A couple of years ago, the importance of the semiconductor industry was a hot topic, for businesses, consumers, and policy-makers. The chip shortage of 2020 – 2023 saw companies adopt measures like redesigning products and building extra capacity to hoard supplies. Consumers saw extended wait times on things like cars and appliances. And politicians had…
By Sirjana Adhikari, Deakin University; Ellen Moon, Deakin University, and Wendy Timms, Deakin University As the climate changes, large parts of southern Australia are projected to get drier. Extreme rains are also becoming more common. For farmers, these changes pose big risks. What can we do to manage changes already locked in? One adaptation is…
By Brent Balinski It was last year at Amsterdam’s Rematec, the premier remanufacturing show, when the proverbial lightbulb went on for Colin Doherty (pictured below). The Managing Director of Original Engines Co saw clearly that his business was a real part of the circular economy and decarbonisation movements. “Here in Australia it’s not known about…
By Vitomir Kovanovic, University of South Australia Less than two years ago, the launch of ChatGPT started a generative AI frenzy. Some said the technology would trigger a fourth industrial revolution, completely reshaping the world as we know it. In March 2023, Goldman Sachs predicted 300 million jobs would be lost or degraded due to…
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…
LoomTex Pty Ltd has survived in business for a century to become Australia’s last woollen furnishing textile weaving mill and dye house. Now with a name change the company, a joint venture between Instyle Contract Textiles and Colan Australia, has a vision to become one of the most innovative and sustainable textile manufacturers in Australia.…
By Brent Balinski You may be familiar with various implants used to heal damaged bones – screws, rods, plates and other metal bits and pieces, ones fashioned from newer varieties of materials engineered to mimic what they replace, grafts from elsewhere on a patient’s body etcetera. Dr Maryam Parviz, a biomedical engineer and co-founder/CEO at…
(Sponsored) The progress of 3D printing is making things more distributed, digital and dynamic for manufacturers, attendees at a recent meetup at Tekt Industries heard. Additive manufacturing was at a kind of tipping point, the audience were told at the May 30 event, part of a roadshow for US 3D printer OEM Markforged to launch…
Chris Bowen visits China to talk low carbon transmission The Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen will travel to China to represent Australia at the 8th Ministerial on Climate Action (MOCA), taking place on 22-23 July 2024. There he will deliver a keynote address on emissions reduction and the low-carbon transition and meet with…
In this, the third part of a series about Coalition plans for nuclear power in Australia, Peter Farley asks the question – How would we establish a nuclear power industry? It is often claimed that many countries are going nuclear and if Australia wants to be a ‘Developed Country’ we should have nuclear power. If…