NSW Smart Sensing Network Co-Director Professor Benjamin Eggleton has warned Australia is entering a more unstable and technologically competitive era, where smart sensing technologies, photonics, semiconductors and AI are becoming critical to national security, sovereign capability and future economic resilience.

Former Chief Scientist of Australia, Dr Cathy Foley, urged Australia’s sensing and semiconductor sectors to become more collaborative, commercial and ambitious at the Sensing meets Semiconductors Workshop at Macquarie University last week.

The NSSN is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Jill Freyne, current Deputy Chair of the NSSN and Healthcare Industry Lead at Amazon Web Services ANZ, as its new Board Chair effective 3 July 2026, succeeding outgoing Chair Jo White.

From remote healthcare and regenerative medicine to AI-enabled monitoring, researchers at the NSSN Women in Sensing Forum at UTS Startups last week delivered a shared message: innovation only succeeds when it is practical, inclusive and designed for real-world needs.

Maternity care must move beyond a century-old model and embrace technology designed around the realities of women’s lives, the CEO & Managing Director of digital women’s health company HeraMED has told the NSSN’s Sensing Industry Connect event.

An NSSN Grand Challenge Fund project involving researchers from Macquarie and UNSW has demonstrated a viable pathway to a sustainable alternative to disposable batteries in sensors through a breakthrough in the manufacturing of perovskite photovoltaic cells.

In this Thought Piece, Nanotechnologist at Macquarie University and NSSN Ambassador, Professor Noushin Nasiri, and Founder of agritech/biotech company Agscent, Dr Bronwyn Darlington, describe how real-world feedback is essential to move innovations up the TRL ladder and into everyday use on the farm.

Dr David Nguyen develops nanomaterial technologies which help industry reduce material use, improve recycling, and lower environmental and health impacts. His work delivers practical, scalable solutions - from advanced coatings to microplastic removal - which translate research into real-world outcomes.

A study by University of Wollongong physicist and NSSN Ambassador Dr Enbang Li shows how optical technology can detect tiny gravity changes, with potential applications in environmental monitoring and navigation.

Dr Jerry Zhou from Western Sydney University has won the 2026 Challenger Pitch for Health with Ins&Outs, a portable device enabling at-home bowel physiotherapy. First shared at a NSW Smart Sensing Network meeting 2019, the innovation has evolved from early sketches to commercialisation and is now approved as a TGA Class I medical device.

A globally recognised AI leader in human-centred data science, a pioneering biomedical engineer advancing regenerative medicine, and an internationally recognised expert in telehealth and virtual models of cardiovascular care will headline the next NSSN Women in Sensing Forum at UTS on 12 May.

A workshop at Macquarie University in May will bring together leaders from sensing and semiconductors to strengthen collaboration and accelerate the translation of Australian innovation into real-world impact.