What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to this site were reading. 5) Enware to quit manufacturing in Australia: report Enware, an 86-year-old plumbing and safety equipment company, will stop manufacturing at its Australian headquarters, according to a report. US business Watts Water Technologies completed an acquisition of Enware on…
Thousands of sailors, soldiers and aviators will be trained in technical trades under a five-year $300 million contract with Wodonga TAFE. More than 100 accredited and non-accredited courses will be delivered for the construction, engineering, mechanical, electrical and electronics trades, which will benefit over 2,000 students per year. The new contract will also enable thousands…
By Peter Roberts Federal, State and Territory Skills and Training Ministers met on Friday to progress key reforms to vocational education and training (VET) and the development of a new National Skills Agreement (NSA). Afterwards they put out their usual post-meeting statement listing what was discussed – a long, rather dry but worthy communique has…
The federal government’s shake up of defence innovation continues as the new Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) has commenced operations. The accelerator is to focus innovation efforts on capabilities that the Australian Defence Force could use or see themselves using in a few years’ time. Previous schemes such as Defence Innovation Hub grants were seen…
Engineering group Downer has signed a $4.6 billion contract to design, manufacture and deliver new suburban trains, returning train manufacturing to the Maryborough region, under the landmark Queensland Train Manufacturing Program. The contract will deliver 65 passenger trains, for use on the South East Queensland rail network, and support 800 jobs in construction and manufacturing.…
Twenty-four projects have been awarded a total of $50 million in grant funding through round 14 of the Cooperative Research Centre-Projects, including projects involving Gilmour Space Technologies, Diraq and First Graphene. CRC-Ps offer funding of between $100,000 and $3 million for a project which must be at least dollar-matched by participants. Projects can be up…
PepsiCo to trial hydrogen-powered truck PepsiCo Australia has launched its first hydrogen-powered prime mover, supplied by Pure Hydrogen, the company announced on Thursday. PepsiCo said this was a first in the FMCG sector and in its global operations. Pure Hydrogen will supply a hydrogen fuel cell-powered 160 kilowatt 6 x 4 prime mover for a…
QuantX Labs is leading a consortium of industry and academic teams in the KAIROS mission which will see a next-generation optical atomic clock launched into space. The clock, originally demonstrated at the Institute of Photonics and Advanced Sensing at the University of Adelaide, will be converted into a space-ready payload, thanks to new investment from…
BAE Systems Australia has purchased Radio Frequency Systems (Australia), taking control of a key partner in the modernisation of Australia’s Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN, pictured) and other critical defence projects. The decision to buy the company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Radio Frequency Systems (Germany), came as that company planned to move out of…
Our profiles of nominees for @AuManufacturing’s Australia’s 50 most innovative manufacturers campaign continue with Open Welding. Brent Balinski speaks to founder and Technical Director Malcolm Rigby. He doesn’t use the word “Eureka moment”, but Malcolm Rigby had one of those a few years ago during a phone call about a shielding gas mixture. Rigby was…
