November/December AMP_Digital

iTSSe TSS A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 4 3 iTSSe TSS of Australia’smanufacturing industry, SEAM researchwill draw upon a global surface engineering expert network that covers Australasia, Asia, Europe, and North America. The lead, Swin- burne University of Technology, together with RMIT University and University of South Australia, form the primary university partners. Core industry partners include Brenco Aerospace, D&T Hydraulics and Engineering, Innofocus Photonics Tech- nology, Kremford, Laserbond, MacTaggart Scott Australia, Romar Engineering, Ruag Australia, Titomic, Sutton Tools, United Surface Technologies, and SCG Chemicals, as well as the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organi- zation, and DMTC as core research organizations. International partner organizations include the Welding Technology Instituteof Australia, VictoriaUniversity ofWelling- ton (New Zealand), Materials Australia, Australian Corrosion Association, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Jinan National University (China), Indian Institute of Technol- ogy Madras (India), Institute of Plasma Physics (Prague), State University of New York at Stony Brook, ASB Industries (Ohio), Inovati (California), GTV Verschleißschutz GmbH (Germany), and Flame Spray North America Inc. (South Carolina). SEAM has four goals aligned with its initiative toward the industrialization of academic outcomes (Fig. 2). These include: 1. Implementing industry/academic projects that tack- le specific surface engineering issues of critical conse- quence for partner organizations, for example, wear and corrosion resistance within the mining sector, and anti- bacterial films for medical implants. Solutions will evolve from applied research based on a foundation of scientif- ic understanding rather than the current trial and error methods that lead to quick but highly risky and costly short-term fixes. 2. Training future industrial and engineering staff via em- bedding the next generation of surface engineers and technologists into industrial sectors. Further, academics and other professionals within SEAM will engage with partner organizations by visiting their manufacturing en- vironments to help implement new technologies devel- oped in SEAM. 3. Creating a strong and pervasive training team where in- dustry will work closely with academia to maximize their return by leveraging members of the SEAM team. Addi- tional joint projects will be nurtured within SEAM so that industry can maximize growth and achieve its potential. 4. Establishing a pragmatic mindset where SEAM research feeds into the economic and productivity needs of indus- try aimed at enhancing economic growth and competi- tiveness. The central box in Fig. 2 indicates the industrial needs, listed as applications, innovation, control of manufacturing processes and surface properties, and training of a skilled workforce. Each organization brings its expertise and unique equipment to SEAM for processing, fabrication, characteri- zation, and testing of materials. The left-hand side of Fig. 2 presents summary inputs into SEAM categorized under ac- cess to resources, training inputs, partner organizations, and the three universities who contribute academic investigators and equipment. STEM training is embedded methodically throughout SEAM as a strict requirement. Training, partner organizations, and societal outputs are listed on the right- hand side. INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATION PRIORITIES Surface engineering has emerged over the past three de- cades as a keystone technology that enhances the operational capability of an engineered assembly. For example, the bene- fits of new materials and thermal spray coatings are well doc- umented in a 2016 roadmap for the technology [1] , which states that, “The globalmarket (revenue generated throughmaterial, FEATURE Fig. 2 — SEAM’s goal is the industrialization of academic outcomes. 9