Austal Limited has attended the first forum hosted by the Government of Western Australia’s new Innovation Minister, The Hon. Bill Marmion MLA, in preparation for the State’s first Innovation Summit, to be held in Perth on July 28, 2016.
As a WA-based builder of defense and commercial vessels, Austal participated in the forum and said it intends to play a proactive, leadership role in the Innovation Summit to help drive innovation development and investment in Western Australia.
Austal Vice President of Strategy and Commercial Development Andrew Malcolm, who attended the forum, said, “Austal’s successes, both here in Australia and overseas, are underpinned by our continued focus on innovation in vessel design, construction and support.”
“We believe the current opportunities for Austal and the broader WA defense industry in the delivery of the Commonwealth’s continuous naval shipbuilding program – including new Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Royal Australian Navy – will lead to collaboration and even greater innovation by WA companies across the supply chain.”
Austal’s Western Australia-based team of naval architects, designers and production engineers have developed some of the world’s most innovative commercial and defense vessels, including the 127 meter Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and 103 meter Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) for the United States Navy, and the locally built 58 meter Cape Class Patrol Boat for the Australian Border Force and Royal Australian Navy.