Boundless Issue_05

ISSUE_5 2 8 P G

THE DEFENCE EDGE

to solving the data centre conundrum?

RISE

Startups to watch in 2026

2 2

ON THE

P G

THE ANSWER

1 0

DOES SA HAVE

P G

P G

0 4

Meet the team powering next gen military air capability

AI’S NEXT

WAVE

What experts are predicting by 2028

We acknowledge we are on Kaurna Miyurna land.

The Dreaming is still living.

From the past, in the present, into the future, forever.

Publisher

Department of the Premier and Cabinet Editor

Jenny Hassam, Department of the Premier and Cabinet Creative Design

SAUCE. The Creative Agency Contributors

Renato Castello, Michels Warren

Megan Lloyd, Influence Communication

Katherine Ruth, Department of the Premier and Cabinet Photographer Matt Turner

Cover Photo Lillyan Brown, Boeing Defence Australia. Pictured at RAAF Base Edinburgh, Edinburgh Defence Precinct, South Australia Photography: Matt Turner

LOTF0018

Boundless is an annual publication by the Government of South Australia.

It is distributed via government and strategic partners and digitally through innovationplaces.sa.gov.au. No articles, illustrations, photographs and/or any other editorial matter or advertisement herein may be reproduced without written permission of copyright owner.

On the rise Startups to watch in 2026 AI's next wave What experts are predicting by 2028

Does SA have the answer to solving the data centre conundrum?

Small town, big mission Find out which regional town hosts astronaut simulations

ON THE COVER Australia's defence edge Meet the company powering next gen military air capability

04

10

16

22

28

34 40 46 50 56 From invention to impact The game changing technology spotting fires in minutes

Forging ahead Building Australia’s factory for medical devices

Inside the head The innovators reshaping brain research and diagnosis

Deep sea and deep space Our autonomous frontiers

Inside the technology helping agriculture stay ahead of climate change

Powering South Australia’s Innovation Future The Department of State Development is supporting South Australia’s innovation and startup ecosystem by backing bold ideas, accelerating growth and helping businesses compete nationally and globally.

Whether you’re launching, growing or scaling, we’re here to help transform ambitious ideas into successful South Australian businesses.

We connect founders with funding, specialist expertise and pathways to capital, through initiatives including: Innovation Leaders Network – peer-to-peer insights and knowledge sharing Seed-Start – support for early-stage, high-growth potential startups SA Venture Capital Fund – accelerating growth into national and global markets Southern Angels – experienced angel investors backing high growth companies National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) – access to cutting-edge research infrastructure Medical Devices Partnership Program – support to develop medical tech ideas to market

LEARN MORE

03

DI DIXON STATE INNOVATION PLACES LEAD

Welcome to Boundless_05 South Australia has never been short of ambition.

But what this edition of Boundless makes clear is that ambition is being matched by action.

That philosophy is visible throughout this issue

where we explore AI’s next wave (p. 22), with insights from the Australian Institute for Machine Learning,

Stone & Chalk, LoopSoup and Salesforce; showcase

When we put the call out for stories earlier this year,

the startups to watch in 2026 (p. 10); and head

South Australia’s 20 innovation places.

simulations pushing the boundaries of space

we received more than 100 submissions from across From startups to global enterprises, leading

to regional South Australia to uncover astronaut research (p. 16).

academics to defence primes, the response was

You’ll also go inside a game changing technology

for lifting capability, driving innovation and shaping

reshaping brain research and diagnosis (p. 50),

a powerful signal of the passion across the state

spotting bushfires in minutes (p. 40), innovations

a strong economy for future generations.

and cutting edge work helping agriculture adapt

On the cover, you’ll meet Lillyan, an avionics

to a climate uncertain future (p. 56).

trainee whose story embodies the next generation

Together, these stories reflect the strength of a

Her journey takes us inside the new purpose built

the Innovation Places Leadership Framework,

a significant statement of sovereign intent for our

community together under a shared vision, strong

of defence workforce talent being built here.

connected ecosystem, one I’m proud to lead through

national hub for military aviation sustainment;

a nation leading first bringing our innovation

defence industry, anchored by Boeing (p. 28).

governance and clear policy direction on behalf

At its core, SA’s innovation places are about place

of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

based innovation: the deliberate co-location of

And the world is taking notice, with South Australia

locations, curating ecosystems for them to collide,

connected approach.

industries, institutions and people in the right collaborate and make an impact.

increasingly recognised as a leader in this

Boundless_05 is a snapshot of that momentum and an invitation to you, as a reader, to explore, engage and act.

Learn about the 20 innovation places here

Diane Dixon State Innovation Places Lead Department of the Premier and Cabinet

Critical te chnol o gies and space

05

Does SA have the answer to solving the data centre conundrum?

Critical te chnol o gies and space

D

ata centres

are the computational workhorses of the modern

My dream would be to see one of the first demonstrations of ZBLAN fibre optic cable on Australian soil somewhere.

Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem, Deputy Director of the Institute for Photonics

A new way of delivering data At the core of the nearly 1.5 million kilometres of sub-sea fibre-optic cables criss-crossing

the globe are filaments made from silica glass that have been the backbone of the internet.

digital economy, but

But it has limits. As light travels through

enormous amounts of energy

signals must be boosted roughly every

and water are required to keep servers cool and systems running reliably.

the fibre it scatters and weakens, meaning 100 kilometres via energy intensive and costly amplifiers that are powered by large cable

landing stations which is costly infrastructure to build and run - an escalating challenge

as global data demands continue to surge.

In Australia, data centres are expected to

Enter Adelaide University’s Professor Heike

electricity by the end of the decade, up

Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing

Australia’s Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

a novel fibre, ZBLAN, in partnership with its

In South Australia, scientists and engineers

The Australian National Fabrication Facility

use around six per cent of grid-supplied

Ebendorff-Heidepriem, Deputy Director of the

from two per cent today, according to

(IPAS), who is leading the development of

are spearheading innovation to ensure every prompt, scroll and swipe leaves a lighter touch on the planet.

commercial partner Flawless Photonics Inc. (ANFF) Optofab Adelaide Hub, is enabling

this development with a world-class facility for glass and optical fibre manufacturing.

Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem, Adelaide University.

07

Taking manufacturing to space ZBLAN glass fibre has the potential to

transmit light 20 times further than traditional silica-based cables with less energy

and at lower costs, with the potential to

revolutionise global internet connectivity.

“If ZBLAN works at its theoretical limit, amplifiers are

only required every ~2000 km, which means that for shorter sub-sea cables no amplifiers are needed

and hence no costly cable landing stations, so we can carry more data along the fibre with much less energy,” Prof Ebendorff-Heidepriem says.

“Data centres also contain many kilometres of optical fibre, so reducing signal loss can substantially lower demands and energy savings across the system.”

However, in contrast to the silica glass used for the

manufacture of current optical fibres, ZBLAN glass is inherently susceptible to crystallisation during the

fibre-drawing process, preventing manufacture of ZBLAN fibres at the theoretical limit. The unwanted crystallisation is enhanced by the Earth’s gravity.

The answer? Take manufacturing to space.

In 2024, Flawless Photonics took 20 ZBLAN pen-sized preform rods manufactured

by the Optofab Adelaide team and their

engineered compact fibre drawing module on the International Space Station, where these preforms rods were drawn by the compact fibre-drawing module to a world record

11.9 kilometres of ZBLAN fibre in micro-gravity.

Eight months of testing found that the space-

drawn fibres experienced light losses ten times lower than the fibres drawn on Earth from

the same set of preform and using the same type of compact fibre-drawing module.

“We now need to do more microgravity research to really pinpoint from a

commercial perspective what will be

the best process to manufacture ZBLAN fibre,” Prof Ebendorff-Heidepriem says.

“My dream would be to see one of the first demonstrations of ZBLAN fibre optic cable on Australian soil somewhere. It all fits into the R&D commercial landscape.”

Critical te chnol o gies and space

Selecting the right rig for the job

Adelaide based CoilRig, located at Adelaide

Alongside fibre-optic requirements, data

to dramatically reduce the cost, risk and

centre growth is also driving unprecedented demand for efficient, low-emission

cooling solutions, particularly in the US. In 2023, data centres consumed 4.4 per

cent of US electricity, with usage projected to rise to as high as 12 per cent by 2028,

according to the US Department of Energy.

In Australia data centres currently draw

approximately two per cent of electricity grid but this could triple within five years, says

University, Mawson Lakes, says they have

the answer with their purpose built coiled tubing geothermal drilling rig designed time involved in drilling boreholes for geothermal heat pump installations.

