Connect with us

Technology

Ballast Nedam takes centre stage in Europe’s construction industry with a focus on building sustainable living environments

Published

on

Ballast Nedam drives local and international transitions spanning: energy, urban development, water resilience, infrastructure and industrial renewals

ISTANBUL, Sept. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Ballast Nedam, a Dutch construction and development company and a Rönesans Holding subsidiary, is increasing its international presence by levelling up activities across Europe, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. Today, Ballast Nedam’s core expertise includes building bridges, tunnels, utility buildings, ports, houses and highways, with a goal to continuously contribute to sustainable and iconic landmarks that benefit society, hence building a sustainable living environment.

Most recently, the company has taken a significant step in upgrading the Netherlands’ core infrastructure. Commissioned by Rijkswaterstaat and together with consortium partners DEME and Macquarie, Ballast Nedam is building the new A24 Blankenburgverbinding. The contract includes the design, construction, finance and 20 years of maintenance of two junctions, a land tunnel and a tunnel beneath the river Scheur. This project will reflect Ballast Nedam’s goals of improving accessibility and mobility through sustainable infrastructure in the Rotterdam region.  

Ballast Nedam reached a crucial milestone in 2023 for this project with the successful immersion of the tunnel sections of the Maasdeltatunnel. This is a first in the Netherlands, as tunnel sections of this size have never been built and immersed underwater before. Immersing the tunnel sections of the Maasdeltatunnel was a precise, controlled and challenging operation that required technical expertise and innovative thinking, as well as the temporary closure of one of the world’s busiest waterways.

Ballast Nedam project director Patrick van Os said, “The design and construction of the Maasdeltatunnel was a significant technical challenge that few could successfully achieve. I am therefore incredibly proud of the team with which we completed this groundbreaking work. Hundreds of people made this possible, including employees of BAAK and Rijkswaterstaat, external consultants, numerous subcontractors and stakeholders, such as the Port of Rotterdam Authority. As for Ballast Nedam, we are looking forward to completing the project and seeing our work in use at the end of 2024. We look forward to improving the accessibility of the Rotterdam region and contributing to the growth of the economy.” 

Over the course of 2024, Ballast Nedam plans to continue to grow by committing to core transitions in energy, water, housing, mobility and industries, which in turn represent societal and ecological challenges surrounding sustainable living globally. These transitions include:

Energy transition: Addressing the need for a better energy system, based on clean and renewable sources, by moving away from fossil fuels and emissions in order to improve climate resilience.Urban development and construction: Making better use of available space while reducing the carbon footprint of both building and living in new environments. Sustainable construction and development are flagship values for Ballast Nedam, besides achieving 100% CO2-neutral construction sites by 2030 and its ambition for 2040 energy-neutral construction.Water resilience: Protecting the environment from flooding, preserving safety, and ensuring access to safe drinking water, sanitation, climate-resilient infrastructure, and water management.Infrastructure: Optimizing infrastructure for improved accessibility and mobility, reduced travel time and cut emissions, paving the way for a greener, interconnected future.Industrial renewals: Shifting from polluting practices to sustainable alternatives and incorporating sustainability into industrial solutions to mitigate environmental impact and foster efficiency and resilience.

From a renewable perspective, Ballast Nedam continues to expand its portfolio both nationally and internationally. By committing to projects in sustainable energy and joining forces with other parties in the market, Ballast Nedam is taking further steps to meet its sustainability targets.

One such project, Cartesius is inspired upon the science of the Blue Zones, areas around the world where people live longer happier and healthier lives. The concept combines

wellbeing, sustainability and new ways of mobility in a highly dense urban landscape. The houses in this area are all low energy consumption, made of materials that can be reused to have less impact on the environment. Hot water and heating are generated through a collective soil energy source and solar panels, whilst the buildings feature a climate-adaptive white roof, which reduces the need for cooling in summer.

İpek Ilıcak Kayaalp, Chair of the Board of Directors of Rönesans Holding, said: “Our goal is to build smart, self-sufficient, and green buildings for the people, combining wellbeing and sustainability. We are proud of Ballast Nedam’s profound progress and their pioneering work in infrastructure, construction, and development globally in a sustainable way.”

Ballast Nedam also built a multifunctional hydrogen station, which utilised sustainable materials from the cable ducts to the foundations to the canopy. The Mexicostraat Hydrogen Station was the first 700 bar hydrogen filling station in the Netherlands and produces hydrogen on site via electrolysis, allowing cars, buses, trucks, and boats to refuel with hydrogen rather than traditional fossil fuels.

