High-speed bidirectional optical interconnects for board-to-board communications. The project will contribute directly to Australia's participation in various ICT industries through the development of innovative solutions and will increase the knowledge and skills base in silicon-photonics. The development of the proposed board-to-board high-speed optical interconnect prototypes will result in R&D outcomes well-matched to the needs and interests of Australian companies; this project will assist ....High-speed bidirectional optical interconnects for board-to-board communications. The project will contribute directly to Australia's participation in various ICT industries through the development of innovative solutions and will increase the knowledge and skills base in silicon-photonics. The development of the proposed board-to-board high-speed optical interconnect prototypes will result in R&D outcomes well-matched to the needs and interests of Australian companies; this project will assist Australia to capitalise on new technology and to become a significant player in the next ICT boom. This project will put Australia at the cutting edge of high-speed interconnect technology and will generate income through licensing the technology and the establishment of spin-off opportunities in both Australia and off-shore.Read moreRead less
Photonic Antenna: Nested multi-band patch antenna and arrayed photonic interconnect. This project aims to investigate the design of a broadband ?photonic antenna? for airborne radar warning and electronic countermeasure systems. The project will investigate the development of a suite of printed antennas that cover bands in the range from 2-40 GHz realised on a single substrate. Nesting these antennas to reduce system size, and integration of this module with a custom optical modulator array and ....Photonic Antenna: Nested multi-band patch antenna and arrayed photonic interconnect. This project aims to investigate the design of a broadband ?photonic antenna? for airborne radar warning and electronic countermeasure systems. The project will investigate the development of a suite of printed antennas that cover bands in the range from 2-40 GHz realised on a single substrate. Nesting these antennas to reduce system size, and integration of this module with a custom optical modulator array and RF signal combiner will be investigated. The resulting broadband antenna suite with photonic interconnect will require minimal fabrication and packaging resources, and will thus be an economically viable photonic solution for practical defence systems.Read moreRead less
Active Vibration Control of a Cricket Bat using Piezoelectric-based Smart Materials Technology. Improvement of sporting equipment performance of late has largely ignored the game of cricket. Using the combined disciplines of advanced materials and control technologies, it is anticipated that the traditional cricket bat can be vastly improved while keeping to bat modification guidelines as specified in the rules of the game. This project involves the dynamic study of the bat using established e ....Active Vibration Control of a Cricket Bat using Piezoelectric-based Smart Materials Technology. Improvement of sporting equipment performance of late has largely ignored the game of cricket. Using the combined disciplines of advanced materials and control technologies, it is anticipated that the traditional cricket bat can be vastly improved while keeping to bat modification guidelines as specified in the rules of the game. This project involves the dynamic study of the bat using established experimental techniques. Once the various regions of high strain rates are determined, smart materials technologies will be used to reduce the transient vibrations transmitted to the batsman. The effect of this monitoring and control is to increase the comfort level and hence, effectiveness of the batsman.Read moreRead less
Investigation of novel magneto-optic materials exhibiting high Faraday figure of merit. Magneto-optical materials have a wide range of potential applications in consumer products, telecommunications and defence. Nanotechnologies based on these materials offer an even broader range of emerging applications. Understanding and participating in the development of magneto-optic technologies will therefore be critical to maintaining Australia's knowledge base and expertise in future technological adv ....Investigation of novel magneto-optic materials exhibiting high Faraday figure of merit. Magneto-optical materials have a wide range of potential applications in consumer products, telecommunications and defence. Nanotechnologies based on these materials offer an even broader range of emerging applications. Understanding and participating in the development of magneto-optic technologies will therefore be critical to maintaining Australia's knowledge base and expertise in future technological advances. Given the early stages of development of these technologies, Australia's expertise in material science and the patent rights held by Australian companies in this area, Australia has the opportunity to make major contributions to this field, and the potential to capitalise on the application of these technologies in niche markets.Read moreRead less
Application of Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) Technology to Intelligent Design Engineering Systems. Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) is a systematic approach to the integration of design and manufacturing of products and their related processes, from concept to disposal. Typical for KBE applications is that it accepts design rules and procedures. This makes the design process more efficient, which reduces development cost and product lead time. It also enables knowledge and experience to be ....Application of Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) Technology to Intelligent Design Engineering Systems. Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) is a systematic approach to the integration of design and manufacturing of products and their related processes, from concept to disposal. Typical for KBE applications is that it accepts design rules and procedures. This makes the design process more efficient, which reduces development cost and product lead time. It also enables knowledge and experience to be captured and retained which reduces training cost and makes new staff more effective. The aim of the project is to develop a KBE environment for wire and conduit routing through complex structures and verify the benefits in an industry environment.Read moreRead less
