Manufacturing news briefs - stories you might have missed

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

6 February 2025 11:22

By Staff Reporter

Khuda foundation donates $100 million for girls in STEM

A donation of $100 million from the Khuda Family Foundation will fund a 20-year program to create a pathway for girls from Western Sydney to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education and careers. The University of Sydney said in a statement on Wednesday that the donation — the largest it had ever received, and one of the largest investments in women in STEM globally — will support a program beginning in Year 7 and covering three stages including tutoring, mentoring and university scholarships. The Khuda Foundation was established by Robin Khuda, the founder of data centre business, AirTrunk. It “aims to address the persistent under representation of women studying and working in historically male-dominated STEM degrees and employment by attracting more girls to STEM subjects in school, then retaining and supporting them through tertiary studies to pursue STEM careers.”

Industry PhD applications now open

Applications under the fifth round of the National Industry PhD Program have opened “for PhD candidates and businesses interested in turning their big ideas into new products and services” according to a statement from the assistant education minister on Wednesday. The program has so far allocated $13.3 million of funding on 70 projects since its beginning in 2023. “Empowering our aspiring researchers through this program will make it easier for industry to tap into an inspiring talent pool of PhD candidates or for industry employees to undertake a PhD, helping to turn those ideas into Australian inventions that contribute to a stronger and more productive economy,” said Chisholm. Applications for the program’s fifth round March 14. More information is available here.

Quantum Year launched

The United Nations has declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ), with about 100 planned events worldwide kicked off at an opening ceremony on February 4 at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters. The Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) said in a statement that Australians use quantum science daily to connect with the world, light our homes, fight disease, scan our groceries, and much more. Dr Cathy Foley, Australia’s former Chief Scientist and a speaker at the launch in Paris, said: “With so many challenges facing our world, quantum tech is a pathway to address them. With such high levels of both public and private investment in quantum in many countries, the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology is a way to make sure the world knows this”. The year is also roughly the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the laws of quantum mechanics, said the AIP, which have “allowed humanity to explore nature at the subatomic scale, where fundamental particles behave as both waves of energy and particles of matter.”

Report examines business trends in the Year of the Snake

The Chinese Year of the Snake is set to be a defining period for Australian businesses in Asia, “as geopolitical shifts, intensifying competition, and regulatory complexity create an increasingly dynamic operating environment” according to the University of Melbourne-based Asialink Business initiative. The national centre for engagement with Asia released its Business Trends in the Year of the Snake report, based on a survey of over 100 business and government leaders. “The intersection of geopolitics, economics, and technology will define the operating environment in 2025,” said Leigh Howard, CEO of Asialink Business, in a statement. “Our report supports businesses to harness opportunities in priority markets such as India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and China while mitigating risks.”  Among findings, the report discovered that 67 per cent of government respondents identified geopolitical risks as a primary concern, compared to 37 per cent of business respondents, with regulatory complexity cited as a major challenge for 46 per cent of business respondents, compared to 28 per cent of government respondents. The report can be accessed here.

Fee-Free TAFE legislation passes house

The federal government’s Free TAFE bill is a step closer after passing the House of Representatives on Wednesday afternoon, prime minister Anthony Albanese said. According to the statement, legislation will lock in a coordinated approach with states and territories to address local and national skills shortages, with the Free TAFE program having started in January 2023 and seeing close to 600,000 enrolments, including over 170,000 young Australians, 124,000 job seekers and 30,000 First Nations Australians. “Free TAFE opens doors and gives Australians one of the greatest opportunities they have – not just to fulfil their potential, but expand it, said Albanese. “And in the process, Australia fulfils more of its own vast potential.”

Novel solution for cooling anti-drone lasers

The federal government-funded Australia’s Economic Accelerator program has published a new case study this week, concerning Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) working with industry partners on thermal management for lasers for defence. The work was awarded an AEA Seed grant and led by Associate Professor Nick Bennett. Bennett’s team is using phase-change material (PCM) to absorb heat created quickly by high-powered lasers used intermittently, for example to protect defence personnel from the threat of drones, using a heat exchanger the size of a suitcase rather than a shipping container. “We had previously demonstrated this capability in the lab and on the small-scale, but this AEA project is allowing us to validate the performance of a full-scale prototype with higher heat loads, representative of laser technologies to be developed over the next decade,” said Bennett. The case study can be read here.

Picture: Robin Khuda with undergraduate STEM students, (left to right) Loretta Payne, Anandikaa Ramesh and Samantha Jap (credit University of Sydney)