SPEE3D at the cutting edge of global advanced manufacturing

Despite the best efforts of a Darwin innovator, advanced manufacturing remains elusive in the Territory. Read what’s not being made.

CTO of Speed3D Steven Camilleri at Charles Darwin University. Pic Glenn Campbell

Governments from across the globe have responded to a visionary plan out of Darwin that, if implemented, would pivot the Australian economy towards advanced manufacturing.

Former Darwin High School student Steven Camilleri said the response to the Blueprint to Reinvigorate the Australian Economy document he released in March had reinforced his belief the plan could succeed.

The only catch was the governments that have so far expressed interest have been in the northern hemisphere, with little enthusiasm from Canberra so far to pick up on some of the plan’s main threads.

Mr Camilleri said the blueprint was a “call to arms” for future politicians and industry leaders to look beyond resources and exports and focus also on local manufacturing.

Steven Camilleri from Speed3D. Photo: Raj Singh Photography

In November 2023, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised SPEE3D when he visited its Charles Darwin University workshop, saying it was a “great example” of Australian innovation that would lead to Australian jobs and Australian wealth.

But the Australian government has not adopted any of the measures contained in the blueprint so far, although Mr Camilleri hopes interest internationally and development in the NT might spark a similar response at home.

Mr Camilleri and his business partner Byron Kennedy developed SPEE3D’s cold spray metal printing innovation technology to manufacture products such as wrenches, vehicle exhausts and propellers in minutes, compared to the weeks or months it would take using conventional manufacturing.

In 2023 the Ukrainian Armed Forces deployed 10 WarpSPEE3D cold-spray additive printers to produce parts to repair armoured platforms and ageing military equipment.

Governments in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and the Middle East have accessed the technology but despite support from Solomon MP Luke Gosling, Speed3D has not yet been engaged federally.

Invented in the Northern Territory, SPEE3D co-founders Steven Camilleri and Byron Kennedy developed a patented Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing Supersonic 3D Deposition technology, which is now being used by the Ukrainian Army against Putin's Russia.

Mr Camilleri said pioneering businessman and former BHP boss Essington Lewis, who had links to the Territory and a school named in his honour, should serve as inspiration for innovation and industrial output.

Among his many achievements, during his time as Director General of the Federal Department of Munitions during WWII, Mr Lewis controlled production of ordnance, explosives, ammunition, small arms, aircraft and vehicles on behalf of the Australian Government.

“The technology we’ve developed makes sophisticated metal parts out of high quality materials, and it lets us do that with a small footprint very quickly,” Mr Camilleri said.

“Australia is really good at developing technology, the challenge then is consuming what we develop. We’re getting a huge engagement from overseas governments who want to be the first to really get into this next level of manufacturing, but we also want development here.”

The small scale of the SPEE3D’s manufacturing give militaries across the world the option of manufacturing their own replacement parts or equipment.

Australian industrialist Essington Lewis. Pic: Supplied/Athol Shmith

“The two world wars taught us how logistics needed to work in a defence context and that the people who had the best supply lines won,” Mr Camilleri said.

“Traditionally, militaries have always manufactured in the field - the Romans used nails as a military technology and later there were muskets.

“There’s all sorts of things that militaries have made through history, but due to complexity over the past 100 years it’s meant militaries haven’t been able to do it. We’re bringing that time back.”

Even if the clamour from overseas isn’t matched in Australia, Mr Camilleri is confident SPEE3D technology can be applied in Darwin and the Territory more broadly.

“It means workforce isn’t the issue here, it’s the technology that is the advantage,” he said.

“If you’ve got the ability to produce a wide variety of parts here in Darwin, Defence is going to benefit from that, and so will all of our industries.

“SPEE3D doesn’t have any international or local competitors right now.

“Australian technology is the one that’s dominating this space, and we don’t seem to value it much here while other countries do. If we can prove we scale it up here in Darwin, then I believe we can get people to take notice.”

Originally published as SPEE3D at the cutting edge of global advanced manufacturing