Xtek awarded $27 million defence contract for drones Xtek has received a $26.9 million purchase order from the Australian Department of Defence for new small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS), it announced on Thursday. The purchase took the value of orders in hand for its technology division to $35 million, with $47 million in revenue already…
The final result for 2022 in the Australian Industry Group’s Performance of Manufacturing Index showed “deteriorating conditions” following three months of broadly stable results. The PMI fell by 4.9 points over November to 44.7 in the survey-based PMI, released on Thursday. Any result above 50 indicates growth, and any result below it contraction. Five of…
By Kevin Wyss, Rice University “Future chips may be 10 times faster, all thanks to graphene”; “Graphene may be used in COVID-19 detection”; and “Graphene allows batteries to charge 5x faster” – those are just a handful of recent dramatic headlines lauding the possibilities of graphene. Graphene is an incredibly light, strong and durable material…
Cyclopharm receives R&D tax refund Radiopharmaceutical manufacturer Cyclopharm has received a $1.64 million tax incentive payment from the Australian Taxation Office. Meanwhile the Sydney company is continuing to progress the attainment of US Food and Drug Administration approval for the sale of its Technegas lung imaging products in the United States. Cyclopharm is finalising its…
A new body aiming to help Queensland’s manufacturers access skilled workers will hold its first meeting on Wednesday. Manufacturing Skills Queensland is an independent company allocated $16.5 million over three years in state government funding. MSQ is chaired by Michael Glover, described in a statement from the Queensland government as having “over 20 years working…
A recently-launched semiconductor service bureau is part of the NSW government’s attempts to grow the local sector. In this edition of Australia’s place in the semiconductor world, Dr Nadia Court explains why the bureau exists and what it hopes to do. The Semiconductor Sector Service Bureau (S3B) was established in July 2022 to make it…
Today in Australia’s place in the semiconductor world, Andrew McLellan illustrates a case where local innovation requires overseas fabrication, and why the situation is unlikely to change. While improvements in technology and knowledge have driven significant advances in life sciences and healthcare industries in recent decades, methods for identifying and tracking important biological samples stored…
Cold spray additive manufacturing company Titomic shares were in a trading halt on Tuesday morning, with the ASX publishing a statement at 9:10 am saying the pause will last until either the beginning of Thursday or an announcement is made. The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column reports that Titomic has enlisted PAC Partners to raise…
A project between Callidus Welding Solutions and Deakin University researchers has resulted in seated ball valves with superior durability, according to the participants. Such valves are crucial in hydrometallurgy production of critical minerals such as nickel and gold, and according to the Innovative Manufacturing CRC – which sponsored the project – can cost upwards of…
Today’s edition of Australia’s place in the semiconductor world takes a look at the growing importance of compound semiconductors. Stef Winwood argues that if Australia invests strategically, with a view to the future, it could carve out a logical niche and realise compound returns The global semiconductor industry is currently a $US 600 billion a…
