Connect with us

Technology

UST Hosts Zero-waste Hackathon 2025 to Tackle Food Waste Through Innovation

Published

on

UST empowers next-gen innovators of students and young professionals to tackle food waste through technologyWinning teams shared a £1,500 prize pool in recognition of innovative ideasJudging panel included leaders from AWS, Compass Group, Levy, and 40 Percent

LONDON, May 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — UST, a leading global digital transformation solutions company, hosted its annual Zero-Waste Hackathon 2025 on 22nd May, bringing together bright young minds from across the globe to design innovative tech solutions to reduce food waste across the supply chain.

UST received 88 entries from around the world for its global hackathon, including submissions from university students, professionals, innovators, and changemakers who came together to participate in this event. The top 10 teams hailed from India, Spain, the US, and the UK. Of these, the top 5 teams joined the final round in person at the UST London office, while the remaining 5 participated virtually.

Each team discussed pressing business challenges in the hospitality sector, with a focus on buffet food waste. To address these problems, their creative solutions made use of AI technologies, complete with coded implementations. The teams competed in a fiercely competitive setting, and the judges carefully considered each team’s ideas. Numerous solutions demonstrated how technology can have a lasting impact and were highly compatible with UST’s AI + ESG vision.

On May 22nd, the participants engaged in a full-day challenge focused on promoting sustainability in the food service sector. The winning teams were Zero Forks (UK), an external team, and Cul Intel, from UST (India). Zero Forks captivated the judges with their approach that utilised behavioural science to minimize food waste within households. Highlighting that preventing food waste should start in the kitchen, they created the Zero Forks app which is a playful and interactive platform that turns reducing food waste into a game. The application not only informs users but also encourages dialogue between consumers and the food sector, distinguishing it as an exceptional solution.

Cul Intel, on the other hand, showcased Cul Intel, an AI-driven platform that intelligently optimises menu offerings, pricing, portion sizes, and real-time food redistribution. Their dynamic, data-driven approach to reducing waste in food service operations earned them high praise from the judges.

The event concluded with an awards ceremony, where the top winning teams received certificates and a share of the £1,500 prize pool.

Praveen Prabhakaran, Chief Delivery Officer and Managing Director, UK at UST, said, “This hackathon was more than just a competition – it was a call to action. The solutions presented today demonstrate the power of technology to tackle urgent real-world challenges like food waste. We’re proud to support the next generation of changemakers.”

Robert Hodges, Head of Innovations Programs, Amazon Web Services, said, “It was fantastic to see such a great amount of energy and passion focused on such a great cause. The progress made by the competing teams within such a short time was remarkable.”

“Innovation in sustainability starts with bold ideas, and today’s participants pushed the boundaries of what’s possible. It’s inspiring to see tech and purpose come together so powerfully,” said Raj Jeyaratnam, Transformation Director, D&T, Compass Group.

“It was a real privilege to be involved in judging this year’s hackathon. The creativity, energy, and commitment these teams brought to solving food waste challenges were truly impressive,” said Steve Hewitt, Co-Founder, 40 Percent.

“Young minds with smart tech are a powerful force for good. It was great to be involved in exploring potential solutions that tackle food waste and drive real-world sustainability,” said Asma Mohamed, Transformation Director, Levy.

About UST

Since 1999, UST has worked side by side with the world’s best companies to make a powerful impact through transformation. Powered by technology, inspired by people, and led by our purpose, we partner with our clients from design to operation. Our digital solutions, proprietary platforms, engineering, R&D, products, and innovation ecosystem turn core challenges into impactful, disruptive solutions. With deep industry knowledge and a future-ready mindset, we infuse expertise, innovation and agility into our clients’ organizations—delivering measurable value and positive lasting change for them, their customers, and communities around the world. Together, with 30,000+ employees in 30+ countries, we build for boundless impact—touching billions of lives in the process. Visit us at www.UST.com.

