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…

Defence trials new firefighting training system

The Royal Australian Navy has trialled a new firefighting training system that uses a combination of virtual and augmented reality, including a headset (pictured) that transforms the surrounding environment into a simulated firefighting exercise. The user wears an oxygen mask and heat vest while holding a 3D printed fire hose nozzle, which measures water usage.…

FYI achieves increased output of HPA in pilot trials

Perth materials technology group FYI Resources has successfully achieved a 15 percent increase in output from a sample production campaign at its high purity alumina (HPA) pilot plant in Western Australia. The company said the success demonstrated improvements in HPA’s process efficiencies and product recovery based on learnings from previous work and project development refinements.…