Member News

Experts from around the world have spent the past three years pushing the boundaries of autonomous robotic technology to map, navigate and search environments as part of the Subterranean challenge, run by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). With teams eliminated from the competition each year, only eight remain to contest the 2021 grand final. Breakthroughs discovered through the DARPA Challenge have helped push real-world applications forward, including improving safety and enhanced efficiency in local mining sectors, and promising significant potential in agriculture and manufacturing. Though based in Australia for the competition, CSIRO’s Australian team members will appear at the event via telepresence. US-based representatives and partners Emesent and Georgia Tech will be on the ground. CSIRO group leader Dr Navinda Kottege said they were thrilled to be one of the final eight teams to compete. “In the world of robotics, these challenges are like our Olympics,” Dr Kottege said. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time any Australian team…

The AMTIL Board has decided not to proceed with the AMW 2022 exhibition that had been scheduled to take place at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from 8-11 March 2022. The decision was taken in response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria and the resultant uncertainty over the viability of large public events so early in 2022. “The AMTIL Board met last week and made the very difficult decision not to proceed with the show in its current March 2022 timeslot,” said Shane Infanti, Chief Executive Officer of AMTIL. “Despite the great support we have for the exhibition from all our exhibitors, recent developments relating to the COVID-19 Delta strain have created an unpredictable environment that we felt had the potential to seriously jeopardise the event given that it is so early in the New Year.” With the Melbourne event not going ahead, AMTIL is now moving forward with plans for a rescheduled event to take place later in the year…

Developed by researchers at RMIT University, the highly versatile catalysts are cost-effective to make and simple to scale. The team’s lab demonstrations show the 3D-printed catalysts could potentially be used to power hypersonic flight while simultaneously cooling the system. The research is published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Chemical Communications. Lead researcher Dr Selvakannan Periasamy said their work tackled one of the biggest challenges in the development of hypersonic aircraft: controlling the incredible heat that builds up when planes fly at more than five times the speed of sound. “Our lab tests show the 3D printed catalysts we’ve developed have great promise for fuelling the future of hypersonic flight,” Periasamy said. “Powerful and efficient, they offer an exciting potential solution for thermal management in aviation – and beyond. With further development, we hope this new generation of ultra-efficient 3D-printed catalysts could be used to transform any industrial process where overheating is an ever-present challenge.” Only a few experimental planes have reached hypersonic speed (defined as above Mach 5…

Aero Spec is a family owned business established by Klaus Linke in 1973, and is now managed by his two sons Nick and Mark, who bought the business in 2000. To help enable their vision of taking the business to new opportunities, the brothers changed the company name, invested in a larger manufacturing facility and established a commitment to continual investment in the latest CNC machine and tooling technology. Aero Spec specialises in supplying complex and difficult to manufacture components to various industries such as medical, defence, infrastructure, transport, aviation and mining. Their expertise in machining, CNC turning, three, four and five-axis CNC milling, and design and turnkey manufacturing has enabled the company to develop a reputation as a one-stop manufacturing facility capable of catering for every requirement, including working with materials such as stainless, inconel, acrylics, PEEK and other plastics. While Aero Spec shines in working with complex and difficult components, they also…

Additional benefits for global organisations to choose to manufacture here include access to Australia’s generous Research and Development Tax Incentive (RDTI), especially if they plan to commercialise the results of R&D programs in Australia. Informing them of and promoting their potential access to cash refunds or general tax benefits could help secure the work for Australia when other jurisdictions are also being considered. Australia’s generosity to companies that undertake business here will in turn help bolster its medtech and life sciences manufacturing expertise through promotion of Australia as a destination for R&D and manufacturing. There are several scenarios where Australian manufacturing activities could be subject to an RDTI claim for overseas companies looking to set up an Australian presence to contract with local manufacturers. There could be…

A partnership between UoW, Lithoz and Objective3D allowed the remote installation of the high-resolution ceramic printer to occur, which will be used for a broad range of applications in the development of bioprinting hardware. The printer was purchased by the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) Materials Node, which is based at UoW, for use at the Translational Research Initiative for Cellular Engineering and Printing (TRICEP). TRICEP works with research institutions and industry to develop innovative technologies using 3D bioprinting. Dr Johannes Homa, CEO of Lithoz, said the project highlighted the importance of agile working: “We are world and industry technology providers for ceramic 3D printing systems and materials, and have been working in research and industry for more than ten years. After the past year, it has become clear to us just how critical flexibility in the manufacturing world is, and we are very happy that this remote installation has been a success.” The investment from ANFF will give TRICEP a highly flexible means of customising and producing…

AMT: How long has Alspec been in business and how has it evolved over the years? Clinton Matthews: We’ve been in business for over 45 years with distribution facilities located across Australia. We have multiple businesses within the group and have in excess of 500 employees nationally supporting our customers. We have in-house design and NATA-accredited testing facilities assisting in the development of new aluminium window and door systems supporting the building sector. We are big on R&D, we invest in our people and technology to deliver exceptional service across our supply chain.   AMT: What prompted you to invest in the Hänel system? CM: Our main problem was capacity within an existing facility, in conjunction with labour productivity – the time it was taking to fulfil orders through the picking process. Traditionally we would store small components in traditional key lock racking systems, and we were looking for a way to increase productivity and the storage capacity of our facility. We have not had the system long and…

