The recent Automation Fair event, held in Houston on 11-15 November, attracted more than 100 exhibitors and more than 9700 manufacturing and industrial professionals. [ + ]

Metso's Process Technology and Innovation team has been honoured at The Premier of Queensland's Export Awards for its delivery of innovative technical solutions to the global resources industry. [ + ]

The Make Australia campaign has launched an online petition calling on Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane to act to save Australia's car manufacturing industry. [ + ]

The Sinopec Maoming Company has selected Honeywell's business management and automation technology for its ageing petrochemical plants in Guangdong Province in China. [ + ]

Metso Mining and Construction has been awarded a contract to supply two MP2500 cone crushers for Kalumbila Minerals' Sentinel project, which is located 150 km west of Solwezi, north-west Zambia. [ + ]

CAPS Australia's manufacturing division has developed a large packaged skid to support a major natural gas project in Pakistan that will provide energy to thousands of homes and businesses across the country. [ + ]

As part of its expansion in Australia, Pepperl+Fuchs has moved its head office. The company's new headquarters is in a facility previously occupied by Govan in Campbellfield, Melbourne. [ + ]

Orica has signed a major natural gas agreement with Esso Australia and BHP Billiton to purchase up to 42 PJ of natural gas per year for three years. [ + ]

Emerson Process Management has introduced its new General Manager and Managing Director responsible for Australia and New Zealand: Karl Wigginton. [ + ]

Rumours that Energy Australia's Wallerawang power station is set to close are just that - rumours. According to Paul Toole, the Member for Bathurst, the company has refuted speculation that the power plant will be mothballed by March 2014. [ + ]

Even if Holden continues manufacturing cars in Australia, most - if not all - of the work will be done by robots, a union official has predicted. [ + ]

An engineering student has won JCU's annual Charles (CN) Barton Medal for his fourth-year thesis, an in-depth investigation into improving the efficiency of bulk materials handling. [ + ]

A new online community that extends the Industrial IP Advantage website has been launched. Cisco, Panduit and Rockwell Automation are sponsoring the online community, in cooperation with ODVA. [ + ]

In a further step towards automation in the supermarket, Cornell University engineers have trained a robot to work as a 'checkout chick' in a simulated grocery checkout. [ + ]

CSIRO is virtually bringing together the various pieces of Phar Lap that are spread across Australia and New Zealand using robotic technology. [ + ]