$1 million for Flinders STEM courses

New federal funds will help Flinders University support hundreds of female Year 9 students in South Australia and the Northern Territory to build competitive skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), along with entrepreneurial skills to build their future education and career opportunities. The Flinders University STEM Enrichment Academy received almost $1 million in…

Gluten and grumpy old men

Plant-based meat will overcome political tribalism and move into mainstream acceptance as technology progresses and prices come down, believes Harvest B co-founder and CEO Kristi Riordan. By Brent Balinski.  There are plant-based meat companies, such as v2food, that make efforts to position themselves as a supplement rather than a competitor to conventional meat. This is…

LBT Innovations and AstraZeneca to develop AI systems

Microbiology diagnostic equipment manufacturer LBT Innovations has partnered with AstraZeneca and Thermo Fisher to speed up the development of LBT’s APAS AI software platform for microbial testing in the pharmaceutical sector. The software, seen on LBT’s APAS Independence laboratory instrument, speeds up the laboratory processing of clinical samples by utilising AI to scan for microbial…

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

NSW releases new guidelines for working with cobots The NSW government’s Centre for Work Health and Safety has released what it says is a world-first set of guidelines for working safely with collaborative robots (cobots). Guidelines for Safe Collaborative Robot Design and Implementation were developed in partnership with Centre for Advanced Manufacturing, University of Technology…

ARENA maps out pathways towards zero emissions alumina

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has released a roadmap to decarbonise Australia’s alumina sector – crucial for net zero goals as the country is the world’s largest alumina exporter. Worth $7.5 billion to the national economy every year, the Roadmap for Decarbonising Australian Alumina Refining, outlines technologies that could reduce emissions from Australia’s six alumina…

Upskilling the digital workforce – by Craig Lockhart

Australian manufacturing is racing towards digitisation, and none moreso than in naval shipbuilding. Here, Craig Lockhart explains progress being made in developing a digital shipyard to construct Australia’s new Hunter class frigates. BAE Systems is progressing the world’s most advanced anti-submarine warfare frigate and building a critical industrial capability that will contribute to keeping our…