Written by Kerryn Caulfield, Executive Director, Composites Australia Inc
Gurit’s Asia Pacific team, led by Tony Stanton, provides composite engineering, testing, and modelling to projects ranging from America’s Cup yachts and solar race cars to electric ferries, bridges, and infrastructure.
The team focuses on lightweighting and materials optimisation, supported by one of the region’s most comprehensive accredited composite testing facilities. This combination gives Gurit a unique capability to apply composite materials effectively across demanding sectors.
Gurit’s operations span five continents, delivering advanced materials and engineering services. Structural engineering design has been a longstanding focus, enabling composites to be applied in marine, transport, infrastructure, aerospace and industrial markets. Global manufacturing hubs supply structural cores, prepregs, resin systems, adhesives and optimised core kits to projects worldwide.
The Asia Pacific team is headquartered in Australasia, with the engineering design office based in New Zealand, serving the wider region.
The engineering team includes specialists in naval architecture, civil engineering, yacht design, structural plan approval, composite processing, sustainability and fluid-structure interaction. Expertise in finite element analysis, kit design and digital manufacturing ensures customers can bridge the gap between design and production with confidence.
Engineering Manager for Gurit Asia Pacific, Tony Stanton, leads regional engineering activities from New Zealand. A qualified mechanical engineer and naval architect, his early career designing performance yachts and long-range powerboats provided him with a deep understanding of the balance between weight, structural performance, and cost.
His entry into engineering coincided with a defining era in New Zealand’s marine industry — the nation’s first America’s Cup win in 1995 and its successful defence in 2000. The event transformed the country into a hub of naval architecture expertise, attracting international talent, driving innovation, and establishing a marine technology cluster that remains in place today.
Stanton reflects: “What excites me is seeing how composites have developed in this region — from high-performance race yachts to now being applied across industries. We’re involved with RVs and buses, buildings, sculptures, medical equipment, and agricultural components. All our customers are looking for performance or production gains and we can bring our breadth of engineering expertise to make that happen.”
ENGINEERING IN PRACTICE
Marine Electrification
Emirates Team New Zealand’s (ETNZ) Chase Zero hydrogen prototype and the East by West electric ferry in Wellington marked a step-change in marine propulsion in the region. Both vessels showed how composites enable new energy technologies by reducing structural weight and increasing efficiency. Gurit provided structural engineering and materials support, ensuring the designs could meet commercial classification standards while maximising performance.
The East by West ferry was a technical breakthrough — the first vessel in the Southern Hemisphere to integrate a fully electric commercial powertrain directly into service at that scale. Gurit engineers optimised the vessel’s platform and designed an innovative removable battery cage system that allowed individual battery strings to be safely installed and removed from the lower hull. Digital manufacturing with CNC-cut panels and core kits streamlined construction, while electrical integration progressed in parallel. The success of these pioneering vessels has positioned the region as a hub for the development of electric ferries and marine transport.
Solar Cars
For the last decade, the Gurit engineering team has supported Australian universities competing in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, a 3,000-kilometre endurance race spanning the continent from Darwin to Adelaide and powered entirely by the sun. Requiring the ultimate in weight reduction, these carbon fibre and honeycomb vehicles must not only survive the journey but also protect the occupant at speeds of around 100 km/h. Chassis designs integrate roll cages and crash protection into lightweight structures.
Working with RMIT University, Western Sydney University (WSU) and the Australian National University (ANU), Gurit has contributed to chassis optimisation, roll hoop integration and crash safety while mentoring students in analysis and fabrication — building the region’s capability in advanced composites.
Infrastructure – Fluidra Pools and Marky Industries
For more than 15 years, Gurit has supported the design optimisation of composite pool bulkheads used in major Australian aquatic centres. These large-span structures, measuring over 25 metres in length, subdivide pools for competition events and can support the weight of up to 40 people while being supported only at the pool edge.
Through successive iterations, Gurit has contributed to structural analysis and material optimisation to reduce build time and cost while maintaining performance. Current development work is focused on the next generation of bulkheads, utilising advanced composites to maintain the competitiveness of this Australian-made product in the global market, with prototype production underway at Marky Industries’ Crestmead site.
A Partner for Advanced Composites
From supplying engineered core kits to delivering complex structures, Gurit provides a vertically integrated capability in Australasia and beyond. Its engineering and testing expertise supports reliable specification and certification, while ongoing R&D into materials behaviour and design advances industry understanding. Gurit’s global network ensures customers benefit from international best practice, rapid delivery and proven solutions for demanding applications.
