SA opens Manufacturing Technologies Centre

iTWire reports that South Australia has opened a new Manufacturing Technologies Centre designed to help businesses grow by providing access to the state’s best researchers, financial institutions and global supply chains. The $1.2 million centre in Adelaide’s northern suburbs will assist businesses, at no cost, to identify methods by which they can adopt priority technology, including additive manufacturing, advanced materials, photonics, robotics and automation and big data.

The South Australian Government provided the funding to establish the facility, located at the University of South Australia’s Mawson Lakes campus, as part of its Northern Economic Plan. The government will work with South Australia’s three main universities, as well as others interstate and overseas, to facilitate the new centre’s role as a centre point where industry can develop collaborative alliances and overcome barriers to adopting new technology.

The Northern Economic Plan was developed by the state government, in partnership with local councils, businesses, industries and the community, with the objective of driving economic and social transformation in northern Adelaide once Holden closes later next year.

South Australia’s Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Kyam Maher, said the state’s economy is moving towards a “high-value, high-tech future that will pose many challenges as the manufacturing industry evolves”.

“With change comes opportunity, and we need to take bold actions, adopt new ways of doing things and use advanced technologies to build globally competitive, high-value firms and access new global markets.”

UniSA Vice-Chancellor Professor David Lloyd said: “Today, UniSA continues to deliver world-class research supporting industry and business innovation and underpinning local technological advancements and the education of new professionals to take their place in the sector.

“The new centre is set to become a showcase of collaborative practice at its best, with research, industry, education and government working together to create outcomes that will have an ongoing benefit to South Australia and its industries.”