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Innovation Drives Future Defence Capability - Defence Future Capability Technology Centre

Information about the Defence Materials Technology Centre participants and research focus.

Core participants
Australian Government: DSTO, ANSTO
Industry/private sector: BAE Systems Australia, GKN Aerospace Engineering Services, BlueScope Steel, Surface Technology Coatings, Thales Australia Holdings, CRC-ACS
University: The University of Queensland, University of Wollongong, Swinburne University of Technology, The University of Melbourne, RMIT University

Research focus
The Defence Materials Technology Centre brings together expertise in the materials sciences from the Australian Government, industry, and academia to make a significant contribution to improving Australian Defence Force (ADF) capability across military platforms in the battlespace. It will achieve this through the adoption by Defence industry of the outputs from a research portfolio that applies:

• world leading materials engineering capabilities to develop, integrate and sustain new materials and manufacturing technologies across existing and planned Defence platforms, and
• high-level materials science capabilities in the development and performance validation of advanced materials as well as systems integration of sensors and other electronic devices into Defence structures for improved operational and through-life support.

The Defence Materials Technology Centre includes four research programs: air platforms; maritime platforms; armour applications; and propulsion systems.

In addition to the core participants, there are 16 supporting participants, including a number of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) within the Defence supply chain.

Areas of research expertise
Development of new materials (e.g. high-strength steels, high temperature and multi-functional composites and ceramics), manufacturing processes (e.g. shaping, forming, machining, joining, surface engineering and robot simulation and automation), prediction and assessment of performance (e.g. strength, fatigue, corrosion), embedded electronic systems for health monitoring and system performance.

Ancillary programs
An education and training program will be designed to develop a cohort of engineers and scientists with skills and capabilities attractive to the Defence industry, DSTO, and other research providers.
With the assistance of the Australian Industry & Defence Network, the centre will also establish a technology transfer program to assist SMEs achieve globally competitive manufacturing capabilities and to transfer developed technologies to SMEs and to non-defence applications such as civilian aerospace, marine, power generation and general manufacturing industries.

Chair: Dr Peter Preston

Contact details:
Professor David StJohn
Interim Chief Executive Officer
UDP No: 055, The University of Queensland
St Lucia QLD 4072
Tel: 07 3365 3574 Fax: 07 3365 3888 Email: d.stjohn@minmet.uq.edu.au