Last week NSW parliamentary secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald, launched the new defence, security, and aerospace hub (DSA-18) at Williamtown which has been developed by the University of Newcastle (UON) with the support of the NSW Government.
The new facility is aimed at uniting the research and innovation capabilities of the university with defence industry to deliver innovation with impact and global scalability.
“The Hunter is already a NSW stronghold for defence but today’s launch of this impressive new facility will see that take off even further,” MacDonald said. The DSA-18 Hub has been developed by UON with funding support from the NSW Government’s Boosting Business Innovation Program.
“The Boost program is providing $18 million to the state’s universities – including $1.5 million to the University of Newcastle – to work with businesses to drive innovation."
The purpose-designed and built facility has a strategic location at Williamtown Aerospace Centre which will allow it to work alongside leading industry names like Raytheon Australia, Lockheed Martin Australia, and Boeing as well as dynamic SMEs and start-ups.
UON vice chancellor, Professor Caroline McMillen, said the DSA-18 Hub would provide an important platform to build on UON’s strong research performance and global reputation in defence, security and aerospace.
"Around the world we have seen that the best innovation ecosystems are those where new industries, jobs and opportunities are created when research, business, government and community forge strong alliances,” she said.
“With UON’s expertise in interdisciplinary fields such as visual simulation, robotics, biometrics, cognition modelling, frontier energy technologies, navigation systems, disaster preparedness and recovery, cybersecurity and advanced sensor platforms, the DSA-18 Hub will provide a capability boost to the growing cluster of businesses and defence-related activities at Williamtown.”