Halliburton Co.
Dallas, has signed an agreement to acquire Magic Earth Inc., a 3D visualization and interpretation technology company. Magic Earth and Halliburton's Landmark Graphics will collaborate and integrate key technologies to increase the rate of innovation and delivery of value-added solutions to the exploration and production industries.
Magic Earth will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Halliburton, and will operate as a separate business unit.
ABB Automation Inc.
New Berlin, Wisc., has named Charles (Chuck) Kalin III as director-industrial sales for the low-voltage motors and drives business of its Technology Products Division. Kalin has been with ABB since 1990, most recently serving as vice-president and general manager of ABB Process Industries.
Kalin has a BS in electronics engineering from Valparaiso Technical Institute, Purdue University.
ABB Automation Technology Products Division provides energy-efficient electric drives, motors, and engineered drive systems to a wide range of industries.
Parent ABB serves customers in manufacturing, process, utilities, and oil and gas markets, with facilities in more than 100 countries worldwide.
Bacou USA Inc.
Santa Ana, Calif., has announced the promotion of Kirk Thompson to regional sales manager, presiding over the central US region. His responsibilities are management of territory sales managers and distributor relationships for all Survivair and Biosystems product lines, which include air-purifying respirators, self-contained breathing equipment, and gas-detection instruments.
Fakespace Systems Inc.
Kitchener, Ont., has announced that Alan Caskey is its new vice-president of sales. Caskey has almost 20 years of experience in the projection-based visualization industry.
Fakespace designs, markets, and integrates visualization systems and interactive devices for work with virtual prototypes and visual simulations. The company's products and services have applications in many industries, including geophysical exploration.
GX Technology Corp.
Houston, has announced the incor-poration of GX Technology Canada Ltd. and the opening of an office in Calgary. Mike Hall has been named Calgary Center manager.
Hall has 31 years of experience in the acquisition, processing, and interpretation of seismic data. He is a pioneer in the use of prestack imaging for AVO and is a recognized expert in the design of 3D seismic acquisition for imaging and characterization of complex reservoirs.
GX Technology is a provider of advanced seismic imaging solutions, focused especially on prestack depth and time migration.
KCA Drilling Inc.
Houston, has named Neil Stevenson vice-president, and John Nichols project development manager. Establishment of the Houston office marks KCA's first move into the US marketplace.
KCA Drilling Ltd. is the UK's largest offshore drilling contractor, with 20 installations, and contracts in North Africa, the Caspian Sea, and Middle East.
Lewis Energy Group
San Antonio, has appointed Martin H. (Marty) Zolkoski to managing vice-president, pipeline operations. Responsibilities of the position include commercial and operational duties of Lewis Energy Group's Cerrito Pipeline Co.
Zolkoski, who holds a BBA from St. Mary's University, has 23 years of experience in the natural gas pipeline industry.
NATCO Group Inc.
Houston, has completed acquisition of Axsia Group Ltd., a process design company based in the UK. Axsia specializes in the design and supply of water-reinjection systems for oil and gas fields, as well as oily water treatment, oil separation, hydrogen production, and other process-equipment systems.
NATCO Group is a provider of wellhead process equipment, systems, and service used in oil and gas production.
SunGard Trading & Risk Systems and Altra Energy Technologies Inc.
New York and Houston, respectively, have announced a strategic partnership agreement to create an integrated solution comprised of current applications for energy trading, risk management, and scheduling. Altra's scheduling systems-Altra Gas and Altra Power-will be integrated with SunGard's Epsilon and Panorama solutions for trading and risk management.
Altra Energy Technologies, founded in 1996, provides neutral online trading systems, transaction management software, and e-business solutions for the energy industry.
SunGard Trading & Risk Systems provides web-enabled solutions for trading, risk management, and commodity scheduling.
Waukesha Engine
Waukesha, Wisc., has appointed Walter Loeppky and Mark Foster as gas compression engine sales managers. Loeppky, who holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, will be based in Calgary. Foster, a graduate of Corpus Christi State University with a BBA in finance, will locate in Corpus Christi.
Waukesha Engine provides natural gas engine systems serving the gas compression, power generation, and mechanical drive markets worldwide from its manufacturing facilities in Waukesha, Wisc., and Appingedam, The Netherlands. Waukesha Engine is part of Dresser Inc., headquartered in Dallas.