Manufacturing news briefs - stories you might have missed

After almost a year of development, one of Fortescue Future Industries’ green ammonia test locomotives (pictured) has been sent up to the Pilbara in Western Australia. The locomotive will undergo further testing, before heading to one of Fortescue Metals Group’s operational sites. FFI took to social media and said: “It’s full steam ahead on our project to #decarbonise Fortescue’s rail operations…Our rail decarbonisation program will help us eliminate 85 million tonnes of diesel, and more than 230 tonnes of carbon emissions.”

New research from Infrastructure Australia has found recycled material could replace about 27 per cent of materials used in road projects across the country, equivalent to roughly 54 million tonnes of conventional road construction material a year that could be replaced with recycled content such as crumbed tyres, crushed glass, concrete and reclaimed asphalt. Changes in technology and standards could further increase this to around 87 million tonnes. The research will inform the recently-announced Ministerial Advisory Group on the Circular Economy, tasked with guiding Australia’s planned transition to a circular economy by 2030. Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek said the findings were “really exciting” and clearly showed an opportunity for more recycled products in roads. “This will keep products like tyres, glass, concrete and asphalt out of landfill, and put them back to good use,” she added.

Medical device manufacturer Nova Eye Medical will not receive marketing clearance to sell its iTrack Advance consumable device to be used in glaucoma surgery by the end of the year as previously expected following advice from the US Food and Drug Administration. The company will now continue to engage the FDA over the device, which has an illuminated fibre optic tip, and is designed to improve the efficacy of canaloplasty surgery in treating glaucoma. The company will continue to sell its first generation iTrack device, the only device currently on sale in the US approved to be used in canaloplasty. The company told investors sales revenue for the four months to October 21 was $5.66 million, exceeding previous advice. Nova Eye is also undertaking clinical studies needed to progress to market its novel treatment for macular degeneration, a disease affecting the retina for which there is no cure.

Health and wellness product company Wellnex Life has completed the acquisition of teeth whitening brand Mr. Bright, adding to an expected uplift in sales. The company said the new product line would immediately increase revenue, which was $10.85 million in the year to date as would other areas of the business. These included the launch of the company’s Pharmacy Own brand in the first quarter FY23, the launch of medicinal cannabis products, growth in its e-commerce brand TheSet.Co and of Wellnex Life’s wholly owned and contract manufactured brands. The Mr. Bright acquisition allows the company to enter oral cosmetic and care market.

Solar power generating window systems manufacturer ClearVue has announced the receipt of an $812,830 payment under the federal government’s R&D Tax Incentive programme. The payment recognised R&D undertaken with partner D2 Solar in the United States, work at Western Australia’s Murdoch University and the productisation of ClearVue’s Smart Facade platform. The company integrates solar PV electricity generation capabilities to building products, including its lead product of commercial and domestic windows and building facades.

Research led by Monash University, RMIT and the University of Adelaide has developed an accurate method of controlling optical circuits on fingernail-sized photonic integrated circuits. The development (linked) was published in Optica, and builds on the research team’s previous work on the world’s first self-calibrated photonic chip. Programmable photonic integrated circuits (PICs), offer diverse signal processing functions on a single chip, present promising solutions in optical communications, artificial intelligence, and other applications. “The complexity of photonic integrated circuits is rapidly increasing, requiring a breakthrough to be able to calibrate and control them,” said Dr Andy Boes from the University of Adelaide. “The technique we developed overcomes this challenge, ensuring that the circuits can robustly be used for applications such as pattern recognition.”