According to “Public Support for Science and Innovation,” a new report by Australia’s Productivity Commission, the Australian government budgeted an estimated AUD 5.974 billion ($4.492 billion) for science and innovation in 2006–07. Major government research agencies accounted for 23% of funding, including the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, which recieved AUD 607.2 million, making […]

Atomic Spectroscopy Bruker AXS also unveiled some important x-ray components, such as the XFlash SDD detector that is now standard on the S2 Ranger and the new version of the MicroStar x-ray source. The MicroStar Ultra can provide a flux of 80 billion x-rays per square millimeter per second, similar to the performance of some […]

Investment in US refineries is on the upswing due to increased profitability. Driven by higher oil prices, rising demand and years of underinvestment, US refining margins remain healthy. According to Wood Mackenzie, US demand for gas is forecasted to outpace supply over the next three years due, in part, to shutdowns of refineries, as upgrades […]

If you open the paper, it is hard not to read about a major company establishing manufacturing facilities in a foreign country. Intel’s announcements about facilities in China and Vietnam are recent examples of this phenomenon. Clearly, Asia has been the most attractive region for locating manufacturing facilities for industry in general. However, the instrument […]

Company Announcements Affymetrix promoted James Gibson, vice president of accounting and corporate controller, to principal accounting officer in December 2006. In January, Illumina signed a collaborative agreement with the Mayo Clinic to codevelop molecular diagnostic tests for the study of complex diseases. Partek’s Genomics Suite achieved GeneChip-compatible status for analysis of SNP association studies using […]

Company Announcements Labtronics named Axion Control Systems a reseller of its LimsLink Suite. Labtronics appointed Katálysis as an authorized distributor of the LimsLink Suite for Brazil. In March, Symbion Systems partnered with Labtronics to offer solutions combining Symbion’s DX, RX and LX spectroscopic data software and Labtronics’ LimsLink. LabVantage Solutions established an office in Mumbai, […]

College Station, TX 3/23/07—William W. Botts, president and CEO of OI Corporation, has resigned following the completion of an investigation by a special committee into the company’s stock option practices (see IBO 1/31/07). The special committee reviewed stock option grants issued between 1985 and 2006 and found incidences of misdated option grants, the issuance of […]

Sales of semiconductor equipment rose 23.1% last year to $40.47 billion, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI). Sales of wafer processing equipment, assembly and packaging equipment, and test equipment increased 26%, 14% and 21%, respectively. Japan, the largest market, accounted for 22.7% of spending, while sales in China, the fastest growing region, increased […]

Simulated moving bed chromatography (SMB) is a variation of conventional liquid chromatography, which provides continuous chromatographic separations, as opposed to batch separations, which account for the majority of chromatography systems. For the most part, the use of SMB in the laboratory is tied to a narrow scope of industrial applications, for which it offers a […]

Madison, WI 3/16/07—Microarray provider NimbleGen Systems has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of its common stock. The number of shares and price range have yet to be determined. NimbleGen Systems’ 2006 revenues increased 42.6% to $13.5 million and the company had an operating loss […]