Development of High Performance Mechanical Sorting of Plastics for Recycling. This research program aims to develop and test a range of high performance, mechanical in-process plastics sorting technologies in conjunction with Australia's lead recycling company. Currently, recycling techniques result in an insufficient purity and quality level, thus limiting the extent of recycling and opportunity for end product applications. Increasing the purity of recycled plastics and economics of recyclin ....Development of High Performance Mechanical Sorting of Plastics for Recycling. This research program aims to develop and test a range of high performance, mechanical in-process plastics sorting technologies in conjunction with Australia's lead recycling company. Currently, recycling techniques result in an insufficient purity and quality level, thus limiting the extent of recycling and opportunity for end product applications. Increasing the purity of recycled plastics and economics of recycling, without compromising throughput levels, will result in an increase in recycling rates and the range of applications of recycled plastics.Read moreRead less
Formation and characterisation of continuous electrospun nanofibre yarns. Australia historically has a strong fibre and textile industry that can be augmented by embracing emerging nanotechnology. The proposed research will develop a technology that can greatly improve the productivity of nanofibres. These fibres can then be spun into continuous yarns and other form of textile products. The nanostructured products offer exceptional functions for biomedical and environmental applications. This ne ....Formation and characterisation of continuous electrospun nanofibre yarns. Australia historically has a strong fibre and textile industry that can be augmented by embracing emerging nanotechnology. The proposed research will develop a technology that can greatly improve the productivity of nanofibres. These fibres can then be spun into continuous yarns and other form of textile products. The nanostructured products offer exceptional functions for biomedical and environmental applications. This new technology has the potential to transform the Australian textile technology and fibre processing industry. Read moreRead less
Fibrous fabrics with differential transplanar transport properties for moisture and water. The project develops a framework for the development of fibrous fabrics with desired differential transplanar transport properties for moisture and water, integrating various transport mechanisms with hierarchical microstructures of the fabrics. The results will lead to the development of new fabrics for the local and overseas apparel industry.
An Intelligent Computer Aided Engineering Environment for Design and Production of Blow Moulded PET Bottles. The aim of this research proposal is to develop an intelligent computer aided engineering environment for design and manufacturing of blow moulded PET bottles. Current techniques involve a mixture of trial and error leading to high costs in time and money. The proposed research will adopt a concurrent engineering approach and integrating intelligent knowledge based systems for optimum p ....An Intelligent Computer Aided Engineering Environment for Design and Production of Blow Moulded PET Bottles. The aim of this research proposal is to develop an intelligent computer aided engineering environment for design and manufacturing of blow moulded PET bottles. Current techniques involve a mixture of trial and error leading to high costs in time and money. The proposed research will adopt a concurrent engineering approach and integrating intelligent knowledge based systems for optimum part design of PET bottles, PET preform and moulds based on user specific requirements. The work is expected to provide a highly efficient environment able to design and produce a new PET bottle economically and quickly with maximum functional performance.Read moreRead less
Stereolithographic Additive Manufacturing of Semicrystalline Thermoplastics. This project aims to advance the development of high-throughput stereolithographic additive manufacturing of thermoplastic polymers and composites by employing a multi-colour irradiation schemes in conjunction with photopolymerisable, ring-opening monomer resin formulations. The fundamental scientific understanding, engineering expertise, and concomitant technology advances generated by this project are anticipated to e ....Stereolithographic Additive Manufacturing of Semicrystalline Thermoplastics. This project aims to advance the development of high-throughput stereolithographic additive manufacturing of thermoplastic polymers and composites by employing a multi-colour irradiation schemes in conjunction with photopolymerisable, ring-opening monomer resin formulations. The fundamental scientific understanding, engineering expertise, and concomitant technology advances generated by this project are anticipated to enable additive manufacturing to transition from the rapid prototyping of individual, unique items to the high volume production of robust, reprocessable plastic parts. By obviating the large capital expense of conventional fabrication, this developed technology should provide a path to reinvigorate Australian manufacturing.Read moreRead less
A high speed, high fidelity 3D printer for fabricating microfluidic devices. This project aims to develop a novel 3D printer offering the highest resolution available and fastest printing speed for the single-step manufacturing of complex microfluidic devices. New resins developed to exploit the inert liquid interface layer printing approach will provide unprecedented capability to create micron sized channels interconnected in 3D space and fabricate Lab-on-a-Chip systems that cannot be generate ....A high speed, high fidelity 3D printer for fabricating microfluidic devices. This project aims to develop a novel 3D printer offering the highest resolution available and fastest printing speed for the single-step manufacturing of complex microfluidic devices. New resins developed to exploit the inert liquid interface layer printing approach will provide unprecedented capability to create micron sized channels interconnected in 3D space and fabricate Lab-on-a-Chip systems that cannot be generated by any current fabrication approach. This novel high speed, high fidelity 3D printer and the new resins to be developed are expected to lead to more effective manufacturing approaches for portable chemical devices and to promote complex chemical analysis into the knowledge immediacy culture of today.Read moreRead less
Mechanical advantage: biomimetic artificial muscles for micro-machines. This project will develop better ways to operate miniature machines by copying the way that muscle operates in Nature. The outcome will be important for portable devices like digital cameras that need small, efficient motors. The artificial muscles developed in this project may also be used in medical prosthetics and more agile robots.