WASHINGTON-Insisting that not all lobbyists are like disgraced lobbyist Jack Abromoff, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is warning Congress not to be overly zealous in its reform efforts.

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN-Engineers at Purdue University and Tel Aviv University (Tel Aviv, Israel) have created a new mathematical method for designing better structures, machines and robots.

HOLLISTON, MA-In an effort to streamline distribution, the Arlink and Ergomation product lines are now available through workbench and cabinet manfacturer Lista International Corp.

OSAKA, Japan-Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., maker of Panasonic-brand electronics is building the world's largest plasma display panel (PDP) plant in Amagasaki, Japan.

BARRINGTON, NJ-Edmund Optics Inc. has received $2.8 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop manufacturing equipment to produce advanced optical elements such as aspheres.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA-Chain saw and power equipment manufacturer STIHL Inc. will invest $78.4 million to expand its Virginia Beach manufacturing and warehousing facilities.

SCOTTS VALLEY, CA-Disc drive manufacturer Seagate Technology LLC is acquiring fellow drive manufacturer Maxtor Corp. (Milpitas, CA) in a transaction valued at approximately $1.9 billion.

ST. LOUIS-DaimlerChrysler Group (Stuttgart, Germany) has announced that it will invest up to $1 billion in its St. Louis North and St. Louis South assembly plants to retool and modernize the facilities.

NORWALK, CT-Reed Exhibitions is selling its portfolio of North American industrial and manufacturing trade shows, including Assembly Technology Expo (ATExpo), held each fall in Chicago and sponsored by ASSEMBLY magazine.

TOKYO-Engelberger Robotics Awards were presented to four industry leaders at last week's 36th International Symposium on Robotics.