NorthWest BBD just sold the rest of their share of the C-Series program to Airbus. Breaking rumor is that they just sold the rail division to Alstom. Interesting times.
BBD just sold the rest of their share of the C-Series program to Airbus.
Breaking rumor is that they just sold the rail division to Alstom.
Interesting times.
And from TRAINS Newswire : "Alstom reaches agreement to buy Bombardier" (updated) February 17, 2020
linked @ https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2020/02/17-alstom-reaches-agreement-to-buy-bombardier
FTA: [in part] "...Bombardier was facing more than $9.3 billion in long-term debt, and took a $350 million charge in its fourth-quarter 2019 financial results for problems related to long-overdue high-speed trainsets for the Swiss Federal Railways and the London Overground.
Alstom said in a press release that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bombardier and its largest shareholder, pension firm Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) to make the acquisition. CDPQ will become the company’s largest shareholder with 18% of Alstom’s capital, the company said.
Henri Poupart-Lafarge, Alstom chairman and CEO, said in the release that the acquisition “is a unique opportunity to strengthen our global position on the booming mobility market,” giving the company “complementary geographical presence and industrial footprint in growing markets, as well as additional technological platforms. It will significantly increase our innovation capabilities to lead smart and green innovation...."
At least maybe; They have found someone that will help them survive(?)
BBD is in such poor financial condition from their airliner problems that I would suspect that if not bought will go the equivalent of Chapter 7 liquidation. Then what is left will be picked over by anyone despite the EU.
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
tree68 charlie hebdo OM: You'll be glad to hear I never graded on a curve, nor did I dumb down the coursework to reduce Ds and Fs. I had one professor at the community college who carefully tracked and analyzed all the questions on his tests. I don't think he dumbed down any of the questions, but I'd guess that if a certain question was frequently missed he adjusted his teach or figured out that there was a problem with the question itself. Some years ago, the results of the NYS EMT test were abysmal. Given that the test is given statewide, to students who have had a variety of instructors, about the only place to point the finger was at the test itself, which I believe they did. Quite a few people still had to retake it.
charlie hebdo OM: You'll be glad to hear I never graded on a curve, nor did I dumb down the coursework to reduce Ds and Fs.
OM: You'll be glad to hear I never graded on a curve, nor did I dumb down the coursework to reduce Ds and Fs.
I had one professor at the community college who carefully tracked and analyzed all the questions on his tests. I don't think he dumbed down any of the questions, but I'd guess that if a certain question was frequently missed he adjusted his teach or figured out that there was a problem with the question itself.
Some years ago, the results of the NYS EMT test were abysmal. Given that the test is given statewide, to students who have had a variety of instructors, about the only place to point the finger was at the test itself, which I believe they did.
Quite a few people still had to retake it.
Content and criterion validity of tests are tricky to implement in test construction but essential. Unfortunately, many instructors and professors haven't a clue.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
https://www.fliegerfaust.com/the-fall-of-bombardier-2645070174.html
More on Bombardier
I taught Calculus for 4 years at the Mine School here. That was enough. I could not do it now, cannot explain that, simply cannot. We have a young buck from Greece, by way of Norway of all things, teaching that now. His second year here now teaching Calculus and I see the signs already. He sports a man bun, fierce beard, see's spiders and the 'air is no good in his classroom and office' and the cleaning crew is no good and so on. 2 more years and he'll drop dead like I did.
Once revived he will not be able to teach Calculus any longer and could not explain why that is.
I used David Berlinski's book 'A tour of the Calculus' for my own self, which helped a lot and put a bit of fun and down to earth approach to it for teaching.
Three considerations:
1) Harder 'college-level' curricula and subject material. This is fair. (But selection into the program presumably involves a candidate showing either early knowledge of the general material or advanced study in high school ... such was the case at the Ivies I applied to in the mid-Seventies.)
2) the intentional use of 'weeder' courses for more popular ... or better-'paying' or more competitive ... majors. My sister hit one of these as Biology 201, a prerequisite for all the 'pre-meds' trying to climb the establishment tree. Lots and lots of material, taught and graded with rigor, with the stated intent not so much to separate the sheep from the goats as to 'demonstrate the dedication and skills needed to survive medical-school education'. Of course this was not communicated to the marks, many of whom suffered and died without really knowing why...
3) "Grading on a curve". This in my not-so-humble opinion is inexcusable, even if the State is paying the bill for the obscenity. A given course is teaching objective competence, presumably following an objective curriculum, and should be graded on absolute objective standards. If a given cohort tends to 'score low' on fair testing, either the testing modality needs to be changed (again, fairly for all in the cohort) or something is wrong with the lesson planning or the teaching. On the other hand, if everyone scores high, it ought to be a demonstration that the teaching and materials have 'got the message through' -- and anyone looking at a resulting transcript can form a fair picture of how much the corresponding student is likely to know, or how well their skills have been developed, etc.
