News

The Advanced Composites Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (ACM CRC) Partner Meeting, held on November 25-26, 2024, showcased the consortium’s growing impact, with 30 approved research projects, 31 partners across industry, research, and government, and significant support for emerging talent through 10 HDR student bursaries, 22 industry HDR scholarships, and three RISE Fellowships. The event also highlighted the group’s eagerness to expand its project portfolio and drive global innovation in advanced composites

ACM CRC Partners, Quickstep and RMIT University , have teamed up to develop and demonstrate an optimised sovereign Uncrewed Aircraft System airframe design, with the knowledge and technology developed to be readily transferrable to other partners within the sovereign composites manufacturing domain. Aircraft design today is bounded by traditional material manufacturing limitations, leading to cost overruns. Often with new technologies, such as complex airframe design with new materials, the basic manufacture processes are defined with little detail. Quickstep is looking to build on its innovative AeroQure technology to design and build a highly modular composite Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) airframe for the rapidly expanding drone delivery market, which is thought to be worth $US54 billion by 2030 . This ACM CRC project is combining advanced composite manufacturing and simulation-based design and optimisation to deliver a multi-physics simulation tool, aerodynamic and structural testing, and full-scale flight demonstration, to verify the development of a cost-effective and cutting-edge airframe design. “Aircraft design methodology has remained relatively unchanged for many years. While there is a plethora of UAS designs in our skies today, almost all are designed for a specific mission,” said Luke Preston, Head of Technology and Partnerships at Quickstep. “The Quickstep UAS meets the requirements of a multi-mission capability by having modular aerostructure and payload configurations. It leverages a toolless, automated interface whereby a variety of payloads to suit a different missions can be identified, captured, and carried without tedious human intervention. The UAS will serve diverse use cases including bushfire fighting, tactical resupply, middle-mile logistics, and more,“ he added. The project is helping tackle key challenges in composite materials manufacturing, with a focus on intelligent manufacturing, automation, affordability, and performance. It supports the upskilling necessary for critical technology implementation and know-how, while also building analysis tools for the digital value chain. And it demonstrates design integration by enhancing design processes for digital manufacturing and technology validation of certification-ready designs of UAS composite airframes through flight testing. “This will build upon the expertise of RMIT University in composite aerostructures, aircraft and UAS design and development, composite materials and structures testing and characterisation, multi-physics simulation, and advanced analytic tools,” said Pier Marzocca, Director of the Sir Lawrence Wackett Aerospace Research Centre at RMIT University. It is also expected the multi-role capability, combined with the design for automated and advanced manufacturing techniques, will enable Quickstep to bring utilitarian sovereign UAS capability to the global market. “The outputs of the research, such as cost-competitive composite materials, advanced manufacturing techniques, and multi-physics simulation capabilities, will be used to enhance the design, manufacturing, and performance optimisation of highly modular sovereign UAS,” said Dr Steve Gower, ACM CRC CEO. “These outputs will also contribute to advancing Australian manufacturing capabilities, fostering innovation, and competing globally in the dynamic aviation technology landscape. The benefits from these outputs will reach end-users through technology transfer, licensing agreements, or direct implementation of the developed technologies in commercial UAS production,” he added. For more information or to express your interest in project participation, please reach out to us .

Sachi is pursuing her doctorate in designing and investigating a durable self-healing epoxy coating, at Deakin University.

A new ACM CRC project is addressing a critical unmet need in Australia’s industry, namely, the sustainable recycling of Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites.

A new ACM CRC project is set to develop a cutting-edge, high efficiency laser cladding system, advancing the next generation of fully automated laser cladding technology. This system will be used to design and create multi-functional metal matrix composite (MMC) coatings, with applications in a wide range of industries including marine, mining, defence, and more.

Dr Yaning Wei is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney, where she is also a member of the Smart Materials and Sustainable Structures (SMS2) group.

Josh is an MPhil student at UNSW, and a Mechanical Engineer with experience in the maritime and composites industry.

