Media Release by IMCRC
The Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC) congratulates Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for winning the Industry Engagement category of the Australian Financial Review (AFR) Higher Education Awards 2022.
The QUT research team, led by Associate Professor Dr Jared Donovan and Associate Professor Glenda Caldwell, were recognised for their outstanding collaboration on an $8 million Design Robotics research project delivered with funding from IMCRC and in partnership with Urban Art Projects (UAP) and RMIT University (RMIT).
Brisbane-based design and manufacturing company UAP embarked on the IMCRC project in 2017, partnering with researchers from QUT and RMIT to apply robotic vision systems and digital interfaces to streamline the integration between design and custom manufacturing of artworks, and make it easier for small-to-medium enterprises to create high-value products, while helping to generate additional export opportunities.
The research project has driven the digital transformation of UAP, resulting in increased sales, an increase in onshore manufacturing and the addition of 43 employees.
CEO and Managing Director of IMCRC, David Chuter, congratulated the QUT Design Robotics research team on being recognised for excellence in industry engagement.
“The AFR Higher Education Awards recognise outstanding achievements across Australia’s world-class tertiary sector and this award for the QUT Design Robotics research team is a well-deserved acknowledgment of their deep collaboration with UAP that delivered a quantum leap in capability and business growth,” he said.
“From the outset, UAP boldly sought to break with design and manufacturing tradition and push the boundaries of what could be achieved by pairing human creativity with the efficiency of robotics.
“At the heart of the project’s success was the seamless integration of the workshop staff and the Design Robotics researchers as one unified team, all invested in the one vision.”
The Design Robotics project not only helped UAP to achieve a greater competitive advantage through high-value product development and transformed manufacturing processes, but it was also the catalyst for establishing the Advanced Manufacturing in Robotics (ARM) Hub where manufacturers can explore robotics and design-led manufacturing.