“We’ve developed a new drilling rig for the shallow or low-temperature geothermal market, focused on ground source heat

pump installation with the goal of making

installation cheaper, faster and safer,” CoilRig Co-Founder and Director Soren Soe says.

“Ground source heat pumps are

the Australian Energy Market Operator.

typically seen as a heating solution for

The US government is also pushing

but they’re just as effective as a cooling

data centre owners and tech giants to build their own power plants.

This is driving renewed interest in geothermal technologies that can reduce peak cooling

loads and ease pressure on electricity grids.

Reducing high drilling costs will be critical to scaling geothermal heating and

cooling as a strategic energy solution.

residential and commercial buildings,

solution, particularly in energy-intensive environments like data centres.”

CoilRig’s system, designed and developed in Adelaide, unlike traditional rigs that

require drill rods to be repeatedly connected and disconnected, uses a continuous

coiled tubing drill pipe, enabling smoother, faster and measurably safer drilling.

“A pragmatic approach to sustainability is essential,” says Soren Soe. “Being

‘green’ is not enough on its own. Scalable sustainability delivers multiple benefits at once, lower emissions, healthier

environments for occupants, and strong financial outcomes. That combination is what drives real market growth.”

Soe says Google, Meta and Microsoft are

already exploring use of geothermal, while

Australia’s uptake remains comparatively slow, with the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre in Western Australia

a pioneer in adopting this technology.

CoilRig has penetrated the US market

earlier this year with its first rig sold to

a New York drilling contractor achieving

double the productivity with the CoilRig™.

09

“They have incentives in the US for

geothermal which is something we don’t talk about in Australia at the moment,

but the uptake for geothermal here needs to change and Australia is absolutely

great for geothermal energy,” Soe says.

“Some more incentives or big demonstration

projects of geothermal energy here in Australia would really take the industry forward.”

CoilRig progressed from R&D to full-scale commercialisation with the support of the State and Federal Governments.

As global demand for compute accelerates, the question isn’t whether the challenge

blend of capability, ambition and innovation positions us closer to the answer.

Soren Soe, CoilRig Co-Founder and Director.

can be solved, but whether South Australia’s

Critical te chnol o gies , agriculture, and space

ON THE

RISE Startups to watch in 2026.

11

Adelaide is quietly becoming one of the most exciting startup cities to watch.

Ranked a Top 5 Oceania city for sector performance and home to more than 800 startups, South Australia is producing founders with big ideas, serious ambition and global intent.

The innovation ecosystem is supported by a network of dedicated startup hubs, including Flinders New Venture Institute at Tonsley Innovation District, Stone & Chalk’s Startup Hub at Lot Fourteen and Adelaide University’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre and ThincLab, providing founders with the space, support and connections to grow and scale.

These are the startups to watch in 2026.

Critical te chnol o gies , agriculture, and space

Flux Robotics Purpose: To reduce pesticide use in grain

crops by 99 per cent, eliminating reliance on fossil fuel machinery for delivery.

Product: A solar-powered robot the size

of a small car which sees every millimetre squared of a paddock in three weeks.

Team: Five Funding: Pre-seed, Seed Start grant of

$500,000 from the Department of Industry

and Skills and angel investment from farmers.

Founded in 2021 by Jordy Kitschke,

Chefadora Purpose: a global recipe-sharing platform and AI-powered cooking assistant that connects home cooks, food bloggers,

and professional chefs, allowing them to share and monetise recipes.

Team: Nine Funding: Bootstrapped. $50,000

grant to work with the Australian Institute for Machine Learning.

a former farmer and self-taught engineer,

Sanjam Kohli started Chefadora in 2023 as a

reduction of pesticides used in grain farming.

her mother arriving in voice notes, photos of

Flux Robotics is a gamechanger in the Flux’s product philosophy started with

the biggest limiting factor – the question “can you get a robot to detect a weed?”.

The rover streams high-resolution imagery to

way to connect with home. With recipes from recipe cards, emails and messages, Kohli’s

need for a structured approach without the

administrative burden of a traditional recipe blog, led her to co-found Chefadora.

on-board AI to identify and remove weeds in

The website hosts thousands of recipes

as crop health. The solar-electric drivetrain

100,000 monthly active users and support

real time. It also captures other insights, such and battery storage enables the robot to run purely off solar power day and night.

In Flux’s commercialisation journey, two units are

from over 180 countries, with more than

for over 100 cuisines. The platform enables creators to earn via ad revenue, affiliate links, and recipe sponsorships.

already deployed, with 50+ domestic pre-orders

Chefadora continues to add new features

of the 3m x 2.5m x 1m robots. Flux’s next

Spanish to be the first of 80 languages added

and interest across 10+ countries in acquisition

challenge is the capital to scale manufacturing from one robot per month to one each day.

“We can provide the highest resolution data

and refine the offering, with Hindi, French and to the platform. Soon visitors will be able to

search and filter by dietary preferences, health goals, ingredients and even the local weather.

that grain farmers have ever had access

“My mum is an excellent, excellent home

and act on them within a few millimetres of

years. As an engineer, I like things to be very

to. We can see things down to a millimetre

accuracy, which creates a whole new realm of what’s possible out in a paddock.”

chef, with wonderful recipes curated over the methodical, so Chefadora organises recipes seamlessly for both creators and cooks.”

13

Moonlode Purpose: To help payloads and satellites withstand extreme temperature

fluctuations of more than 300° C. Product: Multi-layer insulation (MLI) blanket for space Team: Four

Tday.com Purpose: An AI design tool that

automates repetitive design tasks, focusing on brand consistency.

Funding: Stipend through Adelaide University’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre.

Founded in 2021, Moonlode is developing MLI blankets for satellites and lunar

surface payloads where the impact of

Team: Three

extreme temperatures is mission critical.

Funding: Y-Combinator accelerator

engineering with intricate craftsmanship

grant of $700,000

Boundless spoke with tday.com founders

Cyrus Kelly and Shyamsundar Shrestha in April, three months and five days after the

company was founded. The pair took the time to chat from San Francisco, where they attended Y Combinator,

a leading global startup accelerator.

These young founders are hyper-focused on solving problems in a hands-on way.

At 19 and 23 years old, the pair have

already started eight companies between them, applying that business experience and nous to this current venture.

With 627 users already, most of their

time is spent reading and responding to customer feedback with improvements to the software service.

“I can be the one to solve this problem.”

The key to success combines thermal

to build thermal insulation blankets with high precision. As the only company in

Australia dedicated to servicing the thermal management needs of the space industry,

the team plans to expand into new markets, commencing with New Zealand and India.

MLI technician Aurelie Sowerbutt’s unique

background is the ideal fit for this type of work.

She studied pure mathematics and worked in finance, prior to studying fashion and

working as a designer for a local sportswear

company. Now her skills are being applied to the precise engineering of each layer, which are held together securely without touching

each other or tearing, a process Sowerbutt’s says is “more intricate than bridal gowns”.

“An accidental tear is treated as a serious

defect, because the material is so sensitive and performance critical. If the fabric is punctured, you have to start again.”

Critical te chnol o gies , agriculture, and space

Rooo Purpose: To build Australia’s first locally owned mobility super app where rides, services,

Optible Purpose: AI-powered grant application screening, to enable grant makers to

identify eligible applications quickly with a clear and auditable trail showing why select applications were funded.

Team: 10 Funding: Seed funding Back in 2019, before the AI boom of 2023,

Optible’s founders Nick Boniciolli and Sameer

sustainability and community all come together.

Team: 15 Funding: Bootstrapped A great business idea can arise the unlikeliest way – such as over a pizza shared with

housemates. Saksham Mahajan and his

housemates, all migrants to Australia, were

discussing how to start a business. After rejecting drop-shipping and social media, the group

landed on rideshare, something each person had direct, and frustrating, experiences with.

Poude built an early, small language model

The friends thought they could provide

of AI grant applications started to flood in,

a good deal for drivers and riders alike.

to assess and score applications against

owned platform that removed commissions,

specifically for grant makers. When waves

a service based out of South Australia, offering

Optible was ready with a proven solution

The group decided to build a new, locally

a detailed, weighted and adaptive rubric.

treated drivers fairly and would have a

The true winners are Optible’s customers.

positive community impact. Rooo was born.

