At AMC, we believe that a sustainable maritime industry is the cornerstone of national security, economic prosperity, and environmental stewardship. To navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing global landscape, we employ a holistic, inter-disciplinary approach that bridges the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world national capability. This is achieved by investigating and seeking solutions on:
- How people can be equipped to adapt to future industry requirements, whether they are coastal or ocean seafarers, transport and logistics operators and managers, or maritime engineers. This includes understanding how maritime systems should be shaped around human behaviour to improve the social, technical and organisational flow associated with operating in ship and ship-related shore environments. We also investigate human performance in extreme events and designing the training for the maritime workforce to respond and be more resilient to crises and emergencies.
- Developing a sustainable and resilient maritime industry through experimental and numerical modelling of the hydrodynamic behaviour of ships and offshore structures, the evaluation of new and developing ports, and the development and deployment of autonomous underwater vehicles.
- Overcoming the challenges of globalisation, security, outsourcing and climate change to develop sustainable and optimised global supply chains.
- Utilising our world-class suite of facilities to offer real-time maritime simulation technology for training, research and investigation for ship manoeuvring, improving ship and port safety and efficiency, optimal propulsion, fuel economy and energy conservation. These investigations are complemented by our well-established Emergency Response Centre.
The maritime industry, similar to many other others is also challenged by requiring a sustainable workforce, for example, it is anticipated that an additional 40,000 trained seafarers will be needed by 2030 to meet the demands of the expanding global industry. In addition, with the development of future shipbuilding and sustainment projects, there is an unmet need for specialised maritime engineers and transport and logistics professionals with a strong understanding of digital shipbuilding processes, supply chain efficiencies, systems engineering principles, digital intelligence and enterprise skills.
To meet the training and education needs of the maritime industry, our research also focuses on innovation through a distinctive curricular experience with accessible and state-of-the-art learning, that ultimately aims to influence education policies and practices across the maritime world. This research includes:
- Improving engineering pathways and building STEM teaching capacity for developing innovative strategies and platforms for tertiary level maritime education and training with an emphasis on regional and remote areas in Australia.
- Competency development of seafarers’ shore-based operation of unmanned and autonomous ships of the future.
- The future skills and capabilities required for transport and logistics professionals.
Our sustainability research is achieved by collaborating with a diverse range of Australian and international maritime companies and organisations, including shipbuilders, naval architecture consultancies, port authorities, marine renewable energy developers and Government regulatory authorities to further our understanding of how to build and operate the most efficient and sustainable maritime platforms, and create a resilient and agile workforce.