Instrumentation and Control News

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Date of last update 31/1/96

  • Caos in Manufacturing - is the provocative title of a conference that has been held annually over the last three years. The forth is scheduled for Sante Fe April 9-12, 1996. These conferences examine the application of the principles of complexity to manufacturing and process control and is sponsored by R. Morley Inc. Full details from Amanda Lapierre on Fax No: +1 603 878 4385. (31/1/96)
  • New Product Manager - Land Combustion has appointed Richard Whiteside to the position of Product Manager for Multi-Gas Analysers.(31/1/96)
  • Quality & Reliability Test on Microelectronic Devices - Eles Equipment, a leading Italian Company developes and produces Burn-in+test and Run-in+test systems, ESS Systems, Automatic Testing Equipment, Process Automation Controllers and Handling Systems. The will be exhibiting at Semicon Europa in Geneva (Mar 27-29). Further information from Suzanne Evans at Telegenics has more information. (29/1/96)
  • ISA at Birthday Bash - The ISA Pavilion is providing small booths at the C&I Show (21-2-3 May). Small booths around a central ISA lounge with demos of ISA On-line etc. plus display of publications. ISA Pavilion exhibitors get to use the lounge for their visitors. Talk to David Keast, ISA England President.(29/1/95)
  • 25 Years in the Business - Control & Instrumentation (C&I), arguably Britain's most dedicated event for industrial and process measurement, control, instrumentation and automation technology, celebrates its 25th anniversary at NEC, Birmingham from 21st to 23rd of May 1996. Information and Tickets available on +44 181 3027215. (29/1/96)
  • Microwave & Solid-State Technology - Artech House Books have published their Winter'96 Catalogue. (29/1/96)
  • '96 Instrumentation Catalogue - The Fluke Instrumentation Catalogue has been published. Copies may be had from their European HQ or World Wide HQ. Their web page may not be fully commissioned yet.(29/1/95)
  • People Required by ACRA - Acra Controls Ltd. is an Irish electronics company which designs and manufactures state-of-the-art data acquisition products for the world's leading aircraft and car manufacturers. Their products are used for the most demanding applications including flight testing and vehicle crash testing. Due to continuing growth the are now looking for:
    Software Engineer
    Hardware Engineer
    Production Controller
    Applications Engineer
    Apply to Managing Director before 28the February 1996.(29/1/96)
  • PCMCIA Carrier Plug-in Board - IMS have announced their latest PCMCIA PC-Bus Carrier Board, code named the PCD - 894. With the widespread use of the PCMCIA slots in notebook computers, y=this card allows the interchange of PCMCIA devices between notebooks and desktop PCs. Talk to Max Toti on +44 1703 771143.(29/1/96)
  • Messe Muenchen - have appointed Pattern Ltd its UK and Ireland agent. Fairs being held in Munich this year include Analytica (April), IFAT Waste disposal( May), Systems'96 - Information Technology and Communications (Oct) and Electronica (Nov). (29/1/96)
  • Internet Access to Oil and Hazardous Substance Spill Data (USA) - The US EPA has expanded public access to information on the releases of oil and hazardous substances. This data from the Emergency Response Notification System (ERNS) is available at no charge through the Internet. ERNS data can be accessed through EPA's Gopher server, World Wide Web server and FTP server.
    The following internet addresses provide access to these servers:
    EPA World Wide Web Server http://www.epa.gov/ERNS.
    Also: EPA Gopher Server: gopher.epa.gov and EPA FTP Server is at ftp.epa.gov/pub/gopher/ERNS. (27/1/96)
  • HAZOP Leaders - DNV Technica are organising a HAZOP Leaders Training Course in London and Harrogate (England) in February/March. The aim of the course is to give the delagates the knowledge and experience to enable to lead HAZOP studies effectively. The course combines formal presentation with practical sessions in small groups. On completion participants will be able to plan, lead and document HAZOP studies in their own organisations. Telephone Ron Jarvis of DNV on +44 171 357 6080 for more details. (26/1/96)
  • Irish Workshops - Forbairt's Industrial Education Programme for January to June 1996 is now available. Contact Rena Cushion. (26/1/96)
  • Belfast Sell-Out - Alex Janes, Marketing Manager with Trident Exhibitions said today that the Instrumentation Belfast Exhibition (13-14 March 1996) has been such a success that all the stands are now booked out. "I am confident that the event will attract many visitors from all over Ireland," he added.
