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Abu Dhabi airport showing fast growth

Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & Automotive

Abu Dhabi International Airport is seeing the results of investment as traffic growth has come in at over 12 percent in the previous year, and passenger numbers are up almost 10 percent in the last month. November's figures saw 1.33 million passengers use the airport, and almost 12,000 aircraft movements. This boost reinforces the airport's position within the busy Middle East against nearby competitors at Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain.

The best Porsche that was never built

Jason Gonzalez Recreation & Leisure

I was reveling in a 15-minute break from work (and life in general) and prodding through the online classifieds in search of my next something to long for. My standard exercise includes a general vintage, an approximate price tag and a manufacturer before clicking the search button on Google. Even if my real plan is only to kill a few minutes, I want to feel productive — and who knows, perhaps even yield an effective result. How much would I afford myself today? What distinguished breed of GT car would I fancy researching, inspecting and negotiating for?

Handcuffing the crew: When rules and regulations get in the way

Mark Huber Medical & Allied Healthcare

We all need rules. Especially those of us who fly. The days of reckless barnstorming — especially in the wake of 9/11 and the new national nervousness — are long behind us. Now we go to simulator training, we have best practices, and we get audited by independent watchdogs and insurers. Most of this is good and necessary, but some of it has the effect of retarding flight crew decision-making skills, turning them into mindless automatons who slavishly follow data trails and flight directors, sometimes with tragic results.

Detroit’s bold idea: Removing a highway to stimulate growth

Bambi Majumdar Civil & Government

Detroit has been facing plenty of adversity in recent years, from decaying parks to bankruptcy. Despite all odds, however, the city is slowly showing signs of improvement and revival. One of the first focuses has been tackling the decaying park and decrepit downtown areas to launch a full-scale revival project. In fact, the intensity of this focus is so high that the ailing city is considering a historic reversal of I-375 into a surface street. The fact that Detroit is considering such a big and bold step shows how optimistic the city is for its future.

Full tilt: The future of helicopter design leaning to propellers

Mark Huber Transportation Technology & Automotive

The future of helicopters is ... propellers! The Pentagon recently awarded initial development contracts for the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Future Vertical Lift program, and all of the winning designs were compound helicopter designs. That is, they had the ability to take off and land like helicopters but fly with the speed of slow jet or fast turboprop airplanes.

Porsche B32: The Porsche camper van that almost happened

Conner Golden Recreation & Leisure

Ah, the Volkswagen Vanagon. For me, the name "Vanagon" conjures up images of a strung-out family camper, struggling to reach the crest of the hill on some Colorado back road. Sure, it was not hill-climber, but it was a fun runabout for a family vehicle. You could get all the kids, cargo, luggage and the dog in the back, and still have room to spare. It offered something for everyone! Why, you could even buy one with a Porsche engine. Wait, what?

Fleet graphics: Color selection and visibility

Tim Stroud Marketing

According to a recent survey conducted by marketing specialist Marketo, colors can greatly impact consumer perception of a brand. In fact, a product's color can influence from 60-80 percent of customers' purchasing choices. While it's important to choose attention-grabbing colors for your fleet graphics, you'll also want to choose colors that effectively interpret your product, your brand and your company.

Cessna CEO: Skycatcher has ‘no future’

Adam Hunt Transportation Technology & Automotive

I don't think this will surprise anyone: Cessna 162 production is about to be ended. In October at the National Business Aviation Association convention, Cessna CEO Scott Ernest stated that the Skycatcher had "no future". While the design of the Cessna 162 did have some pluses — like the control stick, fit and finish and the doors — there were many problems with the design,

Back to school: Training on Porsche’s newest racing 911

Cole Scrogham Recreation & Leisure

It's not every day that Porsche announces a new racing car, specifically built for an all new racing series, so the new 991 GT America is already a special car by any standard. In order to help teams build some competency on the GT America, Porsche Motorsport attempted an exercise that has not been done since the 2000 season — inviting team members to an official training session, which immediately followed the Petit LeMans race in October. Any opportunity to visit the Porsche Training Center in Atlanta is one not to miss, so when Porsche Motorsport North America offered this opportunity, my name was on the list.

P3s offer financial and design flexibility

Phil Schwab Transportation Technology & Automotive

A public-private partnership (P3) is a contractual agreement between a public agency and private-sector entity to deliver a public service or facility with the use of private financing. Because of the uncertainty and inconsistency of public funding, P3 projects offer the ability to accelerate project delivery, reduce project costs and allow users to realize the project benefits years earlier than conventional "pay as you go" project deliveries.

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