The Engineer
February 2004 Online
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Air Deccan takes A320 option
27 Feb 2004
Air Deccan, India's first low-cost airline, this week announced that it has ordered two new A320 aircraft from Airbus, with options for two more.
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Blocking the Oracle
27 Feb 2004
The US Department of Justice said yesterday that it had filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the US District Court in San Francisco to block Oracle's attempt to acquire rival PeopleSoft.
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Report highlights power of wind
27 Feb 2004
A report published today by the Renewables Innovation Review predicts that windpower is likely to be the UK's dominant renewable technology until 2020.
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The sparks aren't flying in America
27 Feb 2004
According to statistics from the US Department of Labour's Bureau of Labour Statistics, unemployment rates for US electrical and electronics engineers averaged a record 6.2 percent in 2003.
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Zinc oxide welcomes nanorings to nano-scale brood
27 Feb 2004
Using a high-temperature solid vapour process, scientists in the US have added nanorings to the growing family of nanometer-scale structures based on single crystals of zinc oxide.
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Bombardier awarded RENFE services contract
26 Feb 2004
A consortium comprising Bombardier Transportation and Patentes Talgo has been awarded 258 million Euros to maintain Spanish National Railways' fleet of AVE 102 trains for 14 years.
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Boom time for combat aircraft
26 Feb 2004
The Teal Group announced this week that it expects a total of 2,973 combat aircraft worth $142.4 billion to be built worldwide between 2004 and 2013.
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ChromaVision files suit against Applied Imaging Corp
26 Feb 2004
ChromaVision Medical Systems, Inc has filed suit against Applied Imaging Corporation, accusing Applied Imaging's ARIOL SL-50 system of infringing three ChromaVision patents.
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Delphi expands in China
26 Feb 2004
Automotive giant Delphi is investing $40.5 million to increase the manufacturing capability of its Electronics and Safety Division in the Suzhou Industrial Park in China.
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Exposing buried danger
26 Feb 2004
Researchers in the US are developing a landmine detection system that uses high-frequency seismic waves to displace soil. A non-contacting radar sensor then measures the results to reveal buried mines.
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Faster flow for Frankfurt flyers
26 Feb 2004
Smiths Detection has received a 20 million Euro order from the German Ministry of the Interior for automatic explosives detection systems to be installed at Frankfurt Airport.
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GE ventures into China
26 Feb 2004
GE Energy has signed an agreement to establish a service joint venture with the Harbin Power Equipment Company of China.
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Orders are best for years!
26 Feb 2004
Rising demand at home and abroad is underpinning the manufacturing recovery in the UK despite the increasing strength of the pound.
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Silicon thermistor
26 Feb 2004
Andigilog has launched its SiMISTOR family of silicon thermistors that can measure temperature to 1 degree Celsius and provide a linear voltage output proportional to temperature.
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SSE acquires power plant for £12.3 million cash
26 Feb 2004
Scottish and Southern Energy today announced that it has acquired a 120MW gas-fired power station in Cardenden, Fife for £12.3 million cash.
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BASF and Toray enter PBT alliance
25 Feb 2004
Germany's BASF and Japan's Toray Industries Inc announced today that they have formed a 50-50 joint venture for the production of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) base resin.
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Consortium awarded 1.7 billion Euro train order
25 Feb 2004
RENFE, the Spanish national railway company, has placed a 1.7 billion Euro order with Alstom and CAF for the supply and maintenance of 75 high-speed trains.
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If looks could kill
25 Feb 2004
Boeing has been awarded $66 million to begin production of Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS), devices that allow pilots to aim their weapons by simply looking at a target.
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Siliconix releases all new MOSFET driver IC
25 Feb 2004
Siliconix recently announced a new high-speed, half-bridge, n-channel MOSFET driver IC designed for use in high-frequency, high-current, single or multiphase dc-to-dc converters for computers and fixed telecom systems.
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Sorted by Siemens
25 Feb 2004
Siemens Dematic has won a $370 million order from the United States Postal Service to supply systems and equipment that will improve existing mail sorting machines.
