Developing technologies that support the genetic modification of rats. Rats and the mouse play critical roles in medical research. Until recently, the targeted genetic modification of a mammal was limited to the mouse. This was due to a technology that was unique to the mouse: embryonic stem (ES) cells. These cells have not been isolated from any other species. The recent development of animal cloning allows for an alternate strategy for targeting genes. We propose to develop cloning strate ....Developing technologies that support the genetic modification of rats. Rats and the mouse play critical roles in medical research. Until recently, the targeted genetic modification of a mammal was limited to the mouse. This was due to a technology that was unique to the mouse: embryonic stem (ES) cells. These cells have not been isolated from any other species. The recent development of animal cloning allows for an alternate strategy for targeting genes. We propose to develop cloning strategies in the rat that supports the genetic modification of this animal. The development of this technology will bring considerable benefits to the areas of physiological research and drug design.Read moreRead less
Accurate Location Service for 3G Cellular Networks. The project aims to improve the accuracy of automatic location identification of GPS enabled handsets in third-generation cellular networks via a modified Differential GPS method. The proposed sub-metre location ability will be a value-added service of the network providers and will appeal to a wide sector of users. The challenge is to develop a cost effective solution by utilising existing network infrastructure. We propose to use the GPS timi ....Accurate Location Service for 3G Cellular Networks. The project aims to improve the accuracy of automatic location identification of GPS enabled handsets in third-generation cellular networks via a modified Differential GPS method. The proposed sub-metre location ability will be a value-added service of the network providers and will appeal to a wide sector of users. The challenge is to develop a cost effective solution by utilising existing network infrastructure. We propose to use the GPS timing units in 3G networks for deriving local GPS position corrections; and to transfer these corrections to the users via the 3G data bursts of the beacons or other user data broadcasts.Read moreRead less
Advanced Space-Time Coded Multiuser Wireless Communications via Test-bed Development. Meeting the global demand for mobile and wireless communications depends critically on reliable and high rate data transfer. Unfortunately, communications medium idiosyncrasies pose formidable challenges. Very recently, in combatting this, major breakthroughs have been achieved whereby the use of multiple antennas allows for drastic data-rate increases. These advances use sophisticated Space-Time coding metho ....Advanced Space-Time Coded Multiuser Wireless Communications via Test-bed Development. Meeting the global demand for mobile and wireless communications depends critically on reliable and high rate data transfer. Unfortunately, communications medium idiosyncrasies pose formidable challenges. Very recently, in combatting this, major breakthroughs have been achieved whereby the use of multiple antennas allows for drastic data-rate increases. These advances use sophisticated Space-Time coding methods, and while they are causing great excitement in terms of their simulation performance, it is not clear how they will perform in practice, or in fact how they are to be realistically implemented. This project will address this issue by building a world-first testbed that implements a high rate wireless communications system using Space-Time and other coding methods.Read moreRead less
Improving the efficiency of bovine oocyte maturation in vitro. For the dairy and beef industries, the hundreds of eggs (oocytes) in a high value cow's ovary that fail to produce a pregnancy are a wasted genetic resource. A key technology to unlocking this resource is in vitro maturation of oocytes, but the process is inefficient. One possible cause is that the current approaches to maturing oocytes in vitro do not adequately mimic the natural process in vivo. We will design new systems to matu ....Improving the efficiency of bovine oocyte maturation in vitro. For the dairy and beef industries, the hundreds of eggs (oocytes) in a high value cow's ovary that fail to produce a pregnancy are a wasted genetic resource. A key technology to unlocking this resource is in vitro maturation of oocytes, but the process is inefficient. One possible cause is that the current approaches to maturing oocytes in vitro do not adequately mimic the natural process in vivo. We will design new systems to mature cow oocytes in vitro by altering the chemical composition of maturation medium, thus improving the efficiency of laboratory embryo production and related technologies.Read moreRead less
Running Hot: Increasing the Availability of World-Class Precision Timing . Precision clocks are a key enabler for many important technologies including navigation, radar, distributed computing and communications. Unfortunately, the very best clocks are currently bulky and very expensive. This project will take Australia’s multi-award winning sapphire clock technology and transform it so that its unmatched performance is available from a unit with an order of magnitude smaller size, power consum ....Running Hot: Increasing the Availability of World-Class Precision Timing . Precision clocks are a key enabler for many important technologies including navigation, radar, distributed computing and communications. Unfortunately, the very best clocks are currently bulky and very expensive. This project will take Australia’s multi-award winning sapphire clock technology and transform it so that its unmatched performance is available from a unit with an order of magnitude smaller size, power consumption and cost. This transformation will be driven on the back of a patented revolutionary step that allows operation of the sapphire clock at higher cryogenic temperatures. The new clock will have a wider range of applications delivering more computational power, higher bandwidth transmissions and better radar. Read moreRead less
