In episode 24 of @AuManufacturing Conversations with Brent Balinski, we hear from Dr Martin O’Connor, General Manager at QuantX Labs.
The episode was recorded at Land Forces 2022 last week.
O’Connor explains the usefulness of the company’s device in JORN (currently undergoing its $1.2 billion Phase 6 upgrade led by BAE Systems Australia) shares some thoughts on what it takes for successful applied research by universities, and tells us why alternatives to GPS are being developed.
Episode guide
0:30 – Introduction to QuantX Labs and its focus on precision PNT products and quantum sensors.
1:16 – Establishment of company and foundational IP for defence radars.
2:20 – Approach to commercialising science at IPAS. “The incredible power of ideas that are sitting inside of universities all around the world and in Australia.”
4:38 – What is an optical atomic clock? And why QuantX Labs is using lasers instead of microwaves.
6:40 – GPS is three decades old and has created trillions of dollars in value, but it’s also incredibly vulnerable.
8:55 – Beginning work with BAE Systems three years ago on a Sapphire Cryogenic Clock, QuantX’s flagship product, for the Jindalee Operational Radar Network. This recently passed full acceptance testing for inclusion into JORN.
11:05 – Decades in the making, beginning with the company’s founder’s PhD 25 years ago.
11:50 – 10 - 15 devices planned for manufacture over the next four to five years.
