Business energy retailer Flow Power has entered into a ten-year offtake agreement with renewable energy developer BayWa r.e. to purchase 48 megawatts (MW) from two of northern Victoria’s largest solar farms. The 112MW Karadoc solar farm and 106MW Yatpool solar farm, which are owned and developed by BayWa r.e, will provide 20MW and 28MW respectively … Continue reading Flow Power enters agreement with owner of northern Victoria’s largest solar farms →

The Western Australian government has awarded $330,000 to 11 PhD fellowship winners working on innovative STEM projects. The funding for the Science Industry Fellowship program comes out of the state goverment’s $16.7 million New Industries Fund, which aims at supporting new businesses and diversifying the Western Australian economy. Among the projects that are being funded … Continue reading WA government provides funds for STEM research projects →

A project led by the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has installed a high-resolution monitoring system at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s (ANSTO’s) medical isotope production facility in the Sydney suburb of Lucas Heights. ANSTO is now the second facility in the world to install a stack monitor of … Continue reading Stack monitoring system installed at Sydney medical isotope facility →

A new global Blockchain Centre of Excellence has been launched by Swinburne University of Technology in partnership with the French-based digital technology consulting company Capgemini. The centre will focus on advancing blockchain technologies, platforms, assets and systems to develop industry understanding and implementation of blockchain technologies. Swinburne’s multi-disciplinary team will collaborate with Capgemini’s network of … Continue reading Swinburne launches new blockchain research centre with Capgemini →

RMIT researchers have developed technology that is able to detect emotions in human speech, enabling more natural conversations with robots. Current voice-activated technology used in virtual assistants is limited by its ability to decipher human emotions, causing it to provide irrelevant responses or miss the point of some conversations entirely. But a team of researchers … Continue reading New technology to help robots detect emotion in human speech →

The prestigious Endeavour Awards program will see industry leaders from all manufacturing sectors come together on May 16 in Melbourne to celebrate the best accomplishments in the sector. The annual event, held in conjunction National Manufacturing Week, shares the successes of businesses and organisations making their mark on the manufacturing industry across Australia and worldwide. … Continue reading Endeavour Awards sponsorship opportunities open door to industry’s best →

Mechanical engineers have developed a new 3D-printing technique that could be used to develop intelligent materials and self-adaptive infrastructures and transducers. Virginia Tech researchers have developed methods to 3D print piezoelectric materials that can be custom-designed to convert movement, impact and stress from any directions to electrical energy. Their research was recently published in the … Continue reading Researchers develop new 3D printing process for piezoelectric materials →

The global engineering project to develop fusion energy, ITER, is now 60 per cent complete, with scientists from around the world attending the latest coordinating committee of the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA) in France. International fusion researchers, including Dr Richard Garrett from Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, attended the meeting. It was the first time … Continue reading Australian researchers attend meeting on world’s largest fusion energy project →

Scientists have developed a 3D-printed robotic hand which can play simple musical phrases on the piano by just moving its wrist. The robot hand, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, was made by 3D-printing soft and rigid materials together to replicate of all the bones and ligaments — but not the muscles or … Continue reading Researchers develop 3D-printed piano-playing robot →

RMIT researchers are installing sensors throughout Rye on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsular  to monitor traffic, parking, crowd numbers and even toilet usage to better manage holiday crowds. The collaboration between RMIT, Mornington Peninsula Shire and other partners is to use the sensor technology to explore how future cities might operate. RMIT University’s Associate Professor Flora Salim, … Continue reading RMIT research using sensor technology to trial ‘smart city’ management →

Australia’s first ambassador for Women in STEM, astrophysicist Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, is to join UNSW as Professor of Practice in Science Communication. UNSW has also been named the host organisation for her Women in STEM ambassador role. Harvey-Smith, an award-winning astrophysicist with 15 years’ experience conducting and publishing fundamental astrophysics research at universities and research … Continue reading Women in STEM ambassador to launch 10-year plan at UNSW →

A partnership has been formed between Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), Swinburne University of Technology and Sleep Corp to boost advanced manufacturing in Australia. The partnership is to analyse Sleep Corp’s business and see what improvements can be made as they move towards Industry 4.0, with a view to move to fully automated manufacturing. … Continue reading Industry 4.0 partnership formed between Swinburne, IMCRC and Sleep Corp →

Schneider Electric has signed a global partnership agreement with Nozomi Networks to collaborate on providing the industrial manufacturing and critical infrastructure segments sectors with advanced anomaly detection, vulnerability assessment and other cybersecurity solutions and services. According to Schneider Electric, the partnership will enable the company to respond effectively to the demand for effective, operational technology … Continue reading Schneider Electric partners with cyber-security company Nozomi Networks →

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) has received over $11 million in grants, the highest in the latest round of the federal government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) program. The five projects awarded span artificial intelligence and health technology among others. $1.47 million was awarded to create a system for the rapid diagnostics of … Continue reading Innovative UNSW research projects receive federal funding →

A mechanical engineering student from the University of Sydney has programmed a robot that can produce a traditional Chinese ink painting, a style known as guóhuà. The robot is fitted with two paintbrushes and a pot of ink, and has been programmed to paint small chickens – the traditional elementary subject of apprentice artists – … Continue reading University of Sydney student creates painting robot →

A new grid-scale battery is now up and running at the Dalrymple substation on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula. Construction of the 30 MW / 8 MWh grid-scale battery was completed in April 2018. The $30 million Energy Storage for Commercial Renewable Integration (ESCRI) project has been commissioned and tested and is now live and connected … Continue reading New grid-scale battery powering South Australia →

Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have made a discovery that could double the efficiency of organic electronics, which could benefit OLED-displays, plastic-based solar cells and bioelectronics and other technologies. Most everyday electronics are based on inorganic semiconductors, such as silicon. “Doping”, which involves weaving impurities into the semiconductor to enhance its electrical conductivity, … Continue reading ‘Double-doped’ polymer research provides breakthrough for organic electronics →

Canadian Solar has acquired a 30MW solar farm in Mannum, South Australia, which will help to power Mid-Murray region agribusinesses. Following the acquisition, the farm will be constructed in two stages, the first 5 megawatt stage will commence construction in January with the second 25 megawatt stage to follow later in 2019. Once complete the … Continue reading Canadian Solar purchases Mannum solar farm in SA →

A Curtin University PhD project developed in collaboration with back-up power equipment, Magellan Power, has led to the development of a sky imaging product that can help mitigate the effects of passing clouds of solar power generation. PhD student Mojtaba Saleh worked with Magellan Power to develop the “Sky Eye Solar Smoother”, which uses real-time … Continue reading Research develops sky-imaging technology to bolster solar power →