Williams Advanced Engineering, part of the Williams Group of companies that includes the Williams F1 Team, have announced the appointment of Craig Wilson to the position of Managing Director.

In this role Craig will have overall operational and delivery responsibility for existing projects within Williams Advanced Engineering, oversee all business development activity, and take a strategic lead as the company continues to commercialise Williams’ Formula One derived technology and knowhow for the motorsport, automotive, transport and energy sectors. As a highly successful executive within the automotive industry, Craig will bring a wealth of experience to an exciting and rapidly growing business. 

Before joining Williams Craig co-founded Oxford Applied Technologies, an engineering consultancy specialising in bringing sustainable transport projects to market. His previous roles include six years based in Melbourne as Chief Executive Officer of Walkinshaw Performance, running successful GM-Holden factory racing teams in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship and securing two Team and Drivers Championships and three Bathhurst wins.

Speaking about his new role, Craig Wilson said: “I’m delighted to be joining a company with Williams’ illustrious history and I look forward to helping its Advanced Engineering division continue to evolve to support the growing requirements of our customers and the market sectors in which we operate. As a business Williams Advanced Engineering stands out due to its origins in the very competitive world of Formula One with its rapid technology development requirements. The combination of accelerated development timescales, a collaborative approach to projects and strong expertise in energy efficient technologies makes for a powerful proposition.”

Mike O’Driscoll, Group CEO of Williams, added: “Craig has a great track record, with over 25 years’ experience in the automotive and motorsport industries and his knowledge of key markets and project delivery expertise will be invaluable. The Williams Group diversification beyond the racetrack is ambitious in its scope and has started to deliver strong growth. Craig’s leadership will help continue this momentum.”

Yousuf Yaqoob Alserkal, the Vice President and Chairman of the United Arab Emirate’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), said Dubai will bid to host future Summer Olympic Games, despite withdrawing a bid for the 2020 games in 2009.

Alserkal said the Dubai committee the sheikhdom would submit a bid for the 2024 Games.

Dubai has all sorts of sports stadiums like for athletic sports, swimming, football, tennis and basketball, Alkersal said, “so we think in general we would be ready to host a multi-sports events.”

The UAE’s NOC vice president said Dubai proved its ability to hold major events when it hosted the 7th FIFA Club World Cup in 2010 and the 9th Asian Swimming Championships 2012 last month.

However, a potential obstacle is the climate. Temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius during summer amid high humidity is also common. Dubai would likely have to host the Games during winter months, which hinder its chances of winning a bid.{jcomments on}

Orange Business Services has won a contract with Cricket Australia to deploy its cloud computing solution Flexible Computing Premium and transform its IT infrastructure into a robust, anabolics flexible and scalable platform to cater to future business growth and development.

“Flexible Computing Premium – flexible, secure infrastructure as a service – will support the IT infrastructure of Cricket Australia,” said Gordon Makryllos, managing director, Orange Business Services Australasia. “The solution helps companies build a custom infrastructure and covers the whole playing field, including OS and databases, managed Internet access and transition services. New servers and virtual machines will also be provided to ensure that mission critical applications are not disrupted during peaks in activity.”

Proactive security services will also be applied to protect confidential Cricket Australia and customer information from external threats. All state cricketing bodies aligned under Cricket Australia will be able to leverage shared services in a secure environment, reducing administrative burdens.

Orange’s understanding of Cricket Australia’s business requirements, coupled with the ability to map that to its technical needs was instrumental in the contract win. As the Australian governing body for cricket, Cricket Australia needed a flexible and secure cloud service that could link its nationwide employees and member organizations efficiently and effectively.

“We needed a partner who understood our needs and could deliver a scalable and resilient solution that will grow with us,” said Kate Banozic, executive general manager, business and advisory services, Cricket Australia. “With Orange, we can maximize efficiencies within the IT infrastructure, allowing our state bodies and ourselves to operate more effectively and collaboratively. Our intent is to deliver to our customers enhanced web experience particularly during activity peaks.”

Orange is not only transforming the existing IT infrastructure into a platform that has the capability to meet Cricket Australia’s growth needs over the next 36 months, but also consolidating and integrating the current environment with the cloud solution.

“Our global network and extensive experience in managed services means that Flexible Computing Premium, our cloud solution, is ideally placed to deliver the reliable and strong cloud platform that Cricket Australia requires,” said Makryllos. “Our professional expertise and operational capabilities guarantee end-to-end availability and performance of network and applications – something that is vital for a leading organization such as Cricket Australia.”

South Korean Golfer, An Byeong-hun, has joined International Sports Management (ISM) which manages stars like Open champion Darren Clarke and world number two Lee Westwood.

Two of the last three winners of the American amateur title have now joined the company after Peter Uihlein decided to join ISM, now 20-year-old Byeong-hun has followed.

With parents who were both Olympic table tennis medallists, An was the youngest ever winner of the United States championship when he triumphed at 17 in 2009.

He is to begin his professional career on the European Challenge Tour, having missed out on a card for the main circuit by seven shots at last month’s qualifying school.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge and can’t wait to get started,” he said in a statement.

ISM chief executive Chubby Chandler commented: “Ben’s credentials speak for themselves. I am confident that we can guide him successfully through the often choppy waters that await young golfers starting out on their professional careers.”

Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen are also part of the stable, but world number three Rory McIlroy and former number one Ernie Els both left last season.

The new, super-fast running surface at the 80,000-seater Olympic stadium in east London was officially unveiled by Olympics chief Lord Sebastian Coe and British medal hopefuls.

British 2012 hopefuls have been putting it through its paces. Paralympic gold medallist Dan Greaves, long jumper Chris Tomlinson and World Championship silver-medallist Hannah England tried out the new surface at the £486million venue.

The red Mondo track, which was laid in August, is set to be a fast surface for 2012 competitors.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said: ‘Today marks a huge milestone for the project as the Olympic Stadium starts to come to life and people get a glimpse of how it will look in less than 10 months’ time when we welcome the world’s athletes to London. There is still a lot of work to do on the stadium but seeing some of our top British athletes on the track with local school children really underlines the stadium’s potential for 2012 and beyond.’

The 80,000-seater stadium for the Games is set to be shrunk to a 60,000-seater venue for football, athletics, concerts and community use, and the new home of West Ham football club after 2012. West Ham’s proposals are part of a joint bid with Newham Council.

Hannah England commented on her first outing on the 2012 track: ‘It feels really really fast – even today in just getting a jog on it you can tell it is going to be really fast. It is quite a sophisticated surface by Mondo who really make the best tracks in the world. These are the tracks that you see world records created on by people like Usain Bolt.

‘This is like a culmination of all the little tricks to make a track fast and they have brought them all here. This feels like the calm before the storm – the track is amazing and there are a few people here today. I can only think that once it is full (for 2012) it is going to be one of the best events that has ever been put on.’

Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn has accused London Mayor Boris Johnson of offering Tottenham Hotspur “a bung” in an attempt to persuade the club to drop their claim to the Olympic Stadium to remove the main obstacle for London’s 2017 World Athletics Championships bid.

Johnson wants the Premier League club to drop their legal action over the award of the Olympic Stadium to West Ham United and is helping to finance a £17 million ($27 million) package in infrastructure improvements to the club to develop a new ground next to White Hart Lane.

The Mayor’s Office and Sport, and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson, are urging Tottenham to abandon a judicial review that is scheduled to be heard in the High Court next month before an Evaluation Commission from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) arrives in London on October 1 to inspect the city’s bid. There is concern that the legal battle could drag on and potentially damage the bid. 

Leyton Orient will pursue their application for judicial review of the Olympic Stadium decision because they believe the proximity of it to their current ground at Brisbane Road will put them out of business. Orient Chairman Barry Hean said: “Boris has made his move to try and placate Tottenham and if I’m being cynical, it looks like a bung just to get him out of a court case. I come from the real world and I can recognise a bung when I see it.”

The London Mayor’s office rejected the suggestion that the £17 million offer from the Greater London Authority and Haringey Council to help fund the development the Northumberland Development Project inappropriate. A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: “To suggest that the proposed offer from the GLA and Haringey Council towards Tottenham Hotspur is an inappropriate use of funds is entirely inaccurate.”

Hearn said his club will pursue action in the High Court on October 18 against Newham Borough Council and the Olympic Park Legacy Company and are claiming that West Ham are being given a “state subsidy” in taking over the Olympic Stadium.

Hearn said “Frankly, West Ham are getting a great deal. [Co-owner] David Gold said, and I quote: “We know the Stadium’s not perfect but this is a £600 million ($937 million) stadium and we’re getting it for £30 million ($47 million).” Well, good luck to him, but if that’s not state aid then I don’t know what is. The one little outfit that’s being completely overlooked is little Leyton Orient, and the community work they do, which is supposed to be so important in the world in which we live.”

According to a study conducted by Enigma Research Corporation, WrestleMania XXVI generated $45.1 million in economic impact for the greater Glendale/Phoenix area.

Organized by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the event which was the twenty-sixth annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event also generated close to $5 million in local, state and county taxes.

Over the past three years, WrestleMania has generated nearly $150 million in cumulative economic impact for its host cities and states despite the country experiencing one of the worst economic periods in decades.

“WWE’s premiere event was an important addition to Glendale’s tourism industry and position as a leading sports and entertainment destination. The $45 million boost to our region created by WWE’s fantastic fans makes It is a valuable economic attraction for every community host. We look forward to WWE returning to Glendale soon,” said Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs.

72,219 fans from all 50 states and 26 countries attended the pop culture extravaganza past March.

Some of the other facts of the study include, $45.1 million of direct, indirect and induced impact derived from spending by non-locals visiting specifically for the event; the economic impact derived from the Week created 510 full-time jobs for the area; 63% of fans were from outside the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, with 53% staying three nights or more; 60% of fans that came from out of state were from California and Nevada; 58% of fans were between the ages of 20 and 40, and 23% were between the ages of 5 and 19.

“We are very pleased that the event has once again produced a significant economic windfall for its host city. This is an incredible result in the face of a challenging economy. Our public and private sector partners within the Glendale/Phoenix area were exceptional hosts for the WWE Universe,” said Senior Vice President of Special Events for World Wrestling Entertainment John P. Saboor.

Next year, the event will take place on 3 April from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA which will be viewed in more than 100 countries. Tickets will go on sale from 13 November.