One of the marvels of chemical technology is the development of products with new and unusual properties, not just for consumer applications, but for industrial processes too.

A high level forum on Virtual Product Development (VPD) will be held in Sydney in October to coincide with the Sydney Motor Show.

Materials specialists, Sandvik Materials Technology and Tenaris SA, a world leader in tubular technologies for the oil and gas industry, have concluded a strategic alliance under which Tenaris becomes the worldwide distributor for Sandvik's seamless, stainless steel downhole production tubing and other high performance OCTG (oil country tubular goods) products.

Industrial automation company Rockwell Automation has added another dimension to the way it assists customers with the establishment of an Internet-based Asia Pacific 'support' facility. Designed to complement the services of the company's rapidly expanding Asia Pacific Technical Support Centre (TSC), the facility provides a central online resource for support-centre contact details and global support information.

A consortium involving Holden Engine Operations, Powertrain and Project Advisors International (PAC) has selected French company ATEQ and Australian engineering firm Applied Measurement to develop and deploy a new V6 cylinder head testing station, measuring the volume of combustion chambers.

A workshop for those who manage, own and build IT networks, facilities and infrastructure is being run to provide them with comprehensive information on the threats posed by terrorism.

Manufacturing companies are looking towards 'soft' technologies, or best practices implementation, rather than 'hard' technologies such as machinery or software, to improve performance.

The acting minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, Senator Nick Minchin, has called for applications for the second round of funding under the Commonwealth Government's Innovation Access Program - Industry.

A high level forum on Virtual Product Development (VPD) will be held in Sydney in October to coincide with the Sydney Motor Show.

A mechanical engineering apprentice from Dubbo has won top honours at the 2003 NSW Group Training Awards.

Pricedex Software of Canada, in collaboration with Australian company Mincom, has been selected to implement a new catalogue system for the automotive and heavy machinery industry, the Parts Technical Authoring Catalogue System (P/TACS). The system has been licensed to FG Wilson of Northern Ireland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar.

The Ambit Recruitment Group has announced the addition of a specialist engineering recruitment business to its stable of recruitment brands.

Specifiers and purchasers of portable test instruments are, in many cases, giving insufficient consideration to safety, according to test and measurement expert, Megger. The company is finding that, all too often, little consideration is given to operator safety, or to the suitability of the instrument for the application in which it will be used, despite the fact that such benefits are available for no cost premium.

University of Newcastle graduates have achieved higher starting salaries than the national median in the latest starting salaries report.

At its bi-annual utility conference - Utopia 2003 - ABB had two messages for its US power generation and water customers.