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Seven groundbreaking defence innovation projects are set to share in a $3 million funding injection under the latest rounds of the Defence Innovation Partnership’s Activator and Collaborative Research Funds (CRF). The new initiatives are tackling some of the most critical challenges facing Australia’s Defence Forces and are set to transform how Australia leverages technology and expertise to protect national security and maintain a strategic edge. The Activator Fund, which first commenced in 2023, has awarded three projects a total of $2.4 million, while the CRF, now in its eighth round, has awarded four projects $150,000 each. The Activator [...]

Defence Trailblazer has launched into 2025 announcing support for three groundbreaking South Australian projects, strengthening research collaboration and driving advancements across space, information intelligence and autonomous defence systems. Enhancing space domain awareness Adelaide-headquartered Space Machines Company, will lead a project on developing space-borne perception and intelligence technology for space domain awareness. Backed by funding through the Accelerating Sovereign Industrial Capabilities program, the technology will enable host spacecraft to understand its immediate environment, identify objects and achieve co-orbital space control. The project will also construct a state-of-the-art robotics testbed to facilitate the development of payload prototypes. Read more > [...]

The University of Adelaide’s Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML), in partnership with CSIRO, has launched the Responsible AI Research Centre (RAIR) at Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen. Set to position Australia as a world leader in responsible AI research and open new avenues for investment and economic opportunity, RAIR brings together AIML’s world-class researchers in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) with scientific experts from CSIRO. The centre will drive cutting-edge research to inform organisations’ transparent and ethical adoption of AI technologies. Backed by $5 million in South Australian Government investment, RAIR is expected to make a national [...]

South Australia is cementing its position as a leader in defence research with a significant funding boost from the Federal Government. Four local organisations will share nearly $18 million of the $60 million allocated under the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s (ASCA) Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDT) Program. This round of the initiative is aimed at advancing quantum and counter disinformation technologies to give Australia’s Defence Forces a technological edge while developing sovereign capability. Of the 179 national proposals, 21 contracts were awarded across Australia’s science and technology sectors, aligning with the National Defence Strategy and the Defence Innovation, Science and Technology Strategy. [...]

After receiving $150,000 from the Defence Innovation Partnership’s (DIP) Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) under round 7 in January 2024, collaborators DSTG, the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia and DEWC Services (DEWC) are getting started on exciting new research examining autonomous command and control (C2) of drone swarms. This project is among six that secured nearly $900k in funding earlier this year through round 7 of DIPs CRF. Take a read below as David Kilmartin from DSTG explores more about how the project is shaping up. Novel hybrid machine-learning approach According to Dr Tim McKay, Director [...]

Phil Temby has joined the Defence Innovation Partnership (DIP) as Associate Director, effective 1 July 2024. Embedded as the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) representative for two-years, Mr Temby will bring more than two decades of Defence research experience to the role. Armed with a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours from the University of Adelaide, a Masters in Psychology from the University of South Australia (UniSA) and a Graduate Certificate in Scientific Leadership from the University of Melbourne, Mr Temby has served on national and international research panels, published extensively, and been recognised for his [...]

A Defence-related project led by University of Adelaide’s Dr Agnieszka Kumorkiewicz-Jamro, under the guidance of SAiGENCI's Professor Christopher Sweeney, has been awarded $395,000 through Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) Seed Grants program. The grant follows funding from the Defence Innovation Partnership’s Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) Round 7 which saw an initial $150,000 awarded to kickstart the project in 2024. Entitled ‘Revolutionising Radiation Protection: World first multiorgan pharmaceutical radiation protection for defence capability and civilians’ (known as the Daisy Project), the cutting-edge Defence research project aims to commercialise the first drug developed to protect internal organs from radiation sources including [...]

Defence Trailblazer has announced a $12 million grant scheme to fast-track the development of Australia’s defence industry capabilities. Expressions of interest are now open for the Accelerating Sovereign Industrial Capabilities (ASIC) grant program, with an online information session being held on Wednesday 5 June for interested parties. The program will enable the accelerate the translation of defence R&D activities into capabilities aligned to the seven Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities (SDIPs). “The Defence Industry Development Strategy states that developing the sovereign defence industrial base Australia needs to meet our strategic circumstances requires targeted industrial development in areas of strategic [...]

