May 2020

UniSA and UOW join forces to build AI capability for Defence

A new collaboration between the University of South Australia (UniSA) and the University of Wollongong (UOW) is set to boost Australian defence industry research, focussing on each university’s strengths in data analytics and artificial intelligence. UniSA and UOW signed a Memorandum of Understanding this week to underpin the collaboration to deliver Australian Department of Defence (DoD) capability and explore wider engagement across other disciplines. The collaboration will enable new advances using AI and data analytics in the area of informed decision making and the development of goal-oriented autonomous systems. UniSA Director, Defence and Space, Matt Opie says combining the expertise of both organisations will improve the quality, depth and scope of the research delivered to Defence. “Together we can use our complementary research strengths to deliver better innovations and solutions for the Department of Defence,” Opie says. “UniSA has key research capabilities in information ecosystems, data analytics and the internet of military things to support a range of defence force requirements from battlefield decision making to military intelligence support systems. “Matched with what UOW can provide, we will be able to deliver a formidable research asset to the DoD and allied industries.” UniSA’s research team lead by Professor Markus Stumptner includes mathematicians, statisticians, engineers and software scientists with expertise in software interoperability, software architecture, Federated Analytics Platform, autonomous systems, and cybersecurity by design. The team also has expertise and research experience in data fusion, optimisations, mining, and trustworthiness and in sensor systems, digital twin/asset life cycle management, overarching Digital Models + Digital Systems, and predictive maintenance. Artificial Intelligence research lead at UOW, and Director of the Decision Systems Laboratory, Professor Aditya Ghose says his group works in a field called Knowledge Representation and Reasoning. “Our work applies knowledge representation and reasoning techniques to problems relating to intelligent agent systems, machine […]

Brighsun’s Li-S Batteries to enter industrial trials

Lithium Sulfur (Li-S) Battery Technology Breakthrough Through nearly 8 years of research, the Australian company Brighsun’s team, developed lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries with an energy density 5-8 times higher than conventional secondary batteries. According to results from an internationally accredited testing agency (SGS), Brighsun’s new technology allows an Li-S battery to keep 91% of its initial capacity after 1,700 cycles at a rate of 2C (being fully charged/discharged in 30 mins). That means the capacity decay per cycle is as low as 0.01%. Even at a more aggressive rate of 5C (being fully charged/discharged in 12.5 mins), Brighsun’s Li-S battery retains 74% of its initial capacity after 1,000 cycles (capacity decay per cycle of 0.026%). The cathode energy density for the 1th cycle after activation at charge rate of 1C is 2103.8Wh/kg. Driven by the growing markets world-wide for EVs, the battery industry has explored a range of chemical combinations: lithium iron phosphate, lithium cobalt oxide and, currently, nickel manganese cobalt. However, current battery systems still suffer from the major disadvantages of relatively low energy density, high raw material costs and secondary pollution during recycling. A Game Changer Brighsun’s advanced Li-S chemistry, offering high energy density and resultant low raw material costs, will be a game changer in the EV industry. Li-S batteries also have the potential to become the most promising energy storage systems for future railways, ships and airlines. Industries such as electric supply grid storage, mobile phones, drones and AI will also benefit from dramatically higher energy density storage provided by Brighsun’s new battery system. Companies in the US, Germany, Korea and China have been developing Li-S batteries and have achieved promising breakthroughs. However, these systems still face a number of challenges, including volume expansion of cathode materials during cycling, the shuttling effect of polysulfides, and the dendritic […]

Queensland food manufacturer switches to hand sanitiser

One of Queensland’s oldest family-owned companies and best-known food manufacturers Trisco Foods is fighting back against the COVID-19 pandemic by developing and launching its own brand of clinical-grade hand sanitiser in just three weeks. The company, which normally produces syrups and thickeners, today completed the first bottling of its new hand sanitiser that will be sold to aged care centres and health departments across the country. About 35,000 litres of hand sanitiser will be produced every week at the company’s Carole Park factory with volumes to increase over coming weeks as safety systems and processes are expanded. The product will initially be available in 3lt bottles and 500ml flip cap bottles. Trisco Foods CEO Mike Tristram said the company had been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and had been looking for new opportunities to utilise their product R&D and mass production capabilities. “To effectively fight COVID-19 now and into the future we are going to need a lot of hand sanitiser and after some initial feasibility studies worked out we could quickly ramp up production of a product that met the highest standards and could be used in a range of clinical situations,” he said. “Businesses all over the world are adapting and evolving to the new world and this is one we can not only strengthen our business and retain jobs, but also help fight the outbreak.” Trisco, which was named Premier of Queensland’s Exporter of the Year last year, normally produces world class food ingredients, such as syrups and sundaes, that are used here and abroad by leading food companies. The company also produces the highly successful Precise Thick-N range of instant liquid thickeners that helps maintain the health of people suffering from swallowing problems and neurological-related dysphagia. Last year, the company expanded to the US with a […]

