Welcome back after the holidays and all the best for 2015 from the team at Technews. I trust you are all well refreshed after the December holidays and ready to face the challenges of the year ahead with renewed vigour.
One of the highlights in this issue is an article on nanotechnology, researched and written by our own contributing editor, Andrew Ashton. It is a fascinating subject that borders on science fiction with the greatest impact for our industry being the advances in the miniaturisation of sensor technology.
Some of the benefits over earlier technology, macro sized sensors are obvious – smaller footprint, lower mass, lower energy consumption in operation and lower per unit cost. Others are less obvious – lower energy consumption to manufacture, less raw material used in manufacture, lower environmental impact at end of life, lower thermal and mechanical inertia, more robust.
It will be interesting to see the effect these new devices have as the emerging Internet of Things unfolds. Pervasive sensing is what will ultimately drive this in the Manufacturing 4.0 vision, and it looks like nanotechnology may be what drives the cost of sensors down to the point where it all becomes an affordable reality.
I hope you enjoy this first issue of SA Instrumentation and Control for 2015.
Palabora Mining Company and LH Marthinusen launch robotics and coding initiative
News
In a joint effort to advance education and digital skills development in Phalaborwa, Palabora Mining Company (PMC) and LH Marthinusen (LHM) have partnered to establish a fully equipped robotics and coding classroom at a local high school.
Read more...A new era for African engineering
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A group of mostly South African engineering professionals who bought a controlling margin of the South African arm of Netherlands-based engineering consultancy Royal HaskoningDHV have rebranded it as Atana.
Read more...SEW-EURODRIVE builds regional strength with Gqeberha expansion
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With the Eastern Cape firmly established as a hub for key industries such as automotive manufacturing, ports, agriprocessing and renewable energy, SEW-EURODRIVE is strengthening its presence in the region through an ongoing significant expansion of its facility in Gqeberha.
Read more...Functional safety explained
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The SAIMC supports Pepperl+Fuchs, a National Member, in a free four-part online seminar series focused on Functional Safety.
Read more...The Future of manufacturing in Africa
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The future and development of African manufacturing will be discussed extensively at the upcoming Manufacturing Indaba conference, to be hosted on 15 to 16 July 2025 at Johannesburg’s Sandton Convention Centre.
Read more...Reinstatement opportunity for ECSA registration
News
In 2023 the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) announced a special opportunity for engineers in South Africa to reinstate their registration status if it had been cancelled. This exclusive offer is available until the end of August 2024.
Read more...Fostering a collaborative learning environment for sugar producer SKF South Africa
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One of South Africa’s leading sugar producers made strategic use of its off-crop season, turning scheduled downtime into an opportunity for both essential maintenance and valuable skills development with the help of SKF
Read more...Steinmüller Africa and Eskom uplift eMalahleni communities
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Steinmüller Africa, in partnership with Eskom, has reaffirmed its commitment to social upliftment by donating essential goods and creating meaningful connections with two impactful community organisations in eMalahleni.
Read more...Comtest calibration user group seminar
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Comtest invites metrology and calibration professionals to a focused technical seminar series aimed at demystifying some of the most common hurdles in inter-laboratory comparisons.
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