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The Snappy Rapper
25 Feb 2004
With a machine that could inspect, wrap and pack fifty items a minute, the chaps at the Snappy Rapping Machine Company thought they were onto a good thing. That was until they received an enquiry from China.
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A mighty wind
24 Feb 2004
Figures released today by the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) show that the UK wind industry is poised for major expansion, with 22 new wind projects due to be built this year.
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ABB to deliver $43 million FACTS
24 Feb 2004
ABB announced today that it has won a contract worth $43 million to install Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS) technology to help prevent power blackouts in Mexico.
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New process imager for thin sheet plastics temperatures
24 Feb 2004
Land Instruments International has developed a new high-speed infrared linescanner system to measure process temperatures during the thermoforming, blowing, moulding and drawing of thin sheet plastics.
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Single chip WCDMA RF transceiver
24 Feb 2004
Texas Instruments is sampling what it claims is the industry's first single-chip, dual-band WCDMA RF transceiver for advanced 3G mobile devices.
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Alstom on site for Magnox Electric
23 Feb 2004
Alstom has recently been awarded a long-term maintenance contract worth 9 million Euros to service steam turbines, generators and auxiliary plant at three Magnox Electric nuclear power stations.
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Boeing awarded $20 million Harpoon II contract
23 Feb 2004
Boeing has today been awarded a contract worth $20 million to provide the Australian Defence Force with Harpoon Block II missile retrofit kits.
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DRS awarded $15.3 million Italian Air Force contract
23 Feb 2004
DRS Technologies has received a $15.3 million contract to provide Electronic Warfare Instrumented Training Range (EWITR) systems and support services for the Italian Air Force.
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DNA damage
19 Feb 2004
Researchers at the University of Washington have found that prolonged exposure to low-level magnetic fields, similar to those emitted by common household devices, can damage brain cell DNA.
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DuPont adds new layer to business
19 Feb 2004
DuPont announced yesterday that it has acquired Retrim, a laminated safety-glass company, with plant operations in Zlin, Czech Republic. Financial terms were not disclosed.
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Faster control system design
19 Feb 2004
The MathWorks and Texas Instruments have announced the availability of what they are calling an 'Embedded Target' for the TI TMS320C2000 platform of digital signal controllers.
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UWB wireless strategy takes shape
19 Feb 2004
Future Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology-based products built on a standards based platform will enable high-speed transfer of multimedia content between devices in the home or office, at lower costs and without the hassle of wires.
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ATK awarded $97 million rocket motor contract
18 Feb 2004
ATK has received contracts worth over $97 million to produce first, second, and third stage Orion rocket motors for Orbital Sciences Corporation.
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FAA proposes $700 million retrofit
18 Feb 2004
The US Federal Aviation Administration is considering a proposal that would require airlines to install new systems to reduce fuel tank flammability on all large passenger jets.
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New fruit label indicates ripeness
18 Feb 2004
A 'smart' label that changes colour to indicate the ripeness of fruit has been developed by two New Zealand HortResearch scientists in partnership with the Jenkins Group, a label manufacturer.
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New TC1130 runs Linux
18 Feb 2004
Infineon Technologies today introduced the TC1130 microcontroller, a new 32-bit chip capable of running the full-featured Linux operating system for industrial and communications applications.
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Open for business
18 Feb 2004
Embracing open systems and open architectures is a surefire way to lower your costs and get to market quicker with the latest technology. Or is it? Dave Wilson sees a few complications.
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Reducing rubber risks
18 Feb 2004
The European Commission has this week adopted a proposal that will restrict the marketing and use of certain extender oils in the production of tyres.
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Reopening the Lindows
18 Feb 2004
Michael Robertson's Lindows.com company has launched a web site to make its Linux OS available in European countries where Microsoft Corporation has won victories in the courts to block its availability.
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Wideband tunable laser
18 Feb 2004
Bookham Technology has developed a full band monolithic tunable laser that it claims will allow it to challenge the cost/performance characteristics of the current distributed feedback (DFB) technology.
