History
Please check back regularly while we capture over 60 years of engineering history, spanning 2 continents.
1956
Technical School
Marco (founder of Marco Engineering) commences technical school in north-eastern Italy.
In order to attend class, Marco rode his pushbike 28km per day through a beautiful but treacherous ravine. The change in elevation is 300m.
1959
Switzerland
Marco moved to Switzerland for 3 years and worked in the toolroom at the Berne Motorwagen Fabrique. In this role, Marco manufactured jigs and tooling (including HSS reamers) for production.
1959
1962
Australia
Marco looks to travel abroad, and hears about job opportunities in Australia. He arrives in Melbourne in 1962 in the midst of a recession.
After 3 months, Marco moves to Canberra to take a position at the Research School of Physics (Australian National University) during the building of the homopolar generator. This period (under the guidance of Sir Mark Oliphant) was developmental, but Marco always wanted to have his own business.
1965
Marco Engineering
In 1965 (while still employed at ANU), Marco established Marco Engineering Pty Ltd, Canberra’s oldest engineering company. Early work included welding handrails for commercial and residential buildings in the Canberra region.
By 1966, Marco had left the ANU to focus on business activities. However, business was still reliant on opportunities at ANU and CSIRO.
1965
1970
Prince Philip Award
Marco Engineering manufactured a 108 position sample loader for a Canberra firm.
The system provided fully automated analysis of lunar samples returned during the Apollo missions, and was matched to a Philips PW1212 X-ray spectrometer.
The project would be awarded a Prince Philip award for innovation.
1990
A Change in Direction
With the advent of a recession in the early 1990’s and cost cutting at many core R&D customers, Marco developed a range of height adjustable office furniture to meet new OH&S regulations in government departments.
Marketed and sold under the Ergotrend Systems trademark, ergonomic office furniture provided stable revenue for 25 years.
1990
1998
University
Robert (Marco’s son) commences a bachelor’s degree in mechatronics at the University of Sydney.
2002
Launch of FedSat
Marco Engineering was involved in manufacturing mechanical components for Australia’s Federation Satellite (FedSat) between 1999 and 2001.
The 58kg micro-satellite was integrated at Auspace Limited in Canberra, and successfully launched in 2002 (image courtesy of University of South Australia).
2002
2003
Canberra Bushfires
In January 2003, large parts of Canberra and surrounding regions were decimated by bushfires. This included the Mount Stromlo Observatory, where most buildings, telescopes and instruments were destroyed.
Auspace Limited was awarded a contract to rebuild one of the instruments destroyed in the fires, and Robert was offered a position in the assembly, integration and test (AIT) team.
