Short-term, high-impact R&D project opportunities for manufacturing SMEs 

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Alcolizer production site in Balcatta (WA)

Source: Alcolizer

Inviting further applications for IMCRC activate, a funding initiative developed to help Australian SMEs accelerate their recovery from COVID-19 through shorter-term, agile research and development (R&D) collaborations.

Launched in 2020, IMCRC activate supports highly targeted, cost effective and innovative R&D projects in collaboration with IMCRC partner universities and the CSIRO, allowing SMEs to quickly identify and solve key challenges within their businesses through the uptake of emerging technologies and new business models. 

To date, IMCRC has invested $2 million in more than 15 innovative manufacturing and Industry 4.0 related activate projects spanning multiple industry sectors, including medical products, building and construction, clean energy and minerals. Current activate project participants include Biomedbank, Alcolizer, 3D Dental, GTET, HYDAC, SPEE3D and FormFlow. 

One of the first IMCRC activate approved projects, led by Perth-based technology company Alcolizer in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), has focused on developing a medical device called Virulizer. The device will be used at the point of risk as a qualitative detection of the Nucleocapsid and Spike protein antigen to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) from saliva swabs. Virulizer produces results in under 10 minutes and its Levels of Detection (LOD) values outperform all rapid antigen tests currently available.