In Summary

  • Professor Bronwyn Fox recognised as industry leader in composites and manufacturing by Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management
  • Swinburne helped establish the first GCMM in 1990
  • GCMM is a major biennial manufacturing and management conference

Director of the Manufacturing Futures Research Institute, Professor Bronwyn Fox, has been awarded the 2018 GCMM Research Leadership Award at the 14th Global Congress on Manufacturing and Management (GCMM).

The award recognises Professor Fox’s work as an industry leader with more than two decades’ experience in composites and advanced manufacturing.

Professor Fox says she is delighted to be acknowledged for the research she is leading, positioning Swinburne at the forefront of manufacturing.

“It is an enormous honour and I’m thrilled to see manufacturing celebrated in this way. It’s also a great outcome for Swinburne, recognising our strong, university-wide Industry 4.0 strategy, encompassing everything from Industry 4.0 apprenticeships, through to small-medium-enterprise training and research in collaboration with our global partners,” she says.

GCMM Board Secretary Professor Prasad Yarlagadda and GCMM 2018 Conference Chair, Professor John Bell, say Professor Fox’s laudable achievements and exceptional leadership in manufacturing make her a well-deserved winner.

“The GCMM Board and the Organising Committee of GCMM 2018 is pleased to grant Professor Fox this award for her outstanding research innovation in manufacturing,” Professor Bell says.

Swinburne’s history with GCMM

Swinburne was instrumental in launching the first GCMM in 1990, which was initially established as the Pacific Conference on Manufacturing in collaboration with Queensland University of Technology and Lawrence Technological University, Detroit.

“It’s pleasing to see Swinburne recognised for its work in this field given our long history and association with the conference,” Professor Fox says.

“This conference is significant in that it is a truly international forum, with over 30member countries sharing lessons learned in manufacturing.”

The future of manufacturing at Swinburne

Professor Fox leads a number of initiatives and research partnerships through the Manufacturing Futures Research Institute, including:

  • Establishing the world’s first operational Industry 4.0 Testlab for carbon composite manufacturing
  • Collaborating with ARENA 2036, a flexible factory of the future on the University of Stuttgart’s Baden-Wuerttemberg campus
  • Establishing the world’s first graphene certification centre under a new research initiative, The Graphene Supply Chain CRC-P
  • Developing smart composite materials with industry partner Imagine Intelligent Materials using graphene

“The institute is focused really broadly on manufacturing and it doesn’t matter if you’re making a stem cell or a soft drink, the challenges are the same. The opportunity for Australia is to become more involved in the digitalisation of manufacturing processes, placing us at the cutting edge of this incredibly global trend of Industry 4.0,” Professor Fox says.

About GCMM

GCMM is a major biennial international conference for widespread dissemination of knowledge in manufacturing, management, engineering, and technology domains.

GCMM is recognised as an approved conference by Excellence Research Australia (ERA).

With subscriptions from over 30 member countries, GCMM is a non-profit organisation governed by a board comprising academic and industrial members from each country.

Find out how Swinburne is bringing together world-leading expertise in advanced materials, industrial automation and robotics, advanced manufacturing, design and data science.