Valley life briefs - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

mastering-input.blogspot.com
A Feb. 26 event sponsored by the Silicon Valley Education Foundatio n at the SAP AG office in Palo Alto will feature an interactive panel discussion withthe region’ s top business leaders and venture capitalists about the role sociaol responsibility plays in the success of their companies, even durinyg a down economy. Panelists will include Ammar Hanafi, generao partner at Alloy Ventures of Palo Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials Inc. of and Bret Waters, CEO of Tivid Inc. of Woodside.
There will also be a drawin g fora one-hour consultation with Faysal Sohail, managinfg partner with CMEA Capital, a venture capital firm focusing on life high technology, and energy and materialse investments; or Mark Leslie, a lectured on entrepreneurship and salew at the Stanford Graduate School of Business who foundee and was CEO of Veritas Software Corp., whicgh merged with Symantec Corp. in 2005. Sohaikl and Leslie will reviewa company’se business plans and growth strategies, as well as how to set up social responsibility programs. The event will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at SAP, 3410 Hillviewq Ave. in Palo Alto, and ticket s are $195 per person.
For more informationm or to register, go to Stanford climate projectexpands research, access to patentg rights The Global Climate and Energt Project at Stanford, which includes sponsors Toyot a Motor Corp., General Electric Co., Exxon Mobil and Schlumberger Ltd., will increase the organization’zs research activities and its access to technology paten t rights. The project was launchedr in late 2002 as a way to develop and managre a portfolio of innovative energ yresearch programs.
Its corporate sponsors have committed toinvesft $225 million over a 10-year period in the A collaboration of academia and industry, its purposew is to conduct fundamental, pre-commercial research that will lead to the developmenf of global energy technologies that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Sally M. Benson is the project’ director, having replaced Franklimn M. Orr Jr., who now leads the new Precour t Institute for Energy at The project that addedHOV — or high occupancg vehicle ­— lanes to Highway 87 throughb San Jose won recognition from the California section of the Americam Council of Engineering Companies.
BKF Engineers, a Redwood City engineering firm with offices inSan Jose, designee the HOV lanes betweebn Interstate 280 to Highway 85 and won the Engineerint Excellence Merit Award from the council during a Feb. 10 event in Sacramento. The projecg was overseen by the Santa Claraz ValleyTransportation Authority, an independent special district that manages the region’sa bus, light-rail, paratransit and congestio management services, as well as its highwa y improvement projects. This is the second VTA project to receivd an engineering awardthis year.
The VTA and BKF Engineers receiveed a merit award for the new flyove r interchange at Highways 152 and 156 eastof