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Billion dollar distribution
17 Feb 2004
A fund managed by the global equity firm of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is to buy Merck's laboratory distribution business, VWR International, in a stock purchase agreement worth $1.68 billion.
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Sensing the flow
17 Feb 2004
The relatively mature $940.7 million flowmeter market is projected to experience steady revenue growth in the next years reaching $1.13 billion by 2009, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan.
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Wireless communications go digital
17 Feb 2004
Texas Instruments has announced details of a new approach to wireless chip design that applies digital technology to simplify radio frequency (RF) processing and cut the cost and power consumption of transmitting and receiving information wirelessly.
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Wireless operator makes a packet
17 Feb 2004
Cingular Wireless announced today that it is to acquire AT&T Wireless, the third largest mobile operator in the USA, for $41 billion.
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Alstom awarded 100 million Euro scrubber contract
16 Feb 2004
Alstom and consortium partner Stone & Webster have entered into a 1 billion Euro agreement with Duke Power to retrofit four power stations with Flue Gas Desulphurisation Systems.
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BG Group acquires El Paso for $345.6 million
16 Feb 2004
The UK's BG Group today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire El Paso Oil and Gas Canada from El Paso Corporation for $345.6 million.
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Capturing the image
16 Feb 2004
PixelScope Professional from Wells Research and Development is a Windows-based image analysis software package for engineers who need to incorporate live image capture into optical inspection or alignment equipment.
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GE and Honda form engine alliance
16 Feb 2004
Honda Motor Company and General Electric have announced the formation of a strategic alliance to produce a new jet engine for light business jets.
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Increasing capacity in China
16 Feb 2004
Siemens is to supply all the automation and electrical equipment for the second production line of Baoshan Iron & Steel Group's stainless steel works in Shanghai.
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Only the data you need
16 Feb 2004
ABB has recently released an enhancement to its distributed control system that gives personnel from all areas of manufacturing or process plants access to customised information according to their job function.
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ABB awarded $20 million drives contract
13 Feb 2004
ABB has today received a $20 million contract from China's Jiangsu Shagang Group to supply all drive systems and power supply equipment for a 'greenfield' heavy plate rolling mill.
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Engineers create chip-size detector
13 Feb 2004
Researchers have created a portable, chip-size version of a detection system that is commonly used by industry and law enforcement to identify everything from agricultural toxins to DNA.
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Intel creates world's fastest silicon photonics device
13 Feb 2004
Scientists from Intel are said to have achieved a major advance in using silicon manufacturing processes to create a 'transistor-like' device that encodes data onto a light beam.
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Keeping shoulders insulated
13 Feb 2004
Designed to protect transistors and discretes, Bivar has announced the availability of three different styles of shoulder insulators made from a UL rated 40% glass filled Polyphenylene Sulphide.
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Nanoscale insulation
13 Feb 2004
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created a better thermal insulator by controlling the material structure of tungsten and aluminium oxide at the nanoscale.
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A strain gauge for all seasons
12 Feb 2004
Vishay Intertechnology has recently released a new series of Sealed Weldable Strain Gauges designed to provide easy installation and reliable performance for test and measurement applications.
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Caught and logged
12 Feb 2004
Parvus Corporation has unveiled its MPEG104 board, which captures analogue video and audio streams, encodes them in compressed MPEG or JPEG formats, and sends them to a host computer.
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Moving the fuel cell-powered train
12 Feb 2004
MesoFuel, Inc has been awarded a contract by Vehicle Projects LLC of Denver to design and manufacture the hydrogen generator for a fuel cell-powered train locomotive.
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The QinetiQ approach to runway safety
12 Feb 2004
Debris on airport runways cost the aviation industry $4 billion a year. These costs could be curtailed if trials of QinetiQ's Tarsier runway radar system prove successful next month.
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Wireless sensor
12 Feb 2004
WiSNet, a Bluetooth wireless sensor networking system was officially launched this week at the MTEC show in Birmingham, UK, by its developer, Cardiff-based Expert Monitoring.
