Manufacturer Siemens will provide the University of Queensland with software for digital manufacturing, with an in-kind commercial value of $500m. The kit includes product lifecycle management platform, “which digitally tracks a product’s life from its design inception through to manufacture, use, maintenance and disposal.”

UoQ points to multi-scenario vehicle traffic flows and simulations for physiotherapy rehab as examples of the vast range of applications.

The grant is part of a $1bn Siemens programme with Australian universities. In August 2017, it provided Swinburne U with $135m in manufacturing software to create a digital factory of the future, (CMM August 15 2017). The company followed with $447m worth of engineering, energy and shipbuilding software for UWA, which could create “a virtual twin” of an LNG plant (CMM November 6 2017). Siemens went on to supply the University of South Australia with product management software for manufacturing, (CMM June 7 2018).