At the Western Sydney Aerotropolis, Port Melbourne’s Fishermans Bend and elsewhere in the country, efforts are underway to build neighbourhoods for the industries of tomorrow. The usefulness of innovation precincts is based on the power of proximity, the notion that if you have enough people with the right resources in the one place, then great…
Electrical engineering group Ampcontrol has announced a record intake of 55 apprentices across its operations for 2024. The apprentices employed are in electrical, fabrication, mechanical fitting and machining trades, with 38 of them starting in NSW, nine in Queensland and eight in WA. “We are excited to be welcoming 55 new apprentices into our business…
By Peter Roberts The federal government has moved to secure the future of Austal’s Perth shipbuilding operation and its Henderson yard (pictured) in Western Australia. Defence has entered into a new strategic partnership with Austal which will see 18 of the Army’s new Landing Craft Medium built at Henderson. Austal will also deliver two new…
Space “roadside assistance” startup Space Machines Company (SMC) and engineering firm Siemens have shared details of SMC’s use of Siemens Xcelerator software portfolio to create an Orbital Servicing Vehicle (OSV), described as “one of the largest commercial spacecrafts” made in Australia. Last month SMC announced assembly and integration of all hardware for the 270 kilogram…
A new project will see University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) Centre for Future Materials researchers, Dassault Systemes software reseller MEMKO and Boeing work together on the use of digital twins for repairing composite structures. Lead researcher Dr Tristan Shelley from UniSQ said in a statement on Thursday that the ultimate goal was increased digitalisation of…
By Peter Roberts The federal government has moved to accelerate Australia’s shift towards renewable electricity, replacing the Renewable Energy Target with a series of auctions to drive investment. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen revealed the shift to six monthly auctions to secure 32GW of new wind, solar PV and energy storage capacity to…
The Hyundai Rotem Corporation will establish a stand-alone local presence on the Fraser Coast with the purchase of an industrial site and plans to establish a factory to produce sub-components for train car bodies. The facility will be focused on roll forming which involves the continuous bending of a long strip of sheet metal –…
By Peter Roberts The Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic is to visit Jakarta to further cooperation and collaboration with Indonesia on battery technologies and electric vehicles. Husic’s two-day trip is a long overdue ramping up of Australia’s industrial relationship with our close neighbour – one that has often seemed neglected in recent decades…
CSIRO and Swinburne University of Technology’s Victorian Hydrogen Hub (VH2) have launched a $2.5 million, purpose-built clean hydrogen refuelling station. The station is located at the national science agency’s Clayton, Victoria site, and will be used in research on hydrogen in transport applications as well as for training. The installation is funded by VH2 and…
Melbourne’s La Trobe University has inaugurated a new Digital Innovation Hub in partnership with industry which aims to boost collaboration between students, researchers, business and industry. Opened by Victorian Minister for Skills and TAFE Gayle Tierney, the new precinct is a partnership with Cisco and Optus to accelerate research and development across healthcare, education, advanced…
