Advanced material projects for defence awarded $1.6 million

Five public/private groups have been awarded a total of $1.6 million for advanced materials projects from the Next Generation Technologies Fund.

Fourteen groups applied through a joint Australia-UK program aimed at developing “innovative technologies to speed up advanced materials integration” for military use.

According to defence industry minister Melissa Price, the joint projects demonstrated close practical and technical cooperation between defence industry and universities across Australia and the UK.

“Joint research such as this not only strengthens our bilateral defence relationship but provides support and opportunities to each country’s respective defence industries to overcome the capability challenges we face,” she said in a statement.

The projects are funded by the Next Generation Technologies Fund under the Small Business Innovation Research for Defence (SBIRD) initiative.

The five successful teams were:

Western Sydney University, Imperial College London, Metrologi Pty Ltd, UNSW and Airbus Australia Pacific, awarded $348,204 to research the use of nanotechnology in more durable bonded joints;

Qinetiq Australia Pty Ltd and RMIT, awarded $349,317 to develop a modelling framework supporting the use of Multi-functional Shape Memory Alloy Tufted Composite Joints (MuST) technology;
University of New South Wales, Imperial College London, Advanced Composite Structures Australia Pty Ltd, awarded $349,946 to research the use of advanced materials in more effective armour;
RMIT University and BAE Systems Pty Ltd, awarded $330,500 to develop more effective metal-to-composite hybrid joints through the use of advanced materials; and
University of Adelaide, Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL – France) and Materials Science Institute, awarded $209,510 to develop improved means of examining areas where adhesives have been used in aging military platforms.

Picture: dst.defence.gov.au

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