Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Phycologic harnesses algae to purify indoor air

Sydney start up Phycologic has launched its novel Seatree which harnesses the photosynthetic power of algae to purify indoor air. Founded by engineers and marine scientists Zac Duryea and Jack Vitnell (pictured), the company worked with University of Technology Sydney’s Deep Green Biotech Hub to develop the algae-filled Seatree. Marine algae is responsible for 70 percent of the air we breathe, with it now set to appear in offices to improve the air quality within buildings. Duryea said: “Phycologic is harnessing this incredible photosynthetic power by creating biological air filtration systems to improve the air quality within your buildings. Indoor air is generally 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air and we’re here to help this issue.”

US nuclear submarine constructors visit Australia

Executives of one of the companies that constructs the United States’ nuclear powered submarines have visited Australia, according to media reports. Executives of Huntington Ingalls Industries led by Eric Chewning, HII’s executive vice president for strategy and development, visited Austrade in Sydney and then Canberra, Adelaide and Perth. In WA the group toured facilities at the submarine base HMAS Stirling which will begin to host regular visits by US and UK nuclear powered submarines from 2027. British and Australian made nuclear powered submarines will be based in WA from the 2030s and 2040s. The group will also visit the Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide where future submarines will be constructed under the AUKUS pact.

Hydrostor to establish regional headquarters in Victoria

Canadian renewable energy company Hydrostor will establish a regional headquarters in Melbourne, the Victorian government announced last week. Hydrostor is the owner and developer of the Silver City Energy Storage Centre in Broken Hill, and is a developer of emission-free energy storage. The company manufactures Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage systems, which store energy underground as heated compressed air using low-priced excess electricity from the grid. “Compressed Air Energy Storage is a vital component of the clean energy transition to achieve net-zero emissions and we are committed to bringing low impact solutions to communities throughout Australia,” said Curtis VanWalleghem, CEO of Hydrostor.

Titomic announces capital raise

Titomic announced on Monday morning that it is conducting a fully-underwritten pro rata accelerated  renounceable entitlement offer to existing eligible shareholders and a non-underwritten placement offer, seeking to raise $6.5 million before costs. It said the raise would support increased manufacturing capacity, increase its ability to sell current products, drive new business opportunities, and provide additional general working capital. The issue price for the entitlement and placement of $0.01 per share represented a 81.13 per cent discount to the closing price of shares on Friday, June 23, the last trading day before the announcement. Titomic is looking to raise $5.5 million (before costs) in the entitlement offer of 2.3 shares for every share held by eligible shareholders registered at 7.00 pm (AEST) on Wednesday, June 28. It said there were firm commitments from sophisticated and institutional investors for 100,000,000 new fully paid ordinary shares in the placement at an issue price of $0.01 per share, representing $1 million (before costs.)

Defence achieves maintenance milestone on Seahawk

The Australian defence industry completed the first-ever deep-level maintenance of a United States Navy MH-60R Seahawk “Romeo” helicopter in Nowra, NSW today. The helicopter arrived in Australia in October 2022, and will soon return to the US after successful maintenance and repairs by Sikorsky Australia. According to a statement from assistant defence minister Matt Thistlethwaite, the achievement highlights a 100-year partnership between Australia and the United States, also noting that the Royal Australian Navy fleet of MH-60R helicopters is expanding to 36 aircraft from mid-2025 through Project SEA9100. “Australians performing a deep level maintenance on a Romeo helicopter signifies the trust and confidence of the United States Navy in our local industry, and the skill and competence of our tradespeople and technicians,” said Thistlethwaite.

Australian Agritech Awards announced

Innovators in the agritech sector have been acknowledged for their contributions at the Australian Agritech Awards Gala in Sydney. The awards’ gala and associated Investor Networking event highlighted the exciting developments in innovation, commercialisation, adoption, and expansion of Australian agritech, according to a statement from the federal department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Category winners are as follows:

• Agritech StartUp of the Year: DataFarming
• Ag Climate Tech: Bardee
• Best Early Stage: Cibo Labs
• Best Food Tech: PostHarvest Technology
• Best Founder: RapidAIM
• Best in Broadacre: DataFarming
• Best in Horticulture: Green Atlas
• Best in Livestock: AgriWebb
• Best in Water, Aquaculture and Fisheries: SWAN Systems
• Best Scale Up: Figured.

Picture: Phycologic/Zac Duryea (at left) and Jack Vitnell and their Seatree