Mustafa Siddiqui is a PhD student at UNSW, specialising in the development of advanced Digital Twin models for optimising manufacturing processes, particularly for Omni Tankers Manufacturing Plant.

Mohammed is a PhD candidate in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney).

Dr Vladislav (‘Vlad’) Yakubov is an additive manufacturing postdoctoral research associate at ACM CRC research partner, The University of Sydney

Our PhDs are playing a significant role within our program, and in the broader industry. Here, we introduce you to Dex Chang, from one of ACM CRC’s university partners, The University of Sydney.

Dr Steve Gower and the ACM team will be attending the CRA’s Collaborate Innovate conference, which will take place at Sofitel Brisbane from Monday 22nd – Wednesday 24th July.

The Australian Composites Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (ACM CRC) consortium has been significantly strengthened following the addition of eight new partners.

As an ACM CRC Partner, you’ll play a significant role in building a digital-export-ready composites industry with cost-competitive, high-quality platform capability, thus positioning Australia as a global leader in automated composites manufacturing.

Come and meet Dr Steve Gower at this second edition Made in Australia with Italian Engineering forum. Taking place on Tuesday 21 May 2024 at The Rocks, NSW, this second exclusive forum encompasses the themes of ingenuity and the development of sustainable solutions.

We’re taking this opportunity to introduce each our PhDs to you – those who are playing a significant role within our program, and in the broader industry. Here, we speak with Van Thu HUYNH, ACM CRC PhD Student.

Catch Dr Steve Gower at the 2024 Composites Conference from 1-2 May 2024, where he’d be delighted to answer any questions you may have around the CRC’s research and projected impact, and to discuss potential opportunities for collaboration.

This new ACM CRC project will identify and develop advanced manufacturing techniques for increased surfboard laminating quality, adapted automated processes for core shaping, composite material deposition (glassing), and finishing.

ACM CRC launched a project with partners HERA, The University of Sydney and ANSTO, which will lead the way in digital transformation for Circular Design 4.0.

We’re taking this opportunity to introduce each our PhDs to you – those who are playing a significant role within our program, and in the broader industry. First up, is Alex Air, from one of ACM CRC’s university partners, UNSW Sydney.

We’re taking this opportunity to introduce each our PhDs to you – those who are playing a significant role within our program, and in the broader industry. Here, we speak with Chris Jenkins, from one of ACM CRC’s university partners, UNSW Sydney.

A new ACM CRC-funded project is seeking to overcome certain limitations of structural health monitoring, to enable safer and more reliable offshore structures.

In late 2023, SoMAC CRC rebranded to become ACM CRC, to better reflect the depth and significance this consortium will bring to Australia’s composite manufacturing industry.

Late last year, ACM CRC held its second Partner Meeting, bringing together industry, research, and government representatives to reflect on and review the future of Australia’s composites manufacturing industry.

Catch Professor Ganga Prusty, of ACM CRC, at the 11th Australasian Congress on Applied Mechanics (ACAM 2024) from 7-9 February in Brisbane, Australia.

A new R&D project between Australian Composites Manufacturing (ACM CRC), Ocius Technology and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is set to optimise the use of wave energy for propulsion, harnessing energy for underwater flippers for unmanned surface vessels (USVs).

Carbon Revolution has partnered with Deakin University’s Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) to revolutionise the production of carbon fibre wheels.

The Sovereign Manufacturing Automation for Composites CRC (SoMAC CRC) is proud to announce a collaboration with the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) and Omni Tanker to spearhead a digital transformation in composites manufacturing.

Quickstep Holdings Ltd (ASX: QHL) (Quickstep or the Company) is delighted to announce that it has signed an exciting engineering collaboration with the Sovereign Manufacturing Automation for Composites CRC (SoMAC CRC) and Deakin University’s Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation (ISRII) to help solve one of the key issues in large scale composites production, that being the relatively high cost of production.

Hypersonic vehicle developer Hypersonix Launch Systems and Australian Composites Manufacturing CRC (formerly SOMAC CRC) have joined forces to tackle one of the big issues facing hypersonic flight – high-temperature material integration.