Manufacturing news briefs - stories you might have missed

First baby to be born through utilisation of Memphasys technology

Biotechnology company Memphasys has announced that India’s Coimbatore Women’s Hospital Centre has seen the first live birth of a healthy baby boy, conceived utilising the company’s patented system for selecting healthy sperm for IVF procedures. Memphaysys’s Felix instrument uses uses an electric force and polymer membranes to separate high quality sperm from a sample. The Coimbatore Women’s Hospital Centre uses Felix for males suffering from high sperm DNA fragmentation, which is correlated with male infertility. Meanwhile Memphasys has received its first orders for the Felix device from Japan. The company will supply 30 sterile single-use Felix cartridges and a console to the Kobe ART clinic in Japan.

Professor Roy Green takes chair of food sector industry growth centre

UTS, Sydney Emeritus Professor Roy Green has taken over as chair of Food Innovation Australia Ltd, the food sector industry growth centre. He replaces Dr Michele Allan who stepped down after three years to pursue other Board opportunities. According to FIAL, Dr Allan’s extensive knowledge of the sector, together with her commercial and innovation experience, has provided the system leadership to unlock the sector’s growth potential, whilst highlighting the critical linkages between agricultural inputs and food and beverage manufacturing. Professor Green, well known to readers of @AuManufacturing, is highly regarded for his leadership in innovation, manufacturing and regional growth and diversification. Professor Green said: “I am delighted to be appointed Chair of FIAL during the company’s transition into the next phase of growth. My background and understanding of competitive ecosystems will help support FIAL as they leverage the cluster ecosystem to unlock the potential of Project 2030, and drive export growth for the sector.”

DroneShield releases updated DroneGun anti-drone device

Drone detection and countermeasure manufacturer DroneShield has released an upgraded DroneGun Mk4, following extensive development in response to end-user feedback. DroneGun Mk4 is a portable pistol-shape drone jammer, weighting 3.2kg. The Company believes this product is peerless globally, for its combination of size and effectiveness. DroneGun Mk4 is designed as an addition to the DroneGun product line, rather than replacing the highly successful long range DroneGun Tactical, and the ultra-lightweight DroneGun Mk3. DroneGun Mk4 can also be used in combination with other DroneShield products, including the RfPatrol body-worn detection device and the DroneSentry stationary multi-sensor detection system.

Austeng demos hydrogen burner

Engineering firm Austeng hosted Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio last week at a demonstration of the company’s new hydrogen burner. Austeng received a $100,000 Renewable Hydrogen Business Ready Fund grant for feasibility study and development work on a prototype. According to Austeng, it demonstrates how a cremation furnace can be powered by a blend of hydrogen and gas to facilitate a transition to using clean, renewable hydrogen. Managing Director of Austeng, Ross George, commented: “What you see today is an important enabling technology. This demonstration shows that the crematoria sector and mainstream industry more generally that green hydrogen can be easily, safely and quickly integrated into our respective operations with no business risk.” Austeng said in a statement that the technology was, to the best of their knowledge, the first of its kind, and lessons from the project will be applicable to decarbonising other gas-fired industrial processes in the future. (Ross and Lyn George from Austeng were recent guests on episode 50 of @AuManufacturing‘s podcast.)

Hub for battery recycling to open at UNSW

The ARC Research Hub for Microrecycling of Battery and Consumer Wastes, directed by UNSW Professor Veena Sahajwalla, will be opened on Wednesday. The launch event will run from 1 – 2 pm at the Hilmer Building Room 552 on level 5. UNSW described the Microrecycling Hub as “a five-year national program of innovative research to develop innovative technologies to recover the valuable materials contained in Australia’s batteries and other complex wastes”. Sahajwalla said recovered “feedstock-ready” materials offered an exciting new era for manufacturing. “Natural resources alone will not deliver the feedstock supply needed for our future needs, so we must develop a more sustainable approach, and the Microrecycling Hub aims to develop technologies enabling capability that aligns recycling and manufacturing right here in Australia,” she added. The hub is hosted by the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, and is a collaboration with industry partners and researchers from six other universities around Australia: University of Technology, Sydney; University of Sydney; Monash University; University of Wollongong; Queensland University of Technology; and Deakin University.

New “superlab” R&D centre opened at Ravenhall

A new major commercial laboratory and R&D centre, the Symbio Laboratories facility in Ravenhall, will generate a $14.9 million investment in the state and create 200 new local jobs, according to a statement from the Victorian government. The site “will strengthen Victoria’s status as the life sciences hub of Australia, providing analytical testing, research and development and diagnostic manufacturing for clients across a range of industries.” Symbio will produce virus testing kits and molecular biology tests for early cancer diagnosis, as well as invest in advanced medical tools, as well as contribute to workforce development by partnering with local universities and TAFE institutions to provide 15 internship opportunities each year.

Ampcontrol apprentice honoured at awards

Queensland-based Ampcontrol fourth-year apprentice Mitchell Cain has been awarded ‘Electrical Apprentice of the Year – Mackay’ at the 10th Annual Tec-NQ Apprentice of the Year Gala. In a statement this week, Ampconrtrol described Cain as highly a regarded and hardworking apprentice, and receiving the award in recognition of his strong work ethic, commitment to training and education, and using his natural leadership skills to help and mentor others within his team. The 10th Annual Tec-NQ Awards were held at The Ville Pavilion at Townsville last Friday, with 30 finalists across ten categories. Todd Bailey, Ampcontrol Workshop Team Leader, said, “Mitch’s well-developed cognitive skills, knowledge, and work ethic as well as his outstanding commitment to training led him to assist, support and lead others to complete jobs safely early on in his apprenticeship. He has been an outstanding apprentice with a very bright future with Ampcontrol.

MathWorks Joins Universal Robots’ ecosystem

Mathematical computing software company MathWorks has joined Universal Robots’ UR+, an ecosystem program for UR’s collaborative robots (cobots.) MathWorks received the UR+ certification for MATLAB, a programming and numeric computing platform that provides software tools and algorithms for designing, simulating, testing and deploying robotics applications. MATLAB is used for specialised cobot applications, including those involving machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, optimisation, sensor fusion, and advanced signal processing. “We are delighted to welcome MathWorks to our UR+ solutions ecosystem and look forward to seeing this partnership help simplify the more complex cobot deployment for robotics engineers,” said Christopher Savoia, Universal Robots UR+ ecosystem manager.

Picture: Mitchell Cain of Ampcontrol after receiving his award (supplied)