We launch our new editorial series, Leadership in factory automation, today with an interview with a titan of Australian advanced manufacturing – David Singleton. As CEO of Perth shipbuilder, Austal he took that company global, breaking into the US Navy defence market. Now he is driving mining equipment manufacturer Austin Engineering into the industry 4.0…
Manufacturing has entered a fourth industrial revolution, presenting once in a lifetime opportunities for Australia to escape its recent past and once again build a viable, competitive manufacturing sector. Recognising that technology and automation has never been more important, today @AuManufacturing launches its latest editorial series – Leadership in factory automation. Here Peter Roberts surveys…
Traffic Technologies awarded $9 million contract Road management and traffic signal company Traffic Technologies has been awarded a contract with the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads expiring in 2032 that is worth up to $9 million. The contract, effectively giving the company access to the Queensland market, is for the supply of hardware…
Lockheed Martin Australia (LMA) has announced the addition of two leading Australian technology providers to its team developing a Military Satellite Communication (MILSATCOM) capability for defence, Calytrix Technologies and EM Solutions. The companies join a growing network of Australian SMEs including Av-Comm, Shoal Group, Clearbox Systems, STEM Punks and Ronson Gears, that are developing a…
The federal government has replaced the Centre for Defence Industry Capability with a new body that will operate as the ‘one-stop shop’ for SME’s doing business with defence, the Office of Defence Industry Support. The minister for defence industry Melissa Price today launched the new organisation which she said would be used by defence and…
A group of major companies, supported by Australia’s largest food manufacturer Nestlé, have released a report as part of their push to establish soft plastics recycling in Australia. Soft plastics such as bags and wrappings are difficult to recycle, and collection poses massive problems, with the only collection service involving consumers bringing their wrappers to…
A new research collaboration backed by the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre is developing traffic lights that absorb kinetic energy during a collision. With $100,000 in funding from IMCRC, road safety manufacturing company Impact Absorbing Systems (IAS) is collaborating with University of South Australia (UniSA) STEM to re-engineer the ubiquitous traffic light. The $640,000 project…
Sixty-six of South Australia’s leading technologists, scientists and engineers have tabled a technology and industry policy-based plan that will foster innovation, economic growth. The plan, released in advance of the state election in 2022, highlights vital fields that will supercharge SA’s economic recovery from COVID-19 and power the state’s transition to a low-carbon future. It…
An advanced high-temperature material developed by Australian defence scientists could be destined for space thanks to an ongoing partnership between defence and Gold Coast rocket company, Gilmour Space Technologies. Capable of withstanding temperatures of 3,200 degrees Celsius, the innovative composite material is a promising candidate for use in Gilmour’s rocket motor casings and is soon…
By James Riley Former CSIRO chair David Thodey says the growth and development of Australia’s innovation ecosystem since 2015 had been exciting – remarkable even – but a lack of clarity in long-term national industry strategy had been limiting, nonetheless. Just weeks after stepping down from the board of the national science agency which he…