Business Notebook: 5-12

5/12/2013

ACHIEVEMENT

■ Three northwest Ohio firms appear in Engineering News Record’s 2013 listing of the Top 500 Design Firms. SSOE Group moved up to 66th after being 77th last year. Hull & Associates moved from 383rd to 371st, and the Mannik & Smith Group Inc. fell from 404th to 413th. SSOE was listed as the fifth largest in the manufacturing sector and 37th on the list of Top 100 Pure Designers.

Business Achievements, with news of management promotions, corporate board appointments, and awards, runs each week. Send announcements by email to business@theblade.com or by fax to 419-724-6147. Write “Business Achievements” in the message field.

CALENDAR

■ The 23rd annual Northwest Ohio Safety and Health Day will be 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Owens Community College Audio Visual Building. The keynote speaker will be Mercedes Ramirez Johnson, who survived a commercial airline crash in 1995 that killed 160 people. Also featured will be more than 20 educational safety and health sessions on various topics. Cost: Free.

Notice of business meetings must be received by The Blade 10 days before the event. Send items by email to business@theblade.com or by fax to 419-724-6147. Write “Business Calendar” in the message field.

CONVENTIONS

Listings include organizations, headquarters and number of attendees expected as estimated by Destination Toledo:

■ Tuesday-Friday: Church of the Living God Foreign Mission Conference, Ramada Hotel Westgate, 500, regional.

■ Thursday-Saturday: Fast Wizards Softball — Rising Starz ASA Eastern Qualifier Tournament, various properties, 1,500, regional.

■ Friday-Sunday: Ohio Deaf Bowling Association, Fairfield/Hampton Inn North, 300, state.

■ Friday-Sunday: The Forty Frame Game Bowling Tournament, Ramada Hotel Westgate, 150, regional

■ Friday-Sunday: Shammy Burt Annual Handicap Bowling Tournament, Holiday Inn Express Oregon, 400, regional.

■ Friday-Sunday: Ohio State USBC Women's Bowling Tournament, Holiday Inn French Quarter, 300, state.

■ Friday-Sunday: Premier Volleyball Academy-AAU Super Regional Tournament, Hotel at UTMC, 60, regional.

AREA PATENTS

The following U.S, patents were granted to Lucas, Fulton, and Wood county inventors in February and published in the Official Gazette of the Patent and Trademark Office. For more information call the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library business technology department at 419-259-5209.

#8,365,711: Ball-feeding device for a ball-pitching machine and method of using the same; Mark Kusiak, Taylor, Mich., and Leon Woods, Whitehouse; no assignment.

8,367,859: Cyclohexane 1,4 carboxylates; John W. Frost, Okemos, Mich.; Adeline Miermont, Toledo; Dirk Schweitzer, Okemos, Mich.; Vu Bui, Davis, Calif., and Douglas A. Wicks, Minneapolis; assignors to Amyris Inc. Emeryvillle, Calif.

#8,367,858: Terephthalic and trimellitic based acids and carboxylate derivatives thereof; John W. Frost, Okernos, Mich.; Adeline Miermont, Toledo; Dirk Schweitzer, Okemos, Mich.; Vu Bui, Davis, Calif., and Douglas A. Wicks, Minneapolis; assignors to Amyris Inc., Emeryville, Calif.

The following U.S. patents were granted to Monroe and Lenawee county inventors in February.

#8,380,832: Dynamic HTTP load balancing; Roberto DeLima, Apex, N.C., and Craig A. Lanzen, Lambertville; assignors to International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, N.Y.

#8,376,259: Process and apparatus for loading and unloading an unwinding machine; Daniel J. Pienta, Lambertville and David M. Pienta, Lambertville; assignors to Automatic Handling Intl., Erie, Mich.

#8,376,223: Method and apparatus for securely activating a credit card for a limited period of time; John S. Woronec, Lambertville; no assignment.

#8,371,265: Automobile emergency stop system; Stephen Call, Petersburg, Mich.; no assignment.

#8,384,279: Composite ceramic electrode and ignition device therewith; William J. Walker, Toledo, and James D. Lykowski, Temperance; assignment to Federal-Mogul Ignition Co., Southfield, Mich.

#8,365,710: Ignitor for air/fuel mixture and engine therewith and method of assembly thereof into a cylinder head; James Lykowski, Temperance; Keith Hampton, Ann Arbor, and John Burrows, Northwich, England; assignors to Federal-Mogul Ignition Co., Southfield, Mich.