Briefcase: Business Snippets from around South Australia
In this week’s Briefcase, University of Adelaide students transform study with AI and local farmers benefit from reduced tariffs to ship lentils to India. Plus, the latest business events.
App that transforms study with AI wins prize
Competing against 58 other teams, University of Adelaide students Paul John Collantes Legaspi, Gerald Mendeja and Vlad Popkov took home the University of Adelaide’s Tech eChallenge with their AI-powered app Quixly.
Quixly uses AI to convert lengthy reading materials into accessible learning tools like flash cards, quizzes, and other engaging study guides.
“Experiencing and witnessing educational struggles firsthand, Quixly was born from the aspiration to make academic learning accessible and enjoyable for everyone,” said Legaspi, a Master of Technology Innovation and Leadership student.
The Tech eChallenge is a 12-week course run through ThincLab, the university’s business incubator. The program employs the help of industry experts and leaders who guide students through the process of developing tech-based solutions to real-world problems.
The top three winners will take home a prize pool of $8000 and retain continued access to ThinkLab facilities as they continue their studies.
Iondrive looks at e-waste opportunity
Adelaide-based Iondrive is considering moving into the e-waste “Urban Mining” market, and will test its proprietary platform on recovering valuable metals from printed circuit boards (PCBs).
Previously, the company was primarily focused on recovering critical metals from lithium batteries.
Iondrive said the e-waste market contained an estimated $91 billion in recoverable metals in 2022, with only 22 per cent being recycled.
The company said PCBs were an “ideal feedstock due to high value and compatibility with Iondrive’s tunable DES chemistry”.
Testing will commence later this year at the University of Adelaide, supported by a Green Industries SA grant.
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Major lentil shipment dispatched to India
A $21 million shipment of lentils has been sent to India from South Australia, with local farmers enjoying a newly reduced tariff agreement.
It follows the Australia India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement coming into force in 2022, which has been progressively implemented since. Tariffs on 85 per cent of Australian goods by value exported to India have since been eliminated.
Trade and Investment Minister Joe Szakacs said the state government was “supercharging our efforts to connect South Australian industries with those growth opportunities”.
“Indian consumers want and deserve the best lentils in the world. We grow them here in South Australia, and can play a vital role in India’s food security strategy,” he said.
Entries open for SA Premier’s Food & Beverage Industry Awards
Food and beverage business can now enter the Food South Australia SA Premier’s Food & Beverage Industry Awards.
The initiative has run for more than 25 years, and recognises excellence across the food value chain from paddock to plate.
For more information, head here.
Space Machines company to build Australia’s largest spacecraft facility
Render: Space Machines Company
Adelaide-headquartered Space Machines Company has partnered with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) on the creation of Australia’s largest industrial-scale spacecraft manufacturing facility.
Located in Sydney, the Optiumus Factory will allow for the manufacture of 300 kg-class spacecraft at scale.
“Space Machines Company is one of the few companies globally developing capabilities that ensure freedom of movement in space and the only one headquartered in the Indo-Pacific region,” Space Machines Company CEO Rajat Kulshrestha said.
“This strategic capability positions Australia to make significant contributions to allied space security efforts, particularly with the United States, as countries look for technologies that can quickly safeguard critical space infrastructure.”
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The 3rd Australian Space Cyber Forum: The third Australian Space Cyber Forum comes to the Adelaide Convention Centre on June 23 and June 24, 2025. The 19th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference: AWITC is heading to Adelaide from July 20 to 23, 2025. Held every three years since 1970, this event is a key technical forum for the Australian wine industry. Australia-ASEAN Business Forum 2025: Adelaide is set to host the Australia-ASEAN Business Forum on August 26 and 27, 2025, welcoming over 750 senior delegates, including diplomatic officials, investors, and commercial leaders from the Southeast Asian region. Foresight Community of Practice Gathering: Join the Foresight Community of Practice Gathering at MOD. on June 12, 2025. This event welcomes the new SA Water Visiting Futurist, Vaughn Tan, during his four-week residency. Gala Dinner – South Australian Premier’s Business and Export Awards: The South Australian Business Chamber and the Government of South Australia are hosting the Gala Dinner for the South Australian Premier’s Business and Export Awards at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday, August 29, 2025. |
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Adelaide student selected for NASA internship
SmartSat PHD student Donna Fitzgerald has been selected for a 10-week internship at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
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The prestigious internship will involve working with NASA JPL’s Senior Research Scientist and Technical Group Supervisor, David Schimel. Under his guidance, Fitzgerald will learn to use NASA’s satellite imagery technology to assess vegetation health and identify stress factors that lead to landscape changes.
