Innovation through collaboration: New research hub to transform Australia’s medical technology sector

In April, researchers, industry partners, and government gathered at the Cook Medical facility in Brisbane to officially launch the Australian Research Council (ARC) Research Hub for Advanced Manufacturing of Medical Devices (AMMD) Research Hub at the Cook facility. 

The AMMD Research Hub can be described as a virtual collaboration that connects university researchers with industry partners from around Australia to develop advanced materials and processes to drive new technologies in medical devices and aims to transform the Australian medical technology sector. There are also opportunities for onsite work, such as the work shown in the attached videos. The AMMD Research Hub brings together researchers from the University of Queensland, the University of the Sunshine Coast, the University of Sydney, and RMIT, with industry partners including Cook Medical Australia Pty Ltd., Robert Bosch (Australia) Pty Ltd., Heat Treatment (Qld) Pty Ltd., and QMI Solutions Ltd.

While the research projects and activities centre around manufacturing, one of the key goals for the AMMD Research Hub is to help create better health outcomes for patients in Australia and around the globe. The hub recognises that there are many facets to the core value of putting patients first, and on the manufacturing side, this represents delivering high-quality products in the most efficient manner. This is particularly important for patient-specific devices that need to be delivered in the shortest time possible.

Cook has a strong history of success in medical device innovation through collaboration. We aim to deliver operational excellence in medical device manufacturing through collaboration with research institutions, medical device supply chain organizations, and other manufacturing sectors. In the short-to-medium term, technologies and expertise will be transferred and adapted for the medical device industry. In the long term though, our ultimate goal is to be at the forefront of implementing advanced manufacturing technologies to improve health outcomes for patients with medical devices, such as endovascular stent grafts.

From the perspective of a patient and their treating doctor, the AMMD Research Hub’s approach to collaboration and innovation offers the promise of improvements to patient care and clinical outcomes by improving the way our production systems are able to react and adapt to changes in customer needs.

From a manufacturing perspective, several research projects are already under way. The AMMD Research Hub has already commenced work in the areas of lean manufacturing, design and materials, adaptive automation systems, digitization, artificial intelligence and robotic vision, ergonomics, and collaborative robotics. 

Three of the researchers, Casey Jowers, David Creagh and Vikram Sharma, are based on-site at Cook Australia and work closely with our continuous improvement and manufacturing support teams in Brisbane to improve productivity and premanufacturing processes. This is a strategic placement in that they not only get to know our business and priorities, but can also connect with our manufacturing staff to understand what they do and how they work on a day-to-day basis.

To learn more about the hub and some of the outcomes we have already achieved through the research projects undertaken by Casey, David and Vikram, tune in to our video series.

Casey Jowers, postdoctoral research fellow, University of the Sunshine Coast Researcher (based at Cook Medical)

David Creagh, mechatronics/automation engineer, University of Queensland Researcher (based at Cook Medical)

Vikram Sharma, senior engineer of Stent Operations, University of Queensland Researcher (based at Cook Medical)

Alex Buddery, senior R&D engineer, Cook Medical