And then there is (4), the Boston Latin School method (which I had exhaustively explained to me at age 14 because the Dwight headmaster was tapped to lead that school the year I was dating his daughter). Boston Latin is one of the premier high schools, academically, in the country, and perhaps in the world, but it does not have highly selective admissions. What it does have is a marked decrease in class size from one year to the next, as all the 'unfit', unmotivated, etc. students leave. If there is too much of a shortfall year-to-year, the difference is made up by increasing transfer spots. Again, this is not artificially 'crapped up' to make things arbitrarily more difficult, and there are no special 'provisions' for particular groups either pro or con. (There are, on the other hand, quite a few opportunities to game the process -- which calls for particularly ethical people at the helm and on the staff...)
charlie hebdo It was similar at Illinois. I remember the midterm in the first semester freshman chemistry class. The median score was 48. After that, there were many empty seats and the rest of us woke up.
It was similar at Illinois. I remember the midterm in the first semester freshman chemistry class. The median score was 48. After that, there were many empty seats and the rest of us woke up.
BaltACD Ulrich About arrogant colleges.. sometimes the messaging is funny. a few months ago I attended a U of T engineering open house on behalf of my son who could not attend. The first presenter, making the point that the program is challenging, stated "look to your left and look to your right.. chances are that the person sitting beside you won't be here in six months". Well.. nothing but parents to my left and right, and I'm pretty sure I won't be there in six months. But I get it.. its part of the mystique of attending an Ivy league school. A bit of arrogance is ok if there's some substance behind it, and in U of T's case there is as they're rated among the top 50 schools worldwide. When I attended Purdue it was stated differently - with Freshman Math, Chemistry and Physics all flunking 70% or more of each class - It was stated 70% if you won't be he next year! In my case I made it to 1st Semester 2nd year.
Ulrich About arrogant colleges.. sometimes the messaging is funny. a few months ago I attended a U of T engineering open house on behalf of my son who could not attend. The first presenter, making the point that the program is challenging, stated "look to your left and look to your right.. chances are that the person sitting beside you won't be here in six months". Well.. nothing but parents to my left and right, and I'm pretty sure I won't be there in six months. But I get it.. its part of the mystique of attending an Ivy league school. A bit of arrogance is ok if there's some substance behind it, and in U of T's case there is as they're rated among the top 50 schools worldwide.
When I attended Purdue it was stated differently - with Freshman Math, Chemistry and Physics all flunking 70% or more of each class - It was stated 70% if you won't be he next year! In my case I made it to 1st Semester 2nd year.
UlrichAbout arrogant colleges.. sometimes the messaging is funny. a few months ago I attended a U of T engineering open house on behalf of my son who could not attend. The first presenter, making the point that the program is challenging, stated "look to your left and look to your right.. chances are that the person sitting beside you won't be here in six months".
Things don't change. Back in 1955 when I started at the University of Cincinnati to get my engineering degree, the line I heard was that not just the individuals to the left and right of me would be gone but also those in front and back would be gone. And many did drop or transfer to a business major. Not sure whether it was as great as an 80% drop.
bombardier, dead man walking
Speaking of Airbus- the two-story airplane that they built? The landing gear was made in Oakville, Ontario. The legs came from a plant in Hamilton and they were heat treated in Burlington. Machinng and assembly was done in Oakville in a B.F. Goodrich plant. The test rig was something to see!
Bombardier Aerospace ran into problems mainly because they tried to take on three clean sheet airplane designs at once (the C-Series, Global 7500/8000 and Learjet 85, which has since been cancelled) at the same time as orders for the succesful Dash 8 Q400 and CRJ family were dropping. Some of their business jet offering seem to compete with each other, too. The result was that they ran out of cash.
The C-Series also was sized above the American scope clause weight/size, limiting its potential in the US as it can only be flown by mainline carriers (a problem the Embraer E2 is also running into). It's a great aircraft with a lot of potential, but Bombardier didn't have the resources to fully support the program. Hence the deal with Airbus, which will be very interesting to watch.
Bombardier's North American rail side is increasingly looking like Breda's did before people stopped ordering from them; lots of delays, quality problems, and an inability to right the ship. If they're not careful, they'll suffer the same fate.
