More than $51 million has been committed to industry-led innovation projects under the 15th round of the federal cooperative research centres projects program.
The government has committed 21 grants to co-fund projects with promising commercial potential such as new recycling processes, quantum sensors, hydrogen production, and HealthTech products.
Project leads include quantum firm Q-CTRL, innovative recycling firm EQ Plastics, advanced sensors firm Advanced Navigation, and electric aircraft manufacturer AMSL Aero.
The total value of the funded projects is more than $117 million. Companies received up to $3 million in matched funding over a maximum of three years.
The projects funded under round 15 include 91 project partners, which include 49 small or medium-sized enterprises and 26 research organisations.
Q-CTRL is working with gravity sensor developer Transparent Earth Geophysics (formerly known as CMG Operations) and the Australian National University to build airborne quantum sensors for resources and environmental monitoring.
Supported with more than $2 million, the Q-CTRL led project use advances in quantum sensors and signal processing in its airborne trials, delivering new sovereign capabilities to Australia’s mineral exploration and water monitoring sectors.
The project that involved the most partners in round 15 is being led by Ace Infrastructure and has been supported by a $3 million project. Worth $8.2 million overall, the project will develop a world-first prototype embedding advanced wireless charging infrastructure on a regional road. This will enable the charging of vehicles in motion and supporting the uptake of electric trucks and buses.
Among the eight partners include electrical and materials engineering researchers at RMIT and Swinburne University of Technology. Other partners include the German engineering firm Siemen, electric vehicle provider SEA Electric, and Australian Road Research Board.
A $3 million grant has been made to AMSL Aero who will develop a prototype of its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft as an autonomous firefighting drone capable of delivering 500L of water.
The work will be undertaken with the University of Sydney, robotics firm Mission Systems, and aviation services firm Pay’s Air Service Holdings. The projects will include development of firefighting operating concepts for eVTOL aircraft, integration of water tanks, continued development of autonomy systems, regulatory approvals, and flight tests.
The full list of CRC-P projects and lead recipients under round 15 are:
- New Frontier Technologies: A digital manufacturing platform for high-performance composite structures
- Q-CTRL: Airborne quantum sensors for resources and environmental monitoring
- EQ Plastics: A scalable conversion system to upcycle hard-to-recycle wastes to graphene
- Optiscan: Edge-AI-enabled gastrointestinal endomicroscope with subcellular resolution
- Advanced Navigation: World-first compact 3D LiDAV: High Precision Navigation Everywhere
- 1414 Degrees: SiPHyR: A new technology for affordable net-zero hydrogen production
- Filamon: Cost-Effective, Pain-Free Treatment for Vision Loss in the Elderly
- AMSL Aero: Vertiia eVTOL Autonomous Firefighting Trials
- Avicena Systems: Automated infection diagnostics for safe and healthy communities
- JWR Group: Round Like A Record: Vinyl & The Circular Economy
- Nexsen Biotech: StrepSure™: An ultrasensitive biosensor for protecting newborns from GBS
- KGM Services: Commercialisation of an Automated Mobile EOL Solar PV Panel Recovery Plant
- Oxleigh: Upscaling a Novel Technology for Recycling Lithium-Ion Batteries
- Cost-Bry: Large-scale manufacturing of complex microbial therapeutics
- Veintech: Ultrasound commercialization to deliver a novel product for cannulation
- Ace Infrastructure: Advanced wireless charging infrastructure to electrify heavy-duty vehicles
- Remagine Labs: Improving Health Outcomes with a Smart Wearable Drug Delivery System
- OZ Build Construction: Industrialisation of dowel-laminated timber for building construction
- Ionize: DFNDR: Adaptive Cyber Security for Defence & Critical Infrastructure SMEs
- PV Industries: Machine Learning Driven Large-Scale Solar Panel Recycling Process
- Symex Labs: At home bio-sensing device for the monitoring of fertility hormones
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