New funding boost for space traffic radar project
Silentium Defence has secured a $3.2m contract from the Australian Department of Defence to advance, deploy and demonstrate its passive radar system for monitoring traffic in space.
CSIRO and Amaero develop better cooling for die cast tooling
CSIRO and Amaero International have announced the results of a project to add conformal cooling channels to additively manufactured die cast tooling.
Tomago to get lithium ion battery factory
Energy Renaissance has announced that construction will begin at Tomago, NSW at a site it hopes will reach “gigafactory” volumes within the decade. Renew Economy and others report that Energy Renaissance has announced a $28 million factory at the site of the Tomago smelter. Construction is scheduled to begin within weeks, and the company plans…
USQ composites research recognised with top Australian ranking
The University of Southern Queensland has topped a national ranking of institutes for composites research.
Australian-made Warfighter platform passes another milestone
The team developing the Warfighter UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) has passed another milestone, demonstrating “the lightest combat UGV able to achieve effective fire from a 50cal at 1km range.”
New Logan waste-to-energy plant creating three truckloads of biochar a day
Logan City Council has claimed an Australian first, implementing a process to turn sewage into energy and biochar at Loganholme Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Renewables projects ramp up Down Under
By Andrew Spence Construction work has begun on two major renewable energy projects in South Australia. DP Energy and Spanish energy company Iberdrola are spending $500 million on a hybrid wind and solar plant at Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park in South Australia, while Singapore-based Nexif Energy has already begun the $170 million stage two…
A few further thoughts on industry policy
Peter Rowland contributes to the discussion around “picking winners” in the wake of the federal government’s industry policy release.
NT awards first industrial hemp licence
The Northern Territory’s first commerce licence for growing industrial hemp has been awarded.
Budget’s $1bn research boost is a welcome first step. Billions more, plus policy reforms, will be needed
The extra A$1 billion funding from January 2021 provides a critical stop-gap. It will help recover some of the lost research momentum. But what will happen after 2021?