M636C To be fair, the aviation industry in Canada has been a problem for decades... De Havilland Canada, Canadair, Orenda... Bombardier ended up with what was left of all of these.... DHC only really succeeded with the DHC-8... The Beaver, The Otter and the Twin Otter were great aircraft but with a niche market. The Dash 7 didn't even have a niche of its own. Canadair provided the CL-600 series (and the forward fuselage and cockpit design for the Dash 8). The C series was competing against the Brazilians who had a head start. Does Canada need to build airliners? The railroad area is different... The Acelas use a Canadian design of passenger car. I would be surprised if the TGV design of their replacements works nearly as well. The bi-level commuter car (which came from Hawker Siddeley via the UTDC) is a world class design with a big share of the US market. Bombardier in Germany will have to continue under some ownership or other and neither Alstom (too French) nor Hitachi (too Japanese) is likely to appeal to the Germans. Peter
To be fair, the aviation industry in Canada has been a problem for decades...
De Havilland Canada, Canadair, Orenda...
Bombardier ended up with what was left of all of these....
DHC only really succeeded with the DHC-8...
The Beaver, The Otter and the Twin Otter were great aircraft but with a niche market. The Dash 7 didn't even have a niche of its own.
Canadair provided the CL-600 series (and the forward fuselage and cockpit design for the Dash 8).
The C series was competing against the Brazilians who had a head start.
Does Canada need to build airliners?
The railroad area is different... The Acelas use a Canadian design of passenger car. I would be surprised if the TGV design of their replacements works nearly as well. The bi-level commuter car (which came from Hawker Siddeley via the UTDC) is a world class design with a big share of the US market.
Bombardier in Germany will have to continue under some ownership or other and neither Alstom (too French) nor Hitachi (too Japanese) is likely to appeal to the Germans.
Peter
The Canadair Regional Jet never had a crash? https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-safety-concerns-regarding-the-CRJ-900-airplane (OK, the crumped one in the hanger and militants destroyed one on the ground in the Middle East?)
I'd say that is a pretty good aviation industry.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
UlrichAbout arrogant colleges.. sometimes the messaging is funny. a few months ago I attended a U of T engineering open house on behalf of my son who could not attend. The first presenter, making the point that the program is challenging, stated "look to your left and look to your right.. chances are that the person sitting beside you won't be here in six months". Well.. nothing but parents to my left and right, and I'm pretty sure I won't be there in six months. But I get it.. its part of the mystique of attending an Ivy league school. A bit of arrogance is ok if there's some substance behind it, and in U of T's case there is as they're rated among the top 50 schools worldwide.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Bombardier is one of those flagship companies (like SNC Lavelin) that will not be allowed to fail. It is and has been for a long time one of Quebec's largest employers, although clearly they've lost their direction over the years and need to refocus the business on niches they have a good chance of competing successfully in. Poor focus is what killed off Nortel.. they had spread themselves too thin across too many markets, and in the end that's what did them in (along with questionable accounting). And if Bombardier isn't careful they may go that way too.
About arrogant colleges.. sometimes the messaging is funny. a few months ago I attended a U of T engineering open house on behalf of my son who could not attend. The first presenter, making the point that the program is challenging, stated "look to your left and look to your right.. chances are that the person sitting beside you won't be here in six months". Well.. nothing but parents to my left and right, and I'm pretty sure I won't be there in six months. But I get it.. its part of the mystique of attending an Ivy league school. A bit of arrogance is ok if there's some substance behind it, and in U of T's case there is as they're rated among the top 50 schools worldwide.
First, any conflation of Quebecois business practice, or support, with a racial or societal epithet like "French Canadien" is insufferable to me. I have had plenty of exposure to French culture in various areas of Quebec, and while I'm sure there are plenty of 'Pepsis' to be found if you look, I doubt you could make an equal claim about other identified ethnic groups without at least receiving some interesting PMs from moderators.
Second, there is not much more underhanded with the Quebec government providing support to 'internal' business than, say, MITI or various European governments doing the same. I saw the good and the bad firsthand during my investment in a Canadian treadmill company, and the issue is far more with wheeling and dealing management than with government support ... even where there's sweetheart personal connection involved.
I can't speak directly to Toronto arrogance, but there's certainly been an atmosphere of superiority to Francophone culture there for many years. It does not hold a candle to the Torontonian general feeling toward Americans, though. I have been generally very lucky in that most of my Toronto contacts were through people already known, liked, and trusted in that city ... otherwise I think I would have had more of an uphill battle there than I did down south in Minden.
And arrogant college assumptions are certainly no indication of lacking competence. I'd suspect most any Ivy League has done the same, or worse, perhaps on a fairly institutional basis. Certainly my sister no longer donates to her college based on how her son was treated during his application process. Doesn't mean the school itself is "bad" somehow. Doesn't mean they're right, or justified, for being arrogant either.
Not fair to quote Orenda, or Avro either, as if there were some technical problem there. The issue as I understand it is almost purely craven politics -- whether or not Canada as a society could compete effectively in the aerospace 'defense' markets as they existed by the early 1960s (especially, but not exclusively, with respect to security) is a decidedly different question. Certainly Hawker-Siddeley did technology transfer from aircraft to railroads more effectively than any ... I'd prefer NOT to compare, ahem, Boeing/Vertol or Grumman...
