Xtek awarded $27 million defence contract for drones Xtek has received a $26.9 million purchase order from the Australian Department of Defence for new small unmanned aerial systems (SUAS), it announced on Thursday. The purchase took the value of orders in hand for its technology division to $35 million, with $47 million in revenue already…
Today in Australia’s place in the semiconductor world, Andrew McLellan illustrates a case where local innovation requires overseas fabrication, and why the situation is unlikely to change. While improvements in technology and knowledge have driven significant advances in life sciences and healthcare industries in recent decades, methods for identifying and tracking important biological samples stored…
An Indo-Pacific Carbon Accounting Lab is to be established in Adelaide to help build the next generation data infrastructure and carbon accounting systems, creating trusted and accurate data across entire supply chains. The lab was announced by the state Department for Trade and Investment off the back of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27…
The Royal Australian Navy has signed contracts to acquire five Bluebottle unmanned surface vessels (USVs) from Australian manufacturer Ocius. In the last 15 months, five Bluebottles under a Defence Innovation Hub contract have already completed nearly 23,000 nautical miles at sea , the equivalent to around the world at the equator. The deal to deliver…
Beginning week three of Australia’s place in the semiconductor world, Sercan Altun considers the role of chips in enabling a nation’s self-sufficiency goals in manufacturing, and the implications for Australia. The seeds of the current “Cold War 2.0” discussions were laid due to a rising China on the global stage, with massive economic and military…
The Australian Research Council Discovery Projects scheme is to support research at the University of Southern Queensland ranging from extreme weather-resistant building materials to next-generation advanced composites and fine tuning cybersecurity systems. Australian Research Council (ARC) Chief Executive Officer Judi Zielke PSM announced more than $221 million under its Discovery Projects scheme. UniSQ’s successful initiatives…
Today in or ongoing editorial series, Australia’s place in the semiconductor world, Dr Venkata Gutta considers why we need a domestic semiconductor industry, what other countries have done to develop theirs, what we can learn, and some proposals. Millibeam is a mmWave fabless semiconductor company based in Sydney, Australia and we develop high-performance integrated circuits and…
Universal Biosensors receives R&D tax incentive rebate Diagnostic test systems manufacturer Universal Biosensors has announced the receipt of $3.9 million in cash as a federal government R&D tax incentive rebate for the 2021 financial year. The company has been widening the capabilities of its flagship Sentia test system for winemaking which is used by winemakers…
Today our Australia’s place in the semiconductor world series looks at ways Australia can address its precarious dependence on overseas chip suppliers, and the role of defence in this. There is no time to waste, argues Martin Hamilton-Smith. In March 2023 the Albanese government’s Defence Strategic Review will be handed down by Sir Angus Houston…
By Peter Roberts Now that the federal government has released the review into the six Industry Growth Centres, the big question remains – what will be their replacement and will they become true application-oriented innovation organisations we see in the UK’s Catapult Centres and Germany’s Fraunhofer institutes? The recommendations of Industry Growth Centres Initiative: initial…