The Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) and CMC Microsystems have signed an agreement that promises to increase opportunities for international collaboration, and to provide clients of both networks with easier access to world-leading expertise and equipment.
Both organisations offer training, consultancy, and direct access to equipment required to design and fabricate new technologies. ANFF provides industry and academia with more than 100 micro and nanofabrication experts and 500+ related tools within Australia, while CMC facilitates access to more than 50 tools and 25 fabrication services for micro/nanotechnology design and development through Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN).
The broad-ranging agreement will provide ANFF users with a framework to leverage the knowledge, expertise and server software developed by CMC over the past two decades as it replicates its computer-aided design (CAD) service for use by researchers in Australia. By use of scalable Cloud-based computer servers and exclusive licensing arrangements with CAD tool suppliers, this special engagement will augment CMC-managed infrastructure for users of ANFF.
In return, CMC clients are provided with mechanisms to harness ANFF’s world-leading network of expertise and equipment that complements, broadens and enhances the existing offering of open-access micro and nanofabrication capabilities available to Canadian researchers.
“The capabilities of the ANFF are a strategic complement to the activities of our network,” said Gord Harling, President and CEO of CMC. “Working together, we can increase our offerings and can create new opportunities for researchers to collaborate and innovate.”
“This agreement will bring the process development and research talents of both the ANFF and CMC staff closer together as they strive to meet the challenges provided by an international user group which is pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible,” Dr Ian Griffiths, ANFF CEO, said.
“With a quantum science sector erupting out of Sydney, and with new MEMS, medical, sensing and optoelectric technologies being developed within ANFF’s locations across Australia, this is the perfect time for us to strengthen international ties with world-leaders in the field of enabling commercialisation such as CMC,” Dr Griffiths concluded.
If you would like to find out more about how to benefit from this agreement, please contact Dr Jane Fitzpatrick, ANFF COO, or Mr Gordon Harling, CMC Microsystems CEO.
About ANFF
Established under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) provides academia and industry with access to more than 500 state-of-the-art micro/nanofabrication facilities spread across 21 Australian locations.
For more than a decade, ANFF has been enabling research through a mixture of training, expert support and direct access.
The capability provided by ANFF enables users to process hard materials (metals, composites and ceramics) and soft materials (polymers and polymer-biological moieties) and transform these into structures that have application in sensors, medical devices, nanophotonics and nanoelectronics.
About CMC Microsystems and Canada’s National Design Network
CMC Microsystems works with researchers and industry across Canada’s National Design Network, providing access to world-class tools, technologies, expertise and industrial capabilities for designing, prototyping and manufacturing innovations in microsystems and nanotechnologies. CMC reduces barriers to technology adoption by creating and sharing platform technologies.
Dr Jane Fitzpatrick
COO, ANFF
+61 7 334 69360
Jane.fitzpatrick@anff.org.au
Gord Harling
President and CEO, CMC Microsystems
+1 613 449 6820
Harling@cmc.ca