A new agreement between the University of Tasmania, represented by the Australian Maritime College (AMC), and one of the world’s leading shipbuilders will unlock opportunities for collaboration in research and education.
The MoU with Navantia Australia confirms the organisations’ intention to explore mutually beneficial opportunities in maritime construction, design and research.
Potential areas of co-operation include developing an internship program, offering joint PhDs, staff and student exchange and conducting collaborative research projects.
Associate Professor Jonathan Binns, leader of defence related research at AMC, sees the MoU as the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between the two organisations.
“Formalising our engagement with Navantia signals our intent to establish a program of work that will bring significant benefits to both parties, to the next generation of maritime professionals, and to the sector more generally.
“As one of the world’s foremost shipbuilders in the defence area, and with substantial activity in Australia, we hope to bring our maritime research, training and education expertise to work with Navantia on some of the key challenges and opportunities in the industry.”
Francisco Barón, Navantia’s Australia managing director, also views the MoU as an important tool for developing close cooperation with AMC in activities related to the Australian maritime domain.
“Navantia Australia’s relationship with AMC should become a great channel for the development of Naval design capabilities and other skills in maritime systems in Australia.”
As part of the $90 billion naval defence spend announced in April 2016, Navantia was contracted by the Australian government to build and sustain the two new replenishment ships. This followed a previous engagement to provide the RAN with Helicopter Landing Docks, Air Warfare Destroyers and light landing craft.