By Bruno Vicari Stefani, CSIRO and Matthew Wright, University of Oxford Solar panel technology has made enormous progress in the last two decades. In fact, the most advanced silicon solar cells produced today are about as good as the technology will get. So what’s next? Enter “tandem solar cells”, the new generation in solar technology.…
By Brent Balinski One of the success stories of the Cooperative Research Centres program, which has been running since 1990, was the CRC for Advanced Composite Structures. Founded as the CRC for Aerospace Structures in 1991, it was restructured as the CRC for Advanced Composite Structures in 1997 to reflect a broader set of industry…
Ten Victorian manufacturers have been awarded assistance worth up to $50,000 each from the state government’s Low Carbon Manufacturing Grants Program. A cumulative $412,000 was awarded through the program, according to a statement from manufacturing minister Ben Carroll on Thursday. The Business Growth stream of the LCMG provides grants of up to $50,000 to companies…
Vast appoints Project Director for VS1 Concentrated solar thermal power company Vast Solar has announced the appointment of Federico Sandoval as its new Project Director for VS1, a 30 megawatt / 288 megawatt hour CSP project in Port Augusta, South Australia. VS1 uses Vast’s proprietary modular tower CSP v3.0 technology and will generate dispatchable power…
IBISWorld releases new market figures on baby food manufacture Market research firm IBISWorld has published a new Baby Food Manufacturing in Australia report, finding the sector experienced “mixed results” and declined in size by 0.2 over the last five years. The research showed desire for nutrient-added and organic products had supported performance, as had overseas…
By Peter Roberts The news that contract manufacturer Neo-Bionica has established Australia’s first facility capability of hermetically sealing implantable medical devices brings to mind the story of how Cochlear’s manufacturing skills in the area kept it from going offshore – and remain a secret of its success. The process of hermitization which Neo-Bionica is now…
Universities can apply for AUKUS funding for 4,000 more places Universities can now apply for additional Commonwealth supported places (CSPs) targeted at graduates in STEM courses, the federal government announced on Friday. The additional CSPs are designed to attract more students to train in engineering, mathematics, chemistry and physics and meet the needs of the AUKUS…
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $10 million in funding for RayGen Resources’ Solar Power Plant Two: Phase 1 project, progressing a “hi-tech solar and thermal storage technology” closer to commercialisation. According to a statement from ARENA on Thursday, the funding will help RayGen improve its design, achieve material cost reductions, and conduct…
CSIRO and corporate advisor RFC Ambrian have co-founded Hadean Energy to commercialise novel technology that is claimed to produce hydrogen with 30 per cent less electricity than traditional methods. CSIRO will trial the technology at BlueScope Steel’s Port Kembla Steelworks to demonstrate the equipment at pilot scale in an industrial environment. CSIRO’s tubular solid oxide…
Eco Detection was a recent Top 10 Gold award winner in this title’s Australia’s 50 most innovative manufacturers campaign. Brent Balinski visited their Melbourne factory to learn about what drives their innovation program, and the role of local suppliers, customers and researchers in this. The story of Eco Detection – which makes “lab in…
