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ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Master of Professional Engineering & Bachelor of Engineering

GENG5511/GENG5512Engineering Research Project Descriptions

Semester 2, 2018

To find a project description, search (Ctrl + F) using the Supervisors surname. The project title and description are listed below each

Academic’s name. Please ensure that the project is applicable to your discipline.

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FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Aman, Zach, Assoc./Prof.Co-supervisors: May, Eric, Prof; Metaxas, Peter, Dr

Flow Assurance and Natural Gas HydratesDisciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:Natural gas hydrates are ice-like solids that form and can often suddenly stop the flow during oil and gas production. The cost of their prevention during design and production is high and the removal of hydrate plugs is expensive and dangerous. Today hydrates are still a major flow assurance concern especially as production moves to deeper water, and many of Australia’s major new gas field developments are considering innovative approaches to this long-standing problem. These projects aim to provide the knowledge needed for a risk-based approach to hydrate management by establishing quantitative model to assess plugging potential, optimize inhibitor doses, and develop methods to detect hydrate formation and location. The outcomes will help reduce chemical use by the industry, provide better methods to locate plugs and provide safer methods for their remediation, ultimately allowing for the reliable and economic development of marginal oil and gas fields. Students working on these projects will measure and/or model hydrate formation, agglomeration and dissociation processes. Naturally-occurring gas hydrates also represent a tremendous energy reserve: in 2013, first production was reported from a naturally occurring hydrate reserve located offshore the coast of Japan. Projects will also be available in which various properties of these natural hydrates are quantified, such that more informed decisions regards the exploitation of natural hydrates can be made.

An, Hongwei, DrCo-supervisors: Dr. Mehrdad Kimiae

Hydrodynamic force on a ROV umbilical cableDisciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Mining, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:The umbilical cable is an important part for a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) for transmitting power and control signals. The hydrodynamic force coefficients of the umbilical cable is an important design information for ROV. In this project, a series of physical model tests will be conducted using the O-tube facility to measure the hydrodynamic force on umbilical cables. The force coefficients and vortex shedding frequency will be examined. This project gives students an opportunity to access to multi-awards winning research facility (the O-tube) and to gain experience on research about hydrodynamics on bluff body.

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An, Hongwei, DrHydrodynamic behaviour of a circular cylinder covered with marine growthDisciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Mining, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:The influence of marine Growth (MG) on hydrodynamic properties of marine bluff structures remains as a significant uncertainty in the design of new and maintenance of existing marine structures. The issue is relevant to many practical applications such as oil and gas industry, renewable wave, tidal and wind energy devices, aquaculture infrastructures and marine biology. MG forms due to the accumulation of micro-organisms, plants, algae, or animals on wet surfaces and occurs almost everywhere in the ocean. This project aims at improving the understanding of hydrodynamic characteristics of a circular cylinder covered with MG under steady currents and waves and providing quantitative basis for the design of new structures and maintenance of existing structures. This project gives students an opportunity to access to multi-awards winning research facility (the O-tube) and to gain experience on research about hydrodynamics on offshore structures.

Arami Niya, Arash, DrCo-supervisors: May, Eric, Prof

Alternative refrigerantsDisciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:A new generation of refrigerants known as hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) have much lower global warming potential (GWP) compared to traditional refrigerants. However, due to their lower coefficients of performance (COP), blending HFOs with others refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) is recommended for many industrial cycles. To design and simulate these applications, industry needs property data for these mixtures to be measured at relevant conditions of pressure, temperature and composition so that equations of state and transport property models can be anchored to them.

Aslani, Farhad, DrCo-supervisors: Chakrabortty, Anup, Dr

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New types of self-compacting concrete (SCC) Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:Self-compacting concrete (SCC) can be placed and compacted under its own weight with little or no compaction. It is cohesive enough to be handled without segregation or bleeding. Modifications in the mix design of SCC may significantly influence the material’s mechanical properties. Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all the assumed hypotheses about conventional concrete also hold true for SCC structures. This project is particularly examining the effect of fly ash, ground granulated blast-furnace slag and micro silica content on strength and the durability of the concrete.

Aslani, Farhad, DrCo-supervisors: Gunawardena, Yas, Mr (PhD Student)

Hollow and geopolymer concrete-filled GFRP tubes columnsDisciplines: Civil, Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:Deterioration of the Australian’s infrastructure has been well documented and publicized. Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites have emerged as a potential solution to the problems associated with the infrastructure. An economic application of GFRP materials is in the form of composite construction with concrete, such that GFRP could act as load-carrying partner and protective measure for the structural members. And also the concrete industry is responsible for a significant proportion of world greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, manufacture of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is carbon intensive. An increase in research activities related to the development of low carbon concrete technologies, namely Geopolymer Concrete (GC), has occurred in recent years in Australia. GCs result from the reaction between fly ash and/or slag with an alkaline liquid. There is no Portland cement clinker in GC. GC exhibits many of the characteristics of traditional concretes, despite their vastly different chemical constituents and reactions.

As the first experimental study reported in the literature on the axial compressive behaviour of normal and high-strength box and circular hollow and geopolymer concrete-filled GFRP tubes columns, this study will present the results of a test program that was aimed at investigating the influence

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of GC, GFRP Tubes, and critical confinement parameters on the performance of normal and high-strength box and circular hollow and geopolymer concrete-filled GFRP tubes columns.


Hollow and concrete filled spiral welded steel tube columnsDisciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:Spiral welded tube (SWT) structures have found worldwide application in pipeline construction, wind turbine towers, foundation piles, and columns in tall buildings. Despite this, the understanding of SWT structures fundamental behaviour is still insufficient and efficient analysis and design methods have not been developed owing to the lack of experimental and numerical research on these types of structures. In this project, SWTs will be used in a new and innovative approach for both hollow and concrete filled steel columns, and the research will be conducted to characterise the engineering and manufacturing properties of SWTs. The goal of this project is “to provide insight into the ultimate strength and ductility of hollow and concrete filled SWT columns subjected to concentric axial loading, eccentric axial loading and pure bending loading through a comprehensive experimental study and theoretical model for adoption by engineers and Standards bodies”.

Aslani, Farhad, DrCo-supervisors: Liu, Yinong, Prof

Superelastic SMA reinforced concrete beamsDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:The use of superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) as a reinforcing material in concrete structures is gradually gaining interest among researchers. Because of SMAs’ different mechanical properties compared to regular steel, use of SMA as reinforcement in concrete may change responses of structures under seismic and repeating loads. The objective of this study is to investigate the structural performance of superelastic SMA reinforced concrete beams under repeating loads and to develop a

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preliminary understanding of these beams.


Behaviour of reinforced concrete bridge beam jointsDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:Bridge beam joints or 'half-joints', which are located away from the bridge supports , are typically used in pre-cast concrete bridge construction. This project proposes to investigate the behaviour of a unique reinforced concrete half-joint located on an in-service bridge, through an experimental programme using scaled test specimens, which will be the first time the joint detail of interest will be investigated experimentally.

Basarir, Hakan, Assoc/Prof

An experimental study: The effect of admixture/s (AMX) on the strength properties of cemented paste backfillDisciplines: Civil, MiningPrerequisite skills: Experimental study.The strength of CPB, jeopardized by the high fines content of tailings, high processing water salinity, is crucial for overall mine stability. Moreover, the cost of CPB is one of the main items in overall mine cost and therefore even minor efficiency improvements can have significant positive effects on mining costs and safety. Therefore many studies have been conducted to improve the strength of CPB, mine economy and safety. Most of the studies concerning with CPB focused on the recipe optimisation i.e. use of cement alternatives or substitute materials (Ercikdi et al., 2010a, 2009) addition of ground waste glass (Archibald et al., 1999), addition of fiber to mix (Banthia et al., 1994; Denney and Hagan, 2004; Mitchell and Stone, 1987; Yi et al., 2015). On the other hand, the effect of admixtures (AMX) on the quality of CPB, has remained unexplored for many years. More recently, the effect of AMX on the quality of CPB has been investigated (Ercikdi et al., 2010b; Huynh et al., 2006; Salter and Woolley, 2017; Zheng et al., 2016). It was suggested that the use of different admixtures may reduce cement cost, increase durability and early strength of concrete.

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As evidenced by the short background, the use of admixtures seems to be a strong alternative for the improvement of the quality cemented paste backfill (CPB), affected by high water salinity and fine contents of tailings.The overall objective of this project is to laboratory scale investigation of the use of admixtures on the quality of CPB, premier components of underground support systems.

Archibald, J., Chew, J., Lausch, P., 1999. Use of ground waste glass and normal cement mixtures for improving slurry and paste backfill support performance. J. Can. Inst. Mining, Metall. Pet. (CIM Bull. 92, 74–80.Banthia, N., Trottier, J., Beupre, D., 1994. Steel-Fiber-reinforced wet mix shotcrete: Comparisons with cast concrete. J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 430–437.Denney, J., Hagan, P., 2004. A study on the effect of changes in fibre type and dosage rate on Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete Performance, in: Bernard, E. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Second Interantional Conference on Engineering Developments in Shotcrete. AA Balkema, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, pp. 103–108.Ercikdi, B., Cihangir, F., Kesimal, A., Deveci, H., Alp, I., 2010a. Effect of natural pozzolans as mineral admixture on the performance of cemented paste backfill of sulphide-rich tailings. Waste Manag Res 28, 430–435.Ercikdi, B., Cihangir, F., Kesimal, A., Deveci, H., Alp, I., 2010b. Utilization of water-reducing admixtures in cemented paste backfill of sulphide-rich mill tailings. J Hazard Mater 179, 940–946.Ercikdi, B., Cihangir, F., Kesimal, A., Deveci, H., Alp, I., 2009. Utilization of industrial waste products as pozzolanic material in cemented paste backfill of high sulphide mill tailings. J Hazard Mater 168, 848–856.Huynh, L., Beattie, D., Fornasiero, D., Ralston, J., 2006. Effect of polyphosphate and naphthalene sulfonate formaldehyde condensate on the rheological properties of dewatered tailings and cemented paste backfill. Min. Eng 19, 28–36.Jewell, R., Fourie, A., 2015. Paste and Thickened Tailings - A Guide, 3th ed. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.Mitchell, R., Stone, D., 1987. Stability of reinforced cemented backfills. Can. Geotech. J. 24, 189–197.Salter, R., Woolley, C., 2017. Optimising cemented paste fill at Darlot Gold Mine through the use of BASF product MasterRoc MF 505C, in: Proceedings of the 20th International Seminar on Paste and Thickened Tailings. pp. 180–189.Yi, X., Ma, G., Fourie, A., 2015. Compressive behaviour of fibre reinforced cemented paste backfill. Geotext. Geomembranes 43, 207–215.Zheng, J., Zhu, Y., Zhao, Z., 2016. Utilization of limestone powder and water-reducing admixture in cemented paste backfill of coarse copper mine tailings. Constr. Build. Mater. 124, 31–36.

