (paO2) and necessity of mechanical ventilation were considered The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and the Simplified Acute Physiology (SAPS) II scores were determined to evaluate the mortality risk of critically ill patients the worst value within the last 24 h was considered we explored both logistic regression and decision tree models logistic regression fits a single line to separate the data into two regions The ML process started with data preparation for training and testing Categorical features were converted into binary classifications Features with more than 20 percent missing data were excluded The data set was stratified and split into training (164 patients Missing data were addressed using k-nearest neighbor imputation with ten neighbors and the data were standardized using the standard scaler Logistic regression was employed with the following standardized formula: … are the coefficients of the formula and reflect how the features poured into the computation Features were standardized by their means and standard deviations and nominal features were transformed into binary features Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (Version 26 Data visualization was conducted with GraphPad Prism 6.0 (GraphPad Software Outliers were identified using the Grubbs’ test and normal distribution was assessed with the Shapiro-Wilk test The Mann-Whitney U test was used for unpaired samples with more than two groups and the 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Journal of Open Source Software 40, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01317 (2019) Download references Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL was supported by the START program of the Medical Faculty of RWTH Aachen University These authors contributed equally to this work Institute for Systems Medicine with Focus on Organ Interaction Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology Campus Virchow-Klinikum (CVK) and Campus Charité Mitte (CCM) Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at the TU Dortmund (IfADo) and B.K.; Formal analysis: M.R.P; Data curation: S.A.J. and M.R.P; Writing—Original Draft M.R.P.; Writing—Review and Editing: C.T. The authors declare no competing interests The study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee (ethics committee of the University Hospital RWTH Aachen 2 November 2006) and performed according to the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82178-0 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Fiber-reinforced pressure vessels are increasingly becoming the cornerstone of the hydrogen economy storage and use of hydrogen for mobile and stationary applications in collaboration with a consortium of 25 industry players has announced successful completion of its 12-month R&D project entitled “Trends & Design Factors for Hydrogen Pressure Vessels,” which was launched in November 2023 presented to the 40 participants of the final project meeting in November of this year, provides a comprehensive overview of the market and technology trends related to the development of thermoset and thermoplastic pressure vessels complex design considerations and advanced manufacturing technologies the project provides business and technology insights Companies along the whole value chain of pressure vessels have been involved — resins The first phase of the project involved an in-depth review of regulations together with examples of state-of-the-art hydrogen pressure vessels Key aspects covered included manufacturing processes as well as a comprehensive patent analysis material models and software tools used in the development of pressure vessels The second phase of the project involved extensive engineering studies explains the procedure: “Our team of experts developed CAE models for 12 different layouts of a 2-meter 350-liter Type 4 pressure vessel designed for 700 respectively 350-bar applications These models incorporated different resin and fiber types layup variations and boss designs to evaluate the impact on mechanics We also explored hybrid fiber combinations and dome reinforcement using patch technologies Detailed process chain modeling provided further insight into cost structures and CO2 footprints.” The results of the project also show initial future trends: Through the targeted use of advanced material combinations adapted designs and manufacturing techniques it is possible to significantly reduce the weight and cost of the vessels while maintaining necessary safety standards hydrogen-over-tank-weight efficiencies could be improved from the standard 6-7% to up to more than 11% AZL says these developments could strengthen the competitiveness of hydrogen technology in various mobility and energy sectors in the future “The knowledge gained from the project provides a solid foundation for the use of new technologies to meet the hydrogen economy’s requirements for safe and cost-effective pressure vessels,” emphasizes Celal Beysel chairman of the board at Floteks Plastik San has launched numerous R&D initiatives in the design and development of Type 4 vessels in recent years the company joined the AZL Composite Pipes and Vessels Working Group and the “Trends and Design Factors for Hydrogen Pressure Vessels” project.  Companies and organizations seeking detailed insights or collaboration opportunities are encouraged to contact AZL Aachen GmbH, which serve as an innovation partner for hydrogen tank development and is dedicated to advancing composite technologies AZL CAD design and CAE analysis examples for Type 4 hydrogen pressure vessels including an example of a winding scheme and relative weight results for different pressure vessel designs Project consortium at the final report meeting German startup FibreCoat has bagged €20mn in Series B funding as it looks to bring its super-resistant materials to the burgeoning space industry FibreCoat spunout from RWTH Aachen University in 2020 The startup has developed a patented process for coating fibres with metals and plastics during the spinning stage This creates fibres that are lightweight and conductive yet strong and durable — at a fraction of conventional costs These can then be spun together to form reinforced composites FibreCoat has focused on securing clients in the automotive where the materials are particularly useful for radiation shielding and weight reduction applications Now the company is setting its sights on upward Spacecraft require materials that can withstand extreme temperatures and electromagnetic interference (EMI) without adding unnecessary weight and launchers and satellites increasingly need coated fibres to endure harsh conditions,” said Dr European tech superstars: Hear from Datasnipper investors and innovation champions at TNW Conference on June 19 & 20 Luxembourg-based NewSpace Capital co-led the funding round, bringing vital expertise as the startup looks to cash in on the expanding space ecosystem, projected to reach $1.8trn by 2035 “Space and terrestrial supply chains are converging,” said Bogdan Gogulan adding that FibreCoat has the potential to address critical challenges across a swathe of industries FibreCoat will use the fresh funds to ramp up R&D and scale production as it looks to commercialise its fibre coating technology The startup is far from the only spinout access story to emerge from RWTH Aachen in recent years One of the fastest growing is Cylib. The startup is currently constructing what is set to be Europe’s largest EV battery recycling plant and Dr Gideon Schwich — launched the company after a decade of battery recycling research at RWTH Aachen The partners claim their method uses 30% less energy than competitors Another big player is Black Semiconductor, which raised €254.4mn back in June Even more impressive is that the company is only four years old Brothers Daniel and Sebastian Schall launched Black Semiconductor in 2020 The startup is developing a new type of chip-connecting