The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International is working to expand its conversation with the public about the role and value of information technologies (IT) in manufacturing. [ + ]

A contest to be held at the Engineers Australia Convention 2014 will see Australia's up-and-coming engineers compete to transform their big ideas into reality. [ + ]

The rejection by the Planning Assessment Commission of two open-cut mine expansions in the Hunter Valley and the Blue Mountains has been described as a "brutal double blow" by the NSW Minerals Council. [ + ]

Australia’s manufacturing industry is in decline. Yet some businesses are managing to buck the trend. The question is what do these “outliers” do differently from their competitors? And what does each thriving business have in common? [ + ]

Transfield Services has received a takeover bid of close to $1bn from Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial Servicios. [ + ]

UK-based start-up GeoSLAM is partnering with CSIRO to further develop the handheld 3D Laser mapping technology Zebedee. [ + ]

Weir Minerals has acquired Chinese crushing and separation equipment manufacturer Trio Engineered Products from Navis Capital for US$220 million. [ + ]

The initial conference program and exhibition floor plan for Australia's only dedicated automation, control and instrumentation event, ACI Connect 2015, has been released this week.

The Institution of Chemical Engineers Safety Centre (ISC) has secured its first international Industry Partner, MMI Engineering Limited (MMI). [ + ]

With major employers heading offshore and employment numbers decimated, what will emerge from the ashes of Australia's manufacturing industry? [ + ]

A $7 million manufacturing plant that uses only 3D printers has opened on the southern outskirts of Melbourne. [ + ]

The Northern Territory government is moving quickly on the construction of a gas pipeline from Alice Springs to Moomba, which it is hoped will ease NSW's looming gas shortage and revolutionise the domestic gas market. [ + ]

Inaco Automation Controls has announced that, effective 1 November 2014, it is changing its company name from Inaco to Rexel Industrial Automation. [ + ]

Emerson Process Management's PIDPlus algorithm was developed to overcome the limitations of traditional PID algorithms over wireless. [ + ]

A sensor application that detects dangerous levels of carbon monoxide has won a grand prize at the AT&T Mobile App Hackathon. [ + ]