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BUSINESS NEWS KBRWYLE WINS SEAT ON $500 MILLION REMIS CONTRACT FOR THE ISS KBR, Inc. announced its global government services business, KBRwyle, has won a seat on the NASA Research, Engineering, Mission Integration Services contract to provide research and engineering products and services for the International Space Station. NASA’s Johnson Space Center awarded this contract, which has a five-year base period and a two- year option with a maximum ceiling value of $500 million. Under this multi-award contract, KBRwyle will have the opportunity to compete on task orders to support NASA’s ISS program and potentially other NASA organizations and federal government agencies. KBRwyle may provide spaceflight and ground hardware and software development, engineering function sustainment, engineering services, payload facility integration assistance, and research mission integration and operations services. The company will primarily perform this work at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “KBRwyle has a history of solving the challenges of human spaceflight, pioneering breakthroughs in microgravity research, and providing innovative engineering and technical solutions to NASA,” said Stuart Bradie, KBR president and CEO. “We are proud to continue this legacy supporting NASA and the International Space Station.” KBRwyle has supported the ISS for more than 16 years. As the number one life sciences provider to NASA, the company has been engaged in a broad range of human

spaceflight activities for NASA for almost five decades. KBRwyle has worked with every U.S. astronaut since 1968, including record-breaking astronaut Peggy Whitson. The company has also supported 135 Space Shuttle missions and seven NASA human spaceflight programs beginning with Gemini. Expected revenue associated with this project will be booked into backlog of unfilled orders for KBR’s government services business segment as task orders are awarded. BURNS & MCDONNELL COMPLETES EXPANDED POWER ASSET TESTING AND RESEARCH LAB Today’s demand for a smarter and more resilient power grid requires a leap forward in planning, analysis, and assessment of everything from load flows, and reliability to operational efficiency, standards compliance, and total lifecycle costs. As part of an effort to assist the T&D industry in meeting today’s demands, Burns & McDonnell has completed a large-scale expansion of its Asset Health Center, a facility dedicated to analytics, data collection, and testing of advanced new power equipment being deployed in response to an upsurge in renewable power sources and other distributed generation being connected to the grid. Completed for $100,000 at the firm’s world headquarters in Kansas City, the center serves as an equipment testing and demonstration resource free of charge for current clients. With a surge of renewable power sources flooding the grid, along with new demands created by increasing numbers of electric

vehicle charging stations and other new demands, utilities face unprecedented challenges. New and more advanced technologies are required to provide the flexibility and data needed by grid operators to maintain resilience and reliability. The newly upgraded Burns & McDonnell Asset Health Center will enable real-time testing and demonstration of substation monitoring equipment and automation systems, enabling better prediction of failures and equipment deterioration. The center will enable Burns & McDonnell to work closely with equipment vendors and suppliers to determine the resolution and data required for developing algorithms needed for predictive modeling that will enable better planning for maintenance to prevent outages and other disruptive events. The expansion has organized lab equipment for more efficient testing between automation systems, remote terminal units and relays, and their associated networking systems. The new equipment expands existing capabilities in development of settings and testing of automated systems such as Remedial Automation Schemes and Substation Automation Schemes protective relaying of grid networks. It also expands existing facility support for advanced substation protocols, such as 61850. In addition to the Asset Health Center expansion, a 16-person conference room was constructed to create a more effective client testing experience. The conference room is set up to provide an integrated space for testing configurations with a direct view into the center.

JAVIER SUAREZ, from page 11

to overpower the batter, but it is not that simple since they also must take into consideration on-base runners, outs in the inning, who is the next batter up, the score, and how the pitcher is feeling. 4)Blocking pitches. “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” These wise words from Yogi Berra can apply to catchers blocking wild pitches as sometimes all you need to be is physical to get the job done. There will undoubtedly be moments in the proposal cycle where we need to stop being cerebral and simply be reactive. For example, the submit- tal has been reviewed and approved with one caveat – two resumes are at 80 percent of where they should be. Your mul- tiple follow-ups have fallen onto deaf ears and the proposal needs to be printed, assembled, and shipped. Assess the situ- ation, make a “physical” decision, and move on. Block that wild pitch! Get ready to squat, get dirty, and take control of proposals, just like catchers manage their team on the field. Remember that “even though it does not sparkle, catchers guard the diamond with their lives.” JAVIER SUAREZ is the central marketing and sales support manager with Geosyntec Consultants. Contact him at jsuarez@geosyntec.com.

projects and a specific proposal is just one thing on their plate. As owners of the process, marketers need to bring people in at the right time and expand or compress the team as needed. “Get ready to squat, get dirty, and take control of proposals, just like catchers manage their team on the field. Remember that ‘even though it does not sparkle, catchers guard the diamond with their lives.’” 3)Calling the shots. To maintain control of the process, mar- keting coordinators must be one step ahead of everyone else. As each write-up is handed in by the team, we must assess not only its merits, but how it interconnects with the other pieces of the puzzle. Even with the best plans forged at the beginning stages of the process, submittals are mov- ing targets and we must react, improvise, and lead it to the successful finish line. Catchers call the shots with the pitcher

THE ZWEIG LETTER November 27, 2017, ISSUE 1225

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