Flash Point in the Third Sector: A longitudinal follow up study of the clergy care 'battle' within The Salvation Army. Increasing community demands for social support from clergy, along with organisational pressures is thought to underlie the repeated observation that clergy work is highly stressful. The Salvation Army specifically is alarmed by current low retention and recruitment rates.
This innovative longitudinal study of clergy well-being and productivity uses a participatory action re ....Flash Point in the Third Sector: A longitudinal follow up study of the clergy care 'battle' within The Salvation Army. Increasing community demands for social support from clergy, along with organisational pressures is thought to underlie the repeated observation that clergy work is highly stressful. The Salvation Army specifically is alarmed by current low retention and recruitment rates.
This innovative longitudinal study of clergy well-being and productivity uses a participatory action research design to follow-up army officers over a one year period, during which time one-third will be required to relocate to various Australian states in accord with their vocation. Findings will be important for increasing awareness and implications for clergy care in both The Salvation Army and clergy universally.
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FPGA Controller Architectures for Safety Critical Applications. The project industry partner, Invensys Rail Systems, has a major design group in Australia, who work with railway signalling systems throughout the world. Invensys are keen to adopt new technologies to more efficiently and effectively implement signalling functions. However, the safety-critical nature of railway signalling means that any new technology must be analysed in detail to bring it to an acceptable technical readiness lev ....FPGA Controller Architectures for Safety Critical Applications. The project industry partner, Invensys Rail Systems, has a major design group in Australia, who work with railway signalling systems throughout the world. Invensys are keen to adopt new technologies to more efficiently and effectively implement signalling functions. However, the safety-critical nature of railway signalling means that any new technology must be analysed in detail to bring it to an acceptable technical readiness level. The outcomes of this research will be an improved technical readiness level for FPGAs in signalling systems, and this will allow Invensys' Australian design group to develop new technologies and allow them to compete more effectively in the global marketplace.Read moreRead less
Improving the process modelling capability for manufacturing large composite structures used on passenger aircraft. This proposal aims to reduce manufacturing costs by developing innovative simulation tools for the production of future lightweight composite aerostructures.The development of a reliable predictive tool to simulate the cost-effective production of resin-infused composite aerostructures, will represent a significant technical advance. The successful transfer of this technology to Bo ....Improving the process modelling capability for manufacturing large composite structures used on passenger aircraft. This proposal aims to reduce manufacturing costs by developing innovative simulation tools for the production of future lightweight composite aerostructures.The development of a reliable predictive tool to simulate the cost-effective production of resin-infused composite aerostructures, will represent a significant technical advance. The successful transfer of this technology to Boeing Aerostructures Australia would give it a distinct competitive edge when bidding for participation in future international development programmes and will yield substantial economic benefits whilst further strengthening and developing local expertise. Lightweight aircraft structures will also contribute towards reducing the environmental impact of aviation. Read moreRead less
Ethical, Social and Regulatory Issues in Advanced Prenatal Testing. This project aims to investigate the social, ethical and regulatory issues arising with the rapid advancement and increased use of genomic non-invasive prenatal testing in early pregnancy in Australia. It expects to generate new insight into key issues such as consumer information before and after testing, consent, and equitable access to genomic health technologies in human reproduction. Expected outcomes include recommendation ....Ethical, Social and Regulatory Issues in Advanced Prenatal Testing. This project aims to investigate the social, ethical and regulatory issues arising with the rapid advancement and increased use of genomic non-invasive prenatal testing in early pregnancy in Australia. It expects to generate new insight into key issues such as consumer information before and after testing, consent, and equitable access to genomic health technologies in human reproduction. Expected outcomes include recommendations for addressing these issues, supported by ground-breaking social research and ethical and regulatory analysis. The project is expected to have major benefits, addressing the gap between policy and practice that has emerged in prenatal testing in Australia and shaping the ethics and regulation of pregnancy care.
