Soft-metal whiskers, tiny metallic protrusions that grow like hair from soft metals, are a problem that can cause electronic short circuits leading, in some cases, to the failure of devices such as heart pacemakers, avionic relays and satellites.

The Centre for Integrated Photonics in Ipswich, England has launched a range of electro-absorption modulators fabricated using indium-phosphide.

Chief executive of the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (AEEMA), Angus M Robinson, has called for a major rethink of Australia's industrial development.

What is claimed to be the world's smallest and lowest cost near field radio frequency identification (RFID) reader has been developed by an English specialist company, Innovision Research & Technology.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a technique that uses surface chemistry to make tinier and more effective p-n junctions in silicon-based semiconductors.

WL Gore & Associates, Inc has expanded its electronic products operation into its 750 m2 facility in Shenzhen, China.

Comindico has been sold to SP Telemedia Ltd. Receivers will be working with SP Telemedia to ensure the smooth transition of the business.

Molex Premise Networks has appointed Hagemeyer Australia as its distributor in Australia.

AVT Services is operating a calibration laboratory for regular calibration and repair of mass flow controllers of all brands.

Autodesk is retiring all AutoCAD 2000i-based products on 15 January 2005.

Brisbane-based B&R Enclosures has won the National Gold Award for Quality.

Ceramic Fuel Cells has established a wholly owned subsidiary, Ceramic Fuel Cells (Europe) Limited, initially headquartered in Britain.

The market demands ever greater miniaturisation in printed circuit boards - as well as an increasing use of flexible circuitry - so the need for improved methods of producing high-resolution PCBs is becoming more important.

Researchers with the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkely Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have shown that for nanocrystals, the doping process in which one type of positively charged atom, or cation, is exchanged for another, takes place at a much faster rate than for crystals of extended size and is fully reversible, something that is virtually forbidden in micro-sized crystals under the same environmental conditions.

An ANU Researcher has been named one of the world's top 100 young innovators by an American technical magazine.