Manufacturing news briefs — Stories you might have missed

RAN nuclear submarine training announced

Defence minister Richard Marles has been hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace at the commissioning of HMS Anson at BAE Systems at Barrow. The event included an announcement that Royal Australian Navy submariners would train aboard the nuclear-powered Anson, an Astute-Class submarine. Having RAN submariners train alongside Royal Navy crews was an important step in strengthening defence ties, according to Marles, as Australia looks towards its next generation of submarines. “Today’s announcement of Australian submariners training aboard HMS Anson says everything about our future plans of building the AUKUS partnership,” said Marles.

Advanced Recycling Victoria seeks EPA development licence

Advanced Recycling Victoria has submitted a development licence for a plastic resource recovery plant to EPA Victoria. The proposed plant in Altona would convert end-of-life plastics into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon products. Liquid products could be used as feedstock for manufacturing products in the plastic, chemical refining, and asphalt industries, and the gaseous products could be used as a fuel. The proposed plant would have capacity to process approximately 20,000 tonnes of end-of-life plastics per year. Proposed infrastructure includes a plastic preparation shed, a hydrothermal treatment plant. tanks to store the products generated and an area for storing containers of plastics. The consultation period opens on August 31 and closes September 21.

Collaboration progresses novel nuclear waste-powered battery

CSIRO has shared a case study this week on the development of a proof of concept and a manufacturing process for a novel device turning nuclear waste into energy. The relationship saw entX (known until recently as PhosEnergy) introduced to researchers at the Future Industries Institute at the University of South Australia through CSIRO’s Innovation Connections service, with the company accessing fabrication and characterisation equipment at the FFI. This was used for producing and evaluating potential semiconductor polymer composite candidates for a metal-semiconductor-metal sandwich in a “beta-voltaic generator” (pictured.) Then “[a]s part of the second phase, support from a Researcher Placement grant (where a university researcher works on an industry defined project) allowed entX to tap into unique fabrication expertise and infrastructure, forming a genuinely collaborative partnership,” according to the case study. Development of the GenX device has continued to progress, with a CRC-P grant-supported project announced in March.

Australian Made announces partnership with Adelaide 36ers

The Australian Made Campaign (AMCL) announce its partnership with the Adelaide 36ers this week, becoming an Official Partner of the Australian basketball team’s 2022 USA Tour. The Adelaide 36ers will head to the USA in October to play two National Basketball League (NBL) x National Basketball Association (NBA) pre-season games in the lead-up to the NBL23 season – the Phoenix Suns at the Footprint Centre on October 2 and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Paycom Centre on October 6. The Australian Made logo will feature prominently on the club’s uniform and all Adelaide 36ers’ digital assets related to the tour, along with US-focused educational materials, on-site activations and local PR opportunities.

Applications open for Cyber Gap program

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) Cyber Gap Program, which supports students who are studying a cyber-qualification at university or TAFE, is open. Run in partnership with Digital Profession, the program aims to increase “Australia’s sovereign cyber workforce capability”. Participants gain the opportunity to experience the type of cyber related careers that exist in the ADF and Defence, and across other Departments and Agencies, according to the ADF. “The graduates of the Program will play an important role in building a strong, diverse cyber workforce that is essential for the cyber resilience of our military in support of national security,” said Defence’s Information Warfare Division, Major General Susan Coyle, in a statement. More information about the program can be seen here.