Swinburne’s AIR Hub To Drive The Future Of Aerospace

Source: Sally Wood

Australia’s first Aerostructures Innovation Research (AIR) Hub was recently launched at Swinburne University of Technology. The Victorian Government poured $12 million to bring together the best of Victoria’s aerospace research, design and manufacturing leaders to work with industry on real world design and manufacturing problems. Swinburne’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Pascale Quester, said the new hub will pioneer materials engineering across Australia. “This initiative perfectly encapsulates Swinburne’s vision of bringing people and technology together to build a better world. I am very excited by what our experts, working closely with our valued partners, will be able to achieve for the aerospace sector,” Professor Quester said. The hub will work closely with the international aerospace industry to create innovative materials and manufacturing processes for passenger planes and the space industry. It will also accelerate electric clean energy vertical take-off and landing air vehicles, which are more widely known as ‘flying cars’ or electric helicopters. “AIR Hub will deliver a 30 year economic, employment and technology innovation boost for Australia and Victoria, designing and manufacturing lighter, stronger and more competitive aerospace structures to propel Victoria’s aerospace sector as a world leader,” Professor Quester said. It will link with Swinburne’s Victorian Hydrogen Hub to researchers, and develop capacity for hydrogen storage on aircraft and certain types of air vehicles. “[This] enabl[es] them to make use of green fuels of the future to help meet global zero emission targets,” Professor Quester said.

The AIR Hub is poised to be a global technology, research and manufacturing collaboration. It brings industry partners incluidng: Boeing, Quickstep, CableX, Furnace Engineering, Shoal and Marand Precision Engineering; alongside research partners CSIRO, Monash University and Germany’s University of Stuttgart and ARENA 2036. For example, the hub is working on ‘light-weighting’ and automating the production of space systems like the rockets that are typically used to launch satellites. Light-weighting is known as the manufacturing of parts to achieve better fuel efficiency and handling, and faster production could save thousands of dollars per launch, opening up business opportunities in the lucrative global space industry for Australian companies. This would allow drones to travel further and deliver supplies to remote places. Dr Adriano Di Pietro will lead the hub at Swinburne, where he brings his expertise in materials design and innovation. “By using the latest technologies in digitalisation, automation and advanced materials, we will reinforce our industry partners’ position in the global aerospace industry and accelerate innovative technology development.” “This contribution to air mobility is vital to Australia’s future, connecting our people and communities,” he explained. Electric clean energy vertical take-off and landing air vehicles could become the future in a ‘flying Uber’ concept of transportation. The technology embraces the latest concepts in materials science and design. In addtion, AIR Hub will utilise artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, machine learning and collaborative robots to support Australia’s world-leading capabilities to manufacture aerostructures. Victoria’s Treasurer Tim Pallas said it will develop “ground-breaking technology in our own backyard will position Victoria as a world leader in the aeronautical industry”. Facilities across Victoria, including the Swinburne-CSIRO Industry 4.0 Testlab for Composite Additive Manufacturing in Clayton, and the manufacturing sites of key industry partners will support the hub’s research and development activities.