Category: Advanced Manufacturing

March 11, 2025

AIIA calls for streamlined approvals for data centres and renewables

With $26 billion expected to be invested in data centres and other AI infrastructure by 2030, the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has called for a Digital Economy minister to be appointed to centralise policy coordination. In a pre-election policy statement, the AIIA said an incoming government should streamline the planning and approvals process for…

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March 10, 2025

Alfred blows away the Gilmour Space launch window

Tropical Cyclone Alfred has combined with an ongoing regulatory blizzard to blow away Gilmour Space Technologies’ launch window for the maiden flight of its Eris rocket, which was to have opened later this week on March 15. The company has not set a new date, but the delay could be as long as two weeks…

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March 10, 2025

NRF goes west with new board member

The corporation managing a $15 billion federal industry fund will establish a permanent presence in Western Australia following a request by the state government, after the fund poured almost $400 million into projects elsewhere. The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), which has offices in Sydney and Canberra, goes west with a new board member from…

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March 5, 2025

NSW manufacturing facility launches with uni partnership

NSW’s government-backed manufacturing incubator has officially launched, signing on with a new partnership between 10 of the state’s biggest universities to help translate innovative research. After a three-year wait for the first new building in the brand-new city of Bradfield, the long-awaited Advanced Manufacturing Readiness Facility (AMRF) arrived on Wednesday. It launched on the same…

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February 27, 2025

Aussie undersea repair drone finds global success

A remotely-operated underwater drone developed by an Australian robotics startup to inspect and repair salmon aquaculture nets has begun exports to the world’s largest producer. Southern Ocean Subsea secured a $20,000 state government grant in the latest round of the Advanced Manufacturing Accelerating Growth Program to begin exporting the APAMA Net Repairer System to Norway….

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February 27, 2025

‘From lab to fab’: PsiQuantum beds down mass-made photonics chips

A 25-year journey to build an error-corrected quantum computer has taken a giant leap forward for PsiQuantum, with the Californian startup now ready for large-scale production of its photonics chips. The company with plans to build the world’s first quantum computer in Brisbane claims to have reached the point of “mass-manufacturable chips”, allowing it to…

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February 26, 2025

ARENA tips $10m into sustainable aviation fuel studies

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will provide more than $10 million in federal grants for two feasibility studies aimed at advancing sustainable aviation fuel projects with international reach. The funding, announced by Energy minister Chris Bowen on Wednesday, will flow to recycling tech startup Licella and fuel distributor Viva Energy for two projects in Queensland….

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February 25, 2025

Govt ‘very, very close’ to naming Hydrogen Headstart winner

Energy minister Chris Bowen is sitting on recommendations for a huge public investment in green hydrogen production from a $4 billion program that is running months late. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) chief executive Darren Miller on Monday confirmed a recommendation had been provided to government for “at least one” project from a shortlist…

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February 23, 2025

‘We see an opening’: David Reilly readies quantum play

Six months after Microsoft ended its quantum research efforts in Australia, the renowned Australian physicists who led the work are preparing to launch a local company with global reach. David Reilly and Thomas Ohki are putting the final touches on the as-yet-unnamed company, which is positioning itself as the go-to for quantum computing-related R&D spanning…

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February 21, 2025

Govt urged to act on food manufacturing

The Albanese government is being urged to fund innovation precincts and shared manufacturing facilities in a new national effort on food and beverage production that an inquiry found has suffered under a policy quagmire and challenging conditions. After examining Australia’s food and beverage manufacturing for the last year, a lower house committee on Friday called…

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February 20, 2025

Govt carves out $1bn for green iron play

The Albanese government will invest $1 billion into green iron in a bid to jump start the sector, reduce emissions and revitalise the struggling Whyalla steelworks, the Prime Minister announced on Thursday. Half of the green iron package has been earmarked for the transformation of the South Australian steel plant, which the state government tipped…

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February 20, 2025

Govt backs ‘breakthrough’ battery powder facility with $30m

Queensland manufacturer VSPC will build a demonstration plant to produce cathode powder for lithium-ion batteries after the federal government committed $30 million to the venture on Thursday. The funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for the plant is a key step in VSPC’s attempt to commercialise its breakthrough process for manufacturing powders. It…

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February 20, 2025

Govt backs ‘breakthrough’ battery powder facility with $30m

Queensland manufacturer VSPC will build a demonstration plant to produce cathode powder for lithium-ion batteries after the federal government committed $30 million to the venture on Thursday. The funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for the plant is a key step in VSPC’s attempt to commercialise its breakthrough process for manufacturing powders. It…

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February 18, 2025

Green is for go: Gilmour Space gets its ticket to fly

Gilmour Space Technologies has taken another big step toward its first orbital launch with chief executive officer Adam Gilmour expected on Wednesday to announce that the company had been given final approvals for its maiden test flight. The company is understood to have been given a green light from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)…

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February 11, 2025

Wollongong hydrogen pioneer links with Saudi energy giant

Wollongong manufacturer Hysata will build a commercial-scale demonstration hydrogen production system with its ultra efficient electrolysers in Saudia Arabia in a tie up with an energy giant powering the Kingdom’s ambitious urban and industrial development. Hysata announced this week it has reached an agreement with ACWA Power to deliver commercial scale demonstrations of its high-efficiency…

