anguyen – Page 7 – Swanson Reed | Specialist R&D Tax Advisors

Infrastructure Masons Meet in Dallas to Tackle Challenges to Data Centers

Data centers form the backbone to the modern economy, especially as many traditional services and businesses are increasingly moving online. However, maintaining and powering data centers can be quite costly. To discuss these challenges, Infrastructure Masons, or iMasons, met in Dallas last week at South Methodist University.

iMasons was founded by Mark Monroe, President of Energetic Consulting Inc, and Dean Nelson, Head of Uber Compute in 2016. Given the evolving challenges facing data centers and modern infrastructure, iMason was formed to allow industry professionals to meet and discuss potential solutions. The association has since grown to over 1,000 members worldwide.

Data centers are important to any economy. After all, internet giants like Facebook, YouTube, Google, Netflix, and others depend on digital clouds based in data centers. Yet, maintenance of data centers’ equipment is difficult; it needs to be replaced every three to five years and cloud applications that run on the equipment lasts only a few months. Perhaps more significant are the electrical power grids and utilities that allow these data centers and virtually everything else to function. As Monroe said, “If your social media site goes down, nobody dies. If your autonomous vehicle goes down and you’re connected to the grid on the foundation that the masons have built, then you’ve got something serious.”

In response to these challenges, the iMason members recognized that further investment in sustainable energy sources like wind and solar power energy is needed to meet the power demands of data centers. There is already hope that the data industry is influencing infrastructure changes, particularly towards renewable energy sources. Google, for instance, is known for pushing towards clean energy and the tech behemoth is now the largest renewable energy customer in the world. Utilities and infrastructure are responding to the demand.

In addition to the question of sustainability, the iMasons discussed other problems within the infrastructure industry, especially the aging work force and lack of diversity. Eddie Schutter, Head of Global Foundation Services at eBay, said, “It’s also an aging team in this industry. How do we bring in younger talent and how do we bring in the next generation?” New young and diverse talent are integral to leading new ideas in development. The importance of innovation in infrastructure cannot be overstated. In fact, innovation was a key factor in pushing for increasing the structural resiliency of data centers in Texas. This initiative allowed Texas data centers to continue to function despite Hurricane Harvey, in stark contrast to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

If you’re conducting R&D to innovate new ways to power data centers or improve infrastructure, you could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and can receive up to 14% back on your experiment expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Swipe Right for Your Next Career Move: Austin-based Bumble launches Professional Networking App

When dating app Bumble first launched on the tech scene in 2014, it revolutionized online dating with its “women make the first move” approach. Now four years later with 20 million users worldwide, 800 million matches and counting, the Austin-based company is set to change the online professional scene with its new networking app, Bumble Bizz. The networking app was released on the Apple App store earlier this week in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, and Germany.

Built into Bumble’s original app and drawing on its features, Bumble Bizz would connect users based on geographic location and users can swipe left or right to indicate whether they want to connect for mentoring or networking. Swiping right means interested to connect while left signifies disinterest. Users are matched when both swipe right. They then have 24 hours to connect or else the connection disappears. Unlike Bumble which only features an image and short biography, the networking app would also include a digital resume highlighting skills and past work experience.

Bumble CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd explained the company developed Bumble Bizz because many Bumble users were already using the app for professional connections in addition to romantic ones. Like its original app, Bumble Bizz sets the stage for women to initiate contact. Herd said, “We’ve stayed focused on creating a community with a foundation built upon positivity, respect, confidence, and encouraging women to make the first move.” The company’s head of brand Alex Williamson further added that Bumble Bizz was to create a “safe space for women to network”, given the higher risk of harassment for women in the professional sphere.

In response to media calling Bumble Bizz the potential “LinkedIn killer”, Herd has emphasized that the networking app functions differently from LinkedIn’s platform. For one, Bumble Bizz is more informal and casual compared to LinkedIn. The 24-hour time limit to make a connection, moreover, creates a sense of urgency instead of accumulating connections that are “dead” over time and not actively cultivated. Herd said, “We’re trying to give you access to people right here, right now around you, hyper-relevant to you, and create real-life connections.”

