A Message From Bruce Grey

Last month saw the successful launch of Innovativity to our inaugural group of SME’s. The AMCRC team will now be working hard to roll this out around Australia over the months ahead. Also undertaken in June was the PhD symposium where all of the PhD’s involved in AMCRC projects came together for the first time.

What is manufacturing? I believe this question will be asked more frequently due to many future factors influencing the sector. Prior to 2000 manufacturing generally referred solely to the production of goods. Today, manufacturing is about ideas, products, processes and services. This post-industrial global manufacturing system represents a complex and highly integrated value chain. This value chain includes cutting-edge science and technology, innovation, skills, design, systems engineering, supply chain excellence and a wide range of intelligent services, as well as energy-efficient, sustainable and low-carbon manufacturing.
Because of this much broader definition, measuring the economy wide size and influence of manufacturing will be more difficult in the future.

The AMCRC is committed to helping Australian companies access global manufacturing opportunities.

Australian manufacturing has big challenges ahead looking out to 2021. The sector has already undergone significant transformation over the last 10 years but it’s likely to speed up in the next decade. We are looking at a potential transformation of the sector.

The AMCRC has identified the following major trends over the next 10 years for Australian manufacturing: the favourable terms of trade and resultant impact of the strong Australian dollar, globalisation and the rise the BRIC countries and the implications that holds for manufacturers positioning themselves in global supply chains, urgent need for increased productivity, green growth, technological advances, increasing skills requirements, the need to develop better management skills, ageing, the growing interdependency of manufacturing and associated services, new opportunities arising from Australia’s comparative advantages and government regulation. Just how well Australian manufacturers respond to these challenges will determine the shape and size of the sector.

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A successful partnership: ANCA + RMIT

PhD introduction: Thomas Chaffraix

The human body possesses amazing healing powers that enable it to self-heal and repair upon injury; the biological process that allows this to happen is complex, but nonetheless Nature does it beautifully. Unlike this fascinating biological example, materials and machines cannot autonomously repair themselves; often they require a human intervention. But that might change if Thomas Chaffraix’s research into self-repairing materials yields results. The scientific concept of a material that could repeatedly self-repair itself upon damage is not new. The “autonomic healing of composites” was in fact first picked up by researchers a decade ago.  Since, the potential applications of the self-healing concept, particularly in composite materials, has been puzzling and challenging both scientist and the industry. The research in this field is very active.

During environmental aging, composites are often susceptible to damage in the form of microcracks. This is a serious performance issue in the aerospace industry as the propagation of microcracks can significantly compromise the integrity of the material. To address this issue, Thomas’s area of research for his PhD, funded by the AMCRC, focuses on the incorporation of a self-healing polymer into a composite in order to initiate a repair process. The chemical bonding between the resin and the polymer will create a self-healing process caused by strong hydrogen bonding re-arrangements.

Thomas, who began his PhD six months ago, is looking at different self healing polymers including one that he developed himself.

His research, if successful, could be of great benefit to the aerospace and automotive industries, both of which have started using composite materials. Potentially, it means these materials will last longer and produce massive cost savings.

The inaugural PhD Symposium was held at the Mantra Hotel in Melbourne (Southbank) on Wednesday 15 June 2011. Eighteen students had a great opportunity to get to know each other and develop relationships within the AMCRC. After opening remarks from Managing Director, Mr Bruce Grey and Research Manager, Dr Gordon Meijs, and table group introductions, they were treated to an inspirational and entertaining talk by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, AM.

PhD students presented first class talks on their thesis work making the judges task of picking the best presentation difficult. The judges awarded the prize – an autographed copy of Dr Karl’s book – to Adoracion (Dori) Jurado.

Students heard about the structure and objectives and major projects / programs within the CRC and issues such as publication and intellectual property. This was followed by an entertaining collaboration exercise conducted within table groups. Each group presented their findings to the wider audience. The “postgraduate clinic” had interesting presentations from Dr Tim Black (Deakin; AMCRC Program Leader), and Mr Adriano Di Pietro, both of whom related experiences and career opportunities / decisions, arising from their postgraduate study. There was a good discussion on current issues relating to postgraduate study and the group shared some tips with each other.

The day wrapped-up with some networking with refreshments at the Ludlow Formation – a pleasant venue within the Southbank precinct.

Participants commented on the breadth of interesting research being carried out within the Centre and looked forward to a program of short courses and designed following their input.

According to the Australian industry leaders in attendance, last month’s inaugural Innovativity training was a rousing success. In fact, the training received 100% satisfaction scores among the 16 participants from 9 top Australian firms in attendance, including representatives from ANCA, DiUS Computing, MIL-Systems, Procept, Pro-Active Medical, Algae Enterprises, Planet Innovation and Tasweld Engineering.

Over the course of the four-day training, participants were introduced to a practical innovation framework relevant to Australian manufacturers looking to launch their innovations onto the global stage. Attendees saw the value of the course, including Craig Lewis of Planet Innovation, who said, “I am looking forward to implementing the knowledge learnt to improve our Innovation/product development and maximise the value obtained.”

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AMCRC in the media

Vic EPA offers funding for HazWaste solutions

EPA has announced it has funding programs available for Victorian businesses to access to help reduce their environmental impact. The HazWaste Fund (the Fund) is available for companies that generate hazardous waste or remediate contaminated soil, and for research organisations or technology providers that can offer a solution for these wastes.

The current focus for the Fund is for projects that can address; the removal of metals in soils and manufacturing waste, avoiding the generation of the waste in the first instance, and for industry or sector projects to tackle specific waste streams.

The money is for innovations and technologies that eliminate the generation and landfilling of this waste in Victoria.

Derived from landfill levies, the fund started in June 2008 is due to end in June 2012. There is about $10 million remaining in the fund.

To date, more than 60 businesses have been supported through the HazWaste Fund.

Eligible organisations can obtain application forms from the EPA website www.epa.vic.gov.au

Applicants are encouraged to contact EPA Vic to discuss project ideas prior to submitting an application. Phone 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842).

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