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February 7, 2025

Bowen’s hydrogen pipedream hits hurdles

Energy minister Chris Bowen says the government remains committed to building out Australia’s fledgling green hydrogen industry despite a series of project setbacks and a delay to the government’s flagship production program. The government had anticipated awarding the first major funding from its $4 billion Hydrogen Headstart program by the end of last year to…

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February 6, 2025

Former spy chief Nick Warner joins PsiQuantum board

Former spy chief Nick Warner has been appointed as a non-executive director of PsiQuantum, the tech startup that will stage its attempts to build the world’s first utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer in Australia. Mr Warner, who spent years as the director-general of the Office for National Intelligence (ONI), takes the role overseeing its operations in…

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February 4, 2025

Feds back study into WA rare earths processing facility

A critical minerals processing facility slated for Perth has progressed to the next stage, with the Western Australian and federal governments committing $3 million to an initial feasibility study. The study, announced on Tuesday, will investigate the $200 million common user facility first flagged last year to boost the state’s downstream processing potential amid efforts…

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February 2, 2025

Countdown: Gilmour takes $20m capital hit on delays

Gilmour Space Technologies chief executive Adam Gilmour estimates that the company has taken “a $20 million hit to our capital” during its long wait for regulatory approval for the maiden launch of its Eris rocket. The inability to launch had also put the brakes on the company’s next capital round at a time when VC…

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January 31, 2025

Victorian electric engine pioneer expands with new facility

Kite Magnetics, a Monash University spinout producing ultra-energy-efficient electric generators and engines, will set up a new advanced manufacturing facility in Melbourne’s southeast. The state-of-the-art facility, announced on Friday, will allow the self-described B2B CleanTech startup to accelerate its development and production of light-weight motor technology. More than 650 jobs will be created in the…

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January 30, 2025

Anti-drone tech player sets sights on local Defence opportunity

From an inconspicuous former wool store in inner city Sydney, one of Australia’s defence technology pioneers is working to tackle the escalating security threat presented by unmanned drones. The new home of the counter-drone device-maker DroneShield is a game changer for the fast-growing company, which listed on the ASX back in 2016 and has a…

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January 30, 2025

Govt procurement gets electric bus maker moving

Electric buses will be manufactured on the NSW South Coast at a new facility announced by Australian-owned bus maker Foton Mobility Distribution on Thursday. It follows a state government contract for 126 new vehicles to service routes across Sydney. But the 6,000 square metre manufacturing facility in South Nowra is also slated to deliver electric…

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January 28, 2025

Veteran Big Four banker to lead NRF Corporation

Career banker David Gall has been handed the reins of the agency responsible for the federal government’s $15 billion manufacturing fund, arriving as its first investments roll out to local ventures in mining, quantum and cloud computing. The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation on Tuesday announced the appointment of Mr Gall, who has had a 25-year…

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January 22, 2025

Aspiring Adelaide chipmaker secures US patent

Adelaide-based semiconductor developer Archer Materials has secured a United States patent for its graphene biochip technology, allowing the local company to start working with American device partners on a push into the key market. The ASX-listed company announced the patent on Wednesday, describing it as a key milestone in commercialising its Biochip intellectual property for…

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January 21, 2025

Govt details an extra $262m for submarine supply chain uplift

The federal government has detailed plans for an additional $262.4 million to be spent supporting domestic defence industry participation in the nuclear submarine supply chain being developed as part of the AUKUS arrangements. Defence Industry minister Pat Conroy said the additional funding would be used for submarine-specific rounds of the Defence Industry Development Grants Program,…

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January 20, 2025

Newcastle uni innovation facility secures $21m grant

The University of Newcastle has landed a $20.7 million federal grant to build a new innovation facility that will help bring new technologies to market. Announced on Monday, the university will use the grant to construct two industrial scale spaces to accelerate the development of technologies in the energy, resources, and manufacturing sectors. The facility…

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January 20, 2025

$2bn in FMIA production credits for cleaner aluminium

Aluminium producers that switch to renewables will share in $2 billion worth of production credits under a new policy unveiled by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ahead of the upcoming election. The subsidy aimed at helping the energy-intensive sector to decarbonise will require smelters to make the switch by 2036 to be eligible for the credit,…

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January 16, 2025

Monash spinout raises $27.5m for cleaner lithium production

Monash University spinout Electralith has raised $27.5 million to advance a pilot plant for the production of an key lithium battery input, attracting investment from local and overseas deep tech funds and institutional investors. Electralith’s membrane technology can produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide by directly extracting lithium from several non-ore sources without water or chemicals, and…

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January 15, 2025

In-Q-Tel adds Quantum Brilliance to its portfolio

The California-based VC firm spawned from the US defence intelligence community In-Q-Tel has grabbed a share of Australian quantum computing startup Quantum Brilliance as a part of its US$20 million Series A funding round. The capital raise, first flagged last month and announced in full on Wednesday night, will be used to fund the creation…

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January 15, 2025

WA manufacturers get $5m procurement fast lane

Western Australian government contracts up to $5 million can now be signed directly with local manufacturing companies without a competitive tender, following a procurement rule exemption that quietly came into effect this week. Prior to the new procurement direction, only contracts worth up to $50,000 could be directly sourced. The new $5 million threshold for…

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