ROBUST SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY FOR SMALL-SCALE APPLICATIONS. The project aims to develop nano-materials for the next generation planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) that will operate at temperatures between 600 and 800°C. The goal is to identify and demonstrate materials that meet the robust requirements for small scale power generators at the 3-5kW scale. It is expected that these will be used in stationary power generation applications, in remote area power supplies, and for providing ....ROBUST SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY FOR SMALL-SCALE APPLICATIONS. The project aims to develop nano-materials for the next generation planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) that will operate at temperatures between 600 and 800°C. The goal is to identify and demonstrate materials that meet the robust requirements for small scale power generators at the 3-5kW scale. It is expected that these will be used in stationary power generation applications, in remote area power supplies, and for providing auxiliary power in vehicles. The work builds on the world-leading position that Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd. has in planar SOFC technology, utilising micro-analysis and fuel cell expertise at the University of Queensland.Read moreRead less
Benign strategies to engineer nematode resistance in plant crops. Applications to other plant pests. Control of plant pests relies on the heavy use of chemical insecticides that cause an extraordinary impact on the environment. Some insect pests have been controlled by the production of toxins (like BT) by the plant. We will combine newly discovered RNA interference and genomics methods to develop innovative solutions to nematode resistance and insect control. Our methods can be tailored to any ....Benign strategies to engineer nematode resistance in plant crops. Applications to other plant pests. Control of plant pests relies on the heavy use of chemical insecticides that cause an extraordinary impact on the environment. Some insect pests have been controlled by the production of toxins (like BT) by the plant. We will combine newly discovered RNA interference and genomics methods to develop innovative solutions to nematode resistance and insect control. Our methods can be tailored to any pest with wide or narrow spectrum of action and does not require the production of toxins by the plant. The novelty of our approach will generate a large amount of intellectual property.Read moreRead less
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MODERNISM. Most histories treat modernism in Australia as a phenomenon of ?fine art,? or simply painting. This project will instead reveal modernism's highly public impact across a range of media (design, photography, advertising, architecture and art). This new history will better explain how modernist visual idioms became ubiquitous in everyday contemporary design and our built environment after their initial, often hostile reception. The project will provid ....THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MODERNISM. Most histories treat modernism in Australia as a phenomenon of ?fine art,? or simply painting. This project will instead reveal modernism's highly public impact across a range of media (design, photography, advertising, architecture and art). This new history will better explain how modernist visual idioms became ubiquitous in everyday contemporary design and our built environment after their initial, often hostile reception. The project will provide an integrated research analysis of the extensive, but disparate, archives on Australian modernism. It will communicate its research findings through a new scholarly study, a major large-scale travelling public exhibition, a CD, and a website.Read moreRead less
Conservation tillage and its potential to affect catchment salt and water balances. Replacement of deep-rooted vegetation with shallow rooted crops has resulted in greater movement of water into groundwater systems, raising in groundwater level and mobilizing salt to the land's surface. The practice of conservation tillage, provides a range of advantages to landholders, but also has the potential to accentuate the risk of salinisation because it increases water infiltration into the soil surfac ....Conservation tillage and its potential to affect catchment salt and water balances. Replacement of deep-rooted vegetation with shallow rooted crops has resulted in greater movement of water into groundwater systems, raising in groundwater level and mobilizing salt to the land's surface. The practice of conservation tillage, provides a range of advantages to landholders, but also has the potential to accentuate the risk of salinisation because it increases water infiltration into the soil surface. This project aims to evaluate the impact of conservation tillage on soil salt profiles in the Condamine-Balonne and Border Rivers Catchments, and to model will the effect of changed landscape salt and water balances on river water quality.Read moreRead less
Life hanging on a thread; disrupting the structure and function of lepidopteran silking behaviour. The production and use of silk by many invertebrates is vital for their survival. We develop a means of visualising and understanding the role of silking behaviour as a survival mechanism for Helicoverpa larvae (a key world-wide pest) with a view to disrupting silking. This novel project allows us to understand not just where larvae go but what they do along the way. The project outcomes will have ....Life hanging on a thread; disrupting the structure and function of lepidopteran silking behaviour. The production and use of silk by many invertebrates is vital for their survival. We develop a means of visualising and understanding the role of silking behaviour as a survival mechanism for Helicoverpa larvae (a key world-wide pest) with a view to disrupting silking. This novel project allows us to understand not just where larvae go but what they do along the way. The project outcomes will have wide application to the study and control of lepidopteran pests in natural and agricultural ecosystems and is of interest to applied and fundamental projects associated with insect pest control, behaviour and ecology.Read moreRead less
