AIM Defence’s Fractl Tactical Directed Energy Laser has taken out first place at an international Counter Drone Sandbox in Canada netting a $1 million dollar prize. The win cements AIM’s position at the forefront of low cost and compact Tactical Counter-Drone Systems and follows the Australian Government’s $5.4 million commitment to buy a Fractl counter…
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Next week we’re happy to be discussing a topic that’s sort of new but really isn’t, and has become sort of unavoidable. Nearly two years ago ChatGPT 3 burst into our lives and they haven’t been the same since. Generative artificial intelligence has moved into more and more places and there are some real ways…
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Dettmer announces retirement National President of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union Andrew Dettmer has announced that he will resign from the role, effective September 1. In an update on Linkedin on Thursday, Dettmer shared: “It’s been an amazing adventure. Very proud of my union and all that it’s achieved in its 172 years. I’ve been…
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Building materials company Boral is developing a lower-carbon concrete product using calcined clay as an alternative supplementary cementitious material (SCM.) The has announced that it is leading a two-year SmartCrete CRC-backed project, also involving the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Transport for NSW, and industrial process specialist Calix, aimed at “further demonstrate the technical feasibility…
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Startup business Food Recycle is seeking $3 million through crowd funding to commercialise technology that turns food waste into animal feed. After successful trials with layer hens, prawns, barramundi, and aquaponics, the NSW based company is seeking the cash via crowd-funding platform, Swarmer to scale-up in Australia and New Zealand. Food Recycle CEO Norm Boyle…
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CSIRO staff have called for Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic’s intervention to head off the destruction of more than 700 jobs in CSIRO. In an open letter to Husic the CSIRO Staff Association said: “Our national science agency is under attack from within. “CSIRO’s core purpose and the ability of its staff to deliver…
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South Australian submarine workers have begun strike action at the government owned ASC maintenance and sustainment facility in Adelaide as they continue their long running dispute seeking pay parity with ASC workers in Western Australia. The 350 workers, members of the AMWU, AWU and ETU, who began their protected strike action in early May took…
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UNSW researchers have developed a new gel based on silk from moths with potential to regenerate damaged tissue, and which they hope can one day be used to help patients recover from a heart attack. The team’s paper (linked) in Advanced Functional Materials describes “a novel silk fibroin microgel platform that enhances cell growth and…
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Microbiology automation company LBT Innovations has sold five APAS Independence laboratory instruments to pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca AB and will provide maintenance and support services over seven years. The total contract value is worth up to $4.1 million depending on the level of services required, and is in addition to the lease of a sixth instrument…
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Australia’s newly minted Assistant Minister for a Future Made in Australia Tim Ayres believes opportunities such as the revitalisation of manufacturing come around rarely. Today is one of those opportunities he argues in this excerpt from his address to the National Manufacturing Summit. As the Prime Minister said back in April – we need to…
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