The Blue Will’s glass roof integrates an array of dye-sensitive solar panels designed to collect the sun’s energy while parked, recharging the battery and powering a small fan to keep the car cool. The power plant is a combination of an all-aluminum 152 horsepower gasoline direct-inject engine attached to a Continuously Variable Transmission and a 100 kW electric architecture. A lithium polymer battery runs the electric motor, a technology Hyundai will be using in its upcoming Elantra hybrid. The Blue Will can travel up to 40 miles on the battery alone, and with both the gasoline and electric engine engaged, gets an average of 100 miles per gallon or more.

One of the more innovative features of the concept car is the tailpipe. Hyundai has developed a thermal generator that mounts to the exhaust manifold to capture exhaust heat, converting it to electricity to power auxiliary systems in the vehicle. But the ideas don’t stop with power generation. Other high-tech innovations include:

• An ultra-thin Transparent Organic Light-Emitting Diode, which replaces the gauge cluster and displays in high-resolution color.

• A touch-screen interface display that controls the HVAC, drive selector, and infotainment systems.

• An “Eco-Coach” that graphically promotes fuel-saving behavior by providing constant feedback about fuel consumption and driving efficiency.

• Carbon-fiber reinforced plastics and nano-composites on the side sills, moldings, and fenders. Bioplastics have been used for panels and other interior and exterior parts.

With all these new innovations and features, one has to wonder what Hyundai will come up with next year.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about concept cars

Dyson – who is perhaps best known for his bagless vacuum cleaners – is calling for more investment and support for innovative engineering. Together with some of Britain’s most highly regarded industrial leaders, he has developed a number of policy recommendations which the next government should follow to make the UK more competitive and help the country leave the recession behind.

“We need to inspire and enlighten people: science and engineering can change lives, society and the economy,” said Dyson. “High tech exports create real wealth and jobs, and will help set us on a course for sustainable prosperity. If we don’t capitalize on our engineering expertise now there’ll be no turning back.”

The report suggests a stronger bond between universities and companies should be developed by changing the way education is structured. It says large scale projects must be put in place to prove the UK’s ability with high-tech infrastructure, claiming research and engineering has been ignored for decades in Britain.

I personally believe James Dyson is right. The UK has some inherent strengths. It’s the sixth largest manufacturing economy in the world, and has four of the top ten global universities. If they harness the best of both worlds, they can grow their high value add industries in a big way.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation

In general, entrepreneurs and green tech investors believe that putting a price on carbon emissions will act as an incentive for businesses to develop low-carbon energy. Many also argue that utility regulations need to change so that all utilities have an incentive to use energy more efficiently. Meanwhile, financing remains a challenge for many green tech startups because many businesses require hundreds of millions of dollars to produce their products at scale.

The ARPA-E agency was first funded last year with a $400 million budget with the goal of nurturing breakthrough energy technologies. ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar said the agency is structured to yield “home runs” by focusing research in different areas, such as grid storage or carbon capture and storage, which can be developed within the next three to five years.

In my opinion, the success of early companies such as Tesla Motors, A123 Systems, and solar firm Solyndra show that new technologies are penetrating the market faster than many would have predicted five to eight years ago. But to make a large-scale impact, the industry still needs a handful of enduring success stories. I think we need a moment as a nation when a company goes public and its potential and success infects the average American, so that there’s a change in attitude toward this market.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about clean technologies

Last year, U.S. clean tech investments dropped to a five year low, from 72 percent of the worldwide total in 2008 to 62 percent, while Europe and Israel’s percent of the global clean tech market climbed to an all-time high of nearly 30 percent.

According to the CleanTech Group, an investment advisory service provider, despite the solar sector being the largest recipient of clean tech funding, concentrated solar thermal investment declined 90 percent.

In the absence of funding, utilities continued to bring capital and access to credit to the clean tech sector and are playing a fundamental role in getting more projects off the ground.

