Control and learning for enhancing capabilities of quantum sensors. This project aims to develop new theories and algorithms to enhance capabilities in engineering quantum sensors from the perspective of systems and control. The project is significant because it is anticipated to advance key knowledge and provide systematic methods to enable achievement of high-precision sensing for wide applications, e.g., early disease detection, medical research, discovery of ore deposits and groundwater moni ....Control and learning for enhancing capabilities of quantum sensors. This project aims to develop new theories and algorithms to enhance capabilities in engineering quantum sensors from the perspective of systems and control. The project is significant because it is anticipated to advance key knowledge and provide systematic methods to enable achievement of high-precision sensing for wide applications, e.g., early disease detection, medical research, discovery of ore deposits and groundwater monitoring. The intended outcomes are fundamental theories, effective control and learning algorithms for achieving highly-sensitive sensors. These outcomes should make important contributions to and deliver new knowledge and skills for Australia's sensing industries, which could benefit Australia's economic growth.Read moreRead less
Interactive learning for robots in human environments. This project aims to develop robots that can interact with and learn from humans to quickly and safely learn new skills. Recent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence are poised to transform our economy, workplaces and homes, and even the organisation of society, however these advances are limited by robots’ inability to learn and adapt in uncertain environments. The outcomes of this project are expected to include new validated me ....Interactive learning for robots in human environments. This project aims to develop robots that can interact with and learn from humans to quickly and safely learn new skills. Recent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence are poised to transform our economy, workplaces and homes, and even the organisation of society, however these advances are limited by robots’ inability to learn and adapt in uncertain environments. The outcomes of this project are expected to include new validated methods and frameworks to enable robots to be used by non-experts and to be quickly deployed in a variety of settings. This is anticipated to provide transformative benefits, improving safety and productivity in the workspace, and enabling improved comfort, convenience and quality of life in the home.Read moreRead less
The cognitive neuroscience of motor skill learning. The capacity to produce skilled motor behaviour is essential for success in almost every aspect of our lives, whether it be playing sport, driving a car, operating machinery at work, or touch-typing. This project aims to establish the causal role of brain regions in motor skill learning by combining cutting-edge techniques in neuroimaging and brain stimulation. It is expected to lead to fundamental new knowledge on how new motor memories are cr ....The cognitive neuroscience of motor skill learning. The capacity to produce skilled motor behaviour is essential for success in almost every aspect of our lives, whether it be playing sport, driving a car, operating machinery at work, or touch-typing. This project aims to establish the causal role of brain regions in motor skill learning by combining cutting-edge techniques in neuroimaging and brain stimulation. It is expected to lead to fundamental new knowledge on how new motor memories are created to enable the expression of skilled motor behaviour. The knowledge gained from this project may identify new strategies for learning skills that are widely applicable to education, industry, sport, and health.Read moreRead less
Peptides and Proteins for Fighting Pests and Protecting the Environment. This project aims to use peptides and proteins to fight pests and protect the environment, which is significant because current practices have unintended harmful effects and are unsustainable. Achieving these aims must first involve scientific development of ecofriendly lead molecules. This project will develop platform technologies for the design of bioactive peptides or proteins based on molecules used naturally for highl ....Peptides and Proteins for Fighting Pests and Protecting the Environment. This project aims to use peptides and proteins to fight pests and protect the environment, which is significant because current practices have unintended harmful effects and are unsustainable. Achieving these aims must first involve scientific development of ecofriendly lead molecules. This project will develop platform technologies for the design of bioactive peptides or proteins based on molecules used naturally for highly selective functions in communication and defence. Expected outcomes include novel peptide and protein leads and improved strategies for developing them, which will lead to new and safer ways of protecting biodiversity and food security that are expected to reduce our environmental footprint and bring economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Unlocking Australia's offshore gas endowment. This project aims to develop practical new methods of predicting and detecting the formation of solids in gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. Australia has large offshore reserves of natural gas and has made the investments necessary to help fuel the global transition to cleaner, reliable energy sources. However, conventional engineering approaches of producing gas from deep-water reserves have reached the limits of viability because of t ....Unlocking Australia's offshore gas endowment. This project aims to develop practical new methods of predicting and detecting the formation of solids in gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. Australia has large offshore reserves of natural gas and has made the investments necessary to help fuel the global transition to cleaner, reliable energy sources. However, conventional engineering approaches of producing gas from deep-water reserves have reached the limits of viability because of the costs required to prevent solids forming in subsea pipelines or cryogenic LNG plants. The project’s expected outcome include sophisticated tools in open-access software based on these new predictive methods, and a step-change in Australia’s ability to access its offshore gas.Read moreRead less
