Development of an integrated methodology to assess dewatering system performance in solid-liquid separation. 3D visualisations of microstructures are possible with techniques such as confocal laser microscopy and high resolution X-ray microtomography. Data obtained in-situ enable direct computation of solids assembly properties and their permeability to fluids. A specific application involving aggregate formation and sediment networks could be evaluated through micro-scale analysis combined with ....Development of an integrated methodology to assess dewatering system performance in solid-liquid separation. 3D visualisations of microstructures are possible with techniques such as confocal laser microscopy and high resolution X-ray microtomography. Data obtained in-situ enable direct computation of solids assembly properties and their permeability to fluids. A specific application involving aggregate formation and sediment networks could be evaluated through micro-scale analysis combined with robust fluid flow simulations. The method can potentially be utilized to predict trends such as filtration behaviour of materials under different states of compression. This offers significant benefits in formulating the design of flocculated systems pertinent to a number of industrial sectors wishing to design optimum solid-liquid separation processes.Read moreRead less
Unsteady-State Operation of Slurry and Fixed-Bed Fischer-Tropsch Reactors for Improved Process Performance. The development of efficient gas-to-liquid processes via the Fischer-Tropsch reaction is the most economically viable route for the production of non-petroleum based chemicals and environmentally-friendly fuels from abundant natural gas. This investigation proposes the exploitation of both reactor and catalyst dynamics behaviour to obtain higher hydrocarbon synthesis rate and selectivity n ....Unsteady-State Operation of Slurry and Fixed-Bed Fischer-Tropsch Reactors for Improved Process Performance. The development of efficient gas-to-liquid processes via the Fischer-Tropsch reaction is the most economically viable route for the production of non-petroleum based chemicals and environmentally-friendly fuels from abundant natural gas. This investigation proposes the exploitation of both reactor and catalyst dynamics behaviour to obtain higher hydrocarbon synthesis rate and selectivity not attainable under conventional steady-state operation. With current market conditions of about US$30/bbl for crude oil, even modest process improvements of 30-60% will make the process competitive. Whilst individual national energy policy goals are promoted, the research will further strengthen closer economic and technology ties between France and Australia.Read moreRead less
Development of Solid-state cooling chips. The performance of modern electronic, microelectronic, optoelectronic and photonic devices improves as they are cooled. We aim to develop semiconductor cooling elements that can be directly integrated into existing circuits and devices. The new solid-state cooling elements will be reliable, robust, scalable and operate in any orientation. The proposed international collaboration combines the expertise of the Chinese Academy of Science in device fabricat ....Development of Solid-state cooling chips. The performance of modern electronic, microelectronic, optoelectronic and photonic devices improves as they are cooled. We aim to develop semiconductor cooling elements that can be directly integrated into existing circuits and devices. The new solid-state cooling elements will be reliable, robust, scalable and operate in any orientation. The proposed international collaboration combines the expertise of the Chinese Academy of Science in device fabrication with the expertise of the University of Wollongong in device characterisation and modelling. The outcome of this research has the potential to revolutionize cooling of diverse electronic systems, from computer motherboards to mobile phones.Read moreRead less
Simulation and characterisation of opto-thermionic cooling devices. Opto-thermionic devices combine thermionic emission and laser cooling to achieve the maximum cooling power and highest thermal efficiency. These devices are ultra small, very reliable and fully integrable. Many important problems need to be solved to improve the performance of this new class of solid-state cooling devices. One is to understand and manipulate the electron-hole radiative recombination and minimize the Auger proces ....Simulation and characterisation of opto-thermionic cooling devices. Opto-thermionic devices combine thermionic emission and laser cooling to achieve the maximum cooling power and highest thermal efficiency. These devices are ultra small, very reliable and fully integrable. Many important problems need to be solved to improve the performance of this new class of solid-state cooling devices. One is to understand and manipulate the electron-hole radiative recombination and minimize the Auger process in reduced dimensionality devices such as quantum wells. Researchers at Wollongong and Lund will collaborate on theoretical analysis, computer simulation and electrical/optical measurements to solve this problem.Read moreRead less
Development of micro abrasive water jetting technology for micro machining and polishing on small complex curved surfaces. The fabrication of micro-parts such as those used in integrated sensors and micro-actuators is a new challenge for the rapid development of this industry. Many existing technologies either find limitations or result in defects on the machined surfaces. This project will develop an innovative abrasive water-jetting technology for micro machining and polishing. It will deve ....Development of micro abrasive water jetting technology for micro machining and polishing on small complex curved surfaces. The fabrication of micro-parts such as those used in integrated sensors and micro-actuators is a new challenge for the rapid development of this industry. Many existing technologies either find limitations or result in defects on the machined surfaces. This project will develop an innovative abrasive water-jetting technology for micro machining and polishing. It will develop the fundamentals and prototype for further development by industry. New nozzle designs will be analyzed and optimized by computational fluid dynamics studies and experimental investigations using a Particle Image Velocimeter. Mathematical models for the processing performance will also be developed for use in process control.Read moreRead less
Semiconductor Photonic Crystal Devices. Photonic crystals will be a key element of future all-optical ultra-highspeed photonic integrated circuits for telecommunications and signal processing. This project will pioneer new structures capable of manipulating light on integrated photonic chips, based on nano-scale features in semiconductors. This will have a significant impact on Australia's photonics industry.
