Defence partnering for success – Riding the AUKUS wave, part 1 by Sarah Pavillard

@AuManufacturing’s sponsored series reporting BAE Systems Australia’s Partnering for success defence industry supplier event kicks off today with a two-part analysis of the benefits of the AUKUS agreement for SMEs. In this first part, Sarah Pavillard examines the SME industry policy landscape. Two things need to happen for AUKUS to deliver for Australia: the Australian…

Fortescue continues its green industry push

The third quarter performance of miner and green industry developer Fortescue Metals shows a continued push to develop a green industry business stream alongside its traditional Western Australian mining assets. The company reported iron ore shipments of 46.3 million tonnes (mt) in Q3 FY23, creating a record for shipments for the nine months to 31…

Strip ministers of veto over ARC grants – review

The escalating abuse of the process for allocating grants for scientific research in recent years has had its denouement with the release of an independent review by eminent scientists which found that the Australian Research Council, and not the minister, should decide who receives federal science grants. Education Minister Jason Clare yesterday released the review,…

Cochlear disagrees with new competition concerns over takeover

Hearing implant manufacturer Cochlear has again rebuffed competition concerns from authorities over its planned takeover of competitor Oticon Medical for $170 million, which followed a decision by parent company Demant to exit the hearing implants business. Cochlear said it disagreed with the conclusions of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which found provisionally that…

Phantom launch planned for Arnhem Space Centre

The owner and operator of the Arnhem Space Centre (ASC) in the Northern Territory is working towards a multi-launch contract with American space transportation and rocket manufacturing company Phantom Space Corporation. Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA), which signed a MOU with Phantom Space in 2022, also envisages an expanded scope and detail of future cooperation to…

New UQ thin-film sensor sets the gold standard

A thin, flexible gold sensor engineered at The University of Queensland (UQ) has the potential to unlock the next generation of implantable medical devices. Researchers at UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) have produced a small film-like sensor that is both flexible and sensitive enough to enable more streamlined electronic medical implants. The…

Our search for Australia’s most innovative companies – how PPK went from mining to cutting edge manufacturing

@AuManufacturing is searching for Australia’s 50 most innovative manufacturers, and today we feature our latest nominee for recognition, technology investment powerhouse PPK Group. Here, Peter Roberts interviews co-founder and Executive Chairman, Robin Levison. Robin Levison is an unlikely entrepreneur focussing on commercialising university research in the advanced manufacturing of totally new materials. His background is…