Today's opening of the latest building at the University of Wollongong's Innovation Campus will herald a new era for international scientific research.Kim Carr, Federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, will open the $29 million Australian Institute for Innovative Materials (AIIM) at Fairy Meadow. He will be joined by the CEO of the Australian Research Council and University of Wollongong Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gerard Sutton, for the ceremony.The Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, which is housed in the AIIM, is undertaking cutting-edge research in fields such as medical bionics and renewable energy. Institute director Professor Gordon Wallace said the opening would be raising the flag to let the world know they had arrived."It's taken a few months to get established but now we're saying to the international research community that we're up and flying and open for business," he said.Prof Wallace and his team of 70 researchers began moving into the building five months ago but have only just put the finishing touches to their new work environment, which he described as "unique"."It's been custom-designed for our research team and I don't think many get that privilege," he said.The research team was involved in the planning process of AIIM from the start and Prof Wallace said this had resulted in a very efficient work environment."Less tangible, but perhaps even more important, is we have innovative people literally bouncing off each other and already we've seen the benefits of that in the few months we've been here," he said.AIIM is also home to another of the university's flagship research institutes, the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM). Under the directorship of Professor Shi Xue Dou, ISEM is recognised internationally for its research capability on advanced materials and technology.Prof Wallace said it was hoped AIIM's work would have global effects.