Frequency and Voltage Stabilisation in Grid-connected Wind Farms Using Pitch-controlled Doubly Fed Induction Generators (DFIGs). Australian power systems are well developed but currently stretched to their maximum capacity and often over loaded. Development of a pitch controlled doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind farm is a practical solution to extend the capacities of large interconnected power systems. This research ensures that Australian Power Systems are able to incorporate pitch-c ....Frequency and Voltage Stabilisation in Grid-connected Wind Farms Using Pitch-controlled Doubly Fed Induction Generators (DFIGs). Australian power systems are well developed but currently stretched to their maximum capacity and often over loaded. Development of a pitch controlled doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind farm is a practical solution to extend the capacities of large interconnected power systems. This research ensures that Australian Power Systems are able to incorporate pitch-controlled DFIG without sacrificing operational simplicity and flexibility. It allows large scale penetration of renewable wind power into the grid, thereby reducing huge amount of green house gas emissions and delay capital expenditure on critical national assets.Read moreRead less
Innovations in stability, reliability and protection of electric power distribution systems to enable increased use of green energy. This project will develop the innovative concepts necessary to increase the number of renewable energy sources in electric power distribution systems. The aim is to enable systems with a distributed mix of conventional rotary generators and renewable converter interfaced generators to operate safely and to required standards of reliability.
Advanced microelectronic transistor structures for novel biosensor technology. This international, interdisciplinary team aims to develop an electronic biosensor technology that will significantly advance biomedical research to combat human disease. This is likely to have a major social impact on the community, improve health outcomes and generate substantial economic potential for the pharmaceutical industry. The principal benefit of this research will be the fabrication of electronic devices b ....Advanced microelectronic transistor structures for novel biosensor technology. This international, interdisciplinary team aims to develop an electronic biosensor technology that will significantly advance biomedical research to combat human disease. This is likely to have a major social impact on the community, improve health outcomes and generate substantial economic potential for the pharmaceutical industry. The principal benefit of this research will be the fabrication of electronic devices based on advanced materials, significantly reducing the time, the biological material used and the complexity of assessing human cell function. In addition to improving health through novel biosensor techniques, this technology is expected to lead to the creation of commercially important intellectual property.Read moreRead less
Engineering and testing of three mode opto-acoustic parametric amplifiers. This project will engineer a new type of sensor called an opto-acoustic parametric amplifier. It is so sensitive to measure individual quantum units of vibration. The devices use laser light to measure the motion of tiny mirrors. Practical devices could be used to create quantum memory for quantum computers and sensors of exquisite sensitivity.
Growth dynamics and innovative spectroscopic techniques for real-time control of advanced electronics materials grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Many important semiconductor devices for communications, lasers, high speed electronics and optical sensing are based on materials grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). This research will provide the first measurements of the reactions taking place during MBE and thus enable accurate growth of the complex multi-layered material required for improved se ....Growth dynamics and innovative spectroscopic techniques for real-time control of advanced electronics materials grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Many important semiconductor devices for communications, lasers, high speed electronics and optical sensing are based on materials grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). This research will provide the first measurements of the reactions taking place during MBE and thus enable accurate growth of the complex multi-layered material required for improved semiconductor devices. In particular, this project will make a major contribution to Australia's established capability to produce and develop state-of-the art infrared sensors as required for defence applications, remote sensing of minerals and pollutants, chemical analysis, and health diagnostics. PhD students will be trained in advanced semiconductor growth and optical sensing technologies.Read moreRead less
Optimum Multi-rate Filter Bank Design for Speech Enhancement and Communication Systems. Multi-rate signal processing is gaining more and more importance in signal processing applications such as echo cancellation, microphone arrays, speech enhancement and equalisation. This project is aimed at obtaining high performance and high efficiency multi-rate processing designs by developing appropriate problem formulations based on solid mathematical foundations so that powerful optimisation techniques ....Optimum Multi-rate Filter Bank Design for Speech Enhancement and Communication Systems. Multi-rate signal processing is gaining more and more importance in signal processing applications such as echo cancellation, microphone arrays, speech enhancement and equalisation. This project is aimed at obtaining high performance and high efficiency multi-rate processing designs by developing appropriate problem formulations based on solid mathematical foundations so that powerful optimisation techniques can be applied. The developed multi-rate systems will result in low complexity and low power hardware implementations without significant compromise in performance in each application. Size and cost sensitive of communication devices such as personal data assistants, mobile telephones, hands-free devices, and laptops will benefit greatly from the outcome of the project.Read moreRead less
