Making demonstrably reliable forensic voice comparison a practical everyday reality in Australia. To assist Australian law-enforcement agencies and courts in the process of the conviction of the guilty and the exoneration of the innocent, this project will develop and test a practical and demonstrably reliable forensic voice comparison system for use with Australian voices. This will allow forensic scientists to produce reliable strength of evidence statements for presentation in court using the ....Making demonstrably reliable forensic voice comparison a practical everyday reality in Australia. To assist Australian law-enforcement agencies and courts in the process of the conviction of the guilty and the exoneration of the innocent, this project will develop and test a practical and demonstrably reliable forensic voice comparison system for use with Australian voices. This will allow forensic scientists to produce reliable strength of evidence statements for presentation in court using the same evaluative framework as used with DNA. In addition, application of the system during criminal investigations may lead to the refocussing of investigations on other suspects, or may help leverage guilty pleas, thus saving substantial time and money.Read moreRead less
Innovations in Clinical Education for Physiotherapy Students. Australia has workforce shortages and an ageing population. Physiotherapists are key players in promoting and maintaining good health through their leadership in physical activity and rehabilitation to retain Australians in the workforce and to ensure quality of life for our ageing population. There is a national shortage of physiotherapists. Increasing numbers of physiotherapists are being trained, requiring new models of clinical tr ....Innovations in Clinical Education for Physiotherapy Students. Australia has workforce shortages and an ageing population. Physiotherapists are key players in promoting and maintaining good health through their leadership in physical activity and rehabilitation to retain Australians in the workforce and to ensure quality of life for our ageing population. There is a national shortage of physiotherapists. Increasing numbers of physiotherapists are being trained, requiring new models of clinical training as there is no capacity in conventional training to cope with student numbers. This research will develop and evaluate new models of training incorporating standardised patients (actors) and simulators (mannequins) which increase education capacity. Models are transferable to other health professions.Read moreRead less
Nurturing Australia's Little Multilingual Minds. Despite its substantial multilingual capacity of more than 300 languages, Australia has been described as a 'graveyard for languages'. In partnering with community organisations we will facilitate polyglot early learning, commencing with Spanish and Vietnamese. Expected outcomes are a deep understanding of multilingual families’ experiences, a model to support lifespan multilingual education, and openly-accessible database of child language in her ....Nurturing Australia's Little Multilingual Minds. Despite its substantial multilingual capacity of more than 300 languages, Australia has been described as a 'graveyard for languages'. In partnering with community organisations we will facilitate polyglot early learning, commencing with Spanish and Vietnamese. Expected outcomes are a deep understanding of multilingual families’ experiences, a model to support lifespan multilingual education, and openly-accessible database of child language in heritage languages. Benefits include a pivotal contribution to early childhood education with the creation of a tailor-made, principle-based program, which will enhance children’s academic achievement, familial social and mental wellbeing, and cultural and economic opportunities for all Australians. Read moreRead less
Developing key vision technology for automation of aquaculture factory. This project aims to investigate structural, coloured textural, and hyperspectral analysis approaches to achieve automated lobster molt-cycle staging and classification to the level required for commercial production. High labour cost, water contamination, and disease transmission are major barriers in Australian bay lobster aquaculture inhibiting its large scale production. Automation of the production process and reducing ....Developing key vision technology for automation of aquaculture factory. This project aims to investigate structural, coloured textural, and hyperspectral analysis approaches to achieve automated lobster molt-cycle staging and classification to the level required for commercial production. High labour cost, water contamination, and disease transmission are major barriers in Australian bay lobster aquaculture inhibiting its large scale production. Automation of the production process and reducing the human contact with animals are of high priority in the development of this Australian-led emerging industry. The project aims to develop technology to bring this world- first aquaculture factory to large scale production, and create new export opportunities for lobsters and production systems.Read moreRead less
Multi-modal, Multi-dimensional Virtual Microscopy for Diagnostic Quantitative Pathology. This project will contribute to the development of a new generation of virtual microscopy (VM) systems that provide new and innovative features capable of significantly increasing the adoption of digital imaging technology throughout the field of pathology. These systems have the potential to significantly enhance the efficiency and efficacy of not only primary diagnostic workflows, but also aspects of profi ....Multi-modal, Multi-dimensional Virtual Microscopy for Diagnostic Quantitative Pathology. This project will contribute to the development of a new generation of virtual microscopy (VM) systems that provide new and innovative features capable of significantly increasing the adoption of digital imaging technology throughout the field of pathology. These systems have the potential to significantly enhance the efficiency and efficacy of not only primary diagnostic workflows, but also aspects of proficiency testing and continuing education vital for a vibrant, well regulated discipline. In addition, the project will contribute to our knowledge of the pathology assessed in the screening and diagnosis of cancers such as cervical, lung and bladder cancers.Read moreRead less
