An optical sensor technology start-up has stuck to its guns and will continue to work from Australia, despite an appealing $10 million offer from Chinese investors to move offshore. [ + ]

JBS Australia, the country’s largest producer of meat products, has engaged Wiley to project manage the $8.7 million upgrade of its wastewater treatment system. [ + ]

ESCHA Bauelemente GmbH and Micromax Sensors & Automation have entered into a sales partnership, extending ESCHA’s sales operations and enhancing its market position in Australia. [ + ]

Service Pack 2 is offered free of charge to users with InduSoft Web Studio v7.1. Alternatively, the entire SCADA software package can be downloaded for a free trial. [ + ]

A new research facility that combines Monash University and CSIRO research could transform manufacturing in areas such as biomedicine, transport, aerospace engineering and mineral processing. [ + ]

Smith Flow Control has changed its Australian distribution methods, appointing WA company Teksal Controls as its exclusive Australian distributor and systems integrator of its valve interlocking and control and process safety products. [ + ]

Shell, ExxonMobil, Santos, PTTEP Australasia and Woodside, represented by the APPEA, were recently named as the first IChemE Safety Centre industry partners. [ + ]

While increasing automation in mining tasks can improve safety, it may jeopardise on-site jobs, a new report from the UQ’s Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining has found. [ + ]

Pressure Dynamics has been bought out by a consortium, commencing trading as a new entity on 26 July. The company appointed PPB Advisory as receivers and managers on 7 June. [ + ]

The NSW EPA’s new Compliance Policy is now available on its website. The EPA says the policy will provide additional transparency to the public about the way it regulates industry in NSW. [ + ]

Two grit-blasting robots developed by UTS are being used to strip lead-based paint from the Sydney Harbour Bridge in preparation for the first repainting in the bridge’s history. [ + ]

Dell has been contracted to supply a 3200 core high-performance computer cloud for the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI). [ + ]

National Instruments and Flinders University have signed an agreement that will significantly boost the university’s teaching capacity and engineering research. [ + ]

Engineering and mechatronics students from leading Australian and New Zealand universities are preparing to face off in the final of the National Instruments Autonomous Robotics Competition in Melbourne. [ + ]

The ASA has welcomed the ISP assessing underground coal gasification in Queensland, calling it an “opportunity to demonstrate the vast potential UCG has in solving Australia and the world’s energy problems”. [ + ]