New Independent Economic Impact Analysis of AMAC Centre
This analysis has highlighted some remarkable contributions to the Australian Transportation, Defence, Health and Infrastructure sectors with far-reaching effects on job creation, industry innovation, and community development. Key Takeaways of the AMAC Centre are:
• Created 61 funded projects with 52 collaborations/partnerships
• 23 PhDs graduated and many more are in the process
• Published 109 Q1 journals and 35 international conference papers
• 3 spin-off companies and 3 patents
• Enabled ACM CRC, a $250 M project for the next 10 years
Visit to AMAC
It was a privilege to host Hon. Andrew Bayly, New Zealand's Federal Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing, and Minister of Statistics, alongside Will McKenzie, Political Advisor, and Paul Stocks, Departmental Secretary, Building Systems and Performance, MBIE, at Automated Manufacture of Advanced Composites (AMAC) during their visit to UNSW on March 27, 2024.
CRA’s Industry-Research Collaboration Innovation Award to Prof. Gangadhara Prusty
Prof. Gangadhara Prusty, Director, AMAC has been recognised with the Enduring Industry-Research Collaboration Innovation Award from Cooperative Research Australia during the CRA Awards for Excellence in Innovation in July 2023 in Adelaide.This award is a prestigious recognition bestowed upon collaborative efforts between industry and academia that have resulted in groundbreaking advancements, technological innovations, and significant contributions to scientific knowledge. This award celebrates successful partnerships that bridge the gap between theoretical research and real-world applications, fostering a symbiotic relationship between the academic community and industries. By honouring these exceptional collaborations, the award not only promotes the spirit of innovation but also encourages further synergies between academia and industry to address complex challenges and drive societal progress.
The projects were supported by SDI Limited, the Australian Research Council, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, UNSW and USYD.
Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing visits AMAC Centre
AMAC Centre welcomed a visit by the Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing, Senator Tim Ayres on 16-Dec-2022, to meet the AMAC research team and learn firsthand about their ground-breaking research work. The visit was an opportunity to showcase the AMAC Centre infrastructure where research findings are translated into industry solutions. Senator Ayres was accompanied by UNSW’s key figures Prof. Nicholas Fisk, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Prof. Rebecca Ivers, Head of the School of Population Health and Prof. Ian Gibson, Faculty of Engineering Deputy Dean (Industry and Innovation). AMAC Centre Director Prof. Gangadhara Prusty led the lab tour showcasing the infrastructure and research team. Prof. Prusty also gave a snapshot of the new established SoMAC CRC’s impact on the research, education, innovation and jobs in the Australian economy during the next 10 years.UNSW Engineering, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, UNSW.
AMAC welcomes Federal Minister for Education, Hon Jason Clare
Australian Federal Education Minister Hon Jason Clare MP, along with UNSW Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Attila Brungs visited the AMAC Centre on 15 July 2022. The Centre Director, Professor Gangadhara Prusty led the tour of AMAC explaining the capabilities in manufacturing and testing of advanced composites used in aerospace, naval, civil, automobile, biomedical, transportation, and energy storage sectors.Prof. Attila Brungs explained the impact from one of the AMAC projects on Dental Composites via CRC-P funding from the Department of Industries. The project made significant contributions to upskilling the existing workforce and creating new jobs in the manufacturing sector.
Prof. Gangadhara Prusty gave a brief snapshot of the recently successful $250M SoMAC CRC (https://somaccrc.com/) involving the multilevel collaboration of industries and universities working together.
$260M CRC Centre – SoMAC
Development of next generation composites for future 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.Hosting NSW Chief Scientist at AMAC
AMAC was delighted to host NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer (Prof. Hugh Durrant-Whyte) along with the key personnel from Western Parkland City Authority (WPCA) and Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility (AMRF) on 02-Nov-2021. The delegation was hosted by the Centre Director Prof. Ganga Prusty and was welcomed by the Head of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Prof. Chun Wang, who briefly introduced the School’s capabilities.The NSW Government is active in planning the WPCA/AMRF, particularly about the inclusion of advanced composites manufacturing at the planned Bradfield “Aerotropolis” precinct. During the visit, Prof. Ganga Prusty presented AMAC's capabilities and demonstrated AMAC’s robotic automation lab facilities, and extensive testing infrastructure and profiled the broad diversity of AMAC’s composites-related industry-driven innovation. Of particular note, AMAC has evolved its methods to “best practice” in the vocational up-skilling of students and its project governance methods. Through industry demand, AMAC has doubled its original scale and managed a team of 40 researchers, including PhD, HDR, post-docs and visiting fellows.