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ITT corporation

ITT Corporation – Two Brothers Started With First Global Network Of Interconnected Telephone Lines.

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ITT Corporation is a diversified leader in producing highly engineered vital components and tailored technology solutions in the transportation, industrial, and energy markets.

About The Company

ITT Inc. is a Connecticut-based manufacturer with operations all over the world. The business manufactures specialized parts for the industrial, aerospace, transportation, and energy sectors. Motion Technologies, Connect and Control Technologies, and Industrial Process comprise ITT’s three primary operating segments. The company’s 10,000 team members work within these segments to provide customer service in roughly 125 different countries and serve as outstanding brand ambassadors for well-known and enduring product brands, including KONI shock absorbers, Goulds, and Bornemann pumps, Cannon connectors, and Enidine energy absorption components.

History Of The Company

The desire for its creators to develop phones is where the history of ITT begins. Two brothers named Hernand Behn and Sosthenes founded the initial International Telephone & Telegraph in 1920 with the goal of establishing the first global network of interconnected telephone lines. The Puerto Rico Telephone Company was the company’s first name, and it started out tiny before expanding swiftly through intelligent acquisitions and the acquisition of telephony patents. The company became a significant global vendor of telephone switching hardware and telecommunications services. ITT purchased more than 350 companies between 1960 and 1977, and its portfolio included well-known companies, including Continental Baking, which produces Wonder Bread, Avis Rent-A-Car, Hartford Insurance, and Sheraton hotels. ITT expanded throughout that time, going from a medium-sized company having $760 million in revenue to a worldwide corporation with $17 billion in sales. ITT started restructuring after the conglomerate era through tactical sales and purchases to divide the business into manageable pieces. The end result was the division of ITT into three distinct, independent businesses in 1995: ITT Corporation, which concentrated on the hospitality and gaming industries; ITT Hartford, which established itself as a stand-alone insurance company; and ITT Industries, which began as a group of manufacturing firms. TT Industries, Inc., the current business, was established in 1996 as an ITT spinoff. Later, in 2006, it adopted the name ITT Corporation. In 2011, ITT Corporation split into three distinct publicly traded corporations and spun off its defence and water-related businesses. ITT’s water tech business became Xylem Inc., and its defence business became Exelis. In 2016, ITT Corporation’s name was changed to ITT Inc.

ITT corporation
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Controversies

In 2007, ITT Corporation was the first significant defence contractor to be found guilty of breaking the US Arms Export Control Act. The penalties resulted from ITT’s outsourcing program, in which technicians in China, Singapore, and the UK received night vision goggles and sensitive knowledge about defences against laser weapons, such as light interference filters. The company was given the option of using half of the $100 million penalty to fund the development of improved night vision technology. The resultant intellectual property will belong to the United States government. The US Department of Justice also found throughout its inquiry and subsequent ruling that the corporation took great measures, including creating a front company, to avoid the export regulations.

Founder – Sosthenes Behn

American industrialist Sosthenes Behn founded ITT. He was earlier in the US Army, at the rank of lieutenant colonel. After his discharge from the military, he co-founded the Puerto Rico Telephone Company with Colonel Behn, which eventually gave rise to ITT.

CEO – Luca Savi

Luca Savi serves as the CEO and President of ITT. Luca formerly held the position of president and COO of ITT. He started working at ITT in 2011 as the division’s head of Motion Technologies. He has formerly held a number of significant executive positions with Comau, a division of the Fiat Group, in Italy, China, and the United States. He has also held important roles in the past at Honeywell International. He started as an engineer with Ferruzzi-Montedison Group and Royal Dutch Shell. Luca holds an MBA from London Business School.

Eaton Corporation

Eaton Corporation – A Century Of Ingenuity In Power Management Corporation.

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Eaton Corporation is a diversified power management corporation that has been in business for over a century. Electrical products, electrical systems and services, airplanes, vehicles, and, most recently, eMobility are among the company’s segments. The portfolio of Eaton can be separated into two parts. One segment of its business is the industrial sector, which caters to a wide range of end customers including commercial vehicles, general aviation, and trucks. Eaton’s electrical sector portfolio, on the other hand, services data centers, utilities, and the residential end market, among other things. While the corporation benefits from favorable tax classification as an Irish domiciliary, the majority of its operations are based in the United States.

About The Company:

Eaton Corporation marked its 100th anniversary in 2011, highlighting a history of innovation and skill that has helped the company address some of the world’s most difficult power management challenges. When Joseph Eaton started the corporation, he had in mind a spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship that was driven by honesty and an unshakable devotion to ethics. Eaton has expanded since then from a vehicle technology leader and developer to a leading power management firm that also services the hydraulics, aerospace, and electrical markets. From more energy-efficient buildings, communities, and infrastructure to next-generation aircraft, vehicles, trucks, and equipment, our proven technology and products play a significant role in controlling power in many things that touch our everyday lives.

