Key to ANDs initiative is supporting education as it is one of the key foundations to the modern hi-tech industry. Not only does the company have strong links with local universities & research organisations, but importantly also to local schools - where the seeds of innovation begin to grow.

One such local school is St John's CE in Epping & in January AND were invited along to participate in their annual careers convention.

Designated a Specialist Engineering College the school teaches pupils from year 7 to year 11 (GCSE level) & so it is an important event in the school's calendar for not only helping year 9 pupils decide what GCSE subject options they may take, but to also support year 11 students decision process in deciding on their next step, be it straight out to work, apprenticeship, college or Sixth form studies at another school.

AND Technology Research was invited along to represent the technology sector, talking to both pupils & parents alike about different roles in the industry in addition to desired qualifications & the different educational paths/options available to individuals.

ANDs Programmes Director, Steven Kear, organised & managed the stand at the careers event, taking along an energy efficiency demonstrator developed with Renesas in addition to a capacitive touch demo (mTouch) from Microchip, Steve commented: "I think it's very important to give students not only advice & literature about the industry, but to show them examples of technology, so that they can see, touch & play with the systems that makes up their iPods & mobile phones. Crucially this gives an insight into how electronic products work & how the simplicity of ideas & well applied technology, make the best products…it's what originally hooked me & still fascinates me today".

Alongside AND were representatives from all sectors ranging from the Royal Navy & London Ambulance Service, through to construction, insurance, healthcare companies & local colleges & schools offering further/Sixth Form education.

At the close of the event Viv Madden organiser of the event for St John's CE School, thanked all the organisations who has attended & passed on the highly positive feedback she had already received from both the pupils & parents about the evening.

Useful links
St John's CE School [www.st-johns.info]
Renesas Technology Europe [eu.renesas.com]
Microchip mTouch [www.microchip.com]

TechnologyWorld08 - show report

The 17th & 18th of November saw AND Technology Research showcasing technology from recent projects in addition to its broad portfolio of services at the Rioch Arena, Coventry, for TechnologyWorld08.

In its fourth year, the event was attended by a record 600 delegates from over 400 companies across 36 countries. The participants ranged from early stage businesses with interesting, forward thinking technologies to established global players such as Orange, BT Media & Broadcast, Panasonic, Ericsson, Nokia, Ricoh, Hitachi & Samsung SDS.

During the two day event an astonishing 1,300 plus one-to-one meeting were held between UK & overseas companies to identify & build new business & partnership opportunities.

ANDs Programmes Director, Steven Kear, organised & managed the stand for the two day show, with colleagues Valerie Thorn (CEO) & David Ashwell (Embedded Engineer) on hand on alternating days, to provide visitors & pre-booked meeting delegates with different insights into the company & services in addition to discussing technological developments in the industry & indeed by AND in its own right.

One of the main draws to the AND stand was an Energy Efficiency demonstrator, developed in-house by AND in conjunction with Renesas Technology Europe that utilises Zigbee technology to communicate between the various different modules (LCD, current monitor, controller, etc.) in the system. Many of the delegates, whilist aware of the wireless technology, were keen to see the technology used in an actual real-life application, with the demo providing a good platform to 'spark' off discussion for their own wireless application need/problems - in addition to the hot topic of energy efficiency.

The evening of the 17th drew many of the delegates & exhibiting companies from the show to Warwick Castle for a prestigious gala dinner, organised by UKTI. The evening provided a more relaxed & informal networking event, not just for delegates & UK companies, but between exhibiting companies themselves, all in a unique setting.

On the close of the second day (18th) Steven Kear commented: "…while in no doubt we have all been effected in some way by the recent storm in the money markets, it encouraging to that see that UK & international companies are still interested in building new relationships, accessing new markets but importantly are keen to invest in new innovations & technology - we're already looking forward to TechnologyWorld09".

Useful links
TechnologyWorld08 [www.technologyworld08.com]
Renesas Technology Europe [eu.renesas.com]

Introduction to 'C' programming for MCUs Looking to make the most of your development time with a programming language known for its efficiency, economy & portability?.. The Abacus Group & Renesas are pleased to announce the 'Introduction to C-Programming for Microcontrollers' seminar, in association with AND Technology Research on the 25th November 2008. The seminar provides an overview of C-Programming, its benefits, hands-on tutorial & practical applications & includes a Renesas R8C Starter Kit to take away with you. The Seminar, to be held in Newbury, starts at 10am, with coffee & pre-registration from 9.30am, finishing at 4pm. Attendance to the event is £99+VAT

Ideal as either a 1st introduction or refresher course, be sure to click here to register [www.abacus.co.uk] before places get booked up.

TechnologyWorld08

Come along & visit AND Technology Research at TechnologyWorld08 on Monday 17th & Tuesday 18th November at the Rioch Arena, Coventry.

Organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), TechnologyWorld is the UK's largest 'speed meeting' event in the technology arena. The event provides a highly efficient platform for companies to identify & build new meaningful business relationships by bringing UK-based & non-UK based companies from across the globe together.

Last year over 2,200 meetings between UK & overseas companies took place at the 2-day event, with reported business wins of around £30m.

AND will not only be attending the two day event, but also showcasing technology from recent projects in addition to our broad portfolio of services in the exhibition hall. Other companies attending the show include: Hitachi, Nokia, Samsung, Vinaphone, Panasonic, BT, Gooch&Housego, Selex Galileo & Frontier Software to name but a few.

Be sure to book you place now.

Useful links
TechnologyWorld08 [www.technologyworld08.com]