Industry events: News updates

Rockwell Automation is linking up with instrumentation major Endress+Hauser to demonstrate how to deliver “value-added differentiation” across integrated control at this year’s Gastech conference and exhibition on 8-11 Oct at ExCel, London. The two companies will showcase plant-wide control and the pre-tested interoperability at their combined stand, B38 in the main hall.

GAMBICA will launch a white paper at the 2012 Motor Driven Systems conference which makes the case for investing in efficient systems rather than saving capital by not investing but accepting higher energy bills.The paper, to be presented by GAMBICA deputy director Steve Brambley, who will explain that 97% of the lifetime costs of a motor come from the energy it consumes: “Running old or inefficient equipment is a false economy. “The real barrier to investment is the understanding of the lifetime cost of a system at a corporate and financial level. In contrast, I think engineers readily accept the benefits of motor control.” The Motor Driven Systems conference will take place on 8 Nov at St. John’s Hotel, Solihull.

BHR Group and the NACE European Area are staging the ‘Pipeline Protection, ‘Hot’ Topics and Marine Corrosion Conference, Edinburgh, UK, 15-18 Oct. The event will present new R&D and applications in this critical area and is intended for people involved in the commissioning, operation and maintenance of pipelines. Full details can also be found at http://www.bhrconferences.com/nacehome.aspx

At the Water, Wastewater and Environmental Monitoring (WWEM) 2012 exhibition, 7-8 Nov, at the International Centre, Telford, ABB wil present an automated interactive display demonstrating how its technologies can be integrated to help monitor and control water supplies. (Read more)

Ministry of Defence (MOD) scientists are inviting UK industry and academia to showcase their innovative ideas for detecting improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Experts at the MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) are accepting applications to work with them, potentially to take part in a series of IED detection demonstration days which will take place between 3 Sept and 31 Jan 2013. Dstl is interested in concepts at a very early stage of development, through to those at the prototype stage. The sensing challenges will focus on concealed IEDs, either worn by a person or hidden in a vehicle, buried by or in the roadside or hidden in a wall, box, bag or another container.

Process Engineering is to take the part in the Manufacturing Forum at PPMA 2012, hosting a lunchtime debate during the show at the NEC, 25-27 Sept. The debate, titled ‘Overcoming Barriers to Training and Achievement’ will explore factors that limit the ability of employers in the UK industrial sector to raise skills levels across the workforce. (Read more)

Cogent is launching its inaugural Life Science Skills Awards, with an official unveiling of th programme on 16 Oct at the House of Commons, during its annual Skills Forum. The first Awards ceremony will be held at the Connaught Rooms, Covent Garden, London, on 16 May 2013. The initiative will recognise apprentices, individuals, providers and employers who have excelled in skills development within the life sciences sector. The Awards will showcase the dedication of those individual candidates who have chosen the Apprenticeship route to enable them to further their career prospects. Cogent is currently seeking sponsors for the programme.

Sira Test & Certification Ltd will be supporting HAZEX, the specialist hazardous area event being run as part of easyFairs MAINTEC 2013, 5-7 March at Birmingham’s NEC it will once again bring the UK’s top hazard prevention experts under one roof to address the growing health and safety responsibilities of engineering professionals. Sira said its support for HAZEX is an endorsement for the event.

Over 2000 schoolchildren are expected to attend the Unison-organised Scarborough Engineering Week, 15-17 Oct. The event, which is aimed at encouraging youngsters to consider careers in the engineering industry, will feature the ‘Bloodhound SSC’ jet- and rocket-powered car. Among the exhibitors are Plaxton, Perry Slingsby Systems, Fanuc Robotics, Moog, Faro, Dale Erskine, and North Sea Winches.

Organisers of WWEM 2012 – the Water Wastewater & Environmental Monitoring event (www.wwem.uk.com) – have issued details of the two main conferences in Telford on 7-8 Nov. The first, ‘2012 Update on Regulation and Certification’, (7 Nov) will focus on process monitoring and feature speakers from the Environment Agency, WRc and SIRA. The second (8 Nov) is being organised by the British Measurement and Testing Association. Titled ‘Advances in Measurements in Environmental Laboratories’, it will feature speakers from UKAS, FERA, water companies and commercial laboratories.

Find out what the HSE expects from duty holders at Health and Safety Midlands at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham on 12-13 Sept (www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk). Opening the two day conference programme, will be Rosi Edwards, the HSE regional director, Wales, Midlands and South West, HSE. “I am looking to explain what the HSE is, and as importantly isn’t, looking for in its interaction with people,” said Edwards. At the same event, Chris Green, lead partner of Weightmans LLP will present a seminar “Directors in the Dock-Could it be you?’

The Sensors + Systems Show for control & instrumentation is this year being held, 24-25 Oct in the new Silverstone Wing pit and paddock complex at Silverstone F1 racing circuit . The show, which will is being supported by industry groups including the Profibus Group and the Institute of Measurement & Control, will feature technologies, products and services from a wide range of industry sectors. Industries represented include the automotive, aerospace, rail, power generation, process industries, medical, motorsport, and R&D. (More details)

Difficult shapes, flat or transparent objects that have previously defied reliable detection can now be seen clearly with new sensing solutions to be launched by Sick UK at the PPMA 2012 show. Sick has developed a sensor, whichg it claims, can to ensure a stable and continuous detection signal from the leading to the trailing edge of a product, even when surfaces are glossy, flat, or contoured. Twin light-beam technology is used to detect low-profile, uneven or glossy product surfaces for example, vacuum foil coffee packs, wrapped chocolate bars or soup sachets.

Festo Training & Consulting will be sponsoring the PPMA 2012 show’s ‘The Ones to Watch’ awards which aim to identify the processing and packing machinery industry’s next generation of stars and celebrate promising young professionals who have already made an impression. The prize for winners is the chance to further develop their knowledge and skills by participating in a number of training courses worth up to £9,500.