Managing Knowledge in Web-Driven Organisational Evolution. Organisations are increasingly concerned with the effective utilisation of Web technologies, and especially the ways in which these technologies can be used to improve their business. Effective management of knowledge about the interplay between the organisation and technical drivers of this technology adoption will enable a much-enhanced process for leveraging emerging information and communication technologies. This project aims to li ....Managing Knowledge in Web-Driven Organisational Evolution. Organisations are increasingly concerned with the effective utilisation of Web technologies, and especially the ways in which these technologies can be used to improve their business. Effective management of knowledge about the interplay between the organisation and technical drivers of this technology adoption will enable a much-enhanced process for leveraging emerging information and communication technologies. This project aims to link related research at UTS and Southampton University to understand how tools might support this knowledge management. Outcomes will include the creation of specific tools (and techniques for using them) within the context of managing organisational uptake of new technologies.Read moreRead less
Enhancement of heat transfer by micro-electro-mechanical devices: numerical and experimental study. The main goal of the present project is to approach a completely new concept for cooling electronic-micro-devices (EMD). We will integrate the cooling system in the EMD by mean of built micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The area of application is so innovative, that there is no engineering experience for modelling heat transfer at such small physical scales. The first goal of this project ....Enhancement of heat transfer by micro-electro-mechanical devices: numerical and experimental study. The main goal of the present project is to approach a completely new concept for cooling electronic-micro-devices (EMD). We will integrate the cooling system in the EMD by mean of built micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The area of application is so innovative, that there is no engineering experience for modelling heat transfer at such small physical scales. The first goal of this project is to fill this lack of knowledge and to validate the possible numerical procedure using experimental data obtained from experiments, also planned for the present project. Once a suitable procedure has been established for evaluating heat fluxes , we will optimized configurations for heat transfer enhancers in micro devices.Read moreRead less
User-Driven Composition of Web Services. Web service composition technology promises to revolutionise the way in which organisations interact over the Web. However existing environments for the composition of Web services are too complex to use and are usually intended for experienced application developers as they rely either on scripting languages, or on a process-modelling notations intended to be used by IT experts. However, the need for customised composition of Web services is likely to em ....User-Driven Composition of Web Services. Web service composition technology promises to revolutionise the way in which organisations interact over the Web. However existing environments for the composition of Web services are too complex to use and are usually intended for experienced application developers as they rely either on scripting languages, or on a process-modelling notations intended to be used by IT experts. However, the need for customised composition of Web services is likely to emanate from non IT-experts.
The project aims at designing, implementing, and evaluating an environment for the specification and execution of composite Web services by non-expert.Read moreRead less
Privacy-preserving Web Services Composition. Web services composition is emerging as a promising technology for the
effective automation of business-to-business collaborations. It allows
organizations to form alliances by connecting their applications and systems, in order to offer ``one-stops shops'' for their customers. However, several important issues (e.g., security and privacy) need to be properly addressed before Web services technology meets the requirements of critical applications s ....Privacy-preserving Web Services Composition. Web services composition is emerging as a promising technology for the
effective automation of business-to-business collaborations. It allows
organizations to form alliances by connecting their applications and systems, in order to offer ``one-stops shops'' for their customers. However, several important issues (e.g., security and privacy) need to be properly addressed before Web services technology meets the requirements of critical applications such as e-goverment. This project aims at providing privacy preserving Web services composition techniques. The anticipated outcome of this project is a service composition framework that provides seamless interoperability between different Web services without violiating citizens and organisations privacy.Read moreRead less