Equipping Australia’s armed forces – Rowlands Metalworks surprises on the upside

Our series – Equipping Australia’s armed forces – continues today with a focus on flow-on benefits across manufacturing as SME’s improve their capabilities and technologies to supply critical defence equipment. But sometimes it is not about missiles and complex electronics. Here Peter Roberts profiles Rowlands Metalworks. A visit to Rowlands Metalworks in the nondescript Adelaide…

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National Space Qualification Network launched

A National Space Qualification Network (USQN), a new system of certification for satellites and other systems destined for space, has been launched with backing from the federal government. The University of Wollongong (UOW), the Australian National University (ANU), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Steritech, Nova Systems and Saber Astronautics will contribute to a…

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Green hydrogen production and vehicle refilling station for SW Melbourne

Modular hydrogen production developer Hydrogen Fuels Australia (H2FA) has launched Australia’s first integrated hydrogen production and refuelling station to be built at a greenfields site in Truganina near Laverton, south-west of Melbourne. Rainwater and renewable power will be used along with Green Hydrogen Systems of Denmark electrolysis equipment, with the site’s micro-grid managed by Sweden’s…

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Geelong-based waste-to-energy startup announces milestone

Capricorn Power, which is commercialising a high-efficiency heat engine, has announced what it calls a “significant operational milestone” today, starting the first phase of commissioning at Austeng’s site. The news follows a fifth paid feasibility study by a council and feasibility studies with an ASX-listed company, it said, and an announcement last month of a joint…

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Alstom, CAF and Downer Rail shortlisted for next phase of QLD rolling stock program

Alstom, CAF and Downer Rail have been shortlisted for a $600 million project to build 20 six-car trains at Maryborough. The Queensland government made the announcement on Wednesday, following an expression of interest process led by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR.)  The winner of the contract will be named next year.  The…

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Introducing our new editorial series – Equipping Australia’s armed forces

Today we launch our new editorial series – Equipping Australia’s armed forces. In the middle of an boom in defence spending unprecedented in peacetime, domestic industry is stepping up to play its role. By Peter Roberts. The federal government is on a buying spree – unprecedented in peacetime – to reequip our armed forces, and…

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Property rights in a manufacturing digital world – by Michael Haines

Earlier this month Michael Haines looked at Cyber Security and Digital Twins. Today he turns to a governance framework for the 3D digital world, including dynamical models of manufactured goods and manufacturing facilities. In the real world, most manufactured and constructed objects are subject to specific property rights, and even public assets have restricted access,…

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Swinburne’s Professor Bronwyn Fox named as incoming CSIRO Chief Scientist

Swinburne University’s Professor Bronwyn Fox will be CSIRO’s next Chief Scientist, the university announced on Wednesday afternoon. Fox joined Swinburne in 2015 — as the head of its Factory of the Future — from Deakin University. Following a Directorship of its Manufacturing Futures Research Institute, Fox has been Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Enterprise since February…

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