Global trends in oceanic wind speed and wave height. This project will determine whether winds and waves over the world's oceans have changed over the past 30 years. Such information is critically important in understanding global climate change, evaporation, air-sea interaction and to safely design and operate coastal and offshore facilities.
Predicting environmental extremes in a period of climate change. This project has the potential to reduce the uncertainty in the predictions of extreme winds and waves used to design and operate coastal and offshore facilities. Predictions are typically achieved by extrapolating recorded data to predict probable extremes. The uncertainties associated with this approach are very large. This project aims to develop a new approach called ‘large ensemble aggregate’ analysis, which brings together da ....Predicting environmental extremes in a period of climate change. This project has the potential to reduce the uncertainty in the predictions of extreme winds and waves used to design and operate coastal and offshore facilities. Predictions are typically achieved by extrapolating recorded data to predict probable extremes. The uncertainties associated with this approach are very large. This project aims to develop a new approach called ‘large ensemble aggregate’ analysis, which brings together data from alternative model predictions or alternative measurement locations to expand the effective data and avoid the necessity for statistical extrapolation. This approach may significantly reduce the uncertainty in estimating extreme values. This would reduce the cost of constructing coastal and offshore facilities and decrease the risk of catastrophic failure.Read moreRead less
The origins of human colonization in East Polynesia and their relevance to maritime migration. The Indo-Pacific is a world of islands, including Australia, which was colonized during prehistory in several phases of migration, the last and longest of which was in East Polynesia. Extensive excavation of a large, waterlogged archaeological site of this era in French Polynesia will provide a better understanding of the period, society and external relationships of the early migrants, and of the proc ....The origins of human colonization in East Polynesia and their relevance to maritime migration. The Indo-Pacific is a world of islands, including Australia, which was colonized during prehistory in several phases of migration, the last and longest of which was in East Polynesia. Extensive excavation of a large, waterlogged archaeological site of this era in French Polynesia will provide a better understanding of the period, society and external relationships of the early migrants, and of the processes of prehistoric maritime migration which link Australian peoples to those of our neighbours across the Pacific and Indian Oceans.Read moreRead less
Colonization of the Mariana Islands and its implications for Indo-Pacific prehistory. The Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, is linked by seas and oceans that have been crossed by colonists in ancient as well as recent times. The most significant prehistoric migration was the movement of people out of southern China, into Taiwan, Island Asia and from there into Micronesia and across the Pacific. New investigations of the oldest sites in the Marianas will provide better understanding of ea ....Colonization of the Mariana Islands and its implications for Indo-Pacific prehistory. The Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, is linked by seas and oceans that have been crossed by colonists in ancient as well as recent times. The most significant prehistoric migration was the movement of people out of southern China, into Taiwan, Island Asia and from there into Micronesia and across the Pacific. New investigations of the oldest sites in the Marianas will provide better understanding of early prehistoric maritime capacity, the connections between migrant groups who settled the islands of Asia and Oceania, and the processes of Indo-Pacific colonization. Improved knowledge of our neighbours capabilities and history is of clear national benefit to Australia.Read moreRead less
Crossing the Green Sea: maritime mobility, trans-oceanic interaction and remote island colonisation in the tropical Indian Ocean. Australia is an Indian Ocean nation. It is strategically and politically important to understand our Indian Ocean neighbours, including small island nations such as the Maldives and Seychelles. Researching their history is part of this process. Building a collaborative research capacity between Australian and other Indian Ocean scholars, publishing the results of rese ....Crossing the Green Sea: maritime mobility, trans-oceanic interaction and remote island colonisation in the tropical Indian Ocean. Australia is an Indian Ocean nation. It is strategically and politically important to understand our Indian Ocean neighbours, including small island nations such as the Maldives and Seychelles. Researching their history is part of this process. Building a collaborative research capacity between Australian and other Indian Ocean scholars, publishing the results of research, building them into educational curricula, and maintaining a pool of Indian Ocean scholarly expertise in Australia is a national and community benefit. In addition, research results on the history of human colonisation and human impact on vulnerable environments will be significant to Australia as an island nation.Read moreRead less
