THE official ceremony to open the Australian Grains Genebank in Horsham was punctuated with a piece of engineering ingenuity.
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An artistic arrangement of layered grains stood on the stage, housed in a transparent grain hopper.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh removed a panel from the hopper to release the grain formation and reveal the plaque commemorating the opening of the $6-million centre.
Horsham engineer Ian Antonoff said his creation was the brainchild of Department of Environment and Primary Industries staff.
“They came to us with an idea to hide the plaque inside a grain hopper that’s visible to people,” he said. “It’s on a traditional grain hopper that’s made out of plastic on one side.”
The construction was down to fourth-year apprentice Tom Murray who said it was one of the more technically difficult projects he had attempted.
“It’s good to see it all worked well; you usually don’t get to see your work in action,” he said.
