Best of the week — the five most popular stories among readers, May 20 – May 24, 2024

What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading. 5) New battery strategy to drive battery manufacturing The federal government has released Australia’s first National Battery Strategy, supporting a Future Made in Australia as global demand for batteries is set to quadruple by 2030. According to a joint…

CSIRO Chief Scientist to leave for UNSW role

Professor Bronwyn Fox, a materials scientist and engineer and the current Chief Scientist at CSIRO, will begin as UNSW’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Enterprise in mid-July. According to a statement from the university on Monday, the hire follows an “extensive global search” and will see Fox responsible for driving the “strategic direction in research, innovation…

Towards 3% R&D – a national business R&D action plan by Dr John Howard

Today we conclude our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – in which @AuManufacturing has exposed the issues eroding Australian R&D. In this edited excerpt Dr John Howard proposes A National Business R&D Strategy and Action Plan. Download the full paper at the foot of this article. The structure of…

Towards 3% R&D – Commercial outcomes from public sector research by Professor Cori Stewart

As we come towards the end of our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Professor Cori Stewart Founder and CEO ARM Hub explains the importance of commercialising hubs in turning research into economic outcomes. For the past two decades the capability generated by Australian R&D funding and the capability…

Towards 3% R&D – Training the innovation workforce by Michael Edwards of Boeing

Our editorial series Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – requires a trained and inspired workforce. But how to achieve that? By Michael Edwards of Boeing Research and Technology. Enhancing performance, safety and efficiency of Boeing’s products and services are at the forefront of Boeing’s innovation teams’ minds when developing technological advancements for…

Towards 3% R&D – innovation in biofuels by Geoff Bell of MicroBioGen

Biofuels are one of Australia’s biggest industrial and environmental opportunities. Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Geoff Bell looks at what is needed to make promise a reality. Australia, with its extensive demand for air travel and rich natural resources like biomass, solar and wind, is…

If plastic manufacturing goes up 10%, plastic pollution goes up 10% – and we’re set for a huge surge in production

By Kathryn Willis, CSIRO; Britta Denise Hardesty, CSIRO; Katie Conlon, Ph.D., Portland State University, and Win Cowger, University of California, Riverside In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon…