From the President

Welcome to the June 2022 edition of Materials Australia magazine. Since the last magazine was prepared, we can certainly say that things continue to change and evolve around us at an ever-increasing rate. For example, no one would ever have though only three months ago that we would be paying the high prices for fruit and vegetables that we are now! Inflation is unusually high and the cost of doing business is as challenging as ever. We do of course have a new federal government, and as a professional community, I believe we can look forward to the implementation of the government’s “A Future Made in Australia” plan for boosting our Manufacturing sector. The opportunities to generate some excellent new technologies and capabilities are as good now as there has ever been. For me personally, I am very pleased that the AWBell titanium metal casting project has been officially announced, and a media release from the Defence Innovation Hub is included this edition of Materials Australia magazine. This is a great opportunity for a new Australian advanced manufacturing capability and it is exciting to be a part of it. Recently, I have had the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at the Australian Foundry Society (AFS) Conference, held in Brisbane in May. It was a great opportunity to see friends and colleagues from across the foundry industry, and share our common challenges from the past two years. I’m also very pleased that was able to meet with some members of the Queensland branch of Materials Australia and catch up with them in person. Recently, I attended the CAMS conference here in Melbourne, which was very high calibre. The organising committee and especially the conference chairs did a fantastic job of coordinating this event after it was delayed multiple times. Special thanks go to Andrew Ang for his commitment to running the event so well. I also have to mention the outstanding effort from the Materials Australia excutive Officer, Tanya Smith, who worked tirelessly on ensuring success. The next CAMS conference is due for 2024 and will be held in Adelaide. Looking to our future activities, we have an outstanding set of conferences planned for 2023 including APICAM and Light Metals Technology, which are expected to run on schedule. With respect to further events through 2022, we are certainly looking to increase opportunities through the second half of the year. We are particularly looking at promoting the branch level events, so please talk to your state representatives, get involved and let’s see what can be done.

One of the interesting things I was asked at the recent AFS conference is to whether I would consider presenting a future seminar on how to design a cost effective program of research work for a production manufacturing facility and then how to implement any resulting innovation. I have been thinking about this, and although it may seem straight forward, it can be far more complicated than what it first seems. In an industry setting, an innovation cycle may be six months or less, and work must be scheduled to fit in with production. Making sure that the required outcome is properly understood by everyone involved can also be a challenge. However, there is the innovation you plan, and then there is that which happens fortuitously or simply by accident. A lot of it comes about through recognising ways of overcoming challenges where something goes wrong. The discovery of penicillin is a case in point and I would encourage anyone to read the story for themselves. We often don’t tell the whole story of these fortuitous events, and I would really like to hear some of the readers stories about their own. I have had a few of these myself and they make great tales. I believe these good mistakes are something we really should learn to celebrate, as these are probably among the greatest learning experiences we can have and such a great way to understand innovation. The year is flying by again and I would like to wish you, your family and colleagues the best of health and to stay safe through 2022. Best Regards Roger Lumley National President Materials Australia