technology using the “wonder material” graphene Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week YACHATS — Rare is the artist who can make a living from creative expression is the artist-educator who can sustain a long career teaching the joy of art That’s what helps make Debbie Aken a standout She’s among the first artists in a new venture — the Little Art Museums of Yachats presented by Polly Plumb Productions The project is made possible by a $6,500 grant from the Oregon Community Foundation the nonprofit that brings cultural events to Yachats Along with artists Dave Baldwin and Victoria Kwasinski largely two-dimensional works will be displayed at the Overleaf Lodge beginning April 5 visitors will get an up-close look at some of the creative people who call Yachats home “The purpose is to promote Yachats as an art community and help people understand why the artists live here,” explains Meredith Howell “It’s an exploration of why art in rural communities is important — economically and also for building a sense of community.” Aken understands the value of art in rural communities because she taught art in them for 30 years She estimates that in her time as an art teacher in Oregon — primarily in Glendale and Myrtle Creek in Douglas County — she reached 3,000 students her influence may have helped make the difference between completing high school or not “My passion was with the kids … it grew and grew,” she says While teaching art classes at a high school in low-income Myrtle Creek helped motivate kids to come to school and Two of her former students entered the architecture program at the University of Oregon and a few even became art teachers themselves “Some people think being an art teacher is a ‘fluff job’,” Aken says “But education opens up your eyes to a whole new way of seeing the world.” That’s why Aken would try to expose her students “to other ways of life.” For example she merged American history with art history when she introduced classes to painter Jacob Lawrence Lawrence created landmark paintings about the Great Migration of rural southern Blacks to northern cities after World War I The works documented both the racial violence that spurred the migration and the struggles of Blacks in their new homes This was probably not in their history books Imagery like (Lawrence’s) can remain in the brain in a way that text might not.” She completed her master’s degree in art education at the University of Oregon While the couple has traveled around the globe — from Greece to Tahiti Hawaii to Iceland — it was Yachats’ beauty that compelled them to retire here in 2015 Aken serves as treasurer of the Yachats Arts Guild and is on the board of Polly Plumb Now that she has more time for her own art Aken focuses on printmaking and mixed media but her skills also include painting and pottery Nature — especially trees — inspires much of her work “Trees have beautiful negative (empty) space,” she says “A couple of my pieces at the Overleaf are about that positive/negative relationship.” The educator and artist offered these answers to our questions: Question: How does living in Yachats affect your art Answer: The natural beauty is part of my artistic choices I also find a stroll through our galleries to be inspirational Q: What motivates you to keep creating art A: The camaraderie with fellow artists inspires me to continue creating and exploring a variety of media so I really can’t imagine not doing it anymore Q: Does living and working in a rural area limit people’s exposure to your work I have spent my entire life in rural areas Participating in shows and other exhibits is a relatively new thing for me Q: Since tourism fuels the Yachats economy what role do you think art plays in the city’s economic health A: Yachats enjoys art activities every year There are a variety of art shows annually including two presented by the Yachats Arts Guild Polly Plumb Productions also sponsors many visual art activities such as special exhibits and the annual banner project downtown Folks can enjoy the banners along the street from July through Labor Day plus participate in the auction and social evening later in September if they choose I believe visitors enjoy the art scene as well as all of the natural beauty here which can only help keep Yachats’ economy healthy A: Wonder — about process and medium Anytime I create art that makes folks wonder about how it was done (such as printmaking) I won a limited edition Marc Chagall lithograph framed and with a certificate of authenticity GARAGE SALE: Tell folks about your upcoming garage sale here LANDSCAPING SERVICES:  It’s that time of year Let everyone know what services you have to offer JOB OPENINGS: Need to let the community know that you need help Lincoln County Library District NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMITTEE MEETING Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue District SECOND NOTICE OF BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING Port of Alsea NOTICE OF BUDGET HEARING Yachats Rural Fire Protection District NOTICE OF BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING Central Lincoln People’s Utility District LEGAL NOTICE OF BOARD VACANCY Vaulting Team finished fourth overall in team competition to conclude the CHIO Aachen Vaulting CVIO4* athletes compete in both the individual female and individual male divisions Army)Medals for valor are often earned for outstanding individual service amid unfathomable circumstance those honored will insist that the action in which they distinguished themselves was a matter of teamwork 1944 clash of platoons in the German town of Bardenberg where the outcome of a singular soldier’s sacrifice hung in the balance depending on his comrades-in-arms — and on his enemies In fall 1944, Bardenberg was just another of those objectives contributing to a strategically greater goal, in this case the city of Aachen whose fall would mark the first seizure of German territory by the U.S Tasked with assaulting Bardenberg was the 120th Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division Dubbed “Old Hickory,” the activated National Guard unit had been in combat since its landing at Normandy on June 15 10 the Americans took the area in spite of the Germans converting cellars throughout the town into deadly pillboxes With his track ablaze, this soldier found a way to destroy an enemy tankAs a tank destroyer commander without a tank destroyer Clyde Choate had to do exceptional improvisation under fire.By Jon GuttmanThe next day elements of the 108th Panzer Brigade and the 60th Panzer Grenadier Regiment counterattacked forcing the 120th to withdraw and shell the town bolstered by two battalions of troops from the 116th Regiment advancing two-thirds of the way through town before being stopped cold by a well-positioned German machine gun nest at a key intersection the company remained pinned down in a duel of infantry doctrines: the American combat team centered around M1 semiautomatic rifles and the German platoon centered around the deadly MG 42 supported by men firing bolt-action Mauser rifles and each carrying supplies of extra ammunition for the machine gun Amid the deadly gridlock, the voice of Staff Sgt. Jack Pendleton emerged He moved up the non-commissioned ranks quickly but in Bardenberg he would put his stripes to the ultimate test Pendleton halted them as they neared the intersection and then crawled off alone and after advancing about 130 yards he was badly wounded in the leg Pendleton gathered up some grenades and resumed his low crawl toward the enemy He had made it to within 10 yards of the enemy platoon before the MG 42 team finally killed him That would probably have been the end of things While he had been diverting the machine gunners’ attention The men managed to rush the distracted enemy and eliminate them Quickly moving on from there to another intersection they knocked out a second machine gun nest that had been