“North America still attracts the largest percentage of clean tech venture capital, but the fact that it is slightly down is worth noting,” says Dallas Kachan, a managing director at CleanTech Group, a consultancy that pioneered the word clean tech and owns it as a registered trademark. “It underscores that clean tech innovation continues to globalize.”

“As for overall growth in private capital, we believe we’ll actually see a recovery and record year in 2010 for cleantech fundraising,” says Kachan. “Not necessarily in actual venture investments in 2010, but we expect to see record funds raised aimed at clean technologies.

In the absence of a mandatory national cap-and-trade scheme, will voluntary carbon markets bear enough influence to generate greater price alignment between fossil fuels and renewable energy?

I personally don’t think so. While voluntary efforts will continue on a small scale, it will take government intervention in the form of creating and cap and trade market or implementing carbon emissions-related taxation to actually get the business environment to change.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about environmental legislation

I-GATE was submitted to the state by the city of Livermore in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories/California (Program Lead), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and several others. Its mission is to maximize the economic impact of green transportation and clean energy technologies through expedited technology transfer, entrepreneurial assistance, collaboration opportunities, academic alliances, and a technology incubator for the development of high-growth green businesses.

The i-GATE initiative is designed to drive the Livermore Valley as the core of an energy resource cluster that would expand to benefit the regional economy and the state of California, create jobs, mitigate climate change, increase energy security, and form an interlocking innovation web.

The i-GATE hub will be leveraged by LVOC, a joint venture between Sandia and LLNL that will promote greater collaboration between the scientists at those laboratories and their partners in industry and academia. According to Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a press release last year, the LVOC will maximize the return on the nation’s investment in nuclear security. Chu stated, “By leveraging the groundbreaking research of our nuclear security labs through private sector collaborations, we will bring breakthroughs to the market faster and find new solutions to the energy problem.”

I think these developments represent an exciting opportunity to both advance technology in the transportation arena and to increase partnerships with the city of Livermore and local businesses.

“Respected companies aren’t going to fall as far in the bad times, and they come back better,” says David Hartzell of Cornell Capital Management, a participant in the survey that helped produce Barron’s list.

In 2009’s roller coaster market, the top-ranked stocks generally experienced lower volatility and outperformed during the bear leg. And now, even after the market’s rally, the value of respect is still understood: For the most part, shares of the most respected companies are either above or not much below their bankruptcy levels, and have beaten the market since that crisis erupted. Indeed, Apple, which topped Barron’s list, is above its pre-crisis stock price.

It’s not uncommon to see a few changes at the top of the list’s annual rankings, and this year is no different. Johnson & Johnson, a perennial leader, slipped from No. 1 to No. 2, and Berkshire Hathaway dropped to fifth place from second. The ever-steady Procter & Gamble remained at No. 3, while IBM jumped 10 notches to fourth place.

Survey participants say respected companies have strong management, good governance, valuable products and services, and strong stock returns. They act ethically and treat their shareholders, customers, and employees well. And while some money managers name respect as the first cut in their investment process, others say respect is more often the result of a sound investment process.

For my part, respect answers the question ‘Is management going to be a good steward of the clients’ money?’ In my experience, I have seen that respect takes a long time to build and can quickly be destroyed.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation in business

• Windows Phone 7 Series – By re-imagining how its touchscreen smartphone interface should work from a consumer’s perspective, Microsoft created a dazzling alternative to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform. With its live tile-based user interface, a clear navigation system, and high-spec hardware requirements, Windows Phone 7 Series promises much excitement for consumers in 2010.

• Pico projectors on phones – Projecting images straight from your phone onto a wall could be the next must-have mobile gadgetry trick. I can see the advantages of the technology to show images, video, documents, and just about anything else you have on your phone on a nearby flat surface.

• LTE – LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the new mobile technology on the block, and this fourth generation mobile network technology was shown around MWC 2010 with much discussion about roll-outs, network agreements, and so forth.

• PUMA solar powered sports phone – Solar powered, touchscreen-equipped and sporty: the much touted PUMA PHONE may not be the most high-tech of handsets, but it certainly managed to get ahead of more higher-tech gear in the publicity stakes.

