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Discusses the concept of intelligent sensors and presents a definition of the term. Provides examples of the benefits of using the intelligent sensor approach. Suggests possibilities for future use of intelligent sensors.

Personnel departments often have particular responsibility for equal opportunities within their organizations. This paper explores equal opportunities within personnel departments themselves, in relation to the careers of ethnic minority personnel practitioners. Through primary research, it identifies a range of criteria which can affect personnel careers, of which ethnic origin is often one. However, although being categorized as of ethnic minority origin often hinders personnel careers, the paper reveals that it is sometimes possible for individuals who are so categorized to overcome that negative effect through demonstrating some of those other criteria. Thus, the paper suggests, it is not just organizational equal opportunities practices which may provide hope for ethnic minority personnel careers but also – and perhaps more importantly – the actions of the ethnic minority individuals themselves. Ways in which personnel departments might support these actions are discussed.

A study of the effect of poling conditions on screen‐printed piezoceramics was undertaken. Printable pastes were produced, using a commercially available lead zirconate titanate (PZT) powder, mixed with two types of binder, lead (II) oxide and a lead borosilicate glass. Sample devices were fabricated using the two paste types and processed, using standard thick film techniques, before being poled under varying conditions. Samples were compared by measurement of piezoelectric charge constant, d₃₃ and using scanning electron microscopy techniques. Temperature and time are shown to increase poling efficiency, while poling field reaches an optimum at 2‐3 MV m^‐1. The PZT layers start to fail through a process of dielectric breakdown at fields of 3.5 MV m^‐1 and above.

The use of polymer thick‐film technology for the implementation of piezoelectric sensors opens up the way towards the low‐cost production of piezoelectric sensing devices. A novel polymer thick‐film piezoelectric paste is presented and compared with other piezoelectric materials. The main advantages of these films are the low processing temperature, their flexibility and the ease of creating patterns with feature sizes as small as 200μm. Various applications are proposed demonstrating the potential of these screen printable polymer piezoelectrics.