Victoria to help fund Deakin Uni's ManuFutures

The Victorian government has agreed to contribute towards the building of a $13 million centre at Deakin University designed to develop innovations to support advanced manufacturing in regional Australia.

The ManuFutures facility is expected to increase state output by over $220 million annually and create 100 direct jobs and around another 300 indirect jobs.

ManuFutures will serve as a hub for start-up and established businesses seeking to collaborate with researchers from the university on projects to help them harness their competitive advantages. The facility will house up to 15 companies at any one time.

Deakin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander said the Victorian government has agreed to contribute $3 million to the cost of the facility through the Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund.

“[Manufutures] will allow commercial businesses to collaborate with leading research centres including the Centre for Advanced Design in Engineering Training, the Institute for Frontier Materials, the Centre for Intelligent Systems Research and faculties including Health, and Science, Engineering and Built Environment,” she said.

“Typically, great Australian inventions are refined and monetised overseas, but in order to compete through a strong economy, Australia must link high technology innovation to new ideas and do so quickly and competitively.

Image courtesy of Steve Jurvetson under CC