The tool relieves individuals of the extensive

With over 1500 drivers, over 1000 riders and

unprecedented numbers of AI-generated

drivers in Adelaide. Rooo’s strategy is to establish

applications from over 102 countries,

expanding to other states and rural regions.

time and cognitive load of sifting through

delivering over 500 rides*, Rooo is favoured by

grant applications. Currently assessing

a strong market in metropolitan Adelaide, before

the service has built-in translation and

Rooo’s goal is to make rideshare worth it, with

integrates seamlessly with existing workflow tools like Salesforce and SmartyGrants.

Optible has expanded into the United

States with team members on the ground and are negotiating deals with some of the world’s most recognisable brands.

“Optible is like a cup of coffee for grant makers. It takes a lot of the burden of

the work away, so the grant maker can

sit back and relax, enjoy the experience.

It also gives them that kick, like caffeine,

as there's so much efficiency in the tool.”

a subscription business model that lets drivers keep higher fares compared to competitors by removing commissions. The true point of

difference is the local support. When a driver needs help getting set-up on the platform,

support is provided in real time, or even in person.

“As soon as the app went live, we went

to the airport to talk to the drivers there.

We want to show SA that we’re local,

we’re on the ground and delivering value to South Australia’s economy.” *as of 03 April 2026

15

UING Purpose: To enable ‘touch-free’ control of

screens in medical and commercial settings.

Team: Two Funding: Pilot sales and bootstrapping towards seed round

Sean Killian and Martin Potter-Denton are two

SuperIT

software developers who couldn’t resist pursuing

Purpose: To help IT teams to deliver

projection mapping, depth-sensing, computer

times with using agentic AI.

a fun and cool idea. After experimenting with vision and AI, they realised practical need for touch-free interaction with a distant screen.

With a clear market opportunity to pursue,

10/10 support with fast response Team: Five Funding: Pre-seed

the duo founded UING (pronounced ‘Wing’) in

Chris Sale, founder of SuperIT, is passionate

Now UING is focused on two products: VeraPACS

services. He founded and grew a managed

2024 at Flinders NVI, Tonsley Innovation District. software for intraoperative medical imaging

and UING Studio, a spatial interface presentation technology to control screens at a distance.

about delivering the highest quality IT

services provider (MSP) for 10 years and

knows first-hand the challenges of scaling top-notch support through help desks.

The goal wasn’t to mimic Minority Report

Founded in April 2025, the startup is currently

echoes science fiction. Keyboards and mice,

validating performance ahead of plans to

or Iron Man’s Jarvis, but the futuristic tech the technology used today, derived from

the typewriter. These aren't fit for purpose in

surgery or harsh environments, for example, but until now, it’s what was available.

UING has strong market interest in Japan,

running pilot programs with seven customers, scale globally. The company aims to solve over

70 per cent of standard IT issues autonomously and safely. It combines state-of-the-art

AI models and extensive agent tooling for deep integration into IT environments.

where companies are focused on deep tech

The goal is to become a ‘small giant’ with

needs of the local market with ready to go

and technologists who will achieve an

innovation. In Australia the startup meets

technology removing barriers for adoption.

an A+ team of engineers, product designers outsized impact, with efficiency and focus.

“As entrepreneurs this is what we do

“It’s SuperIT’s mission to help the

and learn a lot about it very quickly”

greater impact on the world”.

– find something we don’t know about

companies it supports to have a

Sp ace

small town

BIG MISSION Find out which regional town hosts astronaut simulations.

Professor Anna Ma-Wyatt, ATCSR’s Director of Astronautautonomy teaming.

17

Sp ace

I

n the quiet, rolling paddocks

of Adelaide University’s

A timely connection to the galaxy Five months later, on the day NASA successfully

launched Artemis II, the first crewed flight beyond

Earth’s orbit in more than 50 years, the connection to the work at Roseworthy felt more vital than ever for the ATCSR’s Director of Astronaut-

autonomy teaming, Professor Anna Ma-Wyatt.

As the world watched the latest generation of astronauts head towards the Moon,

Prof Ma-Wyatt’s team was immersed in reviewing their own mission with ADAMA and planning for

their next mission, focused on human-machine teaming to support future lunar landings.

Roseworthy campus, you might

“Analogue missions on Earth are used to test

not expect to see the future of

protocols and new techniques before they

lunar exploration taking shape.

are tried in space,” explains Prof Ma-Wyatt, an expert in human-machine teaming.

But at the Exterres facility, just 40 minutes north of Adelaide, the red dirt of South

Australia doubles as the moon’s surface,

providing a world-class testbed for the next frontier of off-Earth exploration and the human endurance that will underpin it.

For two weeks last October, Australian

researchers took part in the first-ever ADAMA mission (Astronautical Demonstration of an

Analogue Mission in Australia), an initiative of

Adelaide University’s Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources (ATCSR). The focus of this

first mission was a proof of concept for a raft of work with international partners that lays

the foundation for future analogue missions at the Covered Regolith Analogue Terrain

for Experimental Research (CRATER) facility.

Her work focuses on building resilient hybrid teams, where AI isn’t just a tool but a partner that supports human decision-making under pressure.

Prof Ma-Wyatt explains that the goal is to establish common ground with an autonomous system

to enable a real-time partnership in which the AI agent and the astronaut can monitor each other for errors and provide mutual support.

“Working at Roseworthy allows us to see the friction points in human-machine teaming,” she says.

“In the future, we hope the robot will be able to

monitor the human and say, 'Hey, this is a bit weird.

Can you help me here?' and vice versa. This prevents the turn-taking lag that usually happens with

technology and turns it into real-time collaboration.

That level of trust is what will eventually enable us to build permanent bases on the Moon.”

19

Ground control in Roseworthy The mission’s success depends on the

The Exterres facility includes a massive

transdisciplinary character. Far from being merely

built, configurable indoor facility, CRATER, with

a diverse range of expertise, including space law,

lighting. Together these facilities replicate

Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources’

4,000 m2 outdoor testing area and a purpose

an engineering project, the ATCSR brings together

regolith (space soil) simulants and specialised

psychology, and architecture, to address the

key aspects of the lunar landscape.

complex challenges of long-term habitation.

This collaborative ecosystem has made Roseworthy a global magnet – the ATCSR’s partners include national space agencies, global

“The research testing environment that simulates conditions on the Moon includes the lighting

experienced throughout a lunar day,”

Professor Ma-Wyatt says. This is

a critical detail, as the Moon’s

aerospace companies,

harsh light creates pitch-

research organisations,

can confuse both

and world-leading

black shadows that

human eyes and

says Professor

robotic sensors.

Ma-Wyatt.

The ATCSR is part

By identifying

of the Roo-ver

potential problems

consortium, working

in this controlled

closely with ELO2

environment, the

to prepare an

team ensures those

Australian rover for

same mistakes don't

a mission targeting Pole later this decade.

“The innovation

ecosystem we are building

at Roseworthy enables us to

translate cutting-edge research into

solutions that work with industry,” she says.

occur when a life is on

the line 384,400km away.

ICEE Space Analogue Habitat,

by Taylor Parnham.

the lunar South

Sp ace

International talent, local dirt For Kato Claeys, a PhD student from Belgium, the allure of Adelaide’s space ecosystem proved irresistible. Claeys moved across

the globe to join the ADAMA mission and

During her two weeks in the lunar habitat, she

wasn't just a researcher; she was a test subject for the future of civil engineering in space.

pursue her research at the ATCSR.

“I was interested in the lived experience, the

“Adelaide is becoming a global magnet

the feel of the gear. Being in the habitat for two

for space innovators,” Claeys says.

After participating in 12 previous analogue missions in Poland and the US, she moved specifically because of Adelaide

University’s focus on Lunar Architecture.

sensory details like the heat, the isolation, and

weeks, you realise that even small things, like the

lack of a 'normal' diet or limited space for exercise, become major psychological factors when

you're trying to do complex engineering work.”

She is now part of the Lunar Architecture Research Group in the ATCSR.

Living in the simulated habitat for the entire

two-week mission was a sensory wake-up call.

Claeys and her three crewmates had to manage an intense schedule of

psychological tests, equipment maintenance, and plant-growth experiments while navigating the weight of isolation.

“We had a fixed schedule from mission control

Adelaide is becoming a global magnet for space innovators.

every day,” Claeys recalls. “You have to maintain the habitat, perform experiments, and manage the psychological weight of being 'off-world' while still in regional South Australia.”

