Best of the week — the five most popular stories among @AuManufacturing’s readers

What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to this site were reading.

5) ANOTHER NAVAL SHIP TO BE IMPORTED, NOT BUILT LOCALLY

The Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) just-announced procurement of a dedicated undersea support vessel along with other perplexing decisions by defence are raising questions over whether there is a sufficient focus in Canberra about buying from Australian companies, wrote Peter Roberts.

After a selection process led by an independent broker, the Norwegian flagged MV Normand Jarl has been procured for $110 million and is undergoing inspection and certification activities in Singapore before sailing to Australia where it will be renamed Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Guidance.

Deputy Secretary Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Tony Dalton said the new vessel acquisition would be used to further advance a range of trials and activities leveraging new technologies in the undersea domain.

4) AUSTRALIAN-MADE, WORLD-FIRST PROSTATE CANCER TEST COMMERCIALISED

An Australian-developed prostate cancer check described as “revolutionary” has been successfully commercialised, following a collaborative project led by diagnostic technology company Minomic.

Minomic’s MiCheck Prostate cancer test uses a blood test, checking for three protein markers, plus a clinical factor to assess the patient’s risk of aggressive prostate cancer and whether or not a biopsy is needed.

The project saw MiCheck go through validation testing and commercialisation requirements and was supported by $396,928 in funding through the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre.

3) HAZER GROUP HYDROGEN PLANT TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN JAPAN

Technology development company the Hazer Group announced a partnership that is preparing for the development of a commercial scale, up to 100,000 tonne per annum facility to be built in Japan utilising its Hazer process to produce hydrogen from biogas.

The Perth company said the initial capacity of the plant, to be built with Chubu Electric Power Company, would be between 2,500 and 10,000 tpa.

The Project Development Plan is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2024, with an initial hydrogen production destined for power generation and industrial use in the Nagoya area expected in the late 2020s.

2) FIRST SODIUM SULPHUR BATTERY INSTALLED IN AUSTRALIA

The Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC) has announced Australia’s first sodium-sulphur (NAS) battery has been installed at the IGO Nova nickel-copper-cobalt mine site.

The 250 kW/1.45 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) demonstration unit will provide long-duration storage, according to FBICRC Chief Executive Officer Shannon O’Rourke.

O’Rourke said: “The NAS battery technology is mature and has been successfully installed and operated at over 250 sites worldwide over the past 20 years.”

1) SME DEFENCE COMPANIES THE KEY TO AUKUS SUCCESS – REPORT

Defence SMEs are essential to the economic success of the AUKUS partners Australia, the UK and the US according to a just released white paper.

The report, by the CEO of defence consulting firm ADROITA Sarah Pavillard, said while defence needs were core to AUKUS, industry in the three countries needed to reach out to make the pact an economic success.

In February Pavillard wrote an article in @AuManufacturing examining the opportunities opening up for defence industry.

And in case you missed our podcast…

In episode 56 of @AuManufacturing Conversations with Brent Balinski, Lachlan Smart from Smartline Medical discussed the small Sunshine Coast-based business’s global leadership in a well-defined niche — endoscope drying and sterilisation equipment — its approach to R&D, and why a company should try and move a purple chair when they see one.

Picture: credit Hazer Group