The Queensland government extended its support of the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub by $7.2 million over four years in this week’s state budget. The ARM Hub is a not-for-profit innovation initiative launched in 2020, helping link companies with researchers for robotics and software-related projects. The funding would help it “continue its vital work…
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Defence contractor Electro Optic Systems has followed on its success in selling weapons systems to Ukraine with another order announced to supply similar systems to a ‘western European government’, which the company did not name. The $51 million order s for its Australian-made Remote Weapons System (RWS, pictured) which allow troops to aim and fire…
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Another Skykraft prototype Air Traffic Management satellite stack has lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Later the company released video footage showing the crfaft separating from the rocket one hour and 17 minutes after lift off (pictured). This was the company’s second launch for 2023,…
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Cold spray additive manufacturing business Titomic has unveiled a new mobile repair unit at the European Defense Agency’s Additive Manufacturing Village 2023 event this week in the Netherlands. The unit is described as being housed in a 20-foot shipping container, incorporating “two cold spray units, a D523, and a robotised integrated spray booth” and as…
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Australian owned defence prime contractor NIOA has confirmed the extension of its partnership with Defence which it says will ‘future proof’ supply surety of advanced artillery rounds to the Australian Army. At a time of unprecedented worldwide demand for 155mm ammunition, the Brisbane company has locked in another five-year term to supply the Assegai suite…
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Mining company Rio Tinto will partner with Gemco Rail to bring local iron ore rail car manufacturing and bearing maintenance to the Pilbara region in Western Australia in what the company calls an industry-first. The partnership will enable Gemco Rail to expand its existing operations in Perth and establish the first ever rail ore car…
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The Holmes Imager, a telescopic camera made by HEO Robotics for collecting data from satellites in orbit, has been launched aboard a SpaceX rocket. In a statement on Tuesday morning, the Sydney-based company said Holmes was “the world’s first commercial camera dedicated to non-Earth imaging” and made entirely within Australia. HEO praised its collaborative partners…
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Brain imaging company EMVision Medical Devices has announced receipt of a $1.75 million payment under the Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) grant. EMVision was awarded a grant worth $5 million in non-dilutive funding in May 2022 from the previous federal government’s MMI. The funding under the initiative’s Translation stream is to assist establishing commercial production of…
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CSIRO has released Reshaping Australia’s Food System, which it describes as a new roadmap for “a more sustainable, productive, and resilient future for [Australia’s] food, environment, and people.” It defines food systems as “the entire food pipeline from production to consumption and waste management” plus the societal, cultural and governance systems related to these. The…
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By Peter Roberts I have just been reminded by a former colleague of the bad old days when policy, any policy, favouring manufacturing was seen as protectionism and picking winners. Those times lasted for decades, with the Productivity Commission and the Coalition weaponising the words against manufacturers. My former colleague asked: what government policy is…
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