Combating the spread of antibiotic resistance in urban water systems. This projects aims to investigate the occurrence, diversity, and transformation of antibiotic resistant genes in the entire urban water cycle. Using the latest metagenomic and analytical tools, this project will enhance our knowledge on fate and transfer mechanisms of antibiotic resistance genes in the urban water cycle. Based on this understanding, an expected outcome of the project is the development of innovative technologi ....Combating the spread of antibiotic resistance in urban water systems. This projects aims to investigate the occurrence, diversity, and transformation of antibiotic resistant genes in the entire urban water cycle. Using the latest metagenomic and analytical tools, this project will enhance our knowledge on fate and transfer mechanisms of antibiotic resistance genes in the urban water cycle. Based on this understanding, an expected outcome of the project is the development of innovative technologies for efficient reduction of antibiotic resistance genes to have future applications for environmental, human health and economic benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less
Advanced technology for production of foreign proteins in plant cell and organ cultures. The aim of this project is to develop new technology for in vitro production of pharmaceutical proteins using plant tissue culture. Animal proteins such as antibodies are currently being produced using recombinant plant systems in bioreactors; however, transient gene expression using genetically-modified viruses has a range of potential benefits for substantially increasing foreign protein titres. Because vi ....Advanced technology for production of foreign proteins in plant cell and organ cultures. The aim of this project is to develop new technology for in vitro production of pharmaceutical proteins using plant tissue culture. Animal proteins such as antibodies are currently being produced using recombinant plant systems in bioreactors; however, transient gene expression using genetically-modified viruses has a range of potential benefits for substantially increasing foreign protein titres. Because viruses rapidly infect plant tissues and can be amplified to extremely high levels, this new method for in vitro foreign protein synthesis has considerable promise. This project will extend the existing science of plant tissue culture into new areas with commercial potential.Read moreRead less
Integration of Life Cycle Analysis, EnternE, and Economic Models to Sustainable Regional Development. This project involves the development of a novel decision-making framework to support the transition to sustainability within regions. The approach is based on integrating the methodologies of Life Cycle Analysis, externality costing and traditional economic analysis to assess the tradeoffs between economic, environmental and social outcomes. The integration of these techniques will allow the re ....Integration of Life Cycle Analysis, EnternE, and Economic Models to Sustainable Regional Development. This project involves the development of a novel decision-making framework to support the transition to sustainability within regions. The approach is based on integrating the methodologies of Life Cycle Analysis, externality costing and traditional economic analysis to assess the tradeoffs between economic, environmental and social outcomes. The integration of these techniques will allow the relative magnitude of positive and negative impacts of development decisions to be reported as an economic unit. This will allow the tradeoffs that occur between economic, environmental and social considerations to be quantified and the sustainability of a development or planning scenario to be assessed.Read moreRead less
Optimising nanofiltration and reverse osmosis filtration processes for water recycling: effects of fouling and chemical cleaning on trace contaminant removal. In Australia, water recycling is considered a principal measure to manage the current ongoing water shortage and to better protect the environment. Membrane filtration processes play important roles in the treatment of reclaimed municipal wastewater. However, there is very limited knowledge regarding the reliability of such processes in re ....Optimising nanofiltration and reverse osmosis filtration processes for water recycling: effects of fouling and chemical cleaning on trace contaminant removal. In Australia, water recycling is considered a principal measure to manage the current ongoing water shortage and to better protect the environment. Membrane filtration processes play important roles in the treatment of reclaimed municipal wastewater. However, there is very limited knowledge regarding the reliability of such processes in removing trace contaminants from recycled water, which may result in unintended health consequences. This research will lead to a comprehensive understanding of the removal process of such contaminants by membrane filtration. Consequently, the likely avenue of risk can be eliminated and the treatment process can be optimised to achieve economic savings and environmental protection.Read moreRead less
Benign fabrication of microfluidic hydrogel for improved artificial vasculature in bone implants. We will create a benign technology for synthesising microfluidic hydrogels to generate artificial vascultures in bone implants. It is a critical step to enable the use of tissue-engineered vital organs, such as bone, heart and kidney in patients with end-stage organ failure. Thicker scaffolds will be possible, as the vasculature will provide nutrients and oxygen for cells to grow into 3D scaffolds. ....Benign fabrication of microfluidic hydrogel for improved artificial vasculature in bone implants. We will create a benign technology for synthesising microfluidic hydrogels to generate artificial vascultures in bone implants. It is a critical step to enable the use of tissue-engineered vital organs, such as bone, heart and kidney in patients with end-stage organ failure. Thicker scaffolds will be possible, as the vasculature will provide nutrients and oxygen for cells to grow into 3D scaffolds. It will promote capacity of Australia for manufacturing global biomaterial products for tissue engineering. We will also develop in-situ imaging analytical protocols for the rapid analysis of broad arrays of functional molecules, with significant bearing on BioMEMS design to develop methods for diagnosis of fatal diseases.Read moreRead less
