wiredinUSA November 2011

INDEX

Two Sydney businessmen have been recognized for spearheading the optical fiber technology used in the national broadband network. Simon Poole and Steve Frisken were named NSW’s Entrepreneurs of the Year in the information and communications technology field. They were presented with the annual Pearcey Foundation award by NSW deputy premier Andrew Stoner. In 2001, Mr Poole and Mr Frisken founded Engana, which developed wavelength selective switching technology, and their innovation is now in use in the national broadband network. Their company, now trading as Finisar Australia, employs 350 mainly engineering staff at Waterloo, in inner Sydney. Accepting their award, Mr Frisken said Australia’s distance from the rest of the world inspired them. “The next time you download from a distant website or make a phone call to anywhere in the world, there’s a pretty good chance that that information’s been routed to you along the link from Australian-grown technology,” he said. Fiber optic pioneers recognized with award

Rio Tinto streamline plan

The international mining group Rio Tinto has revealed it will streamline its aluminum product group and will sell 13 assets, including smelters and alumina refineries. The company’s interests in six Australian and New Zealand assets will be transferred to a new business unit, to be called Pacific Aluminium, and be managed and reported separately from the Rio Tinto Alcan product group before being sold. A second group of seven non-core assets located in the UK, France, Germany and the US will continue to be managed by Rio Tinto Alcan until they, too, are sold. Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese said the assets identified for divestment are sound businesses that are well- managed with productive workforces, “but they are no longer aligned with our strategy and we believe they have a bright future under new ownership.”

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - November 2011

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