Omron and the University of Canberra Sign MOU to help position ACT as a robotics hub

A year ago, OMRON wheeled an industrial robot into our lab, we nicknamed it “Hand Solo,” and somehow ended the day in the most over-qualified basketball game ever played on the UC campus. We had no idea we were at the start of something this good.

What a year it’s been. We co-hosted a Secure Robotics Symposium. We toured OMRON’s Western Sydney facility and scoped real container-unloading problems over what’s still the most technically sophisticated coffee break of our careers. We co-designed the “Industrial Robots and Systems” unit for our new Intelligent Robotics degree, so students now get hands-on with OMRON PLCs and digital twins before they ever step into a workplace. We co-wrote a grant together. UC invested in more OMRON bases and arms. And our RAPP Lab even got an OMRON TM12s arm improvising alongside human performers. Research, education, art, industry, it refused to stay in any one box, which is exactly how we like things at CRL.

Last week it became official. VC Bill Shorten and OMRON Oceania MD Henry Zhou signed an MoU that sets up a three-year framework across three pillars: research, innovation and commercialisation; education and workforce development; and strategic engagement. The first focus is robotics, AI and automation for logistics and warehousing, with the goal of building a jointly-supported innovation hub right here at CRL. The bigger picture is a robotics talent pipeline for Australia and a real shot at making the ACT a genuine robotics hub.

But strip away the equipment and the frameworks and the formal photos, and partnerships really come down to the people behind them. Damith Herath, Maryam Ghahramani and Maleen Jayasuriya have lived this one on our end. Luat Nguyen and Allan Leung brought the rare mix of technical depth and genuine enthusiasm that makes collaborations actually work. And Henry Zhou, whose own Canberra story makes all of this deeply personal, reminded us that this was never really about robots, it was about opening doors for the next person who arrives with hope.

Special thanks to Rachel Heng-Walters for the incredible support in helping bring this MoU signing to fruition, the whole OMRON team, and to VC Bill Shorten for backing the vision. Thanks also to Michelle Lincoln, Fiona Dyer. Rachel Gibson and everyone across University of Canberra who have been providing our team with unwavering support, and to Shin TAKAKUSAGI Thomas Takezawa, and the Embassy of Japan in Australia - who helped get us here.

A year ago this was a handshake and a robot. Now it’s a roadmap. (The basketball rematch, however, remains unsettled. We’re keeping score, OMRON.)

Original article: CRL on LinkedIn