Kato Claeys, ADAMA Mission Commander

21

A sovereign future This research is a critical part of Australia’s

growing sovereign space capability, and close to the Australian Space Agency HQ located

at Lot Fourteen in Adelaide. The CRATER facility at

Roseworthy is also home to the Cloud-based Orbital Robotics Laboratory (COROL), Australia’s first orbital robotics testbed. COROL is already supporting Space Machines Company’s groundbreaking work tracking satellites and space debris.

By pushing the boundaries of human-machine

teaming in the backyard of a regional town, the team at ATCSR is ensuring that when the next astronaut mission includes a Moon landing, the technology

Kato Claeys, ADAMA Mission Commander,

by Taylor Parnham.

will have been Earth-tested at Roseworthy first.

What is an Analogue Astronaut?

Analogue astronauts are the stunt doubles of space exploration.

They live and work in simulated environments on Earth to test how humans and technology cope with the isolation and

stress of a real mission before

we ever leave the atmosphere.

Critical te chnol o gies

AI'S NEXT WAVE

W ha te xp er ts

ar ep red icting by 2028.

23

In the corridors of South Australia’s innovation places, such as Lot Fourteen, the discussion has already moved beyond the AI hype. Experts aren't just aiming for better chatbots; they are developing autonomous agents and sovereign infrastructure that will reshape the global economy by 2028.

T

he rise of

dynamic agents.

Jo Chaturvedi-Durant & Luke Whitbread, LoopSoup founding team members.

Critical te chnol o gies

One of the newest entrants to

What makes these agent systems genuinely

founded by AI scientists and startup

evolve their environment. In the unpredictable

South Australia’s innovation places, investors, is already looking well beyond the current horizon.

LoopSoup founding team members Jo Chaturvedi-Durant, an early-

stage investor, and Luke Whitbread, a PhD candidate and researcher at the Australian Institute for Machine

Learning (AIML) at Adelaide University, are moving beyond static agent

systems to develop what they refer to as a "self-evolving operating

layer" for serious enterprise tasks.

The startup’s very name, based on

a mathematical theory, hints at the

heart of their innovation. The ‘loop’ is

the continuously learning AI, while the ‘soup’ is where the dynamic agents

operate within a continuous cycle of reasoning, acting, and adapting.

"We are building systems that shift from

individual exploration to safe execution," Whitbread explains, unlike conventional

software that follows a fixed, linear script.

dynamic is their ability to rapidly adapt and

real world, things seldom go according to plan.

A dynamic agent considers a failure a new data point; it can re-evaluate, re-plan its approach, and update its environment and tooling to not

only find a solution but also produce increasingly effective solutions that satisfy changing

constraints (e.g., governance, safety, or regulatory requirements), without human help. "It’s meant to advance human intelligence and capability, not replace it,” explains Chaturvedi-Durant.

Whitbread describes this as expanding the "cognitive light cone" of what humans can achieve. By allowing AI to handle gruelling

processes and tasks, humans are freed to explore territories that were previously "inaccessible"

due to time or complexity. This shift supports

research co-authored by Chaturvedi-Durant on the "burden of cumulative knowledge"; the idea that humans are increasingly

bogged down by the sheer volume of existing data they must remember and process just to reach a new frontier of progress.

25

The LoopSoup duo say that the future of work

isn't humans talking to AI, but humans managing unpredictable real world autonomously, unlocking

A leapfrog moment for South Australia

However, developing this autonomy

For Jo Chaturvedi-Durant, South Australia

digital workforces of agents that navigate the

the ability of humans to create greater outcomes. demands a strong focus on "governance", going beyond tracing tools to understand why an agent made a certain decision,

to systems that continuously evolve to ensure changing requirements are adhered to.

By shifting the burden of storing and processing the world’s data to machines, humans are

freed to focus on high-level thinking and new

breakthroughs. Value shifts from simply “knowing” to “directing, judgment, and even taste”,

with humans setting the overarching intent

and guardrails for autonomous agent systems.

serves as an ideal nursery for this

technology. Having experience in Silicon Valley and Singapore, she considers

the agile, interconnected ecosystem at Lot Fourteen a unique advantage.

"We have an opportunity to make

a significant global impact in this fast-

emerging space," she says, likening the state’s potential to a leapfrog moment where emerging markets bypass

a generation of legacy tech to embrace the cutting-edge latest innovation."

Critical te chnol o gies

The agentic enterprise: Salesforce’s global vision As local startups innovate, global leaders

are shifting their entire models to support this dynamic enterprise. Salesforce,

a worldwide corporate brand with SA base

at Lot Fourteen, is bridging the infrastructure gap with its Agentforce 360 platform.

Glenn Rozet, Senior Vice President for Australia and New Zealand at Salesforce, predicts that

by 2028, isolated "bots" developed in silos will seem as outdated as a paper filing system.

Salesforce believes in a future where agents from different departments communicate securely,

managing complex citizen requests seamlessly from start to finish without manual hand-offs.

For Rozet the real worth of government doesn’t lie in the LLM (Large Language Model) itself, but in a trusted, unified data foundation.

By meeting the Australian Government's national security standards for its platform and agents, in particular, the green light to move from

experiments to deploying autonomous agents that handle sensitive workflows securely.

“For public service leaders, the goal is to let Agentforce handle the high-volume

data crunching so your people can focus

on the high-empathy, strategic work that only humans can do,” Rozet says.

Professor Anton van den Hengel, Chief Scientist and founding director at AIML.

Salesforce is giving its public service clients,

27

Bespoke business and our opposable thumbs

Electricity for the digital age

While Salesforce develops the tools,

Ben Colley, General Manager of Stone & Chalk

and founding director at AIML, foresees a

supports emerging technology founders and

Professor Anton van den Hengel, Chief Scientist fundamental shift in the very DNA of business

Adelaide at Lot Fourteen’s Startup Hub

sees AI as the next major, widely adopted

by 2028. He highlights a critical turning point

technology, similar to electrification.

where "code" has become a commodity.

"We are at a point where you can write the code yourself cheaper than you can buy it," Prof van den Hengel explains. He believes the future

belongs to bespoke, AI-generated solutions

“The internet took a long time to spread

because we had to build the infrastructure and lay the cables,” Colley explains.

“But distributing AI effectively costs nothing.

Everyone already has a smartphone.”

rather than one-size-fits-all platforms.

“Whatever business you name, I can probably recreate its software in a week without any technical debt," he notes, implying that by

By 2028, Colley expects to see "solopreneurs" running multimillion-dollar companies with no employees, supported entirely by a fleet of autonomous AI agents.

2028, a company’s ability to develop its own

For Colley, the next two years are about

unique software will be its greatest asset.

orchestration, shifting from managing people

For South Australia, this shift offers a huge

to overseeing systems of agents. He remains

economic opportunity. Prof van den Hengel

advocates that the state generate and export digital tokens (the units of data that LLMs use to process and generate text) rather

firmly optimistic that the energy of youth at Lot Fourteen, combined with the wisdom of

experience, will successfully steer this wave.

In his view, AI is the ultimate tool that

than just electricity. By harnessing local wind

will soon be as essential, and as unseen,

and sunlight to power large data centres,

as the light switch in your office.

South Australia can process global AI data

and export high-value "processed intelligence".

"Shipping tokens is much cheaper than

shipping electrons," he notes, positioning the

Ben Colley, General Manager of Stone & Chalk Adelaide.

state to be a powerhouse of the next wave.

D efe nce

AUSTRALIA’S

DEFENCE

EDGE

29

Meet the company powering next gen military air capability.

W

hen

Lillyan Brown chose to pursue a trade career,

Lillyan Brown, RAAF Base Edinburgh.

D efe nce

After spending 18 months repairing navy vessels in Western Australia, the Perth native jumped

at the chance to travel halfway across Australia to join Boeing Defence Australia (BDA).

bricks and mortar were

Today, Brown is among dozens of trainees

not on her radar.

careers in aircraft maintenance and

As it happens though, fixing radars

and avionics of some of the world’s

and apprentices who are building specialised engineering at the RAAF Base Edinburgh, Edinburgh Defence Precinct.

most sophisticated military aircraft,

“Luckily, I got the opportunity to work as

the 21-year-old feels at home.

it gave me valuable experience and a range

“I always knew I wanted to go into

how much I enjoyed the work,” Brown says.

right here in South Australia, is where

a trade, but I also knew I didn’t

want to follow the typical paths like carpentry or bricklaying,” she says.

a trade assistant on Navy boats in Perth;

of certifications, and that’s when I realised

“When the chance to move into aircraft work came up, it’s where I wanted to be; working

on planes is like a fine art, there’s a lot more

complexity and diversity in the systems you’re working with and I find it far more engaging.”

