Book excerpt: International Progress in Precision Engineering documents the proceedings of the 7th International Precision Engineering Seminar held in Kobe, Japan, May 1993. The seminar brought together the world's leading precision engineering practitioners from areas of application as diverse as sensors, actuators, scanning tip microscopy, micro and nano machining (including bio-machining), ultra precision measuring machines, machine tools, and large optics for space technology. The seminar included 10 oral sessions that dealt with the following topics: (I) Metrology - The Science Base For Precision Engineering; (II) Sensors and Actuators in Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology; (III) New Materials - Applications and Ultra-Precision Energy Beam Processing; (IV) Nanotechnology Machining Processes; (V) New Developments In Ultra-Precision Machines; (VI) Ultra-Precision, Servo, and Control Technology; (VII) Precision Engineering in Space Technology; (VIII) X-Ray Technologies and Their Applications; (IX) Micromechanics and Micrometrology; and (X) New Developments n Precision Engineering. There were also poster sessions and an introductory keynote speech by Dr. H. Mizuno, Executive Vice-President of Matsushita/Panasonic, who talks on the symbiotic relationship between electronics and precision engineering.