By NOEL MURPHY
CARBON fibre research could pave the way for new-breed manufacturing jobs in Geelong, according to Deakin University boss Professor Jane den Hollander.
Geelong and Deakin were forging a name as global leaders in carbon fibre composites, which could be applied to automotive and aviation industries around the world, she said.
Prof den Hollander revealed that work with the rapidly-emerging company Carbon Rev on a new super lightweight aerospace grade carbon-fibre wheel – a project tipped to generate hundreds of jobs in its own right – was pointing the way ahead for Geelong.
“If you think of Ford, the downstream of Ford, there were a lot of small support industries that helped Ford be Ford,” she told ABC radio this week.
“With carbon fibre, if we do get a big manufacturer to Geelong – and while I can’t speak about that, we have high hopes for that and it is looking very good – what of the small-to-medium enterprises who are the smart thinkers in Australia who are going to locate to Geelong?
“That is the big challenge I spend 90 per cent of my day on; how we get them to Geelong and earn a living.”
Prof den Hollander said Deakin’s Australian Future Fibre Research Facility and Carbon Nexus, the only carbon research fibre facility of its type in the world, were bolstering Geelong’s case for a carbon-led future.
Deakin’s researchers stood ready to play a lead role helping the Geelong region make the transition from old manufacturing industries to sustainable 21st Century industries, she said.
