CSIRO Snapshot, issue 12.16

01 Customers

A picture of heliostats.

Sunny side-up: our solar thermal tech makes waves in China

They may look like bathroom mirrors and provide a great background for a selfie, but our solar thermal heliostat mirrors will soon be helping China meet its renewable energy targets. Chinese company Thermal Focus will use our specialist hardware and software to commercialise solar thermal technology in China, with a shared revenue stream funding further research on our end back in Australia. This collaboration will help generate cleaner energy, create cost savings and technology export benefits and lower global greenhouse emissions. Find out more about solar thermal technology (and our happy customers).

02 Research

Image of fly on flower.

Why do insects swarm in summer?

Just like a drunk relative, insects can be perennial spoilers of summer-time barbecues, picnics and birthday parties. While it might seem like they are deliberately trying to bug us, the real reasons for their population boom are much more complex (the insects, that is... maybe try loading your relative up on pavlova). But there are also many benefits to having more insects in your garden and community.

Image of machinery.

The future of Aussie manufacturing?

The manufacturing industry is undergoing a period of significant change as new, disruptive technologies and economic realities take hold and new markets emerge. There is a role for the manufacturing sector in Australia, and we've identified some major growth opportunities for it and described what it needs to do to achieve them. Evolving, not dying.

03 Discoveries

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04 People

Image of gluten free beer.

Cheers to our 2016 CSIRO Award winners

Once a year we like to down tools and take a look back at some of our biggest achievements for a well-earned pat on the back. Now in its 31st year, the CSIRO Awards showcase our teams and individuals whose research has specially benefited Australian industry, science and environment. With over 5,000 staff working on projects that stretch across such an incredibly wide range of science and support roles, it's always a pretty diverse mob who come out on top. And this year was no different (gluten-free beer, anyone?)

JOBS

This sounds fishy...

As an Acoustic and Optical Research Scientist based in Hobart, you will work with cutting edge acoustic and optical technologies for primarily ecosystem characterisation assessments. Technologies include vessel /towed /profiling /autonomous /moored narrow and broadband acoustic and stereo optical technologies. Your work will be used in acoustic and optical technologies for fisheries monitoring and biomass assessment within the fishing industry as well as basin scale ecosystem characterisation.

A growth area

Being a Pasture Agronomist/Physiologist with our Agriculture and Food group in Canberra you will be focussed on the effective reduction of high phosphorus-fertiliser dependence of Australian agriculture without compromising yield. The work will be in the lab, glasshouse and in the field in southern Australia. You will be part of the existing soil-plant-animal systems research community and help develop new collaborative opportunities both within CSIRO and with national and international stakeholders.

05 Participate

Image of meat.

Thawed and re-heated: bite into our top blogs of '16

What do bluebottles, foods that make you fart and fish herpes all have in common? As well as each being a good reason to visit your doctor, they're just some of the topics that made it into our 10 most popular blogs of 2016 - as voted by you, our readers. You'll also find food safety explainers (including meat, milk, and eggs) swooping magpies and Australia's only active volcano among our top earners. And this in a year when we invented a gluten-free beer and a solar air-conditioner, and discovered literally hundreds of new galaxies. But hey, priorities right?

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Fund to supercharge Australian innovations

A $200 million fund to commercialise early stage innovations from CSIRO, universities and other publicly-funded research bodies will help grow Aussie innovations into successful businesses. The CSIRO Innovation Fund will support co-investment in new spin-out and start-up companies, and SMEs engaged in the translation of research generated in the publicly-funded research sector. And we've just announced its new Director: Bill Bartee, a venture capitalist with an impressive track record assisting disruptive, innovative companies grow. Find out how we're kickstarting Aussie innovation.

Watch What is a light year?
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