$15.2 million for NSW defence, space and smart sensing R&D projects

The government of New South Wales has announced an investment of $15.2 million in its space, manufacturing and defence research network.

Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology Alister Henskens said this year’s funding plus a 3- year extension for the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN), the NSW Defence Innovation Network (DIN) and the NSW Space Research Network (SRN) provides more opportunities to turn ideas into real-world solutions, jobs and new industries.

“We are investing in our human capital to help our innovative researchers unlock their potential and turn their ideas into solutions that will grow the economy and secure a brighter future for the people of NSW,” Mr Henskens said.

“The defence and aerospace industry, including the space industry, and smart sensing technologies will be critical to our nation’s prosperity and NSW is best placed to lead the way when it comes to innovation and commercialisation of research in these areas.

“Our Research Networks foster collaboration between government, academics and industry to find solutions to some of the most complex challenges we face.”

Through the NSW Government’s commitment, the DIN is providing $450,000 in funding to support three defence innovation projects in its Pilot Project grant scheme:

• The University of Wollongong, Western Sydney University and NSW companies BlueZone Group and Vyom Tech will develop a prototype system to assess military diver health
• Western Sydney University, in partnership with The University of Sydney and Australian company AU Cloud, are examining how to fuse data sources and distribute data processing across a constellation of satellites
• The University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney will deliver a system for monitoring the structural health of autonomous air vehicles

Defence and Aerospace NSW contributed $3.2 million of the total funding towards the DIN and SRN. Director Mike Gallagher said the funding would increase NSW defence capabilities across all domains.

“DIN is a key enabler for our sector that ensures that NSW remains at the forefront of delivering the high-tech capability to the Australian Defence Force,” Mr Gallagher said.