Participants Forum – Oct 2018
With over 40 rail stakeholders coming to the Rail Manufacturing CRC’s Melbourne Participants Forum on Wednesday October 31st, the rail industry was well represented by ACRI, Airlinx, ARA, Austrade, Boral, Downer Rail, Fordyno, Hofmann Engineering, Knorr-Bremse, IDS Australasia, Shoal Engineering, SNC-Lavalin, and the Victorian Government’s Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources.
Research organisations were also out in force, with CQ University, CSIRO, Deakin University, Monash University, RMIT University, Swinburne University and the University of Queensland in attendance.
The Rail Manufacturing CRC’s Stuart Thomson and Larry Jordan presented a summary of projects, challenges and opportunities, very ably supported by three PhD project pitches delivered by students Anthony Micheletto (welding), Nalin Randeniya (Virtual Reality training) and Calvin Vong (drone assessment). A lively (and loud!) speed networking session was also a highlight, where industry representatives got the chance to workshop rail R&D opportunities with the rail researchers in attendance.
The day wrapped up with guest presentations from Fordyno and Downer Rail. Liam Fechner from Fordyno shared his organisation’s capabilities in designing and producing rolling stock using composite materials, with an in-depth look at recent project successes, particularly in China. He was followed with a tag-team session by Pamela Kellert and Marc Arculus of Downer, who gave insight into Downer’s operations and a status update on the project delivery of Melbourne’s High Capacity Metro Trains.