Congratulations to Design Lab members Prof. Johnathan Roberts, Assoc Prof Markus Rittenbruch, Dr Jared Donovan, Dr Glenda Caldwell and Prof Greg Hearn on their successful application to fund the ARC Training Centre for Collaborative Robotics in Advanced Manufacturing.
The Centre aims to build the human and technical capability Australia needs to underpin our global competitiveness in advanced manufacturing. We will unite manufacturing businesses, including SMEs, and universities to develop collaborative robotics applications which combine the strengths of humans and robots in shared work environments. It is the aim of the Centre to train researchers, engineers, technologists and manufacturing leaders with the expertise industry needs to boost safety, quality assurance, production efficiency, and workforce readiness. The intended outcome is to support Australian manufacturers to shift toward higher-potential markets, compete globally and attract and retain a digitally-capable workforce for the future.
Australian manufacturing has an opportunity to be more globally competitive by improving manufacturing processes which lower production costs and boost productivity. The Centre for Collaborative Robotics in Advanced Manufacturing will achieve wins for Australian businesses and the economy by developing our capability for new forms of human-robot interaction in manufacturing environments. This will benefit Australian companies, especially small businesses (who will win on process innovation and lower costs), manufacturing workers (whose jobs will become safer and higher-skilled), and the economy (through the growth of jobs and exports). The Centre will achieve this by training the next generation of manufacturing leaders, researchers, and technicians with collaborative robotics expertise to make Australian manufacturing safer, more efficient and globally competitive. We will enhance this capability by researching and sharing with industry new knowledge to improve skills, workforce diversity and readiness to power Australian manufacturing with the digitally-capable workforce of the future.