Hardware Verification Techniques for Complex High Performance Systems-on-a-chip. Verifying the correctness of modern integrated circuit designs is a critical success factor from both economic and technological perspectives. Rapid advances in semiconductor manufacturing technology are not matched by similar gains in hardware design verification methodology. This creates a widening verification gap that threatens the viability of future complex integrated circuits. This project aims to address th ....Hardware Verification Techniques for Complex High Performance Systems-on-a-chip. Verifying the correctness of modern integrated circuit designs is a critical success factor from both economic and technological perspectives. Rapid advances in semiconductor manufacturing technology are not matched by similar gains in hardware design verification methodology. This creates a widening verification gap that threatens the viability of future complex integrated circuits. This project aims to address this issue by developing novel hardware verification techniques targeting complex high performance systems-on-a-chip. The research outcome will be a set of verification techniques and tools that directly benefit the advancement of future integrated circuit development, verification and manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Development of a High Integrity Airborne Navigation Sensor for Aviation Communities using Terrestrial Based Infrastructure. The widespread adoption of GPS for aviation, which will allow safer and cheaper air-travel, is hindered by the lack of integrity (truth) information in the system. This research will develop new methodologies, based on low-cost MEMS sensors, to improve the integrity availability of the GPS when augmented with the Ground-based Regional GPS Augmentation System (GRAS). These m ....Development of a High Integrity Airborne Navigation Sensor for Aviation Communities using Terrestrial Based Infrastructure. The widespread adoption of GPS for aviation, which will allow safer and cheaper air-travel, is hindered by the lack of integrity (truth) information in the system. This research will develop new methodologies, based on low-cost MEMS sensors, to improve the integrity availability of the GPS when augmented with the Ground-based Regional GPS Augmentation System (GRAS). These methodologies will be used in the development of next generation airborne navigation sensors. The work builds on the world-leading position that Airservices Australia has made in the development of the GRAS, the navigation expertise of GPSat Systems and the GPS expertise of the QUT.Read moreRead less
Evaluating the long-term costs and benefits of community-based initiatives. The ultimate benefit from the research is a more efficient allocation of public funds to provide public services, i.e. an increase in the gain derived from the government budget. The relative advantages of alternative methods of delivering government services are subject to significant uncertainty, which means that policy decisions are often poorly informed. Improvements in the accuracy of predicting the costs and benefi ....Evaluating the long-term costs and benefits of community-based initiatives. The ultimate benefit from the research is a more efficient allocation of public funds to provide public services, i.e. an increase in the gain derived from the government budget. The relative advantages of alternative methods of delivering government services are subject to significant uncertainty, which means that policy decisions are often poorly informed. Improvements in the accuracy of predicting the costs and benefits of complex community-based initiatives will help policymakers identify the set of initiatives that provide the best outcomes for the community they serve, as well as informing the optimal specification of the individual initiatives.Read moreRead less
Integrated energy conversion and management systems in silicon-on-sapphire. The aim of this research is to develop specialised "power-supply-on-a-chip" integrated circuits (ICs) for efficient conversion and management of electrical energy. The project will utilise and develop the unique local expertise and IC fabrication capability in silicon-on-sapphire technology in partnership with Sapphicon Semiconductor Pty. Ltd. The ICs developed will be used to improve the performance of small-scale elect ....Integrated energy conversion and management systems in silicon-on-sapphire. The aim of this research is to develop specialised "power-supply-on-a-chip" integrated circuits (ICs) for efficient conversion and management of electrical energy. The project will utilise and develop the unique local expertise and IC fabrication capability in silicon-on-sapphire technology in partnership with Sapphicon Semiconductor Pty. Ltd. The ICs developed will be used to improve the performance of small-scale electric power and transport systems based on alternative energy sources, thereby assisting energy self-sufficiency in rural and remote communities and reducing Australia's dependence on fossil and other non-renewable fuels. Sales of the ICs will also generate export income for Australian industry.Read moreRead less
Noise-free Cryogenic Wavefront Sensing. This project aims to optimise the prototype adaptive optics technology for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) by leveraging past investment in adaptive optics instrumentation and shortwave infrared detector systems. This project expects to generate significant improvements in GMT performance, with ten times greater image resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope and current estimates of >90% sky coverage, compared with ~50% coverage for current technology ....Noise-free Cryogenic Wavefront Sensing. This project aims to optimise the prototype adaptive optics technology for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) by leveraging past investment in adaptive optics instrumentation and shortwave infrared detector systems. This project expects to generate significant improvements in GMT performance, with ten times greater image resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope and current estimates of >90% sky coverage, compared with ~50% coverage for current technology. Expected outcomes of this project include the development of a highly trained workforce and continued international collaboration in the field of high-technology sensor systems. This contribution to the GMT will provide significant benefits—it will change the way we view the Universe.Read moreRead less