31

Opened in June, the DMMF will also support

New Zealand Defence Force P 8A aircraft and

complement maintenance, repair and overhaul activity planned for the United States Navy’s

MQ 4C Triton aircraft at RAAF Base Edinburgh, further cementing South Australia’s role as a

strategic defence partner in the Indo-Pacific.

Measuring 240m long, 60m wide and 25m high, the DMMF will accommodate up to four aircraft at any time sustaining up to 180 employees

when fully operational, in addition to around

450 people employed during its construction.

The Boeing 737 variants will arrive at the

adjoining RAAF Base Edinburgh, taxi to a nearby defueling station, before being towed to the DMMF to undergo a significant schedule

of modification programs from late 2026.

But as BDA Director of Sustainment

Operations Naomi Smith emphasises, the DMMF’s impact goes well beyond

the size and scale of the building itself.

Changing the game for Australian Air Force sovereignty

“This is a unique facility, purpose built for the 737 derivatives,” says Smith, who oversees

maintenance for more than 90 Boeing aircraft for Australia’s Department of Defence.

“It is providing us with economies of scale,

Brown’s decision to pursue a career repairing

bringing our workforces together, creating

with an added bonus: becoming part of the

greater capability within Australia, closer

Deep Maintenance and Modification Facility

if there is something of a higher priority.

and maintaining aeroplanes will now come

efficiencies and importantly gives us

inaugural workforce at Australia’s newest military

to the customer, and will allow us to pivot

(DMMF) next to the RAAF Base Edinburgh.

“If we did not have this facility locally

Delivered in partnership by the South Australian

then we are subject to this capability

has been purpose-built to undertake maintenance

Australia means we give ourselves far

and Federal governments, the $200 million facility

going offshore … bringing this work into

and upgrades for Boeing 737 variant military

greater ability to look after ourselves.

planes including RAAF’s advanced P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft and E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control fleets.

“We have a significant upgrade approaching for the P-8A Poseidon which would have been done in the US had we not been able to demonstrate

the sovereign capability we have got in Australia.”

D efe nce

Building SA’s capability Defence SA played a lead role in advocating

for the DMMF’s importance, positioning South

Australia as the preferred location for the facility.

Defence SA’s Chief Executive Matt Opie

said the DMMF is a significant investment in critical Defence infrastructure by the

South Australian Government, second only to the pivotal Techport Australia, now the Osborne Naval Shipyard, in the 2000s.

“Techport Australia shaped South Australia’s standing as the nation’s naval shipbuilding capital, and now this DMMF is establishing the state’s leadership in maintenance, repair and overhaul for the Australian

Defence Force and our allies,” he said.

The DMMF also aligns with strategic objectives

to grow advanced industrial skills, local supply chains, long term sustainment capacity and

support long term, secure defence industry jobs.

Through partnerships with the State

Government’s new Heights Technical

College and Flight One School of Engineering, BDA is expanding qualification pathways for students seeking a career in aircraft

Boeing presently spends $75 million

annually in South Australia across more

than 40 suppliers, and the DMMF will only enhance that support, Smith says.

Among significant work to be undertaken at

the DMMF will be installation of new antennas, sensors and software to the P-8A Poseidon’s

allowing aircrews to better search, detect and

target the world’s most advanced submarines.

engineering, mechanics and avionics.

For Brown, who is completing a Certificate

“We’ve already recruited 53 trainees

a qualified Aircraft Maintenance Engineer

and apprentices well before the facility is up and running,” Smith says.

“The facility is demonstrating that people

can have a long-term career here and what

we’ve found is that it is really important to train locally and to hire locally, because people want to stay where they have grown up.

“It’s also really important for us at Boeing to connect everyone with their why and we’re really committed to being able to

provide long-term futures for our people.”

IV in Aeroskills (Avionics) and will become

(Avionics) when she graduates in 2028, it’s the

complexity and diversity of work that excites her.

“There’s a lot of opportunity, as a trainee, I still feel like a sponge where I’m able to absorb so much new information,

and that’s really exciting to me,” she says.

“Boeing is providing opportunities I would not be able to get elsewhere and increases your

capability as a technician, which is why my aim is to stay with Boeing, absorb as much as I can and learn as many different skills as possible.”

33

South Australia’s defence ecosystem is attracting growing industry investment, with local and international defence companies expanding their local footprints to strengthen future capabilities. Notable projects over the past 18 months include: Babcock

Techport Australia shaped South Australia’s standing as the nation’s naval shipbuilding capital, and now this DMMF is establishing the state’s leadership in maintenance, repair and overhaul for the Australian Defence Force and our allies.

Matt Opie, Defence SA Chief Executive

$38 million

Woodville North

manufacturing facility BAE Systems $25 million

Edinburgh Parks Defence

Precinct facilities upgrade SAAB

$90 million

Mawson Lakes Sovereign Combat Systems Collaboration Centre Kongsberg $25 million

Mawson Lakes

manufacturing facility REDARC

$50 million

Londsdale Defence and Space Hub

Advance d manufacturing , he alth & bioscience

FORGING AHEAD Building Australia’s factory for medical devices.

Professor Karen Reynolds, MDPP Founder & Director.

35

Advance d manufacturing , he alth & bioscience

T

aking an idea and

turning it into a commercial

Market growth The medical devices market is poised for

reality takes more than

substantial growth, driven by growing chronic

a passion and belief in

of treatment options, resulting in rising numbers

what you’re creating.

and acute diseases and a growing awareness of diagnostic and surgical procedures.

In 2025, the global medical devices market

Vision and intent can quickly evaporate

was valued at approximately $801 billion

and clear pathways needed to

2026, expanding to over $1.4 trillion by 2034.

without the support, expertise,

move from concept to market.

And, when it comes to complex, highly regulated sectors such as medical devices, translation of innovation

into impact requires access to the

right infrastructure, regulatory know how and industry partnerships as non-negotiables.

80 per cent of the companies that come through the MDPP go on and get more funding to advance their innovations.

Professor Karen Reynolds, MDPP Founder & Director

and is projected to grow to $846 billion in

37

Medical Device Partnering Program For nearly two decades, Flinders University’s Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) at Tonsley Innovation District has been

a national leader in developing medical

technologies with global market potential.

Led by its founder and director, Professor

Taking the next step Professor Reynolds says Flinders University is

poised to now take the MDPP a step further by

addressing a critical gap in the medtech sector between product validation and clinical trials.

“As many as 80 per cent of the companies that come through the MDPP go on and get more

funding to advance their innovations,” she says.

Karen Reynolds, the MDPP is an ideas incubator

“But many of them come back asking for

validation and prototyping by bringing

for clinical trials and we’ve had to say

that accelerates market research, product

together a network of stakeholders to move concepts closer to commercial reality.

Since 2018, the MDPP, with funding through the South Australian Government, has

assessed more than 1,000 product ideas

our help to manufacture devices required no because we’ve not been able to.

“That’s why we’ve surveyed industry, spoken with experts, and identified the missing capability

and what we can realistically do to address it.”

with more than 130 projects completed.

Clients receive up to 250 hours of professional expertise, with resulting IP retained by the

participant. Clients are also provided with guidance on future R&D pathways

and potential funding opportunities, supporting confidence to progress to clinical trials or further research.

SOME INNOVATIONS

DEVELOPED THROUGH MDPP INCLUDE: NeoMorph

A pioneering over-the-counter

mouthguard designed by dental hygienist

Amanda Trennery, bridging the gap between a

costly dental device and ill-fitting pharmacy brand.

Pulse Tile

A compact pulse-detection device developed to help responders quickly confirm the presence or absence of a pulse during cardiac arrest emergencies.

DeflectaCath

A specially designed catheter created to improve navigation through the male urinary tract and enhance urological care.

Advance d manufacturing , he alth & bioscience

Flinders Factory of the Future Flinders University is working to establish

FORGE, a flagship program within the Flinders

Keeping expertise in SA Professor Reynolds says by bringing

more manufacturing in-house it aims

to prevent companies looking offshore.

Factory of the Future (FFOF). FORGE: MedTech

“We’ve got quite a few partners who have

capability specifically for medical devices.

kind of facility and we have a shortlist of

will provide ‘short run’ manufacturing

FFOF, which welcomed a new facility in 2025, is a

collaborative space for innovative organisations

already indicated that they’re looking for this companies that we think might be interested

to come through in the initial phase,” she says.

and Flinders’ researchers supporting Australia’s

“MDPP is now the longest running medtech-

across areas such as medical tech and defence.

and the benefit is we can draw upon our

sovereign advanced manufacturing sector

It is where new technologies, manufacturing techniques and processes can be tested,

trialled and adapted for small and medium enterprises and large facilities.

