The Queensland node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF-Q) celebrated a massive four-year overhaul on Tuesday, with the state government and scientific leaders in attendance.
ANFF-Q’s state-of-the-art fabrication facility specialises in microfluidics; organic electronics and optoelectronics; biomaterials; novel semiconductor materials; and the vital testing of these components.
The facility will be open-access to researchers and businesses developing new products and devices, including Queensland biotechnology start-up Vaxxas, which is developing a needle-free way of delivering vaccines, and researchers using snake venom to assist in wound treatment.
Science minister Meaghan Scanlon said the state government has provided $4.95 million to ANFF-Q from its $25 million Research Infrastructure Co-investment Fund (RICF) for critical upgrades to the facility, including a new cleanroom, and the employment of specialist staff.
A cleanroom makes it possible to create structures that are smaller than dust specks by eliminating those airborne particles.
Necessary for creating new components and devices while maintaining manufacturing quality, the new ANFF-Q cleanroom is an expansion of the earlier cleanroom, which has almost doubled in size from 100 to 190 square metres.
ANFF-Q director Professor Justin Cooper-White said ANFF-Q was a critical enabler of cutting-edge research integral to Queensland’s advanced manufacturing sector.
“ANFF-Q operates as an open-access facility, offering its expertise, services and equipment to other researchers and businesses developing new products and devices,” Cooper-White said.
ANFF Ltd chief executive officer Jane Fitzpatrick said that as a leading member of the ANFF network, ANFF-Q had provided services to hundreds of researchers and companies who have had their work improved by the capabilities available.
University of Queensland vice-chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said UQ was proud to host ANFF-Q facilities on campus including a 3D nano printer – the first of its kind in Australia.
“The new machine prints materials that can’t be viewed with the human eye but researchers throughout Australia will undoubtedly see the benefits,” Terry said. “That’s why the University supports ANFF as a unique and vital open-access research facility.”
Minister Scanlon said innovations such as those by ANFF-Q are why the Research Infrastructure Co-investment Fund (RCIF) was so important to Queensland.
“In total, the government has provided $26.7 million since 2019 to increase the capabilities of Queensland research facilities research infrastructure through the Research Infrastructure Co-investment Fund,” Scanlon said.
The Queensland Government established the RICF to complement the Federal Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). The key purpose of the RICF is to provide critical co-investment in NCRIS facilities in Queensland.