QuantX Labs has secured $750,000 funding for an innovative research project aimed at revolutionising a secured position, navigation, and timing (PNT) capability for defence applications. The Quantum-Secured Time Transfer for Resilient PNT project will receive support from the Department of Defence, paving the way for cutting-edge advancements in PNT security. Access to trusted PNT information is critical for defence operations. Current PNT signals, such as those provided by the Global Positioning System (GPS), are vulnerable to covert spoofing, where malicious actors can transmit false information to disrupt military activities without detection. The QuantX Labs project seeks to address [...]

Flinders University has become the first Australian university to join forces with a key United States Navy research centre, in a historic move that will boost South Australia’s defence research capability. The landmark Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Naval Undersea Warfare Centre (NUWC) Division Newport marks a significant step forward in collaborative research between the United States and Australia in the field of undersea technology. NUWC Division Newport is the oldest warfare centre in the United States and is the US Navy’s full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering, and fleet support centre [...]

Dr Gretel Png’s career journey has seen her work and study across the globe before landing in South Australia to work at Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) in late 2018. Through DSTG’s 2021 inaugural NAVIGATE program, Gretel is currently undertaking a placement with the Defence Innovation Partnership (DIP) where she is working to get the new Activator Fund off the ground. “I’ve applied for grants in the past and I wanted to see what it’s like on the other side: to be a part of the organisation that gives grants; how grants are planned, managed, the [...]

Local space start-up Safety from Space is partnering with Flinders University, University of South Australia, SmartSat CRC and the Defence Science and Technology Group to develop an innovative satellite messaging beacon system.The research project is one of four initiatives to receive funding in the latest round of grants from the Defence Innovation Partnership’s Collaborative Research Fund (CRF).It will introduce a new technique for satellite-based connectivity for emergency services and Defence personnel in hazardous environments to be used when ground-based communications network infrastructure is unavailable.Minister for Defence and Space Industries Susan Close said the program continues to deliver real life technological [...]

Veteran-owned South Australian electronic warfare company, Asension, has signed a $4.35 million contract with the Australian Government to deliver a space-based tactical sensor system for Defence. Chief Executive Officer of Asension, Ian Spencer, said the contract –awarded through the Defence Innovation Hub (DIH) – was an exciting opportunity to grow the company’s workforce and progress vital space capability for Defence. “This contract has been pivotal to the successful development of this capability to date and has enabled Asension to grow as a company,” said Mr Spencer. Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Pat Conroy MP, said the investment [...]

Australia’s defence innovation ecosystem continues to grow with the Federal Government’s endorsement of the Defence Trailblazer: Concept to Sovereign Capability (CSC) bid under the Trailblazer Universities Program. Led by the University of Adelaide in partnership with the University of New South Wales, the CSC aims to create a cross-sector culture founded on a sharing risk, problem solving, and successes, as well as creating a sense of strategic urgency to sustain the ability of the Australian Defence Force in defending national security within volatile geo-strategic environments. The project will enable researchers and industry to review Defence’s priority research challenges, secure capital [...]

Adelaide-based green-energy technology company, PhosEnergy, are teaming up with The University of Adelaide to develop next-generation nuclear batteries for space and defence industries. PhosEnergy – who develop innovative green-energy tech aimed at recovering useful energy resources and chemicals from unconventional or waste sources – were awarded a grant of more than $2.4 million to support the project under the Federal Government’s Cooperative Research Centre’s Projects (CRC-P) scheme . The company will use the funds to further develop their long-life, reliable, maintenance and fuel-free nuclear battery technology for space and defence industries. The University of Adelaide’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Anton [...]

Applications are now open for grants of up to $11 million for the establishment of artificial intelligence and digital capability centres to help commercialise the technology and support businesses. The Australian Government is investing a total of $44 million to establish four centres, which will be industry-run and enable small and medium businesses to access AI expertise to help them grow and create more jobs. The Artificial Intelligence and Digital Capability Centres Grants will be available to cover up to 75 per cent of project expenditure, with applicants needing to partner with at least one other industry player and build [...]

Associate Professor Rini Akmeliawati is an accomplished academic in the fields of Mechatronics, Robotics and Control, whose contributions are driving inspired breakthroughs in space innovation. With an interest in space and robots that was set in motion as a child, Rini Akmeliawati gained her first degree, a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Honours), from RMIT University in 1997. This was followed by her Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering with a major in Control Systems Engineering, attained from the University of Melbourne in 2001. This launched her academic career, joining the School of Mathematics and Geospatial Sciences at RMIT, where she had the [...]