QLD manufacturing sector leading the nation, claims minister
Queensland’s manufacturers are outperforming those in other states, its manufacturing minister has said.
New docco celebrates containerisation’s impact on Australia
A short documentary marking 50 years of containerisation and its role in the Australian economy has been launched by trade minister Simon Birmingham.
NZ company develops face recognition for sheep
By Stuart Corner A Dunedin based company, Iris Data Science, aims to develop what it says will be the world’s first sheep facial recognition software, eliminating the need for electronic identification or ear tagging. It will prototype the technology this year after receiving a $40,000 grant from the New Zealand Government’s innovation agency, Callaghan Innovation,…
Suba Engineering ships first laser marker
Sydney’s Suba Engineering has taken another step in its journey from importer to fully fledged product developer and manufacturer with the delivery of its first SubaLaser industrial marker. Suba’s owner Heinz Zimmerman showed off the locally developed marker at his Melbourne office this week (pictured). Zimmerman said: “We showed our SubaLaser marker prototype just over…
Spectur reports rising sales of remote area IoT security systems
Hardware sales are powering off grid security and IoT solutions provider Spectur (ASX: SP3) to expand revenue and margins in the Australian market. The Perth company reported revenue in the first quarter of FY2020 of $1.26 million with gross margins improving to 60 per cent of sales. Hardware sales have seen a 30 per cent…
Australian space industry lands in DC with strong IAC presence
Australia’s rejuvenated space industry is showcasing its capabilities to the world this week at the 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), in Washington DC.
$2.3 million in grants announced for SA SMEs in defence industry
Four Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority grants totalling $2.3 million, and all going to South Australian firms, were announced on Tuesday. The SICP is a program offering between $50,000 and $1 million in dollar-matched funding to SMEs in defence. The successful firms in this round would use their funding to help investment in specialised tools…
Holden down, nearly out as post-manufacturing sales tank
Holden sales have slipped inexorably since it exited manufacturing in Australia begging the question – what genius decided it should stop making the all-Australian car? The company, which once sold 100,000 big sedans a year and even a few years ago controlled 10 plus per cent of the market, sold a miserable 2,863 cars in…
Carnegie Mellon team tackles security issues for networked 3D printers
Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a tool for identifying and addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in networked 3D printers. In work funded by the Pittsburgh university’s Manufacturing Futures Initiative, Vyas Sekar and Matthew McCormack have created a system to identify a printer’s security vulnerabilities and identify potential routes of attack. “For example, it can…
Australia has plenty of gas, but our bills are ridiculous. The market is broken
Right now, two projects have been proposed to import gas from overseas to supply eastern Australia. This is an absurd prospect. Australia is a resource-rich country, and exports more gas than any other nation. Why then, would we need to ship it in?