A new tool at The Newcastle Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) Materials Hub, will support Sovereign Manufacturing, says Managing Director of Scitek, Tobias Schappeler.
Scitek, who specialise in vacuum facilitating technology solutions, are this week finalising the installation and commissioning of the Intellivation Roll-to-Roll Web Coater within the Newcastle Institute for Energy (NIER), which will provide the opportunity for researchers and industry to trial and test new product developments, without the initial investment of millions of dollars to purchase their own equipment.
Tobias Schappeler said, “This is the first of its kind in Australia and New Zealand. This technology has the capacity to sputter coat materials onto very large, continuous rolls of flexible surfaces and will create opportunities for companies looking to develop their concepts into something that is manufacturable.
Many Technologies will Benefit
Many technologies could be advanced by this new tool including solar companies wanting printed solar cells; bandage manufacturers wanting to put electrodes onto bandages to monitor wounds; industry who need reflective coatings wrapped around odd-shaped objects; defence customers who require specialised coatings, and enterprises that require barrier films. Basically, any surface metal coating product or technology where someone wants to put a thin metal layer down on a flexible surface.
Translating Research to Industry Outcomes
Ben Vaughan, Facility Manger at the Centre for Organic Electronics (which is part of the ANFF network) said “We are here to support industries in doing new things. Our role is to help companies design and develop the next new widget. We work together to develop out a project and a plan around what outcomes they are looking for and try and achieve those as efficiently as we can, translating research outcomes into industry outcomes and moving through to something that is potentially manufacturable.”
This tool is part of the suite of tools available for use through the ANFF Newcastle Materials Hub (https://www.anffmaterials.org)