New Theory and Algorithms for Nonsmooth Optimisation with Application to Integer Programming. Mathematical optimisation plays a key role in a wide variety of applications in business, industry, engineering and science. For example, airlines cannot fly and radiation treatment for cancer cannot be delivered without solving (a series of) optimisation problems. Some classes of optimisation problem are very well solved, with clear mathematical foundations, efficient algorithms, and reliable software ....New Theory and Algorithms for Nonsmooth Optimisation with Application to Integer Programming. Mathematical optimisation plays a key role in a wide variety of applications in business, industry, engineering and science. For example, airlines cannot fly and radiation treatment for cancer cannot be delivered without solving (a series of) optimisation problems. Some classes of optimisation problem are very well solved, with clear mathematical foundations, efficient algorithms, and reliable software implementations. Both nonsmooth and integer optimisation problems have a good mathematical basis, but there are "gaps"; existing methods cannot always solve real industrial problems. This project will deliver better methods, built on better theory, and so will yield better solutions for important applications.Read moreRead less
Improving train flows with connected driver advice systems. The project aims to develop new train control theory to determine the efficient movement of multiple trains, and to demonstrate a practical system for coordinating trains, on busy intercity rail corridors. Railways around the world are now deploying driver advice systems developed by the research team and the partner organisation, TTG Transportation Technology. The project is designed to enable these systems to coordinate the movements ....Improving train flows with connected driver advice systems. The project aims to develop new train control theory to determine the efficient movement of multiple trains, and to demonstrate a practical system for coordinating trains, on busy intercity rail corridors. Railways around the world are now deploying driver advice systems developed by the research team and the partner organisation, TTG Transportation Technology. The project is designed to enable these systems to coordinate the movements of many trains on a congested rail network to improve timekeeping, smooth the flow of traffic, increase capacity and reduce energy use.Read moreRead less
Real-time scheduling of trains to control peak electricity demand. This project aims to develop new scheduling and control methods that will enable railways to reduce their demand for electricity during peak demand periods, without undue disruption to the timetable.
These new methods and systems will integrate with—and expand the capabilities of—an Australian train control system that is used by railways around the world. This will enable better management of electricity within a region and be ....Real-time scheduling of trains to control peak electricity demand. This project aims to develop new scheduling and control methods that will enable railways to reduce their demand for electricity during peak demand periods, without undue disruption to the timetable.
These new methods and systems will integrate with—and expand the capabilities of—an Australian train control system that is used by railways around the world. This will enable better management of electricity within a region and better use of renewable energy sources, with significant cost savings for railways and the wider community.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing. Sensor networks, a collection of diverse sensors interconnected via an ad-hoc communication network, are identified as one of the key technologies that over the next two decades will change the way we live. This research network brings together an interdisciplinary team of outstanding Australian researchers representing all the key disciplines required to successfully deploy sensor networks and links this te ....ARC Research Network on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing. Sensor networks, a collection of diverse sensors interconnected via an ad-hoc communication network, are identified as one of the key technologies that over the next two decades will change the way we live. This research network brings together an interdisciplinary team of outstanding Australian researchers representing all the key disciplines required to successfully deploy sensor networks and links this team with the foremost international authorities and leading industry players in the area of sensor networks. This research network will guide collaborative research that will ensure Australia to play a world leading role in sensor network development and implementation.
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Structured barrier and penalty functions in infinite dimensional optimisation and analysis. Very large scale tightly-constrained optimisation problems are ubiquitous and include water management, traffic flow, and imaging at telescopes and hospitals. Massively parallel computers can solve such problems and provide physically realisable solution only if subtle design issues are mastered. Resolving such issues is the goal of this project.
