Monash University spinout Additive Assurance has announced a partnership with Volkswagen today, beginning with one metal 3D printer at Wolfsburg being decked out with the Australian partner’s sensors and the two companies working on “a manufacturing system” suited to the German company’s production printers. By Brent Balinski.
Nowadays manufacturers are, with few exceptions, in the data and analytics game. Data improves their own and their customers’ operations. Three high-tech Australian startups provide extreme examples. Each is solving a very different problem — quality assurance and control issues in additive manufacturing, the need for robots to grip objects better, and finding the best…
By Brent Balinski Hearing Bob Dylan sing Hurricane for the first time. Stumbling across the TV series Fleabag. Andrew Forrest’s recent announcement that he will build a factory in central Queensland, with capacity to make 2 gigawatts of hydrogen electrolysers a year. Geoff Brooks, Director of Research at Swinburne University’s School of Engineering, insists he…
By Brent Balinski After initial plans to begin manufacturing vehicles at Port Kembla, NSW, hydrogen fuel cell hopeful H2X Global announced Gippsland as the home of its assembly operation on Wednesday. NSW hydrogen bus trials didn’t pan out as hoped and the company’s activities slowed in the state, H2X’s CEO and founder Brendan Norman explains.…
Winners at the 11th annual Australian Technologies Competition were named on Tuesday evening at a virtual event hosted in Melbourne. The 11 category winners were selected after a two-day competition (see below list) with the final stage a pitching contest. Textile recycling company BlockTexx (which made the final cut in the Advanced Manufacturing and Circular…
By Brent Balinski The old saying, “If it ain’t broke…” is one simple reason so little has changed in the world of orthopaedic surgery in the last 30 or so years, believes Robert Bell, Allegra Orthopaedics’ head of Technology and Innovation. Bell, who joined the ASX-listed medtech company in April and is based in the…
The last few years have seen growing interest in “eating” end-of-life plastics, rather than mechanical recycling methods, for reuse. Brent Balinski spoke to Paul Riley, co-founder and CEO of Samsara Eco, which plans to open a factory next year with capacity to enzymatically process 20,000 tonnes of plastic annually.
By Brent Balinski Industry brokers to link smaller companies with Australian research infrastructure are a way to boost local manufacturing, according to Science and Technology Australia. The peak body, representing over 80,000 of the country’s scientific and technology workers, made the recommendation to the Senate’s manufacturing industry inquiry, which is due to report next month.…
Brent Balinski spoke to Martin Hamilton-Smith, head of the Australian Sovereign Capability Alliance, about why Australia needs to be able to look after itself.
Research from RMIT’s Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry could pave the way for new 3D printed heat exchangers with usefulness in hypersonic vehicles, air purification and elsewhere. We spoke to PhD researcher Roxanne Hubesch about her team’s breakthrough.