DuPont 4Q report

DuPont of Wilmington, Del., reported earnings of $441 million for the fourth quarter 2009, compared with a loss of $629 million for the fourth quarter of 2008. The company surpassed its 2009 goal of $1 billion in cost reductions. Titanium dioxide, electronic materials, performance polymers and seed products enjoyed sales of 20 percent or greater. DuPont's 150-worker facility in Axis, Ala., makes insecticide and its 120-worker First Chemical facility in Pascagoula, Miss., makes specialty chemicals. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 01/26/10) Note: DuPont's facility in Delisle, Miss., makes titanium dioxide.

GD gets $33M contract

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has been awarded an order of $33 million to produce reactive armor tile sets for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Work will be performed at the General Dynamics' facility in McHenry, Miss., in Stone County. Deliveries are expected to begin in June and be completed in November. The reactive armor system is composed of tiles that fasten to the exterior of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, allowing it to better withstand direct hits from a variety of anti-armor munitions. The order is an extension of a contract awarded in 2006. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Ordnance and Protection Division, will share the production workload in Haifa, Israel. (Source: Sun Herald, 01/21/10)

Refining business to shrink

Chevron Corp. plans to shrink its refining business. The company told its employees it plans to streamline refinery, marketing and retail operations to make the company's business more efficient. Chevron's Pascagoula Refinery is expected to be affected, though a company spokesman couldn't say to what extent or when. The Pascagoula refinery is the company's largest, with 1,600 employees and the capacity to refine 330,000 barrels of oil a day. Employment at the plant has increased by several hundred over the last decade. (Source: Sun Herald, 01/19/10)

Composite joining method passes test

An innovative method for joining composite structures has passed a series of structural tests. Gene Fraser, vice president of Advanced Programs and Technology for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, said it's a major step towards using composites in future space missions. The joint design was used to mate two segments of NASA's composite crew module demonstrator. The test article represents the inner pressurized shell for the Orion crew module, part of the Constellation Program to return astronauts to the moon and beyond. Test results proved the mating process retains compartment pressure and withstands external loads at twice the level normally experienced in flight. Tests were done at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. (Source: Globe Newswire, 12/17/09) Gulf Coast note: Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are involved in the Constellation program.

DuPont DeLisle celebrates 30 years

DELISLE, Miss. - The DuPont DeLisle Plant on Thursday celebrated 30 years of continuous operation. DuPont DeLisle, which produces titanium dioxide, a pigment used as a brightening agent in paints, plastics, paper and textiles, began operations on the north end of the Bay of St. Louis in western Harrison County in 1979. The plant added a second production line in 1991. The company said it has invested more than $300 million in the DeLisle site in the last 10 years. It now employs more than 500 full-time employees and 400 contract workers. (Source: Sun Herald, 12/10/09)

Budget includes refinery project

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – A $500 million project that would boost the Chevron Pascagoula Refinery's gasoline production will continue under the company's spending plan for 2010, announced Thursday. Chevron Corp. announced the $21.6 billion capital and exploratory budget for 2010 that includes the continuous catalyst regeneration project in Pascagoula that was announced in October 2007, said Steve Renfroe, a company spokesman. (Source: Mississippi Press, 12/11/09)

ATK delivers composite crew module

Alliant Techsystems delivered a technological first to NASA: a full-scale, crew module structure made of composite materials. The Composite Crew Module is designed to reduce the overall weight of future manned launch vehicles. Full-scale structural testing will be performed at NASA's Langley Research Center to determine the viability of the composite structure. The structure was fabricated and assembled at ATK's facility in Iuka, Miss. (Source: ATK, 10/14/09) Gulf Coast note: South Mississippi has multiple companies involved in manufacturing with composites, and is home to the the University of Southern Mississippi, well-known for its research work in advanced materials.

Ablitech gets funding

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Mississippi Seed Fund has invested $100,000 in Ablitech Inc. of Hattiesburg. Mississippi Technology Alliance President and CEO Dr. Randy Goldsmith said the company’s strong relationship with university researchers positions the company for rapid growth, and the funds will help it ramp up product development. Ablitech was formed in 2006 to bring cutting-edge university knowledge in medicinal chemistry and polymer science to market. It specializes in converting university research into prototypes that can be marketed to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Ablitech will use the seed fund investment for product research and market development. (Source: Hattiesburg American, 10/08/09) Note: background story

Burge retiring from USM

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Cecil Burge is retiring as the University of Southern Mississippi's vice president of research and economic development, effective Dec. 31. A national search for a successor will begin later this fall. Burge has been with Southern Miss for nearly 40 years. During his tenure, external funding topped $100 million for the first time in school history in fiscal year 2007, including $15 million in composites research. (Source: Hattiesburg American, 09/03/09)