Media Contacts, UST:

Tinu Cherian Abraham
+1 (949) 415-9857 (US)

Merrick Laravea
+1 (949) 416-6212

Neha Misri
+44-7341787926

Roshini Das K
+91-7736795557

media.relations@ust.com 

Media Contacts, India:

Adfactors PR
ust@adfactorspr.com 

Media Contacts, U.S.:

S & C PR
+1-646.941.9139
media@scprgroup.com 

Makovsky
ust@makovsky.com 

Media Contacts, U.K.:

FTI Consulting
UST@fticonsulting.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1422658/UST_Logo.jpg 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ust-hosts-zero-waste-hackathon-2025-to-tackle-food-waste-through-innovation-302464137.html

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

DATABANK CLOSES $1.45 BILLION IN NEW FINANCING ACROSS TWO TRANSACTIONS

Published

on

By

$800 Million Revolving Credit Facility and $650 Million Upsize of Red Oak, Texas Campus Financing Strengthen DataBank’s Capital Structure and Support Continued Growth

DALLAS, June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — DataBank, a leading provider of enterprise-class edge colocation, interconnection, and managed services, today announced the successful closing of two financing transactions totaling $1.45 billion: an $800 million corporate revolving credit facility and a $650 million upsize of its existing construction financing for its Red Oak, Texas data center campus.

$800 Million Revolving Credit Facility

DataBank closed an $800 million revolving credit facility (the “Corporate Revolver”) maturing in 2031. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital needs, capital expenditures, and liquidity support for the company’s continued growth and acquisition strategy.

This Corporate Revolver was arranged by a syndicate of banks led by Citizens Bank, N.A. along with Joint Lead Arrangers Citibank, MUFG Bank, Ltd., PNC Bank, N.A., TD Securities (USA) LLC, Truist Securities, Inc., U.S. Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Securities.

$650 Million Red Oak Campus Financing Upsize

DataBank also closed a $650 million upsize of its existing $2.0 billion construction financing for its Red Oak, Texas campus, originally announced in April 2026. This brings the total Red Oak campus financing to $2.65 billion. The upsize supports construction of the fourth building on this campus, adding 60 megawatts of incremental IT capacity.

The upsize consists of $400 million in bank financing, led by the same institutions as the April 2026 announcement, and $250 million of notes placed in a private placement, which is  DataBank’s first private placement transaction. The private placement marks a significant milestone for DataBank, opening the company to a new institutional investor base and further diversifying its sources of capital for development projects.  MUFG served as Lead Placement Agent, with TD Securities (USA) LLC and Barclays as Joint Placement Agents, and Citibank, Citizens Bank, N.A., and National Bank of Canada as Co-Placement Agents.

“This new revolving credit facility strengthens our financial flexibility and reflects the confidence our lending partners have in DataBank’s business model and long-term growth trajectory,” said Raul K. Martynek, Chief Executive Officer of DataBank.

 “As demand for data center capacity continues to accelerate, having a robust and flexible capital structure is essential. This revolver, combined with the upsized Red Oak financing and our inaugural private placement, positions DataBank to move decisively as we expand our platform and deepen our relationships with hyperscale, cloud, and enterprise customers,” said Kevin Ooley, President and Chief Financial Officer of DataBank.

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as legal counsel to DataBank on both transactions.

About DataBank

DataBank helps the world’s largest enterprises, technology, and content providers ensure their data and applications are always on, always secure, always compliant, and ready to scale to meet the needs of the artificial intelligence era.

Recognized by Deloitte in 2023 and 2024, and Inc. 5000 in 2024 as one of the fastest-growing private US companies, DataBank’s edge colocation and infrastructure footprint consists of 70+ “HPC-ready” data centers in 25+ markets, 20 interconnection hubs, and on-ramps to an ecosystem of cloud providers with virtually unlimited reach.

We combine these platforms with contract portability, managed security, compliance enablement, hands-on support, and a guarantee of 100% uptime availability, to give our customers absolute confidence in their IT infrastructure and the power to create a boundless digital future for their business.

To learn more, follow us on LinkedIn or subscribe to our YouTube channel. To tour a facility, visit DataBank or call 1(800) 840-7533.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/databank-closes-1-45-billion-in-new-financing-across-two-transactions-302800012.html

SOURCE DataBank

Continue Reading

Technology

Hasung Expands Global Reach with Advanced Precious Metal Processing Solutions

Published

on

By

SHENZHEN, China, June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Hasung, a professional solutions provider in the field of precious metals and alloys founded in 2014, is leveraging its years of accumulated expertise in precious metal processing and independent R&D capabilities to accelerate the internationalization of Chinese high-end precious metal equipment manufacturing, as the global jewelry manufacturing and precious metal processing industry continues to develop towards higher precision, higher purity, and higher efficiency.

