A University of Tulsa chemistry professor, Dale Teeters and two former students, Nina Korzhova and Lane Fisher have been awarded a patent for a method of making nanobatteries for use in tiny machines similar to the microbe-size craft that travelled through a human's blood vessels in the 1966 science-fiction movie, 'Fantastic Voyage'.

Trio Electrix has been appointed distributor for the Yokogawa test and measurement division in South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

AEEMA has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with ICAKorea, Korea's principal ICT agency, on August 14 in Seoul, South Korea.

A report in the SMH 4 August 2003 has revealed that researchers at Panasonic's Nanotechnlogy Research Laboratory near Kyoto, Japan have developed a device that produces electricity from human blood. The researchers have created a so called 'human battery' that draws power from blood glucose, and mimics the way the body generates energy from food. So far, the scientist have only managed to produce very low power levels.

Bishop and Associates has released a report covering technology roadmapping on electronic connectors. It includes the National Electronic Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) 2002 Electronics Industry Roadmap on CD.

A new type of standard to be issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will help meet the need for speed in semiconductors.

Samtec has announced an agreement with Tyco Electronics which establishes it as a second source supplier to Samtec's Q-series by selling and/or manufacturing these products. Second sourcing is a main building block, as well as an important safety feature to all designs.

About every 18 months, the number of transistors in computer chips doubles - the direct result of ever-shrinking sizes. By decreasing the size of these components and consequently, fitting more of them onto a single chip, computer speed and power improves. Thanks to a new manufacturing technique - developed by an international team of researchers which includes Paul Nealey, a University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical engineer - manufacturing the minute may soon be cheaper and more exact.

Fairchild Semiconductor has announced that the company is converting all its products to lead-free finish packages. The conversion is expected to be completed by June 2004.

Ampec Technologies and Crusader Electronics have merged and commenced trading as a combined entity July 1, 2003 at a new premises in Silverwater. Both companies have been supplying the electronics industry in Australia and New Zealand for the past 25 years.

International Rectifier and Sanyo Semiconductor have announced that they are forming a joint venture to design, develop and market electronic motor drive power modules for energy-efficient appliances and light industrial applications.

In a different approach to creating white light, several researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Sandia National Laboratories have developed what is claimed to be the first solid-state white light-emitting device using quantum dots. In the future, the use of quantum dots as light-emitting phosphors may represent a major application of nanotechnology.

South Australian-based valve and pipe fittings specialist Philmac has appointed David Stretton as National Distribution and Logistics Manager and to the company's executive board. Mr Stretton will be responsible for national distribution inventory, purchasing and supply chain management of all finished goods.

The first International Conference on Computational Methods in Fluid Power Technology, will be held in Melbourne, from November 26-28.

In the first piece of research into how genetically modified (GM) herbicide-tolerant crops could be used to benefit the environment, scientists have shown that creative use of GM crops could bring back increasing numbers of endangered wildlife and birds such as skylarks and finches in the UK.