“The FORGE program will have manufacturing

capability within Flinders Factory of the Future

specific innovation program in the country,

experience and see where innovations have either fallen over or taken a very long time and be able to apply those insights.”

"The model we’re developing is intended

to be scalable and replicable across other industries that face similar challenges."

where small quantities of products can be

trialled, all underpinned by quality controls and validations needed to take them to clinical trials,” Professor Reynolds says.

“Products within the medtech sector

PROFESSOR

highly regulated sector it can cause

Professor Reynolds holds

seeking to move their ideas forward.

Engineering from the University of

tend to be niche and because it’s a quite a lot of headaches for people “We want to work with our supply

chain, local companies, as part of

this initiative and we see it having an important role in skills development

across the industry but also connecting

with students here at Flinders University.

“For example, we will have engineering

interns be part of the process, supporting the product development and quality assurance processes required for the product.”

REYNOLDS

a Master’s in Biomedical

Oxford and a PhD from the University

of Leicester. She has received multiple engineering and scientific accolades over her career, including

South Australian Scientist of the Year, and appearing four times on Australia’s Top 100 Most Influential Engineers list.

39

MDPP is now the longest running medtechspecific innovation program in the country.

Professor Karen Reynolds, MDPP Founder & Director

Professor Andy Koronios, SmartSat CRC CEO & Managing Director.

Critical te chnol o gies and space

41

FROM

N O I T N E V N I TO IMPACT The game changing technology spotting fires in minutes.

Critical te chnol o gies and space

AI algorithms Researchers from the Lot Fourteen based

SmartSat CRC have developed SmokeScout – an AI-software algorithm forging a new frontier in tracking fires from space.

“The SmokeScout algorithm is very good at

distinguishing smoke from clouds and other objects in a scene,” SmartSat CRC Research Program Manager Dr Andrew Barton said.

“Even a small fire just a few metres wide will

produce a substantial smoke plume, so that is

I

n January, black clouds

rolled over regional Victoria, turning midday into dusk as fires tore through more than 400,000 hectares, destroying hundreds of homes in a matter of days.

In the face of severe and unpredictable catastrophic bushfires, Australian researchers at Lot Fourteen have

developed accurate and early detection

technology which is garnering significant interest from wildfire fighting agencies.

a good signal to look for when tracking bushfires.

“By observing from a satellite in low earth orbit, SmokeScout covers a much wider area than is

possible from the ground, or even from aircraft.”

We are interested in deploying SmokeScout on a constellation of satellites. If it is deployed on constellation with a sufficiently large number of satellites, it could detect fires within just a few minutes of their ignition.

Dr Andrew Barton, SmartSat CRC Research Program Manager

43

Hyperspectral image of a bushfire in Deep Creek National Park. Graph shows spectral signatures of each element identified via onboard AI.

Academic partnership SmokeScout, a partnership between Adelaide University and Swinburne University of

Technology, analyses images from the

satellite’s hyperspectral camera – which

collects light in multiple wavelengths, not just the red, green and blue human eyes detect.

The algorithm has been trained using fire imagery taken by South Australia-owned

satellite Kanyini, developed by SmartSat CRC

and Lot Fourteen companies Inovor Technologies and Myriota, as well as bushfire images

from Loft Orbital’s YAM-6 micro-satellite.

Simulations have shown SmokeScout could increase detection times by as

much as 50 per cent when compared to

typical workflows that rely on downloading imagery for ground-based analysis.

To further validate the technology,

SmokeScout has this year been deployed on its first space mission aboard YAM-6,

which will acquire images over potential fire locations, with results expected imminently.

The YAM-6 project, which Dr Barton says is

one of the first of its type using real-time fire imagery, is a critical step toward proving

advanced algorithms can successfully and

effectively process data on-orbit, enabling lowlatency alerts necessary for bushfire response to be automatically generated in space.

“Having the algorithm running in space onboard the same satellite that images the fires is

important, as most Earth Observation imagery

takes hours or even days to become accessible for interpretation on the ground,” he said.

Detecting fires within minutes of ignition “We are interested in deploying SmokeScout

on a constellation of satellites. If it is deployed on constellation with a sufficiently large

number of satellites, it could detect fires

within just a few minutes of their ignition.”

Dr Barton said the results from the on-orbit

demonstration will be “critical” to demonstrating SmokeScout’s potential to support emergency services and bushfire management sectors.

“We are now looking to secure additional funding to continue developing the SmokeScout system to an operational scale, running continuously on a constellation of satellites,” he said.

“Once this is achieved, we will be

in a strong position to expand the product to users more broadly.”

As a project funded by the Australian

Government through the SmartSat CRC,

the SmokeScout demonstration highlights the collaboration between international space infrastructure providers and sovereign research initiatives.

Critical te chnol o gies and space

As the largest space industry and research investment in Australia’s history, our presence in South Australia has helped this state become a national anchor point for translating space research into real-world capability.

Professor Andy Koronios, SmartSat CRC CEO & Managing Director

SmartSat CRC’s legacy Since launching in 2019, SmartSat CRC has been leading Australian research efforts in Earth

Observation and environmental monitoring.

The CRC’s most notable and widely acclaimed project was the Kanyini mission. As Australia’s first state government funded satellite,

Kanyini was not only a triumph of collaboration and innovation at Lot Fourteen but generated a series of significant research projects.

Building state-based capabilities Other standout projects include CHORUS, a hybrid optical/RF system developed for secure, high-

bandwidth military satellite communications and an advanced ‘Beagle’ waveform designed for

emergency search and rescue communications.

The success of the waveform project has enabled the growth of its lead partner, SA-based startup

company Safety from Space, as well as enabling fellow SA company Fleet Space Technologies to win their first Defence contract of $6.5 million.

45

A new entity In June, SmartSat activities transitioned to

the Australasian Space Innovation Institute

(ASII), which will build on the SmartSat CRC

principles by developing space capabilities and unlocking commercial innovation

through space-for-earth applications.

SmartSat CRC CEO and Managing Director

Professor Andy Koronios said the CRC had driven a “step change” in Australia’s space R&D.

“As the largest space industry and research

investment in Australia’s history, our presence

in South Australia has helped this state become a national anchor point for translating space research into real-world capability,” he said.

“SmartSat CRC has also played a significant role in nurturing the next generation of

space talent and creating pathways that

turn ambitious ideas into tangible impact

for industry and the nation, helping to grow a pipeline of engineers and scientists with

deep technical and commercial awareness.

“Through our PhD internships, undergraduate student projects and the establishment of

our multi-partner space autonomy centre, the Scarlet Laboratory, we are providing

opportunities to young researchers to work

on real problems, not just theoretical ones…. meaning many graduates will choose to stay in South Australia contributing to a

growing, globally competitive workforce.

“The conclusion of SmartSat CRC is not as much an endpoint as a handover.

“This is the point at which we are able to take

the principles that made SmartSat so successful and feed them into the ASII; an enduring,

independent entity focused on translating space research into practical solutions at scale.

“Most importantly, the transition to ASII will

ensure the capability built over the past decade will remain here in South Australia where

it can continue to drive economic growth and global engagement for the state.”

SmartSat CRC Achievements

5

Research derived IP

commercialisation deals

200+

Innovation projects propelling Australia forward

400+

Active researchers solving real-world challenges

11

World class technologies on path to implementation

71

PhD scholarships upskilling future specialists

175

Space industry partners & collaborators – including 60+ space start-ups

Professor Karl Sammut, Director of the Centre for Defence Engineering Research & Training, Flinders University.

D efe nce, critical te chnol o gies and space

DEEP SEA & DEEP SPACE

Our autonomous frontiers.

47

I

n the turbulent, murky

waters of the surf zone and the

The surf zone One such environment, where the stakes are

harsh, light-blasted vacuum of

rarely higher, is the littoral surf zone, the shallow

Earth’s orbit, South Australian

face extreme risks from underwater mines.

waters near shore where naval divers potentially

researchers are teaching

Australia manages a maritime domain

machines the one thing they’ve

these waters is a major national priority.

always lacked: common sense.

While autonomous vehicles have been technically feasible for decades, they were often considered “usefully paranoid”, safe in theory yet unable to navigate the messy unpredictability of the real world. Today, that is changing.