Microanalysis of human fossils: new insights into age, diet and migration. Human occupation of Australia and the Pacific dates back tens of thousands of years. New micro-analytical techniques now make it possible to learn about the life histories of these ancient peoples: their diet, migration paths and the climate in which they lived. This project will benefit the Indigenous populations and researchers of neighbouring countries through collaboration and increased knowledge of their ancestors, t ....Microanalysis of human fossils: new insights into age, diet and migration. Human occupation of Australia and the Pacific dates back tens of thousands of years. New micro-analytical techniques now make it possible to learn about the life histories of these ancient peoples: their diet, migration paths and the climate in which they lived. This project will benefit the Indigenous populations and researchers of neighbouring countries through collaboration and increased knowledge of their ancestors, thus enhancing Australia's links and status as a good neighbour in the region. This falls squarely into the Research Priority 'Safeguarding Australia - Understanding our Region and the World'. In the future, our analytical approach will give important insights into the complex and rich archaeological heritage of Australia. Read moreRead less
Cost Effective Pipeline Condition Assessment Using Paired Pressure Sensor Arrays. Water distribution networks represent society's most important infrastructure asset. They are buried pipes and are often old and deteriorating. Cost-effective methods to assess their physical condition are urgently needed. This research will develop a novel and advanced approach to determine the interior condition of pipes quickly and effectively using small water hammer pulses or waves. Paired pressure sensor arra ....Cost Effective Pipeline Condition Assessment Using Paired Pressure Sensor Arrays. Water distribution networks represent society's most important infrastructure asset. They are buried pipes and are often old and deteriorating. Cost-effective methods to assess their physical condition are urgently needed. This research will develop a novel and advanced approach to determine the interior condition of pipes quickly and effectively using small water hammer pulses or waves. Paired pressure sensor arrays will be used to measure reflections of the waves in pipes and these methods will enable finer resolution and identification of pipeline faults, such as wall thickness loss and leakage while at the same time allowing operational continuity. The outcome will be powerful tools to more cost effectively manage these crucial assets.Read moreRead less
A new energy absorption system for brain injury mitigation. This research aims to propose and investigate a next generation high-energy absorbing helmet pad that will protect the Australian Defence Force soldiers against both ballistic and blast threats. New fundamental knowledge in the area of high-energy absorbing metamaterials will be obtained by using numerical modelling and experimental studies. The expected outcomes of the project include the development of a new wearable energy absorbing ....A new energy absorption system for brain injury mitigation. This research aims to propose and investigate a next generation high-energy absorbing helmet pad that will protect the Australian Defence Force soldiers against both ballistic and blast threats. New fundamental knowledge in the area of high-energy absorbing metamaterials will be obtained by using numerical modelling and experimental studies. The expected outcomes of the project include the development of a new wearable energy absorbing pad which can be used as the next generation combat helmet liners and accessories. The novel high-performance energy absorption system will have a wide range of direct applications in future personal armour, as well as sports gears and elderly healthcare products.Read moreRead less
Fast Precision Robust Control of Resonant Flexible Systems. The project aims to produce new control system design tools to enable fast precision control of advanced engineering systems encorporating flexible structures. This should enable improved speed and accuracy in control systems for precision instruments such as atomic force microscopes along with improving control system performance in areas of precision engineering such as semiconductor manufacturing, robotics and microelectromechanical ....Fast Precision Robust Control of Resonant Flexible Systems. The project aims to produce new control system design tools to enable fast precision control of advanced engineering systems encorporating flexible structures. This should enable improved speed and accuracy in control systems for precision instruments such as atomic force microscopes along with improving control system performance in areas of precision engineering such as semiconductor manufacturing, robotics and microelectromechanical systems. The outcomes are expected to be new control system synthesis and modelling tools enabling fast and highly accurate control of industrial systems using nonlinear and switching elements and achieving high levels of robustness. This will benefit Australian precision manufacturing industries.Read moreRead less
Nonlinear Quantum Control Engineering. This project will develop tractable methods for the design of robust, nonlinear, coherent feedback control systems building on the approach of quantum risk sensitive control and extending classical nonlinear control methods. It will also develop methods to design robust and nonlinear filters and coherent observers for nonlinear and finite level quantum systems and apply these results to the design of robust measurement based quantum controllers. In addition ....Nonlinear Quantum Control Engineering. This project will develop tractable methods for the design of robust, nonlinear, coherent feedback control systems building on the approach of quantum risk sensitive control and extending classical nonlinear control methods. It will also develop methods to design robust and nonlinear filters and coherent observers for nonlinear and finite level quantum systems and apply these results to the design of robust measurement based quantum controllers. In addition, the project will apply coherent and measurement based robust control methods to achieve useful emergent behaviours in nonlinear quantum networks. Such emergent behaviours may involve the robust reduction of decoherence effects and the robust solution of quantum computational problems. Read moreRead less