Hummel’s absence lowers Boilers to No. 4 seed

WEST LAFAYETTE – Maybe the seed was a surprise.
But when Purdue popped up as a No. 4 in the South Regional on Sunday, it was done.
It didn’t matter that coach Matt Painter said the team’s résumé says the Boilers are a No. 2 or No. 3.
It didn’t matter that Purdue was still the No. 6 team in the country when the brackets were announced.
It didn’t matter that the Boilermakers lost only five games all season and shared a Big Ten Conference title.
Purdue is what the NCAA tournament committee decided it is: A No. 4 seed playing No. 13 seed Siena (27-6) 2:30 p.m. Friday in Spokane, Wash.
“It’s the highest we’ve ever been since I’ve been here,” senior Chris Kramer said. “You’ve just got to be excited. We gave the selection committee – we didn’t play as well as we wanted to in that (Big Ten) semifinal game. So we have to take it for what it’s worth and just be excited to get a chance to play again and to be in the NCAA field.”
The Boilermakers (27-5) lost by 27 points to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament, and they are without star forward Robbie Hummel for the rest of the season. Those were factors, NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee chairman Dan Guerrero said.
“(The committee) had the benefit of seeing several games after Robbie went down. On the basis of the evaluation of Purdue’s performance, we obviously felt that they weren’t the same team without him,” Guerrero said. “In order to have integrity in the bracket and make sure we were honest to everyone in the field, Purdue did slip. There’s no question about that. I think everyone knows that Purdue is a fantastic team, especially with him in there. The seed obviously was impacted negatively by the fact he went out. They would have been, in my opinion, much higher than that.”
Still, Purdue’s seed was its highest since 1998 when it was a No. 2 seed.
And Painter and his players said they’d use the seed this season as motivation.
There’s no other way to handle it.
“We have to show people why we’re in,” said point guard Lewis Jackson, who expects to play in the tournament despite leaving the Minnesota game with a leg injury. “We still want respect. There are great teams like Cincinnati that didn’t make it. Being comfortable just because you made it, that doesn’t get you far in the tournament. But wanting to come out and prove to people that you belong with the nation’s best is what gets you far, and I think that’s what this team does.”
The first chance to earn that respect is against Siena.
Painter and players met with reporters only an hour after the bracket was released, so they didn’t know much about the Saints.
Four Siena players average at least 13 points per game, led by Alex Franklin’s 16.3 per game. Forward Ryan Rossiter’s 11.1 rebounds per game top the team, and point guard Ronald Moore averages 7.8 assists. Siena won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season and tournament.
But Purdue’s focus is on playing better.
“We’ve got to definitely come up and step our game up for the tournament,” junior E’Twaun Moore said. “Every team is going to be eager to play and they’re trying to play for the championship, too. We’ve got to get us ready and make the teams have a difficult time against us.”
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100315/SPORTS0303/303159982/1085/SPORTS03

Thermax, Babcock ink JV for supercritical boilers

MUMBAI: Power solutions provider Thermax on Wednesday said it has signed an agreement with US-based Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Groups for forming a joint venture to manufacture supercritical boilers for the Indian power sector.

Pune-based Thermax will own 51% stake while Babcock will control the remaining 49% in the venture which will have an initial annual capacity of 3,000 MW equivalent. The supercritical boilers will be manufactured in a new facility that is being planned. The plant will indigenise the technology and contribute to local component development, said the companies in a joint statement.

The venture will have an initial capital of Rs 700 crore, split equally between equity and debt. Thermax will chip in Rs 175 crore as its equity contribution to the project from its cash reserves, its managing director & CEO MS Unnikrishnan told reporters.

“We are proud to offer the services of this JV to support the government’s initiatives to improve the power scenario in India. And we are happy that Babcock, our joint venture partner, is a global technology leader whose boilers generate over 3,00,000 MW of power around the world,” said Mr Unnikrishnan. The venture will also cater to the needs of supercritical and sub-critical boilers with capacities of 300 MW.

The government wants to produce a majority of the proposed capacity addition of 1 lakh MW by super-critical technology which costs less and is more environment friendly. Supercritical boilers operate at high pressures increasing efficiency and producing more energy from the same amount of fuel. They also cause less harm to the environment.

Shares of Thermax rose 3% to end at Rs 672.85 on a day when the broader index was flat.

Thermax and Babcock have had a business relationship for over 20 years. Thermax had signed a technology transfer agreement with Babcok for manufacturing subcritical power boilers two years ago. “This JV augments Babcock’s presence and profile in the global marketplace and presents a substantial opportunity to continue the growth of its business in India and around the world,” said Babcock president Richard L. Killion.

Thermax had formed a JV with US-based SPX in August last year to supply air pollution control systems for power plants above 300 MW. It also has technology collaboration with Canada’s Eco-Tech, Japan’s Kawasaki Thermal Engineering, Canada’s Eco-T
ech, Germany’s Balcke Durr and Georgia Pacific of the US.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/engineering/Thermax-Babcock-ink-JV-for-supercritical-boilers/articleshow/5669524.cms