	Vision and Mission. A company's vision and mission is the driving force behind what they do. So what drives Future Materials? ---more
	Future Materials Capabilities Database. Including details of expertise, research facilities and equipment the Capability Database is a great tool for matching industry need with university supply ---more

Future Materials Weblog

FM Awards 2006
Congratulations to the finalists and winners ---more

Case Histories

Extensive case history file.
The following represents a small selection of the way in which the resources of Future Materials have been utilised ---more

Partners and Sponsors

Supporters and Sponsors
Sponsored by AusIndustry, Future Materials brings together the resources of Australia's foremost materials technology research institutions---more

Corporate Sponsors

Future Materials News


	ARNAM, research and industry ---more

Research News
	A nanostamp of approval Some ten years ago Professor Jim Williams set about investigating why it was that silicon’s structural properties changed when you stamped it. He wasn’t trying to solve a problem for industry, it was simply an interesting question. However, it looks as if what started out as pure research has opened up rich new possibilities for the whole semiconductor industry. ---more

Tin Tacks
	Decommissioning HIFAR Australia’s first research reactor, HIFAR, was shut down forever on 30 January 2007. For the past fifty years it has irradiated hundreds of tonnes of silicon for the international semiconductor industry and also supplied radioisotopes for industrial use. However, decommissioning a nuclear reactor is a lot more complicated than closing down most machines. The presence of radioactivity means you can’t simply switch it off and walk away. ---more

Know your material
	Why is metal like sand? Researchers at the University of Queensland have discovered that metals bear exciting similarities to granular materials like sand. ---more

Sensational Materials
	Wood stores carbon – true or rubbish? Growing trees is often cited as one way of locking up carbon from the atmosphere. But many of those trees are then processed into products and those products mostly end up at the tip. When you dump a piece of wood at the tip, how long does it take for it to release its stored carbon into the atmosphere? No-one really knows but researchers from the NSW Department of Primary Industries are digging deep to find out. ---more


	Space age material to cool building A ground-breaking material which helps regulate temperatures inside buildings will be used in a new building at Charles Sturt University. The building material is in the form of special boards similar to plaster board. These boards include small granules of a waxlike material that liquefies at higher temperatures, increasing its capacity to absorb heat from surrounding air. ---more


	Making metal in a greenhouse world Our modern world is built on a framework of steel and other metals. Few other materials offer the strength and the flexibility. But making steel uses an incredible amount of energy and that energy is largely sourced from the burning of fossil fuels which releases vast quantities of greenhouse gases. A report by CSIRO Minerals and the Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (CSRP) has found that innovation in steel and aluminium production offers the greatest potential to reduce global energy needs and greenhouse gas emissions in the minerals industry. ---more

Archive News

Editor - David Salt