A novel physical-digital approach for the assessing a large critical asset. This project aims to deliver an artificial intelligence-enabled decision-making tool to maintain and manage the floating covers of vast lagoons that treat raw sewage. The cover harvests the biogas released from the anaerobic digestion of sewage for electric power generation that exceeds the plant’s requirement. The approach involves an innovative thermographic technique and exploits transfer learning to adapt neural netw ....A novel physical-digital approach for the assessing a large critical asset. This project aims to deliver an artificial intelligence-enabled decision-making tool to maintain and manage the floating covers of vast lagoons that treat raw sewage. The cover harvests the biogas released from the anaerobic digestion of sewage for electric power generation that exceeds the plant’s requirement. The approach involves an innovative thermographic technique and exploits transfer learning to adapt neural networks trained on lab-scale and synthetic data to field implementation. The outcome is a machine learning framework to optimise biogas harvesting and renewable energy generation, and to avoid structural failure, that is capable of continuous improvement to take into account improved data and/or modelling capabilities.Read moreRead less
Flipping the mattress: infinite polyurethane recycling by synthetic biology. Australia is covered in billions of tonnes of plastic and yet <10% is recycled today. Polyurethane (PU) is ubiquitous in our everyday lives, from lacquer coatings to elastane clothing to durable foam padding in car seats, cushions and mattresses. Currently, there are few avenues for PU recycling and much ends up in landfill e.g., a single mattress produces 15-20kg of PU foam waste. Luckily, biodegradation of PU can occu ....Flipping the mattress: infinite polyurethane recycling by synthetic biology. Australia is covered in billions of tonnes of plastic and yet <10% is recycled today. Polyurethane (PU) is ubiquitous in our everyday lives, from lacquer coatings to elastane clothing to durable foam padding in car seats, cushions and mattresses. Currently, there are few avenues for PU recycling and much ends up in landfill e.g., a single mattress produces 15-20kg of PU foam waste. Luckily, biodegradation of PU can occur naturally via various microbial means and from insects, like Galleria mellonella larvae. The overall aim of this research project is to understand plastic biodegradation and translate nature’s solutions into flexible and efficient synthetic enzyme technologies that can sustainably recycle commonly used PU foams. Read moreRead less
Reinforced crumbed rubber concrete for residential construction. Reinforced crumbed rubber concrete for residential construction. This project aims to use crumb rubber from used tyres to replace natural sand aggregate in concrete used in housing construction. Globally, very few of the millions of tyres discarded annually are recycled, while natural sand used in concrete is being depleted. This project intends to provide the tyre industry with a viable market for end of life tyres, and the premix ....Reinforced crumbed rubber concrete for residential construction. Reinforced crumbed rubber concrete for residential construction. This project aims to use crumb rubber from used tyres to replace natural sand aggregate in concrete used in housing construction. Globally, very few of the millions of tyres discarded annually are recycled, while natural sand used in concrete is being depleted. This project intends to provide the tyre industry with a viable market for end of life tyres, and the premix concrete industry with a “green” product for the residential construction market. Expected benefits include the increased use of a waste resource (used tyres), reduced use of a scarce natural resource (sand), and the development of an economic but green alternative concrete option for residential builders and owners.Read moreRead less
Paving the way to greener roads and healthier waterways. Waste tyre permeable pavement is emerging as an effective stormwater surge mitigation solution. Yet, its behaviour under traffic loads and varied environmental conditions are not fully understood which undermines industry confidence in this technology. This project aims to advance the engineering of waste tyre permeable pavements by creating new knowledge on their mechanical and hydrological performance. The project will develop design gui ....Paving the way to greener roads and healthier waterways. Waste tyre permeable pavement is emerging as an effective stormwater surge mitigation solution. Yet, its behaviour under traffic loads and varied environmental conditions are not fully understood which undermines industry confidence in this technology. This project aims to advance the engineering of waste tyre permeable pavements by creating new knowledge on their mechanical and hydrological performance. The project will develop design guidelines, identify the governing mechanisms and develop a performance prediction framework based on laboratory and field tests, and advanced numerical modelling. The mechanisms of performance from micro to macro level will be identified, generating knowledge for industry to support widespread uptake.Read moreRead less
Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations. The protection of whistleblowers and other internal witnesses to corruption, misconduct and maladministration is a great unsolved problem in public sector governance. Involving 11 integrity institutions, this first national study of internal witness management will describe and compare organisational experience under varying public interest disclosure regimes across the Au ....Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations. The protection of whistleblowers and other internal witnesses to corruption, misconduct and maladministration is a great unsolved problem in public sector governance. Involving 11 integrity institutions, this first national study of internal witness management will describe and compare organisational experience under varying public interest disclosure regimes across the Australian public sector. By identifying and promoting current best practice in workplace responses to public interest whistleblowing, the project will use the experience and perceptions of internal witnesses and first- and second-level managers to identify more routine strategies for preventing, reducing and addressing reprisals and other whistleblowing-related conflicts.Read moreRead less