coordinating with the first the entire German defense began to crumble allowing the 120th and 116th troops to secure the town It had been a desperate contest of infantry weapons and tactics the advancing American forces linked up to secure Aachen Recognizing Pendleton’s sacrificial advance in the face of impossible odds as key to victory, his company bore witness toward his being posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor Pendleton (T-AK-276) was launched in his honor His body was ultimately laid to rest in Tahoma Cemetery whose follow-up ensured Jack Pendleton did not die in vain — and whose testimony ensured his place among the U.S An early concept for a multi-family building on the southeast corner of Cleveland’s Shaker Square district was shared with the Landmarks Commission prior to its approval of the demolition of a decayed retail strip facing Van Aken Boulevard at right Although the demolition of an historic retail strip in Cleveland’s Shaker Square district was on Landmarks Commission’s docket much of the panel’s discussion focused on what might follow the demolition the commission unanimously approved razing the two-structured Van Aken Plaza located at 2742-2782 Van Aken Blvd for a landscaped greenspace — for now The long-term play for the 1.7-acre site at Van Aken and Drexmore Road is to construct a 110- to 135-unit market-rate apartment building here as has been considered by Paran Management Co since it acquired the property in 2018 through its affiliate Bonwit Teller LLC Paran has marketed the site to potential development partners but the property’s legal status has precluded any progress the owner was cited for building code violations for interior and exterior maintenance and had one month to respond The matter was referred to Cleveland Municipal Court’s building and housing docket later that year The building’s condition is the result of a decision decades ago to build a vehicle ramp behind the retail strip and pave a layer of asphalt on its roof to allow cars to park there The combined weight weakened the structure secretary and chief city planner at the Cleveland Landmarks Commission Two structures comprising the Van Aken Plaza on the southeast side of the Shaker Square district Building 3 is a 1939-built structure and Building 4 was constructed in 1979 (Paran) “It seems like the decision in the early 1950s to park on the roof of this building is ultimately what condemned it,” Musson said “It just took us a while to get here Even bringing it back online to add more retail to an area that’s struggling to fill retail spaces seems a bit counterproductive It certainly contributes (architecturally) to the district but it’s beyond its salvageable life was declared unsafe and condemned by the Cleveland Building Department That notice was followed by another that was issued in January 2024 for building code violations regarding additional exterior decay “We don’t really have a transition plan at this time other than the site being marketed toward multi-family development,” Del Balso said “We had interested parties that are interested in the site including the ownership group themselves participating But at this point our focus is on the demolition.” Both structures that are to be demolished are outlined here This view shows the 70-plus-year-old vehicle ramp at the backside of the Van Aken Plaza that allowed cars to be park on the roof of the 1940-built retail strip The weight of the asphalt layer on the roof plus the parked cars structurally compromised the building (Paran) “We need to get the property out of housing court so we can transition to the next step,” Del Balso added “And we’ve really determined that the only way out of housing court is to get the building down.” submitted a demolition permit application in December with a projected cost of $495,000 But since the building is in the Shaker Square Historic District it cannot be razed without a certificate of appropriateness from the Landmarks Commission The contractor will retain all salvage rights to materials that are removed from the property The exception is that the contractor will attempt to detach bulkhead panels from the demolished structures for potential reuse and repair of any damaged panels on the adjacent building at 2720 Van Aken A post-demolition interim use as a parking lot was considered But when the demolition request first appeared before the Greater Cuyahoga Valley Historic Design Review Advisory Committee it expressed concern that a parking lot would endure for decades So a landscaped greenspace was urged instead and not objected to by Paran Landmarks Commission echoed that recommendation Remediation of hazardous materials at the vacant Van Aken Plaza has been completed funded in part by an Ohio Brownfield Program grant The rest of the grant will be used to pay for the demolition and removal of the plaza (Google) The demolition was supported by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) which co-owns with Burten Bell Carr Development Inc. the commercial buildings surrounding Shaker Square 85-year old office building at Van Aken and Shaker boulevards also owned by the Bonwit Teller affiliate for Paran’s offices “We believe that by expediting the demolition of the strip center and parking lot a longtime nuisance will be eliminated and opened up for new development opportunities,” CNP’s letter of support to the commission read “The retention of the (curved) Bonwit Teller Building allows for the historic nature and continuity of the building fabric of the surrounding neighborhood to be maintained.” “I’ve lived in this area for a long long time,” said Ward 4 Councilwoman Deborah Gray “And I remember when this particular area was one of the most beautiful “What’s needed for this area now is something for the community and for the future,” she added “To see this historical building deteriorate like it did it is time for it to go and for us to look into the future to have something new there.” also owned by a Paran Management affiliate at the corner of Van Aken and Shaker boulevards will not be demolished It contains Paran’s offices (Google) “Paying close attention to however this site moves forward is critical for the rebirth of this area,” said Landmarks Commission Chair Julie Trott “Attention to the scale and architectural character of the area will allow that future redevelopment to be successful.” A new development could include the use of English-themed architecture like Tudor and Georgian styles which predominate Shaker Square today But commission member Michele Anderson wanted Paran or other developers to first invest in reviving the aging apartment buildings along South Moreland “I realize you’re a private developer; you can do what you want,” Anderson said “But if there’s new construction that’s not tied into the upgrading and renovating of the existing (apartments nearby) I don’t think it’s good for either.” “A thriving area is good for everyone,” Del Balso replied “We see ourselves as part of the square So even though we’re a different ownership and disconnected we want to complement it and be a part of it.” transforms the Van Aken District with more than 200 luxury apartment units added to the Shaker Heights development The towers also have access to the Shaker Heights Country Club Downtown Cleveland and multiple RTA lines with the HealthLine our focus on community is at the heart of everything we do,” Jon Ratner “Raye embodies our vision for the future — creating spaces that uplift communities and inspire generations to come.” (RMS also developed the Van Aken District.) Raye offers one- three- and four-bedroom layouts with amenities including a heated saltwater pool ground-level lounge with an outdoor grilling deck Raye’s addition adds to the Van Aken District’s 100,000-plus sq of office space and 103 apartments in the district “Our deep-rooted ties to the local area further demonstrate our commitment to building communities from the ground