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Basarir, Hakan, Assoc/Prof

The effects production process on the strength properties of cemented paste backfillDisciplines: Civil, MiningPrerequisite skills: Experimental study.To access viable ore bodies, underground mines in Australia uncover deep mining environments which presents special challenges such as high in-situ stresses and weak rock masses. In addition to such challenges, in Australian underground metallic mines mine safety and economy are jeopardised as the strength development and curing times of pastefill are hampered by different factors. From the economical point of view, the cost of pastefill is one of the main items in overall mine cost and therefore even minor efficiency improvements can have significant positive effects on mining costs and safety. Most of the studies concerning with pastefill focus on the mix optimisation (Kermani et al., 2015; Kesimal et al., 2005; Mgumbwa and Nester, 2014). On the other hand, a possible alternative improvement method, related with production process, has remained unexplored for many years. The overall objective of this project is to investigate the effect of production process i.e. mixing method on the strength properties of CPB, premier components of underground support systems.

REFERENCESKermani, M., Hassani, F., Aflaki, E., Benzaazoua, M., Nokken, M., 2015. Evaluation of the effect of sodium silicate addition to mine backfill, GelFill - Part 2: Effects of mixing time and curing temperature. J. Rock Mech. Geotech. Eng. 7, 668–673.Kesimal, A., Yilmaz, E., Ercikdi, B., Alp, I., Deveci, H., 2005. Effect of properties of tailings and binder on the short-and long-term strength and stability of cemented paste backfill. Mater. Lett. 59, 3703–3709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2005.06.042Mgumbwa, J., Nester, T., 2014. Paste improvement at La Mancha’s Frog’s Leg underground mine, in: Potvin, Y., Grice, T. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Eleventh International Symposium on Mining with Backfill. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, WA, pp. 281–294.

Bekki, Kenji, DrCo-supervisors: Liu, Wei, Dr

Conversion of galaxy animation into sentences with neural networkDisciplines: Software

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Prerequisite skills: Knowledge about neural networkGalaxies are formed through various physical processes, such as galaxy merging, tidal interaction, and galaxy collisions. It is an important task for astronomers to classify these processes using the results of computer simulations on the processes. The goal of this project is to (i) classify animations of galaxy formation processes into several categories and then (ii) convert the animations into sentences (e.g., “two galaxies are merging each other to form a new galaxy”). In these classifying and converting processes, convolutional neural networks and LSTM (long short term memory) will be used. This is a part of the long term project “Can AI write a scientific paper?”

Bennamoun, Mohammed, ProfCo-supervisors: Boussaid, Farid, Prof

Virtual reality (VR) based trainingDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Software

In this project, you will develop a virtual reality simulator to provide a cost effective yet authentic and immersive training experience to users for an application of your choice.

The project will provide you with an opportunity to engage with relevant stakeholders and experience VR hardware and software technologies.

Bosveld, Joel, DrCo-supervisors: Wen, Linqing, Prof.

Optimising filters for gravitational wave template matching.Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, MechatronicPrerequisite skills: If you enjoy programming or mathematics that should be sufficient.The inspiral and merging of a compact binaries (such as a binary neutron star system) can be detected through their emission of gravitational waves, as has recently been achieved by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations. This was done through the correlation of whitened templates and strain data from the interferometers. In order to improve the computational cost of this search, the SPIIR pipeline approximates the

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template waveforms by a sum of exponentially damped sinusoids, whereby the correlation is given by the sum of parallel infinite impulse response (SPIIR) filters. By optimising the parameters of the filters, we can improve the sensitivity of the search and reduce computational cost. A closed-form solution is available for some of the optimal filter parameters; however, for the remaining parameters a heuristic approach is used, with further local optimisation to improve a subset of these. Projects include extending the local optimisation to all remaining parameters, incorporating gradient information into the local optimisation, using global optimisation techniques, considering other possible heuristic approaches, evaluating performance of different approaches on test data sets and so forth.

Bourhill, Jeremy, Dr

Dark Matter Detection with Capacitive SensorsDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: Familiarity with finite element modelling, but this can be learned in the process, and a sound understanding of electrodynamics and Maxwell’s equations.We’ve known for decades that we are surrounded by dark matter, which is five times as abundant as the regular matter that we understand. The properties and composition of dark matter remain unknown, presenting one of the greatest mysteries in science today. One of the best dark matter candidates, a particle known as the axion, is expected to couple to photons in the presence of a strong DC magnetic field, and generate a small AC electric field. We wish to design capacitive sensors to detect this small electric field and thus detect or exclude the presence of axionic dark matter. The design of these detectors requires electrical engineering principles, which is where your skills will be applied. Skills that would be beneficial for the project would be a familiarity with finite element modelling, but this can be learned in the process, and a sound understanding of electrodynamics and Maxwell’s equations.

Bourhill, Jeremy, Dr

Design and Construction of Electronic Cryogenic HardwareDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: Familiarity with soldering and designing Printed Circuit Boards.

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To improve Signal to Noise ratios of extremely weak quantum phenomena, amplification and signal generation at cold temperatures offers great advantages. We form a node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, and run many cryogenic experiments whose sensitivities could be improved through the development of this type of hardware. This project will focus on the design of cryogenically capable hardware elements such as amplifiers and low phase noise oscillators, which will have applications in a raft of fundamental and applied experiments, such as dark matter detection, quantum sensing and quantum information processing. Skills required will be familiarity with soldering and designing Printed Circuit Boards.

Boussaid, Farid, Professor

Camera on a chipDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: The current trend in Digital Imaging Technology is towards building camera-on-a-chip imaging systems, i.e., CMOS imagers. The fully integrated product results in significant manufacturing cost savings, reduced system size, but also in lower power consumption. The unique concept of CMOS imagers offers the opportunity to integrate photo-sensing array and signal processing circuitry on a single silicon chip, enabling the development of a new generation of smart mobile imaging systems. Half the size of a small postage stamp, a CMOS imager chip can even be swallowed (pill-camera) to transmit images from inside the body. Besides biomedical, CMOS imagers have numerous commercial applications in cell phones, PC notebooks or any application for which a “micro-camera” can be requested. Proposed final year projects will involve building such a camera, and optimize its performance in terms of dynamic range, resolution and/or power consumption.

Boussaid, Farid, Professor

Bio-inspired gas recognition for electronic nosesDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: Sniffing-dogs are able to detect thousands of chemicals with high sensitivity and selectivity using only biological components. These nasal powerhouses have been successfully used to search for pipeline leaks, drugs, or explosives. In this project, you will investigate the potential application of biologically inspired machine learning methods (e.g. deep

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learning, evolutionary algorithms) for the task of gas recognition. The project will give you the opportunity to discover and apply advanced machine learning techniques to automatically extract features and train classifiers. Projects offer an opportunity to discover and apply neuroscience principles into made-made engineering systems. Projects will be tailored around your interests.

Bräunl, Thomas, ProfessorElectric Jetskis, Vehicle Tracking and Water Quality SensingDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Completion of ELEC4403 Digital and Embedded Sys. or CITS2200 Data Structures with 75+; Good programming skills in C or C++ are essential.Two new electric jetskis will be built externally to UWA, following the REVski prototype.Task 1 will be to equip the new jetskis with GPS loggers, develop a web-interface that shows the jetski paths and calculates statistics on usage, current, temperature, charging data, etc.Task 2 will be the addition of water sensors for temperature, salinity, general water quality and generate an environmental map along the areas that both jetskis have travelled.

Goals: GPS Tracking of electric jetskis Information on charge status, range, charging events Jetski-specific sensors for current, charge, temperature of core

components Web-based front end with map and evaluation graphs Selection and installation of water quality sensors Transmission of GPS-based water quality data + entering on web-

based map graph

Further Details:http://revproject.com/vehicles/jetski.phphttp://revproject.com/telemetry/data-logging-overview.php

Bräunl, Thomas, Professor

Autonomous Solar Boat Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Completion of ELEC4403 Digital and Embedded Sys. or CITS2200 Data Structures with 75+; Good programming skills in C or C++ are essential.

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We have just completed the hardware for an electric solar boat, which can potentially circumnavigate the world autonomously. It uses a solar panel with battery backup, two thruster motors, a Ardupilot controller and a 3G modem (upgradable to a satellite modem).The tasks for this project include the establishment of data communication between the boat and the UWA server as well as to visualize the boat's GPS position and its sensor values.

Goals: GPS Tracking of solar boat Setting of GPS way-points Selection and integration of sensors for water quality Graphically mapping of water quality from sensors Integration of camera (possibly using Raspberry Pi Zero)

Cense, Barry, Associate ProfessorCo-supervisors: Gong, Peijun, Dr

Measuring blood flow in the retina using speckle decorrelationDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: MatlabMeasurements of blood flow in the human retina (back of the eye) are important for the early detection of various diseases. A new algorithm for blood flow measurements was recently developed based on speckle decorrelation. We would like to use it to visualize blood flow in the human retina and to get a better understanding of retinal architecture.

Cense, Barry, Associate Professor

Measuring retinal blood vessel wall birefringenceDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: MatlabBy measuring the birefringence (an optical property) of blood vessel walls in the human retina, in vivo, we can quantify the health of the vessel wall non-invasively. This will be beneficial for screening of patients with circulation problems. We will record and analyze data from healthy human subjects and patients with hypertension to quantify their health.

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Chow, Shiao Huey, Dr

Assessing the riverbed strength of Swan River using a free-fall cone penetrometerDisciplines: Civil, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills: Coastal courseWould you like to participate in the Woodside FutureLab RiverLab working on an innovative engineering solutions? This RiverLab project aims to unlock the potential of free-fall penetrometers in assessing the riverbed strength of Swan River. Free-fall penetrometers are instrumented projectiles that are deployed by allowing them to free fall and embed into the target sediment. The use of freefall penetrometers in offshore geotechnical site investigation has gained increased interests, particularly in characterising the soil strength of shallow seabed crucial for applications such as pipeline design and submarine landslide survey. Compared to the conventional approach of using a large survey vessel and a mechanical system for pushing a penetrometer into the seabed, free-fall penetrometers offer a cheaper and quicker way to survey the seabed, with potentially equal accuracy if the tools are designed and interpreted correctly.A prototype free-fall cone penetrometer (FFP) has been developed at the Centre of OffshoreFoundation Systems, UWA. Following on from a successful Riverlab FFP project completed in 2017, this project will further optimise the design of the FFP, upgrade the instrumentation of the FFP, assess the performance of the new FFP, and validate the FFP interpretation method by conducting field trials in the Swan River. The scopes of the proposed project involve: Upgrade of the FFP to include more advanced instrumentation (Figure 1a) Field tests by dropping the FFP into Swan River from a jetty or research vessel (Figure 1b) Interpretation of the test results to estimate the riverbed strengthInterested students are encouraged to contact Dr Shiaohuey Chow ([email protected]) for more information. More details about the Woodside FutureLab RiverLab program can be found here: http://www.oceans.uwa.edu.au/collaborations/woodside-futurelab/riverlab

Chow, Shiao Huey, DrCo-supervisors: Bienen, Britta, Assoc. Prof.