    Visitors to the show can expect to see products from many companies Irish and International from Belfast itself to as far away as Pakistan.
    Instrumentation Belfast promises to be the most exciting event in the Northern Capital for decades. (25/1/96)
  • Virtual Reality Conference - VRAIS '96 will mark the third entry in the VRAIS series and promises to be the premiere venue for the presentation of research and development in virtual reality for 1996. This IEEE Annual International Symposium will take place March 30 - April 3, 1996 in Silicon Valley, Santa Clara Marriott, Santa Clara, CA, USA.
  • Charge Coupled Devices - On May 6-10, 1996, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Charge-Coupled Devices, Cameras, and Applications", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. Details from Marcus Hennessy.(25/1/96)
  • Smart Card - A new standard has been agreed for a small card which will store and exchange image, text and voice data. The card will be approximately a quarter of the size of a PCMCIA card and will be used on a range of consumer devices. Based on current chip technology, it can accommodate up to 64-megabytes of flash, DRAM or ROM memory. Companies supporting the Miniature Card include Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Philips, AMD, Fujitsu and many more.(25/1/96)
  • Microelectronics Money - The National Microelectronics Research Centre in Cork has access to substantial EU funds which can be dispensed to 50 Irish manufacturing companies. Technology development grants of up to IR100,000 are available to cover the complete cost of product development using microelectronics technology. For more info email: ttn@nrmc.ucc.ie(25/1/96)
  • Apple in Ireland - Following Apple Computers $69m losses, the company may review its Irish expansion plans. The plan to cut 1,300 jobs from its world- wide workforce is not expected to have a direct impact in Cork where 1,400 are employed. It is very likely, however, that the cost- cutting plans will impact the 600 new jobs which were to be brought in over the next three years.(25/1/96)
  • ISA Training Institute - In an effort to better meet the needs of the technician and engineering professionals they train, ISA, the international society for measurement and control, has adopted a completely new training curriculum. This has been adopted after an intensive research study involving customer focus groups and student, client and industry surveys. Further information on this and indeed any ISA matters from info@isa.org.(24/1/96)
  • IOP Annual Congress - Telford International Centre hosts this event 23-25 April 1996. Details are available from the Jackie Day has all the details. (24/1/96)
  • Portable Temp Loggers - The TL600 Series Temperature Loggers recently launched by Eirelec are housed in waterproof, impact resistant, custom moulded plastic cases. Applications include refrigerated transport, chill rooms and cabinets, freezers, and storage monitoring. The lithium battery will provide approximatly 2 million readings during its five year life. More details from Janet Mears on +353 42 31743 (Fax: -37447). (23/1/96)
  • Thirteen Year First for ISA - ISA - the international society for measurement and control, recently became the first organisation to qualify for Participating Body status in the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET) since 1982. ISA is authorised by ABET (which now has 22 Participating Bodies) to develope the accreditation criteria specific to instrumentation, measurement and control programs; recruit, train and mantain a pool of qualified evaluators and assign program evaluators to teams which visit schools wanting accreditation of their instrumentation, measurement and control programs.
    ABET evaluates and certifies the quality of engineering, engineering technology and engineering-related education in colleges and universities in the USA.(24/1/96)
  • Measurement Quality - The 1996 Measurement Quality Conference will be held Tuesday through Thursday, April 23 - 25, 1996, in the DoubleTree Hotel in Rockville, MD. This Conference is co-sponsored by the Measurement Quality Division of the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). More information from Norman B. Belecki.(23/1/96)
  • 1997 American Control Conference _ The American Automatic Control Council (AACC) will hold the sixteenth American Control Conference (ACC) Wednesday through Friday, June 4-6, 1997 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Held in cooperation with the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), this conference will bring together people working in the fields of control, automation, and related areas from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Association of Iron and Steel Engineers (AISE), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Society for Measurement and Control (ISA), and the Society for Computer Simulation (SCS).