up,” Ratner said in the release “We’re excited for our tenants to experience a thoughtfully designed environment that promotes connection Digital media consultant Mark Challinor continues the News Horizons series by talking to the people shaping tomorrow’s media This edition features a Q&A with Julia Tran Tran is focused on building sustainable growth through digitalization and strategic development and played a key role in integrating Mediahuis Aachen into Mediahuis Group She also serves on the European Board of INMA Julia holds a Master's in behavioral ethics Mediahuis Aachen is a regional news publisher of a daily newspaper (Aachener Zeitung) it has belonged to the European publisher Mediahuis Group reaching half a million households with its free sheets weekly and 260.000 people daily with the printed newspaper Aachener Zeitung what have been the growth/encouragement areas for you in your media company This year has been going well on our digital subscriptions which shows us that our regional audience slowly finds our journalism on digital channels Another well-going business for us has been events After the pandemic this business area has picked up again Are you able to share what percentage of your revenue comes from advertising for advertising 36% and for other revenue among which is our event business Is AI having a major impact on your business We at Mediahuis have our separate initiative and several workshops around AI We see AI as a means to support and optimize our journalistic work by freeing our journalists from rewriting press releases which are not the conversion drivers anyway publishers can benefit from the innovative mindset that comes with experimenting with it AI can help us focus on the value-adding tasks How is your relationship with the big tech platforms Big tech platforms are relevant for our content distribution yet the traffic that derives from social platforms like Facebook or Instagram is very little Google is a bigger traffic driver to our news website but still the relationship is complex publishers play a crucial role because they need our fact-based and trustworthy content to display on their platform The question is: How do we balance the power between the two parties and their interests Are subscriptions the panacea for future reader involvement/monetization I don’t think that subscriptions will be the panacea for the future because there will remain a certain amount of people who are not in the subscription market – and will never be So our strategy is to monetize these people with advertising Especially local advertising is an accepted addition to the article that does not necessarily disturb readers What are the key elements of building a strong brand in today’s market it is crucial for a strong brand to act on the values and principles that it communicates people will more likely engage with your brand a way to determine brand relevance is through data analysis of our article performance As long as users find our journalism relevant to their lives they will pay for this news and continue coming to our site What is your overall view of the state of the advertising market We see decreasing revenues in print ads due to a stagnating economy in Germany The classifieds in print are at the end of their life cycle now Print advertising is becoming more and more unattractive for advertisers due to several reasons Digital advertising is not the solution for the overall decrease but we have some leverage here because we still have a lot of market potential for growth in this segment new approaches and new skill sets are required approaches and skills is a must if markets are evolving we have to strive for innovation and optimization of our processes meaning that the first point of contact is always one of our consultants AI is not yet a part of our sales approach but we will look into tools that help us enhance ad creation Catch up on the most important stories of the day Stay up to date with a curated digest of the most important marketing stories and expert insights from our global team Learn how to pitch to our editors and get published on The Drum Where does print fit into your advertising portfolio From the 36% of advertising revenue I mentioned above print ads contribute more than 90 % to the advertising revenue our sales approach was to sell print and digital together We realized that for some digital products you’ll need digital specialists who sell them For sub-local advertisers the reach of our Sunday free-sheets still outweigh the benefits of digital ads We are consequently changing this perspective by making digital a mandatory addition to the advertising campaign Our problem is not the media planners and agencies because we work with specialized newspaper agencies But it is more the national clients that slowly withdraw print from their advertising campaigns We do have a small dedicated team that runs and organizes our own events wedding fairs and a fair with handcrafted art and goods We run these events not exclusively for subscribers though they’re welcome to attend of course we do these as an additional business field Our exclusive events for subscribers are part of the customer loyalty program we organize in-depth discussions with our editors or guest speakers on specific regional topics of interest – digital or physical was a storytelling podcast about the network of crystal meth dealing in our region It was a project we have done with a fellow from Deutsche Journalistenschule (DJS) From the podcasts that are published regularly we have a popular literary review podcast and one about our local soccer team in Aachen they help us to build a younger audience and bring them closer to our digital journalism we don’t have an abundance of podcasts because it is resource heavy with little outcome on our subscription business at the moment Our most successful revenue diversification is our events business We run it since 2016 and are satisfied with the development if you take out the pandemic years We also leverage synergies with our advertising team in terms of selling holistic business solutions The advertiser buys a package including the participation at the event and accompanying ads in our media Our reach in own media is also helpful to promote our events We have to make use of the trust our readers put in our news brand I think we mustn’t abuse this trust by selling ‘bad ads’ That’s the case when it is not relevant for the consumer The future of advertising will be personalized mobile ads with first-party data And that’s where our brand is important because it is more likely people will share their data with us than with unknown big tech platforms build profiles and recommendations for consumers and facilitate marketing How do you envision the media landscape evolving over the next decade Subscriptions will grow and be the first priority for media I believe that media will look into diversification of revenue streams more in order to support their journalism financially What are the biggest challenges facing media companies today I see a risk that legacy media will have difficulties monetizing younger audiences like Gen Z because they are not in the game for subscriptions (yet) The second biggest challenge is the timely transition from print to digital business you also have opportunities in that change process because you’re obliged to rethink your processes your skillset and your technological landscape The biggest opportunity for media to grow is to invest in your journalism position yourself as the reliable and trustful source of information People subscribe or advertise in media they trust and find relevant Can you offer any comfort or words of wisdom to those media companies who have seen ad revenue losses There is most likely still an opportunity to compensate for these losses by creating new forms of advertising that resonate with advertisers more Media companies have to look at their relationship with advertisers