Together with its parent company Rönesans Holding, Ballast Nedam has also been shortlisted for the Edie Awards this year and won the SEAL Sustainable Product of the Year award with the Jonas Project. Jonas, a new iconic building situated in Amsterdam’s IJburg, is designed with healthy living, sustainable materials, and energy efficiency at its core, using wood and sustainable concrete as the structure’s two leading materials. The project achieved a remarkable 97% waste separation rate and the highest BREEAM certification.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2502019/Ipek_Ilicak_Kayaalp.jpg
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2502018/Cartesius_Utrecht.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2213961/ronesans_holding_Logo.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2502007/Ballast_Nedam_Logo.jpg

 

 

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ballast-nedam-takes-centre-stage-in-europes-construction-industry-with-a-focus-on-building-sustainable-living-environments-302244044.html

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

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

Technology

JAMS Launches AI for Enterprise Job Scheduling: JAX and JAMS MCP, on the Model You Choose

Published

on

By

A new AI agent and an open-standard connector let IT teams query, diagnose, and manage automation in plain language, on the model they choose, with operational data staying inside their own network

LONDON, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — JAMS Software, an orchestration solution for scheduled and event-driven automation, today announced the general availability of two AI capabilities for enterprise job scheduling: JAX, an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client, and JAMS MCP, a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard that brings JAMS into external AI coding tools. Both capabilities ship at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

Automation environments grow faster than the teams that run them. Jobs multiply across SQL Server, Azure Data Factory, Airflow, SAP, JDE, and Banner, and when one fails, finding the root cause often means searching several consoles at once, frequently outside business hours. At the same time, IT leaders carry pressure to adopt AI while staying accountable for where operational data goes. JAX and JAMS MCP close both gaps together.

Full details on how JAX and JAMS MCP work, including the control model behind every action, are available at jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

JAX is an AI agent that runs inside the JAMS Web Client. It finds jobs, troubleshoots failures, and answers how-to questions in plain language, with each response grounded in the JAMS user guide and checked against a built-in glossary. JAX acts only when a user asks it to. Reads flow freely, and every write action pauses for the user’s explicit approval before it runs. JAX does not learn between sessions, and conversations are not retained on the server.

JAMS MCP is a connector, built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, that brings JAMS into the AI tools engineering teams already use, including Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex. Users query jobs, investigate failures, and manage runs in plain language without leaving their tool.

Both capabilities run inside the customer’s own network and act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions. There is no elevated AI account: whatever a user cannot do in the JAMS interface, JAX and JAMS MCP cannot do on that user’s behalf. Every JAX and MCP operation is recorded in its own dedicated log, and changes made through the JAMS API land in the JAMS audit trail like any other change. Customers choose their own AI model, whether a commercial provider such as OpenAI or Anthropic or a model running entirely on their own hardware, and JAMS never trains on customer data. In the current release, neither feature edits or deletes a job, folder, schedule, or agent definition. For teams that must keep operational data within a defined boundary, JAX runs on a local model entirely inside the customer’s own network, so nothing leaves at all.

“Adopting AI usually means giving something up, most often visibility into where your data goes,” said Pete Hegland, Chief Executive Officer of JAMS Software. “We built JAX and JAMS MCP so that trade does not have to happen. Every action runs as the signed-in user, every change waits for approval, and the model itself can run entirely inside your own network.”

“IT teams across the United Kingdom and EMEA tell us the same thing: they want the benefit of AI without losing sight of where their data goes,” said Greg McLaughlin, Account Executive for EMEA at JAMS Software. “JAX and JAMS MCP let them keep operational data inside their own network and still get answers in plain language. That combination is what makes this practical for the teams I work with.”

JAX and JAMS MCP are available now to all JAMS Web customers across the United Kingdom and EMEA, with no separate licence, SKU, or additional cost. AI-assisted creation of new jobs and workflows from a plain-language description is on the roadmap for a future release, gated by the same approvals and permissions as every other action.

Learn how JAX and JAMS MCP work at https://jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

Fast facts

JAX is an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client for job scheduling and workflow automation.JAMS MCP is a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, for Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex.Both act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions, and there is no elevated AI account.Customers choose the AI model, including a local model that runs entirely inside their own network.JAMS never trains on customer data.Both are available now at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

About JAMS Software

Founded in 1987, JAMS Software is an orchestration solution that helps IT teams centralize, automate, and manage scheduled and event-driven jobs across complex, hybrid environments. Over 850 customers rely on JAMS to run their automated workloads. JAMS Software, LLC is headquartered at 108 Patriot Drive, Suite A, Middletown, DE 19709.

