The 4th annual National Instruments Autonomous Robotics Competition grand final will be held at Macquarie University, in Sydney, on Thursday, 25 September. [ + ]

Researchers have equipped a robot with a tactile sensor that lets it grasp a USB cable draped freely over a hook and insert it into a USB port. [ + ]

Engineers Australia has announced the winners of the Sydney Engineering Excellence Awards 2014. [ + ]

Researchers from five Japanese and Taiwanese universities have identified a potential candidate for use in small-scale electronics: a molecule called picene. [ + ]

Wearable electronic activity monitors hold great promise in helping people to reach their health goals. [ + ]

With an increase in the levels of urbanisation and improvement in healthcare facilities, the need for medical electronics is set to grow, predicts research firm MarketsandMarkets. The firm expects the total value of the medical electronics market to reach $56.50 billion by 2020. [ + ]

Engineering experts across all disciplines will debate the future of Australia's manufacturing sector, climate change and the role of nuclear energy and more at Convention 2014 - the largest engineering event ever in the Southern Hemisphere. [ + ]

Siemens has ranked first in industrial sustainability in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. [ + ]

LX Design House has developed a koala tracking device that is helping protect the threatened species. [ + ]

ABB has unveiled YuMi, a human-friendly, dual-arm robot designed for a new era of automation, eg, in small parts assembly, where people and robots work hand-in-hand on the same tasks. YuMi is short for ‘you and me,’ working together.  [ + ]

US-based engineers have developed an ant-sized radio that gathers all the power it needs from the same electromagnetic waves that carry signals to its receiving antenna. [ + ]

element14 has launched Design Center, a new resource that offers development tool information alongside product details and supporting material. [ + ]

With touch-screen tablet computers dominating growth across the entire personal computing market, total shipments of personal computing systems are forecast to rise 12% in 2014 to 585 million units, according to IC Insights. [ + ]

The Surface Mount and Circuit Board Association (SMCBA) is presenting a free seminar on purchasing/manufacturing offshore at this week's ElectroneX expo. [ + ]

Mouser has signed a global distribution agreement with fabless semiconductor company Broadcom Corporation.  [ + ]