    Approximately 1000 presentations are expected.
    Prospective authors of regular papers should submit 5 copies of the complete manuscript and a manuscript form to a Society Review Chair. Manuscript forms can be obtained from the AACC home page on http://www.eece.unm.edu/controls/ACC97/welcome.html.(21/1/96)
  • Young Irish Engineer - Gabriel Leen of the University of Limerick won the prestigious Unidare-sponsored Young Engineer of the Year Award for 1995. The competition is open to final-year undergraduate engineering students and is organised by the Council of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland. Gabriel's winning entry was a biomedical electronics project entitled "A Device to Assist the Rehabilitation of Stroke Victims". He developed equipment which comes into play by stimulating the appropriate muscle when a stroke victim attempts to walk. Gabriel, a native of Ballyheigue, Co. Kerry, is now pursuing a career with Kostal Ireland Ltd as an Automotive Electronics Design Engineer.(19/1/96)
  • Technology Ireland, - Forbairt's monthly technology magazine, is offering an attractive subscription rate for readers overseas (IR33) for the 10 issues. They can also take a peak at each month's issues c/o the Forbairt pages on the WWW fingerhere. Anyone who would like to subscribe can fax June Browne at +353-1-836 7122, call her at +353-1-808 2287, or write to Technology Ireland, Forbairt, Glasnevin, Dublin 9. (19/1/96)
  • APC in Ireland - American Power Conversion (APC) is to launch a recruitment drive later this month for its new manufacturing plant in Castlebar, Co. Mayo. The company, which already has more than 600 staff in Galway, expects to employ at least 200 people over the next two years. (19/1/96)
  • T&M News - is a periodical published quarterly for Europe by Hewlett Packard featuring the products and applications they wish to highlight for their customers. The current issue (december'95) features Logic Analysers. (18/1/96)
  • Bindicator buys Celtek - The Candian based Celtek Electronics, manufacturers of the Phase Tracking level measuring devices for level detection in silos and tanks, (developed by Tom Cournane from Ireland) has been acquired by Bindicator and will operate as a division.(18/1/96)
  • P-Net Software House - UK based Bonds Computer Systems Design are specialists in real-time software, using the P-NET Fieldbus and Equipment. Theey can provide PC based software written in Windows and DOS and complete LAN Network integration. Contact is The Institute for Scientific Information - publishes a multidisciplinary bibliographic research tool which covers the scholorly peer-reviewed journals of the world. This allows you to get an in-depth view of all the research that's relevent to your work. Contact US HQ or Dr. Chadia Moghrabi of Université de Moncton, Canada.(17/1/96)
  • Ireland's Directory Published - The Directory of Instrumentation in Ireland was recently launched. The third edition of this "bible of the industry in Ireland" is a comprehensive of companies and institutions involved in selling, servicing, instrumentation and allied products and services in Ireland. A useful feature is the bibliography and also lists of courses full and part time available in the discipline. Costs and other details available from H E A D L I N E S
    Wonderware stock price plummets as vps exit
    Wonderware buys South African software firm Finmeccanica to be broken up?
    Elsag Bailey to form trust to raise money
    Honeywell to buy L&N's measurement, control, sensor businesses
    Nematron finally reaches black ink
    Siebe's control system division continues strong sales
    Wizdom comes to Japan
    Alliances: Chevron, Setpoint sign alliance for process monitoring
    Hard questions about MES
    Communications: 2nd CAN conference produces proceedings
    SDS announces UK, Ireland distributor
    Artec Systems claims low-cost OS/2 Scada solution
    Look at life-cycle costs of a network
    Contract awards: Bailey wins Scada orders for 2 electric utilities in Norway
    Distributors: Pioneer-Standard buys rest of Pioneer Tech Fieldbus: National Instruments announces Foundation Fieldbus hardware, software
    It's not whether to use fieldbus--it's which one
    Hardware: PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers' Group elects officers
    Lucas industrial computer uses 486 or Pentium power
    Pro-Log produces half-size ISA bus chassis
    Management: New legal guidebook reveals techniques lawyers use to overcharge
    Marketing: Wizdom counts on 15,000 CD-ROM disks
    Control Engineering follows Industrial Computing into product tabloid market
    Koyo a puzzlement for marketing mavens
    Motion control: First Sercos seminar galvanizes user, supplier support
    People: 5 execs leave Wonderware, one gets promoted
    Control Technology Corp. hires Scott Pete
    Moore Products moves Fred Bader
    RadiSys moves Brian Turner up to CFO
    Elsag Bailey promotes Tom Perrine to human resources director
    Harris Computer hires Robin Phelps as software sales vp
    Action adds European sales manager, Robert Gregg
    SpecTran Specialty Optics expands sales force in west
    Automation Forum elects directors
    Rumor & humor: So, you don't read manuals before plug-in?