The networking app has launched on Apple. It will be available on Google Play on October 18. By the way, Bumble will be using its networking app to look for potential employees at its Austin office. If you’re interested, get started on Bumble Bizz today.

Building networking apps and changing the way we interact online? You could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and can receive up to 14% back on your research and development expenses. To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

research and development Smartphone Texas

Security in a Heartbeat: Texas Tech Researcher develops “cardiac password”

From passwords, thumbprints, retina scans, to facial recognition, there’s no shortage of identity authentication features for phones and computers. But Changzhi Li, a researcher from Texas Tech University, envisions an even more intimate security method: a “cardiac password” which can identify users by their heart waves.

Existing security measures are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Hackers have consistently proven their ability to hack passwords and use fake thumbprints to gain unauthorized access and penetrate existing security defenses. Countermeasures for increased cyber security, however, are often invasive and inconvenient, such as requiring users to continuously re-log in or re-scan their thumbprints every few minutes. Instead, the project, developed by Li under Wenyao Xu from the University of Buffalo, seeks to create a method that is both secure and user-convenient.

Theoretically, the “cardiac password” would work similar to a police radar that measures the speed of a car but instead measures the speed of a heartbeat and how that movement changes over time. Xu said, “No two people with identical hearts have ever been found.” Building on the assumption that each person has his or her own unique heart and waveform, the “cardiac password” involves releasing a radio frequency signal to measure and authenticate the user’s signature heartbeat. When the user walks away from the computer or if another person attempts to log in, the device would automatically lock down.

The “cardiac password” would not be invasive since it would continuously authenticate the user without the user’s active participation. Li explained, “This system does not ask people questions or require us to do anything like type in a password or do a finger scan or face scan. You just do whatever you want to inside your office, and the system sends out a signal to check out your cardiac waveform without letting you know it is doing it.” The signals would also be less powerful than Wi-Fi and the radiation from cellphones and therefore, would not pose a severe health concern.

This project is still in its development stages. The team is currently testing different sensitivity devices and hardware that could be used for the “cardiac password.” From there, Li would better assess the feasibility of the project. He also recognizes that the project would need to account for signal changes in the user’s heartbeat, such as aging or pacemakers. Li and Xu hope the “cardiac password” would one day be used for computers, cell phones, and even in airport identification.

Are you also engaging in R&D experiments to develop new cyber-security measures? Did you know that If you conduct your R&D projects in universities, you could receive up to an additional 20% credit for your expenses? To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE credits as well as CPE credits for CPA’s. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Cybersecurity R&D tax credit research and development Texas University

Las Vegas exposed the limits of Google’s algorithms. But is there still hope?

Google’s dominance in the diffusion of information is a nearly an undisputed fact. But what happens when Google’s algorithms fail to provide quality, reliable information when it’s most needed?

This was the case with the Las Vegas tragedy when Google’s Top Stories featured a 4chan forum post which wrongfully accused Geary Danley as the perpetrator of the shootings. Unfortunately, the post spread across the Internet and Danley’s good name was smeared. It is common knowledge that 4chan is not a reliable source: the forum is notorious for its “trolling” personality, racist views, and willful dissemination of inaccurate information. Yet, Google’s algorithms did not filter the 4chan post. After receiving widespread criticism for circulating the 4chan post, Google issued the following response:

Unfortunately…we were briefly surfacing an inaccurate 4chan website in our Search results for a small number of queries. Within hours, the 4chan story was algorithmically replaced by relevant results. This should not have appeared for any queries, and we’ll continue to make algorithmic improvements to prevent this from happening in the future.

In the past, Google was simply a resource of information and acted as a search engine. Yet with the “Top Stories” feature which highlights trending stories, the company now also bears the responsibility of curating news. While useful in ordinary situations, Google’s algorithms have fallen short when it comes to filtering for reliable sources during breaking news like Las Vegas. In simple terms, Google’s Top Stories algorithm measures stories and posts by two variables: “freshness”, how new and trending a topic is, and “authoritativeness”, the credibility of the source. The algorithms allowed the 4chan post to surface into the mainstream because calculations weighed “freshness” over “authoritativeness”. In response to Las Vegas and other blunders, many critics have since denounced the algorithms, deploring them as “rogue” and a “failure”.

