Leading NSW electrical and communications contractors were recognised Friday 7 September at the annual electrical industry Excellence Awards hosted by peak Australian industry body the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA). [ + ]

Union groups have welcomed Endeavour Energy’s decision not to pursue further appeals against the Fair Work Australia ruling on urine testing of its employees. [ + ]

Emerson Network Power has won the 2012 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Market Share Leadership award in the data centre cooling solutions category. [ + ]

A survey conducted by Eaton has found that two thirds of data centre managers see infrastructure reliability as their top priority when it comes to planning and managing data centre infrastructure. [ + ]

The Connected Lighting Alliance aims to promote and stimulate the development of open-standard wireless lighting solutions and offer maximum interoperability. [ + ]

Siemens has acquired Kaon Holdings, a company best known for its Fusesaver vacuum switch. [ + ]

HPM Legrand opened its new Prestons site in south-western Sydney with New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell and Legrand Group Chairman and CEO Giles Schnepp officiating. [ + ]

ecopoint’s small panel lighting range has been awarded the IC-F rating by International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ), making ecopoint the first New Zealand company to receive the rating. [ + ]

Researchers at RTI International have developed solar cells from solutions of semiconductor particles which have a power conversion efficiency equivalent to traditional cells at a lower cost. [ + ]

Ai Group will receive $2.3 million in government funding to establish an apprenticeship adviser network and a further $790,000 for targeted mentoring and assistance to improve apprenticeship retention rates. [ + ]

Researchers have found that soft lighting and mellow music impacts diners’ calorie intake and satisfaction with their meal. [ + ]

Australia and Europe will be linking their emissions trading scheme by means of the mutual recognition of carbon units between the two cap and trade systems. To facilitate linking, the Australian Government will not implement the price and a new sublimit will apply to the use of eligible Kyoto units. [ + ]

Ampcontrol has announced its strategic acquisition of Primatec QDA, which it says will boost the company’s innovative technology solutions. [ + ]

Schneider Electric has formed an alliance with SkillsTech Australia, Queensland’s largest trade and technician training TAFE institute, to address Australia’s engineering skills shortage. [ + ]

Winners of the NECA annual electrical industry Excellence Awards and Apprentice of the Year Awards for the ACT were announced on Friday. [ + ]