The Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Surface Engineering for Advanced Materials (SEAM) will be Australia’s premier manufacturing Research and Development centre that focuses on applied research with tangible outcomes to nurture and cultivate the industrial innovation leaders of tomorrow. The Centre aspires to provide an excellent environment for carrying out research, explore projects with industry, government and other organisation. SEAM will target the training of early career researchers in an industrial context and build an international research collaborative network and pursue ambitious outcomes that are reflected as industry-fit researchers providing a commercial benefits for industry. The outcomes of the applied research and Intellectual Property creation will promote new commercial ventures for Australian and international entrepreneurs. Three surface engineering themes form the technological foundation of SEAM, and promote interactions between and among these technologies, these are: thin films, thick coatings and additive manufacturing.