Gigabit Wireless: Setting the Standard for Tomorrow's Broadband. This project will strengthen a long-term alliance between researchers at the University of Melbourne and NEC Australia, one of the few multinational research laboratories with significant R & D presence in Australia. Researchers at the University of Melbourne with expertise in communication theory fundamentals will collaborate with experienced research and design engineers at NEC, to produce fundamental research, and the resulting ....Gigabit Wireless: Setting the Standard for Tomorrow's Broadband. This project will strengthen a long-term alliance between researchers at the University of Melbourne and NEC Australia, one of the few multinational research laboratories with significant R & D presence in Australia. Researchers at the University of Melbourne with expertise in communication theory fundamentals will collaborate with experienced research and design engineers at NEC, to produce fundamental research, and the resulting design tools and intellectual property that will provide a new direction for wireless broadband access. The project will provide high-quality postgraduate and postdoctoral training in an area of great relevance to the Australian telecommunications industry.Read moreRead less
Chemical inhibition: a new approach to investigate the role of a key protease, CtHtrA, from Chlamydia trachomatis. Infertility in women frequently results from infection with Chlamydia trachomatis. This project will develop an inhibitor compound against a important protein from this bacteria. This will establish a new scientific approach to study Chlamydia trachomatis. This project will also contribute to the development of new treatments for infertility.
Telematics: Research & Development of Mobile Link for Telemedicine. This project is aimed at producing a reliable mobile video link between ambulance and hospital. In an emergency situation, video footage greatly assists the medical team in accurate deployment of resources to save lives. Motorola will be the industrial partner and this mobile telemedicine project fits into their telematics core business area. Together with Motorola, we will investigate video coding schemes, protocols and network ....Telematics: Research & Development of Mobile Link for Telemedicine. This project is aimed at producing a reliable mobile video link between ambulance and hospital. In an emergency situation, video footage greatly assists the medical team in accurate deployment of resources to save lives. Motorola will be the industrial partner and this mobile telemedicine project fits into their telematics core business area. Together with Motorola, we will investigate video coding schemes, protocols and network issues, to produce a commercially viable software/hardware solution. The outcome will be a working testbed that can be trialed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The IP generated will benefit Motorola's telematics directive and training will generate a potentially useful future employee.Read moreRead less
Digitally Assisted Power Amplifier Design with Enhanced Energy Efficiency. The project aims to advance design techniques for power amplifiers operating in the recently allocated spectrum for 5G New Radio, from approximately 24 GHz to 52 GHz. The intended outcome is a compact and high efficiency transmitter using digitally assisted power amplifier design techniques in low-cost Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Such innovation will have significant impacts on our daily lif ....Digitally Assisted Power Amplifier Design with Enhanced Energy Efficiency. The project aims to advance design techniques for power amplifiers operating in the recently allocated spectrum for 5G New Radio, from approximately 24 GHz to 52 GHz. The intended outcome is a compact and high efficiency transmitter using digitally assisted power amplifier design techniques in low-cost Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Such innovation will have significant impacts on our daily life, as it will build the hardware foundation for the next generation of wireless systems. Consequently, various emerging applications such as virtual/augmented reality will be supported, maintaining national leadership in the development of wireless technology, and providing economic benefits for Australian industries.Read moreRead less
The photonic immunochip: retrieving individual Enzyme-linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) array-units using optical waveguide multicolour fluorescence. Improving the sensitivity and availability of in-vitro immuno-diagnostic tests is a critical goal towards developing real time efficient tools for the detection of infectious diseases, cancers, allergies and auto-immune diseases. The goal is to increase the sensitivity of these tests by reducing background noise that has been a feature of the com ....The photonic immunochip: retrieving individual Enzyme-linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) array-units using optical waveguide multicolour fluorescence. Improving the sensitivity and availability of in-vitro immuno-diagnostic tests is a critical goal towards developing real time efficient tools for the detection of infectious diseases, cancers, allergies and auto-immune diseases. The goal is to increase the sensitivity of these tests by reducing background noise that has been a feature of the commonly used ELISA technology. This will be achieved by developing a novel optical integrated waveguide array supporting a large range of distributed tests, including several based on a novel multi-colour detection scheme. This massively parallel approach will underpin a new generation of low-cost, efficient diagnostic tests.Read moreRead less