Timely announcement

Finishing the year on a high, Deakin University has been part of a successful proposal for the establishment of a $4 million ARC Industry Transformation Research Hub (ITRH) for transforming Australia’s Manufacturing Industry through High Value Additive Manufacturing.

Professor Peter Hodgson Director of the Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) will lead Deakin’s contribution to the Additive Manufacturing ITRH over the next six years, alongside ITRH Director, Professor Xinhua Wu of Monash University.

The Hub will undertake world class, globally linked and industry focussed research that will drive the uptake of metal alloy based additive manufacturing, including three-dimensional printing, in Australia. The research will investigate the effects of non-equilibrium solidification, process optimisation to achieve high quality, consistency and repeatability, and new user-friendly design tools to realise the benefit of free-form manufacturing with an eye to immediate impact for industry.

Deakin’s role, in particular, will be focussed around modelling, alloy development and the demonstration of future technologies to different industry sectors.

“This announcement is timely, given the current difficulties facing local manufacturing and will provide the mechanisms to establish new industry sectors,” said Professor Hodgson, Director of IFM.

“With key international partner organisations, such as Safran-Microtubo SAS, and local SMEs this research will play a significant role in showcasing the potential for new manufacturing processes that will enable manufacturers to transition into new industries sectors such as aerospace.”