News in Brief – October 2007

CSC said its recently launched FabTrol Material Requirements Planning (MRP) software has been developed specifically for the steel construction industry. In a single integrated and scalable solution it incorporates all the key business functions involved in the steel fabrication process including: estimating; drawing management and 3D model imports; project management; material management; and production and shipping management.

The Environment Agency has announced that from September in England and Wales steel-making product blast furnace slag will no longer be classified as a waste but as a by-product.

SCI has been commissioned to draft a proposal for a Russian version of its www.access-steel.com , the free online information system for steel and composite construction.

Cartwright Pickard Architects won the UK section of the Living Steel 2nd International Architecture Competition for Sustainable Housing, held in Brussels on 17 September. The competition challenges entrants to design efficient and innovative housing solutions using steel construction to meet the demands of a burgeoning global shortage. Entrants were required to submit designs for one of three locations: Brazil, China and the UK.

Corus has announced a series of lectures, at three venues, on a range of topics relating to steel in construction (see diary page 10). The lectures will run over one evening per week, over a period of six weeks. London and Newcastle will be on Thursday evenings commencing 18 October, and Belfast will be on Tuesdays commencing 16 October. Each evening will consist of two, one hour lectures, presented by speakers from Corus, SCI and Imperial College London.