Employees check power demand and supply at the regional office of the Korea Electric Power Corp. in Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul, South Korea. Photo by YONHAP / EPA
May 21 (Asia Today) — Korea Electric Power Corp.’s AI-based preventive diagnostics technology will be introduced to Germany’s power equipment market under the company’s largest-ever single technology transfer deal.
Korea Electric Power said Wednesday it signed a $1.34 million, or about 2 billion won, contract with German power equipment company Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen in Berlin on Tuesday. The South Korean utility will receive technology transfer fees from the German company over seven years.
The technology, called SEDA, analyzes about 100,000 pieces of substation equipment data a day. The system uses AI to detect abnormalities in power facilities by linking data from Internet of Things sensors, facility specifications and maintenance records.
Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen, founded in 1868, specializes in transformer load tap changers, sensors and digital solutions. The company has annual revenue of about 19 trillion won, or $12.6 billion.
The German company plans to apply SEDA to its TESSA 2.0 power equipment asset management platform. The platform monitors the condition of transformers, switchgear and other power equipment.
Korea Electric Power began using SEDA in South Korea in 2021. The system has been applied to 359 of the country’s 925 substations, or about 40%, and the company is gradually expanding its use.
The company said SEDA has detected an average of 15 abnormal signs per year over the past five years. Last year, the system helped prevent equipment damage worth 36.6 billion won, or about $24.3 million.
“This technology transfer is highly significant because it gives Korea Electric Power a key foothold for entering global markets, including Europe and North America,” said Yeo Geun-taek, head of the company’s transmission and substation operation office.
Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where USC and Notre Dame are back at the bargaining table — as you first read in this space last Monday — and also back to bickering about who’s to blame for blowing up their century-old rivalry in the first place. One step closer to order being restored!
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I have less faith in the rest of college football and its leadership, which now appears to be mobilizing around a playoff format that’s almost universally disliked by actual consumers of college football. The 24-team playoff is a great deal for coaches, who want to be able to point to as many playoff berths as possible for job security. It’s probably a good deal for athletic directors, digging through couch cushions for extra NIL dollars. And for the TV networks, it’s especially juicy. Twenty four teams means more than double the number of games, and each of those games is pulling in an average of between 10 million and 20 million viewers. That’s a lot of eyeballs and a lot of advertising dollars. (For everyone but ESPN, which currently has exclusive rights up to 14 teams.)
It’s also a good deal for Notre Dame, whose athletic director Pete Bevacqua came out this week in support of the 24-team playoff in an interview with the Athletic. The Irish would essentially assure themselves of a bid in most years, which, per Bevacqua, would make it easier to clear the way for USC and Notre Dame to play again.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti has been leading the charge on the 24-team playoff. So while USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen hasn’t said anything about her preference, it would be a surprise to hear her publicly oppose what the rest of the conference has been pushing.
But why do we have to push anywhere? Why do we have to keep fixing the playoff? And if you must keep tinkering with college football, well, there are plenty of ways to fix it that won’t water down the product and devalue the regular season the way playoff expansion does. Plus, who’s to say that after two seasons at 24 teams, the conference commissioners don’t decide they want to expand again? To 28 teams? To 36 teams?
The 12-team playoff already makes a lot of money. But like everything now, it has to make the mostpossible money or be as big as possible. I actually long for the days when college football’s leaders did whatever they could to keep the game from changing.
Now it’s the only thing that feels inevitable these days around college football.
Back to school
Marqise Lee at his graduation ceremony.
(USC)
Marqise Lee stepped to the lectern Friday, in full cap and gown, looked out over a full crowd at Galen Center, and cleared his throat. For so many reasons, the former USC wideout still couldn’t quite believe he was standing there.
Growing up, no part of Lee thought that college would even be available to him. He was brought up in the most difficult of circumstances in Inglewood. Separated at a young age from his sister and his mother, who was deaf. Thrust alone into the foster care system. He ended up living in a motel for three years.
When he did make it to USC, class hadn’t been a priority. Football was his focus from the start, and it would ultimately lead him to the NFL, where he’d never really taken the idea of returning to school that seriously. A counselor would try to convince him on a few occasions and even got him onto campus to set up a schedule.
“But it just never happened,” Lee told me.
Then, his football career ended, and his daughters started getting older. They never got to see him play football. He started thinking about what it would mean to show them what he could accomplish. So Lee decided to go back.
