Boeing has signed a new $AUD35 million research agreement with CSIRO to collaborate on areas of mutual interest such as space sciences, advanced materials and manufacturing over the next five years.
It’s the latest step in a 28-year partnership between the two organisations; earlier this month, Boeing named CSIRO as a 2016 Supplier of the Year.
“Boeing celebrates 90 years in Australia this year, and for nearly a third of that time, we’ve partnered with CSIRO on advanced technologies that have made a real difference to the aerospace industry,” president of Boeing ANZ and Sth Pacific, Maureen Dougherty said.
CSIRO and Boeing celebrated their respective centenaries in 2016. Over the years the organisations have invested more than $170 million on 190 joint research projects into everything from innovative new manufacturing processes, to fire retardants, biofuels and software.
CSIRO’s “Paintbond” technology, for instance, has been applied to more than a thousand Boeing airplanes, including some in the skies above Australia, saving millions of dollars in maintenance costs.
The strong relationship with CSIRO was a key factor in Boeing choosing Australia as the location for its largest research and development operation outside the US.