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Better beams
11 Feb 2004
Researchers have found a way to improve the performance of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers by drilling holes in their surfaces. The development could lead to faster optical communication systems and photonic integrated circuits.
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Consortium awarded 836 million Euro loco contract
11 Feb 2004
France's national railway company, SNCF, has today awarded Alstom and Siemens a contract worth 836 million Euros for the supply of 400 diesel locomotives.
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Honey, I didn't shrink the car
11 Feb 2004
Albert Einstein once wrote that imagination is more important than knowledge. Dave Wilson discovers that Einstein was right.
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Merger creates $1.6 billion giant
11 Feb 2004
ST Assembly Test Services and ChipPAC, Inc have announced they are to merge, creating an independent semiconductor assembly and test solutions company worth $1.6 billion.
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Research casts doubt over diesel
11 Feb 2004
According to a new study, replacing petrol vehicles in the United States with diesel vehicles may increase smog production over most of the country.
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Alstom on track with 207 million Euro orders
10 Feb 2004
France's national railway, SNCF, has awarded Alstom two orders worth 207 million Euros to supply 60 electric locomotives and renovate the rail operator's regional trains.
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Court ruling favours BrainLAB
10 Feb 2004
A court in the US has ruled that that Germany-based BrainLAB has not infringed NOMOS Corporation's US patent for its BAT ultrasound-based cancer-targeting device.
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Kodak focuses on $725 million sale
10 Feb 2004
Eastman Kodak Company announced yesterday that it has agreed to sell its Remote Sensing Systems operation to ITT Industries, Inc for $725 million in cash.
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Medical systems come to China
10 Feb 2004
The Neusoft Group and Royal Philips Electronics have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a manufacturing and R&D joint venture in China.
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Radar order reaches $61.8 million
10 Feb 2004
The US Navy has awarded Boeing a contract worth $61.8 million for a second low-rate initial production run of the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.
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Smiths awarded $1 billion 7E7 contract
10 Feb 2004
The UK's Smiths Aerospace has been awarded a contract worth up to $1 billion by Boeing to provide the Common Core System (CCS) for the Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner.
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Tornado contract lands BAE Systems $70 million
10 Feb 2004
BAE Systems has been awarded $70 million to provide 128 radar map display subsystems for UK Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft.
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Algorithmic diagnosis
9 Feb 2004
Researchers in the US have utilised data from a mass spectrometer to develop an algorithm that might someday be used to analyse blood for diagnostic purposes.
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Foster Wheeler lands $25.5 million steam generator contract
9 Feb 2004
Foster Wheeler Power Machinery and Foster Wheeler International Engineering & Consulting, have today been awarded $25.5 million by Maoming Petrochemical Company to supply two 100 MW steam generators.
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Managing cows from space
9 Feb 2004
One of the world's leading dairy companies, Fonterra, is considering using satellite-based imaging technology developed by CSIRO Livestock Industries and partners to improve management of its dairy herd in New Zealand.
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Nokia to acquire Psion's shares in Symbian
9 Feb 2004
Nokia is to take over the control of Symbian by buying Psion's shares in the company for £135 million.
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Roll-Royce awarded $150 million WEPP contract
9 Feb 2004
Rolls-Royce has won a contract worth over $150 million to provide pipeline compression equipment for the West-East China Gas Pipeline Project (WEPP).
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GE awarded $105 Million development contract
6 Feb 2004
GE Aircraft Engines has been awarded $105 million by India's Aeronautical Development Agency to develop engines for the country's Tejas light combat aircraft.
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EOS and 3D Systems settle patent spat
5 Feb 2004
EOS GmbH of Munich, Germany, and 3D Systems Inc of California have signed an agreement to settle all pending litigation and patent office proceedings between the two companies.
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Lockheed to lop $300 million off JSF production costs
5 Feb 2004
Lockheed Martin is looking to slash $300 million from its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter production budget with the creation of the first ever continuous moving assembly line for a fighter jet.
