Counter-drone business DroneShield has said it will invest $13 million in a new R&D facility at Adelaide, which is expected to initially employ 20 in engineering roles. The site will be headed up by former Lockheed Martin Australia Hardware Engineering manager Jeff Wojtiuk (pictured), who is also an Adjunct Professor at University of Adelaide and…
Ballarat Food Manufacturing, a subsidiary of the Yida Group, will move into Brookfield Properties’ Cardinia Logistics Estate at Pakenham, Victoria, with production expected to begin in mid-2026. According to a statement from real estate developer and operator Brookfield on Tuesday, the food company has secured a five-year lease for its first manufacturing site in Australia.…
Researchers at Monash University have demonstrated a way to manufacture bioplastic films with customisable properties, using natural polymers produced by soil-dwelling microbes. According to a statement from the university on Friday, researchers were able to produce films out of the bioplastic PHA “that behave like conventional plastics and can be molded into other shapes or…
Consultation has begun on the federal government’s National Bioenergy Feedstock Strategy, following the announcement last month of $1.1 billion in funding for low-carbon liquid fuels. According to a statement from agriculture minister Julie Collins on Thursday, bioenergy will be “an important part” of decarbonising the economy, and that it requires a consistent supply of feedstocks,…
An event was attended on Thursday inaugurating Melbourne Polytechnic’s Future of Housing Construction Centre of Excellence, which is being built with $50 million of federal and state government support. The site at Heidelberg aims to address Australia’s housing challenges through training that keeps pace with the adoption of new technologies which draw from manufacturing, such…
Astroscale, HEO partner on space monitoring This week Japanese satellite servicing company Astroscale Holdings and Sydney-based non-Earth imaging specialist HEO announced a three-year memorandum of understanding. According to a statement from Astroscale on Tuesday, the agreement deepens an existing partnership on monitoring, assessing and ultimately servicing allied defence, government and commercial assets. The pair will…
Emerald, Queensland-based agricultural robotics company SwarmFarm Robotics has raised $30 million through its Series B round, with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation tipping in $7 million. According to a statement from the CEFC on Thursday, the round will accelerate the rollout of SwarmFarm’s lightweight, self-driving “SwarmBots”, which reduce herbicide use by up to 95 per…
Sydney startup SolidHydrogen and South Korea’s EN2CORE Technology have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, aiming to demonstrate their combined technologies for producing and storing hydrogen in a “pilot at scale”. SolidHydrogen is developing metal hydrides, a type of alloy, to “store, purify, and compress hydrogen at a fraction of the cost of existing technologies”. EN2CORE…
The industry remained in growth for September, reporting its ninth straight expansionary result, though growth slowed over the month, according to the S&P Global Australia Manufacturing PMI. According to a statement from S&P on Wednesday, the overall PMI recorded a result of 51.4 in September, down from 53.0 in August. A result above 50 from…
Professional body Weld Australia and regional manufacturer representative the South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance (SEMMA) have formalised a partnership, saying that a newly signed MoU between the pair creates a “clear, practical framework focused on collaborating to represent, connect, and advocate”. According to a joint statement from the organisations on Thursday, the partnership will deliver…