Imagine Intelligent Materials Receives Funding From Defence Innovation Hub

The technology is aimed at enhancing the safety of Australian Defence Force members by incorporating advanced materials into body armour.

Imagine Intelligent Materials Limited, Australia’s Leading Graphene Sensing Company is one of the beneficiaries of the Morrison government’s investment into Australian defence industries announced today by The Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Melissa Price MP.

The $14.6 million funding round announced today is part of an Australian Federal Government commitment of $640 million, delivered through The Defence Innovation Hub. So far, the Defence Innovation Hub has awarded over $200 million in innovation contracts, with more than 80 per cent of this investment flows to small Australian businesses.

The Minister said, “These contracts will support the development of a range of technologies that span areas such as space, electronic warfare, and power generation to build a more advanced and capable Defence Force.”

Imagine will receive $271,000 to explore and develop applications utilising advanced materials in military body armour that, if successful, will enhance the safety of Australian Defence Force members and reduce maintenance costs. This work will take place in Imagine’s operation in North Geelong, Victoria.

Chris Gilbey, CEO and Executive Chairman of Imagine said, “Securing this contract at this point in time is great news for Imagine and for our team. Our primary focus continues to be on the development of large-scale surfaces that sense, communicate and deliver valuable information. Australian universities are leaders in materials science research. At Imagine, we leverage the best scientific and engineering thinking and work to deliver manufacturable, scalable sensing solutions.”

About Imagine Intelligent Materials:

Imagine IM is an Australian graphene sensing company, founded in 2014 by Chris Gilbey and Phil Aitchison. Imagine has developed a licensing and certification model that assures participants in the supply chain of the replicability of graphene functionality and quality. Imagine is the lead industrial partner in Graphene Certification Labs, based at Swinburne University and was also the first Australian company to build a commercial scale graphene manufacturing capability.  Imagine was the first company in the world to develop conductive geosynthetic materials using functionalised graphene and is the first company to be able to deliver large scale surface sensing using graphene.