An aero mirror set made by Sydney Composites. The company will be producing a batch of this same product to test its new rapid cycle heat transfer molding process. Source (All Images) | Sydney Composites
A collaborative project backed by the Australian Composites Manufacturing CRC (ACM CRC, Sydney) will greatly expand output and lower costs at Sydney Composites (Wetherill Park NSW), a specialist advanced composites manufacturer that takes projects across a range of industries from design and simulation through to tooling and finished parts. The project will help the company pursue international opportunities, scale its business and bring a new production technology to Australia.
Sydney Composites marks its 10th anniversary in December 2026. Over that decade, it has built a reputation for high-performance carbon fiber components, most visibly in elite motorsport such as the World Time Attack Challenge, and has extended that capability into renewable energy, medical and industrial applications.
ACM CRC is backing a project linking Sydney Composites with its longtime collaborator, aerodynamics specialist JKF Consultants (Sydney, Australia), as well as special purpose machinery builder McMillan Engineering Group (Victoria, Australia). This will deliver a new rapid cycle heat transfer molding process that could take cycle times from 4 hours to 10 minutes.
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Sydney Composites has years of visibility in elite motorsport.
“It’s a manufacturing method combining a few different curing methods,” explains Luke Preston, CEO of ACM CRC. “As well as boosting output at Sydney Composites by somewhere between 400-650%, it offers drastic savings in labor and energy costs, as well as the asset depreciation cost per part produced. The commercial potential is huge, and it introduces an important production capability to Australia.”
Greg Kerba, Sydney Composites CEO, founder and owner, adds that the rapid cycle heat transfer molding process will address two significant challenges faced by local composites companies: a shortage of skills for manual, layup-based production and the high-cost local environment.
“Everyone [in Australia] is doing very small batch production with slow cycle times,” says Kerba. “There will be ways that we can help other new clients and markets after this project is complete.”
The 12-month project will see theoretical validation followed by implementation and testing of the process, taking it from technology readiness level (TRL) 3 to TRL 7. The first batch of products will be 10 composite aerofoil car mirrors, which will be tested for parameters including mechanical strength versus mirrors made by traditional oven or autoclave curing methods.
Notably, rapid cycle heat transfer molding will also offer new possibilities for Sydney Composites to serve clients outside of its traditional automotive market, including those in medtech and renewable energy.
“Being a small business, having an idea and trying to push innovation in manufacturing can be a lonely path,” says Kerba. “We are appreciative of the ACM CRC team backing us and our ambitions to grow.”