In the eighth year of its Mars expedition, the Mars rover Opportunity has found evidence that water once existed on Mars. According to briefings by NASA, in late 2011 the rover found a vein of a notably light colored mineral – apparently gypsum – deposited by flowing water. For scientists, the gypsum deposits found by Opportunity on Mars are a sensation. They are convinced that the discovery proves that water once flowed at this site. On its way through the desolate Meridiani plane, the (…)

Micronarc Alpine Meeting (mAm 2012) – Equipment for Microproducts. 3rd Edition. January 22-25, 2012, Villars-sur-Ollon. In order to benefit from a reduced price, you should register on or before January 13, 2012. Following in the success of the first two editions, The Micronarc Alpine Meeting 2012 will continue its focus on equipment for manufacturing microproducts. The MAM 2012 programis now on-line. 4 reasons why you should not miss mAm 2012 Excellent speakers and program Single (…)

"To buy or to make it by yourself". Engineers in the fields of special-purpose machinery and assembly automation no longer face this issue in their day-to-day business — if they know about Misumi. "One-stop shopping" at Misumi: Even for simple components, several parts are required. Finding all with the same source is very efficient and cost effective. Standard components such as guides and stoppers are used in a wide range of industrial applications. Stoppers, for example, consist of a (…)

The event organized by Medical Cluster and the Swiss Society for Surface Technology on April 23-24 is dedicated to experts and persons interested in the subject of surgical implants. The program covers topics in the fields of materials, surfaces and processes, and includes expert talks as well as short presentations. Additionally, this event offers possibilities for discussions and networking at the tabletop exhibition and sponsors display. The goal of this event is to promote the exchange (…)

According to the Federation of the Swiss watch industry, 2011 will have been a buoyant year for Swiss watchmaking and the forecasts for 2012 are optimistic. Switzerland is (by far) the largest exporter of watches and its SMEs are starting to notice manpower shortages and are looking for increasingly high performance production equipment. As a "longstanding manufacturer" in this domain, Tornos and Almac have a wide range of dedicated solutions to offer. The CUB 112 is a machining centre (…)

When changing the setup or settings on an automatic lathe, operators very often have to recentre the spindles. This operation can be carried out in a host of different ways, which are more or less effective and depend largely on the person carrying them out. Sometimes, the process is so restrictive that operators prefer not to do it at all, thereby generating problems relating to quality, precision and premature wear of tools. Wibemo, a company well-known amongst bar turners, is now offering (…)

Following in the success of the first two editions, The Micronarc Alpine Meeting 2012 will continue its focus on equipment for manufacturing microproducts. From January 22 to 25, 2012, Villars-sur-Ollon. This 2.5 day conference intends to stimulate networking and discussions in the casual atmosphere of Villars, a charming village and ski resort located at 1250 meters of altitude. A selection of invited speakers and presentations will comprise the program. A small, table-top exhibition (…)

It is a false idea still too widespread we must fight: the Chinese industry would be underequipped and would work with obsolete techniques. On the contrary, companies of the most populated country in the world invest in the latest and the most automatised technologies. Robotec, the Switzerland based company, is the first integrator in Switzerland for Fanuc polyarticulated robots range, as well as for the 6 axes Fanuc Delta robots. Let’s see a few of its projects: Installed in 2008 in a (…)

Conceptools, the Swiss company located in Le Locle, announces the creation of a new company on January first 2012: Innotols. Its goal covers design, implementation, manufacture and sale of tungsten carbide (MD), high speed steel (HSS) and cubic boron nitride (CBN) cutting tool. Conceptools focuses on polycrystalline diamond (PCD) and natural diamond (MCD) tools. The companies’ flags show clear filiation. This will allow Innotools to benefit from the reputation of quality and serious earned (…)

Another year full of interesting discoveries is about to come to its end and we would like to thank all the companies and people we’re working with for their confidence and support. Also thank you to the more and more numerous readers of our online source of information. Merry Christmas and happy New Year The daily news on the blog will be stopped for one week and will be back on January 3 with industry and microtechnology news. We are eager to carry on bringing you valuable info (…)