A new hub will put futuristic manufacturing technologies in young Australian hands.

Swinburne University’s new Factory of the Future has been unveiled.

Located on the ground floor of the uni’s $100 million Advanced Manufacturing and Design Centre(AMDC), the ground-breaking facility is set to provide industry and organisations with state-of-the-art, enabling them to explore conceptual ideas for manufacturing of almost anything.

The centre will be made up of a cluster of specialist studios with highly adaptive capacity. Equipped with advanced visualisation and design tools, designers will have the resources to develop prototypes rapidly, create innovative products and research potential manufacturing methods.

Designers will be able to work with leading engineers and research staff without leaving the building, taking their plans all the way from the drawing board to hard-copy prototype phase onsite.

The factory will house a series of co-located studios, each with a specific function:

  • 3-D Visualisation and Design Studio: featuring advanced visualisation tools that allow for intuitive real-time interaction with realistic 3-D imagery
  • Rapid Manufacturing Studio: equipped with advanced additive manufacturing tools that facilitate conversion from digital concepts to metal, plastic or ceramic prototypes
  • Advanced Inspection and Machining Studio: advanced machining capability combined with state-of-the-art inspection equipment for developing high quality components
  • Biodevice Innovation Studio: combines electronics, optics, chemistry and biomaterials-handling with rapid prototyping to produce innovative new medical devices
  • Design for Resource Efficiency Studio: for the design, development and assessment of recycling and manufacturing processes to maximise resource efficiency.

The centre is visible on a live webcam feed, with more details accessible on the official site.