Victorian Funding Establishes Direct Manufacturing Centre
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Swinburne University will be part of an innovative new consortium established by CSIRO and supported by the Victorian government, which is set to make Victorian manufacturing more globally competitive, productive and green - it is the Victorian Direct Manufacturing Centre (DMC).
The Victorian Government has provided a $3 million grant under Victoria's Science Agenda (VSA) Investment Fund for the Centre to support market driven collaborative projects that develop science and technology-based solutions. The DMC will include:
- Ten Victorian manufacturing companies
- Swinburne University of Technology
- Deakin University
- CSIRO
The Victorian Government funding will be matched with 50 per cent cash and 50 per cent in kind contributions by the industry partners, while CSIRO and the
universities will contribute in kind over the two-and-a-half year term of the
Grant.
Dr Mahnaz Jahedi of CSIRO is the Director of DMC.
Prof Syed Masood of the Faculty of Engineering
and Industrial Sciences (FEIS), who leads the Rapid Manufacturing research at
IRIS, represents Swinburne on the Board of Management of DMC.
Prof Masood and Dr Yat Choi Wong (FEIS) are also involved in three of the initial nine research projects sponsored by the participating companies andVictorian Government.
Direct manufacturing is a revolutionary concept where components are manufactured directly from powder, ribbon or wire in a layered manner, by-passing conventional processes such as casting, forging, rolling, cutting, machining, welding, or drilling. It offers dramatic savings in labour, time, materials, energy and other costs, and significant reductions in adverse environmental impacts. It also offers potential to produce parts from difficult-to-fabricate materials such as titanium, tantalum, nickel, cobalt and mixtures of these for advanced applications in aerospace, defence, mining, petroleum, biomedical and automotive industries.
To ensure the Centre is focused on the needs of industry in Victoria, Frontline Australasia Pty Ltd has been appointed as the lead industry partner and Frontline's Chief Executive Officer will be the Chairman of the Centre's Board. Frontline is recognised as an innovative and progressive manufacturer and since last year has been working with CSIRO to commercialise CSIRO Cold Spray Seamless Continuous Titanium Pipe Technology in a project in CSIRO's Light Metals Flagship.
For further information about the Direct Manufacturing Centre, contact Centre Director mahnaz.jahedi@csiro.au