A loss of sovereign control of industry is a key issue raised in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Here, Allen Roberts examines innovation in the critical food manufacturing sector. The recent declaration of ‘A Future Made in Australia’ by the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has put the…
Aluminium chemicals company Alpha HPA’s Alpha Sapphire has successfully grown the first ~300kg of synthetic sapphire crystal boules (pictured) in maiden growth runs from the company’s first two sapphire growth units at the facility in Gladstone, Queensland. The facility, which recently achieved its first small scale commercial production of high purity aluminium nitrate (Al-nitrate,) produced…
The Port of Newcastle is close to realising its ambition of becoming New South Wales’ second container port, bringing competition back into import export, following a determination from the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal’s (IPART). IPART determined that the port was required to make a one-off compensation payment of $10,120,000 (approx. $13,100,000 when adjusted for…
By Peter Roberts If a plethora of ambitious programmes and many, many billions of dollars are all that it takes to reverse manufacturing’s long term slide, then Jim Chalmers budget 2024 delivered tonight has made a welcome start on setting the $124 billion sector up for a new period of expansion. While headlines were the…
By Peter Roberts The 2024 budget has responded to the issues being raised by @AuManufacturing’s one-month long series of articles around the theme Towards 3% R&D – turbocharging Australia’s innovation efforts. Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a ‘strategic examination of Australian research and development’ as part of the Future Made in Australia package of measures. According…
Deakin University’s Carbon Nexus research facility – home to what the university says is the world’s biggest open-access carbon fibre pilot line – will turn ten this month. In a statement on Tuesday, Deakin said a key goal of the facility at its Waurn Ponds campus has been delivering scalable research outcomes to regional Victoria.…
Industrial technology company Siemens and renewable energy developer Marathon Group have announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), describing it as coming at a time “when Gippsland goes through a once in a lifetime energy transition”. In a statement from Siemens on Tuesday, it described itself as a technology partner in the relationship, which would “help…
Sponsored article Australia’s space ambitions are set to reach greater heights with projects like the Melbourne Space Program (MSP), where some of the nation’s brightest students are not just dreaming about space—they’re exploring it. Through the ACRUX-2 project, MSP students are gaining hands-on experience by designing, building, and launching an Earth-imaging satellite. Altium supports these…
Australian-Singaporean bioresorbable implants manufacturer Osteopore has announced a partnership with SingHealth to establish the company’s first Global Centre of Excellence (GCoE) for customised medical devices. The company said in an ASX statement on Tuesday that its wholly-owned Singaporean subsidiary, Osteopore International Pte Ltd, signed the non-exclusive Partnership Agreement with SingHealth, which it is expected to…
By Yasir Arafat, Edith Cowan University and Daryoush Habibi, Edith Cowan University As electric vehicle (EV) demand accelerates, so does the need for lithium batteries. But these batteries contain valuable critical minerals, as well as toxic materials, so they should not be treated as common waste. Unlike China and some European countries, Australia lacks a…