from a different angle detached from the existing product portfolio More about Mark Challinor: Mark is a commercial and media advertising strategist He recently led the International News Media Association’s (INMA.org) Advertising Initiative (the news industry’s deeper dive into media advertising) He has also been European and global president of INMA He produces a monthly Future of Media Advertising newsletter on Linkedin as well as running an advertising committee made up of senior executives from across the world’s media Mark is now CEO of News Media UK Consulting Last week we spoke to Kjersti Løken Stavrum, CEO of the Tinius Trust (owner of Schibsted) More from News Horizons. Ohio (WOIO) - A boil advisory remains in effect Tuesday after a large water main break Monday evening flooded Van Aken Boulevard near Ashby Road and a portion of the East side of Cleveland Cleveland Water also posted a map showing the affected areas. A spokesperson for Cleveland Water said organisms that cause illness in people may have entered the water supply. The advisory is anticipated to continue through Wednesday, Oct. 16. Van Aken Blvd. is closed in both directions from Onaway Road to South Woodland Road. Southington Road is closed from Van Aken Boulevard to the Cleveland border in the Ludlow neighborhood. RTA is advising riders that 67R shuttles replace Blue Line trains between Shaker Square and Warrensville-Van Aken stations until further notice. Cleveland Water crews are investigating what caused the water main break. 19 News crews caught one woman on camera floating downstream after the water main break Monday. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cleveland 19 News (@cleveland19news) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cleveland 19 News (@cleveland19news) Zach and Alyssa Ladner — along with partner Carl Quagliata — opened Paloma two years ago at Van Aken District in Shaker Heights after earning a reputation as a casual but chef-driven taco restaurant the restaurant is closing its doors for 10 days to usher in changes both to space and menu The goal is to elevate the entire experience says Zach.“We’re looking at this as more of an evolution of the concept,” the chef explains “We’re taking what we have and we’re building on it We want to grow beyond just being thought of as a place to go to get really good tacos.”Much of the motivation for the changes stems from the roster of talent that he feels is being underutilized The goal is to give people like chef de cuisine Kytana Bradley — a 13-year veteran — more room to showcase her range.“We have a really great staff with a lot of talent — and I want to let these people shine,” Ladner says “I want to allow them more freedom to express themselves.”Already guests have been experiencing as nightly specials some of the new dishes which retain their Latin roots while aiming for higher culinary ground replaced in the dining room by new small plates and entrees many of which are vegetarian.Some of the new items include trumpet mushrooms with salsa macha and toasted pumpkin seeds smoked cauliflower “burnt ends” with fig-chipotle BBQ sauce Alaskan black cod in banana leaves with annatto and orange There will also be a handful of steaks from sister business The Village Butcher.To facilitate these changes a partition separating the bar and dining room will be installed The dining room will be upgraded with new furniture and a private dining room A new wine and cocktail list will also debut upon reopening.Guests who visit after the reopening will discover a new “guacamole bar,” a station dedicated to crafting “the best guac in Cleveland.” The made-to-order guacamole will be served with salsa rojo and housemade chips Add-ons like blue cheese and jalapeno bacon Maine lobster and smoked brisket will be available.“I like doing things that help make an experience more memorable for a guest – but memorable in a way that is meaningful and not fake or gimmicky,” says Ladner.Paloma reopens Sept. 24 Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design. In an interview with DW, Jan van Aken, co-chair and co-lead candidate of Germany's Left Party, criticizes the country's current migration debate. The concept for the interviews is the same for all participants No questions or topics are coordinated with the parties beforehand Further interviews with leading candidates will be published on this channel as and when they have been conducted The content of the interviews solely reflect the opinions and positions of the participating candidate A chance encounter at an event got the ball rolling: Birgit Rosenberg Member of the Managing Board of the Aachen-Laurensberger Rennverein (ALRV) Dirk Winter started talking about the topic of the scientific examination of animal welfare Several telephone calls and a few months later a significant project was born: the CHIO Aachen Scientist Circle This alliance comprises of eight voluntary scientists and horse experts from Germany Belgium and Switzerland and occupies itself with the well-being of sport horses which was already addressed during CHIO Aachen 2023 is: How do the show horses feel during their stay at the CHIO Aachen compared to in their stables at home The aim of the survey is to collect well-founded data on the status quo and find ways of making the horses’ stay more pleasant in future so that they are offered the best possible conditions On board last year: Four international show horses which were monitored round-the-clock using AI-supported camera technology and whose stress levels were determined among others by measuring the faecal cortisol level.(Editor's note: the PR does not detail in which discipline these four horses competed) The initial evaluations leave the scientists optimistic “The observation has led to the positive conclusion that although the horses spend more time in the stable during the show in Aachen compared to when at home they were kept occupied and exercised a lot,” explained Prof Academic Dean Equine Management at the Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Science Since the scientists of the CHIO Aachen Scientist Circle feel that the topic is very important and the examinations are to be further expanded at the coming shows they are being assisted meanwhile by the PhD student in the course of her doctorate she will be responsible for evaluating the data collected so far The cortisol samples taken during the show in 2023 comprised of samples from four days at the home yard during the return transport and the following three days at home Leonie Krüger reported on the evaluation of the samples from the pilot survey: “Cortisol is produced during physical and psychological stress which is why the level increased on the competition days The curve of the rider would probably be similar The further cortisol levels that were taken while the horses were stabled in Aachen were pretty low.” The scientist interpreted these initial results as follows: “The transportation and the training in Aachen apparently didn’t have a great effect in terms of the stress level And we were able to determine that once home the horses returned to the pre-competition level again very soon after the show.” Krüger and Winter warn against an over-evaluation or misinterpretation of the initial findings definitive statements yet,” the PhD student emphasised but we can’t come to any deductions or general conclusions based on four horses.” To change this a much higher number of horses tookpart in the survey during the CHIO Aachen 2024 – at least twelve We will develop the experimental design for the next years based on the pilot survey It has to be expedient and cover the right parameters so that we can come to really scientifically-based conclusions about the well-being of horses while stabled at shows,” explained Leonie Krüger the monitoring per camera is to be enhanced by a direct observation of the animals Beyond this the essential factors of the air in the stable are