Fibre-reinforced composites: Single-crystal mullite fibres from topaz. The project aims to develop the means of fabricating single-crystal mullite fibres from topaz that are suitable for reinforcement of metal and ceramic matrix composites. Single-crystal mullite is the most sought after fibrous additive, but is not available commercially. It is expected to attract an immediate clientele in laboratories and companies servicing the aviation industry and the military. This will allow large depos ....Fibre-reinforced composites: Single-crystal mullite fibres from topaz. The project aims to develop the means of fabricating single-crystal mullite fibres from topaz that are suitable for reinforcement of metal and ceramic matrix composites. Single-crystal mullite is the most sought after fibrous additive, but is not available commercially. It is expected to attract an immediate clientele in laboratories and companies servicing the aviation industry and the military. This will allow large deposit of topaz in Torrington, NSW to be used to develop a high-value niche product (fibres) and a large-volume, low-value product (fluoride). This will provide significant economic and environmental benefits and it addresses the research priorities - Resources and Advanced Manufacturing.Read moreRead less
The future of corneal refractive reshaping: can we control myopia or is the risk of corneal compromise too great? Refinement of corneal reshaping lens designs, optimised for visual outcomes through manipulation of aberrations, will significantly benefit local contact lens manufacturing and export by expanding the existing market base. This research will also strategically position Australian lens manufacturing to capitalise on the market for myopia-control contact lenses, particularly in the As ....The future of corneal refractive reshaping: can we control myopia or is the risk of corneal compromise too great? Refinement of corneal reshaping lens designs, optimised for visual outcomes through manipulation of aberrations, will significantly benefit local contact lens manufacturing and export by expanding the existing market base. This research will also strategically position Australian lens manufacturing to capitalise on the market for myopia-control contact lenses, particularly in the Asian region. Significant intellectual property will be generated for Australia in terms of enhanced understanding of the role of manipulation of corneal shape in modulating progressive myopia. Outcomes from this project will enhance the international reputation of the UNSW research group, keeping Australian science at the forefront of this area of research.Read moreRead less
Harnessing contact lens design to optimise optics and vision through corneal refractive reshaping. Development of innovative OK lens designs to correct presbyopia and astigmatism, optimised for visual performance through manipulation of optical aberrations, will place Australian rigid contact lens manufacturing at the international forefront of OK lens production. Lens designs to control myopia progression will strategically position Australian lens manufacturing to capitalise on the potential m ....Harnessing contact lens design to optimise optics and vision through corneal refractive reshaping. Development of innovative OK lens designs to correct presbyopia and astigmatism, optimised for visual performance through manipulation of optical aberrations, will place Australian rigid contact lens manufacturing at the international forefront of OK lens production. Lens designs to control myopia progression will strategically position Australian lens manufacturing to capitalise on the potential market in Asia, where myopia is prevalent. Significant intellectual property will be generated for Australia through greater understanding of OK lens design manipulation to optimise visual outcomes. This project promises to enhance the international reputation of UNSW researchers, keeping Australian science at the forefront of this research area.Read moreRead less
Interaction Mining for Cyberbullying Detection on Social Networks. This project plans to build an interactive mining system to detect cyberbullying on social networks that have a large number of participants and a variety of inputs, including conversation texts, time-variant changes and user profiles. The project is designed to change the existing cyberbullying prevention services from reactive keyword filtering to proactive social interaction pattern mining. The intended outcome will enable the ....Interaction Mining for Cyberbullying Detection on Social Networks. This project plans to build an interactive mining system to detect cyberbullying on social networks that have a large number of participants and a variety of inputs, including conversation texts, time-variant changes and user profiles. The project is designed to change the existing cyberbullying prevention services from reactive keyword filtering to proactive social interaction pattern mining. The intended outcome will enable the early detection and warning of cyberbullying and approach open a new way to discover interaction patterns with a large number of participants over evolving and complex social networks.Read moreRead less
Web Services Reputation Management. This project directly supports the National Research Priority 4: Safeguarding Australia. More specifically, it aims at creating mechanisms that will make it more difficult to use the Internet as a platform for launching attacks against the business processes of Australian organisations that provide and consume Web services. At the same time this will stimulate the establishment of high quality WS markets. As direct social benefit of this research, Australian o ....Web Services Reputation Management. This project directly supports the National Research Priority 4: Safeguarding Australia. More specifically, it aims at creating mechanisms that will make it more difficult to use the Internet as a platform for launching attacks against the business processes of Australian organisations that provide and consume Web services. At the same time this will stimulate the establishment of high quality WS markets. As direct social benefit of this research, Australian organisations will be able to integrate the best quality Web services as part of their business processes, and thereby avoid being negatively impacted by low quality and deceptive Web services. Read moreRead less