Manufacturing newsbriefs – stories you might have missed

Quickstep unsuccessful in flare housing manufacturing bid

Composites manufacturer Quickstep Holdings has been informed its bid to manufacture MJU-6B flare housing for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter for Chemring in the next two financial years has been unsuccessful. Quickstep said the grounds for Chemring’s decision are contestable, with the company initiating a formal protest to US and Australian defence departments. Quickstep constructed a custom manufacturing facility (pictured) to build the flare housings.

MGC Pharmaceuticals in Covid cannabis trial

Cannabis product manufacturer MCG Pharmaceuticals will proceed to phase three clinical trials of its cannabis based anti-inflammatory treatment for Covid-19. The company has received ethics approval from hospitals in Israel who will trial the drug on patients affected with the disease. Covid patients often suffer inflammatory reactions in serious cases.

DroneShield in multiple drone detection orders

Drone detection and countermeasure manufacturer DroneShield has announced multiple orders for its latest product, the DroneSentry-X counter unmanned aerial vehicle system. The orders, worth $500,000, come from North America and South East Asia. These are customers new to the company, with follow up orders expected at a later date.

Element electric bus hits the road

The first of the Element electric buses being built by national bus manufacturer Custom Denning has begun trials in suburban Sydney. The buses, built at St Marys, Sydney, feature an imported drive rain but fully local chassis and body. Running between beach locations Bondi and Bronte, the buses can operate for 16 hours when fully charged.

Archer progresses biochip nanofabrication

Materials development company Archer Materials has miniaturised to nano-size components destined for its biosensor development program. The company announced it has created nano-sized components in silicon for its graphene-based lab-on-a-chip device now under development. Translating the bio-sensor components onto silicon wafers would allow mass production of chips, a required step. The company has accomplished one million sensor components within a square centimetre area.

Picture: Quickstep Holdings

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