Here are 24 Australian manufacturers looking to commercialise amazing tech products

From walking the earth to scanning it from space, 24 Australian manufacturers have received grants from the federal government to help bring their ideas to reality.

The latest round of 24 co-invested projects under the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre-managed Commercialisation Fund will see the local manufacturing industry contribute more $32.4 million in funding alongside the Federal Government’s $9.03 million

The fund has now invested $29 million of its $30 million budget on 55 projects just 10-months after the launch of the program.

Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) managing director Dr Jens Goennemann said more than a third (34%) of projects backed focused on recycling and clean energy, while 23% are in medical products, 18% in food and beverage and 11 in resource technology and critical mineral processing – four of the six key National Manufacturing Priorities.

“This latest tranche of co-investment demonstrates the broad capability of Australian manufacturing and its ability to drive jobs growth across the entire spectrum of manufacturing roles, known as the Smiley Curve – that is jobs in R&D, Design through to production, distribution, and highly-sought after sales and services positions,” he said.

“The demand for targeted, well-managed, and appropriately sized co-investment has seen the Commercialisation Fund near exhaustion after just ten months. This demonstrates the appetite for co-capital investment and the manufacturing industry’s willingness to match or better Federal investment to commercialise Australian ideas for domestic and international markets.”

The 24 latest manufacturing projects are :

Recycling and Clean Energy

• Allthread Industries (NSW): Develop and automate a new thermal arc spray line to manufacture corrosion-resistant structural fasteners, which offer superior value and environmental performance when compared to imported hot-dipped galvanised fasteners. Total project commitment: $8.86 million ($367,860 from Commercialisation Fund)
• Plantabl (VIC):  Commercialisation and manufacture of Great Wrap’s biopolymer resin (cling wrap) derived from organic waste, to produce a compostable stretch wrap that can replace plastic cling, silage, and pallet wraps. Total project: $6.41 million ($534,760 from fund)
• 3RT (VIC): Development of large-scale manufacturing capability for 3RT’s innovative and patented technology which converts low-value wood residue into a new hardwood with the same properties as 100-year-old timber. Total project: $3,326,840 ($698,420 from fund)
• Sustinent (NSW): Commercialisation of a scalable process utilising sugarcane waste to make value-add products such as mushroom grow bags. Once implemented, the Sustinent process will also be able to address problematic waste from cotton, rice, or wheat crops. Total project: $2.94 million ($499,500 from fund)
• Endua (QLD):  Development of onshore manufacturing capability for affordable hydrogen power banks that will deliver 100% renewable energy, on demand, as electricity. Total project: $2.28 million ($984,240 from fund)
• Solar Analytics (NSW): Manufacturer of SolarConnect product to manage energy generation and consumption from rooftop solar, inverters and batteries to achieve maximum benefit from rooftop solar systems. Total project: $1.44 million ($500,000 from fund)
• Venlo (QLD): Manufacture of a 100% recycled, repairable pallet, managed within a circular & closed-loop automated repair and remanufacturing system that is tracked/traced and serviced within a global network driving critical continual improvement in safety, security, providence and cost reduction outcomes. Total project: $710,900 ($450,000 from Fund)
• Geofabrics (NSW): Integration of recycled materials into Geofabrics’ new and improved drainage products for infrastructure sector via a purpose-built manufacturing process to meet market demand for circular recycling solutions. Total project: $607,000 ($252,000 from Fund)
• TomKat Global (QLD) :Manufacture of a new thermal container for the transportation of temperature sensitive and perishable produce. The KoolPak has superior thermal performance to a polystyrene container, it is multi-use, fully traceable and recyclable. Total project commitment $555,000 ($267,500 from Commercialisation Fund)
• YOUC (VIC) – Recycling and Clean Energy – Commercialisation of a new ‘Smart Box’ system which will enable the tracking and tracing of boxes through the manufacturing process allowing for real-time restocking, reordering and waste reduction. Total project commitment $710,900 ($297,500 from Commercialisation Fund)

