Gangadhara Prusty, Director of UNSW based Automated Manufacture of Advanced Composites (AMAC) led The Sovereign Manufacturing Automation for Composites Cooperative Research Centre (SoMAC CRC), a consortium of 6 Australian Universities and 29 Industry partners for a successful $70M Australian Government grant (total project value of $260M over 10 years), to advance and transform Australia’s next-generation composite manufacturing industry.

Prof Prusty said, “Composites industry is a $100 billion international market, and this grant will provide support to Australian industries including space, defence, renewable energy and storage, transport and infrastructure with a wide range of initiatives to promote intelligent manufacturing and digital export.”

The SoMAC CRC Centre is expected to add $8.3 billion to the Australian market, create 1500 new skilled jobs, train 100 Higher Degree Researchers and establish new research projects focused on intelligent automation, new-generation digital exports and promoting rapid product development across Australia’s diverse composites industry.

Since its operation at UNSW in 2017, AMAC has established a track record for industry engagement and research performance by doubling industry investment since inception, with multiple commercial developments and pending patents for a wide range of applications from defence to dental composites. The journey from AMAC to SoMAC is an example of dedicated teamwork and successful collaboration.

https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/unsw-secures-70-million-advance-next-gen-materials

 
Please visit https://somaccrc.com for further details.

Industry partners:

3rd Axis Pty Ltd; Advanced Composites Structures Australia Pty Ltd; AFPT GmbH; AML3D Ltd; Beyond Materials Group Pty Ltd; Carbon Revolution Operations Pty Ltd; Colan Products Pty Ltd; Composite Reinforcement Solutions Pty Ltd; Fuze Group Pty Ltd; Gilmour Space Technologies Pty Ltd; GMS Composites Pty Ltd; Gowing Bros Ltd; Heavy Engineering Research Association; Hypersonix Launch Systems Ltd; Innovync Pty Ltd; LaserBond Ltd; Loddon Clean Energy Pty Ltd (ACE EV); MB Manufacturing Pty Ltd (Masterbuilt Pools); Nexport Pty Ltd; Omni Tanker Pty Ltd; Pacific Engineering Systems International Pty Ltd; Plastral Pty Ltd; Quickstep Holdings Ltd; Reclaim PV Recycling Pty Ltd; Rux Energy Pty Ltd; Solar Sailor Engineering and Distribution Pty Ltd (Ocius); VHM Solutions Pty Ltd.

Research Partners: 

ANSTO, Deakin University, RMIT University, UNSW, The University of Queensland, University of Sydney, The University of Western Australia