Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Austal meets Philippines President Marcos

Shipbuilder Austal CEO Paddy Gregg, COO Ian McMillan and Deputy President Austal Philippines Gianni Johannes met with Philippines President, His Excellency Ferdinand ‘Bong Bong’ Marcos Jr in Cebu, to promote the capabilities of the Austal Philippines shipyard. Supported by Australia’s Ambassador to the Philippines, HK Yu PSM and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner Christopher Lim, the Austal team highlighted the success of the Balamban, Cebu shipyard over the past 10 years, producing more than 20 ships for over 12 operators in 11 countries. Austal Philippines has grown from a small team of 30 to become the regions leading shipbuilding facility for high-speed aluminium craft, producing the largest ferries ever produced by an Austal shipyard three times in the past five years alone – the most recent, Express 5 for MOLSLINJEN A/S of Denmark was delivered in March 2023.

Babcock in defence industry workforce development

Engineering services group Babcock Australasia and the University of Adelaide have joined to accelerate Australia’s critical defence industry workforce to support the biggest and most ambitious defence agenda in the nation’s history. Babcock Managing Director AUKUS & International Sir Nick Hine KCB, Babcock CEO Andrew Cridland, University of Adelaide Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj AC and Deputy Vice Chancellor (External Engagement) Dr Jessica Gallagher have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in a commitment to work closely together. Babcock and the University of Adelaide will work together on developing Australia’s defence workforce and skills through new initiatives and projects to support current defence programs and the AUKUS program, including the delivery of the nation’s first nuclear-powered submarines. Job creation and building the advanced skills needed to support South Australia’s position will be critical to the programme. The MoU will serve as the guiding framework, between the University of Adelaide and Babcock to work together on new talent attraction and development to support defence and national security and realise the potential presented by AUKUS.

Eylex expands to Norwest

Communications manufacturer Eylex will upgrade to a state of the art facility located at Norwest, New South Wales in early August following the company’s continued growth of cable systems, kitting, electronic assembly and in-country service and maintenance capability. After 15 years at Castle Hill, Eylex’s new home at 2,150 m2, is 210 percent larger than the current building. The climate-controlled ground floor space is more than double the area at Castle Hill and combines Service and Cable production Technicians into one area. The additional space and latest modular workspace arrangements will allow the team to adapt the operation to manage a wide range of cable/electronic assembly, and kitting activities. Warehousing has also increased by more than 200 per cent allowing for future expansion in logistics and storage. Eylex Managing Director Ross Stevens said: “We would like to thank our supplier partners and customers for their support over the last 20 years and are excited to continue the journey with you into the future.”

Queensland’s STEM Skills course for secondary students

Fuelling a hydrogen future: STEM Skills for Secondary Learning courses have been developed in Queensland to target Years 7 – 10 and Years 11 – 12 and are curriculum-aligned for easy integration into the classroom environment, according to a statement. The online learning programme is a key action under the Hydrogen Industry Workforce Development Roadmap 2022-2032, released in July 2022. The online programmes were developed by CQ University in partnership Stanwell Corporation and ACCIONA Energía and will build important industry-school connections and showcase the Queensland hydrogen and renewable energy sectors to our future workforce. Minister for Training and Skills Development Di Farmer said: “The free online learning resources will equip Queensland high school students with industry-relevant foundational skills and the tools needed to make a decision about career pathways in the hydrogen sector. Hydrogen GISP captures more than 2000 students across 32 Queensland schools over three years. Now we have gone one step further with online opportunities.”

Biome Australia launches three new products 

Biotherapeutics and complementary medicines company Biome has announced the launch of three new clinically-trialled products into its Activated Probiotics range, Biome Dental, Biome Lax and Biome Recovery. The probiotics are available through a distribution network of over 4,000 community pharmacies and independent health practitioners said the company, adding that it aims to use these new products to further  expand its network of healthcare practitioners and improve patients’ quality of life. Managing Director and founder Blair Norfolk said the release “provides significant commercial opportunities for the company to develop its relationships with dental practitioners, expanding its network of healthcare practitioners. Similarly, Biome Lax and Recovery open up new patient segments while supporting Biome’s mission to help improve health outcomes and quality of life for patients taking our products.” 

Free information session on applying for a CRC-P grant
Cooperative Research Australia is delivering an online information session on Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-Ps) in collaboration with the Department of Industry, Science, and Resources on Wednesday, August 23 at 12:30 – 2pm AEST. CRC-Ps are federally funded grants that provide industry-led collaborations with short-term (up to three years) matched funding of up to $3 million to develop innovative technologies, products, and services. Round 15 of CRC-Ps is now open and closes on 14 September 2023, 5pm AEST. The wedinar will feature Martin Dent from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Siobhan Lyndon from AMSL Aero, and Jane O’Dwyer from Cooperative Research Australia. You can register at this link.

Picture: Australian officials and Austal executives meet with Philippines President, His Excellency Ferdinand ‘Bong Bong’ Marcos Jr