Analytics to predict anaerobic codigestion & downstream process performance. This project aims to develop management approaches to enable the use of anaerobic co-digestion — the conversion of organic wastes and wastewater sludge to biogas for electricity production. Anaerobic co-digestion has the potential to bring significant economic savings to water stakeholders and environmental benefits to communities. However, full-scale deployment faces fundamental challenges in terms of managing impacts ....Analytics to predict anaerobic codigestion & downstream process performance. This project aims to develop management approaches to enable the use of anaerobic co-digestion — the conversion of organic wastes and wastewater sludge to biogas for electricity production. Anaerobic co-digestion has the potential to bring significant economic savings to water stakeholders and environmental benefits to communities. However, full-scale deployment faces fundamental challenges in terms of managing impacts on downstream processes (e.g. odour, dewaterability, biogas quality, and nutrient build-up). The analytical framework and analytics tool to be developed in this project by an interdisciplinary team with expertise in process engineering, biochemistry, analytical chemistry and analytics, is expected to enable water stakeholders to cost-effectively manage these impacts and thus realise the benefits of co-digestion.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775513
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
Advanced Process Tomography Research Facility for Multiphase System Studies. The establishment of an advanced process tomography facility at UNSW has several important national benefits, including; increased capacity of the collaborating institutions to train highly qualified personnel to meet new and growing demands in the processing industries; the transfer of research-based cheap and efficient technologies to our industries to enhance their position in a competitive global market; the improve ....Advanced Process Tomography Research Facility for Multiphase System Studies. The establishment of an advanced process tomography facility at UNSW has several important national benefits, including; increased capacity of the collaborating institutions to train highly qualified personnel to meet new and growing demands in the processing industries; the transfer of research-based cheap and efficient technologies to our industries to enhance their position in a competitive global market; the improvement in our culture and living standards through superior and inexpensive food, biomedical, water, environmental, materials and military products; and the strengthening of Australian position, through international linkage projects, as a world leader in the development of novel processing technologies.Read moreRead less
Engineering of cartilage-based biomaterials under dynamic culture conditions. This work contributes to the development of advanced technologies in the area of biomaterials. The cartilage biomaterials generated in this work will lead to new medical applications in tissue reconstruction and replacement, which is of direct benefit to society by improving the methods used to treat joint disease and injury. As there is a significant commercial market for tissue-engineered cartilage products, this res ....Engineering of cartilage-based biomaterials under dynamic culture conditions. This work contributes to the development of advanced technologies in the area of biomaterials. The cartilage biomaterials generated in this work will lead to new medical applications in tissue reconstruction and replacement, which is of direct benefit to society by improving the methods used to treat joint disease and injury. As there is a significant commercial market for tissue-engineered cartilage products, this research also has implications for enhancing the scope and profitability of the Australian biotechnology industry. The project will be a vehicle for research training in a broad range of interdisciplinary areas. Students involved in the work will be equipped with a versatile and valuable combination of skills.Read moreRead less
Impact of Fouling on Retention of Contaminants in Electrodialysis for Brackish Water and Wastewater Applications. Water desalination and water recycling are both of utmost importance in the current global water crisis. Reverse osmosis is a commonly used process in both areas but this process has two main limitations (1) it is limited in water recovery by the concentration of salts, and (2) it produces a relatively large amount of concentrates that require disposal. Using electrodialysis to treat ....Impact of Fouling on Retention of Contaminants in Electrodialysis for Brackish Water and Wastewater Applications. Water desalination and water recycling are both of utmost importance in the current global water crisis. Reverse osmosis is a commonly used process in both areas but this process has two main limitations (1) it is limited in water recovery by the concentration of salts, and (2) it produces a relatively large amount of concentrates that require disposal. Using electrodialysis to treat such concentrates will decrease the salinity problem caused by disposal and also increase the water efficiency of the treatment process. In this research project the potential performance limitations fouling and micropollutant removal will be investigated and hence the performance improved.Read moreRead less
Application of bioreactors for culture of differentiated cells and solid-phase tissues. The aim of this project is to develop methods for producing three-dimensional human cartilage outside of the body. Tissue-engineered cartilage has a range of applications, including in toxicity testing, for production of therapeutics, and as surgical transplant devices. Bioreactors will be used to culture cartilage under controlled conditions for development of living tissues with properties as close as possi ....Application of bioreactors for culture of differentiated cells and solid-phase tissues. The aim of this project is to develop methods for producing three-dimensional human cartilage outside of the body. Tissue-engineered cartilage has a range of applications, including in toxicity testing, for production of therapeutics, and as surgical transplant devices. Bioreactors will be used to culture cartilage under controlled conditions for development of living tissues with properties as close as possible to those of native articular cartilage. Novel culture strategies will be used to enhance the availability of growth factors and provide adequate oxygen and nutrient exchange. These techniques have the potential to yield significant improvements in the quality of engineered cartilage.Read moreRead less