News and insights from Australia and New Zealand
Keeping it clean: How microscopic barriers could rescue the reef
Hugging the east coast of Queensland, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef covers 348,000 square kilometres, weaving in and out of island shallows, down to depths of 2,000 metres.
It boasts 900 islands, 2,500 individual reefs, 1,500 species of fish, 400 species of coral, 4,000 species of molluscs, and roughly 240 species of birds, which collectively form an ecosystem that’s vital to Queensland’s environment and economy.
Seeing around corners: helping save lives under ground
Even though the vehicles move slowly underground, the operators cannot rely solely on their senses, to see what vehicles or people are in their blind spots.
Not all Power Stations are Stationary
Pieced together in Avenza on Italy’s North Western coastline, they’re the final two of five industrial modules that GE Oil & Gas is supplying for the Chevron-operated Gorgon Project currently under development in Western Australia.
Meet the coal mining machine that never sleeps
It’s longer than a bus, barely the height of a tennis racket, and rarely needs to stop as it leaves behind vast underground caverns supported by pillars of coal and rock.
Known as the GE Fairchild F330, it’s one of just a few continuous mining machines that can selectively target these narrow seams to extract high quality coal between soft, sedimentary rock.
Inside the engines powering life at sea
With each new generation of engine technologies, we’ve travelled faster and safer with less impact on the environment.
It’s been a long, exciting journey since the early days when the wind carried the First Fleet’s eleven ships to Sydney Cove on January 26, 1788.
To recognise their voyage this Australia Day, and the spirit of adventure behind marine engine development, here is a look at the technologies that helped connect the world.
Mind the gap: Engineers Australia on the engineering skills shortage
We met with Stephen Durkin, CEO, Engineers Australia, to discuss the state of the engineering industry, the ongoing skills shortage, and how the industry is working to bridge the gap.
Tell us about the quality of engineering in this country, how do we rate?There is no doubt in my mind that the quality of engineering carried out in Australia is absolutely world class.
The future for the engineering industry in Australia is about developing smart people, highly regarded on the world stage, who have a great way of thinking.
Tap and Go: Forget the credit card, swipe the smartphone
The country is trialling a mobile electronic payments system that may ultimately replace the humble credit card.
New smartphone apps under development promise to make an essential device even more useful within an ecosystem of retailers and financial institutions.
What to expect in 2014. Leading voices reveal the next big things
We’ve asked media, entrepreneurs and thought leaders from Australia and beyond to look into the crystal ball to tell us what’s on their minds.
Here are their predictions for our world in 2014.
Clive Mathieson
Editor, The Australian on the media industry
Ways that CSIRO has changed the world
1. Wi-Fi
3D Printing Win: Aussie engineer wins fourth place in global printing quest
Australian engineer Nic Adams is among eight winners of a global 3D Printing Design Quest that received nearly 700 entries from 56 countries.
Mr Adams, a field-service engineer based in Sydney, placed fourth in Phase II of the competition hosted by GE and the Open Engineering movement GrabCAD. Details of the winners were announced today.