BUILDING THE FUTURE: ManuFutures 2 officially opens in Waurn Ponds

FUTURE manufacturing prospects for emerging Geelong businesses look twice as good with the opening of the ManuFutures 2 hub at Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds campus.

Located behind and connected to the existing facility that opened in 2018, the $20 million expansion is as large as the original ManuFutures building.

It will boost regional manufacturing capabilities through the addition of new manufacturing incubator programs, training, and product engineering services, providing opportunities for an increased number of innovation-focused tenants and start-ups.

The new building includes collaborative working spaces and further rental tenancy bays for manufacturing businesses. It also has an Innoveering Centre that boasts product engineering and development capability, as well as opportunities for research collaboration and integration.

Four manufacturing businesses have already moved into the new spaces as tenants, with room for one more, bringing the number of successful and emerging manufacturing businesses that now call ManuFutures home to 14.

Tenants include driver training simulator UMS (Universal Motion Simulation), haptic firefighting simulator FLAIM, paint recycler Paintback, and battery manufacturer Li-S Energy.

The Manufutures team also has plans to expand its tailored advice and support programs into regional Victoria – with Bendigo, Ballarat and Warrnambool already earmarked – to provide support across the regional manufacturing ecosystem and build a skilled regional workforce.

Deakin vice-chancellor Professor Iain Martin said ManuFutures had helped create more than $1 billion in company value, hosted more than 500 student placements and created more 120 direct new jobs in the advanced manufacturing sector, but the jobs figure could be three or four times higher if indirect jobs were included.

He said the completion of the ManuFutures expansion laid strong foundations for building sovereign manufacturing capability in Victoria.

“This is a wonderful hub to bring together great ideas, great people and the physical resources to be able to turn those ideas into reality.

“It’s linked to the university, it’s sitting in the heart of our Future Economy precinct, which has grown from and idea, to one or two buildings, now to a precinct that is gradually stretching up the valley to bring greater capability and greater scope.

“For Deakin, for Geelong, and for Victoria, this is really important.”

The expansion was funded by the Victorian government ($10 million) and Deakin University ($10 million) as part of part of the Victorian government’s $350 million Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund, which was launched following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Victorian Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Manufacturing Sovereignty Ben Carroll visited ManuFutures 2 on Tuesday of this week for the official opening.

“What’s so exciting about being here in Waurn Ponds is that we are in regional Victoria, and it’s often forgotten how much regional Victoria contributes to manufacturing. It’s the biggest economic sector in regional Victoria, and the other big thing about manufacturing is that eight out of 10 jobs are full time, so it’s a growth engine,” he said.

Wadawurrung woman Corrina Eccles performed a Welcome to Country at the opening and noted the “Journey Across Country” artwork that stretches the length of the interior of ManuFutures 2 was completed by her son, Billy Jay O’Toole.