Rapid penetration of spudcan footing in sandDisciplines: Civil, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:The motivation for this study emanates from the lack of understanding in rapid penetration of spudcan footing in sand for offshore renewable energy application. Offshore renewable energy devices are typically located in shallow water (< 30 m) that predominates with sandy sediments. The renewable energy devices, particularly wind farms are installed and serviced using mobile jack-up rigs. A jack-up rig may experience dynamic

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http://www.oceans.uwa.edu.au/collaborations/woodside-futurelab/riverlab

mailto:[email protected]

leg loading during the set down of its spudcan footing into sand. The current inability to predict the penetration resistance under dynamic or rapid penetration of spudcan footing in sand has introduced substantial risk. Inaccurate prediction of sand resistance at high penetration rates may cause premature refusal for the spudcan, or potential damage to the jack-up rack-and-pinion systems and legs due to high moments and vertical loading introduced by spudcan-seabed impact. Economic consequences are severe (loss in productivity, property or even life), which could amount to tens of millions of dollars. Hence this project aims to provide better understanding of rapid penetration of spudcan footing in sand using laboratory model tests.The laboratory model tests will involve pushing an instrumented model spudcan footing into sand covering a range of penetration velocities. The project will quantify the change in spudcan penetration resistance with the change in penetration velocity. This project will require a team of two students, one looking at rapid penetration of spudcan in dry sand and another in saturated sand. Interested students are encouraged to contact Dr Shiaohuey Chow ([email protected]) for more information.

Chua, Hui Tong, Prof.

High flux bright light synthesis of valuable nanomaterialsDisciplines: ChemicalPrerequisite skills:This project makes use of a first-of-its-kind high flux bright light facility to synthesise valuable nanomaterials. For example, we aim to synthesise MoS2, WS2 nanoparticles from their naturally occurring precursor materials. The former materials have phenomenal applications in engine and medical applications. They are mainly used as advanced lubricants in those applications, but are also very promising as materials for supercapacitors as well.We will also work on synthesising graphene from graphite particles, which has great applications in batteries, supercapacitors and membranes, as well as boron nitride nanoparticles from boron nitride. This project will be conducted in collaboration with colleagues at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel and the Taiyuan University of Technology, China.

Chua, Hui Tong, Prof.Geothermal energy applicationsDisciplines: Chemical, Mechanical

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Prerequisite skills:1. Modelling and Controlling geothermal swimming pool - this is an ongoing topic to work with the local councils on managing geothermal swimming pools and specifically the Beatty Park Leisure Centre and possibly Scarborough Beach Pool. The student needs to physically visit the Pools and even other swimming pools to collect pool data - 1 student. This project will inform the design/consulting sector in terms of the proper sizing of the heating capacity of swimming pools, which has a huge ramification in terms of the adoption of renewable energy.

2. The Cool Earth Project - this is an exciting project in partnership with LandCorp, Geoexchange, ABN builders, AIRAH, Carbonomics and other agencies to monitor the performance of two occupied properties at Craigie, with one being fitted with a ground source heat pump and another with a conventional air source heat pump. - 1 student.

Chua, Hui Tong, Prof.

Sub-topic 1 Industrial waste heat distillation, desalination, Sub-topic 2 bauxite residue remediationDisciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, MechatronicPrerequisite skills:This topic will have 2 sub-topics.Sub-topic 1 - 4 students. Reconcentrating spent liquor using waste heat from an alumina refinery - 4 students. Students will get to build and operate an actual pilot plant in collaboration with South32 and making use of actual spent liquor. Students need to travel to Worsley Alumina and Rockingham, Murdoch Uni campus for the actual test. Students will also get to be trained to the safety standard of South32 - a fantastic project to prepare for a career. Chemical engineering students are required. Students need to have available transport access and are able to frequently visit the Rockingham site. They should preferably be available 2 weeks before the commencement of Semester 2 to be able to complete safety induction and partake in plant pre-commissioning operations (around 16th July). They should be be available to take both day and night shifts during the two week trial period in early August in collaboration with South32.

Sub-topic 2 1 student. Bauxite residue remediation - using centrifuge to dewater mining residue, an exciting technology - 1 student. This project is to be co-supervised by Prof. Andy Fourie of Civil Engineering. We are investigating the prospect of substituting the traditional impoundment

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method as practiced by the industry. A mechanical/civil engineering student is good for this project.

Coward, David, A/ProfCo-supervisors: Burrel, Andrew, Mr (Zadko Systems Manager)

Environmental protection of a remotely controlled CCD cameraDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, MechatronicPrerequisite skills: Electronic, some mechanical engineering alsoThe Zadko Telescope is a sophisticated research intensive robotic telescope operating remotely and with minimal human intervention. It uses a very sensitive ccd camera to image space debris. The project will design an external electronic temperature controlled cooler for the camera. Must be light weight and encapsulates the camera to prevent moisture and dirt ingress, ie no fans.

Doherty, James, DrCo-supervisors: Watson, Phil, Prof; Guevaracastill Mariajose

Strength and fatigue assessment of well conductors

Disciplines: CivilPrerequisite skills: Soil mechanicsThe soil lateral stiffness (p-y response) has a strong influence on the overall strength and fatigue response of well conductors used for offshore oil and gas developments. Current API/ISO guidance is provided only for generic “sand” and “clay” soils and recent research by BP indicates that they are too soft for small amplitude well conductor motions. This project will involve the review of centrifuge tests conducted at UWA on a model conductor and the development of guide lines to better predict fatigue life of conductors.

Doherty, James, Dr

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Improved foundation models for offshore wind turbinesDisciplines: CivilPrerequisite skills: Offshore wind energy is now cost competitive with some traditional forms of energy, thanks to the development of new design and construction technologies. The aim of this project is to develop improved foundation models for large diameter mono pile foundations for offshore wind turbines by combining m-theta springs with tradition p-y soils springs.

Doherty, James, DrImage analysis of triaxial testingDisciplines: CivilPrerequisite skills: Matlab or Python, or willingness to learnThe project will use advanced image analysis and cloud computing technologies to replace manual, timeconsuming and subjective geotechnical engineering practices with a rapid, automated, and more rational approach. A new geomaterials testing system based on the existing triaxial apparatus will be developed that employs 3D image capture hardware and advanced image analysis techniques. The data measured over the entire sample surface will feed into an automated, intelligent parameter selection procedure combining finite element analysis with numerical optimisation techniques. Application of the proposal’s findings will allow more accurate and efficient engineering design of transport and energy infrastructure that supports modern economies.

Doyle, Barry, Dr

Vascular engineering in heath and disease 1Disciplines: Chemical, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: From the most basic engineering point of view, the cardiovascular system is a pump connected to a series of elastic pipes. However, this system is prone to sub-optimal performance and even failure; otherwise known as cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD is the world’s biggest killer and currently takes 1 Australian life every 12 minutes! It kills far more people

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than cancer and with the shifting trend in the world’s population (people are living a lot longer nowadays), is becoming a huge burden on health care systems.

At the Vascular Engineering Laboratory (VascLab) we perform both computational and experimental research into CVD with an overall aim of creating new and innovative ways to save lives and reduce the impact of this disease. We work very closely with scientists and surgeons across UWA, Perth, nationally and internationally, to ensure our research is clinically-relevant.

All projects will run within the Vascular Engineering Laboratory (VascLab) at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research - the premier medical institute in WA – and are in collaboration with our partners in the local hospitals and research institutes. We now have access to the most powerful supercomputer in the Southern Hemisphere – Magnus – at the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, so for projects requiring significant computational resources, you will be running simulations on this world-class machine.

It is expected that each project will form a publication in a journal upon completion.

For more info on VascLab, visit:

http://vasclab.mech.uwa.edu.au

https://www.perkins.org.au/our-research/divisions/clinical-science/vascular-engineering/

We have two projects on offer in this round:

Flow dynamics in vascular access catheters:

In medicine, a vascular access catheters are flexible tubes placed into an artery or vein to administer medication or fluids or even other devices. The most common example is a peripheral venous catheter used to draw blood. This is the most commonly used vascular access technique in medicine and in the USA alone more than 25 million patients receive a peripheral venous line each year. The technique suffers from many complications, ranging from bruising of the arm due to poor insertion, to catheter occlusion. Despite being a common procedure, 25-50% fail and there is little data on the flow dynamics which undoubtedly contributes to flow related problems, such as occlusion and dislodgement. We have recently published (Russell et al., Sci Rep 2018;8:3441) the first data on how the fluid mechanics

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http://vasclab.mech.uwa.edu.au/

within these devices and have shown why we believe so many of these devices may fail. We now need to test our methods on more geometric configurations and also extends to other types of catheters such as central venous catheters and peripherally inserted central catheters. This project will be a parametric study using CFD where several variables will be modified and the fluid dynamics computed. Through this project we hope to create enough evidence to change clinical practice and is in conjunction with the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching And Research (AVATAR) Group (http://www.avatargroup.org.au/) at UWA, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University.

Airway modelling in the lungs of healthy and diseased children:

Medical imaging technologies such as Computed Tomography (CT) scans are critical tools for the diagnosis and management of lung disease. Not only can these scans provide insights into the disease and throughout image analysis techniques, can help predict clinical outcomes. But these scans can be used to reconstruct the airways of the lungs into 3D for sophisticated computational biomechanics modelling.

In this project you will use CT scans to create 3D reconstructions and then use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate the movement of air down through the trachea and into the major bronchi. Once the computational framework is built, you will analyse a series of healthy and diseased lungs from children with cystic fibrosis, ranging from mild to severe. The data from this project will be used to develop a larger scale effort aimed at building fast and efficient methods to compute airflow and lung performance in cystic fibrosis.

This project is in collaboration with Dr Tim Rosenow at Telethon Kids Institute.

Doyle, Barry, DrCo-supervisors: Green, Daniel, Prof

Vascular engineering in heath and disease 2Disciplines: Chemical, Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: This project requires extensive programming knowledge including labview. This is a software development project. You must have suitable background skills.

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From the most basic engineering point of view, the cardiovascular system is a pump connected to a series of elastic pipes. However, this system is prone to sub-optimal performance and even failure; otherwise known as cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD is the world’s biggest killer and currently takes 1 Australian life every 12 minutes! It kills far more people than cancer and with the shifting trend in the world’s population (people are living a lot longer nowadays), is becoming a huge burden on health care systems.

At the Vascular Engineering Laboratory (VascLab) we perform both computational and experimental research into CVD with an overall aim of creating new and innovative ways to save lives and reduce the impact of this disease. We work very closely with scientists and surgeons across UWA, Perth, nationally and internationally, to ensure our research is clinically-relevant.

All projects will run within the Vascular Engineering Laboratory (VascLab) at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research - the premier medical institute in WA – and are in collaboration with our partners in the local hospitals and research institutes. We now have access to the most powerful supercomputer in the Southern Hemisphere – Magnus – at the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, so for projects requiring significant computational resources, you will be running simulations on this world-class machine.

It is expected that each project will form a publication in a journal upon completion.

For more info on VascLab, visit:

http://vasclab.mech.uwa.edu.au


We have one project on offer in this round:

Real-time image processing software for arterial assessment:

The response of an artery to changes in flow provides direct insight into the functional performance of the vessel. A healthy artery will increase diameter in response to increase in flow. This is a relatively simple technique to perform and uses ultrasound to simultaneously measure the diameter change and the flow within a superficial artery (e.g. the carotid artery in the neck or the brachial artery in the arm). However data from

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such as test is extremely useful. Not only does it inform about the general condition of the artery in question, and provide a way to measure response under different conditions (such as exercise, gravity, heat, stress, etc). The functional performance of a specific artery can also provide insight into the general vascular health of the subject as cardiovascular disease is a systemic problem; poor vascular health in one artery often reflects poor vascular health throughout.

