Starting in April of this year, student activists at the University of Sydney occupied the front lawns of the Quadrangle Building for over 50 days in protest of the university’s complicity in the ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel against innocent Palestinian people. The encampment at USyd would spark student activists at other university campuses, from Curtin University, Australian National University, and the universities of Melbourne, Newcastle and Wollongong, to occupy lawns and buildings in protest of their respective institutional ties.
UTS is not exempt from such ties with weapons manufacturers. In particular, the faculties of Engineering and Information Technology have the clearest allegiances with companies like Lockheed Martin and Thales. So what exactly is our university supporting?
Thales
French company Thales is a multinational weapons manufacturer that deals with the defence industry. Most notably, the company is in a partnership with Israeli defence company Elbit System, which manufactures drones and other unmanned vehicles.
In late April of 2023, the company extended its partnership with UTS through a Memorandum of Understanding which promised an increase in research and development for the Engineering Faculty and a focus on female and Indigenous students pursuing STEM.
The company has offered scholarships to Engineering students at UTS. For example, last year the Thales Senior Cooperative Scholarship was offered to students interested in information and communication technology software and/or electrical engineering industries. In 2018 and 2022, Thales also offered the Galuwa Indigenous Engineering Scholarship, aimed at prospective Indigenous engineering students.
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin, an aerospace and defence manufacturer is currently partnered with the university’s Centre of Quantum Software and Information, where research on quantum computing is conducted and tools and techniques for superconducting circuit-based quantum information science are developed, located in the Millikelvin Quantum Science lab.
In 2017, Lockheed Martin partnered with UTS and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in the development of the space industry, a move that the publication Manufacturers Monthly said could have significant implications in the application in the defence industry for interests in space.
Lockheed Martin supplies the Israeli Air Force with F-16 and F-35 fighter jets as well as missiles. In December of last year, the company won a $10 million USD contract for its continued supply of fighter jets to the Israeli Air Force.
NSW Defence Innovation Network
The NSW Defence Innovation Network is an association of nine Australian universities that, according to its website, “brings together industry, universities, State Government and Defence to address Australia’s defence needs.”
UTS, Macquarie University, University of New South Wales, University of Wollongong, Western Sydney University, University of Newcastle, Charles Sturt University, Australian National University and the University of Sydney are the nine universities that comprise the Defence Innovation Network, with the network’s offices located in Building 11 of UTS.
Supported by the NSW Government and the Department of Defence, the network aims to foster collaboration between industries and institutions, increase the state’s research and development in the defence industry, and support the country’s STEM capabilities and pathways to STEM careers in the defence industry.
The UTS Vault
The UTS Vault is a Department of Defence-compliant facility located in the Tech Central Precinct in the CBD. The facility enables collaboration between the private sector, the government and UTS researchers in cybersecurity and defence technologies.
The vault includes workspaces and eight office suites. These are certified Zone 3 and Zone 4 offices according to the Australian Security Standards – meaning that visitors who are on a ‘need-to-know’ basis with the facility require a close escort to accompany them throughout the facility. The security requirements for this facility only highlight the level of confidentiality and the sensitivity of what exactly goes down in the UTS Vault.
Opened by Vice Chancellor Andrew Parfitt and NSW Premier Chris Minns in October of last year, the facility received $7 million in funding from the NSW Government. The openly available, downloadable file providing information about the UTS Vault also mentions researchers at UTS have worked closely with Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), the Australian Defence Force, the Office of National Intelligence and the U.S. Department of Defense. Vertigo is not insinuating that any of these bodies have used UTS Vault for research or defence industry activities.
As the genocide in Palestine continues to unfold in front of our eyes, the calls for universities to cut ties with industries that are closely linked to the actions of the Israeli Government grows louder.