to be determined by sensors It was noted that after monitoring around 30 to 40 horses within an overall period of three years it will then be possible to come to a sound conclusion the scientists are not expecting a final result in the classic sense “There will always be new factors that influence the animals’ well-being which we will have to examine,” they agreed That is also why the CHIO Aachen Scientist Circle will be committed to the theme animal welfare long-term To ensure that the horses are monitored as well as possible in the future Winter can also imagine having all the stables in Aachen fitted with cameras “This would enable the organisers and the riders to demonstrate for instance that the living conditions of the horses are closely monitored.” Further possibilities of how additional animal welfare aspects can be monitored are being examined “We are currently occupying ourselves with the application of further innovative The CHIO Aachen could thus possibly also serve as a role model for other shows even if the conditions for the horses do vary everywhere Dirk Winter is convinced: “Aachen is the most important show worldwide Other organisers could orientate themselves on the best possible standards we are developing here in the future.” More info here Horse Health News on Eurodressage Posted by | Dec 18, 2024 | | December 2024 MEDMIX BEAUTY (GEKA) APPOINTS NEW HEAD OF GLOBAL OPERATIONS BEAUTY GEKA welcomes Nande van Aken as Head of Global Operations Beauty  a global leader in high-precision delivery devices is pleased to announce that Nande van Aken has been appointed as Head of Global Operations Beauty  With more than 15 years of experience in driving operational excellence and organizational transformation Nande brings a wealth of expertise to her new role Her extensive career spans a wide range of industries and various management roles in manufacturing equipping her with the diverse skill set to further enhance GEKA’s capabilities and performance where she will oversee the company’s global manufacturing operations Her focus will be on building a sustainable strategy and robust operations and strengthen GEKA’s ability to support customer With a proven track record of implementing change and improvement Nande is poised to bolster GEKA’s position as a global innovator in beauty application solutions.  Nande said: “I am excited to be part of an organization with such a rich legacy of innovation and excellence I look forward to working with the team to further boost efficiency and drive sustainable growth in line with GEKA’s vision.”  GEKA’s latest strategic appointment reinforces its commitment to delivering high-quality cutting-edge beauty application solutions to customers worldwide.  Contact UsSubscribePrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyTerms & Conditions Copyright © 2025 Global Cosmetics Media Limited – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the athletes who will represent the U.S and Squad competition at the 2024 CHIO Aachen CVIO4* The team will be led by Chef d’Equipe Emma Seely The following athletes have been selected to the U.S Vaulting Team and are listed in alphabetical order: The 2024 Aachen CVIO4* will take place as part of the CHIO Aachen World Equestrian Festival and runs from Friday Event Website | Schedule and Results Tune in live on ClipMyHorse.TV/FEI.TV with a ClipMyHorse.TV Premium Membership and Fans receive a 10% discount on ClipMyHorse.TV Premium Memberships The USEF International High Performances Programs and the USEF High Performance Pathway Programs are generously supported by the USET Foundation High Performance Program support is also provided by the USOPC and USEF sponsors and members The Dressage Foundation (TDF)   announced the four participants for its Dream Program trip to the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen The Dream Program participants will be chaperoned by former Olympian and U.S and Paige Zimmerman (PA) were selected to participate in this year’s program The selection committee based their decision on candidates’ merit history of volunteering in the dressage community and commitment to training in the sport of dressage The Aachen Dream Program has been made possible by many donors especially Margaret Duprey and her Cherry Knoll Farm Duprey and Cherry Knoll Farm issued a Matching Gift Challenge that raised over $174,000 ensuring the continuation of the Dream Program The Aachen Dream Program is a fully funded intensive educational opportunity for riders who are 21-25 years old and riding at Fourth Level and above The group will attend the World Equestrian Festival Aachen in July to watch some of the top riders in the world train and compete They will have the chance to discuss training with judges and watch the warmup as well as the competition rides TDF's Dream Program was created in 2000 by Olympian Michael Poulin as a trip to Europe for four top U.S the program has given 84 participants the chance to be immersed in the international dressage scene The vast majority of past participants are still active in dressage and many have gone on to become dressage professionals After nearly 20 years of the program taking place in Europe the COVID-19 pandemic compelled TDF to make changes to the program From 2022-2024 the Dream Program took place in Wellington the Dream Program will alternate between visiting Aachen and Wellington because both locations provide valuable educational experiences the Dream Program will take place in Wellington and is open to riders ages 18-22 riding at Third Level or higher Applications for this program are due October 7 In the nine-day celebration of horse sport that is the annual CHIO Aachen (Germany) U.S.-based dressage rider Julio Mendoza Loor of Ecuador took the top spot in the I-West Grand Prix freestyle CDI4* class contingent highlighted the event with several second-place podiums Eventing Team finished second to Great Britain in the SAP-Cup CCIO4*-S on Saturday July 6—the second year in a row it has finished in that spot—while McLain Ward took second Sunday the day after the pair were named to the team for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games in the Turkish Airlines-Prize of Europe Grand Prix CSIO5* aboard Callas finishing third behind Mendoza Loor in Saturday’s CDI4* freestyle Dressage Team finished fourth in the FEI Dressage Nations Cup of Aachen CDIO5* behind winner Germany on July 4 and the NetJets U.S Jumping Team was ninth in the Mercedes-Benz Jumping Nations Cup CSIO5* the same day Photographer Shannon Brinkman was there capturing the highlights of the competition you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse Copyright © 2025 The Chronicle of the Horse Learn how to describe the purpose of the image (opens in a new tab) Leave empty if the image is purely decorative Photos © Eurodressage  - NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED / NO SCREEN SHOTS for social media Wim Verwimp and Nadine Plaster booked the four big tour victories at the 2025 CDI Aachen Festival 4 Dressage on 3 - 6 April 2025 With 37 big tour riders entered for this early spring season outdoor competition this version of "small Aachen" was a major success The Festival 4 Dressage is in Belgian show management The competition was originally held at Sentower Park in Opglabbeek in 2021 and 2022 before moving to Aachen It's early spring date on the calendar has led to challenging weather conditions over the years the show was blessed with the most magical sunny weather on all four days of the competition which kept everyone in best spirit For 21-year old Moritz Treffinger the 2025 Aachen Festival will go in the books as the first show where he scored a double victory as a senior Grand Prix rider Even though he's still eligible to ride three more years in the Under 25 division Treffinger got his feet wet in the pool of the big boys "After (winning) the Piaff Förderpreis Final Cadeau Noir got some well deserved rest