Decomposition and Duality: New Approaches to Integer and Stochastic Integer Programming. Because of their rich modelling capabilities, integer programs are widely used in industry for decision making and planning. However their solution algorithms do not have the maturity of their cousins in convex optimisation, where the theory of strong duality is ubiquitous. Efficient methods for convex optimisation under uncertainty do not apply to the integer case, which is highly non-convex. Furthermore, i ....Decomposition and Duality: New Approaches to Integer and Stochastic Integer Programming. Because of their rich modelling capabilities, integer programs are widely used in industry for decision making and planning. However their solution algorithms do not have the maturity of their cousins in convex optimisation, where the theory of strong duality is ubiquitous. Efficient methods for convex optimisation under uncertainty do not apply to the integer case, which is highly non-convex. Furthermore, integer models usually assume the data is known with certainty, which is often not the case in the real world. This project will develop new theory and algorithms to enhance the analysis of integer models, including those that incorporating uncertainty, while also enabling the use of parallel computing paradigms. Read moreRead less
Improving student outcomes: coaching teachers in the power of feedback. This project aims to investigate how student outcomes can be augmented through coaching teachers in effective feedback practice. The project addresses a critical problem of stagnating levels of student achievement in Australian schools with the innovative research design combining evidence-based, pedagogies of feedback, formative assessment and instructional coaching to improve teacher practice and ultimately raise student a ....Improving student outcomes: coaching teachers in the power of feedback. This project aims to investigate how student outcomes can be augmented through coaching teachers in effective feedback practice. The project addresses a critical problem of stagnating levels of student achievement in Australian schools with the innovative research design combining evidence-based, pedagogies of feedback, formative assessment and instructional coaching to improve teacher practice and ultimately raise student achievement levels. The project aims to guide policy implementation in pedagogy to raise the quality of teaching standards and to improve learning outcomes for Australian students. Ultimately, outcomes from the research will help close the gap for low achieving students, and challenge and extend those who may already be meeting required benchmarks. Read moreRead less
Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. This project aims to develop discipline-specific pedagogies in senior physics, chemistry and biology to improve disadvantaged students’ engagement and achievement. Many students from disadvantaged backgrounds fail to develop the linguistic precision and symbolic representational dexterity needed to comprehend and communicate senior school science concepts. T ....Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. Multiliteracies for addressing disadvantage in senior school science. This project aims to develop discipline-specific pedagogies in senior physics, chemistry and biology to improve disadvantaged students’ engagement and achievement. Many students from disadvantaged backgrounds fail to develop the linguistic precision and symbolic representational dexterity needed to comprehend and communicate senior school science concepts. These pedagogies will ‘infuse’ multiliteracies in senior school science to improve access to science-based pathways for these students, and enable them to understand progressively more complex scientific concepts and demonstrate this in examinations. This project is expected to improve student retention, arrest declining enrolments in senior school science, and increase young people working in science.Read moreRead less
Engaging Students during the Early Years of Secondary School. This project aims to design, test and share sustainable strategies to support teachers and enable students from low socioeconomic communities to achieve success. The greatest decreases in students’ interest and effort occur when they transition into secondary school, with students from low socioeconomic communities at greatest risk of disengagement. What can teachers do to engage their students during this key life transition? This pr ....Engaging Students during the Early Years of Secondary School. This project aims to design, test and share sustainable strategies to support teachers and enable students from low socioeconomic communities to achieve success. The greatest decreases in students’ interest and effort occur when they transition into secondary school, with students from low socioeconomic communities at greatest risk of disengagement. What can teachers do to engage their students during this key life transition? This project plans to identify teacher behaviours that motivate students in their first year at secondary school. Using an experimental design with a representative sample of 150 teachers and 1500 students in low socioeconomic areas across three states, the project plans to test whether an online professional learning program for teachers can improve student engagement and achievement. This cost-effective and scalable intervention is designed for widespread dissemination to Australian teachers.Read moreRead less
Enhancing phosphorus use efficiency in macadamia for sustainable production. Macadamia nuts are an iconic native Australian product worth $287 million annually at the farm gate. Phosphorus fertiliser management currently threatens price premiums for sustainable production in high value European Union export markets, and ‘social license’ to farm in their densely populated coastal production areas. The project aims to exploit adaptive root and shoot traits for phosphorus efficiency found in Austra ....Enhancing phosphorus use efficiency in macadamia for sustainable production. Macadamia nuts are an iconic native Australian product worth $287 million annually at the farm gate. Phosphorus fertiliser management currently threatens price premiums for sustainable production in high value European Union export markets, and ‘social license’ to farm in their densely populated coastal production areas. The project aims to exploit adaptive root and shoot traits for phosphorus efficiency found in Australian native plants to optimise phosphorus fertiliser management and set the platform for breeding macadamia root stocks/varieties that require less phosphorus fertiliser. The outcome will be a macadamia industry that is able to maintain current market price premiums and maintain social license to farm in coastal Australia.Read moreRead less