The Alia aircraft You can t
not see the planes. Beta Technologies two prized prototypes take up the center of its bustling headquarters inside a hangar at Burlington International Airport. Around the upper rim of the airy space, employee workstations overlook the lustrous white machines through long walls of glass. During a recent tour, a group of engineers studied aircraft designs on a projection screen in one conference room. Next door, two others played Ping-Pong. The open office layout isn t to imitate Silicon Valley, or even to show off Beta s aircraft, founder and CEO Kyle Clark insisted. He thinks the glass helps get engineers talking to each other, which leads to a better plane. And Clark is obsessed with building a better plane.
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Nelson s Val Smith fell victim to Nicole Toomey in the women’s singles at the NZ bowls championship in Auckland. FILE PHOTO
Talented Wellington player Nicole Toomey completed a memorable day by advancing to the quarterfinals of the women’s singles at the New Zealand bowls championships in Auckland on Sunday. Toomey was a member of the victorious Stokes Valley Bowls3five side last year, although she is playing this event under the Victoria club banner.
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Nicole Toomey is proving to be talented bowls player. FILE PHOTO Toomey’s biggest win of the day came in round two when she ousted the 2008 world singles champion, Val Smith, 20-16, the two-and-a-half hour time limit being invoked as organisers correctly pushed through four rounds on the day.