A newly formed partnership between Chaos1 and UTS Tech Lab is bringing industry and academia closer together to rapidly explore and translate emerging technologies into capability for Defence.
Chaos1, a veteran-owned technology firm, has partnered with UTS Tech Lab to accelerate defence innovation in Australia. The alliance will bring together Chaos1’s expertise in fast-tracking mission-critical technologies with UTS’s world-class research and development capabilities. The aim is to break down traditional barriers in the Defence sector through trust-based partnering, proven processes and speed to capability across industry, academia, and Defence.
Chaos1’s core ‘Innovation eXecution (IX)’ training content provides teams with the capacity, creativity, and capability to rapidly solve complex technology problems. Chaos1’s eXperimentation Lab (XLAB) @ UTS Tech Lab provides the creative space for industry, academia and Defence teams to come together and turn ideas and concepts into capability options for mission-critical teams.
“Our trust-based partnership with UTS Tech Lab is fast-tracking industry and academia’s ability to surge capacity in support of Defence’s innovation operating system. This partnership is a clear example of bridging the gap not only between industry and academia but between technology and capability for the end-user,” said Benny Johanson, Chaos1 Founder and Managing Director.
Accelerating mission readiness
The partnership between Chaos1 and UTS Tech Lab is tackling a long-standing challenge of translating academic research and development into Defence capability by driving user input, informing operational application and aligning capability-mission fit.
The formula is simple: bring academia, industry and the Defence end-user closer together to accelerate mission outcomes.
XLAB @ UTS Tech Lab
A clear example of the partnership is Chaos1’s XLAB, strategically located at UTS Tech Lab. The establishment of XLAB was a deliberate commitment by UTS Tech Lab’s Director Professor Robert Fitch to empower Chaos1’s ability to drive outcome-driven innovation. By aligning with a shared vision to provide a collaborative space for innovators spanning industry, academia, and Defence, XLAB played a pivotal role in the successful execution of October Sky. Presently, XLAB serves as the focal point for various Defence-focused experimentation initiatives.
XLAB is a growing capability, combining the world-class technologies and expertise across UTS and more broadly with Chaos1’s collaboration partners in the US and UK for an Indo-Pacific Experimentation Lab network (XLAB-I).
October Sky
Chaos1 recently delivered the inaugural October Sky technology exploration activity, which attracted 24 companies, three universities and five Government and Defence organisations together across Australia, the United Kingdom and United States. Over 250 people attended the two-week activity, which aimed to address emerging technology challenges aligned to AUKUS Pillar 2.
The activity was attended by the Assistant Minister for Defence, the Hon. Matt Thistlethwaite MP, and the Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko. Defence representatives across the three Services and the US were also in attendance witnessing speed to capability in practice.
“October Sky isn’t your normal activity. It represented a clear demonstration of industry’s role in boosting Defence’s innovation capacity, for both Australia and our Allies. More needs to be done – fast, and October Sky represents an opportunity to move out on some of the tough AUKUS Pillar 2 technology challenges at speed,” said Brad Pettit, Co-Founder and Director of Chaos1.
Fit for purpose
Chaos1 selected UTS as its university partner because of its strong orientation to industry collaboration, world-class facilities, and expertise in key Defence technologies.
“This is a leading example of how an industry partnership can make use of the wider UTS network. Chaos1 have access to our academic expertise and cutting-edge facilities such as The Vault, ProtoSpace, the Data Arena and UTS Tech Lab. The team can also access student talent through undergraduate studios and interns from a range of engineering and IT disciplines. It really is a win-win for our partner and the university.” Director of UTS Tech Lab, Professor Robert Fitch.