In order to measure these parameters in real-time, approximately 15 years ago our collaborators in the Cardiovascular Research Group in the Faculty of Science (led by Prof. Danny Green), together with medical physicists at the Royal Perth Hospital, developed a labview-based software package that analyses .avi files derived from arterial duplex ultrasound.

This software has become a very widely adopted tool, used in both research groups and clinics. We now seek to upgrade various aspects of the software and increase its reach and impact.

This project requires extensive programming knowledge including labview.

Some of the specific aspects are as follows:

1. Create a free vision library that interfaces with an existing labview-based software package that assesses blood flow from duplex ultrasound avi’s. Must work with latest codecs.

2. Develop vision analysis tools for edge detection, wall tracking and waveform analysis that interfaces with labview.

3. Consolidate existing software packages that analyse arterial images (intima medial thickness of artery walls, diameter change of arteries, velocity and blood flow analysis).

This is a software development project. You must have suitable background skills.

Draper, Scott, Assoc. Prof.

Effect of the environment on open water swimming and rowingDisciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical

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Prerequisite skills: Fluid Mechanics, Coastal and Offshore EngineeringThis project will consider (in collaboration with the Western Australian Institute of Sport) the effect of the environment on two different aquatic sports: (i) open-water swimming and (ii) rowing. (If both students would like to work on the same sport, that is also possible).Open water swimming: Whilst much is known about swimming in still water conditions, very little research has considered the effect of surface waves on swimming performance. This project will undertake human experiments in a newly commission 54 m long wave flume located at UWA's Shenton Park campus. Swimmers will be monitored whilst swimming into and with waves of period and amplitude typical of open water swimming conditions. Theoretical models will be developed to interpret the experimental results.Rowing: This project will aim to systematically measure key properties of a lake/river prior to a rowing event, and use these measurements to better interpret variations in race speed. Interpretation will include correlating physical parameters such as density and viscosity with race speed, and developing simplified theoretical models to estimate the effect of these physical parameters on race speed.

Draper, Scott, Assoc. Prof.Co-supervisors: Hansen, Jeff, Dr

Detecting and Predicting wave over-topping onto the Kwinana Freeway, ComoDisciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Detection: Image analysis, machine learning; Prediction: Coastal and Offshore EngineeringWave over-topping from the Swan River onto the Kwinana Freeway at Como can result in dangerous driving conditions. This project will be undertaken in collaboration with Main Roads WA to detect and predict when waves over-top onto the Kwinana Freeway at Como. One student will use video data, together with water level and wind records, to automatically detect (using machine learning approaches) when over-topping is occurring. The second student will use a combination of coastal engineering models to predict what combination of wind and water level conditions are most likely to result in over-topping.

Durham, Richard, ProfIndustry topic (usually based on your vacation work)Disciplines: MiningPrerequisite skills:

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During your vacation work, you should ask your employer if they have any topic(s) suitable for your thesis. Ask them at the beginning, and then again towards the end. You need to write up the topic on <1 page, and send it to me. There might be a little negotiation whilst I ensure the topic is suitable (basically not too small, not too big, and involves some research type analysis), but once we've agreed on the scope and objectives it's all fine.

Durham, Richard, ProfCo-supervisors: French, Tim, Dr

VR Applications in Mining EngineeringDisciplines: SoftwareA previous thesis by a student loaded a mine design into a VR environment, and showed how that would be useful to engineers. More work is required to use “off the shelf” packages (and the latest cordless headset, or Hololens) to take a design into VR, and apply textures, queries etc.

Durham, Richard, ProfImproving the Nicholas UG Mining method toolDisciplines: MiningPrerequisite skills: MINE5502Probably only 1 student.

The Nicholas spreadsheet for helping select an UG stoping method has many flaws, making it of very limited real use. This project seeks to replace it with more modern approaches, more modern methods, and fuzzy logic

Durham, Richard, ProfImproving Taylor’s RuleDisciplines: MiningPrerequisite skills: Probably only 1 student.

The decision for selecting the production rate of a new deposit is sometimes guided by Taylor’s rule. However, this is based on data that is decades old, so this project seeks to replace it with more modern data, and

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more criteria

Elchalakani, Mohamed, DrCo-supervisors: Meek, Alexandra, Ms

Rebuilding the Egyptian pyramidsDisciplines: Chemical, Civil, MaterialsPrerequisite skills: Chemical knowledge a benefit but not required.Many conspiracy theories exist regarding the origins of the Egyptian pyramids, one of which is that they were constructed in situ using rammed earth stabilised with sodium carbonate. Students will aim to find some potential mixes that could have been used to build the pyramids. It will involve both individual research and trialling potential mixes in the lab. Specimens are manufactured using a jackhammer - students will need to be comfortable with physical work.

Elchalakani, Mohamed, DrCo-supervisors: A/Prof Ali Karrech; Ahmed Tanvir

The development of ultra high performance concrete for high rise buildingsDisciplines: Chemical, Civil, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Oil & Gas, Petroleum, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: do not mind to get their hand dirtyThis project aims to develop ultra high performance concrete for the construction of high rise buildings in Australia. Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) which is characterised by high strength and, when reinforced with steel fibres, high ductility, has the potential to revolutionise the construction industry. The application of UHPC is currently mainly limited to landmark projects due to the high cost of manufacture, which often involve specialist materials such as specially graded sands and the need for complex mixing and curing regimes. Moreover, mix designs are commonly proprietary information or incompletely reported.As a result of the complexity of material requirements and the restricted nature of complete mix design details it can be difficult to reproduce reported results. This project aims to address these issues by investigating the potential for producing UHPC using widely available fine and coarse aggregates.

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Elchalakani, Mohamed, DrCo-supervisors: A/Prof Ali Karrech

Numerical Modelling of Concrete Filled Tubular ColumnsDisciplines: Chemical, Civil, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Oil & Gas, Petroleum, SoftwarePrerequisite skills:In Australian modern construction, concrete filled steel tubular columns are becoming a popular method of construction particularly for high rise buildings. Limited experimental tests showed that concrete filling may delay or fully prevent local buckling of the external steel tubes. The main factor affect the response is the diameter-to-thickness ratio of the steel tubes and the strength of concrete. The full range of D/t ratios was not tested. Wide variations among the international design codes such as AS3600 to predict the strength of such columns. This project will focus on the use of the Finite Element method an an effective approach to provide design models for such composite columns and to provide valuable information on their response. The results will be recommended as a future amendment for AS3600, the Australian Concrete Design Code.

Elchalakani, Mohamed, DrCo-supervisors: A/Prof Ali Karrech; Fraser Tonner

Development of Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete [GFRC]Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mining, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills: do not mind getting their hand dirtyGlass fibre reinforced concrete (GFRC) which is characterised by high strength and durability when reinforced with steel fibres, has the potential to revolutionise the construction industry. The application of GFRC is currently limited to replace traditional steel bars with Fibre Reinforced Bars. Producing Concrete this way has its own limitations because the FRP bars have potential problems like fracture of the resin and debonding from the concrete matrix surrounding the bar. The present innovative GFRC is produces in such away that the glass fibres are used without the week resin. An investigation of the axial and compression, tensile and bending strength of the GFRC will be compared with normal concrete. It is expected that this concrete will have a significant impact on the construction industry.

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Elchalakani, Mohamed, DrCo-supervisors: A/Prof Ali Karrech; Minhao Dong

Durability Geopolymer concreteDisciplines: Chemical, Civil, Materials, Mechanical, MiningPrerequisite skills: do not mind getting their hand dirtyGeopolymer concrete is a new concrete which does not have any cement but made of recycled material such as slag and fly ash. It is more environmentally friendly than traditional cement concrete and more durable. The durability of such new concrete needs to be investigated and this is among the aims of this project.Geopolymer has emerged as a ‘green’ binder with high potential for manufacturing sustainable concretes. This innovative material can use industrial wastes, such as fly ash and metallurgical slags, as raw materials. Because the formation is usually completed at room temperature or slightly elevated temperature (40-80°C), and because it does not need the high temperature calcination and milling processes required in Portland cement clinker manufacturing, the emissions reduction compared to Portland cement can be up to 80%, greatly depending on the geopolymer mixture formula and materials supply [1, 2]. In the past decade, geopolymer concretes produced on laboratory scales have been widely reported to display similar engineering properties to OPC concretes, in many cases with superior mechanical properties when subjected to high temperature and highly corrosive media. However, using geopolymer to fabricate concretes is still rare in the real-world compared to normal Portland cement concretes. The slow commercialization of geopolymer relates to many technical issues, practical costs and durability considerations.

Elchalakani, Mohamed, DrCo-supervisors: Ms. Alexandra Meek

Mechanical properties of geopolymer-stabilised rammed earthDisciplines: Chemical, Civil, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Oil & Gas, Petroleum, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: highly motivatedhis project will study the mechanical properties of newly developed geopolymer-stabilised rammed earth. Students will determine properties such as compressive, tensile and bond strengths in various environments. Mixes will largely be composed of industrial waste products and there will also be the opportunity to investigate materials used to construct Egyptian pyramids.

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Specimens are manufactured using a jackhammer - students should be comfortable with physical work. Contact: [email protected] with any queries.

Faiello, Cosimo, Associate Professor

Sustainability applied to project management & engineering practiceDisciplines: Chemical, Civil, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Oil & Gas, PetroleumThis topic will introduce students to the field of project management and engineering practice with a focus on achieving sustainable results based on a “triple bottom line” (TBL) approach: That is, achieving project objectives, while taking into account the societal and environmental implications of a project. A sustainable approach to project management and engineering practice is recognised globally by many organizations, as being vital to achieving their strategic objectives. By researching this topic students will learn how to apply theoretical concepts and frameworks to ‘real world projects’ in order to achieve sustainable outcomes using a TBL strategy.

Fourie, Andy, ProfCo-supervisors: Dr David Reid

A reassessment of the Mt Polley tailings dam failure in CanadaDisciplines: Civil, MiningPrerequisite skills: ENSC 3009The Mt Polley tailings dam in Canada failed in 2014. A failure investigation published in 2015 suggested that the mechanism of slope instability was undrained shearing of a layer of clay below the embankment. Two dimensional stability analyses carried out during the investigation gave a reasonable indication of the mechanism of failure based on laboratory test data and the embankment geometry. However, a three dimensional analysis - which conceptually should give the most accurate result - did not agree well with the failure that occurred. This study will involve constructing a three dimensional stability model of the Mt Polley tailings dam failure area and assessing various factors that could improve the alignment of the three dimensional result and the actual failure.

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Fourie, Andy, ProfCo-supervisors: Dr David Reid

Critical assessment of brittleness in stability analyses of sandDisciplines: Civil, MiningPrerequisite skills: ENSC3009Assessing the stability of slopes in highly brittle materials is difficult owing to the limitations of limit equilibrium stability software. In particular, a loose, saturated sand may rapidly lose strength when sheared, whereas “standard” models used in stability software do not allow for such rapidly changing material properties. To improve on this process, a number of methods to account for strength loss have been developed. However, they are relatively new and have not been thoroughly tested. This project requires carrying out back-analyses of a number of historic failures of embankments constructed of brittle materials to assess the performance of available methods.

