en-us Stay current with Symyx product updates, integrated solutions, industry events, user conferences and other late-breaking news. http://www.mdl.com/news Symyx Technologies, Inc. is pleased to announce that its fifth annual Symyx users group will be held in Boston, April 30- May 1, 2008 in conjunction with the Bio-IT World Conference – one of the life sciences and chemical R&D industries' largest end-user gatherings. Following four successful and well-attended North American symposia, Symyx announced that its Global Symposium will take place in Prague, May 18-20, 2008. Key industrial representatives will attend both Symposia, themed "R&D Integration Success," to share insights into the future of technology-driven research and development. http://www.mdl.com/company/news/press_releases/2008/pr_symposia_22apr08.jsp Symyx Technologies, Inc. is pleased to announce 2008 European and U.S. Workshops. Labs in the Life Sciences industry are facing increasing pressure to run more samples, maximize efficiency and make results available faster. True automation requires the right hardware and software components, plus a knowledge of chemistry applications in order to provide the best solutions. Find out how to use automation and integration to rapidly prepare, process and analyze samples consistently for pre-formulations, formulations and analytical applications. http://www.symyx.com/workshops Molecular Connection, celebrating 25 years of publication in 2007, has received a Distinguished award in the 2007 STC Northern California Technical Communication Competition sponsored by the Society for Technical Communication. http://www.mdl.com/company/news/newsmagazine/toc.jsp Symyx Technologies, Inc. is pleased to announce the global availability of the Symyx Parallel Fixed Bed Reactor, a high-throughput system capable of screening and optimizing catalysts and processes. The Symyx Parallel Fixed Bed Reactor can be used in a variety of traditional applications within petrochemicals and refining, in addition to emerging areas such as biofuels and other biorenewable processes. http://www.mdl.com/company/news/press_releases/2008/pr_pfbr_07apr08.jsp Symyx has joined the Microsoft BioIT Alliance, a cross-industry group working to integrate science and technology in order to accelerate the pace of drug discovery and realize the potential of personalized medicine. Symyx will work with other alliance members to consider innovative ways to address the challenges of data integration, collaboration, and knowledge management and use Microsoft technology to reduce costs, streamline research and market products more effectively. http://www.mdl.com/company/news/press_releases/2008/pr_bioit_03mar08.jsp Symyx Automation Studio combines the best capabilities of Symyx Epoch and Symyx Impressionist laboratory execution software into a completely new application that integrates powder dispensing, liquid handling, heating, stirring, chromatography, spectroscopy as well as imaging functionalities. Automation Studio is configured for easy, turnkey control of more than 150 different laboratory instruments from over 50 vendors. The tedium of having to learn multiple software/hardware interfaces is eliminated, and for the first time scientists can manage entire workflows with a single, intuitive, easy-to-use application. http://www.mdl.com/company/news/press_releases/2008/pr_automationstudio_28jan08.jsp The Symyx Screening Pressure Reactor (SPR) is a high-throughput research system that enables up to a 100-fold increase in experimental throughput over conventional techniques, enabling scientists to test more catalysts under more conditions and to quickly make better informed decisions in the course of targeted catalyst and process optimization programs. http://www.mdl.com/company/news/press_releases/2008/pr_spr_23jan08.jsp