1990 to 1994

Gold and copper mines in Africa may be the last place you would expect to see equipment manufactured by a privately owned company based in the North Queensland coastal city of Townsville.

Townsville Engineering Industries manufactures steel trommels, which are application-specific rotation screens used to separate materials such as precious metals and quarry rocks by size. Since 2010, the company has exported 23 trommels to Egypt, Tanzania and Zambia, as well as Papua New Guinea.

Between 2004 and 2009, the company received three export grants totalling $69,377 through Austrade's Export Market Development Grants Scheme. These grants were used to help enable staff to travel overseas to negotiate with potential customers, and develop market research.

"This funding has enabled us to expand our export base and knowledge of overseas markets," says Byron Carter, Managing Director.

"We have been able to design and construct trommels, which are lightweight, cost-effective and have a long-wear lifespan, for the hard rock, gold mining and quarry industries."

Townsville Engineering Industries was established in 1968 by the late Tony Rock, a Canadian naval engineer, who arrived in Australia after World War II. In the early days, Rock would travel to jobs in his Volkswagen car armed with an acetylene gas bottle to cut and weld metal.

Today, Townsville Engineering Industries provides a range of engineering services including manufacture of heavy steelwork components, site construction, design, project management, industrial blasting and painting, civil works, specialised welding and heavy machining.

The company employs 45 staff at its facility in Townsville's Bohle Industrial Estate, supplying products to local and international customers in the minerals, mining, marine, sugar and construction industries.

The Australian Government also helped Townsville Engineering Industries expand into the sugar industry in 1991. The company developed a lightweight sugar cane harvester with the assistance of the Discretionary Grants Scheme.

Australian Numerical Controls Automation (ANCA) applies sophisticated engineering techniques to build the grinding and cutting machines that help manufacturers create tools such as drill bits and metal punches.

In 1974, Melbourne-based engineers Pat McCluskey and Pat Boland teamed up to create the company that trades today as ANCA. The business employs 800 staff at manufacturing sites in Australia, Taiwan and Thailand, and operates sales and support branches in Brazil, Belgium, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the UK. It has around 1000 customers worldwide.

In 1989, ANCA entered a major growth phase, which involved constructing a new, more sophisticated machine factory and employing high-level technical staff.

In 1991–92, the company was awarded $205,500 under the Australian Government's Discretionary Grants Scheme to develop Fastload Robot, a technology that increased productivity and reduced labour requirements by automating a range of cutting tasks.

"When we first entered the market, we had a niche selling our products to companies that wanted to resharpen tools," Boland says. "The development of the Fastload Robot enabled us to move up the value chain and begin selling to cutting tool manufacturers."

In 1991, ANCA was also awarded $200,000 under the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Program to develop and design a new computer numerical control tool cutting system. The company also claims annual tax deductions for its research and development activities under the R&D Tax Concession.

"These grants gave us a starting point to develop the innovative machines that we now offer to our customers," Boland says.

Today, ANCA has built a thriving business and exports its products to customers in China, the US and Europe. Around 90 per cent of its revenue is derived from international sales.

"We are now recognised internationally as an innovator and technology leader in our field," Boland says.

Compumedics designs, develops, manufactures, and sells medical devices, software, and systems primarily for diagnosing and monitoring sleep and neurological disorders.

These products enable clinicians to interpret highly complex physiological signals emitted by the human body to assist in diagnosing and treating various sleep and brain disorders.

Since it was established in 1987, Compumedics has grown from two to around 140 staff at offices in Australia, the US and Germany. Today, it earns about $35 million annually from sales of its products worldwide, and in the last 10 years has generated over $300 million in export revenue for Australia.

In the early 1990s, Compumedics' technology was still in its infancy. Company founder, Dr David Burton, wanted to conduct more research and develop new technologies to help clinicians analyse physiological and clinical data to better diagnose up to 85 known sleep disorders.

"The rationale is that better diagnosis leads to better treatment outcomes," says David Lawson, Chief Financial Officer.

In 1992–93, Compumedics was awarded around $240,000 under the Australian Government's Discretionary Grants Scheme. From 1997–2000, Compumedics was awarded over $3.5 million worth of grants under the R&D Start Grant program, which enabled the company to produce its P Series portable sleep systems. These devices allow clinicians to complete a full sleep study on a patient at any location such as a hospital, university clinic or at home.

"This led to our first major contract in the US in 1996 with the Sleep, Heart, Health Study. Subsequent contracts with major US universities gave Compumedics a solid initial presence in the US," says Lawson.

The study, which is still running, is investigating obstructive sleep apnoea and other sleep disorders that may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Around 20,000 patients have been assessed over the past 15 years, providing a significant research data bank for future product innovations.

Another innovation that emerged from the funding was a portable wireless device that feeds sleep-monitoring information to a computer within a 100-metre radius. This makes testing more comfortable for patients, particularly those who suffer regular seizures that need to be continuously recorded to capture vital diagnostic data.

"We also purchased the world-leading, US-based, research-focused neurological system developer Neuroscan Inc in 2002," says Lawson.

"This acquisition enabled us to evolve aspects of our sleep diagnostic technology with Neuroscan® neurodiagnostics technology to create Compumedics' Neuvo® systems, a new generation of world-leading long-term EEG monitoring technology."

This equipment is today used by the London School of Medicine in the UK as well as Stanford University, UCLA and Albert Einstein Institute in the US to conduct research into epilepsy and other neurological disorders.

Compumedics further expanded into ultrasonic blood-flow monitoring of the brain with the purchase of the Germany-based DWL business in 2004. The acquisition complemented Compumedics' existing comprehensive portfolio of intellectual property and patents focused around brain function, which is at the heart of the company's sleep diagnostic capabilities.

For footballers, playing on fields used for cricket has long been a mixed blessing. The pain of being tackled on a rock-hard wicket square can often outweigh the thrill of playing at a prestigious venue.

To reduce injuries and improve the quality of games, many grounds are now using drop-in wickets developed by Tasmanian-based turf business StrathAyr.

Founded in 1969, StrathAyr develops specialised turf for homes and sporting venues, and constructs race tracks and fields that are used for various sporting activities.

"We build our turf systems to minimise jarring and impact injuries, as well as to be fit for purpose," says Bill Casimaty, Founder and Consultant to the StrathAyr Board.

"For example, our drop-in wickets mean footballers do not have to play on fields with wicket squares that can be rock-hard or, in the event of rain, mud baths. Also, horses are less likely to suffer injuries during track work or races."

StrathAyr is named after the property in Tasmania on which the company's original turf farm was situated. In 1972, the company expanded to Victoria with a second turf farm. The 25-employee-strong business also uses its mainland location to conduct most of its research and development (R&D) activities.

In 1990, StrathAyr expanded internationally when the Hong Kong Jockey Club air freighted turf from Melbourne for its tracks.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, the Australian Government provided assistance to StrathAyr to develop new technologies, including a Competitive Grant in 1993 to develop a soil-free combine harvester. Other grants were used to develop a machine to lay sand or sand reinforcement mix to support new turf placement, and create turf that could easily be relocated to avoid the damaging effects of stadium shade.

These innovations have helped StrathAyr complete several prestigious projects in Australia and around the world. These include developing portable cricket wickets for Eden Park in Auckland and ANZ Stadium in Sydney; returfing the main stadium in Delhi following the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in 2010; and constructing a track system for the Moonee Valley Racing Club track in Melbourne as well as the Singapore Racing Club and Darley's Agnes Banks training centre.

Looking to the future, the company plans to build on its R&D focus. "As a business, we are looking to further commercialise around the world with a number of sports turf concepts that we have developed," Casimaty says.