Industry News

Monash University startup ElectraLith is building an extraction system to filter Lithium from brine using a polymer-ceramic composite membrane, allowing the critical mineral to be extracted from salt lakes, mine tailings, and other brine solutions using small amounts of solar-generated electricity without added chemicals or water. Harnessing the power of cutting-edge electro-filtration membrane technology, ElectraLith seeks to usher in a new era of lithium extraction, propelling the battery market into a cleaner, cheaper, and faster future. At the forefront of this groundbreaking technology is Professor Huanting Wang. An Australian Laureate Fellow and the Director of the ARC Research Hub for Energy-efficient Separation at Monash University's Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. His pioneering work in nanostructure membranes has paved the way for ElectraLith's game-changing technology. “Current lithium extraction methods involve either roasting hard rock at high temperature and dissolving it with hot sulfuric acid or evaporating brines in a solar pond, both of which use chemicals to precipitate lithium out. It is time-consuming, disruptive, expensive, and wasteful. My research in nanostructure membranes is all about efficiency and ingenuity to make the most…

Please join the Moreton Bay Regional Council and our invited guests for an opportunity to connect, share stories and intel, build your business networks, and learn about the array of business resources and support services being offered across the Moreton Bay region. For this upcoming event, we are delighted to welcome special guest the Hon. Glenn Butcher, Queensland Minister of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water to meet with our manufacturers. Learn about: What's happening across the manufacturing sector for the Moreton Bay region and beyond; Various business development workshops and training courses; Upcoming networking events to leverage your business opportunities and connections; The team at Elexon Electronics will be hosting interactive tours of their Advanced Manufacturing facility and showcasing their ability to design, develop, and manufacture a diverse range of world-class electronic products for local and export markets. Moreton Bay Regional Council is committed to supporting the growth and development of local businesses and growing our region’s economy by delivering on the Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS). This event aims to connect you with other individuals in the region in order to strengthen our…

Tonsley Innovation District has surged into its second decade of operation, continuing its laser-focused commitment to driving innovation and energising South Australia’s economy. This industry district is located 12km south of Adelaide and has made dramatic strides since opening in 2012. From its initial remit to re-ignite a stalling manufacturing sector in Adelaide’s southern suburbs following the closure of the Mitsubishi plant in 2008, to now solving some of the world’s most complex problems through creative innovation. As a hub for cutting-edge research and development, Tonsley has driven Adelaide’s transition from traditional to high-value manufacturing and with it, built out the state’s sovereign capability. Around 2,000 people across 140 companies are now employed at Tonsley – more than double that when Mitsubishi closed. 8,500 students study alongside this highly skilled and specialised workforce each year at anchor academic institution Flinders University, and TAFE SA. And more than 500 residents call Tonsley home as part of its growing community. These statistics reflect the substantial increase in scale, productivity, output, and economic impact of Tonsley in its first ten years. What was once a 61-hectare industrial wasteland has…

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that Australia will export 100 Boxer armoured fighting vehicles to Germany, according to reports. The value to the economy is more than $1bn, making it one of the largest defence export deals in history. The vehicles, to be manufactured by Rheinmetall Defence Australia at its Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, are eight-by-eight-wheeled, all-terrain, Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV). The Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy and his German counterpart, the Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Defence Thomas Hitschler signed a Letter of Cooperation in March this year and began formal negotiations to manufacture and export the vehicles. Delivery is scheduled to begin in 2025. The sale was confirmed as Albanese landed in Europe enroute to the NATO summit as reported by AP. “This will increase our defence capability and boost our economy, this is a great outcome,” Albanese is quoted when asked during a brief doorstop. “And it’s the first outcome of quite a few that we have ready to announce tomorrow with our friends here in Germany.” The “schwerer Waffenträger Infanterie” (sWaTrInf, for…