Medical Products

• Ceramisphere (NSW) – – Development of a manufacturing capability of transdermal (skin) drug delivery system using its unique nanocomposite patch technology for pain relief. Total project commitment $2.17 million ($471,000 from Commercialisation Fund)
• Elenium (VIC) – Medical Products – Develop a biometric device that can be deployed into a range of environments to automate biometric identification for access control, ticketing, contact tracing (requiring Government integration), vaccination and antigen test status, and the capability to perform contactless fever detection once approved. Total project commitment $1.35 million ($553,364 from Commercialisation Fund)
• Examin (QLD) – Medical Products – Commercialisation of a 2-minute COVID-19 breath test using a novel electrochemical biosensor that detects viral load at a molecular level with a sensitivity and specificity of 97%-98%. Total project commitment $1.3 million ($647,665 from Commercialisation Fund)
• Vaxxas (QLD) – Medical Products – Scaling and automation of manufacturing capability to produce a novel, needle-free vaccination platform. The High-Density Micro-projection Array Patch (HD-MAP) aims to improve the efficacy, reach, safety and economics of vaccination. Total project commitment $1.59 million ($600,000 from Commercialisation Fund)
• Minomic Int (NSW) – Medical Products – Commercialisation of the MiCheck® Prostate test that is designed to detect life threatening aggressive prostate cancer in its early stages.  MiCheck® Prostate overcomes the low accuracy of conventional screening tests to reduce unnecessary intervention such as painful biopsies and improve overall management of the patient.Total project commitment $793,856 ($396,928 from Commercialisation Fund)
• Reid Print Technologies (QLD) – Medical Products – Field trials and commercial certification of a novel ‘Smart Shoe Insole’ (Smart Orthotics Sensor Skin), used to monitor the onset of foot ulcers that commonly afflict diabetes sufferers. Total project commitment $690,000 ($300,000 from Commercialisation Fund)

Food and Beverage

• TPS (QLD) – Food and Beverage – Commercialisation of advanced digital sensors for testing of water quality parameters in the food and beverage sector. Total project commitment $1.31 million ($444,875 from Commercialisation Fund)
• ICEE (VIC) – Food and Beverage – Commercialisation of Bouncee, a reusable and collapsible insulated crate and coolant system for short transit perishable logistics, such as click and collect, and home delivery. Total project commitment $1.07 million ($371,753 from Commercialisation Fund)

Defence

• Premcar (VIC) – Defence – Development of a manufacturing program to support the installation of a new, latest-technology, powertrain into land-based defence vehicles for local and export applications. Total project commitment $1.53 million ($699,931 from Commercialisation Fund)
• Microbio (QLD) – Defence – Establish sovereign manufacturing of Microbio’s unique InfectID PCR testing technology that provides rapid, highly sensitive bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogen identification in clinical samples for defence and civilian use. Total project commitment $1.11 million ($407,119 from Commercialisation Fund)

Resource tech and mineral processing

• EQ Resources (VIC) – Resource Technology and Critical Mineral Processing – Commercialisation and scaling of EQ Resources’ large-scale x-ray (XRT) and hyperspectral imaging (HIS) sensors for front-end loaders enabling the sorting of tungsten from historic mine waste stockpiles. Total project commitment $2.17 million ($471,000 from Commercialisation Fund)
• Technofast (QLD) – Resource Technology and Critical Mineral Processing – Commercialisation of Technofast’s Hydraulic Head Nut, which replaces original retaining nuts used to fasten the conical “mantle” in massive gyratory ore crushers. Because crushers are subject to rapid wear and need regular replacement, the new fasteners allow for rapid replacement and maintenance, thereby reducing machine downtime and increasing operational safety for workers. Total project commitment $518,970 ($259,485 from Commercialisation Fund)

Space

• Spiral Blue (NSW) – Space – Commercialisation of Rainbow Python: a world-first integrated hyperspectral instrument and onboard computer that allows for the chemical analysis of any location on earth from space for use in agriculture, forestry, mining, and other sectors. Total project commitment $2.97 million ($578,000 from Commercialisation Fund)
• Black Sky Aero (QLD) – Space – Establish sovereign manufacture of vital precursor materials for solid rocket propellant not currently produced in Australia. This will lead to significant domestic and export market opportunities. Total project commitment $1.1 million ($497,750 from Commercialisation Fund)

Further details about AMGC’s Commercialisation Fund can be found at www.amgc.org.au/projects/