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Could steel shortages be around the corner?
4 Feb 2004
The incoming Chairman of UK Steel warned this week that there was a risk of steel shortages developing if the market did not adjust to the surge in Chinese demand for steel.
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Manufacturers condemn carbon target
4 Feb 2004
British manufacturers have reacted angrily to the government' s recent announcement that UK firms would have to hit higher targets for reducing carbon emissions than their EU or international competitors. They warn that the proposals will lead to higher production costs and further erosion of the UK' s manufacturing base.
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Profits on Pluto?
4 Feb 2004
According to the International Space Business Council, the global space industry generated $96.9 billion in revenues in 2003 and is expected to reach $104.6 billion in 2004.
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Purdue cantilever detects single virus particles
4 Feb 2004
Researchers at Purdue University have developed a miniature cantilever device that is said to be sensitive enough to detect a single virus particle.
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Wide steel in Germany
4 Feb 2004
Corus is to invest 42 million Euros (£29 million) in its aluminium rolling mill at Koblenz, Germany to meet the needs of its aerospace and automotive customers.
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A windier future
3 Feb 2004
According to the European Wind Energy Association, wind power capacity in the EU increased by 23% last year to 28,401 megawatts.
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Bioethanol hits the road
3 Feb 2004
The European Commission has approved a UK scheme to introduce a reduced rate of excise duty on bioethanol used for road transport.
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Boeing awarded $600 million freighter contract
3 Feb 2004
Boeing and Nippon Cargo Airlines have confirmed a $600 million order for three Boeing 747-400 Freighters. The aircraft will operate on NCA's European and North American routes.
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Dynegy sells Illinois Power for $2.3 billion
3 Feb 2004
Dynegy Inc, the parent company of Illinois Power Company, today announced that Ameren Corp will acquire all of the outstanding common and preferred stock of Illinois Power for $2.3 billion.
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Rolls-Royce to supply South Korea's Destroyer program
3 Feb 2004
Rolls-Royce, along with Doosan Heavy Industries, has been selected to supply controllable pitch propellers for South Korea's new KDX III Destroyer program.
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Semiconductor sales on the up
3 Feb 2004
Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose to $166.4 billion in 2003, up 18.3% from the $140.8 billion in global revenue recorded in 2002, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
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Superconducting nanodots
3 Feb 2004
American Superconductor has filed a patent application for a new manufacturing technique that delivers a 30% increase in the electric current-carrying capability of the company's second generation high temperature superconductor wire.
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UK snubs RFID
3 Feb 2004
New research carried out by e.centre, the UK supply chain efficiency association, shows that 85 per cent of UK companies have no plans to introduce radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in their organisations.
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Configuring cameras
2 Feb 2004
Coreco Imaging's CamExpert is a new Windows-based camera configuration utility that is bundled with the latest release of the company's Sapera LT 5.0 image acquisition and development library.
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Co-operating antennas
2 Feb 2004
A new technique which enables mobile phone network cells to change shape according to demand will eliminate the need for more masts to be erected and increase network capacity, say researchers at Queen Mary, University of London.
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Deposition in China
2 Feb 2004
Emcore Corporation has agreed to pay a $400,000 civil penalty to settle charges that it violated the US Export Administration Regulations in connection with exports of tools for Metal Organic Vapour Deposition.
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Fractals help Parkinson's sufferers
2 Feb 2004
A new portable system for analysing the walking patterns of people with Parkinson's disease has been developed by researchers in the US and Japan.
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GM plants could detect land mines
2 Feb 2004
Danish scientists working for Aresa Biodetection claim to have developed a new type of plant which can change colour from green to red in the presence of specific compounds in the soil.
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MEMS phone home
2 Feb 2004
Scientists at Philips Research claim to have made a significant step towards perfecting new MEMS devices that will enhance the performance and minimise the size of RF circuits in mobile phones.
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Waveform editor
2 Feb 2004
Design and test engineers can now create and edit test signals with National Instruments' new Analog Waveform Editor.
