Diagnostics, verification and monitoring. - Endress+Hauser offers Heartbeat Technology with its Liquiline CM44 and CM44R transmitters for use with Memosens pH and conductivity sensors. Heartbeat Diagnostics' continuous analysis of transmitter/sensor system health status during operation enables recognition of related events when they occur.

Tackling urban air pollution. - The British Environment Agency has awarded a contract to Air Monitors to supply real-time particulate matter (PM) monitors to support the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN).

Happy 50th birthday. - Founded in 1968, by the late John Moore, the future of the business Mr Moore built, Pickering, is bright, with sales in 2017 up by 30% on the previous year.

High performance optical sensor head. - The AQ2200-232 is a new high-performance optical sensor head which joins Yokogawa's existing family of optical power meters modules (AQ2200-215 and AQ2200-221) in the company's modular optical test platform.

Ambitious plans for Irish instrument manufacturer. - Eurolec Instrumentation has enjoyed significant investment in equipment, infrastructure and marketing following on from the successful buyout by Scientific Measurements. More than €57000 was ploughed into the growth of the temperature and pressure instrumentation manufacturer at the end of last year, which has already produced dividends with an extended distributor network and increased international sales.

Durable tactile switch. - Omron Electronic Components Europe has released a new ultra-thin sealed surface-mounting tactile switch rated at 1 million operations.

Effective mercury emissions monitoring certified. - The Gasmet Continuous Mercury Monitoring system (CMM) is the first instrument to be certified for monitoring at the low levels required by industry and regulators.

SIL certified Vortex flow meters. - Facilities with safety instrumented systems can now take advantage of the new SIL 2/3 functional safety certification of Emerson's Rosemount™ 8800 Vortex flow meters, per IEC 61508, which can help mitigate risk, enhance plant safety, and protect personnel.

The Threat Within - OT Cybersecurity. - SolutionsPT, together with Schneider Electric, is hosting an OT cyber security event in Cork (IRL), aimed at helping manufacturers protect their industrial control systems and critical infrastructure. (March 2018)

Setting new benchmarks in China. - Only five years after the most recent expansion in China, the Endress+Hauser Group has once again increased production capacity with a third plant in Suzhou, 100 kilometers west of Shanghai. The 16,500-square-meter facility will help the Group meet disproportionately high growth in the Far East.

Strengthing display range. - Anglia Components has signed an agreement to distribute and support the Mitsubishi Electric range of displays in both Britain and Ireland. The agreement greatly strengthens Anglia's display portfolio, and extends its 10-year partnership with Mitsubishi covering RF devices.

Pipeline management. - Yokogawa has announced the release of Enterprise Pipeline Management Solution (EPMS) R1.03, the latest version of an enterprise level pipeline applications suite that was first released to the market in June 2015.

Group achieves highest turnover in company's history - Harting's turnover increases14.7% to €672 million; Biggest gain in Asia and USA; Mid-single-digit growth expected in 2017/18; Digitalisation: vital area driven forward; Their Digital Business Platform (HDBP) simplifies customer collaboration; 53 new jobs worldwide / High number of training places yet again.

Training military veterans! - Endress+Hauser is to provide training to military veterans on process instrumentation, as part of the twelve-week Academy of Advanced Manufacturing (AAM) program offered by Rockwell Automation and ManpowerGroup.

Coriolis massflow meter with ProfiNet I/O. - The Krohne MFC 400 signal converter is now available with PROFINET I/O option. Hereby, all OPTIMASS x400 Coriolis mass flowmeters (compact and field versions) can be equipped with Industrial Ethernet communication, complementing the existing HART 7, FOUNDATION Fieldbus, PROFIBUS PA and DP as well as Modbus communication options.

Developing, deploying and managing automated T+M systems upgrade! - A new release of LabVIEW NXG, the next generation of LabVIEW engineering system design software is now available. Engineers can now test smarter with LabVIEW NXG - quickly set up your instruments, customize tests to your device specifications, and easily view results from any web browser, on any device.

Partnership renewed. - Beamex will continue to work with ISA to co-develop informational and educational resources, such as custom webinars on vital issues in calibration and instrumentation process improvement—which are offered at no charge to ISA members and customers worldwide.

IIoT Gateway for Machine Builders. - HMS Industrial Networks has announced the release of its advanced IIoT Gateway and Remote Access router, eWON Flexy205.

Integration of ERP and DCS in anesthesia plant. - B. Braun successfully updated their existing Werum PAS-X system from PAS-X V2 to PAS-X V3 in plant A at their headquarters in Melsungen (D).

Vibrators for concrete. - The Wyco® Sure Speed® 2.0 and 995 Electric Motor Vibrators have been released for use in the concrete finishing industry. They are designed for effective consolidation of concrete to help optimize quality and production on demanding construction projects. Wyco is part of the Badger Meter group.

Martin Brabham appointed Sales Director/Managing Director designate of Gresham Power.

Long term pump & valve performance. - Serial innovators Manchester (England) based Bifold Group has adopted radio frequency based torque transducers from Sensor Technology Ltd for two of its specialist test rigs, to analyse the long term performance and reliability of hard working valves and pumps.

Contribution to solar PV industry commended! - Frost & Sullivan has selected CyboEnergy to receive the 2017 "Global Solar Inverter Technology Innovation Award". The award recognizes CyboEnergy's achievements and excellence in innovation, leadership, and growth.

CO2 probe resistant to contamination. - The digital EE871 probe from E+E Elektronik measures CO2 concentrations up to 50,000 ppm (5 % CO2). The compact probe is now available with a special filter cap which ensures high accuracy and long-term stability in H2O2 contaminated environment.

