ABB announced it has taken over the distribution rights for the Stromberg range of switches and fuses in Australia.

Data Systems International Asia/Pacific (DSI A/P), provider of wireless data collection technology to a wide range of industries within the supply chain, has announced the appointment of a new managing director.

Areas such as IT, biotechnology, nanotechnology, microelectronics, telecommunications and environmental management all rely to a great degree on materials technology as an important underpinning technology.

Hewlett-Packard began shipping its first notebook computer to come pre-installed with the Linux operating system.

A new annual state awards scheme to promote and recognise high standards of occupational health and safety in NSW workplaces was announced recently by WorkCover NSW Chief Executive Officer, Jon Blackwell.

Madison Technologies will now host the Rheyflex cable brand in Australia after the company's recent appointment as the master distributor of Nexans' Rheyflex range of flexible control cables.

Researchers at the US national Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered that the addition of carbon nanotubes to a common commercial polymer, polypropylene, leads to dramatic changes in how the molten polymer flows.

Monash University has recently become the first university in Australia to join forces with Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE).

For the second time, Eutech Instruments has been conferred the prestigious Market Engineering Award for Product Line Strategy 2003 by market research company, Frost and Sullivan.

Shell's two Australian refineries, at Geelong in Victoria and Clyde in NSW, have each awarded Yokogawa Australia a contract to supply them with modern, state-of-the-art oil movements and tank information systems. The systems will replace proprietary in-house technology which has been in use for twenty years.

Rockwell Automation Australia recently celebrated the 25th birthday of local sales, service and support of Australian industrial automation market leader, Allen-Bradley. This anniversary marked 25 years since the acquisition of a switchboard-building company, an Allen-Bradley distributor, WH Lowe in 1979.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances has further expansion plans for its plant and engineering facilities near Dunedin, New Zealand, at a cost of between $3 and $4 million.

Schneider Electric has completed the acquisition of Andover Controls, a Balfour Beatty company. Andover Controls offers building automation and security. Schneider Electric views building automation as one of their growth platforms. The acquisition complements its position in this market with the previous acquisition of TAC in June 2003.

Kraft Foods has developed four strategies within its Sustainable Growth Plan - building brand value, transforming the portfolio, expanding global scale, and driving out costs and assets.

For the first time in recent economic history, there is a country where manufacturing industries are growing fast, and which has the capacity to invest from rising export revenues.