Fourie, Andy, Prof Co-supervisors: Dr David Reid

Rapid determination of consolidation properties of super-soft sedimentsDisciplines: Civil, MiningPrerequisite skills: ENSC3009Consolidation of very soft clays and tailings can be a very slow process, up to decades even. Obtaining relevant consolidation properties in the laboratory is therefore also usually a slow process. Recently at UWA we have developed a desktop centrifuge for accelerated consolidation testing. Tests that previously took three weeks can now be completed within 48 hours. This project will carry out comparative tests on a range of mine tailings using the desktop centrifuge as well as conventional techniques, plus develop a suitable technique for analyzing the centrifuge data using recently purchased software

Fridjonsson, Einar, Dr.Co-supervisors: Johns, Michael, Prof.

Industrial and Oilfield Water ManagementDisciplines: Chemical, EnvironmentalPrerequisite skills:

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Projects are available across a range of industrial and oilfield water management topics:(i) Natural gas and oil extraction results in the production of substantial quantities of (mainly formation) water which needs to be discharged back into the sea. We are currently developing NMR-based technologies to both monitor ppm oil contamination of this discharge water such that it is compliant with environmental legislation, as well as multi-phase flow metering methods for oil/gas/water production flow quantification.(ii) Desalination and waste water treatment are areas of growing global importance (47% of Perth’s water now comes from desalination!). Membranes are important for the separation of contaminants from liquids across a range of industrial processes. A critical issue with membrane separation is fouling, projects are available on membrane fouling, forward osmosis and the development of an NMR-based clamp-on monitoring technology.(iii) Project are available on Nanofluids which have the potential to substantially reduce both the OPEX and CAPEX and water usage of heat exchange processes for LNG production facilities.(iv) Magnesium hydroxide recovery from the concentrated discharge water from desalination plants is a potentially valuable by-product. This project will consider the viability of using local lime sources to effect the Mg(OH)2 precipitation and look to opimise and evaluate the overall process.

Fridjonsson, Einar, Dr.Co-supervisors: Metaxas, Peter, Dr.; Johns, Michael, Prof.

Development of medical bench-top detection technologiesDisciplines: ChemicalPrerequisite skills: NB: this project DOES NOT require biomedical experienceThe intended outcome of this project is to pave routes towards the development of sophisticated technologies for rapid and economical diagnosis and monitoring of diseases (e.g. cancer). Benefitting from links with medical scientists, the project will focus on testing and development of bench-top NMR techniques and novel magnetic sensor devices for detecting disease bio-markers via magnetic “tags” (functionalised nanoparticles).

Fridjonsson, Einar, Dr.Co-supervisors: Johns, Michael, Prof.

Renewable Energy (Li Battery technology – economic life cycle analysis)

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Disciplines: ChemicalPrerequisite skills:With immense interest in the development of the full range of the Li battery production chain in Australia (from raw material to batteries). This project will focus on analysing the value chain in Lithium battery technology (from mine to battery to recycling) and evaluating opportunities for process PFD improvements to full life-cycle economic analysis.

Ghadouani, Anas, ProfCo-supervisors: Coggins, Liah, Dr

Improving performance of wastewater treatment assetsDisciplines: Chemical, Civil, Environmental, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Hydraulics/modelling preferableSelected topics from industry based on-going investigations into improving performance of wastewater treatment assets, including greenhouse gas mitigation. This may include computer modelling or data collection and analysis.

Ghadouani, Anas, ProfCo-supervisors: Coggins, Liah, Dr

Investigating urban water qualityDisciplines: Chemical, Civil, Environmental, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:Longitudinal study on heavy metal contamination in urban water sources and networks. Students will be trained in advanced analytical skills (including laboratory), and will use the world-class facilities at UWA.

Gong, Peijun, DrOBEL: Methods for non-invasive optical imaging of blood vesselsDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Materials, mechanical systems or mechatronics, OR signal processing and computer programming OR both

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In OBEL, we have been working on the development of non-invasive optical imaging of blood vessels in humans – which is important in skin scarring and healing, diabetes, and in retinal diseases. This project will involve the design and manufacturing of an imaging phantom to mimic the blood flow in biological tissue, capturing images, and improving data analysis techniques to segment the blood vessels. As a step toward clinical applications, the effectiveness of the data analysis techniques on human clinical data will also be investigated.Students are expected to have knowledge or interest in materials, electronics or computer programming. Come and talk to us about this project.

Hassan, Ghulam Mubashar, Dr

Deformation measurement using AI techniques

Disciplines: Civil, EE, Mechanical, and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: good programming skills in MatlabDeformation measurement with high accuracy using images is a challenging task in many engineering and other fields. The problem get more interesting when discontinuities such as crack and crevices exist in the specimen which are undergoing deformation. Many techniques are proposed to solve this problem which are complicated and having optimization issues. In addition, most of the techniques are computationally very expensive to be used in real-time scenarios.In this research project, Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques will be investigated to replace the existing techniques for deformation measurement. Also another aspect for investigation can be extension of existing techniques to 3D and issues related to it.

Hassan, Ghulam Mubashar, DrCo-supervisors: French, Tim, Dr

Tabletop model for vehicle protocol simulation

Disciplines: Civil, EE, Mechanical, Mechatronic, and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: strong programming skills is essentialThe aim of this project is to utilize and improve a recently developed table top traffic testbed for investigations of autonomous vehicle networks. The model consists of bluetooth controlled vehicles, raspberry pi microcomputers, a data projector and a machine vision camera.This is a part of complex large scale project, where the first phase focused on building a basic control loop that can detect the location of different

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vehicles, and based on this pass driving instructions onto those vehicles. In this project, students will be modelling observability and implementing traffic routing algorithms.

Hassan, Ghulam Mubashar, DrCo-supervisors: Datta, Amitava, Prof

Detection of health related issues using social media

Disciplines: EE, Mechatronic, and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: strong programming skills is essentialSocial media is very popular to monitor different aspects of life. It will be interesting to analyse how health related issues can be monitored using social media data. The users of social medial are regularly updating their status which can help to determine health issues related to users or arising health issues.This project will require students to use artificial intelligence and data mining techniques to analyse data and retrieve appropriate information from the data.

Hodkiewicz, Melinda, ProfCo-supervisors: Ben Travaglione (adjunct Defence Science Technology)

Design and Build MEMS Test UnitsDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: ELEC4403 or GENG5508 with >70%. Coding (experience with python, or a willingness to learn), Scientific computing (eg Matlab, Mathematica, SciPy, R), electronics , CAD, microcontroller/arduino experience, general workshop skills.

The Internet-of-Things has arrived. Our world is becoming filled with vast numbers of small sensors, capable of collecting and processing data in real time, and streaming data to the cloud. The sensors are becoming smaller and cheaper. The wifi-enabled microcontrollers attached to these sensors are becoming faster and more powerful. In order to explore this new and rapidly changing landscape, the System Health Lab has developed an IoT device called the "Blue Box". This device uses a small COTS MEMs accelerometer and a cheap wifi-enabled microcontroller to stream data to the cloud. The student(s) undertaking this project will design and build a series of test apparatus to compare the Blue Box performance to a number

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of (more expensive) commercial/scientific alternatives or build MEMS for some specific applications (one we are considering is for embedding in tailings dams for instance). Interested students must have a strong background in the open-source software used in programming modern single-board microcontrollers. A familiarity with electronics will also be helpful. There will also be a requirement to manipulate the collected data and build appropriate models of the underlying physics.

Hodkiewicz, Melinda, ProfCo-supervisors: Ben Travaglione (adjunct Defence Science Technology)

Edge ProcessingDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: ELEC4403 or GENG5508 with >70%. Coding (experience with python, or a willingness to learn), Scientific computing (eg Matlab, Mathematica, SciPy, R), electronics , CAD, microcontroller/arduino experience, general workshop skills.

The Internet-of-Things has arrived. Our world is becoming filled with vast numbers of small sensors, capable of collecting and processing data in real time, and streaming data to the cloud. The sensors are becoming smaller, cheaper and more capable. As more and more sensors are deployed, vast amounts of data will be generated. This project will deal with “edge processing” of the collected data. Pre-processing of the data can be done on the sensing device to ensure only relevant and necessary information is transmitted to the cloud for further processing. The impacts of different edge processing methodologies on factors such as sensor battery life, reliability and quality will be explored. As part of the project the student will gain practical experience in PCB design as well as setting up a LoRa Wireless Network. Potential sensors of interest include but are not limited to: accelerometers, air quality, pH, weather (temperature, humidity, pressure).

Hong, Jin, DrCo-supervisors: Mian, Ajmal, A/Professor

Generating Malware Variants using Machine Learning

Disciplines: EE and Software

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Prerequisite skills: programming (python, java), machine learning, data analysis (collection, analysis, visualisation etc), simulations (in python, java etc).Malware detection is becoming more effective thanks to the advancing techniques used to identify variants. One approach is to use Locality Sensitive Hash (LSH), which allows generation of similar hash values when two files are similar. This can be used to measure the hash values of known malware binary and measure the distance to potential variants for detection. In the same way, we can generate malware variants that would be undetected if the detection threshold is known. To generate such malware, we can apply machine learning techniques to generate them. The goal of thisproject is to (1) malware generation using machine learning to bypass variant detection using LSH, (2) efficient malware variant generation methods, and (3) field study to test detectability of the developed scheme.Recommended reading: The Trend Locality Sensitive Hash (TLSH) https://github.com/trendmicro/tlsh

Hong, Jin, Dr

Intelligent Security for IoT

Disciplines: EE, Mechanical, Mechatronic, and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Embedded programming skills (raspberry-pi), data analysis (collection, analysis, visualisation etc.), simulations (in python, java etc.).IoT networks change their components frequently, such as replacement of IoT devices, protocols, mobility, software updates etc. Given uncertainties of changes in the IoT networks, existing security solutions (e.g., patching vulnerabilities, isolation, moving target defense etc) may not give the optimal solution. The goal of this project is to investigate: 1) profiling IoT networks and their changing capabilities; 2) evaluating the effectiveness of existing security solutions for securing IoT networks; 3) developing intelligent security mechanism for adaptively selecting optimal solution for the IoT networks; 4) evaluation of the intelligent security mechanism developed.Recommended reading: Proactive defense mechanisms for the software-defined Internet of Things with non-patchable vulnerabilities, Ge et al, Future Generation Computer Systems, Elsevier vol 78, part 2 2018 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2017.07.008

Hong, Jin, Dr

Security Control in Software Developments

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2017.07.008

https://github.com/trendmicro/tlsh

Disciplines: EE, Mechanical, and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: software engineering principlesQuality of software is well discussed, but not so much for security. Although security requirements are formulated, there is no formal way of validating the satisfiability of security features back to the requirements. The goal of this project is to investigate: 1) the satisfiability of security requirements using quantifiable metrics; 2) defining minimum security threshold required by the software for achieving defined security requirements; 3) implementing and incorporating the software security control into agile approaches for validations. Recommended reading: PracticalSecurity Stories and Security Tasks for Agile Development Environments, SafeCode,www.safecode.org/publication/SAFECode_Agile_Dev_Security0712.pdf

