A 40,000-panel solar farm in Taiwan will be the company's first such project in Asia.

The successful demonstration of safe operation of an inspection drone by a pilot located miles away and beyond visual line of site will help the Federal Aviation Administration develop rules and guidelines for routinely permitting commercial inspection flights in the future.

Overland Park, Kan.-based engineering firm Black & Veatch released a feasibility study Oct. 17 that said building a hyperloop transportation system along the 1-70 corridor—connecting the cities of St. Louis; Columbia, Mo.; and Kansas City—would be buildable and commercially viable and could cut travel times by three hours and generate $410 million in economic development locally.

The Missouri Hyperloop Coalition—a public-private partnership that includes the Missouri Dept. of Transportation, the University of Missouri and other public stakeholders—announced on Jan. 30 an agreement to produce a feasibility study for a 248-mile hyperloop route, connecting Kansas City, Columbia, Mo., and St. Louis.

Black & Veatch's director of strategy and innovation examines how the nation's power supply can meet the rising demands of electric vehicles.