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EU RENEWS INDUSTRIAL POLICY
The European Union currently benefits from strong economic growth and a rise of productivity and employment, which are supported by a modern and well functioning industrial policy.
This policy is based on both horizontal and sectoral initiatives, which have already been adopted or are being implemented. Globalization and technological change are however likely to intensify in the coming years. Furthermore industry needs to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change and to grasp the opportunities of new low-energy
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NOTTINGHAM CENTRE TO HELP UK TO MEET ITS CARBON TARGETS
Cutting-edge technology that ‘captures’ polluting carbon dioxide and stores it permanently inside rocks will be developed at a new £1.1m research centre at The University of Nottingham.
Dr Mercedes Maroto-Valer, Associate Professor and Reader in Energy Technology, has won £1.1m for a new centre that is set to play a crucial role in the fight against climate change.
The Centre for Innovation in Carbon Capture and Storage (CICCS) — due to open in October 2007 — will develop novel technologies to trap and store gree
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ROBOTS TO ASSEMBLE AIRCRAFT QUICKER
A UK university has recently gained a technical partner to develop robotic assembly systems for the aircraft industry with the aim of reducing the high level of manual work currently used by the industry
Mitsubishi Electric-the robot and automation supplier-are the latest technology partner to Sheffield University and Boeing’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). The AMRC is rapidly becoming recognised as a world-class global research facility for developing advanced technology systems for advanced materials
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HOW TO DISPOSE OF THE NANOMATERIAL?
All materials and products eventually come to the end of their useful life, and those made with nanotechnology are no different. This means that engineered nanomaterials will ultimately enter the waste stream and find their way into landfills or incinerators—and eventually into the air, soil and water. As a result, it is important to consider how various forms of nanomaterials will be disposed of and treated at the end of their use, and how the regulatory system will treat such materials at the various stages of their
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PAPER-THIN POWER
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new energy storage device that could easily be mistaken for a simple sheet of black paper. The nanoengineered battery is lightweight, ultra thin, completely flexible, and geared towards meeting the trickiest design and energy requirements of tommorow’s gadgets, implantable medical equipment and transportation vehicles. Along with its ability to function in temperatures of up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and down to 100 below zero, the device is completely i
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TAIWAN BUYS LESS OIL
Taiwan’s drivers and power plants this year joined peers in Thailand and Japan in bowing to the effects of higher fuel prices, with oil demand in Asia’s fifth-largest consumer falling for the first time in five years. While oil demand growth in much of the world remains undeterred by record prices thanks to robust economies, and to fuel subsidies in places like China and India, some countries in Asia are feeling the pinch of $70-plus crude. Taiwan’s total oil demand fell by 4.8 percent in June from a year ago to 811,0
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NEW STUDY SHOWS SMES ARE FAILING TO ADOPT FLEXIBLE WORKING PRACTICES
A new study shows that SMEs are lagging behind larger companies and missing out on the benefits of flexible working which can increase productivity and support staff recruitment and retention policies by helping employees achieve a work-life balance.
The independent research, commissioned by Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems, Inc. showed that just 40 percent of SMEs allow employees to work from home, compared to 76 percent of large companies. Large enterprises are also far more likely to allow employees to a
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BMI UNVEILS $750M FLEET ACQUISITION PLAN
Bmi has announced that its Board has formally approved the strategy of developing new mid haul and long haul routes from London Heathrow and has authorised the acquisition of ten additional aircraft to add to its current fleet.
Five additional Airbus A330s valued at around $500m will join the three existing A330 aircraft currently in service, with the first new aircraft expected to be delivered in Spring 2008.
Consequent upon the recent acquisition of British Mediterranean Airways (BMED), bmi will now take delivery
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SLOW RESPONSE TO
EMAILS FATAL FOR BUSINESS
A survey of British consumers revealed that a slow response to a customer’s email enquiry will negatively affect business image and directly lead 89 percent of consumers to choose a competitor.
For British consumers, waiting too long for a response to an enquiry is their biggest gripe when emailing a business, with some 78 percent of consumers having suffered. Unhelpful automated replies came second with 66 percent of consumers affected and 40 percent had found out-of-date email addresses. Whilst the majority of ema
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GLOBAL OVERVIEW
US
Detroit’s Big Three car manufacturers - Ford, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors -have reported significant financial losses over the last quarter, while Toyota have recently reported a steady rise. The Big Three collectively only sold forty eight percent of the vehicles bought in the US over July. Losses of this scale could have a serious impact on unemployment figures in the Detroit area and ultimately the failure of the car industry could leave the US economy reeling.
mexico
Mexico was once the cheap manu
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| Brains and beauty |
Furness and West Cumbria’s West Coast is about to experience a major investment that will strengthen the tourism and industry s ...
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| National Stadium, Beijing |
At the pinnacle of its construction, the National Stadium in Beijing had 7,000 workers toiling over the infrastructure. ...
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No smoke without fire
It seems that commentators, industry heads, central bankers and, dare I say it, Industrial Focus’s own journalists have made so ...
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Innovation for the nations
Hope for the future has arisen from the turmoil of the last few months, as industrial technologies have spun out some marvels o ...
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Supposedly the construction
materials of the future, composites are increasingly seen in
applications where optimum efficiency is paramount including
aircraft construction and renewable energy. As two research
examples show in this video, composites really are the future
for efficiency.
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