South Australia has become a global living laboratory where artificial intelligence

(AI) is being harnessed to tackle the most

dangerous tasks on the planet, and above it.

From Flinders University’s Tonsley campus to

Adelaide University’s Roseworthy facility, local experts are developing and commercialising technology that enables robots not only to follow code but also to communicate with humans and make split-second

decisions in high-stakes environments.

spanning 53 million km2, and securing

Professor Karl Sammut, Director of the Centre for Defence Engineering Research and Training at

Flinders University, is working with industry giant, Thales Australia, which is leading a $15 million

project to remove humans from this danger zone.

His team has developed an autonomous

Subsea Crawler, a rugged, tracked vehicle

that drives on the seabed, through waves that would toss a lighter vehicle or diver aside.

“The holy grail is for one operator to look after a team of vehicles,” Prof Sammut explains.

“In the underwater domain, communication

is incredibly slow. We need these vehicles to be as trustworthy as possible.

We don't want a situation where an operator has to babysit a single robot; we want

them to oversee an entire team that can 'think'

for themselves when

Professor Karl Sammut & Christian Ceravolo, Research Associate in Maritime Autonomy, Flinders University.

the signal drops out.”

D efe nce, critical te chnol o gies and space

Digital twin

Deep space

This research isn't just theoretical; it's moving

Seven hundred kilometres above Prof Sammut’s

By working with partners such as ineni Realtime,

AI for Space Group at the Australian Institute

rapidly towards real-world application.

the team has developed digital twin interfaces that enable operators to view a 3D simulation

of the robot's activity under the waves in real time, even when the visibility is near zero.

While defence is the primary intended user

for this technology, its commercial potential

ranges from tracking underwater cables and pipelines to inspecting offshore wind farms.

crawlers, Professor Tat-Jun (TJ) Chin and the for Machine Learning at Adelaide University are tackling a different kind of clutter.

Space is increasingly crowded with over 130,000

objects currently, and a single high-speed collision can trigger a catastrophic chain reaction.

Prof Chin’s work focuses on making satellites “sentient,” equipping them with on-board

intelligence to perceive their surroundings and act without waiting for a signal from Earth.

“Traditionally, satellites wait for instructions.

But when you’re dealing with objects moving at

kilometres per second, the round-trip communication time is simply too slow,” Prof Chin says.

His group is a key player in the Space MAITRI mission, a joint Australia-India project

scheduled to launch in late 2026. The mission will demonstrate an autonomous “tow truck” satellite capable of rendezvousing with and repairing other satellites in orbit.

Using AI-driven computer vision, the satellite must dock with a target that may be tumbling or

spinning in the harsh, high-contrast lighting of space, a task Prof Chin describes as “extraordinarily delicate”.

He notes that while major space

agencies can perform docking,

they often do so with billion-dollar

Professor Tat-Jun Chin, AI for Space Group, AIML, Adelaide University.

budgets and hundreds of engineers.

“Our goal is to make these

operations leaner, cheaper, and

quicker through AI … turning it into

a sustainable commercial sector.”

49

Our commonsense hub The work of both professors is integral

As Prof Chin observes, recent global conflicts

and robotic technologies.

define the future battlefield; therefore, it is

to the development of autonomous

Prof Sammut's research is part of the

Trusted Autonomous Systems CRC, Australia’s first Defence Cooperative Research Centre.

have shown that autonomous systems will

vital that the brains of these machines, the

algorithms that protect our ports and satellites, be developed right here in South Australia.

The centre is uniquely equipped to deliver

As AI advances at breakneck speed,

technologies to enable trusted and effective

Adelaide University are proving that autonomy

world-leading autonomous and robotic

cooperation between humans and machines.

The work of Prof Chin and his team is integral to the CADR-RAS (Centre for Advanced

Defence Research in Robotics and Autonomous Systems) ecosystem. Managed by Adelaide University, this $10 million Commonwealthbacked initiative started in 2021 is the

connective tissue of Australia’s autonomous

systems innovation, ensuring breakthroughs from the lab reach real-world industry.

CADR-RAS is a partnership representing 12 universities, more than 90 university

researchers, and 33 research projects.

The Adelaide University team is working closely with the Australian Defence Technologies

Academy (ADTA) at Lot Fourteen, which will

serve as a nation-first launchpad for pioneering defence research, workforce development, and industry collaboration - supporting Australia’s national security and capability priorities.

researchers at Flinders University and

isn't just a buzzword. It is a vital tool for the

future, whether navigating a sandstorm on

the ocean floor or a debris field in deep space.

H e alth & bioscience and critical te chnol o gies

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

51

INSIDE THE HEAD The innovators reshaping brain research and diagnosis.

H e alth & bioscience and critical te chnol o gies

T

he brain is the

body’s most complex

For Flinders University’s Professor Cedric Bardy,

the death of his aunt from brain cancer and his grandmother’s battle with Parkinson’s disease

organ, containing billions

have been key drivers behind his pioneering

of interconnected

brain modelling to tackle neurological disease

neurons that regulate cognition, behaviour

work in stem cell technology and human and its impact on patients and families.

At the heart of this is an innovative “brain in a dish” approach – a biotechnological breakthrough

and bodily functions.

engineering live human brain tissue in a petri dish.

But understanding the causes of

medicines for brain disorders, since a lot of

neurological conditions and how

to treat them remains a challenge.

Taking a sample of someone’s brain to study it is not that simple.

“It’s been historically very difficult to get new research and solutions come from animal models, which often fail to replicate the unique features

of the human brain,” says Prof Bardy, who is also

the Lead Researcher of the Laboratory for Human Neurobiology at the South Australian Health

and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), and

founding director of Brain Organoid Therapeutics.

“We’ve been working on remodelling human brain tissue in a petri dish. We do that by

starting with skin cells and blood cells from

patients and healthy donors. We then convert these cells into stem cells and then push their development into live brain tissue.

“These become brain tissue avatars that we can use to determine what is wrong with the brain cells from the patient and test drugs on the

cells without ever putting the patient at risk.”

Images courtesy of The Laboratory for Human Neurophysiology & Genetics.

Bardy and his SAHMRI team, based at innovation

1. Patient-derived brain cancer cell line showing cell nuclei (blue), membranes (red) and cytoskeleton (green).

innovative technology to focus research efforts

2. Cerebral spinal fluid gives cancer cells a survival advantage, making standard therapeutics less effective.

3. Brain cancer cells exposed to normal conditions grow larger and longer.

4. Midbrain neurons stained: neurons (green), astrocytes (red), nucleus (blue).

5. A culture of cortical neurons.

6. Glioblastoma (brain cancer) cells in cerebral spinal fluid.

place Adelaide Biomed City, are using this

on neurological disorders and degenerative conditions, including dementia in children, Parkinson’s disease, and brain cancer.

53

Groundbreaking discovery The brain-in-a-dish technology has allowed

world-first discoveries. In April, the team identified for the first time that chronic overactivity in the

brain appears to be a fundamental mechanism contributing to cognitive deterioration in

children diagnosed with Sanfilippo syndrome – a rare genetic condition that causes fatal brain damage and childhood dementia.

His team has also run world-first drug testing

trials to identify currently available drugs that can

this drug and toxin screening capability with

Brain Organoid Therapeutics (BOT), providing access to high-quality human brain tissue

models, neural phenotyping, drug screening and machine learning-based analytical capacity for pre-clinical research and translational studies.

Professor Cedric Bardy, Flinders University.

treatments. Bardy is now commercialising

The brain’s own environment makes brain cancer worse.

be repurposed for conditions with no effective

H e alth & bioscience and critical te chnol o gies

Global interest The capability has attracted significant

The study would build on his lab findings from

the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies

patients in South Australia in close collaboration

signing contracts this year to test the

neurotoxicity of drugs under development.

“Millions of dollars are wasted in clinical trials

for drugs that are ultimately toxic. Animal trials are important, but I believe we can provide a better human-relevant alternative that,

until recently, did not exist,” Prof Bardy says.

“We are getting lots of interest from overseas companies to build more complex brain models, such as a brain with a specific

disorder that drugs can then be tested on.”

In the area of brain cancer, Bardy is the

scientific lead for a study seeking clinical trial funding to test novel approaches to treating glioblastoma – one of the most aggressive and deadly forms of brain cancer.

brain tumour samples they collected from with neurosurgeons. The team found that

cancer cells remaining in the brain after tumour

surgical resection can change their identity and become more resistant to standard chemo -

and radio-therapies, and will investigate whether the repurposed drug trifluoperazine (TFP) can reduce their ability to adapt and regrow.

