The federal government has announced details of its $160 million Manufacturing Modernisation Fund. The fund, revealed in the federal budget, would help manufacturers become more competitive by co‑funding investments in new technologies, said industry minister, Karen Andrews. Andrews said: “The fund will provide grants to small and medium manufacturing businesses so they can invest in…
Adelaide X-ray equipment manufacturer Micro-X (ASX: MX1) has been awarded a follow on contract by the UK Department for Transport to further develop its carbon nanotube x-ray imaging system. The contract of 100,000 pounds is relatively small, but is a validation of its high technology solution to producing more effective, small, mobile x-ray systems. The…
Industry minister Karen Andrews has all but ruled out reform of the trouble-plagued tax concession system for R&D. The system has been in limbo with the government’s preferred reforms, which cut $2.4 billion from the scheme, stalled in Parliament, and the industry department and courts at odds over interpretations of the scheme. In an interview…
Chemicals, explosives and fertilisers business Incitec Pivot (ASX: IPL) has announced a review of its fertiliser businesses in Australia and the region. The company is the sole manufacturer of phosphate fertilisers in Australia and the only producer of nitrogen fertilisers on the east coast. The company has appointed UBS to provide advice for a strategic…
By Stuart Corner or the first time since 2017 Gartner has updated its forecasts for the number of IoT devices in use in enterprises and the automotive industry (including connected cars) to 5.81 billion in total by the end of 2020, and issued some market-specific forecasts out to 2028. The latest forecast also leverages Gartner’s…
The vocational education and training (VET) system is continuing its long term decline with further falls reported in student numbers by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). While student numbers fell in 2018 by a modest 1.5 per cent to 4.1 million people, this represented a fall in full-year training equivalents (FYTEs) of…
Road system technologies manufacturer Traffic Technologies (ASX: TTI) is branching out into smart city sensors and data analysis as it embraces the Internet of Things (IoT), The Melbourne company will develop with Monash Council and Monash University, both in Melbourne’s south-east,a smart city control system of sensors, communications equipment and data analysis technologies. The development,…
Analysis by Peter Roberts One of the biggest issues about moving to a carbon-free future has been how to eliminate dangerous emissions from products such as cement and steel that are absolutely vital to the economy. In a sense electricity production was an easy problem to solve using clean renewables compared to the greater industrial…
Perth global shipbuilder Austal (ASX: ASB) had a breakthrough year in 2019 reporting record-smashing revenues, profit and cash flow. The manufacturer of multi-hulled aluminium passenger ferries and naval warships reported EBIT up 46 per cent to $92.8 million, on revenues up 33 per cent to $1.9 billion. This translated into operational cash flows that were…
Adelaide technology and services provider FrazerLab has signed a 10- year agreement with the Defence Science and Technology group (DST) to commercialise its new radar technologies. The small start-up, headed by former DST scientist Dr Gordon Frazer, will commercialise the next generation of high frequency radars. HF radar is a key element of Australia’s Jindalee…
