Towards 3% R&D – budget responds to slump in Australian innovation effort

By Peter Roberts The 2024 budget has responded to the issues being raised by @AuManufacturing’s one-month long series of articles around the theme Towards 3% R&D – turbocharging Australia’s innovation efforts. Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a ‘strategic examination of Australian research and development’ as part of the Future Made in Australia package of measures. According…

Siemens and Marathon sign MoU ahead of “next phase of energy transition” for state

Industrial technology company Siemens and renewable energy developer Marathon Group have announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), describing it as coming at a time “when Gippsland goes through a once in a lifetime energy transition”. In a statement from Siemens on Tuesday, it described itself as a technology partner in the relationship, which would “help…

Empowering the next generation of innovators with Altium’s cutting-edge tools

Sponsored article Australia’s space ambitions are set to reach greater heights with projects like the Melbourne Space Program (MSP), where some of the nation’s brightest students are not just dreaming about space—they’re exploring it. Through the ACRUX-2 project, MSP students are gaining hands-on experience by designing, building, and launching an Earth-imaging satellite. Altium supports these…

Osteopore to establish first global centre of excellence at Singaporean hospital

Australian-Singaporean bioresorbable implants manufacturer Osteopore has announced a partnership with SingHealth to establish the company’s first Global Centre of Excellence (GCoE) for customised medical devices.  The company said in an ASX statement on Tuesday that its wholly-owned Singaporean subsidiary, Osteopore International Pte Ltd, signed the non-exclusive Partnership Agreement with SingHealth, which it is  expected to…

Scrapping the waste export levy threatens Australia’s emerging lithium battery recycling industry

By Yasir Arafat, Edith Cowan University and Daryoush Habibi, Edith Cowan University As electric vehicle (EV) demand accelerates, so does the need for lithium batteries. But these batteries contain valuable critical minerals, as well as toxic materials, so they should not be treated as common waste. Unlike China and some European countries, Australia lacks a…

New Defence Technologies Academy for Lot Fourteen

The federal and South Australian governments are to invest $60 million towards building an Australian Defence Technologies Academy to be developed at Lot Fourteen innovation precinct in Adelaide. To open in 2026, the academy will drive sovereign research and development of defence capabilities, according to a statement. The state-of-the-art facility will provide digital training, education…

Latrobe Magnesium produces first oxides from fly ash

Latrobe Magnesium has commissioned the first phase of its 1,000 tonnes per annum, Stage 1 Demonstration Plant, successfully producing the world’s first environmentally sustainable magnesium oxide (MgO) from fly ash waste from brown coal power generation. This marks a significant milestone in pioneering a sustainable magnesium extraction method at an industrial scale, using the company’s…

Towards 3% R&D – Innovation bolsters defence industry by Minister Pat Conroy

Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy explains how the government has built new structures to link defence innovation with commercial outcomes, building the defence industrial base in the process. A strong and sovereign innovation, science and technology sector is critical to…