GE and XD Electric Group have formed a partnership to help modernise and expand Australia's electric grid. The joint venture will benefit from GE's grid automation capabilities and XD's high-voltage equipment portfolio. [ + ]

WFevents today announced the launch of a new, targeted event for industrial professionals. ACI Connect will focus on automation, instrumentation and control and will be held in Melbourne in early April, 2014. [ + ]

AquaHydrex has received $2.2 million to produce a competitive alternative to fossil-fuel-based hydrogen. The company says the funding will develop high-tech manufacturing that will drive employment and economic prosperity in the Illawarra region. [ + ]

Orica has reported a liquid ammonia spill at its Kooragang Island facility. According to the company, a leak developed at the plant and 100 kg of liquid ammonia had been lost but was contained on-site. [ + ]

Improvements in the production, employment and new orders subindexes saw the manufacturing sector contract at a slower rate in August. The Ai Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index was 4.4 points higher at 46.4 for the month. [ + ]

Uncertainty is brewing in Australia's manufacturing sector, Business Review Australia has reported. While Australia appears to have escaped the global economic crisis relatively unscathed, the manufacturing sector has been hardest hit by China's decelerating economy. [ + ]

Endress+Hauser has signed an agreement with Rockwell Collins to acquire Kaiser Optical Systems, Inc. The companies anticipate the transaction will be completed in the next few months. [ + ]

The new Australian Anti-dumping Commission has launched an investigation into wind towers imported from China and Korea in response to an application from the Australian Wind Tower Manufacturing Alliance. [ + ]

Measurement company Agilent Technologies has announced the opening of its new Spectroscopy Technology Innovation Centre in Mulgrave, Victoria. The $25 million centre houses cutting-edge research and testing laboratories, as well as user demo and training facilities. [ + ]

Oil and gas producer Drillsearch has doubled its production target for the year ahead, leading to a surge in its share price. [ + ]

Honeywell this week announced several new technologies and services at the 2013 Honeywell Users Group (HUG) Asia-Pacific Symposium. The offerings will help plant workers redefine how they maintain system uptime and reliability, while providing safer operations, Honeywell says. [ + ]

Emerson Director of the Mining and Power Industries Alan Novak has provided an update on China's mining investments outside its borders. [ + ]

Honeywell has announced that Mohd Shariq Khan, a student from Yeungnam University in South Korea, has won its annual Asia-Pacific student competition. Mohd will showcase his winning design at the 2013 Honeywell Users Group (HUG) Asia-Pacific Symposium this week in Perth. [ + ]

The future looks bleak for auto manufacturing operations in Australia, claims BMW Group Australia Managing Director Phil Horton. If the Liberal party wins the upcoming election, it will be the death of Holden in Australia, he says. [ + ]

Honeywell today launched several new technologies at the HUG 2013. The technologies include the Cyber Security Dashboard - an advanced dashboard that helps industrial plants better manage control-system cybersecurity. [ + ]