AMT: Professor Bronwyn Fox. What is Quantum Technology? Prof. Bronwyn Fox: Quantum technology uses the building blocks of nature (subatomic particles) to improve our lives. Quantum Technologies will revolutionise the way we use sensing, computing and communications systems. These technologies will cut across a number of industry sectors including energy, secure communications, computer simulations and manufacturing. It was evident from the conference that Australia has a vibrant research and start-up ecosystem, the result of over two decades of concentrated effort. It was wonderful to see Australian science being translated to create new companies, that are attracting investment and working with customers to solve complex problems. Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr. Cathy Foley, has been working on Quantum Technology for many years. When Cathy was at CSIRO, she was leading a team that developed Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) which are used to measure minute changes in magnetic fields. Cathy commercialised that technology over a decade ago and it’s been used to discover more than $6bn in mineral deposits. Quantum technologies are being used in industry now.…

Australia is one of the most wasteful developed nations, second only to the US in terms of per capita plastic bag consumption. On average, each Australian consumes over 24kg of plastic and uses over 230 plastic bags every year. In 2020, only 12% of the plastic waste was actually recycled and 81% went into landfills, with a lot of it ending up in waterways and the oceans. The 2021 National Plastics Plan (NPP) also says over one million tonnes of single-use plastics goes straight to landfill and about 130,000 tonnes of plastic leaches into Australian waterways and oceans every year. This is equivalent to 1,280 kg of plastic being dumped every hour in Australia’s ocean. National Geographic estimates there are 5.25 Trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean and of that mass, 269,000 tonnes float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibres per square kilometre litter the deep sea. Various waste technology solutions are emerging, and some behavioural changes are taking place, but is enough being done…

Starting in 2007 within the Federal Department of Education’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) provides access to world-class micro- and nanofabrication-related facilities and expertise in a simple open access model. In April last year, the Commonwealth Government released the 2021 National Research Infrastructure Roadmap (NRI) outlining the Research Challenges to be faced by Australia, which included Frontier Technologies and Modern Manufacturing. With a national recognition of the importance of fabrication technologies' ability to address these challenges, ANFF continues to support a broad spectrum of R&D. Frontier Technologies and Modern Manufacturing (FTMM) is one of the eight research challenges identified in the 2021 NRI roadmap. The others are: Food and Beverage, Medical products, Recycling and Clean Energy, Defence, Space, and Environment & Climate. ANFF facilitates cutting-edge discovery and product development in all of these areas. ANFF is a national enterprise, with 500 tools and over 130 experts spread across 21 institutions in a network of eight Nodes. The ANFF network achieved the following annual outcomes in 2022 despite COVID restrictions affecting normal operations. There were 25,189…

Plex, which Rockwell Automation acquired in 2021, is a Software as a Service (SaaS) Smart Manufacturing Platform that connects people, systems, machines, and supply chains. It is a digital system of record that automates business processes, tracks data from the shop floor to the top floor, and delivers analytics to improve visibility, quality, and control. Rockwell Automation recently released its 2023 State of Smart Manufacturing Report, which comprised data from thousands of manufacturers globally, including 75 in Australia. Rockwell found that more than 45% of Australian manufacturers say that they lack the innovation, skilled workforce, and technology to outpace the competition over the next 12 months. “Although smart manufacturing is key to Australia’s success, only 25% of the country’s manufacturing industry leaders said they were extremely familiar with the technologies,” said Anthony Wong, regional director – south pacific, Rockwell Automation. Plex opens up technologies to smaller players “Using Plex for food and beverage manufacturers and processors is like moving from DVDs to a streaming service. It opens up these technologies to smaller players, who don’t have to invest in large up-front costs. The good news is…

Hosted by Weld Australia in collaboration with the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, the theme of the National Manufacturing Summit is 'Manufacturing the Energy Revolution: Industrial Opportunities from Renewable Energy'. International expert, Adam Hersh, will address the opportunities and challenges presented by Australia’s renewable energy revolution at the National Manufacturing Summit in Canberra on 2 and 3 August. Adam Hersh is a Senior Economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC, one of Washington’s most influential think tanks. Adam’s work focuses on international trade, industrial, climate, China, and macroeconomic policies. He is currently leading a major research project on the industrial opportunities associated with new green energy policies. Adam will be the keynote speaker at the Summit dinner on 2 August, and a panelist at the Summit on 3 August. With an impressive line-up of international and Australian experts, just some of the other confirmed speakers include: Jim Stanford, Economist and Director, The Australian Institute & Centre for Future Work Michele O’Neil, President, Australian Council of Trade Unions Emily Scivetti, Chief Operating Officer, Oceanex Ben Oquist, Climate…

