Battery science developments win NSW Premiers Prize

Two University of Wollongong (UOW) academics have been named as recipients of New South Wales Premier’s Prizes for Science and Engineering in recognition of their pioneering research work. Distinguished Professor Zaiping Guo will receive the Prize for Excellence in Engineering or Information and Communications Technology and Distinguished Professor Antoine van Oijen will receive the Prize…

Blackmores sells off Chinese medicine brands

Vitamin producer Blackmores has simplified its product offerings around the Blackmores name with the sale of its China-oriented Global Therapeutics businesses to McPherson’s Limited for $27 million. McPherson’s, a once well-known Australian manufacturer with roots dating back to 1860, has been rebuilding itself in the health, wellness and beauty products fields and takes on Global’s…

Reimagining the laser: new ideas from quantum theory could herald a revolution

By Howard Wiseman, Griffith University Lasers were created 60 years ago this year, when three different laser devices were unveiled by independent laboratories in the United States. A few years later, one of these inventors called the unusual light sources “a solution seeking a problem”. Today, the laser has been applied to countless problems in…

Westlab moves to automate medical gown manufacture

Laboratory and hospital supplier Westlab has moved to automate manufacture of hospital gowns as it extends its range of locally-made personal protection equipment (PPE). The company, which is also planning for continued competitiveness with imports in a post-Covid-19 business environment, is working on a number of fronts to develop automated production facilities to manufacture isolation…