    Bell Labs proves existence of dark suckers
    Software: Look for Wonderware share price to drop further
    Steeplechase launches version 2 of Visual Logic Controller
    Setpoint announces SMC-Model
    Grafcet launches home page on Web
    Software pluses and minuses--from the Internet
    He likes Moore's Apacs, Modicon PLCs
    Bob Sperber of Control reviews Citect
    The periodical is read by anyone who is anyone in the Controls game and they somtimes learn somthing about themselves that they only vaguely suspected. All the questions you wanted to ask but were afraid to are answered here without fear or prejudice because it is a truly independant publication. Ask     Jack Grenard for details.(16/1/96)
  • Harmonics Under Control - A new leaflet from Norther Design describes their range of Harmonic measuring instruments. These include portable, handheld units for searching quickly for problems, permanently installed power multimeters and precision laboratory standards which are ideal for manufacturing and QC testing. (15/1/96)
  • First in 25 Years - The last two years have seen a blossoming of prospects for Ireland north and south with the possibility of a lasting settlement to the conflict in Northern Ireland. One benefit is the first Instrumentation Exhibition held in Belfast in over 25 years. Instrumentation Belfast will be held just outside the City in the Kings Hall, Balmoral March 13/14 and over 70 companies will be participating. Alex Janes on +44 1822 617744 has all the details. (15/1/96)
  • Preliminary Program released - Releasing the Power of the Imagination is the legend attached to Pittcon'96 taking place in Chicago March 3-8 this year. The Preliminary Program recently issued has nearly 200 pages of close typed information on canferences, exhibitors and speakers at this important function for Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy.(15/1/96)
  • L'Analyse Industrielle - Paris hosts the 9th Industrial Analysis exhibition and the 1st Annual European Process Analyser Conference from the February 6th to 8th this year. The Process Analyser Conference is being sponsored by the Analysis Division of ISA - the International Societo fo Instrumentation and Control. (15/1/96)
  • Electronic Product of the Year - The PC/247/8/9 dual port serial boards from Amplicon have been awarded the Manufacturing Achievement Award. These boards were developed specifically for industrial users of RS232, 422 and 485 where the environment is not conducive to the transmission of serial data. (15/1/96)
  • Fieldbus - PROFIBUS - If you're based in the UK and interested in Fieldbuses, then you may want to attend the PROFIBUS Workshop to be held at the Hinckley Island Hotel, Leicestershire on the 16th Feb 1996.
    Speakers including Michael Volz of PNO Germany, Mike Bryant of PTO USA, Chris Cordingley of Tellima Technology UK and Pete Blewett of PEP UK will cover topics including overview of the PROFIBUS family (-DP, -FMS, -PA), implementation, integration and applications.
    For further details contact: Bob Squirrell. (12/1/96)
  • Graphic Language for Industrial Automation Applications - TCWS of Turin, Italy, has defined a special purpose graphic language for the programming of Industrial Automation Applications. Using this language, the company implemented a comprehenive CASE tool for the development of Industrial Automation Applications; its name is HiWay.
    The HiWay language is aligned to the SFC language defined within the IEC-1131 standard (the underlying model is that of the Petri Nets); it allows to express a program in a semi-graphical way; parallelism of actions is dealt with in a very simple and natural way. In the past two years the HiWay tool kit has been used as an internal tool for the development of small series of controllers for industrial machinery, most of them outside Italy. More details from Daniela Abrate of TCWS.(8/1/96)
  • Virtual Hart - The Virtual Hart Book is up and running. The site is designed for Netscape 2. This means that Netscape 1 readers can access it and get all the information, but that not all the presentation tricks are available.
