Tech Lab, the innovative new research facility of the University of Technology Sydney, officially opens. The Lab is custom-designed to develop collaborations between academia, industry and government.
According to the report, the purpose-built A$ 65 million facility is spread across 9,000 square metres on a site in the industrial hub of Botany that neighbours Sydney Airport.
The Tech Lab will focus on transdisciplinary research that provides new services to industry, with capabilities that span several fields.
They are civil and environmental engineering, mechanical and mechatronic engineering, software, electrical and data engineering, systems, management and leadership.
It is critical for universities to work alongside industry since Australian business and industry as well as its workforce will be transformed in the coming decades.
Facilities like Tech Lab will ensure that the country capitalises on the opportunities and addresses the challenges this presents.
These labs are designed to create solutions and innovative technologies to solve future problems.
Its state-of-the-art facilities will attract companies and researchers from around the globe to work on new projects in engineering and digital transformation.
The Tech Lab is a unique research facility in Australia, where academics and researchers from diverse fields will work in tandem with industry and government to develop innovative solutions, taking new technologies from early readiness to commercial viability.
Moreover, it will cater to a wide range of companies, from big to small, including working with start-ups.
It will continue to build on Australia’s research strengths and bring industry and academia together to deliver the most technologically advanced products and services.
It will, thereby, provide impact for the University’s partners and jobs for the students and the wider community.
Some of the Lab’s offerings include R&D projects, consultancy, contract work and short courses.
It boasts of state-of-the-art capabilities such as electromagnetic informatics and antenna chamber; data analytics, networking and communications; photonics and optical sensing; full-scale structural dynamics facilities; material testing and characterisation; and geotechnical lab.
It also has acoustics laboratories, including anechoic chambers; electrical power and energy lab; multimedia lab; computational intelligence and brain computer interface.
Among the many and diverse labs in the facility, a world-class antenna chamber will help develop the 5G communications networks as well networks of the future.
Organisations have already reached out, working in robotics and smart sensing in pipelines, while others will run training courses there.
There are also discussions underway with many other companies interested in working with the Lab in areas such as smart cities, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced manufacturing.
The Lab is in close proximity to a major new technology and innovation precinct recently announced by the NSW Government.
The new technology and innovation precinct, in the corridor from Central Station, through to Eveleigh, just north of Botany. This corridor is home to Australia’s largest cluster of start-ups.
This facility will not only help Australia draw closer to countries with strong traditional research collaboration cultures like Germany, Canada and Singapore, but leapfrog other nations in innovative approaches to skill building and cross-disciplinary problem solving.