Innovation to commercialisation in years, losing your IP in minutes A business may develop a strategic approach, or just strike it lucky in finding an unexpected technological breakthrough. To progress from this point, requires further research and development, securing government grants and tax breaks, and maybe applying for patents in Australia and overseas, with an eye on potential overseas markets. Hopefully before too long commercialisation creates further growth and opportunities. Many start-ups and established corporations alike strive to achieve success, after the ‘sweat and tears’ of enduring many late nights of endless research and experimentation. The creators of innovation might work in an informal setting, like a start-up, made of a collection of friends and family members with a shared vision of making that imagined product a reality. Or in a large corporation, with the formal procedures, protocols, sign…

The company is known for its expertise as a manufacturer of top-quality decorative surfaces, and its success can be attributed to an ongoing focus on product and manufacturing innovation. Throughout its history, Laminex has continually adapted, reinvesting in the skills, safety, performance and capacity of its plants through new equipment, training and development. The company’s evolution began following World War II when founder Robert Sykes began to look to adapt his techniques to make new products. He travelled to the US to research the fabrication of decorative laminates and began producing Australia’s first interior décor product range in the late 1940s. With Australia’s cities booming, new house builds burgeoning, and demand for affordable furniture escalating, Sykes’ foresight to innovate was astute. He established the Cheltenham factory in 1952 and installed a cutting-edge hydraulic press to enable quicker production and expansion of the product range to meet market demand and improve returns. The quest to improve and streamline production…

By acquiring CNC Software, Sandvik gains Mastercam, the most widely used Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) brand in the industry with an installed base of around 270,000 licenses/users, as well as a strong market reseller network and well-established partnerships with leading machine makers and tooling companies. The Mastercam brand and its reseller channel will remain intact. Gcode has been supporting the Australian region as Mastercam’s reseller for nearly six years. Greg Williams, Director of Gcode, stressed that for Mastercam users in Australia the customer experience will remain completely unchanged, with the same level of customer service and support that they have come to expect. “Mastercam Software Australia is committed to support and training of all users,” said Williams. “I am very passionate about manufacturing in Australia and pride myself in partnering with progressive manufacturing companies to achieve better outcomes. It’s an exciting time for manufacturing, and we look forward…

These new hardware and software releases are built to help manufacturers reinvent the way they overcome global supply chain challenges by producing parts efficiently and safely at the point of need. Whether on a factory floor or in the most remote areas of the world, these advances are designed to enable manufacturers to recover faster when parts break, operate with less on-hand inventory, and minimise equipment downtime. The Metal X Gen 2 builds on the legacy of its predecessor, the original Metal X System released in 2017, by pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in printing complex, industrial-grade metal parts with key hardware developments that improve user experience and increase operator safety to make metal printing even easier. New features such as an external seven-inch touchscreen, door position sensors and additional chamber insulation make the Gen 2 even more energy- and time-efficient than before. Markforged has also released Next Day Metal across its entire global fleet of metal printers. This over-the-air software update unlocks print speeds up-to twice as…

The report, Advanced recycling technologies to address Australia’s plastic waste, evaluates the ways to convert plastic waste that can’t be recycled with existing methods, into new resources to build Australia’s circular economy. It is estimated that 130,000 tonnes of plastic leaks into the Australian marine environment each year. Less than 12% of plastic waste is recycled and about 85% ends up in landfill. Advanced recycling of plastic waste, also referred to as feedstock, molecular, or chemical recycling, converts plastic waste into its chemical building blocks and back into plastic, or other useful resources such as fuel. CSIRO researcher Sarah King said with new waste plastic export rules in place, new technologies were critical to support the increased recovery and recycling of plastics. “Advanced recycling technologies could turn hard-to-recycle plastics, such as mixed, multi-layer, flexible or contaminated plastics back into food-grade recycled plastics or other products through chemical, thermal or biological processes,” King said. “It is suitable for flexible or soft ‘scrunchable’ plastics used for food packaging, such as food pouches and chocolate wrappers.…

As a design-focused operation, based in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows, Integra Systems’ Managing Director Paul Hughes considers Industry 4.0 to be paramount at the company for many reasons: to drive better productivity across the factory; to improve the quality of everything to which the team put their name; to make it easier for designers and manufacturers to collaborate productively with their customers; and to increase staff morale and overall satisfaction for the people who help make Integra stand out from the competition. Paul talks about bringing all of the many varied aspects of the company’s production process together in a new kind of synchronicity, to meet the demands of the next generation in manufacturing. Accordingly, Industry 4.0 has played a pivotal role in making that happen. “Our vision of Industry 4.0 was the ability to be able to link a whole group of subsystems…