SA defence innovation grants open

Applications are now being sought to receive funding from South Australia’s Defence Innovation Partnership’s Collaborative Research Fund. Successful applicants will receive grants of up to $150,000 to support collaboration across government, universities and industry for early-stage defence-relevant research, development and innovation. The CRF was established in 2018 to support research partnerships between industry, academia and…

Treasurer opts for tinkering with mostly ignored Productivity Commission

By Peter Roberts The Treasurer Jim Chalmers has opted for gradualist reform of the much criticised Productivity Commission, appointing a former Labor Party staffer to be the commission’s new chair. Chalmers appointed Chris Barrett (pictured) as the new Chair and said ‘to build a stronger economy, we need to build stronger economic institutions – and…

Micro-X’s $21 million to manufacture airport X-ray checkpoints

Carbon fibre nanotube X-ray manufacturer Micro-X has scored a coup with the announcement it has been funded by the US Department of Homeland Security to manufacture full size, integrated, self-screening airport passenger checkpoints. The company’s minaturised CT scanner technology, which has been in development under two DHS contracts worth $8 million, makes possible the concept…

K-TIG’s big break into nuclear submarine welding field

Rapid welding technology manufacturer K-TIG’s welding processes have been selected as a potential alternative to conventional gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) of pipe joints for the US nuclear submarine construction programme. K-TIG’s Keyhole TIG / GTAW welding technology, originally developed by CSIRO, has been selected for trials by the US’s prime contractor and lead design…