Becoming familiar with this technology will allow Fitzgerald to analyse Australian vegetation using hyperspectral satellite imagery, which will further her PhD work, which is about using remote sensing technology to quantify eucalyptus forest dieback.
Moomba carbon capture project gets global recognition
Glenn Watt and Seat Pitt in Singapore after Moomba CCS took out the energy prize. Photo: supplied
Moomba’s Carbon Capture Project won an APAC Energy Council award in Singapore this week as the project was recognised as a key driver for carbon abatement.
The start-up, a joint venture between Beach Energy and Santos, has stored more than 800,000 tonnes of CO2 underground, putting Beach Energy on track to achieve its 2030 emissions intensity reduction target of 35 per cent.
The Energy Technology Company of the Year Award category is awarded to a leading company for “recognising ground-breaking innovation or development of technologies that pave the way for a more sustainable and profitable future for the APAC energy industry”, Beach Managing Director and CEO Brett Woods said.
“The successful launch and start-up of Moomba CCS displays irrefutable proof that Australia can provide much-needed energy to drive our economy while at the same time progress towards our decarbonisation targets.”
Motorsport sponsorship extended
Battery World has extended its sponsorship of the bp Adelaide Grand Final for three more years, retaining exclusive rights as its official automotive battery retailer.
The partnership sees Battery World continue as the official naming partner of ‘Battery World Turn 8’, which organisers dubbed one of the fastest and most unforgiving turns in Australian motorsport.
“We’re very proud to extend our partnership with the bp Adelaide Grand Final and to continue supporting one of Australia’s most exciting and iconic sporting events,” said Battery World General Manager Johnny Kennedy.
“Our Adelaide 500 event sponsorship was a massive success… it was a logical decision to align this partnership with our over-arching Official Battery Retailer of Supercars partnership, enabling us to bring motorsports fans together across Australia from February to November each year”.
The bp Adelaide Grand Final will return to the city from November 27, with entertainment including Grammy award-winner Lenny Kravitz headlining its Saturday concert.
Solstice Media set to acquire leading 7am podcast
Solstice Media, the publisher of InDaily, announced this week it has entered into a heads of agreement to buy the daily news podcast, 7am, from Schwartz Media.
The sale comes as 7am celebrates significant year-on-year growth and after again winning Best News and Current Affairs Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards.
Since its launch in 2019, 7am has frequently been Australia’s no. 1 news podcast. It is currently ranked no. 18 across all podcasts in Australia, with more than 900,000 monthly downloads.
Schwartz Media’s chief executive and editor-in-chief, Erik Jensen, said that “in the six years since it was launched, 7am has set the standard for audio journalism, telling stories with depth and sensitivity”.
Solstice Media’s managing director, Paul Hamra, said: “We had been looking to add respected journalism projects to our content mix and audio was a logical next offering for our audience of over 1.5 million readers around Australia.”
Healthcare innovation program opens
The CSIRO’s Innovate to Grow program for small and medium enterprises to turn healthcare ideas into research and development projects are now taking applications.
The program from the national science agency is a free eight-week online course that has helped over 700 businesses since it started in 2020, supporting businesses to identify and refine research and development opportunities, build business cases and navigate funding opportunities.
“Having a great idea is one thing. Turning that idea into a genuine health care solution means matching it to patient and clinical need and understanding the pathway to market,” CSIRO’s Research Director for Human Health, Dr Erica Bremner Kneipp said.
The Innovate to Grow: Healthcare Innovation program is open to small to medium enterprises working in subsectors of the healthcare space, including biomedical devices, medical imaging and genomics, drug discovery, vaccines, advanced cell models, digital health and public health and wellbeing.
