For the inaugural Tech Tuesday, several companies are launching new technological innovations, developments, and executing deals. This includes global private investment firm The Riverside Company, which acquired a majority stake in Dingo Software, a predictive maintenance solutions provider for the mining industry.
The acquisition is considered a strategic milestone for Dingo as it expedites its focus to revolutionise asset health maintenance and reliability by leveraging big data to deliver value.
Under Riverside’s ownership, Dingo will be able to fast-track investments in artificial intelligence and global sales, while the company operates independently with its current management team.
With the support of Riverside, Dingo will deliver mainstream product lines as well as its AI-powered roadmap, and accelerate the expansion of strategic partnerships and global customer support.
Craig Banks, COO of Dingo, says the company is entering into a new phase where human-in-the–loop intuition and AI work in harmony.
“We’ve already begun deploying AI agents to harness insight from our extensive contextual asset health data,” Banks says.
“With Riverside now onboard, we’re positioned to scale rapidly into more autonomous maintenance decision-making and predictive analytics. Our roadmap is bold, pragmatic, and already in motion.”
Founded in 1991, Dingo is a predictive maintenance partner for mining operators seeking to reduce major component failures, improve equipment reliability, boost production, and lower maintenance costs.
Dingo’s software platform Trakka and support services deliver value to a portfolio of industrial customers operating in some of the world’s most remote environments.
A cheaper alternative
Meanwhile, engineers from RMIT University have produced a new type of 3D-printed titanium that is about a third cheaper than commonly used titanium alloys.
The team used readily available and cheaper alternative materials to replace the increasingly expensive vanadium, which sat at about US$3.95 per pound vanadium pentoxide and US$23.25 per kilogram ferro vanadium, as reported by Vanadium Price.
RMIT reveals its alloy is 29% cheaper to produce than standard titanium.
The latest study outlines a time and cost-saving method to select elements for alloying, to take advantage of emerging 3D-printing technology.
Through the design framework, the metal prints more evenly, avoiding the column-shaped microstructures that lead to uneven mechanical properties in some 3D printed alloys.
RMIT has filed a provisional patent on its approach, which has been outlined in Nature Communications, as the team considers commercial opportunities to develop the new low-cost approach for aerospace and medical device industries.
Ryan Brooke, RMIT’s Centre for Additive Manufacturing PhD candidate and study lead author, says testing of the alloy showed improved strength and performance compared to standard 3D-printed titanium alloys.
“3D printing allows faster, less wasteful and more tailorable production yet we’re still relying on legacy alloys like Ti-6AI-4V that doesn’t allow full capitalisation of this potential,” Brooke says.
“Its like we’ve created an aerospace and are still just driving it around the streets. New types of titanium and other alloys will allow us to really push the boundaries of what’s possible with 3D printing and the framework for designing new alloys outlined in our study is a significant step in that direction.”
Brooke is investigating the next steps of commercialising the technology.
A wave of energy
Carnegie Clean Energy (ASX:CCE) has begun developing a 6 megawatt CETO wave energy array in Europe, amid signing a memorandum of understanding with the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) as the potential site of the project.
This array will include six of the one megawatt commercial scale CETO units, all connected to the grid via BiMEP’s existing offshore cable and grid connection.
Carnegie, which has a market capitalisation of $20.14 million, says the 6 megawatt CETO array project is the next key step in the commercialisation pathway.
The company intends to progress early project development in parallel with the deployment and operation of the ACHIEVE CETO Unit at BiMEP.
Carnegie will begin conducting a range of early project development activities including exploring the commercial CETO array design, grid connection options, funding mechanisms and partnerships necessary for a CETO commercial array.
The MoU will run for five years unless extended by mutual agreement.
BiMEP is an open-sea test infrastructure for wave energy technologies, offshore wind turbines, and auxiliary equipment.
The ACHIEVE program is an initiative being delivered by Carnegie’s subsidiaries CETO Wave Energy Ireland under contract by EuropeWave Buyers Group and Carnegie Technologies Spain.
Asia ascends
Global investment firm KKR has launched a newly established financial advisory platform in Singapore, Ascend Asia Financial Services Group.
In parallel, Ascend Asia has entered into definitive agreements to acquire finexis advisory and its affiliates, marking finexis as the platform’s inaugural member firm.
Ascend Asia is the first platform in Singapore for financial advisory firms, supporting its member firms in scaling sustainably through strategic investment, industry expertise, and technology.
The platform will look to support its member firms’ growth by augmenting their capabilities to serve their clients – including to invest in professional development, enhance technology, strengthen customer relationship management, and uphold regulatory standards – while retaining their individual strengths and culture.
KKR Partner and Head of Southeast Asia Private Equity Prashant Kumar says financial consultants play a critical role in helping consumers understand their options and make informed decisions.
“We look forward to drawing on KKR’s global network, operational expertise, and deep insurance knowledge to support Ascend Asia’s growth and build up Singapore’s financial advisory industry,” Kumar says.
Ascend Asia CEO Tomas Urbanec says the platform aims to strengthen Singapore’s financial advisory ecosystem.
“We believe that access to an open architecture and multiple providers uniquely position our member firms to offer consumers greater choice and flexibility,” Urbanec says.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Dingo Software, RMIT University & Carnegie Clean Energy