Hong, Jin, DrCo-supervisors: Li, Jianxin, Dr

Tagging Bad Rumours: Towards Context-aware identification of False Information in Social Media

Disciplines: EE, Mechanical, and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Machine learning, programming (web, mobile), data analysis (collection, analysis, visualisation etc), simulations (in python, java etc).Information travels at the speed of light (literally), but it is difficult to check the authenticity of the information at the same rate. Rumours, hoax news and the sort can have significant effects on the society: changing the public views and actions, such as voting in elections. Even if the public discovers the truth, often it is too late to recover the damage done. This project would provide a solution to identifying and notifying users the authenticity of the viewing information at an early stage. The goal of the project is to(1) develop bad rumour identification method using machine learning, (2) incorporate contextual information in the identification method, (3) evaluate the method using publicly available social media dataset, and (4) field test for validations. Recommended reading: The Web of False Information: Rumors, Fake News, Hoaxes, Clickbait, and Various Other Shenanigans, Zannettou et al.https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.03461.pdf

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https://arxiv.org/pdf/1804.03461.pdf

http://www.safecode.org/publication/SAFECode_Agile_Dev_Security0712.pdf

Hu, Yuxia, ProfCo-supervisors: Fred Verheyde (Douglas Partners)

Characterisation of Perth SandDisciplines: CivilPrerequisite skills: Soil MechanicsThere are three types of local sand: Bassendean Sand, Tamala Sand and Spearwood Sand. With different fine contents, the sand may show different cohesions. Under field and lab compactions, sand may be crushed to contain more fines, which may change their characteristics. The project is to study different characteristics of Perth Sands by lab tests.

Hu, Yuxia, ProfCo-supervisors: Colin Leek (Talis Consultants)

Recycling materials in road pavement and stabilised pavementDisciplines: CivilPrerequisite skills: GeomechanicsRecycling water materials is important to reduce landfill, which may cause environmental problems. Bitumen stabilisation can improve the road performance. This project will look at different way to reduce landfill and improve road performance

Huang, David, ProfessorMining plan based wireless network design for open-pit minesDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, MiningMine site wireless communications with seamless coverage and Quality of Service guarantees are a key element to improving operational efficiency and employee safety of contemporary open pit mines. The topography of a typical pit consists of benches and slopes with mineral-rich reflective surfaces, and its size and form can change quickly during the lifetime of the mine. This makes the radio propagation conditions of open pit mining very different from typical commercial wireless communication systems.

Mining is a carefully planned activity. Mine planning determines the extent of the terrain profile that will be modified and provides estimates of materials to be moved and equipment to be deployed. From mine planning, it is possible to determine the communication requirements, e.g.

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the amount of data traffic (including when and where) required to be transmitted, and the radio propagation conditions.

Geographic Information System (GIS) has been extensively used in the mining industry for development and production. Using the GIS and the mining plan, a quasi-deterministic communication traffic dimensioning can be determined. It is then possible to identify a proper combination of wireless technologies that are appropriate for the mining site. In this project, we will investigate how to select the optimal locations of key communication nodes (e.g. access points and base stations) and the optimal parameters associated with them, through the simulation and modeling of the radio propagation environment and data traffic, with the aid of GIS.

This approach includes:

• 3D radio propagation modeling for typical open pit mine structure such as benches and slopes.• Radio coverage analysis for different antennas over typical mining pits.• Data traffic modeling for typical devices employed in an open pit mine.• Developing analytical models for the deployment of various wireless networks.• Modeling and analysis of capital and operating expense of various wireless networks

Huang, David, ProfessorResource Optimization in Broadband Wireless CommunicationsDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicFor future broadband wireless communications, we need not only to build a link with the capability of providing high data rate but also to divide the link wisely to accommodate the various requirements of different applications from different users. From this perspective, how to utilize a link is as important as how to build a link. In this project, you are going to investigate and propose ways to effectively and efficiently allocate resources to different users and different applications using the principle of “opportunistic communications”. The principle of opportunistic communications is actually simple: it always allocates the resources to the users or applications that can best utilize them. This is somehow similar to the fact that the school normally awards students with best performance.

Huang, Yimiao, Dr

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Explosion Safety Assessment of Urban Underground Utility TunnelDisciplines: CivilIn order to fulfill the requirements of new-type urbanization and city modernization, the development of urban underground utility tunnels is required. Since pipes with hazardous materials such as natural gas and heating power are installed in the utility tunnel together with other pipes, high confinement and congestion conditions may be formed and significant consequences will occur if gas cloud from a leak pipe is ignited. This project aims at proposing risk analysis and evaluation methods which consider multiple explosion risk factors based on the specific characteristics of underground utility tunnels. Meanwhile, numerical modelling methods will be applied to model the complicated environments of underground utility tunnels and estimate explosion effects.

Ju, Li, ProfCo-supervisor: Winterflood, John, Dr.

Advanced Low Frequency Rotational Accelerometer Disciplines: MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Basic CAD, basic Knowledge of vibration and isolationThe project is to build and test a very low frequency rotational accelerometer for tilt sensing and control of the isolation system for gravitational wave detectors. The system compose of a mechanical bar balanced on a very fine special designed 3D flexure and an optical "walk-off" readout system. The student will be working with our PhD student to assemble and test the stand alone system, as well as integrate the system into the system to the high performance multistage vibration isolator.

Ju, Li, ProfCo-supervisor: Winterflood, John, Dr.

Advanced Isolation SystemDisciplines: MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Basic understanding of resonances, concept of vibration isolation.

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This project is to test novel methods to improve the vibration isolation system for gravitational wave detectors. These projects relate to one of the key technologies: the use of Euler springs combined with the LaCoste isolator configuration to create very low frequency vertical vibration isolation stages.

Karrech, Ali, Assoc/ProfCo-supervisors: Mohamed Elchalakani

Numerical modeling of rubberised concrete filled tubes under various loading conditionsDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Finite Element ModellingConcrete filled steel tubes (CFST) are increasingly used in engineering construction as support members or barriers. In CFST, concrete provides resistance to buckling of the steel tube and increases its strength and ductility. In addition, the steel tube provides confinement to the concrete and increases its strength. As a consequence of composite effects, CFST can absorb large amounts of energy.

In this project, concrete will be replaced with rubberised concrete to form rubberised concrete filled steel tubes (RuCFST). As there are increasing amounts of waste rubber being generated in Australia and elsewhere, there is an urgent need to recycle such materials. When compared to standard concrete, rubberised concrete has increased ductility and energy absorption but decreased strength.

There has been an extensive research work at the Structures Laboratory of the UWA on the performance of RuCFST under various loading conditions. However, the generated experimental data has not been used to conduct numerical models that can explain the important mechanical and structural phenomena that have been observed experimentally. Thus, the purpose of this research is to construct experimentally validated finite element models that can explain the behaviour of RuCFST under eccentric axial loading and bending moments.

research done into the mixture of rubberised concrete to attempt to increase the strength however no major progress has been made [3].Steel tubes may be filled with rubberised concrete to form rubberised concrete filled steel tubes (RuCFST). A circular RuCFST cross section is shown in Figure 1.The confinement of the rubberised concrete increases its strength in the same

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Karrech, Ali, Assoc/ProfCo-supervisors: Mohamed Elchalakani

Instability of mechanically lined pipelines under large deformationDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Finite Element ModellingMechanically lined pipe consists of a load bearing carbon steel outer pipe with a thin corrosion resistant alloy (CRA) liner and is a proven and economical solution for oil and gas pipelines. The bond between the two pipes is purely mechanical and under large bending loads plastic deformation of the liner results in non-reversible liner wrinkling. This wrinkling impedes flow and significantly reduces the performance of the pipeline. The purpose of this project is to use non-linear finite element techniques to describe the wrinkling of lined pipe under combined loading (bending and axial) and examines the effect of cyclic loading on the behavior of the composite. This model is then used to propose a new failure criterion that can be used for the design of mechanically lined pipelines.

Karrech, Ali, Assoc/ProfCo-supervisors: Ryan Azadi

Increasing permeability of rocks by light acids and surfactantsDisciplines: Chemical, Materials, MiningPrerequisite skills:In-Situ leaching is a solution mining technique that consists of injecting reactive fluids in the ore bodies to extract valuable materials. One of the major issues with in-situ leaching is the low permeability in certain natural materials. Creating fractures in the ore body can stimulate the process. However, the existing methods that are used to make fractures are based on high in-situ pressure (e.g. hydraulic fracturing) but they are difficult to control (i.e. difficult to keep open). The purpose of this project is to conduct laboratory tests on the effect of chemical stimulation of natural geo-materials on permeability.

Keating, Adrian, ProfessorSugar cube sized energy harvesting and wireless sensors for the internet of

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Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Much of the work leverages electrical engineering, design skills, instrumentation and data collection and analysis. Mechanical design is also required – this is an interdisciplinary projectThis project has significant industrial interest. Students will investigate novel energy harvesting technologies, extracting energy from unused heat, motion or electromagnetic radiation. We have a desire to create extremely small wireless sensors than can be used almost anywhere, but which require extremely low power technology to work with the energy being harvested. All students working on this project will focus on a sub-system of the overall system as there is a high degree of interconnection.

Keating, Adrian, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Parish, Giacinta, Professor

Writing on a grain of sand to make sensors made from thin airDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, MechatronicPrerequisite skills: Modeling and experimental design skills, instrumentation and data collection and analysis, mechanical and electrical designThis project investigates how to engineer nanometer sized pores in a silicon to alter it’s mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties. We can now write features using an inhouse built laser-writer with 3 micron linewidths. This project aims to improve the ability to laser write into this material for a range of applications, from sensors, to cloaking devices. This project offers opportunities for electrical, mechanical and/or material students to learn more about this technology and it's applications. Studies include measurements of reflected light during laser writing, the effect of heating and gas flow on the samples and improvements (electrical and mechanical) to the laser writing system (which uses G-code).

Kimiaei, Mehrdad, Assistant ProfessorCo-supervisors: Elchalakani, Mohamed, Assistant Professor

Repair of corroded tubular members in offshore facilities using composite materialDisciplines: Civil, Mechanical

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Prerequisite skills: This project is suitable for final year, preferably MPE, civil/mechanical engineering students who are interested in combination of experimental and numerical works .Steel members in offshore facilities are susceptible to corrosion and for aged facilities this process could eventually lead to non-compliant members or joints against existing codes. A possible solution for this problem is strengthening the non-compliant components by wrapping Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) around the external surface of the corroded members or joints. In this project, corrosion of the steel tubular members will be induced either naturally by immersing the tubular specimens in the Swan river or by using accelerated corrosion cell electrically simulated in the lab. Following the induced corrosion, such members will be tested in the structural laboratory under different types of loading including axial, bending and combined loading. The experimental results for intact, corroded and strengthened members (in air or in the river) will be compared. The main reasons for selecting FRP for this project are (i) long successful history of application for strengthening and rehabilitation of onshore steel/concrete structures; (ii) successful application for subsea leakage prevention; (iii) recent successful application for subsea corroded pipes. The superior mechanical, fatigue, high strength to density ratio and in-service properties of FRP composites make them excellent candidates for strengthening and retrofitting of steel pipelines and infrastructure. To date only a limited amount of research have been undertaken which are related to rehabilitation of damaged offshore facilities using FRP composite sections. Main aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of structural behaviour of composite sections in offshore facilities. The collected experimental results will be used for further numerical studies. This project is part of the RiverLab project financially supported by Woodside Pty Ltd.

