One of the big challenges facing Australia is that we have a lot of manufacturing industries that need to innovate.
We have a lot of know-how and ability to make and do things but there is a need - especially for smaller companies - to move to new spaces and new ideas. At Swinburne, we want to help companies do just that.
Swinburne is part of a consortium known as the Design Factory that includes Aalto University in Finland, Tongji University in China and Stanford University in the US.
This is an exciting approach to rapidly developing new concepts and products. We bring students from around the world together and work with them on joint projects developing new products for companies such as VISY, Toto and KMART, as well as working with CSIRO in developing new products with their business partners.
In addition, our Product Design Engineering course is going beyond developing design ideas and actually coming up with tangible products.
We want to cross further into developing new products rapidly so we’re building the Factory of the Future in our new Advanced Manufacturing and Design Centre.
Essentially we will go from idea to prototype really quickly. People will come in with a sketch, model or simple concept about a new product and by the end of the day we will have built it and tested it.
A lot of new technologies are making this rapid development possible - in particular the digitisation of design. We no longer simply draw things with computer aided drafting – we’re actually testing how a product will perform virtually. We can test the aesthetics of it, check what it looks like, how it fits. We can even test the production line to see how it works.
Technologies such as 3D printing can generate prototypes quickly. Swinburne has been in 3D metal printing for a decade so we’re not new to this game. What is happening now is it’s getting quicker and easier to do, so it’s very good for going from concept to prototype.
However, when you get beyond the wow factor of 3D printing you have to ask where is it good and where is it not really applicable? 3D printing is great if you’re making a custom prosthetic, but it’s not suitable for making six thousands engine struts. We want to improve that process.
Another issue is recyclability. In our Factory of the Future we will test a product’s recyclability after the prototype has been made – break it down to its constituents and see whether you can recover the materials before you mass produce it and have to deal with the consequences.
The university is also building on its reputation of supporting entrepreneurship. Our Business school, with the collaboration of our engineers, is developing two new concepts for this: the Incubator and the Innovation Lab.
The Incubator is where we help would-be entrepreneurs – in this case recent graduates or people at Swinburne – go from ‘Hey I’ve got this great idea’ to a commercial plan to make it happen.
The Innovation Lab focuses on strategic thinking about business. Maybe you’re a company with a product that’s pretty well established but you’re trying to understand how the market and the thinking around that product might change.
Finally, I think we should rephrase the whole debate about manufacturing because it’s been driven by people worrying about particular industries coming and going.
To support the growth of new manufacturing industries we should look at leading the development of recycling technologies. We should rephrase the debate into what sort of people are we? Who are we?
I’d rather be the kind of country that makes products that people around the world really want. I think that not only would that be economically better, but we would be a better nation.
We should shift the debate from the economic debate to national identity and ask ourselves – What sort of people are we?
Geoff Brooks
Pro-Vice Chancellor (Future Manufacturing)
Swinburne University of Technology