The global jewelry market reached approximately USD 381.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to exceed USD 578 billion by 2033, driving increasing demand for high-precision precious metal manufacturing technologies, according to Grand View Research.

Advanced Precious Metal Processing Technology as the Upgrading Direction

In the field of precious metal processing, purity determines value, and details reveal quality. As global refineries, jewelers, and gold bullion manufacturers place stringent demands on product quality and manufacturing efficiency, traditional processing methods have become the production bottleneck due to unresolved issues such as oxidation, porosity, and precision. As a result, advanced casting, melting, and precision processing technologies are emerging as an important development direction for high-end precious metal manufacturing.

Guided by a focus on technology and product quality, Hasung has gradually formed an independent and highly stable core product system based on its deep understanding of industrial automation systems and advanced technology R&D capabilities. This system covers continuous casting equipment, metal granulating equipment, induction melting furnaces, gold bar casting machines, jewelry casting machines, metal powder making machines, etc.

This precious metal solution, which integrates intelligent control, efficient heating, and precision forming, effectively addresses the core pain points of the precious metal processing industry, such as oxidation control, yield, and production efficiency. Advanced IGBT wafers and high-frequency heating technology not only enable rapid melting of metal in a very short time, but also significantly reduce unit energy consumption. The PID intelligent temperature control system ensures that the molten metal has optimal fluidity, avoiding shrinkage porosity or uneven grain structure caused by temperature fluctuations.

Meanwhile, Hasung places strong emphasis on process stability and precision control. Through continuous optimization of equipment structure, temperature management, and automation systems, the company helps customers achieve greater consistency in precious metal casting and processing operations.

Rising Demand for High-Precision Precious Metal Processing Equipment

High-end precious metal processing equipment has long been dominated by German and Japanese manufacturers, especially when it comes to precision casting, temperature precision, and automation.

As manufacturers worldwide increasingly prioritize casting quality, material utilization, and process consistency, companies with strong engineering capabilities are gaining greater opportunities to compete in the global market.

Through sustained investment in engineering innovation, intelligent control systems, and precision manufacturing technologies, Hasung has continued to strengthen its competitiveness in high-end precious metal processing equipment. The results show up in how the equipment actually performs in production environments: more consistent, more reliable, less operator intervention.

That reputation has opened doors. Hasung’s equipment is now running in jewelry workshops, precious metal refineries, and advanced materials operations across Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and South America.

Expanding from Jewelry into Advanced Materials

As the global advanced manufacturing industry continues to increase its demand for high-performance metal materials, advanced precious metal processing technology is applied from the jewelry industry to a wider range of industrial applications.

In addition to the traditional jewelry manufacturing market, Hasung has also been actively expanding its applications in advanced materials and scientific research in recent years, like metal powder manufacturing, new material experimentation, precision alloy processing, and others. Its clients include not only jewelry manufacturers but also new material companies, university laboratories, and solder companies.

In the future, Hasung will intensify its R&D investment in precious metal processing technology, intelligent automation, and precision control, continuously improving product performance and global service capabilities.

“Thirteen years ago, we moved into precious metals industry,” said Mr. Xiang, the founder of Hasung, “year after year we’ve kept pursuing technology development and been committed to driving technological innovation in the global precious metals industry through China’s smart manufacturing.”

About Hasung

Hasung is a national high-tech enterprise based in Shenzhen, specializing in the manufacturing of equipment for precious metals and new materials processing. Its main products include vacuum pressure casting machines, gold bar casting machines, silver bullion casting machines, jewelry casting machines, jewelry rolling mills, metal powder making machines, gold chain making machines, etc., which are sold to more than 80 countries and regions around the world.

