The spotlight was shone firmly on Australia’s advanced manufacturing sector late last year when Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a $1.5 billion manufacturing strategy.
This included the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative, which offered grants to six key manufacturing priority areas, including space; medical products; resources technology and critical minerals processing; food and beverage, Defence; and recycling and clean energy.
The opposition attempted to one-up the government on the issue, pitching a $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund if it takes office following the next election.
In the meantime, a Senate inquiry into Australia’s domestic advanced manufacturing capability is set to take place, as support for the sector and sovereign capability shape up to be a key election issue.
The 2021 InnovationAus Advanced Manufacturing award is sponsored by Innovative Manufacturing CRC and seeks to highlight how advanced manufacturing pushes the building of innovative products and processes across Australian industry verticals.
The finalists in this category are:
The commercial success and social impact of the five category finalists are testament to Australia’s domestic advanced manufacturing capability and opportunities for growth.
“Innovation in manufacturing plays a critical role in today’s economy, as well as accelerating Australia’s post-COVID recovery,” said David Chuter, chief executive officer and managing director of the Innovative Manufacturing CRC.
“By investing in innovation, new technologies and unique business models, Australian manufacturers can scale up their operations, transform their businesses and access new global markets.”
The InnovationAus 2021 Awards for Excellence will be presented at a gala black-tie dinner held on Wednesday, December 1, at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney. You can book your tickets at the Awards website. For further enquiries, please email Awards@InnovationAus.com
Behind the finalists
Bodd is an Australian-owned additive manufacturing start-up tackling a trillion-dollar problem – waste within the fashion industry. Bodd has developed 3D body scanning and SaaS technology to capture vast quantities of human body data. The Bodd scanner provides a rapid, self-serve scan experience for consumers (under 60 seconds) while recording the most significant set of human body data possible from a single 3D scan. Bodd is empowering the future of retail, allowing designers to accurately size customers instantaneously and creating a frictionless customer experience.
3ME Technology is a battery and electric vehicle systems technology company, based in NSW, who work collaboratively with a range of platform manufacturers and end users to electrify their offerings to mining, military and marine markets. They have developed a proprietary lithium-ion battery management system, trademarked as Bladevolt, to meet rigorous safety and compliance standards. Bladevolt is supported by products and services that enable integration and supply of e-mobility and power solutions.
Marinova is a progressive Tasmanian advanced manufacturer specialising in the development and production of high purity seaweed extracts for the betterment of human health. Marinova manufactures a unique portfolio of fucoidan compounds – highly bioactive polysaccharides derived from select species of brown seaweed. Extracts are used for nutritional, pharmaceutical and dermatological purposes. Marinova seaweed is hand-harvested and sourced in Tasmania and from global suppliers in Argentina, Canada and France.
Baraja is a rapidly growing Sydney start-up helping to make autonomous vehicles a reality. Baraja is developing a world-class LiDAR (light detection and ranging) sensor which enables computer-controlled vehicles to “see” objects and to know very accurate distances to these objects. Baraja invented a fundamentally unique approach to LiDAR through its patented platform, Spectrum-Scan. By using different wavelengths of light to steer the beam, thus needing fewer moving parts and being immune to interference, Baraja’s Spectrum-Scan has overcome legacy LiDAR challenges.
SPEE3D is a supplier of metal-based additive manufacturing technology. SPEE3D focuses on the development, assembly, and distribution of machines and integrated system solutions based on the patented cold-spray technology. The products enable significantly faster, lower-cost, and more scalable production than traditional metal printing techniques for copper and aluminium and other materials.
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