AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATIVE MATERIALS (AIIM)

The University of Wollongong is a world leader in multi-functional materials research.

Researchers at the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials (AIIM) are driven by a desire to develop and explore new materials that have special features, can improve performance or have new applications.

The AIIM research facility was the second building constructed on the Innovation Campus.

Designed by specialist architect S2f, the facility houses the University of Wollongong’s flagship research groups – the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) and the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM). It also houses the University’s Electron Microscopy Centre, is the lead node of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) and houses the materials node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility.

A strength of the University of Wollongong is the use of multi-disciplinary research teams, focussed on outcomes to problems. Innovative ideas are found at the intersection of different approaches to a problem and that is why we have bought chemists, engineers, physicists, biologists, clinicians and materials scientists together under one roof at AIIM to interact, collaborate and innovate.

The state-of-the-art facilities at AIIM include:

9,900m2 of laboratory and office space
World-class battery and charger testing facilities
3D printing and biofabrication facilities
A dedicated processes and device development workshop
A clean room
Facilities for fabricating thin films and devices
X-ray photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)
Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectroscopy (UPS)
A scanning tunnelling microscope

A new Processing and Devices facility

With the support of a $43.8 million grant from the Australian Government, the AIIM facility has expanded to include a processing and devices facility to bridge the gaps between research breakthroughs, prototyping and commercialisation.

The new AIIM Processing and Devices facility is an Australian first. It sets a new standard for multi-functional materials research facilities in Australia, equipped to undertake the groundbreaking research and to develop the new production processes, devices and prototypes that will enable those breakthroughs to be scaled-up for commercial application.

The new Process and Devices facility will build on existing world-class research capabilities and will enable:

Innovative materials research that links with novel materials processing research to develop next-generation devices and applications
Proof-of-concept development projects including prototype development, manufacturing scale-up and early-stage clinical trials
Research and development of fabrication and processing methods which can be applied to next-generation multifunctional materials
Postgraduate training
National and international collaborations

A purpose-built electron microscopy centre

The University’s new Electron Microscopy Centre exceeds the requirements for the next generation of high resolution microscopes and their ancillary tools while minimising the environmental effects on the SEM, FEG-SEM and TEM instruments it houses.

In addition to seven microscopy suites, the purpose-build facility contains two state-of-the-art preparation laboratories housing precision cutters, quality grinding and polishing tools, room temperature and cryogenic microtomes and highly accurate ion polishing systems,

The facility caters for characterisation of materials including metals, ceramics, polymers and biological specimens.

For more information on the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials please contact:

Paul Scully, Chief Operating Officer, Australian Institute for Innovative Materials

Phone: +61 2 4221 8030

Email: paul_scully@uow.edu.au

For more information on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science or the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute please contact:

Professor Gordon Wallace, Executive Research Director

ARC Centre of Excellent for Electromaterials Science

Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, University of Wollongong

Wollongong NSW 2500, Australia

Phone: +61 2 4221 3127

Fax: +61 2 4221 3114

Email: gordon_wallace@uow.edu.au

Dr Toni Campbell, Chief Operating Officer, ACES

Phone: +61 2 4221 3504

Fax: +61 2 4221 5267

Email: toni_campbell@uow.edu.au

ACES website: http://www.electromaterials.edu.au/