However, technically-speaking, the algorithms did not “fail”. They simply did what they were programmed to do. Perhaps there is hope to improve the algorithms. As Artificial Intelligence has shown, machines take time to learn, requiring many examples before they can perform effectively. What is needed, therefore, is an improved way for these algorithms to filter information and measure accuracy.

Are you a computer scientist or software engineer developing improved algorithms that would prevent further blunders like the Google 4chan debacle? You may be eligible for the R&D tax credit. If you would like to find out how your company could benefit from R&D Tax Credits, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Google r&d Research Software development Technology

The Dallas to Houston Bullet Train: Boosting Transportation and Economic Growth the Texan Way

Imagine a bullet train so fast it could transport you from Dallas to Houston comfortably in 90 minutes instead of driving in traffic for six hours on congested highways. Texas Central Partners is making that dream a reality with construction for the bullet train slated to begin late 2018 and early 2019 and to be completed within five years.

The bullet train would be the first of its kind in the United States. At speeds up to 200 mph, the train would carry 400 passengers to three major stops: Houston, Dallas, and the Brazos Valley Region. Nearly 14 million people travel between Houston and Dallas each year by air or by road, and congestion has significantly increased on the highways since 2012. The Interstate 45 between the two major Texan cities is also known as the second deadliest highway in the country because of its vulnerability for accidents.

Texas Central Partners is building its prototype based on Japan’s N700-I bullet train and Shinkansen system. With its 52-year record of zero fatalities, the N700 technology is known as the safest in the world. Texas’ bullet train will be built on an elevated double-track rail to further ensure public security so as not to intersect with highways and roads. The company’s External Affairs Director Holly Reed explained the state is a test for the rest of the United States: “The project is in Texas, but it’s on a national stage. It’s the right project being done the right way at the right time.”

Aside from the transportation benefit, the bullet train’s construction is expected to increase economic activity in the North Texas area. 10,000 jobs would be created from the renovation efforts alone while another 1,000 jobs would be added to the newly growing American high-speed rail industry. Costs of the project are an estimated $15 billion. Texas Central was adamant from the outset that funding for the bullet train would not come from government grants or subsidies. Instead, it would be financed by private sources. According to Reed, “This is an example of Texas doing things its way. It’s an entrepreneurial-led project being driven by free-market principles.”

Reed added that it follows the spirit of Texas innovation, “It’s a big idea, not any different than the first semiconductor that was built at TI (Texas Instrument) or when NASA put a man on the moon. This is an example of a project that has the principles that made all of those companies great.”

If you are also developing ideas and projects to improve Texas’ transit systems like the proposed bullet train, you may be eligible for the R&D tax credit which could save you up to 14% on your expenses. To find out more on how you can save money, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Infrastructure r&d Technology Texas transportation

Outdated Shopping Mall Proposed as Dallas Location for Amazon’s HQ2

Last Friday, cities in North Texas submitted their bids to become the home of Amazon’s second headquarters HQ2. To set it apart from the other 50 North American cities vying for the spot, Dallas’ proposals ranged from the practical – such as highlighting the upcoming bullet train project from Dallas to Houston – to the ironic, which suggested the online retail giant take over the location of the Valley View Mall, an outdated shopping mall.

Three Dallas developers, Hillword Urban, KDC, and Crescent Real Estate, had proposed the Valley View Mall location at LBJ Freeway and Preston Road as a potential site for HQ2. With the rise of online retail giants like Amazon, the Mall has struggled to adjust to fluctuating consumer trends in the 2000s and gradually, its major department stores closed one after the other: Bloomingdale’s in 1990, Macy’s and Dillard’s in 2008, JCPenney in 2013, and finally Sears in July 2017. The prospect of Amazon’s HQ2 replacing the Mall therefore adds a symbolic, ironic flare. The Mall is near three airports: Addison, Love Field, and DFW International, making it another appealing option since Amazon had included proximity to an airport as one of its requirements for HQ2. Dallas-based architects from Omniplan have already drafted a design for a 500,000 square foot building for HQ2. If successful, Amazon would move into HQ2 by 2019 and expand the space to 8 million square feet by 2027.