Inerter-enhanced metastructure for structural vibration control. Meta-based technique has been proposed for vibration control recently due to its special wave filtering effect. However, the current techniques are difficult to attenuate low-frequency waves, thus not suitable for civil structural vibration control. This project proposes incorporating an inerter-based element into the unit cell of a metastructure. Due to the unique mass amplification characteristic of inerter element, manipulating ....Inerter-enhanced metastructure for structural vibration control. Meta-based technique has been proposed for vibration control recently due to its special wave filtering effect. However, the current techniques are difficult to attenuate low-frequency waves, thus not suitable for civil structural vibration control. This project proposes incorporating an inerter-based element into the unit cell of a metastructure. Due to the unique mass amplification characteristic of inerter element, manipulating low-frequency waves becomes possible. Practical designs are developed and applied to control the adverse vibrations of engineering structures induced by three typical vibration sources. Comprehensive analytical, experimental and numerical studies are carried out to examine the effectiveness of the proposed method.Read moreRead less
Improving disease resilience in ecosystems using synthetic biology. This project aims to use the latest methods in synthetic biology to conserve species threatened by disease, through characterising and enhancing immunity. Emerging infectious diseases are a major threat to ecosystems and new methodologies are needed to fight them. Chytridiomycosis is the most devastating disease of vertebrates, causing population declines in over 200 amphibian species worldwide. The expected outcomes of the proj ....Improving disease resilience in ecosystems using synthetic biology. This project aims to use the latest methods in synthetic biology to conserve species threatened by disease, through characterising and enhancing immunity. Emerging infectious diseases are a major threat to ecosystems and new methodologies are needed to fight them. Chytridiomycosis is the most devastating disease of vertebrates, causing population declines in over 200 amphibian species worldwide. The expected outcomes of the project are improved understanding and increased immunity of frogs to chytridiomycosis and restoration of frogs into the environment. The project will demonstrate the usefulness of synthetic biology to tackle disease and preserve biodiversity in the landscape for similarly threatened wildlife in Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Platform technology to decode motor control through ultra high-field MRI. This project aims to advance our understanding of the poorly understood neural circuits that enable fine motor control in humans. To obtain this knowledge, new platform technology will be developed to capture the full kinematics of the hand during concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging at ultra high-field. This device will allow testing of fundamental theories describing the canonical microcircuits involved in ha ....Platform technology to decode motor control through ultra high-field MRI. This project aims to advance our understanding of the poorly understood neural circuits that enable fine motor control in humans. To obtain this knowledge, new platform technology will be developed to capture the full kinematics of the hand during concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging at ultra high-field. This device will allow testing of fundamental theories describing the canonical microcircuits involved in hand motion. Expected outcomes include new evidence of mirror neurons and observation of predictive error signals in the motor cortex. This new knowledge paves the way towards improved computer-brain interface technology which is likely to create benefits through translation to applications such as artificial limb control.Read moreRead less
Why certain viruses don't get along in mosquitoes. The molecular mechanism. The overall goal of this project is to obtain an understanding of how certain insect-only viruses make mosquitoes incapable of transmitting diseases. These viruses, called insect-specific flaviviruses, can be employed as biocontrol agents for mosquito-borne human and veterinary diseases. However as it is currently unknown how exactly they affect mosquitoes, the safety and efficacy of their use can't be predicted. The pro ....Why certain viruses don't get along in mosquitoes. The molecular mechanism. The overall goal of this project is to obtain an understanding of how certain insect-only viruses make mosquitoes incapable of transmitting diseases. These viruses, called insect-specific flaviviruses, can be employed as biocontrol agents for mosquito-borne human and veterinary diseases. However as it is currently unknown how exactly they affect mosquitoes, the safety and efficacy of their use can't be predicted. The proposed project will dissect the very intricate mechanisms of interactions between insect-specific flaviviruses and mosquitoes and explain how exactly they prevent disease transmission. It should generate novel fundamental knowledge, implement innovative methodologies and provide training for students and junior scientist. Read moreRead less
Energy Source Durability for Electric Vertical TakeOff and Landing Aircraft. This project aims to address energy source durability for electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft by optimising a fuel cell/battery/ultracapacitor triple hybrid energy system. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of energy source durability using interdisciplinary approaches that combine energy source degradation models, hardware-in-the-loop simulations, aero-propulsive flight mechan ....Energy Source Durability for Electric Vertical TakeOff and Landing Aircraft. This project aims to address energy source durability for electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft by optimising a fuel cell/battery/ultracapacitor triple hybrid energy system. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of energy source durability using interdisciplinary approaches that combine energy source degradation models, hardware-in-the-loop simulations, aero-propulsive flight mechanics models, and accelerated degradation testing. This should provide significant benefits, allowing to fast-track the improved longevity needed for cost-competitive long-range rapid response air ambulance eVTOL operations.Read moreRead less