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Land Defence Australia Young Innovator Scholarship – DMTC Researcher Wins

DMTC research engineer, Tristan Alexander of Deakin University, has been awarded the Land Defence Australia Young Innovator Scholarship. This award was presented at the Land Forces Conference 2014 in Brisbane and recognises individuals who are leaders in technology and innovation in the land domain.

Tristan was presented the award as a result of his work in polymer ceramics. These materials are a composite material created via the addition of a ceramic material into polymer matrix, enabling lower cost, more easily fabricated, more multihit resistant strike face materials. These can be utilised in applications where the use of traditional ceramic armour is difficult or costly. Key advances include the development of new tooling and quasi-static test methods improving yields and development time. To date, the materials have been modified using novel particle functionalization and introducing new materials like graphene. The result has been a 350% modulus increase and a 180% increase in round deformation.