Major health giant moves from Sydney to the Gold Coast

The first major company, which has 2000 employees worldwide, to commit to the Gold Coast’s Health and Knowledge precinct has finally been revealed.

A EUROPEAN 3D printing giant will move to the Gold Coast in the first major signing at a new 200-hectare health precinct.

World-leading manufacturing company Materialise has confirmed it will locate its Australian headquarters to Griffith University’s $80 million facility at Parklands.

The Belgium-based company, which has 2000 employees worldwide, yesterday announced it would move operations from Sydney to Griffith’s Design and Prototyping Technologies Centre (ADaPT).

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Di Dixon, Project Director, Gold Coast Health & Knowledge Precinct, with Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor Griffith University Ned Pankhurst and Materialise Australia Business Manager Madeleine McIntyre.

Construction of ADaPT is expected to start in the first half of this year.

Materialise has handful of employees on the Gold Coast and will expand as the medical engineering market grows.

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Materialise is a global pioneer in 3D printing, helping to revolutionise patient-specific treatments that help improve lives.

Griffith University’s Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Ned Pankhurst said the Materialise move was a coup for the ADaPT centre.

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The Health and Knowledge precinct incubation hub - where 9.5 to 10 hectares of land has been set aside for attracting globally competitive cutting edge firms to drive diversification of the local economy.

“Materialise is truly a world-class company with 24 offices in 19 countries and for them to choose to locate in the GCHKP at the ground-up stage signals the potential for a world-leading hub to develop here,” Professor Pankhurst said.

“We’ve already opened up our ADaPT 1.0 industry showcase facility and Materialise staff will initially be based on campus, alongside our leading researchers who are working in areas such as developing orthopaedic and other medical devices.”

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Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said the city was actively supporting the presence of companies looking to expand and contribute to local employment.

“Medical technology is rapidly advancing and we need the best companies here to carve out our global niche in what will be a huge worldwide market — Materialise is one of the best,” Mayor Tate said.

Materialise Australia business manager Madeleine McIntyre said the Gold Coast had the right combination of world-class research expertise, skilled graduates and lifestyle to attract global talent.

“We have been the backbone of the 3D printing industry for nearly three decades and have pioneered many leading medical applications of 3D printing,” Ms McIntyre said.

“The innovative and collaborative environment provided by the GCHKP will help us to further advance our medical software and services.”

In time, GCHKP’s creators hope to become a unique global business location for hi-tech health industry development.