Industrial fabric company leads new mystery material project

GALE Pacific, Deakin University and the Innovative Manufacturing CRC have announced an eight-month project to “develop a lightweight, flexible and formable fabric” with predicted usefulness across a variety of sectors.

The ASX-listed company, which makes shadecloth and leisure products under the Coolaroo brand and industrial products under its Commercial Fabrics division, was awarded a $70,000 grant under IMCRC’s activate program.

The collaborative project will make use of Deakin’s Carbon Nexus research facility at Waurn Ponds, to develop an unspecified “novel fabric with unique form and function” through a project budgeted at $425,000.

GALE’s global manager of R&D Andrew Nasarczyk gave little away in a statement released by the IMCRC on Wednesday, other than the company was excited to be working with university partners with “unique capabilities to develop new to world technologies which provide the potential to disrupt markets”.

Professor Russell Varley of Deakin said: “We’re pleased to be partnering with GALE to pioneer the development of this technical fabric solution.”

And the IMCRC’s Dr Matthew Young added that R&D and manufacturing went hand in hand.

“The project between GALE and Deakin University is a great example of a local manufacturer harnessing Australia’s research capability to increase its product range and applications,” said Young.

According to its website, GALE employs over 600 around the world, with production of specialty coated range at Melbourne, knitted and woven products mainly at Ningbo, China, and other custom awnings in the US.

Picture: www.imcrc.org/gale-pacific

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