A new facility which will unite the research and innovation capabilities of the University of Newcastle (UON) and defence industry has launched at Williamtown, near Newcastle.

Aimed at advancing technologies in defence, security and aerospace (DSA), the University of Newcastle’s DSA-18 Hub will focus on national defence priorities to deliver innovation with impact and global scalability.

Officially opened by Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald, the DSA-18 Hub is a purpose-designed facility where leading researchers can work collaboratively with government and industry stakeholders on projects of mutual benefit for the three sectors.

“The Hunter is already a stronghold for defence but today’s launch of the DSA-18 Hub will see industry take off further by providing new impetus for innovation-led growth,” he said.

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Professor Kevin Hall said the Hub would provide an important platform to build on UON’s strong performance and reputation in defence, security and aerospace-related research.

“We aim to create an environment where new opportunities for innovative solutions and research breakthroughs can be generated to help solve the complex, high-risk problems of the Australian Defence Force.

“With UON officially joining the cluster of defence-related businesses and activity at Williamtown, we hope to contribute to the Hunter being ideally positioned to leverage this expertise and capacity to generate a local defence industry of global scale.”

DSA-18 Hub is one of four innovation hubs in the Hunter, which together comprise the Integrated Innovation Network (I2N) – a University of Newcastle initiative established in 2016 and partially funded with the support of a $1.5 million NSW Government Boosting Business Innovation Program grant.

Building on the suite of existing I2N activities and capability-building programs, the DSA-18 Hub will host workshops and events designed to promote engagement between researchers, students, SMEs, prime industries, and the Australian Defence Force.