The social determinants of childhood injury. Child hood injury is a preventable problem of major importance. This project will provide a comprehensive, research-based policy solution that will minimise death and disability among children zero to three years of age.
Protecting Occupants in Vehicle Rollover Crashes. This project addresses a public health issue involving rollover crashes. It will help prevent 340 deaths, 6000 injuries and save $3.6 billion annually in Australia and many fold this number internationally. A dynamic rollover crashworthiness test protocol, that ensures efficient and economical vehicle rollover protection systems are designed and manufactured, will be provided to consumer and regulatory bodies to consider and implement. In additio ....Protecting Occupants in Vehicle Rollover Crashes. This project addresses a public health issue involving rollover crashes. It will help prevent 340 deaths, 6000 injuries and save $3.6 billion annually in Australia and many fold this number internationally. A dynamic rollover crashworthiness test protocol, that ensures efficient and economical vehicle rollover protection systems are designed and manufactured, will be provided to consumer and regulatory bodies to consider and implement. In addition, much needed Occupational Health & Safety information regarding vehicle rollover crashworthiness, which provide a safe work place environment for professional drivers and employees using vehicles, will be supplied to industry fleet managers, defence and emergency services.Read moreRead less
An autonomously controlled ankle exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation. This project addresses a critical problem in gait rehabilitation; predicting unstable locomotion and designing interventions to augment limb-joint function. The project will develop an autonomous ankle-foot assistive device to actively increase ground clearance when high-risk foot trajectory is detected. Using wearable sensor data, machine learning algorithms will predict high-risk gait and compute an actuator-induced ankle to ....An autonomously controlled ankle exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation. This project addresses a critical problem in gait rehabilitation; predicting unstable locomotion and designing interventions to augment limb-joint function. The project will develop an autonomous ankle-foot assistive device to actively increase ground clearance when high-risk foot trajectory is detected. Using wearable sensor data, machine learning algorithms will predict high-risk gait and compute an actuator-induced ankle torque to maintain safe foot-ground clearance. A wearable autonomous joint-actuation system will contribute significantly to rehabilitation across a range of gait-impaired populations. The project's scientific and technological innovations will provide the opportunity for future developments in assistive technologies. Read moreRead less
A prospective investigation of self-injury, suicidal ideation and psychological distress in Australian secondary school students. Suicide prevention has been a national priority for the past 10 years. Self-injury is a predictor of suicide, results in considerable distress for family and friends and is associated with significant health care expenditure. In addition the known correlates of self-injury, such as depression and substance use, also pose significant burden to society and are themselve ....A prospective investigation of self-injury, suicidal ideation and psychological distress in Australian secondary school students. Suicide prevention has been a national priority for the past 10 years. Self-injury is a predictor of suicide, results in considerable distress for family and friends and is associated with significant health care expenditure. In addition the known correlates of self-injury, such as depression and substance use, also pose significant burden to society and are themselves predictors of suicide. Understanding the nature and extent of self-injury in Australian adolescents, and the causal relationships between self-injury, suicidal ideation and psychological distress, will improve the care given to those who self-injure, improve their well-being, decrease their chances of further self-injury, and decrease the chance they will die by suicide.Read moreRead less
Development and evaluation of a web-based decision and safety planning aid for women experiencing domestic violence (I-DECIDE). This project will develop and evaluate a web-based intervention process which enables women experiencing domestic violence to consider their safety planning and support options, reach a carefully thought through decision (reflecting their personal priorities) and then make appropriate plans safely for themselves and their children.
Predictive Biomechanics for Modelling Gait Stability and Falls Prediction. Efficient, adaptive locomotion is critical to our independence, but it is adversely affected by neuromuscular disorders due to trauma, ageing and other impairments that increase the risk of balance loss and falling. This project investigates the extraordinary possibilities of advancing from the traditional laboratory-based, retrospective, gait research paradigm, to real-world gait monitoring using predictive biomechanics. ....Predictive Biomechanics for Modelling Gait Stability and Falls Prediction. Efficient, adaptive locomotion is critical to our independence, but it is adversely affected by neuromuscular disorders due to trauma, ageing and other impairments that increase the risk of balance loss and falling. This project investigates the extraordinary possibilities of advancing from the traditional laboratory-based, retrospective, gait research paradigm, to real-world gait monitoring using predictive biomechanics. By employing artificial intelligence, wearable sensors' data will predict balance loss and alert the user. The outcome will be fundamental knowledge for developing wearable systems to reduce the catastrophic impact of falls, with public health cost savings and improved quality of life for people with restricted mobility.Read moreRead less
From finger pointing to life saving: defining professional responsibility for health and safety in construction design. Specific duties for construction designers exist in the OHS legislation of several Australian jurisdictions. Thus far, the legislation has failed to act as a significant deterrent. The research addresses the empirically neglected question of how design OHS responsibility might be sensibly allocated in the context of industry practice. Hence it will: (1) highlight conceptual pro ....From finger pointing to life saving: defining professional responsibility for health and safety in construction design. Specific duties for construction designers exist in the OHS legislation of several Australian jurisdictions. Thus far, the legislation has failed to act as a significant deterrent. The research addresses the empirically neglected question of how design OHS responsibility might be sensibly allocated in the context of industry practice. Hence it will: (1) highlight conceptual problems inherent in existing legislation; (2) develop alternative mechanisms for allocating design OHS responsibility in the construction process; (3) provide the basis for policy development in the national priority area of hazard elimination in design; and (4) improve design OHS performance in construction and property sectors.Read moreRead less
Creation of a non-venomous honey bee. On average, two Australians die from bee stings each year. Our goal is produce honey bees that do not have a dangerous sting.
Insect-inspired flapping wing robots: autonomous flight control systems. This project aims to design a novel control scheme for insect-inspired, flapping-wing, micro aerial vehicles. This type of micro aerial vehicle has complex, periodic, time-varying and inherently unstable dynamics, which are practically challenging to model and implement in hardware. This project will design energy-based automatic stabilization and task-dependent control, and develop the insect-inspired platform for testing ....Insect-inspired flapping wing robots: autonomous flight control systems. This project aims to design a novel control scheme for insect-inspired, flapping-wing, micro aerial vehicles. This type of micro aerial vehicle has complex, periodic, time-varying and inherently unstable dynamics, which are practically challenging to model and implement in hardware. This project will design energy-based automatic stabilization and task-dependent control, and develop the insect-inspired platform for testing nonlinear control strategies. The expected outcomes will include new system and control theories, concepts, principles and technologies in controller design that can provide reliable flight control for bio-inspired, flapping-wing systems.Read moreRead less
Complexity-manageable methodologies and efficient computational tools for analysis and design of large-scale systems. The tools to be developed in this project have impact on a broad range of disciplines, including system analysis, feedback control technology, signal processing, communication network, and information theory. Practically, the success of this project will create cutting edge technologies applicable to design and management of important infrastructures of the modern society such as ....Complexity-manageable methodologies and efficient computational tools for analysis and design of large-scale systems. The tools to be developed in this project have impact on a broad range of disciplines, including system analysis, feedback control technology, signal processing, communication network, and information theory. Practically, the success of this project will create cutting edge technologies applicable to design and management of important infrastructures of the modern society such as communication networks, transportation systems, electrical power grids, and collaborative intelligent machines, and water distribution networks. Success of this project will bring novel methodologies and computational tools which help engineers to systematically design and validate the performance of their engineering systems.Read moreRead less