QuantX wins innovation prize at Defence Teaming Centre awards

The developer of high precision timing devices used in major defence projects has taken out a top prize at this year’s Defence Teaming Centre awards.

QuantX general manager Martin O'Connor. Picture: Morgan Sette

The developer of high precision timing devices used in major defence and space projects has taken out the top innovation prize at the Defence Teaming Centre’s (DTC) annual defence industry awards.

Lot Fourteen-based QuantX Labs took out the innovation category at this year’s awards, after last month securing $6.4m in federal funding under the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s emerging and disruptive technologies program.

Spun out of the University of Adelaide’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing, QuantX Labs is working with defence contractor BAE Systems to deploy its flagship product – the Cryoclock – on the $1.2bn upgrade of Australia’s over-the-horizon radar network.

Cryoclock’s signals have a purity that is 100 to 1000 times higher than other devices, allowing the radar network to monitor unidentified sea and air threats with higher clarity.

Other winners at this year’s DTC awards included management consulting firm Para Bellum Solutions in the skilling category, which recognises defence firms that have developed an internal training program designed to address skills shortages in the industry.

Veteran-owned Para Bellum Solutions’ upskilling program offers courses in project and program management, change management and integrated logistics, as well as ICT and cyber security training.

Meanwhile the teaming award – which recognises industry collaboration on a project – went to the ACRE consortium, comprising of Axiom Precision Manufacturing, CruxML, RFTEQ and Ebor Systems.

The four businesses have worked together to develop a lightweight wearable device that enables the operator to manoeuvre safely through highly congested radio frequency environments on the front line.

Defence Teaming Centre chief executive Libby Day said this year’s awards shone a light on the best practice innovation, collaboration and skills development shaping the Australian defence industry at what was arguably the most pivotal period in its history.

“Despite challenging conditions, we continue to see more and more examples of local businesses, from SMEs to primes, that are developing solutions which are not only cutting edge, but that go on to take that next big step in actually being deployed to support military operations both here and abroad,” she said.

QuantX was recently named South Australian Business of the Year at the South Australian Premier’s Business and Export Awards.

The company recently secured two contracts under the federal government’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator program, with one of the projects involving the use of leading-edge quantum technology and machine learning to develop sensors that can detect subtle disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field to identify and track potential threats.

This year’s DTC awards night attracted nearly 700 guests at the Convention Centre, including representatives from the federal Department of Defence, state and federal governments, defence primes and industry.