Our Nodes
Manufacturing
We investigate how manufacturers work with materials—including composites, natural fibres, recyclable polymers and metals—to produce stronger structures that are light-weight, produced rapidly and economically, and energy-efficient at all stages of the life cycle. The European Union’s fuel efficiency requirements are driving the automotive industry to produce light-weight vehicles. The life-cycle studies that we are undertaking will help to inform the materials that should be used to achieve these outcomes.
Our research is supported by diverse funding streams, including from the Australian Research Council, Cooperative Research Centres and industry. We are also collaborating with industry partners, including Ford Motor Company and Boeing, to ensure that their structures are lighter, stronger and more energy efficient. For example, Boeing is seeking to make carbon composites for their aircraft as quickly as possible, while achieving very high quality standards. Our students have opportunities to engage with industry partners during research training activities.
The Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) is at the forefront of innovation in materials design and engineering research. We are focused on two broad themes: redesigning materials for a circular economy; imparting materials with extraordinary functionality.
Advanced Manufacturing Precinct
The aerospace and automotive sectors are increasingly being driven to improve their environmental sustainability, efficiency and quality of parts from their design to manufacture while reducing their cost of manufacture. Additive manufacturing offers new opportunities to create highly complex and customised 3D structures and components which can meet these challenges.
Our research in this area is focused on new bio-inspired structures, topology optimisation, materials and manufacturing methods using both metal and polymer-based additive technologies.