Melbourne Water has developed a pipe protection and air monitoring device to help protect its infrastructure network and provide information on air quality. Developed in collaboration with the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) and Green Technology Services, the device is Internet-of-Things-enabled and has the ability to alert Melbourne Water to any corrosion in its pipes … Continue reading Melbourne Water to install IoT devices for pipe protection and air monitoring →

APA Group’s new Badgingarra Solar Farm in Hill River has now officially opened 200 kilometres north of Perth. The $40 million solar farm consists of almost 62,000 solar panels, installed across 40 hectares of land, and has a capacity of 19.25 megawatts. This is APA’s fourth facility in its renewables precinct, which is co-located with … Continue reading Badgingarra Solar Farm opens in Western Australia →

A report from CSIRO has mapped the critical research steps Australia must take to realise the potentials of the emerging hydrogen industry. According to the report, Hydrogen Research Development & Demonstration (RD&D): Priorities and Opportunities for Australia, the hydrogen industry in Australia could create 7600 jobs and be worth $11 billion a year by 2050. … Continue reading CSIRO releases hydrogen industry report →

The Australian Space Agency and Thales have signed an agreement that sets out plans for cooperation in investment, research, development and commercial opportunities in the space sector. Thales is a French company operating and investing in the Australian space and defence sectors, delivering satellite-based systems. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said this … Continue reading Space Agency signs agreement with Thales →

A Swinburne University of Technology cyber security project that aims to enable full lifecycle privacy protection on the cloud has been funded by a $450,000 Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project grant. Deputy director of Swinburne’s Data Science Research Institute, Professor JinJun Chen, who leads the project, said that privacy protection for user data hosted … Continue reading Swinburne cyber security project receives $450k in ARC funding →

The federal government has provided in $800,000 in funding for Calix’s advanced lithium battery manufacturing facility in regional Victoria. Federal Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the BATMn reactor at the Calix Manufacturing Facility would open the door to a new frontier of advanced manufacturing and battery creation. “Australia is well positioned … Continue reading Calix launches reactor at battery manufacturing facility →

Australian water utilities are developing smart sensing projects in condition assessment and leak detection to prevent breaks in critical water pipe infrastructure. Co-ordinated by the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN), the collaboration brings together several research universities together with key water utilities in five sub-projects: Quantum sensing, distributed in-pipe sensing, advanced acoustic and pressure transient … Continue reading NSSN partnering with universities and water utilities in advanced leak detection research →

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has released a report that outlines renewable energy options for all Australian industrial users of process heat. The report, Renewable Energy Options for Industrial Process Heat, states that abundant opportunities exist for industrial users to switch to renewable energy alternatives to provide process heat. The report considers all industries … Continue reading ARENA releases report on renewable options for process heat →

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $8 million in funding to Neoen Australia for an expansion of the Tesla-built Hornsdale Power Reserve battery in South Australia. The $71 million project will see the current battery, which is already the largest in the world, expanded to demonstrate the ability for grid-scale batteries to provide … Continue reading World’s largest battery to be expanded →

Woodside and BHP have agreed to a tolling price for the processing of gas from the Scarborough gas field off the coast of Western Australia. The agreement on the tolling price relates to the cost of processing gas, from the Scarborough field, at the Pluto facility on the Burrup Peninsula. Woodside and BHP announced the … Continue reading Woodside and BHP strike deal on Scarborough gas processing →

The 2019 ABB Research Award has been awarded to a project exploring ultra-low power and long-range communication system (LoRea) for battery-free sensors that harvest small amounts of energy from the ambient environment. Dr. Ambuj Varshney’s research, which will receive a grant of US$300,000 over three years, reportedly has the potential to pave the way for … Continue reading Battery-free sensor project receives industry award →

Beckhoff Automation has secured an agreement with BMW Group to supply the car manufacturer with industrial PC (IPC) technology for use in production. According to the terms of the recently signed agreement, Beckhoff will supply the production facilities worldwide through to 2030. This means that Beckhoff IPC technology will become a global standard for the … Continue reading Beckhoff signs deal with BMW →

The federal government will provide $24.2 million in funding and a $90 million loan for a project that will see daytime operations at two Pilbara iron ore mines powered entirely by solar power. Alinta Energy will construct a large solar farm at Fortescue Metals Group’s mining hub in the Chichester Ranges, three hours drive south … Continue reading Two Pilbara mines to be powered solely by solar →

A new cyber security training facility has officially opened at TAFE SA to provide hands-on training in protection against cyber threats. The new facility, the Training Centre, is located at TAFE SA’s Adelaide City Campus and features a red “attack” room and blue “defence” room that provides students with real-life scenarios, simulations and testing opportunities. … Continue reading Cyber security training centre opens at Adelaide TAFE campus →

The Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) and UNSW’s School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering will host the fourth Off-Earth Mining Forum in Sydney this month. The forum will bring together leading local and international space and mining experts, researchers, lawyers, financiers, economists and government, to discuss Australia’s future in global space industry. … Continue reading Sydney to host Off-Earth Mining Forum →

The Western Australian government has announced the introduction of the first TAFE course in remote operations in Australia. Starting at South Metropolitan TAFE (SMTAFE) Munster campus in 2020, the nationally recognised Certificate IV in Autonomous Control and Remote Operations was developed through the Resource Industry Collaboration, a partnership between the McGowan Government, SMTAFE and Rio … Continue reading Western Australia to offer remote mining operations TAFE qualification →

New battery technology designed and patented by the University of Adelaide has secured a $1 million research contract with a Chinese battery manufacturer. The new design uses non-toxic zinc and manganese, two metals that are abundant in Australia, and incombustible aqueous electrolyte to produce a battery with a high energy density. The high energy safe … Continue reading University of Adelaide battery technology receives $1m research contract →

Three central Queensland manufacturers have secured over $1 million in combined funding from the Queensland government to upgrade work practices and processes. Labor Rockhampton MP Barry O’Rourke said the $46 million Made in Queensland (MiQ) grants program invested in manufacturing businesses now to help them grow in the future. “Combined, this funding will create 27 … Continue reading Queensland government provides grants for manufacturers →

MathWorks and Coursera have launched a series of courses in a joint effort to address the data science skills gap across industries. MathWorks is developing a series of courses entitled “Practical Data Science with MATLAB,” with the first course, “Exploratory Data Analysis with MATLAB,” now available on Coursera. Registration for the four-course specialisation, which helps … Continue reading MathWorks and Coursera offer courses to bridge data skills gap →

KNX has launched KNX Virtual, which enables the simulation of real, physical KNX devices and their interaction. KNX Virtual enables users to quickly and easily familiarise themselves with the KNX system and how to use it and implement smart building projects faster. Driven by the many advantages of a smart home or smart building, the … Continue reading KNX launches new simulation software →