This year’s ‘Aussie Cup’ TPM3 team competition is shaping up to be an international affair.

The Fieldbus Foundation has announced that Hans-Georg Kumpfmueller has been named to its board of directors. In addition to chairman John Berra of Emerson Process Management, current foundation members include Kenneth Deken, Rockwell Automation; David Eisner, Honeywell; Motofumi Matsumura, Fuji; Shuzo Kaihori, Yokogawa; Jim Porter, DuPont; Claude Ricaud, Schneider Electric; Ron Szanyi, ExxonMobil; Mark Taft, ABB; Hirozume Sone, Yamatake Corporation; John Eva, Invensys; and Hans-Georg Kumpfmueller, Siemens AG.

BHP Billiton Ltd says base metal prices will remain around historical highs for some time to come. In its base metals briefing, base metals division president Diego Hernandez said the market fundamentals were sound. He said that with low stocks and healthy demand, prices should remain around historical averages for some time to come.

Michael Eckle has been managing Wampfler Australia following his predecessor Ivor Watt's retirement earlier this year. The company, with its headquarters in Brisbane, is a 100% subsidiary of Wampfler AG, a manufacturer of systems for energy and data transmission to mobile consumers.

Omron Corporation, the US$5.5 billion Japanese manufacturer of automation and sensing products, has revealed more specific plans related to the November 2005 announcement of a US$20 million worldwide investment in the RFID business over a two-year period. The company announced that RFID inlay manufacturing capacity will be increased to support production of more than 250 million inlays per year at its Minakuchi factory in Shiga, Japan.

Controlotron and Siemens have signed an asset purchase agreement for Siemens to acquire the assets and the business activities of Controlotron, which is based in Hauppauge, New York, USA.

Six students from the University of South Australia have been awarded Scholarships in Engineering and Information Technology by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO).

Suppliers looking to promote their products to Queensland’s manufacturing sector will have an opportunity during the Queensland Manufacturing Technology Exhibition (QMan) 2006, to be held in Brisbane from October 17-19.

With demand for light metals tipped to soar in the next 15 years, a new Monash University-led research centre will look at how the Australian industry can become more competitive.

The advanced manufacturing industry has announced its intention to boost its international competitiveness by integrating with global supply chains, with the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Action Agenda.

Metromatics Pty Ltd has been appointed the distributor of IN-SNEC within Australia and New Zealand.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a $15 million, five-year grant to support the Engineering Research Centre for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power. Industry partners will boost NSF funding with $3 million, and seven universities involved in the centre will contribute an additional $3 million.

The Education Endowment Fund (EEF) of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) has announced the winners of the 2006/07 Rio Tinto/Sir Frank Espie Premium Scholarships.

KoolSpan Inc has entered into a reseller partnership with Australian Utilities and SCADA Technologies to resell KoolSpan's bi-directional two-factor authentication solutions to authenticate and protect critical industrial infrastructures including SCADA-based networks in Australia.

National Manufacturing Week 2006, held at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 30 to June 2, has cemented its position as Australia’s leading manufacturing technology exhibition, with positive feedback from exhibitors and visitors alike.