Reconceptualising Heritage Collections: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Museum Collections and Documentation. Museums worldwide are responding to technical advances in digital media. Collection databases and their availability on the World Wide Web are part of this initiative. The potential scope for collections documentation has been transformed by digital technologies, but in reality this has not been matched by the quality of information held in databases - its relationship to current knowled ....Reconceptualising Heritage Collections: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Museum Collections and Documentation. Museums worldwide are responding to technical advances in digital media. Collection databases and their availability on the World Wide Web are part of this initiative. The potential scope for collections documentation has been transformed by digital technologies, but in reality this has not been matched by the quality of information held in databases - its relationship to current knowledge, the needs of online users and new interdisciplinary approaches to material culture research. This project will reconceptualise museum collections acquisition, documentation practices, create a new multidisciplinary multimedia knowledge structure and reform museum practice to address these issues to greatly enhance the value of collections.Read moreRead less
Creativity and cultural production in the Hunter: an applied ethnographic study of new entrepreneurial systems in the creative industries. This project will be an applied study of key collaborative groups across all the major creative industries in the Hunter region in New South Wales. Mapping these industries' approach to creativity and cultural production in the digital realm will provide detailed insights into the dynamic systems at the heart of creative industries.
Prefabricated reusable building modules: reducing building life cycle environmental impacts. The outcomes of this project will enhance Australia's ability to provide globally competitive next generation building construction solutions. It will also help to not only ensure that Australian industry is at the forefront of best-practice environmental innovation but also support industry to develop and expand export markets, providing significant economic benefits. The outcomes of this project will b ....Prefabricated reusable building modules: reducing building life cycle environmental impacts. The outcomes of this project will enhance Australia's ability to provide globally competitive next generation building construction solutions. It will also help to not only ensure that Australian industry is at the forefront of best-practice environmental innovation but also support industry to develop and expand export markets, providing significant economic benefits. The outcomes of this project will be valuable to the construction industry to make implementation of ecologically sustainable design more rigorous. Strategies for improving the environmental performance of construction, particularly through prefabrication of durable building components will be able to be better facilitated by the research undertaken in this project.Read moreRead less
The role of location on the effectiveness of smoke alarms. Smoke alarms in buildings are required by the Building Code of Australia (BCA), but the current requirements are less than optimal. This project will provide the basis for optimisation of smoke alarms and the number, interconnection and positioning of smoke alarms in residential buildings. This is expected to lead to reductions in fire fatalities, injuries and property loss.
The Identification and Development of Strategies for Increasing Engineering Enrolments. There is a continuing nation-wide decline in high school student enrolment in higher level mathematics and science. This is already leading to a reduction in the number of students undertaking university engineering programs in Australia and the situation is expected to worsen. This project is directed toward a better understanding of the reasons for the trend and the development of strategies to reverse it. ....The Identification and Development of Strategies for Increasing Engineering Enrolments. There is a continuing nation-wide decline in high school student enrolment in higher level mathematics and science. This is already leading to a reduction in the number of students undertaking university engineering programs in Australia and the situation is expected to worsen. This project is directed toward a better understanding of the reasons for the trend and the development of strategies to reverse it. It aims to 1. Evaluate the most effective strategies that increase student's interests and understanding of engineering and increase participation in engineering studies. 2. Develop an optimised national communication strategy for promoting engineering studies to secondary students.Read moreRead less
Global Citizenship and the Agency of the Museum Sector in Climate Change Interventions. Australia plays an important role in the global response to climate change. This project will benefit Australian communities by building capacity to more effectively respond to and make informed decisions about climate change by looking to the museum sector as change-agents, well-equipped to operate as a global network. It will develop institutional capacity to communicate high-level state of the art knowledg ....Global Citizenship and the Agency of the Museum Sector in Climate Change Interventions. Australia plays an important role in the global response to climate change. This project will benefit Australian communities by building capacity to more effectively respond to and make informed decisions about climate change by looking to the museum sector as change-agents, well-equipped to operate as a global network. It will develop institutional capacity to communicate high-level state of the art knowledge about climate change to produce better informed citizens; provide forums where diverse interests can meet; and produce new avenues for Australian communities to interact and contribute to local and global debates and decision-making on climate change.Read moreRead less
Transforming building environmental design: streamlining environmental decision-making for building designers. The project will significantly reduce national energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the construction and operation of new and existing buildings. This will help to reduce the potential impacts of climate change on Australians and provides a highly cost-effective solution for mitigating and adapting to climate change.
A holistic integrated design approach for building envelopes incorporating sustainability, security and safety. This project aims to develop a highly secure and sustainable facade system for buildings with a significant enhancement over other conventional facades in terms of both protection against extreme loads and life cycle energy performance. The outcome of this project can be used to improve the sustainability and safety of buildings in Australia.
A novel environment friendly energy efficient ventilation system using wind turbine ventilator and advanced active flow control. This project addresses a growing demand of modern day living: cost effective and efficient ventilation in building using a novel hybrid system of wind turbine ventilator and air circulation control technology providing significant savings in total building energy consumption and carbon emissions creating frontier technology industries and new jobs.
Fire Risk Evaluation of Commercial Buildings. An integrated systems risk-based model for fire safety has been developed for apartment buildings. A risk-based model must also be developed for commercial high-rise buildings taking into account the sub-models most relevant for these buildings. This requires a new approach and the development and integration of new submodels. Such a model does not currently exist but its development will allow for the cost-effective design of commercial buildings wh ....Fire Risk Evaluation of Commercial Buildings. An integrated systems risk-based model for fire safety has been developed for apartment buildings. A risk-based model must also be developed for commercial high-rise buildings taking into account the sub-models most relevant for these buildings. This requires a new approach and the development and integration of new submodels. Such a model does not currently exist but its development will allow for the cost-effective design of commercial buildings whilst still maintaining appropriate levels of fire safety.Read moreRead less