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Remote sensing to improve structural efficiency of high-speed catamarans. This project aims to develop a monitoring system to remotely measure ship motions, loads and ride control activity under commercial operations. Data will be analysed using advanced statistical methods to inform evidence-based design to improve both structural efficiency and passenger comfort. The research will impact on design rules used worldwide, reducing weight and increasing payload and transport efficiency for this cl ....Remote sensing to improve structural efficiency of high-speed catamarans. This project aims to develop a monitoring system to remotely measure ship motions, loads and ride control activity under commercial operations. Data will be analysed using advanced statistical methods to inform evidence-based design to improve both structural efficiency and passenger comfort. The research will impact on design rules used worldwide, reducing weight and increasing payload and transport efficiency for this class of vessel. A "Smart” semi-autonomous interface will be developed to provide on-board seakeeping guidance to the ship captain. This technology will have significant benefits such as increased ship safety, vessel longevity and improving passenger comfort for all types of vessels worldwide including high-speed catamarans.Read moreRead less
Integrating deep-earth and surface processes for frontier-basin exploration. It is well-known that mantle convection has a profound influence on basin evolution, and the next step will be to quantify this relationship and provide the science that will make these concepts applicable to exploration. To do this, we will develop a workflow to link plate-reconstruction software with the mantle convection modelling to link plate motions mantle convection and the history of sedimentation systematically ....Integrating deep-earth and surface processes for frontier-basin exploration. It is well-known that mantle convection has a profound influence on basin evolution, and the next step will be to quantify this relationship and provide the science that will make these concepts applicable to exploration. To do this, we will develop a workflow to link plate-reconstruction software with the mantle convection modelling to link plate motions mantle convection and the history of sedimentation systematically for the first time for frontier basin-scale applications. We will apply these emerging technologies to the evolution of basins in the Arctic borderlands frontier for resource exploration and on the Australian continent.Read moreRead less
Investigation of potential spudcan punch through failure. The safe and economic use of mobile jack-up structures is critical to the prosperous development of Australia's significant offshore oil and gas industry. However, their use is hindered by potential 'punch-through' failure during installation, when their large conical footings can unexpectedly and uncontrollably push a locally strong zone of soil into underlying softer material. To improve their safety, this research will investigate a po ....Investigation of potential spudcan punch through failure. The safe and economic use of mobile jack-up structures is critical to the prosperous development of Australia's significant offshore oil and gas industry. However, their use is hindered by potential 'punch-through' failure during installation, when their large conical footings can unexpectedly and uncontrollably push a locally strong zone of soil into underlying softer material. To improve their safety, this research will investigate a potential new site-investigation procedure and develop an appropriate calculation method for predicting failures for sites where sand overlies clay. Results will be based on a series of innovative physical and numerical experiments, and assessed against field data and existing industry standards.Read moreRead less
Programming Paradigms, Tools and Algorithms for Electronic Structure Calculations on Clusters of Non-Uniform Memory Access Parallel Processors. In recent years Australian academia has invested heavily in high performance computing systems. A significant fraction of these resources are devoted to performing computational chemistry studies, such as those used in drug design. This project links Australian researchers with the company responsible for a particularly widely used computational chemistr ....Programming Paradigms, Tools and Algorithms for Electronic Structure Calculations on Clusters of Non-Uniform Memory Access Parallel Processors. In recent years Australian academia has invested heavily in high performance computing systems. A significant fraction of these resources are devoted to performing computational chemistry studies, such as those used in drug design. This project links Australian researchers with the company responsible for a particularly widely used computational chemistry application package, and also with a major international computer company. Our aim is to substantially improve the performance of this code on cluster based compute systems. This, as well as our generic performance evaluation tools, would be of substantial benefit to the Australian research community. The project will forge links with researchers in Singapore, Japan and the USA.Read moreRead less
Onset Theory: Pushing the design envelope for textile composite structures. This study aims to exploit an innovative physics-based approach to predict the strength of textile composites. This is particularly important in areas such as aircraft design, where drastic weight savings are needed to allow designers to remain competitive in a low-carbon future. Improved theory and design tools will remove conservatism and account for a large part of these weight savings. The new approach is the first t ....Onset Theory: Pushing the design envelope for textile composite structures. This study aims to exploit an innovative physics-based approach to predict the strength of textile composites. This is particularly important in areas such as aircraft design, where drastic weight savings are needed to allow designers to remain competitive in a low-carbon future. Improved theory and design tools will remove conservatism and account for a large part of these weight savings. The new approach is the first to be consistent at all length scales — from atoms to aeroplanes — ensuring relevance for new and evolving composite material systems. A novel understanding of crack initiation in textile laminates is intended to reduce design and certification effort for new aircraft and help to design more efficient airframes at a lower cost.Read moreRead less
Wave slam on high speed wave piercing catamaran ferries in large seas. Australia has taken a pioneering lead in the design of high speed multi-hull ferries and continues to extend their speed, range and payload performance. Design leadership and the technology which supports it are crucial to maintaining the existing large share of the international market for such vessels. Recently freight and military transport vessels have been exposed to much more severe wave conditions than passenger vessel ....Wave slam on high speed wave piercing catamaran ferries in large seas. Australia has taken a pioneering lead in the design of high speed multi-hull ferries and continues to extend their speed, range and payload performance. Design leadership and the technology which supports it are crucial to maintaining the existing large share of the international market for such vessels. Recently freight and military transport vessels have been exposed to much more severe wave conditions than passenger vessels and this has increased the need for improved prediction of structural loads due to waves. This project directly addresses that need by computation and model testing validation. The industry is a significant export earner and employer within Australia and so the project directly underpins those national benefits. Read moreRead less