It wasn’t easy at first. He was taking five classes, a full course load. He felt uncomfortable being the oldest student in the class.
“When I first sat in there,” he said, ”I was like, I really don’t need to come back.”
His statistics class, especially, was daunting. He looked for any reason to leave. Then, he thought of his daughters.
“To go back to school and tell my daughters, yeah, I went back, but I wasn’t successful — and expect them to succeed?” Lee said. “Yeah, I can’t.”
But before long, Lee found that he actually liked his classes now. He enjoyed the group projects where he used to only do the bare minimum.
After sloughing off his final semester the first time around at USC, Lee needed at least three B’s and two A’s. No easy feat at USC.
Lee ended up getting A’s across the board. At the end of the semester, the school asked him to be the speaker at its student athlete commencement. Which is what led Lee to that stage, where he delivered a hell of a speech Friday.
“It was just like, this is something that you never ever dreamed about,” Lee said. “You never dreamed about graduating from college. So like to get that done was amazing. And then, I have an opportunity to sit up here and say to these kids and get them prepared for their future, by at least letting them understand where I come from and how hard it is. So they know that we actually can fight through anything that comes our way.”
Next up for Lee?
“I’m about to try and go get my master’s degree after this,” he said.
Cofie’s plans changing?
Jacob Cofie reacts after a layup and a foul during a win over Washington State last season.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
A month ago, USC basketball announced that Jacob Cofie, one of its starters from last season, planned to return next season. It was a huge coup for Eric Musselman, who had a grand total of two returning players in two seasons as USC’s coach.
Cofie decided to still take part in the G League scouting combine. But in the process, he became one of five players who earned invites to the NBA scouting combine last weekend.
While in Chicago, Cofie was asked if he’d considered keeping his name in the draft. And he didn’t say no. “I’m leaving that up to my agent right now,” he said.
But even with the combine invite, I don’t expect that Cofie could climb any higher than the second round of this NBA draft. And depending on where he would be drafted, if he’s drafted at all, he might actually stand to make more at USC in revenue sharing dollars and NIL.
Cofie has nine days, technically, to make a decision. But I expect we’ll hear sooner than that on his future, and I’d be shocked to hear he’ll be spending next season anywhere but USC.
—USC baseball locked up the fourth seed in the Big Ten tournament. But what about hosting a regional? The Trojans managed to take one of three against Oregon to at least lock up a bye until Friday in the Big Ten tournament. But right now, USC is likely on the outside looking in at hosting its first NCAA regional since 2002. All that could change with a run in the Big Ten tournament. Doing so, though, probably means pulling off an upset of No. 1 UCLA. If USC wins its first tournament matchup against whomever emerges out of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State and Purdue, then the Bruins will almost certainly be on tap. Win that game, and their hosting fate could change fast.
—Pete Carroll is coming back to teach “The Game of Life” at USC. The former USC coach delivered the commencement address for the Marshall School of Business last Friday, and in the process, announced that he’ll be making his triumphant return as Professor Pete next school year. A spot in Carroll’s class was one of the most coveted on campus in his first go-round — good luck getting off that waitlist the second time!
—Honor Fa’alave Johnson, USC’s top commit in 2027, reaffirmed his plans to sign with USC. That was after a group of USC coaches flew down to the safety’s hometown of San Diego via helicopter. Not a bad way to show you mean business — especially as Texas was doing its best to flip Fa’alave Johnson.
—Some Big Ten championship results from the weekend: The USC men finished fourth in the Big Ten track and field championships, while the USC women finished third. Meanwhile, women’s rowing placed sixth at their Big Ten championships.
What I’m Reading This Week
Patrick Radden Keefe writes for the New Yorker.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)
It’s a quiet time for new TV, so I took the radical step of picking up a new book this week. (Crazy, I know.) That said, I’m always game for reading something new from New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe, who, for my money, is one of our greatest living nonfiction writers. His latest book, “London Falling” follows an American family investigating the death of their 19-year-old son, who they find was living a secret life within London’s criminal underworld mysteriously before he jumped mysteriously from a building into the Thames River in 2019.
Keefe is a tremendous reporter and writer, capable of turning a nonfiction narrative into a roller coaster, page-turning story that reads like a crime novel. This book, like “Say Nothing” and “Empire of Pain” before it, is one I won’t forget any time soon.
Scheduling note
I said I’d be off this week, however the Lee graduation was so nice that waiting to report on it seemed wrong. But the newsletter will be on hiatus the next two weeks.
