The Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) and the Welding Technology Institute of Australia (WTIA) have signed an agreement to extend their collaboration and to support Australian firms, particularly small to medium enterprises.
The Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) commits the two organisations to work together to develop a broader understanding of existing technology footprints and to build a program of benchmarking, capacity building, training and certification activities.
The MoA comes at a time of policy and practical challenges in terms of growing industrial capacity and broadening defence supply chains.
The agreement builds on DMTC project work already underway, supported by WTIA, to build industry capacity in areas of Defence priority such as welding of high-strength steels. More information
DMTC’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Mark Hodge, and his WTIA counterpart Geoff Crittenden signed the MoA into effect at the National Manufacturing Week and AusTech expo in Melbourne.
“Our work continues to focus on delivering a beneficial outcome first for our Defence customer, and for our industry partners. In that context, DMTC has already helped many Australian suppliers to embrace new technologies and better understand Defence requirements,” Dr Hodge said.
“Formalising our relationship with WTIA will help us to share information on technology development.”
Under the MoA, the two organisations will also seek to work closely with the Centre for Defence Industry Capability (CDIC), the establishment of which was one of the key announcements in the 2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement.
DMTC has teamed up with a number of Australian Government and innovation partner organisations to provide advice and information to manufacturers looking to grow and transform their business at National Manufacturing Week and Austech 2017.
National Manufacturing Week is the largest gathering of Australian manufacturers under one roof and Austech is the only show specifically targeted at the metalworking, machine tool and ancillary market in Australia.
Experts from the following Government agencies and innovation partners will come together to form an Advanced Manufacturing team:
DMTC Medical Countermeasures Program leader, Felicia Pradera, has been presented with the prestigious DMTC Research Collaboration Award for her leadership of the program.
The DMTC Awards for Excellence were presented at this year’s DMTC Annual Conference Dinner at the National Gallery in Canberra.
The Awards for Excellence recognise significant contributions made by individuals and teams that have resulted in successful outcomes for DMTC and its partners.
The Research Collaboration Award presented to Dr Pradera goes to an individual who embodies the spirit of collaboration that is integral to DMTC’s strategic intent.
Seconded to the DMTC from the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group, Dr Pradera oversees a portfolio of projects that leverage funding from CSIRO and DST Group, as well as contributions from a number of highly capable and innovative research and industry partners.
DMTC CEO, Dr Mark Hodge, said Dr Pradera was a worthy recipient of the honour.
“Felicia has made a massive contribution to the success of this program,” Dr Hodge said. “In fact, it’s not over-stating it to suggest that the program may not have even been running today without her leadership and expert oversight.
“Felicia is a valued member of the DMTC team and really has exemplified our commitment to achieving the very best outcomes for the Australian Defence Force, while also facilitating industry and supply chain development in this country.”
Dr Pradera received her award from Corporal Dan Keighran VC, who was the guest speaker at the gala dinner. After telling the remarkable story of his life and the circumstances of the battle for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross, Corporal Keighran had a simple but powerful message for the DMTC community.
“What you do, makes a difference to the safety and security of our soldiers and the ADF,” he said.
DMTC congratulates Dr Pradera and all the other award winners.
Award Winners
The Industry Partnership Award is awarded to individual researchers whose efforts contribute significantly to the capability of a DMTC Industry partner. This year’s award was awarded jointly to Gui Wang and Juan Torres from the University of Queensland for their efforts in helping Thales’ Protected Vehicles division transition research outcomes from DMTC Project 3.19 into their vehicle development program.
The Project Leadership Award is awarded to leaders of a project team who have contributed significantly to achieving project outcomes. This year’s award was awarded jointly to Ali Daliri and Lihong Su for their leadership of DMTC Project 6.04 “Land vehicle alternative material characterisation” and Yen Truong for her leadership of DMTC Project 7.33 “Advanced nanostructured fabrics”. Yen’s project involves five research and industry partners including CSIRO and DST Group.
The Early Career Award recognises the contribution of early career technical officers, engineers and scientists to DMTC projects, rewarding efforts ‘above and beyond’. It is open to technical officers, engineers and scientists, including PhD students, who are working on DMTC research projects and are aged under 35. This year’s award went to Andrew Ang from Swinburne University of Technology who has been a highly-valued team member and contributor to no fewer than four DMTC projects in the Maritime domain.
The Capability Improvement Award is awarded to the project team who achieves a significant improvement in technical capability in the area of materials and/or manufacturing technology. This year’s award winner was the High Strength Fabrics project team who have developed fragmentation resistant fabric to prototype stage. Industry partner Bruck Textiles has since adopted the technology and is marketing the fabric globally. Tony Pierlot (Project Leader – CSIRO), Ahmed Bhoyro, Ben Eu, Bin Lee, Doug Dower, Horace Billon, Liberty Wagner, Lyndon Arnold, Peter Herwig, Rajiv Padhye, Sandip Ranjan, Tim Head and Vlad Libeson.