Media Contact:

Shenzhen Hasung Precious Metals Equipment Technology Co., Ltd
No.11, Jinyuan 1st Road, Heao Community, Yuanshan Street, Longgang District, Shenzhen, China 518115
Email: sales@hasungmachinery.com
Tel: +86 17898439424
www.hasungmachinery.com 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hasung-expands-global-reach-with-advanced-precious-metal-processing-solutions-302799897.html

SOURCE Shenzhen Hasung Precious Metals Equipment Technology Co., Ltd

Continue Reading

Technology

LifeNet Health, NASA, and UNOS Complete First-of-Its-Kind Drone Kidney Transport Study to Help Save More Lives

Published

on

By

HAMPTON, Va., June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Teams from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), NASA Langley Research Center, and LifeNet Health successfully completed a groundbreaking study transporting human kidneys by drone beyond visual line of sight, marking a major milestone in the future of organ transportation and transplantation.

The June 5 flights highlight the potential for drone technology to support future innovations in organ transportation, with the goal of improving reliability, reducing transit times, and helping save more lives through transplantation.

During the study, the kidneys were biopsied and placed on preservation pumps before and after the flights to assess whether drone transportation affected organ integrity. Temperature, pressure, and altitude were monitored throughout the approximately 15-minute flights. Preliminary findings showed no evidence that the flights negatively affected the organs.

Organ transplantation is one of the most time-sensitive processes in healthcare. Once recovered, organs have only a limited window of viability, making efficient transportation critical to successful transplantation. Delays can impact organ function, patient outcomes, and whether a transplant can occur at all. Transportation innovation, including the exploration of drone technology, has the potential to expand access to transplantation for patients on the waitlist or reduce the time to transplant, improving patient outcomes.

“With more than 100,000 people currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant nationwide, innovation in organ transportation is essential,” said UNOS Interim CEO Mark Johnson. “This successful collaboration represents an important step toward making organ transportation safer, faster, and more efficient.”

According to national transplant data, another person is added to the U.S. transplant waiting list every eight minutes, while 13 people die each day waiting for an organ that never arrives. More than 3,000 people in Virginia alone are currently waiting for a lifesaving transplant.

The kidneys used in the study were donated for research by a donor family working with LifeNet Health after it was determined the organs would not be transplanted. Through these gifts, the organizations were able to evaluate how drone transportation may support future advances in transplantation logistics and organ preservation.

While transplantation saves lives today, donation for research helps save lives tomorrow. Organs and tissues that cannot be used for transplant can still help scientists improve preservation methods, develop new therapies, and explore future innovations in transplantation and patient care.

“Just as every patient waiting for a transplant matters, so does the timely transportation of the organs and tissues that can save and heal lives,” said Rony Thomas, President and CEO of LifeNet Health. “Advancing transportation and logistics innovation can make a meaningful difference in ensuring these lifesaving gifts reach patients when they are needed most.”

The study also highlights the broader impact of research donation. A single research donation can support multiple scientific studies and discoveries that may improve transplant outcomes and benefit patients for years to come. Many medical advances used in transplantation today were made possible through the generosity of donors and their families.

Donation for research occurs only with proper authorization and under strict ethical and regulatory standards. Families receive clear information about the process and can make informed decisions that honor their loved one’s wishes.

UNOS, NASA, and LifeNet Health continue exploring opportunities to further evaluate drone transportation in operational environments, including transporting research organs between hospitals and airports.

For updates and more information, follow:

NASA Langley Research Center LinkedIn
NASA Langley Research Center X
NASA Langley Research Center Instagram
NASA Langley Research Center Facebook
NASA Langley Research Center YouTube
UNOS Facebook
UNOS LinkedIn
UNOS Instagram
LifeNet Health LinkedIn
LifeNet Health Facebook
LifeNet Health Instagram

About UNOS
UNOS is a nonprofit organization with decades of experience in helping save lives through research, technology, innovation and education.

About LifeNet Health
As a global leader in regenerative medicine, LifeNet Health continues to push the boundaries to give healing every advantage. The organization offers groundbreaking transplantation and cellular solutions that support healthcare providers and powers scientific research. This forward-focused approach has improved life for millions of patients, all while honoring donor heroes and their families. For more information, visit: www.lifenethealth.org.

EX-3896.00

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lifenet-health-nasa-and-unos-complete-first-of-its-kind-drone-kidney-transport-study-to-help-save-more-lives-302800324.html

SOURCE LifeNet Health

Continue Reading

Trending