Lehane, Barry, Prof

The performance of shallow foundations on Perth's dune sandsDisciplines: CivilPrerequisite skills: Geotechnical Engineering (Only 1 student -please discuss with BL)The project will first examine the effects of shape, grading and mineralogy on the shear strength parameters of Perth's sands using direct shear testing. The project will subsequently employ these results in interpretation

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of a series of shallow foundations tests to be performed in a geotechnical centrifuge.

(1 student only - as has one other student continuing from sem 1 2018)

Lehane, Barry, Prof

CPT-based pile design for driven piles in sand

Disciplines: CivilPrerequisite skills: Geotechnical EngineeringThe project is divided into two components (i) re-testing of driven piles at Shenton Park to supplement an existing study into the influence of pile age on shaft friction and (ii) use of an existing large international database of pile load test data to derive a new method for prediction of medium-term shaft friction for driven piles in sand.

Lehane, Barry, ProfCo-supervisors: Fourie, Andy, Prof

Liquefaction resistance of silty tailings and partially saturated sandsDisciplines: Civil, MiningThe project will involve use of an existing shake table facility to examine the liquefaction resistance of sands and silty sands with various relative densities and layering profiles. Results will be compared with trends measured in a smaller scale separate series of cyclic simple shear tests performed using conventional equipment.

Lei, Wen, ProfessorSemiconductor NanosensorsDisciplines: Chemical, Electrical & Electronic, MaterialsSemiconductor nanostructures are semiconductor materials of nanoscale dimensions, including zero-, one-, and two-dimensional nanostructures. They have many unique properties such as large surface area-to-volume ratio, very high aspect ratio, and strong quantum confinement including both carrier and photon. This leads to many unique and desirable electronic and optical properties for semiconductor nanostructures and thus various novel devices with superior performance over existing devices

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to revolutionise our technological world. These nanodevices include transistors, light emitters, solar cells, and sensors that are used in our daily life such as mobile phones, large-area displays, solar panels, and telecommunication systems. Apart from their super performance, these nanodevices present other advantages such as smaller size, lower cost, and higher energy efficiency, compared to traditional semiconductor devices with larger dimensions.

In this project, we will focus on the development of one- and/or two-dimensional semiconductor nanosensors with numerous potential applications ranging from light sensing, to environment sensing, and to telecommunication. This project can be divided into two main modules in which students choose both or either modules or any aspects of each module depending on interests of the students and duration of the program:

(1) Synthesis of high quality semiconductor nanostructures using CVD and/or MBE material growth tools, and understand, through various structural, electrical, and optical characterisation techniques, how to (i) improve the material quality, (ii) control the composition and material, and (iii) to engineer the bandstructure of nanostructures;

(2) Fabrication and characterisation of semiconductor nanosensors which involve (i) the design of the sensor structures, (ii) the use of state-of-the-art device fabrication facilities to make nanosensor devices, and (iii) characterising the performance and properties of the nanosensors to understand the underlying physics of the devices.

Through this project, the students will develop practical expertise and experience needed by semiconductor and other industries, including:

(1) Material synthesis/growth using CVD and/or MBE material growth facilities;(2) Design and modeling of semiconductor devices;(3) Material processing and device fabrication technologies within a cleanroom environment;(4) Nanoscale material and device characterisation;

Required background:Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Material Science, Physics, and Chemistry.

Leong, Yee-Kwong, ProfessorUpgrading the quality of Iron ore in slurriesDisciplines: Chemical, Environmental, Mechanical

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Prerequisite skills:The project looks at a range of surface chemistry means of separating iron oxide from impurities. Surface chemistry tools such as adsorbed additives will be evaluated. The purity of iron ore will be quantified using a density method.

Leong, Yee-Kwong, ProfessorRheology of iron ore tailings: effects of water chemistryDisciplines: Chemical, Environmental, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:The quality of borewater varies from location to location in terms of dissolved ions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of borewater from different sources on the rheology of iron ore tailings.

Leong, Yee-Kwong, Professor

Population balance modelling of fragmentation of polymer bridgedDisciplines: Chemical, EnvironmentalPrerequisite skills:Temporal experimental particle size distribution data for the fragmentation process inTaylor-Couette flow are already available. Mathematica program for simulating the population balance model is also available. The student tasks i) input PSD data at zero time ii) modify and change the parameters of the program to compute PSD data that closely matches the expermental PSD data.The program will only take continuous PSD data. The students will need to convert the discrete PSD data to continuous form.

Li, Jianxin, Dr

Emotion learning: location-aware social media sentiment analysisDisciplines: EE and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Significant programming skills; Python is required.Tracking sentiment helps you understand what the individual behind a social media post is feeling. Knowing the emotion behind a post can

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provide important context for how you proceed and respond. For example, Martin sets up his Twitter mentions on Hootsuite to scan for Tweets containing positive terms such as ‘thank you,’ ‘love,’ and ‘amazing.’ He also makes sure to search for sentiment-indicating emojis, such as the thumbs up or smiley face. Hootsuite Insights provides an overview of sentiment with an easy-to-read meter. This allows you to quickly see how your brand is doing from a sentiment point of view, and monitor for any changes. Reference https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-sentiment-analysis-tools/ .

Li, Jianxin, Dr

Social media driven finance data analytics

Disciplines: EE and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Python programming skills, OR have strong finance modeling background.Nowadays, the use of social media has reached unprecedented levels. Among all social media, with its popular micro-blogging service, Twitter enables users to share short messages in real time about events or express their own opinions.We have developed the preliminary methods to derive people’s opinions and stock data information. Now we are looking for FYP students to further investigate the prediction models using Machine Learning techniques or AI techniques or Finance Models.

Liu, Jishan, Professor

CO2 Sequestration in Unconventional ReservoirsDisciplines: Chemical, Oil & Gas, PetroleumPrerequisite skills: familiar with COMSOL; basic knowledge of reservoir engineeringThe objective of this project is to understand various mechanisms for carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration in depleted unconventional reservoirs. These mechanisms may include (1) gas adsorption/desorption under in-situ pressure and temperature conditions; (2) CO2-coal (shale) interactions; (3) CO2 phase behaviors; and (4) injection pressures. COMSOL as a commercial tool will be used to conduct the research. The research results will have significant implications for the effective sequestration of CO2 in depleted unconventional reservoirs.

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Liu, Jishan, ProfessorExtraction of Unconventional GasesDisciplines: Chemical, Oil & Gas, PetroleumPrerequisite skills: familiar with COMSOL; basic knowledge of reservoir engineeringThe objective of this project is to understand various mechanisms for the extraction of unconventional gases (coal seam gas and shale gas). These mechanisms may include (1) evolution of shale or coal porosity; (2) evolution of shale or coal permeability; (3) effects of coal and shale deformation; (4) effects of hydraulic fractures. COMSOL as a commercial tool will be used to conduct the research. The research results will have significant implications for the effective extraction of unconventional gases.

Liu, Wei, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Hodkiewicz, Melinda, Prof; French, Tim, Dr

Cognitive Computing of Maintenance RecordsDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Requires >75% in any of CITS2200, CITS3001, CITS3002 or CITS4404There is a huge interest from major manufacturing and resource companies in being able to automate the processing of manually completed maintainer work orders. These work orders capture information about the state of the equipment and work done by the maintainer. This information is vital in assessing the reliability of the equipment.

We have been working with a major resource company for a number of years on this exciting area. This project is for CSSE students or computing literate EE’s with the right experience (see below) who are doing MPE. We are looking for someone interested in ontology development, text mining, and other cognitive computing methods and their application to an important industry problem.

Male, Sally, Associate ProfessorDevelopment and trial of virtual work integrated learning modules

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Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Mechanical, MiningPrerequisite skills: An interest in engineering practice, good communication skillsStudents of accredited engineering programs in Australia must engage with engineering practice. This project will contribute to an overarching project on virtual work integrated learning (WIL) for engineering students. In the overarching project, learning modules are being developed to expose students to practice without real work placements. Previous final year students have investigated learning outcomes and learning activities for virtual WIL in engineering. Current and new final year students will develop and test virtual WIL modules, building on the work of the previous students. Students will collaborate with the Virtual WIL Project Team which includes researchers from UWA, CingleVue International, Curtin University, The University of Queensland, Murdoch University, Engineers Australia, and the Australian Council of Engineering Deans. Students will select modules on which to focus. Topics taught in the modules include tendering, roles of engineers, engineering communication, and safety in design, among others. Some of these projects use virtual reality or immersive environments.

Male, Sally, Associate ProfessorCo-supervisors: Hassan, Ghulam Mubashar, Dr

Development and trial of virtual work integrated learning environmentsDisciplines: Civil, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Mechanical, Mining, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: An interest in engineering practice, good communication skillsStudents of accredited engineering programs in Australia must engage with engineering practice. This project will contribute to an overarching project on virtual work integrated learning (WIL) for engineering students. In the overarching project, learning modules are being developed to expose students to practice without real work placements. Previous final year students have investigated learning outcomes and learning activities for virtual WIL in engineering. New final year students are will develop and test virtual WIL modules, building on the work of the previous students. Students will collaborate with the Virtual WIL Project Team which includes researchers from UWA, CingleVue International, Curtin University, The University of Queensland, Murdoch University, Engineers Australia, and the Australian Council of Engineering Deans. Students will select modules on which to focus. Topics taught in the modules include tendering, roles of engineers, engineering communication, and safety in design, among

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others. These projects involve developing virtual reality or immersive environments.

Martyniuk, Mariusz, Associate ProfessorCo-supervisors: Lei, Wen, Professor; Umana-Membreno, Gilberto, Associate Professor

Investigation of mechanical properties of mercury cadmium selenide thin films via nanoindentationDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: physics/engineering/materials scienceThis is a hands-on project involving a series of experimental instrumented nanoindentation runs on thin film samples. Data analysis and scientific reporting is a significant part of the project. The outcome of the project is to report the mechanical properties (Young’s modulus, hardness, etc) of novel thin films of mercury cadmium selenide grown by molecular beam epitaxy at the Western Australian Node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility. The student should have a physics/engineering/materials science background, and potentially with specific prior knowledge/experience in instrumented nanoindentation.

May, Eric, ProfCo-supervisors: Graham, Brendan, Dr; Rowland, Darren, Dr

Avoiding Cryogenic Solids Formation in LNG ProductionDisciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:Unplanned shutdowns of LNG plants caused by hydrocarbon solids blocking cryogenic heat exchangers are a major, ongoing problem for the industry. Current methods of avoiding them are costly and energy intensive. This project aims to produce the required new data and develop new predictive models relevant to natural gas processing and LNG production to help avoid unexpected shutdowns, improve plant efficiency, and increase safety.