The trial would see whether delivering TFP

directly into the brain during surgery can slow tumour recurrence and whether combining it

with standard treatments improves outcomes.

The goal is to use brain tumour biopsies from

each patient to guide treatment decisions and identify potential drug targets, says Prof Bardy.

“The vision is that we will be able to rapidly

provide an advanced pathology analysis and feed this information back to the oncologist to select better patient-specific treatment.”

Inside MicroX at Tonsley Innovation District.

interest from across the globe, with some of

55

Stroke diagnosis breakthrough

Hospital trials

While Flinders and SAHMRI academics focus

“As part of the hospital trials we will need

Innovation District medtech company

of brain bleeds multiple times to show

to identify each of the five different types

on this groundbreaking research, at Tonsley

the scanner can accurately determine

Micro-X is on the cusp of starting human

the different stroke patients are having,”

trials on a world-first lightweight mobile

Micro-X Chief Operating Officer and

CT scanner to transform stroke diagnoses.

Engineering Manager Anthony Skeats says.

Weighing just 70 kilograms, compared

to a 500kg conventional CT scanner, the

"Stroke patients will receive a conventional

positioned above a curved detector.

the Micro-X Head CT. A neurological

CT scan and then be rescanned using

mobile device uses 21 miniature X-ray tubes

radiologist will determine whether the

Instead of rotating 300 times per minute to

Micro-X technology is of diagnostic quality.”

capture hundreds of images, as a traditional

The company has also partnered with

CT does, Micro-X’s system fires all 21 nanotubes

SA Ambulance under an Australian

in sequence to capture 21 images in seconds.

Government Industry Growth Program, with

The patient trials are scheduled to take

funding from the Australian Stroke Alliance,

place at Royal Melbourne Hospital and

to test a stroke-capable ambulance

Royal Adelaide Hospital this year, with

fitted with an onboard CT scanner.

Micro-X’s first head CT test bench already

The CT device would enable paramedics

installed in Royal Melbourne Hospital.

to produce a brain scan in just eight seconds from any location, then

immediately forward the image to a stroke specialist for assessment.

A goal is to adapt the scanner

to detect other conditions and enable faster diagnosis.

From Australia’s innovation places, a new generation of breakthroughs is changing the course of neurological research by accelerating diagnosis and treatment

MicroX technology.

with the ultimate goal of saving lives.

Agriculture and critical te chnol o gies

Inside the technology helping agriculture stay ahead of climate change.

57

A

lmost as soon as

What usually goes uncelebrated, despite the arid

South Australians can talk,

tons and billions of dollars of high-grade wheat,

they’re taught that ours is the driest state in the driest continent on the planet.

challenge, is that our state still grows millions of barley, lentils and other grains year in and year out, which feeds families around the world.

It sounds counter-intuitive, impossible even, until you discover the constant hum of

agricultural innovation that is concentrated at

the Adelaide University Waite Research Precinct, located only 7km from Adelaide’s CBD.

Agriculture and critical te chnol o gies

This digital high-throughput plant phenotyping is finally giving researchers the insights they need to explore, test and commercialise better crops at a rate that may just allow us to stay ahead of climate change and global population growth.

Dr Trevor Garnett, Field Phenomics Director (APPN).

Dr Trevor Garnett, Australian Plant Phenomics Network

A global leader in AgriTech ‘The Waite’ is one of South Australia’s innovation places and has been at the heart of advancing

the state’s agricultural resilience and productivity since it was bequeathed to Adelaide University for that express purpose – established as the Waite Agriculture Research Institute in 1924.

Dr Trevor Garnett, Field Phenomics Director

for the Australian Plant Phenomics Network (APPN), has worked at The Waite for over

20 years. In that time, he’s seen it transition from a centre of critical plant science into a global leader in AgriTech.

Today, he’s unlocking crop improvements

for a hotter, drier climate where a growing population requires more food be grown in poor soils with less water, fertiliser,

expensive chemicals and financial risk.

59

The biomass bottleneck

Roboticised digital scanning

One of the key challenges plant scientists have

APPN now enables researchers to measure

to solve, is how to investigate a living plant

systems, a purpose-built X-ray CT machine

always faced, and the one Dr Garnett is helping without destroying it. Commensurate with that

is the difficulty of assessing thousands of plants while they are all at the same growth stage.

“Plants grow into structures that are fantastically

their plants with roboticised digital scanning (think 3D hospital scans for plants), ground-

based imaging platforms and Uncrewed Aerial

Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with LiDAR (pulsating

laser light scanners) and hyperspectral sensors.

hard to measure with any accuracy, so just about

"We can fly a UAV over a paddock and calculate

to be destroyed. You’d go and physically cut

Trevor says. "And we can do it week after week

any assessment used to mean the plants had the parts you wanted, bag them, weigh them

fresh, put them in an oven and dry them, and then weigh them again,” Dr Garnett explains.

“That’s a huge amount of effort, just to

the biomass without even touching the plants," if that’s what’s needed, to build up a picture

of how hundreds or even thousands of plants

are responding to their climate, soil conditions and inputs across the entire growing season."

measure a simple parameter like biomass…

“What’s more, once we’ve collected those

those plants would continue to develop.”

with sophisticated analytics, machine learning

and you’re left with no way of seeing how This "biomass bottleneck" often meant

researchers only obtained a single snapshot of data at the end of a season.

digital images, we can combine the data

algorithms and AI tools to analyse a whole range of important indicators and traits.

And we can do it in hours, not weeks or months.”

This digital high-throughput plant phenotyping is finally giving researchers the insights they need to explore, test and commercialise better crops

at a rate that may just allow us to stay ahead of climate change and global population growth.

“We can also use the X-ray CT scanner to

visually assess the wheat heads at the end of the growing season, which gives a 3D image and calculation of the grain number and

weight, allowing us to understand how different plants yield under different scenarios.”

Agriculture and critical te chnol o gies

Inside the Plant Accelerator®

What really makes The Waite special

The next frontier for Dr Garnett’s team is a new

The Waite Research Precinct is more than just

based on a solar-powered dock placed in the field.

powerhouse – the largest concentration

"Drone in a Box" system, where the UAV will be Rather than sending a team out to perform

each research flight, a single operator at The

a single facility. It is a research and innovation of agricultural research and teaching

expertise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Waite will be able to remotely trigger a flight

Many of its facilities provide open access to

charger to await the next flight, then download

Government’s National Collaborative Research

500 km away, land the drone back on its the high-resolution data for processing.

research infrastructure, under the Australian Infrastructure Strategy, to drive innovation.

While APPN’s drones are busy in the skies, some

But what really makes The Waite special is the

inside a purpose-built, 4,000m2 glass-and-

located organisations, centres, and research

of the precinct’s most intricate work takes place steel building called The Plant Accelerator®.

The research facility is dedicated to growing and evaluating plants at digital speeds.

Opened in January 2010, it is built around

the world’s largest conveyor-based plant imaging system called the Smarthouses.

“The Smarthouses are built around their imaging

systems, which take high resolution RGB images but which can capture 650 different wavelength bands using hyperspectral sensors,” Dr Garnett explains.

“But instead of researchers taking the

scanner to each plant, the conveyor system brings the plants to the scanner.”

“Barcode readers track each plant and link

it to the image data – and we can use those

images and spectral signatures to identify signs of disease, drought stress or nutrient deficiency long before they’re visible to the naked eye.”

“It almost goes without saying that the history, size and continually evolving capabilities of The Plant Accelerator® have made it the envy of the plant science world.”

close collaboration between its 15 major co-

groups including CSIRO, the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and the Australian Wine Research Institute.

This collaboration attracts important investors

including industry research peak bodies like the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) which has already invested millions in

infrastructure like APPN’s X-ray CT scanner and

Dr Garnett’s APPN mobile phenotyping platforms.

Those external investments can be seen as a

ringing endorsement of the innovators working

at The Waite – and the way they work together.

And that is the true power of

South Australia’s innovation places.

Driving innovation together South Australia’s Innovation Places Framework connects an ecosystem of 20 innovation districts, business parks and advanced manufacturing precincts under a central vision, governance and policy position.

Across universities, global companies, startups and government, we’re uniting behind this bold framework, driving place-based innovation for long-term economic prosperity.

Now we need you; the doers, thinkers and change-makers, to help make it happen.

Join us as we grow and connect.

Let’s drive South Australia’s innovation forward together.

innovationplaces.sa.gov.au