Nova Systems and UniSA partner to develop talent pipeline

The University of South Australia (UniSA) has entered into an organisational level agreement with Nova Systems, in what is a first for the Adelaide based consultancy. The agreement will see the two organisations work together over the next five years on research and talent pipelines.

Nova Systems is one of Australia's success stories. A professional services firm, headquartered in South Australia and best known for its work within the defence, aerospace and government sectors. Nova has grown to over 850 employees, across 6 countries and now works in areas such as mining, energy, utilities, communications and more. 

According to Nova Group CEO jim McDowell, “As a 100% Australian owned and operated engineering services and technology solutions company, we are invested in working closely with academia to grow and sustain local smarts to solve complex challenges and keep our world safe and secure.”

This collaboration with the University of South Australia (UniSA) will see the two organisations work together over the next 5 years which “will provide a great opportunity for our students to gain industry experience, for the defence industry to benefit from our world-class defence research, and for our academics to embed themselves in the industry,” according to UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd. 

“By exchanging ideas and sharing best practice, students will gain new ideas about how to convert their learnings into practical solutions to support future capability requirements in the defence, national security and space domains.”

With significant opportunities within space and defence industries, it is easy to see why an agreement like this has come about. The two organisations hope to work closely together providing unique opportunities. 

“This initiative will provide more opportunities for young Australians to gain industry insight, while at the same time studying at university, furthering the Australian Government’s efforts to create and sustain a local workforce of the future,” said McDowell. 

As well as staff and student placements, collaboration in research and development and joint training opportunities, Nova are also exploring short courses that would support developing industrial capabilities. 

“By exchanging ideas and sharing best practice, students will gain new ideas about how to convert their learnings into practical solutions to support future capability requirements in the defence, national security and space domains,” said McDowell. 

According to Lloyd the collaboration will provide world-class research and employment opportunities for students and graduates. He went on to say, “with Nova being one of Australia’s leading engineering services and technology companies and UniSA a leader in the sector for industry engagement, it makes sense for us to work together.”

Nova Systems have taken their business into the Space Industry and are not looking back. In 2020 they signed an agreement with the Australian Space Agency to provide specialist advice in support of turnkey launch, re-entry and ground capabilities. 

The agreement, built on their previous aerospace and defence experience and covered suborbital space launches, range/launch/flight safety officer services, space vehicle reentry and recovery and range activities. 

Nova also owns and operates the IGS-Network site(s) which provide ground segment services to satellite owners and operators. They are also a co-founder of the SmartSat CRC which is a consortium of universities and other research organisations partnered with industry to “develop knowhow and technologies in advanced telecommunications and IoT connectivity, intelligent satellite systems and Earth observation next generation data services,” according to the CRC website.