Eaton Corporation Plc offers energy-efficient solutions to assist its customers in managing electrical, hydraulic, and mechanical power more effectively. Electrical components, systems, and services for power quality, distribution and control, power transmission, lighting, and wiring; hydraulics components, systems, and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics, and pneumatic systems for commercial and military use; and truck and automotive drive train and power train systems for performance, fuel economy, and safety are also available. Electrical Products, Electrical Systems and Services, Hydraulics, Aerospace, and Vehicle are the company’s five segments. Electrical components, industrial components, residential products, single-phase power quality, emergency lights, fire detection, wiring devices, structural support systems, circuit protection, and lighting products are all part of the Electrical Products section. The company was created on May 10, 2012, in Dublin, Ireland, and is headquartered there.

Eaton Corporation
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Divestments and Acquisitions:

In 1994, Eaton Electrical acquired the Westinghouse Distribution and Controls Business Unit, which was one of Eaton’s largest acquisitions. The transaction comprised the whole Westinghouse electrical distribution and control product business, as well as conditions that the Westinghouse name cannot be used on similar goods for several years.

Eaton’s Electrical Distribution and Control company (previously Cutler-Hammer) purchased Delta plc’s electrical division in 2003. This acquisition combined Delta’s brands Holec, MEM, Tabula, Bill, and Elek under the Eaton nameplate, as well as the previous Westinghouse divisions, and provided the company with manufacturing facilities that met IEC standards, one of the steps toward becoming a global company and developing a worldwide standard. Eaton announced on May 21, 2012, that it had agreed to buy Ireland-based Cooper Industries for approximately $11.46 billion in cash and equity. Eaton Corporation plc is the name of the new company, which was founded in Ireland.

Eaton finalized the $1.65 billion acquisition of Tripp Lite on March 17, 2021. Danfoss purchased Eaton’s hydraulics division in August 2021 for $3.3 billion, which manufactures systems and components for agriculture, construction, mining, forestry, utilities, material handling, machine tools, molding, and power generation, primary metals, and oil and gas markets.

The Founders -Joseph Oriel Eaton II, Viggo V. Torbensen, Henning O. Taube

The Torbensen Gear and Axle Co. were founded in Bloomfield, New Jersey, in 1911 by Joseph O. Eaton, his brother-in-law Henning O. Taube, and Viggo V. Torbensen. The company was designed to manufacture Torbensen’s innovative internal-gear truck axle with financial assistance from Torbensen’s mother. To be closer to its major business, the automobile industry, the company relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1914. Eaton executives believed that buying companies in the automotive industry would be the fastest way to grow the company. The diverse corporation was renamed Eaton Manufacturing Company in 1932. Eaton became international in 1937 when it opened a manufacturing factory in Canada.

Amphenol

Amphenol – Leading Electronics Company Selling Innovative Solutions in Diversified Market

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Amphenol is one of the largest conglomerates known for manufacturing interconnect products in the world. Established in 1932 by Arthur J. Schmitt, the company started designing and selling products in both the electrical and electronics sectors. Amphenol manufactures fibre optic connectors, coaxial and flat-ribbon cable, and interconnect systems. The company is escalating when it comes to the communication and information processing market, along with providing mobile connectivity and internet solutions.

The headquarters of the company is based in Wallingford, Connecticut, US. There are approx 74,000 employees in the company working in various divisions, from military equipment design to commercial aerospace products, from mobile solutions to the automotive industry. Currently, the CEO and President of the company is R. Adam Norwitt.

Founding Amphenol

Arthur J. Schmitt founded Amphenol in 1932, 89 years from now in Chicago. The company manufactured tube sockets for radio tubes as its first product. The time when Amphenol truly started expanding its business and became famous was during World War II. During the war, the company became the main manufacturers of connectors used in military hardware. Amphenol was a part of Bunker Ramo Corporation for sixteen years, which sold digital computers and military electronics devices. Today, the company has expanded its market in sixty countries across the world.

After World War II, the diverse range of products, from electronics to military aerospace, is the biggest reason how Amphenol entered numerous markets and kept thriving. Amphenol started another company in 1993, known as Amphenol Fiber Systems International, specializing in communication systems based on fibre optics interconnect technology. The company launched another division in 2006, known as Amphenol Cables which distributed standard cable assemblies. Among all the divisions of the company, the largest is Amphenol Aerospace, based in Sidney Village in New York State. During the 2000s, Amphenol’s business was booming, and in 2010, its revenue summed up to $3.55billion.