Micro-electromechanical Systems (MEMS) and Nano-electromechanical Systems (NEMS) Technologies for Temperature Sensitive Semiconductors and Smart Materials. The development of a generic MEMS/NEMS technology will place Australia at the forefront of MEMS science and technology and will form a platform for new and innovative products using new science developed from the capabilities to be established in this project. This project and the results it will generate will have significant impact in devel ....Micro-electromechanical Systems (MEMS) and Nano-electromechanical Systems (NEMS) Technologies for Temperature Sensitive Semiconductors and Smart Materials. The development of a generic MEMS/NEMS technology will place Australia at the forefront of MEMS science and technology and will form a platform for new and innovative products using new science developed from the capabilities to be established in this project. This project and the results it will generate will have significant impact in developing technologies that can transform Australian industry in biomedical and agricultural instrumentation and will be key to future optoelectronic defence systems for surveillance, and chemical and biological threat warning. It will have the potential to establish new industries, as well as generate disruptive technologies directly relevant to several industry sectors already established in Australia.Read moreRead less
Charge and Interface Properties of Novel Gallium Nitride Transistor Structures for Application in Low-Noise High-Frequency Electronics. Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based transistors offer a unique opportunity to simultaneously achieve both high power and low noise from amplifiers. This project aims to improve material and device design of GaN-based transistors. It comprises a systematic comparison of charge and interface properties with power and noise performance measurements of high electron mobilit ....Charge and Interface Properties of Novel Gallium Nitride Transistor Structures for Application in Low-Noise High-Frequency Electronics. Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based transistors offer a unique opportunity to simultaneously achieve both high power and low noise from amplifiers. This project aims to improve material and device design of GaN-based transistors. It comprises a systematic comparison of charge and interface properties with power and noise performance measurements of high electron mobility transistors grown using a broad variety of novel growth, processing and device innovations. The expected outcome of the program includes key advances in the areas of GaN materials growth, device processing and passivation technology, which will ultimately lead to breakthrough performance in ultra-low-noise electronics for high frequency systems.Read moreRead less
Future Distribution Grids based on Reconfigurable Smart Microgrid Clusters. This aims of the project are to develop innovative paradigm shifting concepts in which power distributions grids will be self sufficient to look after themselves in the absence of power transmission infrastructure. It is expected that in future several renewable energy based distributed generators (DGs) will be dotted in power distribution systems. It is estimated that within another couple of decades sufficient number o ....Future Distribution Grids based on Reconfigurable Smart Microgrid Clusters. This aims of the project are to develop innovative paradigm shifting concepts in which power distributions grids will be self sufficient to look after themselves in the absence of power transmission infrastructure. It is expected that in future several renewable energy based distributed generators (DGs) will be dotted in power distribution systems. It is estimated that within another couple of decades sufficient number of DGs will be placed in networks so much so that they will be able to meet the load demand of domestic and commercial customers. Therefore the focus of this project is to find innovative approaches in which several microgrids, equipped with single-phase and three-phase DGs can work cohesively while supporting each other.Read moreRead less
Transition to Customer Response Driven Networks. The project seeks to develop an electrical network costing framework that appropriately rewards customers who act to reduce network stress. The solution to the existing explosion in distribution network costs is to develop customer-responsive solutions in demand management and use of storage. The aim of this project is to develop a framework for network costs that is driven by local congestion and which would reward customer-responsive solutions. ....Transition to Customer Response Driven Networks. The project seeks to develop an electrical network costing framework that appropriately rewards customers who act to reduce network stress. The solution to the existing explosion in distribution network costs is to develop customer-responsive solutions in demand management and use of storage. The aim of this project is to develop a framework for network costs that is driven by local congestion and which would reward customer-responsive solutions. The vision is that the aggregator would provide customers with communications/control equipment that would automate the changes in the responsiveness so that customer-generated load shifting would act to limit peaks.Read moreRead less