The UNSW School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering conducts world leading research across all aspects of advanced manufacturing, materials, and structures. Through our research and our partnerships with industry, we endeavour to:
- Improve products and processes by making manufacturing more sustainable, by increasing the efficiency of small- and large-scale manufacturing, and by improving management strategies.
- Enhance the performance and multifunctional capabilities of materials, structures, and devices to meet challenging operating conditions.
- Develop multiscale computational models to link structural performance to materials characteristics and manufacturing processes.
Our School is also home to the following centres and hubs that highlight our strong commitment to working with industry partners:
- ARC Training Centre for Automated Manufacture of Advanced Composites (AMAC)
- ARC Training Centre for Fire Retardant Materials and Safety Technologies
- ARC Research Hub for Connected Sensors for Health
- The Sovereign Manufacturing Automation for Composites Cooperative Research Centre (SOMAC)
Research Areas
Cross-scale manufacturing and 3D printing
Advanced Manufacturing is the development and use of innovative technologies for the fabrication of products.
Design and optimisation of lightweight composite structure
We use highly specialised experimental and simulation techniques to analyse, design and optimise lightweight composite structures.
Mechanical performance of advanced structural materials
Our research focusses on furthering our understanding of processing, microstructures, and mechanical property relationships in advanced structural materials.
Multifunctional nanocomposites for stretchable sensors & energy storage
Flexible and mechanically stretchable electronics are crucial to a wide range of emerging technologies, such as wearable medical devices, electronic skin, and soft robots.
Multiscale modelling of materials, structures & devices
Through advanced simulation methods we aim to understand, design and improve materials used in cutting-edge engineering applications.
Sustainable manufacturing & life-cycle engineering
We develop methods, digital tools and technologies for the planning and operation of sustainable manufacturing systems and factories.
Research Projects
Novel multiscale fibre composites for cryogenic space technologies
Lightweight fuel storage is a critical technology for low-cost access to space, which is recognised by the Australian Government as a national priority.
Suppression of matrix cracking in composite tanks
Lightweight storage tanks for liquid propellant and on-orbit fuels are a critical technology for the entire space sector.