Fiderdance turned 16 this year and is in a super shape," Moritz said about his choice to ride the senior tour Fiderdance had a longer break and rest from competitions I decided to take the opportunity to try some CDI3* with him to get more experience at this level." Treffinger on FiderdanceAfter competing Gestut Bonhomme's 16-year old Oldenburg stallion Fiderdance (by Fidertanz x Don Schufro) in senior ranks in Herning in March They contested the Grand Prix Special tour with its 23 competitors and topped the board in Thursday's Grand Prix on a score of 69.544% were quite unanimous on the marks but had them ranked between first and fourth place (68.587% - 70.761%) Treffinger went on to top the Special as well with 71.617% "It was our first outdoor show this year but he did it like a pro," said Moritz with a smile "I really built up a special bond between us and that makes me really happy I was mentally more relaxed in Aachen as in Herning Herning was a huge show with many spectators and in Aachen we’ve been almost by ourselves which was super for the riders & horses It was a calm atmosphere and I enjoyed it very much." Moritz trains with Robert Conredel on a daily basis and occasionally gets help from Sebastian Heinze and Agusti Elias "Robert Conredel is my boss and main trainer at Bonhomme," Moritz told Eurodressage "Whenever he has time he has an eye on me and helps me with all horses Fabienne Lutkemeier on Valencia AsMoritz twice edged out former German team rider Fabienne Lutkemeier aboard her mom Gina's 14-year old Westfalian mare Valencia As (by Vitalis x Hotline) She was second in the Grand Prix with 69.174%  and second in the Special with 71.383% "I was super content with our two tests because I could give her the relaxation she needed during most of the test," said Fabienne "Unfortunately some more expensive mistakes crept in but we're working on that I have the feeling we are on the right way." Dutch Rowena Weggelaar also made the leap into the senior ranks in 2025 and showed consistency in Aachen with her 17-year old KWPN bred Don Quichot (by United x Gribaldi) They moved from fourth place in the Grand Prix (68.087%) to third in the Special (69.447%) "Donnie showed himself wonderfully," said Rowena "It was our first time riding the Grand Prix Special I couldn’t be prouder of my best buddy and dearest friend." In the Kur tour Belgian Grand Prix rider Wim Verwimp celebrated his first The 57-year old rider is experiencing an incredible renaissance of his career after not having competed internationally for ten years Wim Verwimp and Jedai de MassaVerwimp last rode Pari Lani down the international centerline in 2014 and made his CDI come-back 10 years later aboard the Korean owned Portuguese sport horse Jedai de Massa (by Don Juan de Hus x Galopin de la Font) The bay was initially competed as a youngstee in France by Arnaud Serre and Nicolas Giraud before selling to Korean Eon Jin Chin then to Cathrine Dufour and in February 2024 allocated him to Jorinde Verwimp The highly sensitive cross-bred seems not the easiest ride and Jorinde's father Wim ended up matching best with the gelding Wim debuted him at the CDI Ermelo in September 2024 and went to Leeuwarden where they won the Grand Prix for Kur with 70.565% and placed third in the freestyle with 74.330% Wim runs his own training stable in Wiekevorst with his daughter Jorinde and life partner Laura Strobel and Sissy Max-Theurer's 14-year old Westfalian stallion Valparaiso (by Vitalis x Furst Piccolo) twice landed second place In the Grand Prix with 70.391% and in the Kur to Music with 74.370% Nadine Plaster on ShivaThe Kur to Music win was for German Nadine Plaster on her own 10-year old Westfalian mare Shiva (by Sir Heinrich x Furst Grandios) After placing fifth in the Grand Prix with 68.413% they topped the board in the freestyle with 75.775% Plaster made a big impression in Aachen with her very fine riding. She and the bay mare have been a pair since 2019 At the 2020 Bundeschampionate they were 7th in the 5-year old consolation final and at the 2021 Bundeschampionate they were 27th in the 6-year old preliminary round At the 2022 World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo they finished 10th in the 7-year old consolation finals They won the Stars of Tomorrow national circuit in Germany before finishing third in the 2024 Louisdor Cup finals Both rider and horse have only competed in four international Grand Prix classes in their life and Aachen was their first major win Ky.—June 4— The United States Equestrian Federation is pleased to announce the following athlete-and-horse combinations selected to represent the Defender U.S Eventing Team at the CHIO Aachen CCIO4*-S in Aachen The team will be led by Chef d’Equipe Bobby Costello and Team Leader Gemma Stobbs The following combinations have been selected to represent the Defender U.S Eventing Team and are listed in alphabetical order a 14-year-old Deutches Sportferd gelding (Leo von Faelz x Bradenburger) owned by Nina & Timothy Gardner and cared for by Alexa Lapp and Isabel Turner a 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding (Mighty Magic x Flyinge Quite Easy 958) owned by Ocala Horse Properties and Deborah Palmer and cared for by Jordan Crabo a 15-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Coriando x Marlo) owned by Julie & Alyssa Phillips and cared for by Addi Mommsen The following combination has been selected to compete as individuals a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Dallas x Condios) owned by Ocala Horse Properties and cared for by Jordan Crabo The following combinations have been selected as team alternates and are listed in ranked order a 10-year-old Holsteiner mare (Coventry x Clearway) owned by Hallie Coon & Helen Coon a 17-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Corrido x Clearway) owned by Black Flag Option CHIO Aachen is one of the most prestigious multi-discipline events in the world The CCIO4*-S will begin with dressage on the morning of July 5 at 8:30 a.m followed by stadium later in the afternoon in the main grass arena at 5:50 p.m The 2025 USEA Intercollegiate & Interscholastic Eventing Championships were an incredible success ushering the programs forward as the first standalone championships knock on the door for 2026 The Intercollegiate and IEL Programs were merged for their year-end championships to ensure that the USEA’s junior and young adult members have a goal to continue to pursue their passion for eventing throughout their educational years and beyond and the support the event has received in the last two years has been astounding A pre-purchase examination (PPE) is big part of investing in a new eventing partner but there are so many options and add-ons that can be done in a PPE that the process can feel a bit daunting USEA Podcast Host Nicole Brown sat down with equine veterinarian and USEA Board of Governors member Dr and more in this week's episode of the USEA Podcast This episode is a great one if you anticipate you will be in the market for a new horse soon Amidst the unbridled enthusiasm of the USEA Intercollegiate teams competing in this weekend’s USEA Intercollegiate & Interscholastic Eventing Championships at Stable View (Aiken the Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) riders have held their own with displays of teamwork and horsemanship all weekend long While all teams put their best foot forward The Iron Bridge Hounds Pony Club came into the weekend with one goal in mind—to win They achieved that goal by such a large margin that they were able to claim the title of champions before their last rider The University of Kentucky has claimed top honors at the 2025 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship they not only secured the title of “School with the Largest Presence” once again but also rode away with their second national championship title the Kentucky Wildcats (made up of Callia Englund,Sarah Ertl and Emerson