Performance Testing, Italian-Style

hio-based Dana Holding Corp., an automotive technology company, will locate the Dana Mechatronics Technology Center for Mechatronics in the northern Italian city of Rovereto. The 11,800-sq.-ft. (1,100-sq.-m.) center will open later this year with space for systems and components design and validation; technology evaluations and comparisons; proof-of-performance vehicle prototype development; feasibility and performance evaluations; and other advanced engineering functions. The Dana Center joins other companies, research centers and accelerators in the mechatronics field clustered at a Center for Mechatronics in Rovereto, and is also close to existing Dana tech centers for off-highway axles and driveshafts.

That’s a Lot of Tourists

Tourists enjoy meeting the lion cubs at the Lion Park in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Photo by Adam Jones Kelly

.1 billion — with a “b.” That’s how many international travelers roamed the globe in 2014 according to the latest United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) World Tourism Barometer. The number represents a 4.7-percent increase over the previous year; UNWTO predicts a three- to four-percent increase in international tourism in 2015.

For ideas on where to visit, travel publication Rough Guides listed its top 10 cities to visit in 2015. They are:

Johannesburg, South Africa
Malaga, Spain
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Hamburg, Germany
Nizwa, Oman
Wellington, New Zealand
Belgrade, Serbia
Salta, Argentina
Birmingham, England
Yangon, Myanmar

Shiny New R&D Center

kanska will manage construction of the AstraZeneca corporate headquarters and R&D center being built on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC) in Cambridge, England. The building will incorporate glass walls between laboratories, office and open space. The new location will join the company’s small molecule and biologics R&D departments. The CBC will be the UK home for biologics research already being done by MedImmune, AstraZeneca’s biologics arm. MedImmune has 500 employees at its site. Approximately 800 to 900 employees will eventually work at the new CBC location.

A concept design of a laboratory in AstraZeneca’s planned global R&D center and corporate headquarters in Cambridge, UK.

Returning to Better Than Normal

n a report by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), global direct real estate investment returned to pre-recession levels in 2014 and shows no sign of slowing. The report estimates that investment levels will reach $1 trillion annually in five years. Total direct investment in real estate for 2014 was estimated at $700 billion. JLL research determined that it will increase 10 to 15 percent in 2015. And not only has investment recovered, it’s doing so in a stronger financial environment.

“The market is on a sounder, more sustainable footing than it was before the recession and has more robust controls and scrutiny on investments,” says the report.

Top 10 Cities for Direct Real Estate Investment

London
New York
Tokyo
Paris
Los Angeles
Boston
San Francisco
Chicago
Washington
Sydney

Source: JLL, January 2015

Czech This Out

incinnati-based Milacron LLC announced significant expansions in the Czech Republic. The plastics company will invest $18 million to build a new 118,000-sq.-ft. (10,962-sq.-m.) plant in Polička, with space and flexibility to produce a wider range of products. Milacron is also adding 43,000 sq. ft. (3,994 sq. m.) to its custom molding plant in Sasovice, including an 11,000-sq.-ft. expansion (1,021 sq. m.) of manufacturing space and a new 32,000-sq.-ft. (2,972-sq.-m.) distribution center at a cost of $5.7 million.