Construction materials supplier Boral has formed a five-year partnership with the University of Technology Sydney to accelerate the product innovation, research, development and commercialisation of low carbon concrete.
The partnership has resulted in the establishment of the UTS Boral Centre for Sustainable Building at UTS Tech Lab, bringing academia and industry together to research and innovate sustainable building technologies.
Australia-based Boral says the venture will provide it with access to specialist equipment, in addition to UTS academic and technical staff, and co-locates some of the company’s best researchers and scientists at UTS Tech Lab, a multidisciplinary research facility.
The partnership aims to rapidly advance Australia’s transition to a low carbon economy, with practical pathways delivering incremental and transformational steps to low carbon building and construction.
Boral says it will also enhance the work of its in-house innovation teams in Australia and the United States, who deliver practical solutions through industry partnerships and the development of sustainable building materials.
“We’re passionate about product innovation and sustainability because it represents our future,” said Dr Ross Harper, Boral Group president, HSE, sustainability, innovation and operations excellence. “It is strategically important for Boral to maintain its current position and respond to emerging trends, change and disruption.”
UTS Boral Centre for Sustainable Building co-director, professor Vute Sirivivatnanon added: “Partnering with Boral will significantly advance our research into, and development of, construction materials at Tech Lab, increasing the size and capacity of our research team and accelerating the impact of their work. The centre will also act as an incubator for the next generation of industry-focused researchers, providing them with the skills and experience to become industry leaders of the future.”
As part of the partnership, Boral has sponsored eight scholarships for students to join researchers, with a focus on providing sustainable solutions to key challenges facing the cement and concrete industry.
A UTS academic and a Boral R&D scientist will co-supervise their industry-focused research.
