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Western Australia’s Defence Industry and Veterans Issues Minister, Paul Papalia CSC, has announced six research and development grants worth a total of $900,000 as part of co-contribution between the WA government, Defence Science and Technology Group, and Next Generation Technology Fund.
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As part of the Western Australian government’s annual Collaborative Research Grant program, now in its fifth year, the latest round of research grants includes underwater messaging system, three-dimensional environmental mapping technology, and on-site monitoring of copper concentrations.
Of the top six ranked projects, three were identified as being related to potential use in AUKUS-related technologies.
Western Australia’s Defence Industry and Veterans Issues Minister Paul Papalia CSC welcomed the announcement and the opportunities the Collaborative Research Grant program would offer WA-based businesses and researchers, saying, “The Collaborative Research Grant continues to assist in de-risking new research and maturing innovative concepts being developed by Western Australians.”
The latest round of grant recipients included:
- $150,000 for the development of onsite electrochemical monitoring of copper concentrations in effluent from cleaning navy vessels, delivered by Edith Cowan University (ECU), CleanSubSea, and B3 Electronic Design.
- $150,000 to develop a novel in-plane micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) optical switching architecture for defence applications, delivered by the University of Western Australia (UWA) and L3Harris.
- $150,000 for the development of a scalable sensor fusion for 3D environmental mapping developed by Curtin University and CMW Geosciences.
- $150,000 to develop a reliable underwater messaging system to be developed by ECU and M&R Solutions.
- $150,000 for an industry-led project to develop “Humans in/on/out of the Loop: Making AI Decisions Human Understandable in High-Performance Situations Involving Autonomous Aerial Vehicles (DecAI)” by UX Machines, UWA, and Murdoch University.
- $150,000 to empower the open-source intelligence (OSINT) analyst through explainable models to be developed by UWA and PHASE.
Applicants are able to apply for grants up to $150,000 and projects are assessed against criteria for collaboration, feasibility, and impact. In 2022, CRG funds were used to build a successful prototype of an unmanned robot which can be controlled by hand gestures via virtual reality glasses.
Since 2019, the program has provided over $4 million to support defence research projects in Western Australia.
“With the AUKUS partnership in effect, now is a very exciting time for WA defence researchers, as is reflected in the projects chosen for this year’s grants,” Minister Papalia added.
The CRG is one of the initiatives delivered by the Defence Science Centre (DSC) which aims to facilitate increased collaboration between Defence, academia, and industry within WA in providing innovative solutions for Defence and national security.
The full list of research supported by the DSC can be found here.
The WA government’s Defence Ready Initiative provides funding support to Western Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that operate in the defence sector to enhance their business capability, capacity, and competitiveness to participate as suppliers of products, services, and works to the Defence market.
The level of funding support under the Defence Ready Initiative is 50 per cent of eligible activity costs (excluding GST) up to a maximum funding level of $20,000 per successful applicant.
