On 29 September the Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, announced the first round of the DMTC High Altitude Sensor Systems program including four projects, with work expected to commence before the end of the 2017 calendar year.
A number of organisations across Australia, comprising innovative commercial enterprises and leading Universities and research agencies, will come together under the DMTC program.
DMTC industry partner Anteo Diagnostics Ltd has notified the ASX of the successful completion of the first milestone in their DMTC project, with initial studies demonstrating high-detection sensitivity.
Anteo has partnered with Planet Innovation, Deakin University and DMTC to further the technology readiness of Planet Innovation’s (Nplex) low cost, high sensitivity point of care diagnostic system using breakthrough reader technology.
Anteo’s contribution and objectives in Milestone 1 were to successfully functionalise nanoparticles requiring integration with Planet Innovation’s reader. Anteo has successfully established, optimised and verified a model lateral flow system for the nominated target assay using Mix&Go.
Work on the next milestone is already underway and is scheduled to be completed by next quarter.
The DMTC Medical Countermeasures (MCM) program recognises the increasingly important need to create, in Australia, an integrated multidisciplinary network focused on MCM product development.
DMTC Medical Countermeasures Program leader, Felicia Pradera, has been presented with the prestigious DMTC Research Collaboration Award for her leadership of the program.
The DMTC Awards for Excellence were presented at this year’s DMTC Annual Conference Dinner at the National Gallery in Canberra.
The Awards for Excellence recognise significant contributions made by individuals and teams that have resulted in successful outcomes for DMTC and its partners.
The Research Collaboration Award presented to Dr Pradera goes to an individual who embodies the spirit of collaboration that is integral to DMTC’s strategic intent.
Seconded to the DMTC from the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group, Dr Pradera oversees a portfolio of projects that leverage funding from CSIRO and DST Group, as well as contributions from a number of highly capable and innovative research and industry partners.
DMTC CEO, Dr Mark Hodge, said Dr Pradera was a worthy recipient of the honour.
“Felicia has made a massive contribution to the success of this program,” Dr Hodge said. “In fact, it’s not over-stating it to suggest that the program may not have even been running today without her leadership and expert oversight.
“Felicia is a valued member of the DMTC team and really has exemplified our commitment to achieving the very best outcomes for the Australian Defence Force, while also facilitating industry and supply chain development in this country.”
Dr Pradera received her award from Corporal Dan Keighran VC, who was the guest speaker at the gala dinner. After telling the remarkable story of his life and the circumstances of the battle for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross, Corporal Keighran had a simple but powerful message for the DMTC community.
“What you do, makes a difference to the safety and security of our soldiers and the ADF,” he said.
DMTC congratulates Dr Pradera and all the other award winners.
Award Winners
The Industry Partnership Award is awarded to individual researchers whose efforts contribute significantly to the capability of a DMTC Industry partner. This year’s award was awarded jointly to Gui Wang and Juan Torres from the University of Queensland for their efforts in helping Thales’ Protected Vehicles division transition research outcomes from DMTC Project 3.19 into their vehicle development program.
The Project Leadership Award is awarded to leaders of a project team who have contributed significantly to achieving project outcomes. This year’s award was awarded jointly to Ali Daliri and Lihong Su for their leadership of DMTC Project 6.04 “Land vehicle alternative material characterisation” and Yen Truong for her leadership of DMTC Project 7.33 “Advanced nanostructured fabrics”. Yen’s project involves five research and industry partners including CSIRO and DST Group.
The Early Career Award recognises the contribution of early career technical officers, engineers and scientists to DMTC projects, rewarding efforts ‘above and beyond’. It is open to technical officers, engineers and scientists, including PhD students, who are working on DMTC research projects and are aged under 35. This year’s award went to Andrew Ang from Swinburne University of Technology who has been a highly-valued team member and contributor to no fewer than four DMTC projects in the Maritime domain.
The Capability Improvement Award is awarded to the project team who achieves a significant improvement in technical capability in the area of materials and/or manufacturing technology. This year’s award winner was the High Strength Fabrics project team who have developed fragmentation resistant fabric to prototype stage. Industry partner Bruck Textiles has since adopted the technology and is marketing the fabric globally. Tony Pierlot (Project Leader – CSIRO), Ahmed Bhoyro, Ben Eu, Bin Lee, Doug Dower, Horace Billon, Liberty Wagner, Lyndon Arnold, Peter Herwig, Rajiv Padhye, Sandip Ranjan, Tim Head and Vlad Libeson.