Popular Products from Amphenol

Amphenol has many divisions that design and manufactures innovative solutions in a variety of fields. Starting with the military equipment, the military devices used for communication should be susceptible to conditions like nuclear radiation, severe temperature, etc. So, the company is responsible for manufacturing high quality interconnect systems that work in harsh conditions. Amphenol designs high-speed board-level interconnects, printed circuit boards, backplane systems, etc.

In the commercial aerospace sector, Amphenol is a major provider of connectors and interconnect assembly products. For aircraft applications, Amphenol provides solutions to controls and instrumentation, in-flight entertainment, airframe power distribution, wire bundling, cable management, etc. The company also manufactures sensors and antennas when it comes to industrial applications. It is also a major provider of the core solutions in the industrial sector, its products are consumed by healthcare, marine, oil and gas, transportation, lighting, entertainment sector, etc.

Next is the automotive sector, where the main solutions of Amphenol are in management and control, exhaust monitoring and cleaning, in-car power, communications, safety, security system, navigation, etc. Today, many companies are striving towards a new era of the automotive industry, i.e., electric vehicles, and Amphenol is one of them. For mobile devices, Amphenol provides a broad range of products, including antennas, micro-coax assemblies, camera sockets, LCD connectors, microphone and speaker connector, sim, and memory card sockets, etc.

Along with mobile devices, the company also provides solutions in mobile networks, which includes RF, high-speed, power, fibre optic, antennas, etc. IT and datacom is also another division of Amphenol that creates solutions for storage systems, power distribution assemblies, bushbars, optical and copper networking equipment, cloud computing, etc. Amphenol is also a leading service provider when it comes to broadband communications.

Acquisitions

The list of acquired companies by Amphenol started growing in the last twenty years. In early 2005, the company took over the operations of SV Microwave, followed by Teradyne Connection Systems in October of the same year. This was followed by the acquisition of a French company SEFEE and Jaybeam Wireless (currently known as Amphenol Antenna Solutions). Some of the other companies that are under Amphenol today are Tecvox OEM Solutions LLC, FCI Asia Pte Ltd, Phitek Ltd, Wilcoxon Research, etc.

The founder – Arthur J. Schmitt

Born on 14th June 1893, Arthur J. Schmitt established himself as a successful American engineer, entrepreneur, and inventor. He was also a big philanthropist who founded the Arthur J. Schmitt Foundation, which built a school and college to train engineers during World War II. The foundation is also known to offer scholarships and fellowships in many schools and colleges. Being an entrepreneur, Schmitt founded American Phenolic Corp in 1932, which today is famous as Amphenol. It was under his leadership that the company successfully developed several equipments for the military during the war and eventually entered various markets.

Firefly Aerospace

Journey Of Firefly Aerospace To Increase Access To Space Through Innovative Technical Advancement

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Firefly Aerospace is popular for producing reliable launch vehicles. Also, through its designs, Firefly is successfully providing basic space payloads required for space missions at a cost-effective price. It is an Austin, TX-based firm established by Tom Markusic. Under his guidance, it became one of the leading aerospace firms that enable flexible access to space. And that too with the easiest approach through the technology selection that is innovative. However, the launch vehicles design by the firm represents excellent service of the Firefly. As well, leverage commercial off the shelf components. In fact, multiple suppliers across the US manufacture this component. So that Firefly Aerospace can address the market need and deliver the product in minimal time. 

About the Company

It is a private aerospace firm based in America. Especially, the small-medium-sized launch vehicles are produced in its production unit. The firm is committed to producing cost-effective launch vehicles so that launch costs can be reduced. In fact, the firm is followers of the NewSpace movement. Yes, this industry’s movement which aims to enhance access to space through technological advancement. So that the cost, as well as restrictions related to it, can be reduced.

In fact, it delivers for a starting price of 15M dollar payload class to LEO. Furthermore, the company is committed to helping to restore U.S. leadership in the market on the earth. Also, it is building partnerships to serve the market worldwide.

Backstory 

Previously, the company was known as Firefly Space System. In 2017, EOS launcher acquired the company’s assets and then it renamed Firefly Aerospace. However, the name of Firefly came into the mind of Markusic while he was sitting on his back porch watching fireflies. Currently, Noosphere ventures completely won the company. 

Tom Markusic, P.J. King, Michael Blum, Max Polyakov, and Mark Watt are the founders of Firefly Aerospace. They established the company with their small group of entrepreneurs in 2014. Earlier its headquarter was at Hawthorne in California. In 2014, it relocated to Austin and then to Texas. 

The re-creation of the company

Due to some reasons, the company went bankrupt. However, in 2017, the Noosphere venture bought out the assets and own the company. Max Polyakov, the founder of Noosphere Ventures assisted in the re-formation of the company.    