Texas is a prime prospect for HQ2. 20,000 Amazon employees already work in the Lone Star State, making it the third state with the most Amazon workers, aside from California and Washington State. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had announced last month the company’s intention to expand to a second headquarters with a commitment to invest $5 billion to the new city and create 50,000 jobs in the area. The Dallas Regional Chamber is in the process of preparing an executive summary of North Texas’ best proposals to send to Amazon for the company’s October 19 deadline.

Are you conducting R&D projects to build and improve existing buildings like Valley View Mall? You may be eligible for the R&D tax credit and can get up to 14% back on your expenses. If you would like to find out how your company could benefit from R&D Tax Credits, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Business Infrastructure R&D Tax Technology Texas

“The future is all electric” – General Motors announces a lineup of electric cars by 2023

Auto industry leader General Motors announced yesterday that it aims to introduce a lineup of 20 electric cars by 2023 with two electric models to appear on the market within 18 months. Mark Reuss, GM’s Executive Vice President of Global Product Development, Purchasing, and Supply Chain, said, “General Motors believes the future is all electric.”

The announcement follows a growing pattern in the auto industry where other major players like Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover, and Mazda are committing to electric cars. Volkswagen and Audi likewise shifted their focus from diesel to electric. This trend is fuelled in part by several countries’ decision to ban internal combustion engines powered by diesel and gas in the future. Countries include China, India, and the United Kingdom.

GM’s lineup will include a broad array of vehicles, from pure electric-powered cars to hybrids and even vehicles using hydrogen-fuel-cell technologies. Traditionally, hybrids with their gasoline-powered engines and electric batteries have demonstrated a safe option to break into the fuel-efficient market. Hydrogen-fuel-cell power, in contrast, poses a greater market risk. This technology involves converting compressed hydrogen into energy and releases only water vapor as waste. However, major improvements to existing infrastructure is needed before hydrogen-powered cars can enter mainstream use. Currently, only California, particularly in Los Angeles and the Bay area, has the infrastructure to maintain hydrogen cars.

Despite controversy surrounding hydrogen power, GM has been working on a hydrogen cell battery since 2015 and hopes to begin production by 2020. Building on its Chevy Bolt electric car technology, GM recently introduced the Silent Utility Rover Universal Superstructure (SURUS). The SURUS is a hydrogen powered vehicle with a four-wheel drive that runs on two electric motors. GM hopes the SURUS will be used as delivery trucks and even ambulances in the future. There is still of course, room for improvement. As Reuss told The Verge, “Whatever we do, from an electrification stand point, the next version will be better than the version we have on the road.”

Are you experimenting with prototyping different electric and hydrogen powered vehicles? You could be eligible for the R&D tax credit even if you haven’t begun production yet. To find out more on the R&D tax credit, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Automotive Infrastructure manufacturing R&D Tax Research Tax Incentive

From casino-inspired ventilation to facial recognition, Dallas Mavericks’ locker room is so high-tech, it must be from the future

The Dallas Mavericks are hosting the Milwaukee Bucks tonight for their first game of the pre-season. It’s also the first time the Mavericks get to use their new state-of-the-art locker room at the American Airlines Center. With facial recognition, customizable aromatic and lighting features, and a casino-inspired ventilation system, the Dallas team boasts a locker room unlike any other in the league.

The basketball team’s owner Mark Cuban unveiled the locker room on Saturday, September 30 to the media after three months of renovations. He explained the facility’s design drew from scientific research and the latest technology to optimize the athletic experience. A facial recognition system at the entrance of the locker room acts as a security feature, preventing any unknown visitors from entering. It also allows each player to check into the room, notifying coach Rick Carlisle when a player has arrived. As an example, Cuban mentioned Carlisle often asked for the whereabouts of player Dirk Nowitzki. Now, Carlisle can just check the system to locate Nowitzki.

Collaborating with casino designers from architecture firm Gensler, the locker room is equipped with special de-humidification ventilation and light systems. Cuban told NBC how the environment at casinos motivated people to stay energized even past their usual bedtime: “We noticed that it keeps us up, otherwise we would have been in bed at 11, but there [were] things that they did that kept us awake to sit at those blackjack tables all night long.” Adopting the same principles, the locker room uses oxygenating technology and a sophisticated light system that adjusts to different times, depending on whether it’s pre-game, game time, or regular practice.

