ARM Hub Industry Day: Driving innovation in Australian manufacturing
The ARM Hub hosted its highly anticipated Industry Day at its Northgate Learning Factory on 18 March, celebrating advanced manufacturing in Australia.
The event showcased cutting-edge projects, launched new initiatives, and reinforced the vital role of collaboration in transforming Australia’s technology and manufacturing landscape. It is also marked five years of ARM Hub working with industry.
Showcasing industry innovation
ARM Hub CEO Professor Cori Stewart highlighted the impact of collaborative projects on driving industrial innovation in her presentation at the evening event attended by 100 of Queensland’s industry, government and research representatives.
“The ARM Hub has built agile capability for industry-led innovation,” Professor Stewart said.
“What you are seeing and hearing tonight is an innovation culture, community and practice that has been built over five years, with the Hub as the engine room.
“The Hub is now recognised as Australia’s leading operational end-to-end manufacturing innovation centre.
Professor Stewart said manufacturing was important “because making things here, value adding to products here, fuels productivity and competitiveness across all industry sectors”.
“Manufacturing is key to us investing in being a smart country through research and the commercialisation of this research, and of course, it creates sustainable high-value jobs in many corners of Queensland and across the country.”
Professor Stewart encouraged the audience to read the ARM Hub’s new White Paper, which outlines how the ARM Hub has set a new global standard for the ambition and operation of manufacturing innovation centres.
She said this had been achieved through the ARM Hub’s three key services—Data and AI, scaleup manufacturing, and accelerators.
- Read the new White Paper here
Introducing Exit2030
A key announcement was the launch of Exit2030, ARM Hub’s newest program designed for deeptech and advanced manufacturing founders.
“Exit 2030 is a mastermind group for founders who plan to exit their businesses in the next 3–5 years,” Professor Stewart explained.
“We recognise that exiting these companies isn’t like selling a typical business. Investors and acquirers care about more than just revenue—they look at IP defensibility, scalability, strategic positioning, and long-term value creation.”
- Find out more here
Academic and industry partners
Australian Cobotics Centre Director and ARM Hub Technical Director, Professor Jonathan Roberts, emphasised the value of partnerships between industry, research, and facilities such as ARM Hub.
“Without ARM Hub, a typical university research group would not have the infrastructure to conduct this level of prototyping,” Professor Roberts said after referencing joint projects such as the Cobotic Welding Training Program and automating hazardous tasks at Infrabuild.
“InfraBuild manufactures reinforcing steel bars for construction. Occasionally, some bars are too short, requiring workers to manually remove them—a task that involves reaching into a moving production line,” he said.
“By working together, we co-designed a prototype tool that can be mounted on a robot to identify and remove short bars safely. This innovation stemmed from a brainstorming session with InfraBuild’s team, and within ten minutes, an engineer sketched the concept that became the prototype.”
- Learn about the Australian Cobotics Centre here
Queensland is ‘open for business’
Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Minister for Manufacturing and Minister for Regional and Rural Development, the Hon Dale Last told the audience that ARM Hub’s work ‘aligns with the Queensland Government’s vision for manufacturing’.
“We believe Queensland should be the most attractive state for manufacturers to invest in. Manufacturing in Queensland is a sleeping giant – it’s time to awake it and take it to the next level,” he said.
“Our message is simple: Queensland is open for business. We have the resources, the infrastructure, and most importantly, the people. That’s why we are focused on driving our manufacturing industry forward, particularly in regional communities, ensuring Queensland is at the forefront of robotics, automation, digitisation, and design-led thinking.
“Because of ARM Hub, Queensland’s manufacturing sector is leading the way in these transformative technologies.”
The Call for a Stronger Scaleup Ecosystem
Keynote speaker, Greg Miller, emphasised the need for a stronger business scaling ecosystem in Australia.
Mr Miller is the co-founder of Arena Mars and former owner of tech scaleup Faethm AI. His co-founder Michael Priddis was one of the panellists on the night.
“Innovation doesn’t come from sticky notes and whiteboards—it comes from pissed-off people. And Michael and I are pissed off. Every founder we meet agrees: Australia needs a scaleup ecosystem,” said Mr Miller.
Mr Miller said their exit from Faethm AI—sold to Pearson, one of the world’s largest education companies—demonstrated that Australia has a ‘massive scaleup gap’.
“(Australians) are great at starting companies, but we struggle to help them reach global scale. If you’re a startup founder who has raised a seed round, has a few million in revenue, and wants to go global, the support system just isn’t there. Most OECD countries have robust scaleup ecosystems. Australia does not.
“And that’s something we’re going to change.”
Arena Mars was founded to build the missing scaleup ecosystem.
“Look at Canada’s MaRs Discovery District – a $400M Federal investment that has created tens of thousands of jobs, generated billions in revenue, and helped startups reach global scale. Similar models exist in Stockholm, Paris, and Germany.
“We’re bringing those capabilities to Australia—not to build another physical innovation hub, but to connect startups with the customers, partners, and capital they need to grow”.
- Learn more about Arena Mars here
Strengthening Australian sovereign manufacturing
Industry Day underscored the power of partnerships between industry, research institutions, and organisations like ARM Hub in accelerating industrial transformation. Attendees engaged with Australia’s brightest minds in robotics, AI, and advanced manufacturing, working together to shape the future of sovereign manufacturing in Australia.