CRC Project grants to four companies
The Department of Industry Science Energy and Resources has awarded four Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Project grants with Defence implications. The first, worth $3 million, was awarded to Queensland based Gilmour Space technologies Pty Limited, Teakle Composites and USQ to develop composite rocket fuel tanks for low cost space transport. The team will manufacture cryogenic, linerless, filament-wound composite liquid oxygen tanks up to 2m in diameter and trial them in rocket flights. The team has embarked on a $12.5 million R&D program to develop flight-ready tanks designed to reduce the weight of a fuel tank by up to 30% and reduce launch costs by up to 25%.
The second, worth $2.85 million, was awarded to Liquid Instruments Pty Limited, the ANU and EOS Space Systems Pty Limited. The partners will commercialise advanced test and measurement technology to enable high-performance optics and photonics sensing for industrial, education and defence applications. This will enhance the competitiveness of Liquid Instruments and EOS Space Systems in global markets and enable future applications of high-power lasers to defend airports against drones and provide a deep-space internet and globally accessible, secure military communications.
The third, worth $3 million, was awarded to Silex Systems Limited, Silicon Quantum Computing Limited and the University of NSW to further the Zero-Spin Silicon (ZS-Si) project which uses laser technology to create isotropically enriched silicon to satisfy emerging Australian and global demand from the quantum computing market. This will establish Australia as a world leader in in isotopic silicon production.
The fourth, also worth $3 million, was awarded to a consortium that includes the University of Sydney, UNSW and Macquarie Uni to develop Solar Skin, a next generation perovskite soar polymer membrane that can generate electrical power from both direct and indirect sunlight on both vertical and horizontal surfaces. This CRC-P grant is designed to help Australia re-capture its global lead in solar technology.
The CRC-P grants support short-term collaborative research projects focussed principally on addressing industry challenges. They are distinct from the much bigger CRCs which typically have multiple research partners addressing several research programs over a funding period of 5 years or more.