Archived News for Engineering Professionals

Nace Civil Engineering has been named as the contractor to conduct the $62 million Princes Highway upgrade in New South Wales’ south-east.

Caltex, Australia’s only listed refiner-marketer, has confirmed an $80 million upgrade to its fuel storage and expansion plans in South Australia. Caltex will aim to boost supply reliability throughout the state in a bid to support the state’s booming resources sector.

Mining and energy companies are hiring labour well before needed in an attempt to stave off effects of expected future skills shortages later in the year.

Engineers at Swinburne University of Technology  have developed an inspection system based on artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and characterise internal flaws in composite materials in aircraft.

An increase in mining projects has fuelled demand in many engineering disciplines, according to a report released by recruiting experts, Hays.

A Deakin University invention that uses waste heat to reduce car fuel consumption has been recognised with a Gold Award by the Society of Automotive Engineers Australasia (SAE-A).

Geelong-based engineering researcher, Frank Will, received the SAE-A Automotive Excellence Gold Award from the Victorian Manufacturing Minister, Richard Dalla-Riva, at a recent presentation dinner in Melbourne.

The winning system invented by Mr Will and his team uses waste heat to reduce car engine friction by warming the engine oil to its optimal operating temperature. The prototype has demonstrated fuel consumption savings of more than seven per cent.

Car engines typically waste about 80 per cent of the fuel consumed, with only 20 per cent of the fuel’s energy used to drive the car forward and the rest is lost as heat.

Mr Will believes the Deakin system – which is tentatively named OVER7™ – represents a smarter approach to vehicle engine design.

“One of the most important features of our system is that it doesn’t have to heat all the oil in the sump. Instead, it heats the active oil in the engine lubrication system making the overall heat transfer process much more efficient,” Mr Will said.

“The system also has the potential to be retrofitted to existing engines and we don’t think it will require big changes to fit it.

“We also think the system will be suitable for a range of vehicles, including diesels, hybrids and alternative fuels.”

The research team is now working on further testing with car manufacturers and their suppliers to optimise the technology to best suit their needs.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales’ Photovoltaics Technology Transfer Team, working with solar technology firm Centrotherm, have achieved a new world benchmark of 19.4 percent efficiency for a mass-produced, crystalline silicon solar cell.

Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) head Dr Stephen Gumley has announced his resignation, effective immediately.

A $1.2 billion Clean Technology Program will assist manufacturing industries over the next seven years, as part of the Federal Government's carbon price policy.

Three major energy innovation initiatives have been announced as part of the Federal Government’s carbon price package.

The Australian steel manufacturing industry will benefit from a $300 million package as part of the Federal Government’s carbon price policy.

The Steel Transformation Plan will encourage investment and innovation in the steel manufacturing industry and will be complemented by a small increase in free permit allocation from 2016-17 onwards.

As part of the package to support jobs, the steel industry will be eligible for 94.5 per cent assistance under the Jobs and Competitiveness Program to shield it from the full impact of a carbon price.

The Jobs and Competitiveness Program will provide assistance of $9.2 billion over the first three years

from 1 July 2012 to support businesses within emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries that face international competition from companies in countries yet to introduce comparable costs on carbon.

The Productivity Commission will review the treatment of the steel industry as part of the EITE assistance review in 2014-15, and three years’ notice will be provided of any changes to assistance arrangements consistent with the treatment of all EITE activities.

Further information is available here.

Up to 50 emissions-intensive industrial activities, such as steel, aluminium, cement and zinc manufacturing,  will be eligible for assistance under the Federal Government’s new $9.2 billion Jobs and Competitiveness Program.

The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that engineering construction activity remained strong in the March 2011 quarter, with the total value engineering construction work done  rising by 3.8 per cent.

Perth-based project management company, Calibre Global Pty Ltd, has acquired 100% of Minerva Engineers Pty Ltd, a Melbourne based engineering business with expertise in mining and materials handing engineering and design.

The South Australian Government has set aside land as part of an agreement with the Australian Government that confirms that the multi-billion dollar Future Submarines will be constructed in Adelaide.

Thiess is to play a more significant role in delivering electricity infrastructure in New South Wales under an alliance with one of Australia’s largest energy network providers, Ausgrid.

In its annual report to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), Infrastructure Australia has warned that ‘frustratingly slow’ progress of reforms to infrastructure planning and delivery has caused a slowing of Australia’s productivity.

One of the world's outstanding engineering schools, the Melbourne School of Engineering, is inviting applications for up to fifteen continuing appointments from engineering scholars of international distinction, committed to excellence and innovation in education and research.

Australian researchers have invented nanotech solar cells that are thin, flexible and use one hundredth the materials of conventional solar cells.

Engineering, infrastructure and project management consultancy, Meinhardt Group, has announced the appointment of Peter Galvin as Director of Strategy and Operations in Australia.