Glimpse to Founder Life

Thomas E. Markusic

He is the co-founder as well as the present CEO of the company. Previously, he worked at miscellaneous NewSpace companies. Includes SpaceX, in fact, he was a manager of the Texas Rocket test facility at SpaceX. Also, he worked at Virgin G. as a vice president. Further, he was the senior system engineer at Blue origin. As he has a propulsion engineering background, he worked in miscellaneous NewSpace companies at leadership roles. Apart from that, he also served as a civil servant at NASA as well as USAF. At that time, he served as a research scientist and propulsion engineer.  

Coming to his education, Markusic attended Princeton University for a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Bottom Line

The company aims to place payloads of a 1,000-kilogram and 600-kilogram payload into a low Earth and sun-synchronous orbit respectively. Its well-known launch vehicles are Firefly, Firefly Beta, and Firefly Gamma. Presently, the company is working on the Alpha 2.0 launch vehicle. It is mentioned that the vehicle is capable to handle the larger payload. Last year, the company signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries. Also, the company plans to build a lunar lander based on Beresheet and it will be called Genesis. However, if this got selected Firefly’s Genesis would be launched with firefly Beta rocket in 2021.

The firm is altering the aerospace industry with the adoption of an innovative production approach.

astroscale

Astroscale Is Cleaning Up The Orbital Debris For Future Generation

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Mankind has made many successful attempts of reaching into the vastness of space. And, after the first time, many new organizations have come up to serve the same purpose. Thousands of scientists have put their brains together to achieve bigger missions. Every year many nations launch spacecraft to take one more step towards broadening the human territory.

But, as unique as an idea of cleaning the orbital debris doesn’t come from any commoner. We don’t hear about this kind of idea every day which contributes to the well-being of the universe. Nobu Okada, founder of Astroscale made everyone realize why is it so important to remove trash from space and himself doing it.

What is Astroscale?

Astroscale is a worldwide famous company founded by Nobu Okada in 2013. It is a private company that serves the sole purpose of cleaning the spatial orbits. We know, every year a lot of spaceships are launched from earth. Some of which successfully land and the rest get lost in the way. The remaining parts of these gigantic machines can create problems in the future. When other spacecraft will be launched, these might come in its way and hamper the mission.

So, Nobu Okada came up with this idea and the company is going to launch its demonstration mission in 2020. The name of the program is End-Of-Life-Service and it’s determined to retrieve every piece of junk from the orbits.

Nobu Okada

Nobu went to the University of Tokyo and acquired his bachelor’s degree in Genetics. He also went to Stanford University for pre-MBA and in 1999 went to Purdue University Krannert School of Management for his MBA.

In 1997, Nobu joined the Japanese Ministry of Finance as a Government Office and continue his work for three years. While doing his MBA, he joined McKinsey & Company as an Engagement Manager and worked for four years. In August 2004, he became the CFO and Director of Turbolinux and then in 2006 became the Director of Kazaka Financial Group.

Nobu Okada
Image Source – Google Images

After serving as the Vice President of Brain Capital for a year he founded SUGAO PTE, an IT company. Currently, he is the CEO of his latest company, Astroscale.

The Beginning

Nobu Okada had no idea about aerospace engineering. This guy studied genetics, went for the finance industry, and established his career in the IT industry. No one but him came up with an idea mentioned nowhere earlier in the history of science. Nobu says he just wanted to do something meaningful in his life and a great contribution to society.

Nobu always had a soft corner for space and he also attended a space camp at the age of fifteen. There he received a message from Mamoru Mohri that space is a place where one can make great contributions. Nobu proved how much right he was.

Initially, when he thought of this idea, nobody supported him saying it wasn’t realistic enough. There was negativity everywhere, but he didn’t give in. Nobu thought when it is for the betterment of the world someone has got to do it. And, he became the knight in the shining armor.

Much Appreciation

Since Nobu has no idea about the study of space, he went through more than 700 research papers regarding space debris, contacted many academic institutions and people who are in an executive position in the space industry. He was too stubborn to give up!

Finally, a company called Yuki Precision Co. showed interest in this project idea. Another company called OSG Corp also showed interest. With their support, he finally launched the company. In 2015, the company raised the US $7.7 million and also established an R&D facility in Tokyo. The capital was invested to carry out researches for space debris removal missions and making small satellites.

In next year, the company raised another $35 million and in 2017 raised $25 million in Series C funding. This year, the company came into a partnership with JAXA permitting them to use JAXA’s testing facilities. In November 2017, the company launched its first rocket. The take-off was smooth but it didn’t reach the targeted orbit.

Currently, the company is busy working for the ELSA-d mission. The mission will consist of two spacecraft, namely, a Servicer and a Client. The mission will be operated from the National In-orbit Servicing Control Centre Facility in Harwell, Oxfordshire. Nobu wants to make a dynamic change as early as possible thinking about future space missions.