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) Western Australia moves towards green steel production

Western Australia has joined South Australia in ambitions to create a green steel manufacturing capability, with the release of a new report by the Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia (MRIWA).

The Western Australia’s Green Steel Opportunity report maps five ways WA iron ore can be used to reduce emissions from steelmaking.

4) Graphene successful in protecting mild steel from corrosion

A Melbourne researcher has found ways to utilise graphene to coat mild steel, protecting it from corrosion and overcoming a technical barrier which has prevented successful coating of the ubiquitous metal.

Lecturer in the School of Vocational Engineering, RMIT Dr Sanjid Ahmed Patwary found in the study he led that graphene coatings deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) could be manufactured with unique characteristics as barriers against aggressive environment.

Until now, because of some compelling technical reasons, it has been a nontrivial challenge to develop graphene coatings on the most commonly used engineering alloy, according to the paper “Remarkably Corrosion Resistant Graphene Coating on Steel Enabled Through Metallurgical Tailoring”, just published in the journal nano/micro Small.

3) MASSLAM manufacturing expansion underway

Australian Sustainable Hardwoods (ASH) has announced it is doubling production capacity of its MASSLAM glue-laminated (GLT) mass-timber column and beam system.

The family-owned company’s Heyfield, Victoria plant (pictured, below) is being expanded and new equipment added to boost throughput.

MASSLAM is designed and manufactured for assembly on site for domestic and large commercial buildings.

2) OKA hires staff as all terrain vehicle manufacturer revives

The Managing Director of OKA All Terrain Vehicles Dean Robinson has done what many thought impossible – revive the unique OKA brand and manufacturer which once built rugged all wheel drive light trucks for outback use.

A total of 448 OKAs were built and welcomed by mining companies and tourism companies for their higher capacity and unapparelled off road capabilities compared to traditional utes.

More than 350 are still believed to be operational.

1) Vaxxas opens new Brisbane manufacturing facility

Biotechnology company Vaxxas in partnership with the Queensland Government, has announced the opening of its global headquarters and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Brisbane.

The company, which is commercialising a needle-free vaccine patch platform, has opened its custom-built 5,500m² Vaxxas Biomedical Facility to support the scale-up of Vaxxas’ needle-free vaccine technology platform.

The company’s high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) is being developed for late-stage clinical trials and first commercial products.

Picture: OKA ATV