Three of Australia's leading galvanizing contractors have been recognised in the annual Sorel Awards sponsored by Pasminco Metals.

Siemens A&D has delivered its one-millionth Simatic HMI system to Rolls-Royce plc at the SPS/IPC/Drives Show 2002 in Nuremberg, Germany.

Japan's electronics maker Sony will invest AU$148 million in the construction of a liquid crystal display (LCD) plant in China, allowing the company to produce LCDs in China for the first time. The plant in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, will produce high-temperature polysilicon LCDs for digital, still and video cameras and was expected to start operating by the end of March 2004.

A leading New Zealand's mechanical design company has designed a specialised production line machine for a manufacturing plant in Mount Wellington Auckland. The aptly named 'snapper' was developed to help fulfil a large order for TCXO's (Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillators), which are an essential component of many radio, mobile and GPS technologies.

The Human-Machine Interface (HMI) market, which totalled $US414 million in 2001, will hit nearly $US590 million in 2006, outperforming the industrial automation market and growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.3 per cent over the next five years, according to a recent ARC Advisory Group study.

Emerson Process Management has won the initial contract from a South African chemical and engineering conglomerate for a multi-million dollar gas conversion project.

The worldwide market for industrial Ethernet devices is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 84.1 per cent over the next five years. The market was 286.8 thousand nodes in 2002 and is forecasted to be over 6.06 million nodes in 2007, according to a recent ARC Advisory Group study.

IMO Controls International, a member of the HPM group of companies, has signed a deal to become sole distributor of the Lovato Electric product range across Australia and New Zealand.

AMS has been appointed by Noshok to be its distributor for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Region.

Hansen Technologies has been awarded a contract to deliver a Consumption Data Management (CDM) metering solution and ongoing outsourcing services to TXU Australia.

New approaches to power generation and energy efficiency were just two of the topics covered in depth at the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (AEEMA) national Cleaner, Greener, Smarter conference and exhibition, which was held during the Austronics, Electrix and Automate show in Melbourne.

Technology company Mikoh Corporation has announced it's providing technology to Invensys Metering Systems to combat the growing global problem of electricity theft.

If you were wondering what had happened to industry stalwart Dave Boreland, ex of Edward Keller and latterly of Omega, well, he has resurfaced, still in the industry but this time at the helm of his own company.

At 177 kilometres, the Murraylink Project is the world's longest underground high-voltage interconnection so it is perhaps fitting that its implementation has won a major national environmental award.

Australian renewable energy group Pacific Hydro has said that its first quarter was ahead of budget and the company was on track for full year growth.