We have no guaranteed long-term supply of indium. It is naturally found only in tiny traces, and is therefore impractical to mine directly. Almost all of the world’s indium comes as a byproduct of zinc mining. Fortunately, we have a potential solution: my colleagues and I have developed a new way to make optically transparent and electrically conductive coatings without indium.
Federal grants of up to $1 million each and worth $7.16 million in total have been announced, supporting 15 manufacturing businesses through the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre’s Commercialisation Fund.
One of the examples of local manufacturing resilience highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic has seen staff numbers and orders dwindle as hospitals return to imported suppliers, according to a report. The ABC reported on Tuesday that Shepparton’s Med-Con went from 150 staff at its peak to 25 now. At the beginning of last year, it…
Today @AuManufacturing’s Saving through smarter energy use series looks at Australian research aimed at enabling structural components to become batteries and supercapacitors. Dr Nisa Salim explains how engineered multifunctional composite materials can be the enablers for future e-mobility and space missions.
The Queensland government and supermarket Woolworths have separately invested in early stage venture and development capital to support manufacturers. Queensland treasurer Cameron Dick announced the state had backed a $61 million capital raising by Gold Coast-based rocket manufacturer Gilmour Space Technologies. He did not reveal the size of the state’s investment, however the capital injection…
Composite manufacturer Matrix Composites & Engineering has pulled through a Covid-19 drop in sales of its traditional buoyancy products for the offshore oil and gas industries. The Perth company, which diversified its traditionally underwater composites manufactures to onshore mining sectors, has seen a rebound in oil prices generate greater activity in the oil and gas…
Space, communications and defence manufacturer Electro Optic Systems has notched up sales of more than $20 million to the Australian Defence Force over the past month. The company told investors the contracts cover advanced technology research and development activities in electro-optic sensors, Cobra satellite terminals from its EM Solutions subsidiary and sustainment contracts. “The contracts…
Australia’s long run of economic growth from the early 1990s to early 2020 inspired much boasting by incumbent politicians. But behind the hubris and headlines lies a less flattering story — about Australia riding a wave of dumb luck, with exports to China and relatively high levels of immigration masking mundane economic performance.
To begin the second week of @AuManufacturing’s Saving through smarter energy use series, we speak to Nick Katsanevakis of Sussex Taps, which recently announced carbon neutral certification. By Brent Balinski
Comment by Peter Roberts The cooperative Research Centres (CRC) program has assumed even greater importance to the future of manufacturing with the likely demise of the growth centres initiative, though the CRCs too need further federal commitments in the short term to continue their good works. The CRC’s match federal money with cash and in…