Padgett) dominated the championship finishing 11 points ahead of second place with a total score of 77.76 Official Joint Therapy Treatment of the USEA Official Competition & Training Apparel of the USEA - Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition) Isabell Werth and the 10-year old Danish mare Wendy were the winners of the 5* Grand Prix Special at the 2024 CDIO Aachen on Saturday afternoon 6 July 2024 A group of 30 riders qualified for the Special via Thursday's 5* Grand Prix class and were faced with interesting weather conditions all day being delivered pretty much all four seasons in a six-hour time frame: hot It was all on the menu today and part of the fantastic competition that took centre stage in a sold out Deutsche Bank stadium securing a spot on the German Olympic team for Paris where she is set to ride her seventh Olympics in her career After winning the Grand Prix and beating two rivals for a team spot on Thursday she underlined her authority again today with an even better ride and second win of the week Werth and WendyWerth and Wendy (by Sezuan x Soprano) entered in an extremely collected canter (6.5 - 8.5) They rode fluent trot half passes and extended trots that showed improved overtrack compared to the Grand Prix Special The extensions now correctly earned a 7.5 while on Thursday they were massively overscored by the judges The passage work was still a little of a mixed bag: first lacking ground cover at times lacking carriage and collection from behind (on the right lead) but then gradually improving and becoming better and better (passage in between piaffes) The piaffes were on the spot and also got more secure in the rhythm throughout the test but the pi-pa work remains slightly crooked to the right The extended walk had plenty of overtrack and good clarity of rhythm the changes to the right in the one tempi's were shorter there was a mistake in the ones on the centerline (4 - 5) the pirouette right was small but could improve in elasticity (7.5 - 8.5) despite being wide behind  and she lost a bit of steam in the final passage strides before the square end halt The ride looked clearly more calibrated than two days ago consisting of Mariette Sanders-van Gansewinkel Ringmark had them even at 79.1% while the others were more 77.5% oriented Another Aachen win for Werth“I must really say Wendy was fantastic today We really feel home together," said a beaming Werth at the press conference Werth was always adamant about producing her horses from young horse level to Grand Prix but with Wendy she pulled a 180° turn and accepted a ready Grand Prix horse in the barn "I am thankful to Andreas (Helgstrand) that I got a horse that was great to start with She suggested that Helgstrand never co-owned the horse but she allowed him to sign name as co-owner on paper as a courtesy Dutch Dinja van Liere surged to a second place and got sandwiched by two Germans in the top three Aboard Dutch horse dealer Eugene Reesink's 9-year old Hanoverian Vita di Lusso (by Vitalis x Weltano) she posted 76.872% for a second place finish Dinja has been riding the horse for three years and debuted at Grand Prix level in December 2023 They also showed considerable improvement from Thursday's Grand Prix The spicy bay gelding showed a fantastic left trot half pass and ground covering extensions even though Van Liere stood in the stirrups and leaned back in the saddle in each corner to collect him The extended walk had two hooves overstep and was relaxed but the horse could march more from the shoulder The first piaffe was a bit unbalanced and in passage he could step under more with the hindlegs Overall it was a bubbly ride in which the lightness and self carriage needs to be more established Dinja and Vita di Lusso"I'm blown away by my horse He's still young but developing so quickly," said Dinja Now we need more relaxation in the arena so I can ride him forward instead of coming back." Vita di Lusso has now overtaken Dinja's second horse Hartsuijker is selected as her reserve horse for the 2024 Olympics For German Frederic Wandres the 2024 CDIO Aachen as second and German Olympic team selection trial have been a mental hurdle of great magnitude With a life-time dream and goal on the horizon - the Olympic Games - and trying to get qualified for one of the toughest countries in the world Frederic Wandres on BluetoothAfter being the third ranked German in the Grand Prix the slightly more safe feeling of having a spot on the team vaporized and Wandres and the 14-year old Oldenburg gelding Bluetooth (by Bordeaux x Riccione) had to give it their all today The odds were slightly against them as he was the rider facing a serious downpour of rain in his test The halt at entry was not entirely perfect but the trot extensions had plenty of lengthening in the stride and the passage was always engaged from behind The extended walk had two hooves overstep and good rhythm The second piaffe was nice with the nose in front of the vertical and climbing but in the ones the rider swung in the saddle to make them happen The ones on the centerline were more fluent In the pirouette right the horse jumped with the hindlegs together The piaffe at X was the best one in rhythm and on the spot Frederic and BluetoothThe judges gave them 76.851% for third place with the individual marks going from 75.426 % to 79.043% "I'm very happy," a relieved Wandres said at the press conference There was a lot of tension because of the German team selection At some shows you go in the flow but in this show I started with Duke and had a mistake and I took that with me on Bluetooth Today I wanted to impress the judges and the selectors yesterday that helped me a lot: "pull yourself together" When asked how he is going to feel if he hears that he is selected "the Olympics are a lifetime achievement and goal for me I want the pressure gone and breathe out and present myself with confidence." Isabell Werth Ingrid Klimke is a clear crowd favourite in Germany Aside from her outstanding classical riding she is also excellent in her media and PR management with a team behind her Her good reputation is soaring and her riding very much liked as it presents a classical lightness and correctness not often seen in the arena Ingrid Klimke on FranziskusHer loyal horse Wilhelm Holkenbrink's 16-year old Hanoverian stallion Franziskus (by Fidertanz x Alabaster) has gained popularity throught the hashtag #tanzmitFranz In the Grand Prix the pair placed second with a very appealing ride Unfortunately they could not reproduce that same form in the Special with mistakes in the two tempi lines (which did not go noticed by all judges: scores for the ones on the diagonal were between 5 and 8.5 and on the centerline between 5 and 9 (9 from the judge at C In the half pass left and passage at the start of the test the horse dropped in the poll but the trot extensions were ground covering In passage "Franz" does not always show sufficient engagement and carrying power from behind In the first piaffe he rounded his back and almost gave a mini buck At all times the contact with the bit was soft and elastic Nadja Aaboe Sloth on Favour GersdorfDanish Nadja Aaboe Sloth is having a sensational week in Aachen achieving better form than ever on her 11-year old Danish warmblood gelding Favour Gersdorf (by Foundation x Leandro) In the Special they got a personal best of 74.170% and placed fifth The judges were thrilled with Marieke van der Putten's ride on the 12-year old Danish bred Torveslettens Titanium (by Totilas x Stedinger) and gave it 74.021% The dark bay gelding trots rather mechanically and does not truly stretch in the top line or properly lengthen the strides and frame in the extensions but in the collected work he's quick on his feet and can sit in the piaffe - Text and Photos © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)   Related LinksScores: 2024 CDIO AachenTeam Germany Makes it a One-Two-Three in the 2024 CDIO Aachen 5* Grand Prix