Development of Novel Concrete Noise Walls Incorporating Recycled Materials. This project will develop high-performance, lightweight, concrete noise walls and acoustic barriers that use recycled tyre and glass products to improve sound absorption, and address environmental problems associated with the mining of river sands, and stockpiling of waste tyre and glass products. Innovation in noise wall technology consists in developing low-carbon concrete mixes (using less cement) with a maximum amoun ....Development of Novel Concrete Noise Walls Incorporating Recycled Materials. This project will develop high-performance, lightweight, concrete noise walls and acoustic barriers that use recycled tyre and glass products to improve sound absorption, and address environmental problems associated with the mining of river sands, and stockpiling of waste tyre and glass products. Innovation in noise wall technology consists in developing low-carbon concrete mixes (using less cement) with a maximum amount of recycled product, together with reducing wall thickness, while maintaining the necessary engineering properties such as acoustics, strength, and durability. In addition to higher acoustic insulation, the novel low-carbon, lightweight, panels will improve material handling and affordability of noise barriers.Read moreRead less
New methods for small group analysis from sample surveys. National and state averages of statistics on issues such as unemployment, salinity, drought impact, and health often hide large differences between population sub-groups and between small areas. This local variation needs to be understood so that effective policies can be developed and carried out efficiently and their impact monitored. This project will provide, for the first time, robust and efficient methods for providing information o ....New methods for small group analysis from sample surveys. National and state averages of statistics on issues such as unemployment, salinity, drought impact, and health often hide large differences between population sub-groups and between small areas. This local variation needs to be understood so that effective policies can be developed and carried out efficiently and their impact monitored. This project will provide, for the first time, robust and efficient methods for providing information on these variations using data from large-scale national and state surveys. This will lead to significant improvements in the data available for small population groups and small areas, allowing better targeting of policies aimed at addressing local differences.Read moreRead less
Handling Missing Data in Complex Household Surveys. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has an extensive program of household surveys that is a key source of information on the social and economic conditions of the population. They provide statistics and data on a large range of social and economic topics, such as health, education, the labour force, income and expenditure. Analysis of household survey data by a variety of organisations underpins policy development and evaluation and the e ....Handling Missing Data in Complex Household Surveys. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has an extensive program of household surveys that is a key source of information on the social and economic conditions of the population. They provide statistics and data on a large range of social and economic topics, such as health, education, the labour force, income and expenditure. Analysis of household survey data by a variety of organisations underpins policy development and evaluation and the expenditure of billions of dollars. This project will substantially improve the cost-efficiency and reliability of Australian household survey data, by creating new approaches for handling missing data that deal with the realities of typical household surveys.Read moreRead less
Balancing trust and control in the provision of employment services: comparing outcomes for disability employment service users. The Australian government is committed to assisting marginalised job seekers and increasing employment participation as part of its Social Inclusion Agenda. This research will assist the government achieve its social inclusion goals by analysing key elements of the new generation of employment services and generating comparative information about the relative effective ....Balancing trust and control in the provision of employment services: comparing outcomes for disability employment service users. The Australian government is committed to assisting marginalised job seekers and increasing employment participation as part of its Social Inclusion Agenda. This research will assist the government achieve its social inclusion goals by analysing key elements of the new generation of employment services and generating comparative information about the relative effectiveness of different service delivery models currently operating in the Job Network and the Disability Employment Network. Read moreRead less
Re-considering sustainable building and design: a cultural change approach. This project will help reduce the 38 per cent of all Australian waste that is produced by the construction industry by addressing the role of the building procurement team in reducing resource usage and eliminating waste. The outcomes of this research will address National Research Priority 1, An Environmentally Sustainable Australia.