    In Netscape 2 you get frames etc, which make the site really zing with multiple windows open on key pages. (4/1/96)
  • First Call for Papers - 1996 IEEE/SICE/RSJ Multisensor Fusion and Integration for Intelligent Systems International Conference ( MFI'96 ). December 8-11, 1996, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
    MFI'96 is an IEEE, SICE, RSJ jointly sponsored international conference devoted entirely to multisensor fusion and integration. The objective of the conference is to report and explore the technical achievement in the field of multisensor fusion and integration, and it will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas And Discussions of future directions in multisensor fusion and integration.
    More information from Prof. Masatoshi Ishikawa, Department of Mathematical Engineering and Information Physics, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan. Phone : +81-3-5800-6569; Fax : +81-3-5800-6969. (5/1/95)
  • BIAS'96 - The dates for this important International Automation, Instrumentation and Microelectronics Conference and Exhibition held at Milan Trade Fair are 26/30 November 1996.(4/1/96)
  • 6.5 per cent Growth in Irish Economy - The 1995 Irish spending figures were released today, showing Government borrowing of IR627m, some IR186m below the budgeted amount. The current budget deficit was, however, IR50m more than planned. With about 40,000 additional people in employment, income tax produced much more revenue than expected. VAT receipts were also up substantially but Corporation tax was less than budgeted. Opposition politicians were critical, accepting that the economy was in good shape but accusing the Government of frittering away the benefits. Minister for Finance Ruairi Quinn was naturally pleased with the outcome which, he said, pointed to the economy growing by 6.5% in 1995.(4/1/96)
  • "The Internet University - College Courses by Computer" - is a new book by Dan Corrigan. Published in the US, it offers a distillation of the country's most comprehensive database of online college courses. It is written for people interested in taking college courses from the convenience of home or job site. The book provides information on more than 30 universities and colleges, gives a complete description of 700+ courses and lists 1,500+ internet sources for free study. It is available by mail for $30.45, shipping included, from: Cape Software Press, P.O. Box 800-6A, Harwich, MA 02645. Email casoinfo@caso.com or http://www.caso.com. Fax: 508-432-2435. For Massachusetts please add $1.35 sales tax. (ISBN: 0-9648112-0-0)(4/1/96)
  • More Paper - The paper products manufacturer, Jamont Ireland, plans to invest IR5.2m in upgrading its factories in Dublin and Larne, Co. Antrim. About IR3.5m will be spent on new technology for toilet paper manufacture, wrapping and packaging equipment at the Finglas plant and the remainder will be spent in Larne, with Stg1m earmarked for a new waste disposal plant. Jamont Ireland's sales topped IR5m for the first time in 1995. (4/1/96)
  • Pipeline Controls and Instrumentation Topics - Spirax Sarco Newletter is called "Topics" and issue 4 has just come to light featuring temperature control, check valves and separators as well as details on their training courses. They may also be contacted by e-mail at Integrated Measurement System have announced the New AWS-822 Industrial PC Workstation. This offers a highly integrated unit with embedded 14" SVGA Colour CRT display and IP56 sealed front panel membrane keyboard. Max Toti on +44 1703 771143 has details.(3/1/96)
  • Kidger Optics Newsletter - The December issue features the various Software packages for Optical Design and Analysis. They have also amnnounced their Web Page. (3/1/96)
  • International Conference on Integration of Control and Information Systems - This conference is being organised by the Ireland Section of ISA - the International Society of Measurement and Control. The date is 21st February 1996 and the venue Jurys Hotel Cork City, Ireland. Speakers from both sides of the Atlantic will be featured.(3/1/96)
  • SIRA Course Planner - The SIRA Group have just published a planner for their range of Training Courses and Symposia covering areas in Calibration/Havardous Areas and Optical. Contact them on +44 181 467 2636 for more details (3/1/95)