Armour manufacturer secures first international order

A South Australian bullet-proof armour manufacturer has won a contract to supply its lightweight ballistic plates to the Finnish Army. ASX-listed XTEK Limited launched its state-of-the-art fabrication centre in Adelaide’s north in February and announced its first commercial order in March for use in Australian law enforcement. The Finnish sale, worth more than A$1 million, is XTEK’s first international order, which it says represents a key milestone in its ballistic armour commercialisation strategy. “We have worked very hard to ensure that the long customer cycles have progressed in parallel with the construction of the new manufacturing centre in Adelaide, to ensure that the manufacturing capability is utilised as soon as possible – and we are now very pleased to see this strategy successfully executed,” XTEK Managing Director Philippe Odouard said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange this morning. The new Adelaide manufacturing centre is equipped with the company’s XTclave composite materials curing and consolidation technology to manufacture lightweight ballistic armour plates and helmets. The machine, about the size of four shipping containers, runs cycles of ultra-high isostatic pressure at high temperatures to achieve composite curing of thermoset and thermoplastic resin. XTEK has based its R&D operations in Adelaide for the past 13 years, developing the lightweight armour plates and helmets as well as rifles and other defence related products. Odouard said their US compliant small arms protective insert plates are up to 30 per cent lighter than other products and have buoyancy potential, while the light helmets can stop AK-47 MSC bullets and fragments. The Finnish purchase order has come from CPE Production Oy, a supplier of high-performance lightweight ballistic protection solutions to the Finnish Defence Forces and other European defence customers. In late 2017, XTEK received a small purchase order for samples of its proprietary XTclave manufactured […]

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DECO Australia announce new showroom and innovation centre

DECO Australia has announced its showroom in Minto is undergoing a massive redesign to help showcase the company’s entire range of architectural building products and finishes. The new facility – renamed the ‘DECO Innovation Centre’ – will celebrate the company’s innovative spirit while creating a flexible, collaborative space that delivers a premium customer service experience. The DECO Innovation Centre has been architecturally designed by renowned architecture firm ClarkeHopkinsClarke to achieve a dynamic building and space that will allow for continued development and change as the family-owned manufacturing business continues to expand. ClarkHopkinsClarke partner and architect Jordan Curran said his vision was to transform DECO Australia’s industrial warehouse into an innovation centre by using their world-class products in real life applications. “DECO is a very innovative company with an extraordinary range of finishes and products. They’re constantly creating and testing new material solutions for the built environment. For this project, we worked with the DECO team to shape a bright and flexible environment that would allow their client base to interact with and understand the properties of their products. “In particular we wanted to display products in natural light, exhibiting how they behave throughout the day and in different seasons. We also wanted to create a sensory experience, positioning products where people could get up close and even touch.” said Curran. The Innovation Centre will feature DECO’s full range of architectural building products including their unique aluminium cladding, batten and decking systems, as well as a number of new, soon-to-be-released product lines. Also on display will be the full range of powder coat and sublimated aluminium finishes, including the premium timber-look DecoWood® finish, and an operational kitchen will feature DECO’s one-of-a-kind splashback product, DecoSplash. DECO founder and director Ross Doonan believes the new centre will reflect the company’s core values of quality and innovation. “The DECO Innovation Centre […]

Australians want industry, and they’d like it green. Steel is the place to start

Australia has an historic opportunity to build a new, export-focused manufacturing sector based on renewable energy. As a bonus, it could enable a less politically fraught conversation about climate change. Global action on climate change is in Australia’s national interest. The changing climate is already reducing profits for Australian farmers. Tens of thousands of jobs depend on the again-bleached Great Barrier Reef. But for too long, political leaders have struggled to balance the national interest with the legitimate concerns of Australians who live and work in regions that host coal mining and other carbon-intensive industries – most notably central Queensland and the Hunter Valley in NSW. This climate conundrum has greatly complicated the national debate about climate change: neither commitments to a “just transition” to a low-emissions future, nor promises of coal exports in perpetuity, have proven convincing, leaving regional jobs in the lurch. Australians want industry In the 2019 federal election, voters in these carbon regions, perhaps fearing for their livelihoods, seemingly rejected Labor’s more ambitious climate policies. But with 85% of our black coal exported each year, decisions made in Beijing and New Delhi matter more to these communities than decisions made in Canberra. Australia needs a credible plan to replace carbon jobs as the world decarbonises, and ideally the new jobs will offer similar salaries, need similar skills, and be located in similar places. This is the key to cracking the climate conundrum: a plan based on sound economics that can offer hope to communities that currently depend on carbon-intensive activities. A new Grattan Institute report, Start with steel, finds that manufacturing green steel for export is the largest job opportunity for these regions of Australia. We can start with steel Green steel can be made by using renewable energy to produce hydrogen, and then using that hydrogen in place of metallurgical coal in the steelmaking process. The […]