Tag Archives Industry

Innovation The term "innovation" has been embedded in Australian public policy discussions for many decades, in many domains of activity, from Education, to Science, Health, Manufacturing, Agriculture and yes, even Mining. We hear this term a lot... Unfortunately, we seem to conflate genuine innovation, [which in my view requires the interdisciplinary approach of many groups, supplemented by visionary legislative and…

Maker Movement

John Tierney [ The Atlantic ] raises some excellent questions/challenges regarding the rapidly changing and profoundly reforming "maker-movement". He refers to the comments by panelists at the recent Conference on World Affairs in Boulder, USA. Tierney states:  I want to consider some of the intriguing challenges and dilemmas (educational, legal, moral, and ethical) all this will increasingly pose in the years to come.…

Boston Dynamics

Early last month W I R E D magazine published a piece called: The Creepy Collective Behavior of Boston Dynamics’ New Robot Dog Author NEEL V. PATEL notes the "creepy" part: around the 1:20 mark, when a pair of Spots begin trekking up a hill. Spot Number One starts repeatedly colliding into Spot Number Two—and neither loses balance. After a few seconds and…

Monash - 3D Jet Engine

There are moments in history that require capability, vision, skills and will. Amaero Engineering recently demonstrated an additive manufacturing process at the Avalon Airshow that gives us [Australia] the capability to manufacture complex metallic components by laser-based additive manufacturing - 3D printing. In a global-first, they have created a Jet-Engine using a 3-D printer. This is a partnership between Monash University…

CWE

The Federal Minister for Industry & Science, the Hon Ian Macfarlane MP and Carnegie CEO, Dr Michael Ottaviano switched on the world’s first grid connected wave energy array power plant today, February 19th. The world’s first grid-connected wave energy array is now pumping enough electricity to power between 1,500 to 2,000 households in Western Australia. At the moment, the Department of Defence…

Andrew Leigh says: Jeff Borland has a splendid article (gated, sorry) in the latest Australian Economic Review on what happens to the labour market in recessions. 4 Key points: The impact across industries differs greatly. In past recessions, employment tends to fall in agriculture, manufacturing and construction, but also tends to rise in ‘recreation and personal services’, and sometimes also in…

Business in the Community. [Link removed] The CRLLEN participated in an interesting, thought provoking and valuable forum session today, staged by the Victorian Office of Learning and Teaching, with guest David Grayson, CBE. The forum explored the relationships between schools and business with a focus on corporate social responsibility. David is part-time director of Business in the Community (BITC) which…

A very interesting discussion on ABC radio regarding new models of infrastructure funding and the sustainability of the programmes. Macquarie Bank's bosses have made millions by buying and running toll roads and airports and it's the world's biggest name in infrastructure. But there are questions about whether its pioneering model for financing these assets is sustainable. Investor groups are shunning…

12
Close