The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation joins AMMD as Partner Organisation

AMMD has welcomed The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation, joining the Research Hub as the newest Partner Organisation. This partnership also brings Dr Stephanie Yerkovich, the Research Development Manager, to AMMD’s team as Partner Investigator.

The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation (TPCHF) is the charity aligned with the health and medical research community based at The Prince Charles Hospital. Through its community fundraising initiative, The Common Good, TPCHF aims to sustainably fund innovative medical discoveries that will both profoundly improve and save lives.

TPCHF and AMMD’s partnership will complement TPCHF’s research projects at the Innovative Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology Lab, part of the Critical Care Research Group at The Prince Charles Hospital. This collaboration will provide opportunities to identify manufacturing challenges specific to emerging medical devices.

The collaboration will explore the development of advanced manufacturing technologies for cardiovascular medical device applications with the expertise of medical professionals at The Prince Charles Hospital, assisting with device design, fluid dynamics and materials selection. Furthermore, AMMD will be able to translate its advanced manufacturing research to another family of medical devices, broadening the research scope of devices and materials, with the potential to provide further opportunities for Australian manufacturers.

AMMD is looking forward to this new collaboration.

Manual Workstation Standardisation

AMMD Hub is working to improve all aspects of production through advanced manufacturing technologies.

This includes improving the ergonomics of manual workstations, which leads to increased productivity and reduced workplace incidents.

Automation Case Study 2

How do we use technology to reduce pre-manufacturing lead times?

AMMD Hub is using automation to eliminate bottlenecks.

Automation Case Study 1

What does the practical application of automation into existing processes look like?

Take a look into one of AMMD’s examples – using open source technologies for accessible, effective manufacturing solutions.

AMMD Welcomes Postdoctoral Researchers

Two Postdoctoral Researchers have joined the AMMD, working on multiple collaborative research projects including Lean Manufacturing, Design & Materials, and Adaptive Automation Systems.

Dr Casey Jowers is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of the Sunshine Coast, working with Cook Medical Australia. Casey works with the Continuous Improvement Team to improve efficiency through advanced manufacturing techniques. His work focuses on Industry 4.0-inspired projects in automation and robotics, including automated data collection and sharing, which establish smart manufacturing methods that cater to the global mass-customization movement within the medical device industry.

Xiaoying Wang is a computer vision and machine learning Postdoctoral Research Officer at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, with research focusing on automatic digital image/video processing and analysis. Xiaoying is working together with the Continuous Improvement and Research Team at Cook Medical Australia to implement research activities for advanced manufacturing of medical devices, specifically undertaking research and development in automation and vision-based quality inspection, with the purpose of making quality inspection more efficient and easier.

The AMMD is excited for the growth of our team.

Challenges to Industry 4.0

How can manufacturers update existing infrastructure to reap the benefits of Industry 4.0?

How can AMMD Hub assist with the integration of existing infrastructure to make the next industrial revolution accessible to Australian manufacturers?

Join the conversation:

SME Engagement

The technologies we discover through the activities of AMMD Hub will certainly benefit the Australian medical device industry, but efficient design and manufacturing processes will mean a higher workforce capability.

The resulting impacts are not only better health outcomes, but also job creation and providing SMEs with new technologies and skills that can be transferred to other manufacturing sectors.

We can expect the retention and growth of existing manufacturing operations, and an immense potential to equip local SMEs with advanced technologies and connections to high-growth global medical supply chains.

Find out more about research and partnership opportunities:

What we do - Introduction to AMMD Research Hub

Through industry led projects, AMMD Hub is working to concurrently develop advanced materials, methods and technologies, and more efficient design and flexible manufacturing processes, all for the delivery of better devices and improved clinical outcomes.

We are also very much about developing people. We conduct training opportunities for postgraduate students, early career researchers and engineers, along with industry workshops.

Find out more about research and partnership opportunities:

The Power of Partnerships

The latest edition of Australian Biotechnology included an article written by Dr Samih Nabulsi, General Manager of AMMD's Partner Organisation Cook Medical Australia.

Click through to read the article:

AMMD Research Hub to transform Australia’s medical technology sector

Launch of the AMMD Hub - Staff

Hub industry partners, researchers and staff pose for a photo.

Launch of the AMMD Hub - Speaker

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj gives an address.

Launch of the AMMD Hub

ARC CEO, Prof. Sue Thomas (second from right) officially launches the ARC Research Hub for the Advanced Manufacturing of Medical Devices (AMMD Research Hub), with from left, Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre Mr Michael Grogan, Member for Sunnybank Mr Peter Russo MP, AMMD Research Hub Director Prof. Matthew Dargusch, Cook Medical Australia General Manager Dr. Samih Nabulsi, Director APAC, VP Cook Inc. Mr. Barry Thomas and UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Prof. Peter Høj.

Launch of the AMMD Hub - Tour

General Manager of Cook Medical Australia Dr. Samih Nabulsi (far right) gives a tour of the facilities, with from left, ARC CEO Prof. Sue Thomas, UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Prof. Peter Høj, Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre Mr Michael Grogan and University of Sunshine Coast Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Professor Roland de Marco.

Researchers from The University of Queensland, industry partners, government and academia gathered to officially launch the Australian Research Council Research Hub for Advanced Manufacturing of Medical Devices (AMMD Hub) at Cook Medical Australia in Brisbane.

The new research hub is set to transform Australia’s medical technology sector by developing competitive technologies for the rapid production of medical devices.

One of the key goals for the AMMD Hub is to create better health outcomes for patients in Australia, and around the globe, by improving the time it takes to design, manufacture and supply customised medical devices such as endovascular stent grafts for patients with aortic aneurysm — a condition that currently has post-rupture survival rates of only 10 to 20 per cent.

AMMD Hub Director and University of Queensland Professor Matthew Dargusch said the AMMD Hub scheme fosters collaborative research activity between the Australian higher education sector and industry with a focus on strategic outcomes that are not independently realisable.

“Effective collaboration between interdisciplinary teams from industry and university is key to making a significant impact in terms of both research outcomes and quality that will address challenges in the advanced manufacturing of medical devices,” said Professor Dargusch.

With researchers based at Cook Medical Australia, the AMMD Hub has already begun work in the areas of lean manufacturing for the improvement of production times, adaptive automation systems, metallic biomaterials and collaborative robotics.

Cook Medical Australia General Manager Dr Samih Nabulsi said the AMMD Hub would deliver outcomes for patients by fostering growth in the medical technology sector in Australia.

“Our primary goal is to improve patient health outcomes, but we are also growing workforce capability in the medical device industry and increasing the translation of new technology,” Dr Nabulsi said.

“Research and industry partnerships like the AMMD Hub are vital to increasing and accelerating the translation of new technology in the medical device industry.”

In 2016, the AMMD Hub was awarded $2.8 million in ARC funding for five years. This investment was matched by industry partners, with a total value of more than $10 million of cash and in-kind funding.

ARC Chief Executive Officer Professor Sue Thomas acknowledged the importance of advanced manufacturing to Australia’s economic future.

“This Research Hub’s industry-focused research collaboration will develop new, advanced materials and processes that will not only lead to tangible health outcomes for Australians, but also drive new technologies and skills that are vital for the competitiveness of Australia’s medical devices industry,” Professor Thomas said.

The AMMD Hub brings together researchers from The University of Queensland, The University of Sydney, RMIT University; and University of the Sunshine Coast; and with partner organisations Cook Medical Australia Pty Ltd; Robert Bosch (Australia) Pty Ltd; Heat Treatment (QLD) Pty Ltd; and QMI Solutions Limited.