	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


	Perspective of a Young Australian Materials Researcher: Opportunities and Challenges It is an exciting time for young materials researchers. Advances in materials technology will play a key role in addressing a number of the world’s most pressing problems: energy supply and storage, reductions in pollution levels, water purification, new methods for treating disease and illness, national defense, etc ---more

Research News
	It takes CARE to turn waste materials into good soil Soil is a composite material, and a very valuable one at that. It’s made from stable minerals and organic compounds that give it structure, porosity and fertility. Researchers at the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE) are exploring the creation of a new industry – making soil. And the new artificial soils will be made from waste materials which other industries and sectors – including manufacturing, farming and urban waste – now throw away. ---more

Tin Tacks
	Of silver and firescale Eileen Procter is a materials conservator at the Australian War Memorial. She’s long been fascinated by the properties of silver and recently undertook an investigation on the problem of firescale and silver alloys at the Gold and Silversmithing Workshop at the ANU School of Arts. ---more

Know your material
	Light cars lighten the load Did you know that around four fifths of the energy released by burning fuel to drive a car is lost mainly as heat and exhaust? And because cars a so heavy, almost all of the remaining one fifth of released energy is actually going to moving the car. It’s been estimated that only around 1% of the fuel consumed actually goes on moving the passengers. Lightening the materials that make up a car is obviously one way to attack this inefficiency and last year CSIRO launched a national research partnership aimed at positioning Australia as a technology leader in designing lighter car components. ---more

Sensational Materials
	Materials get the big drop at QUT Scientists from NASA, Europe and Australia will beat a path to the Queensland University of Technology when the southern hemisphere's only microgravity tower is completed later this year. The microgravity tower will reach 30 metres tall and allow scientists to study, in a reduced-gravity environment, many diverse phenomena in many fields including nanomaterials, new materials, fire-safety, metallurgy, biotechnology and combustion. ---more


	A perfect sphere from single pure crystal The best sphere the ACPO team has made had a total out-of-roundness of 35 nanometres. That is, the diameter varies by an average of only 35 millionths of a millimetre, making it probably the roundest object in the world. ---more


	Car colour a big factor in safety While a lot of effort goes in to engineering stronger materials to make cars safer, a new study by researchers at Monash University suggests we should also be thinking about the car’s colour. And if it’s safety your after, guess what, go for a white car over a black one. ---more

Archive News

Editor - David Salt