In addition to helping players maintain energy and performance, the locker room includes luxurious amenities ensuring the athletes’ comfort. Players can request music on demand using Amazon’s voice activated Alexa sound system. Each individual locker also includes high tech USB ports, a refrigerator, TV screen, and even a shoe drawer with ventilation to air out odor-prone basketball shoes.

These features may appear “kind of crazy or off the wall,” Cuban said, “but we tried to take advantage of every bit of research that we could find that applied to improving athletic performance.”

If you are engaging in R&D to enhance the athletic experience like the Mavericks’ new locker room, you may be eligible for the R&D tax credit. To find out more on the R&D tax credit, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

Dallas R&D Tax Research sports Technology

Faster, Bigger, Quieter: Dallas-based Southwest Airlines launches Boeing 737 Max 8 Aircraft to make history

Yesterday, Dallas-based carrier Southwest Airlines launched nine Boeing 737 Max 8 jetliners, making it the first North American company to use the new Max 8 aircraft in commercial flights. The aircraft departed from six different airports, with the first taking off from Dallas Love Field for Houston and then San Antonio, a route reminiscent of Southwest’s “Texas Triangle” route in 1971. Southwest hopes to expand from nine to 14 of the Max 8 jetliners by the end of 2017.

The introduction of the Max 8 aircraft marks a new chapter in Southwest history. Earlier this weekend, Southwest retired 30 of their Boeing 737-300 jetliners, affectionately dubbed the “Classics”. Though a trailblazer when first introduced in 1984, the Classics have proven outdated in recent years due to their louder engines and lack of Wi-Fi connectivity. The Classics’ fuselage was also infamous for its safety hazards. In July 2009, a huge hole at the rear of the plane forced an emergency landing. In April 2011, two people were injured when a 5-foot-long gash opened in the fuselage mid-flight.

In contrast to the Classics and other Boeing models, the new Max 8 aircraft is safer and more fuel-efficient. With its nacelles that curb noise, v-shaped winglets, and powerful Leap-1B engine, the Max 8 is quieter, uses 14 percent less fuel, and travels 500 nautical miles farther than the Boeing 737-800. The Max 8 aircraft also has wider seat dimensions in economy class than any other plane on the North American market and can carry up to 175 passengers, 32 more than the Classic aircraft

The Max 8 was designed with the long-term future in mind. Unlike the Classic jetliner, the Max 8 aircraft is connected to satellite-based Wi-Fi. Southwest, notably, did not include television monitors to the Max 8 design. Instead, customers are encouraged to use their personal devices on board. This was a cost-effective measure since maintaining television monitors can be expensive and according to Mike Van de Ven, Southwest’s Chief Operating Officer, technology is constantly evolving and the television monitor may be outdated one day. After all, he noted how airplane seats once had telephones attached to them.

As Chairman & CEO Gary Kelly told Business Insider on Sunday, “Today, we begin a new chapter in Southwest’s history by introducing the Boeing 737 MAX 8 to our Customers and Employees. The MAX 8 is the future of the Southwest fleet, and we look forward to connecting Customers to the important moments in their lives through our legendary service delivered with this more fuel efficient aircraft designed to produce less noise in the communities we serve.” [sic]

Are you conducting R&D to improve aviation and the passenger experience like Southwest Airlines? You may be eligible for the R&D tax credit. If you would like to find out how your company could benefit from R&D Tax Credits, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today.

aviation r&d Technology Texas

2017: The Best Year for Texas Manufacturing Despite Hurricane Harvey

As the month of September comes to a close, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (Dallas Fed) released its monthly Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey earlier this week. Even in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, September’s survey results were clear: the manufacturing industry in Texas is still going strong.

Industry executives throughout Texas contribute to the survey on the monthly basis, providing data for indicators such as employment, orders, prices, output, and so forth. Dallas Fed then calculates this data and releases an index for each indicator to reveal the health of the state’s economy. Any index below zero demonstrates a decrease while a score above zero means growth.

manufacturing research and development Texas