Subscribe to our free @AuManufacturing newsletter here.
Speedpanel, Swinburne University’s Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure and other industry partners have announced an Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre-backed project to develop new materials and processes for building industry products.
Speedpanel is a manufacturer of fire and acoustic-rated wall systems. It is aiming to make next generation, low-carbon panels that respond to construction industry demands around technology and environmental pressures, and will replace the cement cores the panels currently use with a “lightweight, environmentally friendly material”. The new panels will be tested for structural, acoustic and fire-resistance properties.
“New methods of manufacturing, combined with exciting, new, innovative and sustainable materials, are set to enhance our versatile range and further reduce our carbon footprint,” said Peter Bernhardt, Speedpanel’s Innovation & Technology Manager, of the $4,456,350 project. The three-year project has attracted $876,569 in IMCRC support, and also includes Independent Cement Limited, Speedfoam and Redox as participants.
Professor Jay Sanjayan,from Swinburne said, “This project provides a great opportunity for our team to go beyond the laboratories and use our ground-breaking research to develop new materials and technologies that have the potential to revolutionise the construction industry.”
This follows an announcement last week that the IMCRC would support a three-year project to commercialise a novel plasma coating technique developed at Deakin University.
Picture: www.imcrc.org
Subscribe to our free @AuManufacturing newsletter here.