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
A new survey from Booking.com has revealed three in five people going on holiday to Europe are concerned about the long delays from the EU’s new border checks
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Holidaymakers fear they will miss their flights due to checks(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Three in five UK holidaymakers heading to Europe this year expect to be caught up in delays linked to the European Union’s new entry-exit system (EES).
Figures from a recent survey show that 59% of travellers believe they’ll be held up by the new system and fear they could miss their flights due to the border checks. EES involves people from third-party countries such as the UK having their fingerprints registered and photograph taken to enter the Schengen Area, which consists of 29 European countries, mainly in the EU.
For most UK travellers, the process is done at foreign airports. A poll commissioned by Booking.com revealed the worrying figures.
The representative body Airports Council International recently reporting that EES was causing delays of up to three hours, with airports in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy among the worst affected. Last month more than 100 easyJet passengers missed a flight from Milan Linate to Manchester as the border checks were ramped up at passport desks.
The survey indicated that 56% of UK travellers plan to arrive at airports earlier than usual in an attempt to avoid disruption, with 12% intending to arrive at least four hours before departure. More than half (52%) of respondents who have travelled to the EU since the introduction of EES said they experienced delays during their journey.
Meanwhile 43% said they were not delayed. Families and holidaymakers travelling to Europe during the May half-term break were told to make sure their passports are eligible for their dates and to keep items such as portable phone chargers and medication in their hand luggage.
Ryan Pearson, regional manager for the UK and Ireland at Booking.com, said: “May half-term is a key moment in the travel calendar, and we know many people are feeling anxious about how the new entry-exit system could impact their trip. We want to help travellers feel informed and prepared before they leave, whether that’s checking travel documents in advance or packing the right essentials in hand luggage in case of longer queues.
“Changes to the way we travel can understandably feel daunting, but we’re already seeing that many journeys are running smoothly. The key is preparation.”
Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, reported earlier this month that demand for holidays in Greece has surged since the country revealed on April 17 it will not impose the requirements on UK travellers this summer. The south-eastern European country’s market share of UK holiday bookings rose from 7.7% in mid-April to 9.98% by the end of the month, Advantage Travel Partnership said.
EES was first introduced in October last year, with its roll out ramped up on April 10. EU rules currently allow the checks to be temporarily halted to avoid queues at peak periods.
U.S. President Donald Trump announces he has selected the path forward for his Golden Dome missile defense system in May 2025 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. A report by a nonpartisan office said Tuesday said the system could cost $1.2 trillion, far more than Trump said during this announcement. File Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo
May 12 (UPI) — A nonpartisan office said Tuesday that President Donald Trump‘s proposed Golden Dome missile defense system could cost $1.2 trillion over two decades – far more than the $175 billion he said it would cost last year.
The Congressional Budget Office said in a report that this analysis isn’t based on final blueprints, as full details of the system’s architecture haven’t been announced, Time reported. It said this estimate shows the price of “one illustrative approach rather than an estimate of a full Administration proposal.”
The CBO said that acquisition costs for the system would alone cost more than $1 trillion, and of that, about 70 percent of the cost would be for the interceptor layer, orbital weapons meant to destroy missiles after they’re launched, The Hill reported. This would include about 7,800 satellites.
Gen. Mike Guetlein, the Pentagon official in charge of the project, said in March that it would cost about $185 billion. The CBO report said that this difference in estimated price may mean that the “objective architecture is more limited” for the project than the system accounted for by the CBO, The Hill reported.
Congressional Republicans have earmarked $25 billion for the project in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Pentagon has asked for $17 billion more in a reconciliation bill this year.
The Trump administration’s fiscal 2027 budget request, which includes $750 billion earmarked for the Golden Dome system, says the system “keeps Americans safe, while using innovative program management and acquisition approaches to prudently employ taxpayer dollars,” The Hill reported. Trump has said he wants the system operational by the end of his term.
The CBO said the system it used in its estimate could counter a limited attack but would be overwhelmed by a large-scale one, Time reported. Israel’s similar air-defense system, often called the Iron Dome, has intercepted missiles from Iran and other localized groups but is meant for a smaller area and shorter-range threats, as opposed to the United States’ need to defend a much larger area from long-range attacks, it said.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., requested the CBO report. He said Tuesday that the report shows the Golden Dome project “is nothing more than a massive giveaway to defense contractors paid for entirely by working Americans” that will “do little to advance American national security.”
