Manufacturing growth continues, despite lockdowns
Manufacturing has proven resilient in July despite lockdowns around the country, with a tenth straight month of expansion, according to the most recent Performance of Manufacturing Index results.
Marketing for manufacturers — Finding the story in a technical topic
There are ways to effectively convey a story on technological achievements to a lay audience. Brent Balinski spoke to University of Sydney science media advisor Marcus Strom about the importance of empathy in this.
Serco tests amphibious ship design
Serco Australia has completed tank testing for its provisional landing craft design to meet a federal government call for a replacement of its amphibious vessel fleet. A 1/16th scale model of Serco’s design (pictured) underwent extensive testing involving speed and performance trials in the towing tank at Australian Maritime College (AMC) in Launceston. The AMC…
EOS in box seat to supply space electronic warfare capability
By Peter Roberts One of Australia’s few locally-owned defence prime contractors is in the box seat to respond to a federal government initiative to acquire a ground-based Space Electronic Warfare capability. Canberra’s Electro Optic Systems Holdings, which coincidentally announced today that a subsidiary had been selected to demonstrate spacecraft to ground communications for the International…
Fusion energy quest hots up at Deakin and HB11 Energy
By Peter Roberts Fusion energy has long been considered as a way forward for decarbonising energy production, but its vast complexity and expense has made experimentation the plaything of rich nations with extremely deep pockets. While progress has been made at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California and ITER in France, the expense is…
Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed
K-TIG passes milestones, books $561k revenue Rapid welding technology company K-TIG achieved significant milestones in the fourth quarter and quarterly sales of $561,000. The company, which is commercialising advanced keyhole welding techniques, entered the UK and Europe markets and strengthened its management team. The company operates a demonstration and support facility in the US. K-TIG…
A COVID ‘ring of steel’ around Sydney would play havoc with Australia’s supply chains
By Flavio Romero Macau, Edith Cowan University If a “ring of steel” was actually placed around Sydney, as suggested by Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, the rest of Australia would suffer in ways that aren’t immediately apparent. Completely sealing a city or a region is not unprecedented. It happened last year in China, India, Italy and…
ARENA funds 400 fast EV charging stations
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) Future Fuels Fund has backed five companies who collectively will deliver 403 new fast charging stations, each capable of charging at least two vehicles concurrently at 50 kW or above. Announcing the first round of funding today ARENA said it had been impressed with the strength of applications and…
USQ researcher earns grant to develop personal heat management materials
Work on wearable heat-regulating materials led by a University of Southern Queensland engineering researcher received an ARC Linkage Projects grant of $428,541 on Thursday.
Chemical engineers look to biomanufacturing using waste products
Monash University researchers and others are investigating the potential for biomanufacturing using inputs such as greenhouse gases instead of sugar-based substances to create high-value chemical products. Monash chemical engineering PhD researcher Wei Jiang — currently on sabbatical at Imperial College London — is lead author on a new paper in Nature Chemical Biology on the…