• New BlackBerry browser – It’s been crying out for an upgrade, and now it’s arrived — or it will soon, at least. The new BlackBerry browser — the result of development through RIM’s Torch Mobile acquisition — is fast, smooth to use and renders websites impressively. Not a groundbreaker in terms of innovation, but it’s what plenty of BlackBerry of users have been demanding.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about technology

Henry Ford Community College will design a curriculum to develop core competencies and skills to retain workers for 21st century jobs.

“This program recognizes and will tap into the tremendous potential of the human capital we have in Michigan,” said Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. “This initiative will provide our workers the opportunity to learn the skills they will need to help grow the 21st century economy right here at home.”

The Michigan Alliance for High-Tech Skills Training Program supports efforts by the governor and other Michigan leaders, as well as the Obama Administration, to engage businesses in the education and retraining of displaced workers.

“As President Obama recognized when he announced the American Graduation Initiative right here in Michigan, our nation’s community colleges will continue to play an even greater role in expanding economic opportunities to all individuals,” said Dr. Gail Mee, Henry Ford Community College president. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue helping those here in Michigan who have been hit hardest by the struggling economy.”

I personally believe that evolving technologies require that leading edge businesses train and educate their employees to remain in lockstep with the industry. Education and retraining are the keys to assisting people in rejoining the workforce. The curriculum being offered by Henry Ford, developed together with this coalition, will provide displaced workers with new high-tech skills that can be applied across many industries.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about job creation

California is currently home to the largest concentration of biomedical companies in the world. California’s biomedical industry employs nearly 275,000 people, representing one in six of the 1.6 million biomedical jobs in the United States. The industry supports more than 750,000 direct and indirect jobs statewide and is the second largest sector of California’s high-tech workforce.

Additionally, California’s biomedical industry attracts the greatest portion of venture capital (VC) funding of any industry in California and of any other state, receiving 42% of all venture capital investments in biotech and medical device companies nationally. As a result, there are currently 869 biopharmaceutical products in development in the state, from pre-clinical and clinical development through registration. Nearly one-third of the pipeline (272 products) focuses on treating cancer, according to 2009 research from IMS Health.

California is the birthplace of biotechnology, and our state’s biomedical innovation delivers not only global advances in healthcare but the jobs that drive our economy. While the biomedical industry has weathered the recession, it faces unprecedented challenges – access to capital, the educational funding crisis, and uncertainty surrounding healthcare reform. Now more than ever, I believe the sustainability of California’s biomedical industry depends on decisions made in Sacramento and Washington.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about high-tech innovation

The fund, managed by Hermes Private Equity, will immediately begin investing in low carbon and clean technology funds, and co-investing in companies to provide much-needed venture capital to help these innovative businesses grow. The Hermes Fund will concentrate on investment opportunities aimed at increasing the efficient use of both renewable and nonrenewable resources at all stages of production and consumption.

Since 2000, the UK has emerged as a European front runner in green energy investment, and is well positioned to further develop a sustainable market in this sector. The Hermes Fund will attempt to benefit from this attractive market framework, and expects to commit its capital over the next several years.

Investment has flowed into the UKIIF at extraordinary speed. It’s already one of the largest European funds for investing in high-tech firms. But what’s more important is rapidly channeling that capital into Britain’s green exploding tech sector. After a tough spell, things are looking up for British entrepreneurs and innovators.

According to Energy and Climate Change Minister David Kidney MP:

“Cleaning up our energy supplies and improving energy efficiency will give the UK the opportunity to develop the low carbon industries of the future. This new fund will help the UK to build on existing strengths in the sector and enable British companies to demonstrate and commercialize these technologies.”

In my opinion, the United Kingdom has a wealth of innovators and entrepreneurs seeking to create the businesses of tomorrow – businesses that will make the UK a world leader in low carbon innovation and industry, and help to tackle some of the biggest challenges we face around energy and climate change. This fund will provide substantial investment where it is needed and deliver strong returns for investors.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about green technology