Chemical plant to settle penalties

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - First Chemical will pay the federal government $731,000 in civil penalties for an October 2002 explosion at the company's plant on Bayou Cassotte that was caused by a chemical reaction. The company also agreed to correct violations of the Clean Air Act. Safety experts have implemented safeguards and systems across the entire site to prevent similar incidents. (Source: Mississippi Press, 08/21/09)

County OKs $13.5M for Thyssen

MOBILE, Ala. - The Mobile County Commission agreed to pay another $13.5 million in ThyssenKrupp AG incentives. The county already paid $70 million to lure the $4.65 billion German steel complex near Calvert, part of $314 million in cash state and local governments pledged to ThyssenKrupp. The additional $13.5 million was to be paid by the county along with other local governments that joined a consortium. The consortium was created, but members haven't chipped in, leaving the county to pay the promised money. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 08/11/09)

BASE, Ciba integration to cost $1.5B

BASF SE, the chemical group that bought the former Ciba Holding AG earlier this year, said it will cost some $1.48 billion to integrate the two operations. The German company plans to cut 40 percent of Ciba workers it inherited and sell or close 23 of 55 former Ciba plants worldwide. The former Ciba plant in McIntosh, Ala., is not one of the 23 plants to be closed or sold. It has 492 employees. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 07/31/09)

ACCA a game-changer for plane-makers?

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The Air Force Research Laboratory and Lockheed Martin had a demonstration flight of the Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft June 2 at Palmdale, Calif. The ACCA is a modified Dornier 328J with the fuselage aft of the crew station and the vertical tail removed and replaced with new structural designs made of advanced composite materials fabricated using out-of-autoclave curing. The ACCA program manager said the program has the potential of changing aircraft manufacturing. (Source: AFNS, 06/03/09) Gulf Coast note: South Mississippi has a national known advanced materials research program; the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing is located in New Orleans; unmanned aerial systems are built in Moss Point, Miss.; EADS hopes to assemble tankers and cargo planes in Mobile, Ala.

Chevron eyes $400M investment

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Chevron pledged $400 million in capital investments and 60 new jobs at its Pascagoula refinery in an agreement approved by the Jackson County Board of Supervisors. The memorandum of understanding is part of an effort to win economic-development grants to widen Mississippi 611 and build a bridge over U.S. 90 and the CSX railroad to ease traffic congestion. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 06/02/09)

TK may delay plant work

MOBILE, Ala. - ThyssenKrupp may put off construction and startup of the carbon steel portion of the $4.65 billion complex being built in Calvert because of decreasing steel demand. A decision could come in the next few weeks, said Erwin Schneider, a spokesman for the German steelmaker. A delay could run three to six months, he said, and would slow construction. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 05/13/09)

DuPont DeLisle safe from cuts

DeLISLE, Miss. – The DuPont plant here will not be impacted by the company’s plan to cut 2,000 jobs in the face of falling orders from the manufacturing sector, according to the plant manager. The DeLisle plant makes titanium dioxide and has 523 DuPont workers and 120 contractors. (Source: AP and The Sun Herald, 05/08/09)

Feature: MAC

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. - MAC LLC may be a young company, but it's already part of a select group of some two dozen contractors nationwide working on technologies the Department of Defense considers critical for national security. In this case, it's lightweight, small-caliber ammunition that will not only allow troops to carry more into battle, but also has a higher muzzle velocity and is more accurate than conventional rounds. (Source: Alliance Insight, April 2009)

Feature: Ablitech

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - When National Science Foundation reviewers approved a $100,000 grant for a startup company in Hattiesburg, reviewers made an interesting comment. "This is very risky but very exciting research," said the NSF reviewers, "and has the potential to be a game-changing cancer therapy." Ablitech combines experts in polymer research and medicinal chemistry to come up with radical products. The latest effort: Ablitech thinks it's found a way to deliver a known cancer killer to the target and protect it from being broken down by the body's enzymes. (Source: Alliance Insight, April 2009)

BASF completes Ciba takeover

German chemical conglomerate BASF completed its takeover of Ciba Holding AG, including the 525-employee Ciba plant in McIntosh, Ala. BASF paid about $3 billion in cash and assumed about $2 billion in debt from the Swiss chemical maker. The McIntosh plant opened in 1952 as Ciba-Geigy and produces plastics additives used in the automotive industry, chemicals for coatings and paper treatment. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 04/14/09)

LNG terminals OKd

The Coast Guard issued letters Friday indicating that coastal waters in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas would be suitable for eight proposed liquefied natural gas facilities. Two of them, Chevron's Casotte Landing LNG and Gulf LNG Energy's terminal, are planned in Pascagoula. The letters of recommendation are required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (Source: Mississippi Press, 04/11/09)