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Industry news
World Congress of International Federation of Automatic Control in Cape Town
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 IFAC 2014 will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 24 to 29 August 2014, with an estimated 2000 delegates expected to attend.
An exhibition will run concurrently with the congress, and presents an ideal opportunity for companies, institutions, publishers and supporters of the automatic control community wishing to showcase or introduce their products and services to an attentive audience from a wide range technological sectors.
The final programme is now available here, and has over 2000 papers organised into about 340 sessions with up to 25 parallel tracks. The programme also includes 12 plenary sessions with well-known experts covering a huge range of topics in automatic control. The programme is rounded off with a public lecture.
Exhibition stands will be in Halls 2 and 3 of the Cape Town International Convention Centre, where poster papers will also be displayed, and where refreshments will be served. This ensures the attention of delegates throughout the day. With logistical support available, participating in the exhibition is easy and affordable and will place your research, products and services directly in front of your target market. For more information about the IFAC 2014 Exhibition, please contact the organisers here. Further information
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Industry news
Mark Mfikoe appointed national director of the Electrical Contractors Association
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by Mark Botha, editor, Vector magazineFollowing the early departure of Jill Godden, Mark Mfikoe, former president of the Electrical Contractors Association of South Africa, ECA(SA), has been appointed the association's full-time national director, effective 1 May 2014. Read the full interview here.  Mfikoe's association with the ECA began in 1997 when he was introduced to the organisation's structures by then president Callie Pieterse. By 2003 he had become the association's chief labour negotiator and, in 2008, he negotiated a Main Agreement between the ECA and organisedlabour, setting out conditions of service until the end of 2010, primarily to take the industry beyond the FIFA World Cup event.
He joined the ECA's national executive committee in 2004 as second vice-president and remained in that position until his election as first vice-president in 2008. He served as president from 2010 to 2011. One of the first matters Mfikoe plans to address as national director is the perception of electrical contracting as a "white male" career. He says young women and formerly disadvantaged persons should be given better opportunities to become skilled artisans and licensed electricians, and to become business people in this industry. In an interview with Vector, Mfiloe revealed his other short-term plans as follows... ( more)
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Industry news
Clash of the titans as power companies pursue dominance in energy sector
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by Roger Lilley, editor, Energize magazine
Alstom, the French power and transport company which is involved in two large South African projects, is the subject of rival take over bids by industrial giants Siemens and GE, both of which have made massive offers for the firm's power business. ABB is said to be watching developments closely. Read the full article here.
 Alstom's power division is heavily involved with the steam turbines, generators and control and instrumentation contracts for Eskom's new Medupi and Kusile power stations, and its transport business is contracted to supply new commuter trains for Metrorail in South Africa for ten years starting in 2015.
EE Publishers reported late last year that Siemens would take over Alstom's problematic boiler protection software contract at Medupi power station. One wonders what the effect would be if GE, rather than Siemens, were to purchase Alstom's power business, and how a change of ownership of Alstom's power business may affect the completion of Medupi and Kusile.
Bloomberg reports that GE has offered US$17-billion for Alstom's energy business to get official negotiations going and to prevent Siemens from making a counterbid. This, according to The Telegraph, after Siemens threatened to upset GE's initial offer of $13-billion by working with Alstom to set up two European titans, one in transport and another in power. The newspaper reports that Siemens has offered $14-billion in cash plus its transport business, which makes high-speed trains, for Alstom's power business. This appears, on the surface, to be a win-win arrangement, but one wonders how the EU competition authorities would view such a concept... (more)
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