6 minute read
From the President
This brings me to the importance of maintaining national and international professional networks. For me, this requires strong interaction with customers, suppliers and colleagues anywhere in the world, who can help you fast track outcomes. Some of our professional networking has been hampered in the past few years, with face-to-face meetings more difficult. So there is perhaps no better time than now to reinforce how critical professional networks are to our advancements.
Welcome to the September 2023 edition of Materials Australia magazine. As mentioned in my last message, I have been involved almost non-stop with audits for NADCAP, as well as special process approval audits for customers.
These are now complete and I’m very pleased to confirm that AW Bell has passed its aerospace welding audit with the minimum number of nonconformances, just one minor finding from the audit, and one minor finding after the audit. As the first company to achieve this in Australia, this has been quite a task and an achievement!
Special thanks to Matt Billman (Quality Manager/Welding Coordinator) from Uneek Bending Co in Dandenong South who helped me economically solve the final pieces of the puzzle.
In manufacturing, challenges and problems are common. Knowledge exchange is probably the top of the list for networking and allows professionals to share industry insights, best practices, and the latest technological advancements. This knowledge exchange can help individuals and organisations stay competitive and innovative.
I recently attended the CTNZ foundry conference in New Zealand. This included a stop at Hamilton Jet and AW Fraser in Christchurch before the conference, and I left very impressed with several great ideas to try out myself. A diverse professional network can provide access to experts and experienced individuals who can offer solutions and advice when issues arise.
Regulations in the manufacturing industry can change frequently and a network can help professionals stay informed about regulatory changes and compliance requirements. Examples from my industry include silica compliance, and the impending change that will impact more widely; lead (Pb) free brasses in potable water systems. I believe this is coming to Australia in the very near future and we as a materials community have to be ready for it. Luckily, I have colleagues in other parts of the world who have already been working on this for some years now. When as a business, we are eventually faced with this prospect I can answer the questions with some authority as I know who to ask for advice. We cannot be experts at everything. The key is in knowing who the experts are in given fields. Knowing the right people and having a positive professional reputation can make a significant difference in one's career trajectory.
Through networking events, seminars and conferences, professionals can engage in continuous learning and skill development, which is vital in a rapidly evolving industry like manufacturing. This also helps facilitate collaboration opportunities that build a strong supply chain. As a result, access to resources and products that might otherwise not be available is possible.
For example, last year the price of cobalt and cobalt alloys became extremely high due to the growth in the electric vehicle industry. In Australia, I have only rarely been able to purchase scrap cobalt of the type my business requires to manufacture various grades. In 2022, I attended the Titanium USA Conference and met with as many scrap metal traders as I could, including a team from Japan. Although the discussion initially focused on titanium scrap supply, we also discussed cobalt alloys. Since then, I have purchased several tons of the cobalt grade required at a fraction of the primary price.
Materials Australia
Who of us have discussed job opportunities via networking?
Whether it is for yourself or if you are recruiting someone in the industry, job opportunities, promotions, and career growth are an integral part of networking. These days many recruiters unfortunately do not look too far past LinkedIn, which has changed this scenario. Although, I would encourage anyone who uses LinkedIn to link with only those you would count as part of your professional network already. Attending conferences, seminars and events provides market insights, helping companies make informed decisions about product development, pricing, and market expansion. Professionals can engage in continuous learning and skill development, which is vital in a rapidly evolving industry like manufacturing.
An important part of networking is understanding industry trends, which is essential for adapting to shifts in consumer preferences and emerging technologies. Obviously, it’s also about sharing knowledge and how things might be done better or differently. From the research prospective, this allows individuals to present their work in front of their peers, which can lead to collaborations.
Interestingly enough, some of the best collaborations can begin with different perspectives, yet compatible views on a topic and this leads to posing new questions that need answering. A fantastic example of this is a paper recently published in Nature (T. Song et.al., Nature Vol 618, June 2023, p.63) arising from the collaboration between Professor Ma Qian’s research team at RMIT and Professor Simon Ringer’s team at the University of Sydney, together with colleagues from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. This work originated from the APICAM 2019 conference held in Melbourne. Last I heard, the news had been viewed over 41 million times, and over 800,000 times in The Guardian alone. Congratulations also must go to Tingting Song, who as the first named author has achieved something very commendable and deserving of much recognition. Finally, I have to encourage all members to get involved in the Materials Australia networking opportunities such as conferences, seminars and events. Unfortunately, we have a number of non-financial members at the moment and it would be a shame to lose them from our Materials Australia community. By taking part in networking opportunities, as a student you may find your future employer, a mentor, a collaborator or a research supervisor. As a materials professional, you may find a group you want to collaborate with or you may find a future employee. Or you may find a way in which to save your business time, resources and money.
As always, as we head into the fourth quarter of the year, I look forward to catching up with many of you at our events. I wish you all the best.