Media Contact
Bobby Schmidt, Vice President of Marketing
press@jamssoftware.com
800.261.4267

 

 

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/3007577/JAMS_logo.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/3007578/jams_jax_ai_agent_job_scheduling_1.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/3007579/jams_jax_mcp_ai_control_model.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/3007580/jams_mcp_ai_connector_claude_cursor.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/jams-launches-ai-for-enterprise-job-scheduling-jax-and-jams-mcp-on-the-model-you-choose-302833908.html

Continue Reading

Technology

Video: CNPC offers green chemical answer

Published

on

By

BEIJING, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from chinadaily.com.cn:

Located on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the Tarim 1.2 MTA Phase II Ethylene Project and its supporting green and low-carbon demonstration facility of PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, are offering a new example of China’s low-carbon industrial transformation.

Watch the video to discover how CNPC is exploring a cleaner and more circular future for the industry.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/video-cnpc-offers-green-chemical-answer-302834036.html

SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn

Continue Reading

Technology

Shanghai Electric showcases embodied intelligence robot matrix and AI-native smart factory solutions at WAIC 2026

Published

on

By

Featuring humanoid robots with 41 degrees of freedom, pipe‑inspection robots with ±1mm positioning accuracy, and 51 industrial‑grade AI agents

SHANGHAI, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Operations in high-end equipment manufacturing often involve confined spaces, complex objects, and fine manipulation tasks that demand sustained and stable precision. At the recent 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance (WAIC 2026), Shanghai Electric (SEHK: 02727, SSE: 601727) showcased its comprehensive portfolio of embodied intelligence solutions tailored to a range of industrial scenarios.

Themed “AI for All: Smart Squad, Shining Without Limits,” Shanghai Electric highlighted its capabilities across embodied AI robots, robot core components, and AI-native smart factory solutions, demonstrating end-to-end capabilities spanning complete robot systems, critical parts, industrial software, and smart factory architecture.

“The true value of embodied intelligence lies in understanding real industrial tasks: combining the strength, precision, and stability of machines with human experience and judgment to drive a genuine paradigm of ‘machine-assisted, human-machine collaboration,'” said Wang Chunlei, deputy general manager of the Robotics Business Unit at Shanghai Electric Automation Group.

Shanghai Electric’s robotics portfolio covers five key industrial scenarios: connector insertion, electrical operations, flexible sorting, intelligent assembly, and pipe processing. Highlights include:

“SUYUAN” bipedal humanoid robot: With 41 degrees of freedom for enhanced mobility, it is equipped with a multimodal visual sensing system on the head and torso, along with a dual-battery hot-swap system. It is well-suited for inspection, material handling, and assembly tasks.”TUOYUAN” industrial wheeled humanoid robot: Powered by an embodied intelligence foundation model and force-position hybrid control, it is capable of multi-spec connector insertion, material sorting, and loading/unloading of automotive sheet metal parts.”Mermaid” bionic wheeled humanoid robot: Capable of autonomously identifying buttons, knobs, and air switches, it generates real-time operation paths.Autonomous pipe inner-wall chamfering robot: Designed for confined spaces, it can position and process thousands of hole edges with accuracy within 1 millimeter while transmitting data in real time.

Shanghai Electric also showcased its portfolio of core components ranging from power-output to end effectors. Among them, the planetary roller screw offers more than three times the load capacity of traditional ball screws, while the DexHand dexterous hand is designed to meet diverse gripping and manipulation requirements.

Shanghai Electric launched 51 AI models and agents under its “StarCloud Intelligent Manufacturing” series across three domains: R&D and design, production and manufacturing, and operations and maintenance—covering critical equipment processes such as process optimization and wind power facility maintenance.

These industrial agents are embedded in robotic decision-making systems and the operational logic of AI-native smart factories, transforming industrial expertise into digitized, reusable capabilities. They support production-line scheduling, quality inspection, and predictive maintenance, driving the evolution of manufacturing systems from experience-driven to data-driven operations.

Shanghai Electric also released the “AI-Native Smart Factory Technology White Paper,” proposing an active evolution architecture that enables real‑time, closed‑loop optimization of production data, giving the factory self‑perception, self‑decision, and self‑execution capabilities. Built on First Principles, the AI‑native smart factory vertically integrates process flows, industrial software, agents, and smart equipment to dismantle traditional hierarchies while horizontally bridging data silos. The architecture features three core layers: the AI factory brain as the “control center,” industrial agents and embodied robots as the “execution network,” and the physical twin as the “digital mirror.”

Leveraging its deep industrial expertise and comprehensive solution capabilities, Shanghai Electric will continue to drive the implementation of AI in industrial settings, tackle technical challenges facing embodied intelligence in complex scenarios, accelerate the large‑scale deployment of AI‑native smart factories, and deliver replicable solutions across diverse manufacturing environments.

SOURCE Shanghai Electric

Continue Reading

Trending