iscover
Flinders University and BlueForge Alliance Australia have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on maritime research and education programs in support of AUKUS.
Announced on Tuesday, the MOU (signed initially at the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition 2025) seeks to develop and deliver research, education, and workforce development as AUKUS continues to formalise and develop.
“Flinders University is internationally recognised as a leader in advanced manufacturing capability at our innovation campus at Tonsley in Adelaide, South Australia, and is already supporting the naval shipbuilding industry through capability uplift, making us a natural academic partner for BlueForge Alliance in Australia,” said Professor Raymond Chan, Flinders deputy vice-chancellor (research).
BlueForge Alliance Australia (BFAA) is an Australian not-for-profit that aims to forge partnerships with industry, government and academia to enhance Australia’s sovereign maritime industrial base. The MOU will provide Flinders University with the ability to support educational programs that uplift Australia’s supply chain capability as well as enhance the high-skilled workforce development for current and future students.
“This agreement reinforces our longstanding leadership in research and education that supports Australia’s current and future defence needs.
“It builds on our strength in advanced manufacturing at the Flinders’ Factory of the Future and innovative education programs, enabling an impactful partnership with BlueForge Alliance and its US partners.”
Flinders University has a range of existing partnerships and has positioned itself as a fundamental educational institution in the defence environment. With the United States, Flinders has partnered with the University of Rhode Island to deliver Australia’s first nuclear engineering major and has a formal collaboration with the United States Navy research centre where Flinders signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport to strengthen Australia–US defence relations.
This most recent MOU builds on a separate, existing agreement between the BFAA and the South Australian government.
