Rockwell Automation and University of Melbourne announce collaboration

Rockwell Automation and The University of Melbourne are collaborating to help companies in the manufacturing and resources industries use digital innovation to reach their decarbonisation goals. The organisations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on research activities, jointly develop training and work together to help solve real-world challenges presented by industry.

Rockwell Automation will contribute engineering resources and product training to the project. The University of Melbourne will bring its academic and research expertise and world-class innovation infrastructure.

Anthony Wong, Regional Director, South Pacific, Rockwell Automation, said the MoU marks an important new phase that will benefit industry.

“Decarbonisation is now front of mind for Australian industrial companies,” said Wong. “They know they must act to remain attractive to consumers and meet compliance targets, but they often don’t know how to start or where to focus their energies for the greatest returns.

“Rockwell Automation and The University of Melbourne are coming together to share our expertise and explore practical solutions to this challenge.”

The University of Melbourne will provide research expertise, academic and physical resources, and use the collaboration to give its students real-world training, preparing them to tackle tomorrow’s engineering challenges — including using digital innovation — to accelerate decarbonisation and become future leaders in their field.

Professor Mark Cassidy, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, said the MoU would allow the two organisations to collectively deliver outcomes that could not be achieved independently.

“Our engineering and information technology talent and resources, and Rockwell’s capital and expertise, are perfectly placed to achieve the digital transformation of Australian industrial manufacturing that is needed,” he said. “We see this collaboration as a key opportunity to demonstrate the university’s research capabilities, while providing opportunities to enrich our students’ learning experience through industry-led challenges and access to state-of-the-art technology.”

Image credit: Cesar Nicolas, University of Melbourne.