Touted as the Oscars of the cutting tool industry, #ANCATooloftheYear2023 is your chance to achieve global brand recognition as well as cash and other prizes. Last year’s awards achieved: A digital audience reach of 8.1 million readers via the media; 37 global entries seen by over 202,480 fans; Over 200,000 engagements on social media. 2022 winner Edwin Juarez, CEO of SJ Tools said: “In this very competitive world with the technology that exists in cutting tools, it’s a great achievement for me as well as the whole team that works at SJ Tools. After winning the Tool of the Year award and using it in my marketing materials, my company has experienced an increase in custom specials as a result.” You can enter in one, or both categories: #MadeonANCA and Most Innovative Tool Design. The winner of #MadeonANCA receives: a trip to ANCA's headquarters in Melbourne, Australia; A$10,000 worth of ANCA parts, accessories or software; VIP access to exclusive opportunities with ANCA experts. The winner of Most…

Vaxxas, a clinical-stage biotechnology company commercialising a needle-free vaccine patch platform, in partnership with the Queensland Government, today announced the opening of its global headquarters and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Brisbane. The custom-built 5,500m² Vaxxas Biomedical Facility is a first-of-its-kind manufacturing site designed to support the scale-up of Vaxxas’ needle-free vaccine technology platform, the high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP), for late-stage clinical trials and first commercial products. The Vaxxas Biomedical Facility is expected to support up to 200 local, skilled jobs and produce millions of vaccine patches per year once fully operational, contributing to Queensland’s local economy. The Queensland Government provided funding and operational support to Vaxxas in developing the site. Additional funding has been provided by the Australian Federal Government through its Modern Manufacturing Initiative to support the installation of specialised manufacturing infrastructure. Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympic and Paralympic Games Infrastructure, The Honourable Dr Steven Miles officiated the opening. “Queensland is fast shaping up as a global research and innovation hub thanks to the Palaszczuk Government’s investment in…

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is boosting Australia’s advanced manufacturing capability by providing free research and development (R&D) support to businesses to help them develop new products or services. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working on new advanced manufacturing solutions can sign up for the free, 10-week online Innovate to Grow program, to support their idea by building their R&D knowledge. Upon completion of the program, eligible participants may have the opportunity to access facilitation support, through CSIRO, to connect to research expertise nationally, along with dollar-matched R&D funding. CSIRO’s Director of Manufacturing, Dr Marcus Zipper, explained how CSIRO’s unique position in the research ecosystem drives innovation to advance Australian manufacturing. “Manufacturing is a vitally important sector, employing over 800,000 people across Australia,” Dr Zipper said. “At CSIRO, we work collaboratively with SMEs on research and development to find new and improved technologies and processes that enable great ideas to see success locally and internationally. “We translate research into products and processes that businesses want to adopt because what we’ve created is economically viable, more efficient and effective, and sustainable,” he said. Connop Metal…

On 4 January 2023, Kemppi organised a stove welding day, where companies from Lahti region in Finland were invited to weld together stoves for the civilians in Ukraine. By organising this welding day, Kemppi responds to the challenge of LUT University (Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology) to help Ukrainians get through their days. Stoves can be used to heat apartments and cook food. The purpose is to help Ukrainians suffering from energy shortages and the lack of piped gas or other fuels. Many Ukrainians have no electricity or heat distribution after the Russian bombings. “In the end, more than 500 stoves were shipped,” said Emma Naukkarinen of Kemppi Oy. “So our stove welding day was a great success, and the welders were eager to help the Ukrainians. Our shipment left for Ukraine last week, and we packed also axes and lighters with the stoves because we heard there was a need for those as well. The stoves will be handed over to the Institute of Welding in Kiev and they will take care of the distribution there.” Companies VS-Welding Oy, Speweld Service…