UniSA Precision Engineering Centre to open on Wednesday

The Precision Engineering Centre, a $10 million research hub at University of South Australia dedicated to fabricating optics devices, will hold an official opening on Wednesday.

According to a statement from UniSA, the centre at its Mawson Lakes campus is unique in the Southern Hemisphere, and “will transform a range of industries”, including medical technology, mining, space, and clean energy.

It includes lab-on-a-chip production machinery, micro and nano-machining equipment, advanced sensing and state-of-the-art precision optics expertise.

The facility is the result of a decade-long relationship between the SA Node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF-SA) and the Research Engineering (RE) team at the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG.)

“The collaboration extends well beyond any physical infrastructure. It encompasses top-tier technical expertise and the cultivation of emerging talent, with a mutual desire to be trailblazers,” said UniSA Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research and Enterprise, Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington.

Recent projects have included the largest diamond-turned mirror in Australia, “made with a multi-axis, ultra-precision machining system” as well as “some of the tiniest sensors which are helping to secure the future of South Australia’s advanced manufacturing sector.”

Picture: Michael Harding, DSTG Optics Capability Leader, in the new centre (credit UniSA)