I'll grant you this: Bombardier was, and is, in over its head in trying to build sophisticated aircraft. And they have a decidedly checkered track record in building quite a bit of their 'designed-here' railroad equipment... not that other companies might not have had the same or similar misfortunes.
charlie hebdo Miningman Dude!!?? Toronto out-egos every other city in the nation. It is only fitting that their university does the same. You're slamming my U! St.Michael's U of T. What's with all this whitewashing going on? An awful lot of fine fine people came out of U of T. True. Ridiculous and petty slamming.
Miningman Dude!!?? Toronto out-egos every other city in the nation. It is only fitting that their university does the same. You're slamming my U! St.Michael's U of T. What's with all this whitewashing going on? An awful lot of fine fine people came out of U of T.
Dude!!?? Toronto out-egos every other city in the nation. It is only fitting that their university does the same.
You're slamming my U! St.Michael's U of T.
What's with all this whitewashing going on? An awful lot of fine fine people came out of U of T.
True. Ridiculous and petty slamming.
A good school.. all kidding aside. Lots of fine people went there. No slamming going on..just a bit of ribbing.
charlie hebdo Ulrich SD70Dude I remember learning trig and that other stuff in high school, but I would have to look up the formulas to calculate them again, I don't have them memorized by heart. I do remember that Pi = 3.14159, though that is probably more from a catchy line in a Third Rock From the Sun episode than from school. Never read much Hemingway, but I did read Huck Finn. Started Tom Sawyer, but never finished it for some reason. I'm sure you'd do fine on any math or lit test. I recall being interviewed by a U of T prof back in 82.. I had applied for engineering, and he told me that my Quebec HS diploma would not be sufficient in Ontario. I took offence and asked him to show me some first year problems.. long story short, I had no problem with them, but his characterization of Quebec and Quebeckers was way off track. Since then I've always had a chip on my shoulder about U of T. Now my son has applied there to study computer engineering. I told him McGill is a much better school, and they're not quite as arrogant.. (not quite, but getting close!).. My grandfather did both his undergrad degree and MD at Toronto. He was from nearby Whitby, and a very modest man.
Ulrich SD70Dude I remember learning trig and that other stuff in high school, but I would have to look up the formulas to calculate them again, I don't have them memorized by heart. I do remember that Pi = 3.14159, though that is probably more from a catchy line in a Third Rock From the Sun episode than from school. Never read much Hemingway, but I did read Huck Finn. Started Tom Sawyer, but never finished it for some reason. I'm sure you'd do fine on any math or lit test. I recall being interviewed by a U of T prof back in 82.. I had applied for engineering, and he told me that my Quebec HS diploma would not be sufficient in Ontario. I took offence and asked him to show me some first year problems.. long story short, I had no problem with them, but his characterization of Quebec and Quebeckers was way off track. Since then I've always had a chip on my shoulder about U of T. Now my son has applied there to study computer engineering. I told him McGill is a much better school, and they're not quite as arrogant.. (not quite, but getting close!)..
SD70Dude I remember learning trig and that other stuff in high school, but I would have to look up the formulas to calculate them again, I don't have them memorized by heart. I do remember that Pi = 3.14159, though that is probably more from a catchy line in a Third Rock From the Sun episode than from school. Never read much Hemingway, but I did read Huck Finn. Started Tom Sawyer, but never finished it for some reason.
I remember learning trig and that other stuff in high school, but I would have to look up the formulas to calculate them again, I don't have them memorized by heart.
I do remember that Pi = 3.14159, though that is probably more from a catchy line in a Third Rock From the Sun episode than from school.
Never read much Hemingway, but I did read Huck Finn. Started Tom Sawyer, but never finished it for some reason.
I'm sure you'd do fine on any math or lit test. I recall being interviewed by a U of T prof back in 82.. I had applied for engineering, and he told me that my Quebec HS diploma would not be sufficient in Ontario. I took offence and asked him to show me some first year problems.. long story short, I had no problem with them, but his characterization of Quebec and Quebeckers was way off track. Since then I've always had a chip on my shoulder about U of T. Now my son has applied there to study computer engineering. I told him McGill is a much better school, and they're not quite as arrogant.. (not quite, but getting close!)..
My grandfather did both his undergrad degree and MD at Toronto. He was from nearby Whitby, and a very modest man.
My brother and one nephew went to U of T (St George College I believe) .. I still razz them about it. All in good fun. Nobody gets too upset at the dinner table..
It was and is a disgusting comment. Ridiculous branding an entire society and culture like that. Tell it to NDG, to his face!
Toronto out-egos every other city in the nation. It is only fitting that their university does the same.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
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