Collaborative Design Facility pushes innovation boundaries

Students in the Collaborative Design Facility

University of Adelaide Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronic) students Lachlan Holden (left) and Henry Mellor in the Collaborative Design Facility showing the dashboard which monitors their virtual space rover.

A new design facility, located at the University of Adelaide, will offer organisations and individuals a space in which to push the boundaries of technical, industrial and business innovation.

Launched today, the Collaborative Design Facility which is the first of its type in Australia, will be used by the people who will shape the future of Australia’s participation in the global economy in key sectors such as defence, energy, AgTech, life sciences or health.

“Innovation occurs through creative collaboration. The Collaborative Design Facility provides an environment in which people produce innovative design solutions and translate them into tangible concepts,” says Interim Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mike Brooks.

“People who need to innovate will come together in a room equipped with state-of-the-art technology such as high-end computing capability and large touch-sensitive screens. The technology is so good that they will be able to interact without the normal hindrances that can sometimes slow down collaboration, so they can focus on the creative process and stretch their boundaries in a secure, open and collaborative environment.”

The state-of-the-art facility is equipped with twelve workstations where specialists will work on a project such as a virtual model of a submarine, a robot roaming the surface of another planet or an industrial process that needs to be developed. The spaces within the facility have been designed to enable interaction between people based on the activity they are involved in, their mood and their personality.

Tagged in collaborative design facility, CDF, Innovation and Commercial Partners, Strategic Projects, space, defence