Weighing in packaging! - As part of its series of free informative webinars, HBM has announced the date of its latest session, "Precise Weighing in Your Packaging Machine", scheduled for February 21st 2018 at 10am (GMT).

How do you care for your asset! - A free, on-line, Operator Asset Care Survey, from the MCP Consulting Group, offers manufacturers the chance to list their current practices in a scored Agree/ Disagree survey.

Features that accelerate process manufacturing insights recognised. - Seeq Corporation has announced the release of its first update to the Seeq software application in 2018, staying on plan to provide four new releases each year. This is the eighth release of Seeq software in just the past 24 months, driven by input from customers expanding their use of Seeq.

Ultra-Fast USB load cell interface. - DSCUSB-FQ Fast USB Load Cell Interface from Applied Measurements, promises high speed readings of 4800 samples per second.

Digital charge amplifier. - Kistler's Type 5074A charge amplifier breaks new ground in industrial charge amplifier technology for the Industry 4.0 era. This unit is currently the only piezoelectric sensor amplifier on the market that offers communication based on real-time capable Industrial Ethernet.

Sponsored skier at top of her game! - Gresham Power Electronics sponsored skier, Nicole Shering, has had a very successful year competing on indoor and outdoor surfaces. During this season, Nicole took part in 28 individual races on indoor and outdoor surfaces and she was U18 female winner in 20 of them and overall fastest female in 18 of the races, which is quite some achievement. She will go into the start of the 2018 season in April as the athlete that everyone now wants to beat.

Distributorship of the year. - Anglia Components has been named Regional Distributor of the year 2017 by Panasonic. The award recognises Anglia's strong sales performance and investment in Panasonic's product range.

Compact alternative for linear measurement. - Novotechnik's TFD-4000 series short-stroke linear transducers, from Variohm, are an ideal and economic solution where minimal size, high environmental protection, extremely long life and high reliability are key factors for medium to high-volume OEM position control applications.

Train derailment prompts contaminated land investigation. - On March 30th 2015 a long freight train, transporting a variety of goods including lumber and chemicals, wound its way through the state of Mississippi (USA). At around 5pm, part of the train failed to negotiate a curved portion of the track in a rural area near Minter City, resulting in the derailment of nine railcars, one of which leaked chemicals onto agricultural farmland and woodlands.

Secure Remote Access for Dummies. - HMS Industrial Networks has released the book "Secure Remote Access for Industrial Machines for Dummies," eWON® Special Edition.

Brian Curtis, I. Eng., LCGI, a long time member of the Ireland Section, is 2018 Society President of The International Society of Automation (ISA).

Utra-compact high specification laser sensor. - A new matchbox-sized 2D laser triangulation sensor from RIFTEK, represented in Britain by Ixthus Instrumentation Ltd, combines a choice of red or blue laser sources with a power output of 0.95 mW for measurement ranges up to 500 mm and linearity to 0.05% of range.

Abnormal power events. - The new PQView 4 software, from Electrotek Concepts®, provides utilities with a platform to track and identify abnormal power quality events. PQView 4 offers the most advanced approach to fault detection and characterization of power quality anomalies on the utility's distribution system.

Planning for water & waste! - Krohne has renewed the "Planning Tool for generation of tender documents for industrial process measurement". The free online tool for easy compilation of tender documents for process instrumentation now features a new user interface for fast and easy navigation.

Robotic puncher! - The Moorebot Zeus Battle Robot from Pilot Labs, takes robot fighting to an entirely new level! The most sophisticated and powerful fighter robot on the market features 22 motors, wireless control and customizable design - perfect for the serious gamer and robot fighter hobbyist 25KG punch can demolish its opponents.

MES software rebuilt from ground up! - Version 7.0 of Lighthouse Systems' Shopfloor-Online MES Software has been announced. The new application delivers a completely new user experience, with increased configurability, enhanced analytics and reporting functionality.

Irish automation professionals honoured. - The ISA Ireland Section Honours and Awards for 2017 was held in the august chambers of the Senior Common Room at University College Cork in December.

Load cell digitizer. - The compact DSC-USB interface, from Applied Measurements, is designed to convert strain gauge transducer signal into a digital output direct to the PC via the USB port.

Virtual Reality implementation. - Last December the Ireland Section of ISA recognised this project as worthy of their Innovation Project Award. It was adjudged to have met the criteria for this award: "To recognise a project which has made a significant contribution to the advancement of industry in Ireland through the use of Automation Technology." This project was entitled: Virtual Reality implemented as a design review tool on 'Foundry of Future Project'

Connectors aid fast panel assembly! - Cliff Electronics is now offering system integrators a new option of their range of FeedThough (FT) connectors. All models of their metal housed connector can be ordered with M3 threaded mounting holes facilitating simple panel assembly without the need for securing nuts and washers.

SIS inspections & tests. - The International Society of Automation (ISA) and its promotional partner, Beamex, Inc., are to co-host a free webinar 31 January 2018 on documenting safety instrumented system (SIS) inspections and tests.

A good steer for shipping! - Camille Bauer Metrawatt AG introduces KINAX WT720, an angular position transducer for capturing the position of ships' rudders or propellers. The absolute encoder is impressively robust and ideal for use in harsh environments.

Capacitive encoders as alternative for stepper motor stall detection. - Applied Motion Products Inc. (AMP) has recently announced an alternative encoder technology for microstepping motor position verification. Available from Mclennan, AMP's European distribution partner, capacitive encoder technology offers advantages for applications where increased durability or space savings are required.