CRANBERRY TWP — Westinghouse Electric wants to become a leading participant in a major new manufacturing facility for nuclear components in the United Kingdom.

Along with the UK government and others, Westinghouse plans to make a substantial contribution to the proposed new 15,000-ton press to be built at the Sheffield Forgemasters plant in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

This press will be one of only a handful in the world with the capability to produce the enormous "ultra-large" forgings, such as pressure vessel and steam generator components, which are at the center of nuclear power plants. This will put the UK in the middle of the global supply chain for the expected nuclear renaissance.

The details of the arrangement are commercially confidential.

Butler Health System picked Alpha Systems, an electronic date and document management company, as the vendor for its new electronic management system.Alpha ImageWorks 9000 provides management for patient registration; patients' medical and business office records; electronic signature, which allows completion of charts by computer; and secure access to medical records by authorized BHS staff members.This is part of BHS's new information technology upgrades.

CRANBERRY TWP — MarketSpace Communications, a branding agency, won two awards for excellence from the 2009 Excellence in Education Communications contest.One is for the "Building Bridges to Independence 2008-2009 Annual Report," for the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children.The other, for the same school, was the first of two newsletters put out by the school in 2009, the winter edition of Insights.The Excellence in Education Awards were created to recognize schools that make extra efforts to address school-related issues in a professional and creative manner.

PITTSBURGH — Francis Kramer, president and chief executive officer for II-VI in Saxonburg, was named the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus on March 4.Kramer graduated from the university with a degree in industrial engineering in 1971.He joined II-VI in 1983, when the company had less than 100 employees, one manufacturing facility and annual sales of $6 million.II-VI now has 5,000 employees worldwide, 16 manufacturing plants and more than $300 million in sales annually.He is on the Swanson School's Board of Advisors and was named Pitt's Department of Industrial Engineering's Distinguished Alumnus in 1999.

MARS — Jeremy Pochatko is the new manager of community services and support for the Spina Bifida Association of Western Pennsylvania, based in Mars.He will coordinate care for people with spina bifida in the Villa Riviera Apartments and in the community. The Villa Riviera is an apartment complex in Allison Park where association staff members provide in-home personal assistance and help for residents to pursue their educational and vocational goals.The association is a nonprofit corporation that helps improve the lives of people with spina bifida and their families.

Joan Stewart of J.E. Stewart Photography in Cranberry Township recently was named Imager of the Year by the Triangle Photographer's Association.This award is presented to the photographer with the highest total score in the association's annual print competition. Entries were judged by a national panel affiliated with the Professional Photographers of America. Her photograph "Nine Lives" was awarded the Master's Trophy and the Best Portrait Trophy.The association is made up of more than 100 professional studios in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Stewart is president of the association's board.

Cabot — Good Samaritan Hospice of Concordia Lutheran Ministries was named a finalist for its children's bereavement program, Camp Good SAM.The statewide competition recognizes home care and hospice community outreach-advocacy programs.This award is given to an outstanding home care or hospice program that demonstrates sustainability, staff-team involvement, measurable success and the ability to be replicated. The Pennsylvania Homecare Association gives the award every year at its annual conference.Camp Good SAM is an overnight summer bereavement camp for children ages 6 to 8.

SANDY LAKE, Mercer County — The Grove City Medical Center opened a new outpatient center in Sandy Lake.The outpatient lab is at the Medicine Shoppe, 3289 S. Main St.The site, which is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., is staffed by medical center phlebotomists. Specimens will be sent by courier to the hospital for processing twice a day.For more information, contact the lab at 724-376-6101. Physician orders may be faxed to the site at 724-376-6102.

• Linda Cunningham, owner of the Jazzercise Fitness Center in Butler, was honored by Jazzercise with the President's Club Award, Platinum Status, which denotes her as one of the top franchisees in the Jazzercise franchise operation.