Creative digital industries in Australia: innovation in quantitative and qualitative mapping. The creative digital industries have been identified as a national priority for research, policy analysis and industry development as they are a high growth sector of the global and Australian economy. The project will innovate in both quantitative and qualitative analysis. It will enhance the statistical base for this emerging part of the new economy, and examine creative enterprise dynamics as well as ....Creative digital industries in Australia: innovation in quantitative and qualitative mapping. The creative digital industries have been identified as a national priority for research, policy analysis and industry development as they are a high growth sector of the global and Australian economy. The project will innovate in both quantitative and qualitative analysis. It will enhance the statistical base for this emerging part of the new economy, and examine creative enterprise dynamics as well as digital outputs within the creative industries and wider service industry sectors including education, health and government. Project results will be used by policy makers, industry analysts, and sector leaders in formulating strategies to develop the sector.Read moreRead less
Australian native plant species as models for understanding the regulation and roles of betalain pigment synthesis. This project will have triple bottom line benefits. Economic: new cultivars developed from understanding betalains will sell worldwide, generating returns, incomes and employment in urban, peri-urban and rural Australia. Social: Novel Ptilotus and Calandrinia cultivars will adorn parks and gardens around Australia, thereby enhancing quality of life. Environmental: Ptilotus and Cala ....Australian native plant species as models for understanding the regulation and roles of betalain pigment synthesis. This project will have triple bottom line benefits. Economic: new cultivars developed from understanding betalains will sell worldwide, generating returns, incomes and employment in urban, peri-urban and rural Australia. Social: Novel Ptilotus and Calandrinia cultivars will adorn parks and gardens around Australia, thereby enhancing quality of life. Environmental: Ptilotus and Calandrinia are inherently drought resistant. Novel ornamental cultivars will have high water use efficiency and contribute to water conservation in urban Australia in the face of drought and global warming. Moreover, understanding their synthesis and roles could yield new strategies for enhancing stress tolerance in other species, including crop plants.Read moreRead less
The games and the wider interactive entertainment industry in Australia: an inquiry into sources of innovation. Games and interactive entertainment are flagship digital industries of the present and future which no advanced economy and digitally enabled society can afford not to engage with. Apart from their evident popularity, and proven growth and export potential, they have provided many models and templates for educational technology. The project will assist the local games and interactive e ....The games and the wider interactive entertainment industry in Australia: an inquiry into sources of innovation. Games and interactive entertainment are flagship digital industries of the present and future which no advanced economy and digitally enabled society can afford not to engage with. Apart from their evident popularity, and proven growth and export potential, they have provided many models and templates for educational technology. The project will assist the local games and interactive entertainment sector to source international good practice models, to identify potentially new sources of innovation, such as arts practices not traditionally associated with these industries, and contribute a richly detailed case study providing evidence for why the creative industries should be an integral part of the national innovation system.Read moreRead less
Controlled nutrient release for more efficient agricultural water use and reduced environmental insult. We will create a completely new type of coating for fertilizer granules. Clays that adsorb and slowly release phosphates and/or other nutrients will be exfoliated with cationic organic reagents to produce organoclay nanoparticles of greatly increased surface area. These will be polymerized with current and novel monomers to form nanocomposites, encasing the clay in a water-swellable matrix by ....Controlled nutrient release for more efficient agricultural water use and reduced environmental insult. We will create a completely new type of coating for fertilizer granules. Clays that adsorb and slowly release phosphates and/or other nutrients will be exfoliated with cationic organic reagents to produce organoclay nanoparticles of greatly increased surface area. These will be polymerized with current and novel monomers to form nanocomposites, encasing the clay in a water-swellable matrix by polymerization; this will enable both slow water perfusion and strong binding to the granules. The polymer and nanoclay properties will be tuneable to release targeted nutrients at an optimal rate for uptake by crops, reducing nutrient seepage into the environment.Read moreRead less
Researching, designing and evaluating online learning tools to effectively utilise audio-visual archives: critical literacies through rich task interactivity. In collaboration with Film Australia and award winning eLearning company Crank Media, researchers will prototype next-generation broadband learning tools that continually assess and respond to an individual user's knowledge gaps, and enable access to digital resources derived from personal learning styles and preferences. Underpinned by di ....Researching, designing and evaluating online learning tools to effectively utilise audio-visual archives: critical literacies through rich task interactivity. In collaboration with Film Australia and award winning eLearning company Crank Media, researchers will prototype next-generation broadband learning tools that continually assess and respond to an individual user's knowledge gaps, and enable access to digital resources derived from personal learning styles and preferences. Underpinned by distributed learning theory and working with ?rich task? activities within a content aggregation scaffolding the research will design and field test innovative online study and revision activities. It will engage learners in recognizing and switching their learning paradigms appropriately, and in articulating these decisions through dynamic content pathways utilizing Film Australia's invaluable archives.Read moreRead less