May, Eric, ProfCo-supervisors: Metaxas, Peter, Dr; Arjmandi, Mosayyeb, Dr

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Container-free hydrates: hydrate formation in acoustically levitated water dropletsDisciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:Gas hydrates are ice-like compounds consisting of water and gas molecules that can form within, and block, oil and gas flow lines. In this project, students will use Australia’s first high-pressure acoustic levitation facility to study hydrate formation in water droplets that are suspended (via acoustic levitation) within a high pressure gas phase. This approach offers the unique possibility to study hydrate formation in container-less conditions. By removing the influence of the solid surface of a containment vessel (whose presence favours surface-dependent heterogeneous nucleation), the acoustic levitator enables an exciting opportunity to probe the fundamental processes governing hydrate formation in gas-water systems. This information will represent a critical contribution to a wider effort aimed at developing more economical, risk-based approaches to hydrate management and prevention which have significant potential benefits for the oil and gas industry.

May, Eric, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Al Ghafri, Saif, Dr

Improved Viscosity Modelling for Natural Gas MixturesDisciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills: Data analysis and literature surveyProduction and optimization of natural gas process is designed using predictions of the mixture’s thermodynamic and transport properties over wide range of pressure, temperature and composition conditions. However, the extent to which engineering margins are used in such designs is mainly influenced by the accuracy of the property predictions (such as viscosity) used in the process simulation. The accuracy of the models used for predicting the fluid properties are in turn dependent on the extent and uncertainty of experimental data used to develop and validate the model. This project aims to explore and improve the prediction of viscosity models for natural gas mixtures. In particular, the focus will be on optimizing the prediction of friction theory (FT) approach against comprehensive viscosity data from the literature.

May, Eric, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Al Ghafri, Saif, Dr; Perez, Fernando, Mr

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Experimental Analysis and Simulation of LNG Boil-off-Gas Disciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:Natural Gas (NG) is transform into Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to be transported in an economic way, during which Boil-Off gas (BOG) can occur. This an important phenomenon that affects the gas industry, specifically during the storage and transportation of LNG. Furthermore, it can lead into the formation of stratified layers where a sudden mixing of existing stratified layers within a liquid phase occurs (Rollover). Limited data is available in literature and models fail to accurately predict this incident. The development of reliable and detail measurements will provide significant benefits in both transportation and storage of this energy source.This research mimicked the conditions of an LNG vessel by building and designing a laboratory BOG apparatus that will allow the study of the effect of heat flux, volume, Boil-Off gas rate and composition on the BOG. The apparatus is already built and installed where variety of LNG mixtures will be studied during transient and steady state conditions at a temperature of -162 °C and around 1 atm. These measurements will help to design an accurate model to predict this phenomenon and it will be compared to other models available in literature.

McCormick, Paul, E ProfessorPerformance and Modelling of Solar Energy ApplicationsDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Electrical understanding, computing skills

Potential applications include solar EV modeling, hybrid storage systems and battery performance and modelling

McDonald, Chris, Dr

Visualisation of C's Dynamic Memory Allocation and Data StructuresDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Strengths in C or C++ programming and a desire to improve them

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As computer hardware becomes both faster and capacious, we can investigate previously too-expensive techniques to support novice programmers. One such technique involves capturing the entire execution trace of a running program - its control flow and memory accesses - so that its execution may be reviewed. The program is not re-executed; instead its prior execution may be replayed, sped up, slowed down, and inspected. This provides great opportunity for novice programmers - they can watch the execution of a correct program, or determine which prior action resulted in a much later bug. It provides the opportunity to debug programs without fully knowing what to look for! This project will identify, implement, and evalute visualisations of C's dynamic memory allocation and data structures. This project will draw on and extend the work of Dr Matthew Heinsen Egan who has developed a trace-based debugging environment for novice C programmers, using Clang and LLVM.

McDonald, Chris, Dr

Modelling Connected Autonomous Vehicles and InfrastructureDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Strengths in C or C++ programming and a desire to improve them

Within 5 years years, the average consumer will be able to purchase an autonomous vehicle and drive it on our public roads, resulting in a dramatic change to traffic patterns and travel times. Beyond the benefits of autonomous vehicles are connected vehicles - vehicles that communicate their state, intention, and traffic conditions to other vehicles and to road-side infrastructure. The potential benefits of vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, particularly, are significant, including controlling vehicles through intersections - no more traffic lights - and using current and predicted road and congestion conditions to adjust the speed of vehicles.

Connected vehicle simulation needs to accurately simulate both the driving and route planning of vehicles, and the wireless communication in a very crowded environment. This project will draw on and extend the work of Jordan Hedges to develop secured communication between connected autonomous vehicles and infrastructure.

McDonald, Chris, Dr

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Operating System visualisation using DTrace and SystemTapDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Strengths in C or C++ programming and a desire to improve them

Computing textbooks employ many static 'before-and-after' figures, hoping to convey the interactions between programs and operating systems, and the transitions of internal operating system structures. Historically, Computer Science educators have hoped to breathe life into these textbook figures with purpose-developed visualisation tools but, unfortunately, these have often required specific and unsustainable programming, compiling, and execution practices. Moreover, many of these tools have a constrained scope, or only support prebuilt demonstrations. These well-intentioned approaches often increase students' cognitive load, leaving them confused as to what is to be learned. The DTrace framework (under Apple's macOS) and SystemTap (under Linux) both enable a process's execution and its interactions with the operating system kernel to be traced and annotated at a fine grain. They both provide well recognized benefits for systems administration, but also a great opportunity for Computer Science Education. This project will review and extend the project of Jurek Malarecki, to develop visualisations to trace the execution of programs, provided by an educator, being developed and debugged by students, or even standard system and application programs.

McFerran, John, DrCo-supervisors: Ivanov, Eugene, Prof

Frequency comb stabilization for an optical lattice clockDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: Some knowledge of electronic systemsOptical-atomic-lattice clocks are the most stable and, arguably, accurate clocks produced by humankind so far. Their accuracy is equivalent to a few seconds disagreement over the age of the universe. The UWA lattice clock is in a preliminary stage of operation and aims to be part of an international network of atomic clocks. It relies on a frequency comb (a specific type of mode-locked laser) for carrying out frequency measurements, as well as stabilizing laser frequencies. This project will involve producing a microwave frequency link between a cryogenic sapphire oscillator and the frequency comb. This will confer improved

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spectral purity on laser signals and will help improve the performance of the lattice clock. Spectroscopy on the clock transition in ytterbium may also be incorporated into the project. It is part of the ARC’s Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQuS) 2018-2024.

Further details at: www.physics.uwa.edu.au/research/frequency-quantum-metrology

Metaxas, Peter, DrMagnetic nano-oscillators for biological sensingDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic

This project is aimed at the experimental development and testing of novel magnetic nanoparticle detectors for downstream application in biological sensing and medical diagnostics. The student will focus on a unique frequency-based particle detection method using nano-scale electronic devices known as spin torque oscillators. If of interest, the project can have a simulation focus in which case the student would use graphics processing units (GPUs) to run highly efficient micromagnetic device simulations which will complement and support the ongoing experimental research program.

Mian, Ajmal, Assoc ProfessorCo-supervisors: Gilani, Syed, Dr, Hassan, Ghulam, Dr

Automatic age and gender classification from facial imagesDisciplines: EE and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Computer vision, Matlab or Python, Tensorflow or Caffe

Automatic age estimation has many applications in marketing and planning of resources at public places. Recently, deep learning has achieved higher accuracy than human observers at estimating the age of a person from a single image. In this project, the student will use deep neural network models to develop an end to end system that performs face detection and age estimation classification. Existing pre-trained networks will be fine-tuned to achieve higher accuracy on video streamed from a local webcam.Pre-trained CNN models and dataset are available at https://data.vision.ee.ethz.ch/cvl/rrothe/imdb-wiki/ .

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https://data.vision.ee.ethz.ch/cvl/rrothe/imdb-wiki/

http://www.physics.uwa.edu.au/research/frequency-quantum-metrology

http://www.physics.uwa.edu.au/research/frequency-quantum-metrology

Mian, Ajmal, Assoc ProfessorCo-supervisors: Gilani, Syed, Dr, Hassan, Ghulam, Dr

Automatic pedestrian detection in videos

Disciplines: EE and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Computer vision, Matlab or Python, Tensorflow or Caffe

Automatic pedestrian detection is an important component of autonomous cars and is also useful for city planning. In this project the student will use deep learning to develop an automatic pedestrian detection algorithm. The algorithm should exploit spatio-temporal features from moving camera and moving pedestrian to increase the accuracy of the system. The output of the system should be the locations of all pedestrians visible in image as well as their scales. The results should be displayed as bounding boxes around the pedestrians. The project will use existing benchmark datasets for fine-tuning CNN models and data collection is not a part of this project. Benchmark datasets can be found at http://www.vision.caltech.edu/Image_Datasets/CaltechPedestrians/

Miller, Karol, Winthrop ProfBiomechanics: Stress and strain in abdominal aortic aneurysmDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:This is a finite element simulation project using Abaqus and our one code BioPARR http://bioparr.mech.uwa.edu.au/ .

This project is in collaboration with Harvard’s Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging https://www.martinos.org/, Fraunhofer MEVIS institute in Germany http://www.mevis.fraunhofer.de/ and Katolieke Universitat Leuven

The best students will have an opportunity to travel to collaborating labs.

Miller, Karol, Winthrop ProfComputer Simulation of breast deformation for surgical navigation in breast cancer

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Disciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:Computer Simulation of breast deformation for surgical navigation in breast cancer (with Surgical Planning Laboratory http://spl.harvard.edu, Harvard and PERK Lab http://perk.cs.queensu.ca/ at Queens University, Canada), max. 4 students.

Projects in collaboration with Harvard Medical School. The projects are best suited for mechanical or civil engineering students and perhaps computer science students.

The best students will have an opportunity to travel to Harvard.

Miller, Karol, Winthrop ProfComputer simulation of brain deformations for epilepsy treatment and tumour resectionDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:Computer simulation of brain deformations for epilepsy treatment (with Computational Radiology Laboratory http://crl.med.harvard.edu/, Harvard) and tumour resection (with Surgical Planning Laboratory http://spl.harvard.edu, Harvard), max. 4 students

Projects in collaboration with Harvard Medical School. The projects are best suited for mechanical or civil engineering students and perhaps computer science students.

The best students will have an opportunity to travel to Harvard.

Milne, George, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Manning, Laurens, A/Prof (Medicine)

Davies, Tim, Prof (Medicine)

Development of a Simulation Model for Malaria TransmissionDisciplines: SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Good C++ skillsMalaria continues to be a major health burden in tropical countries, with approx. one million deaths due to malaria occurring each year. There is a major campaign working towards eliminating this significant insect-

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transmitted disease, with major funding coming from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Australian Government and other organisations. There is a need to determine the most effective control and eradication strategies, such as increasing use of bed nets or optimal use of new drug treatments. Simulation modelling technology which captures the dynamics of infectious disease spread is being increasingly used to determine the effectiveness of interventions which can reduce infection and disease spread. The World Health Organisation and the Australian Department of Health now determine vaccination policy based on modelling studies.

Modelling is necessary as it is usually infeasible and costly to introduce a new vaccine without first determining its benefit to a country, for example. But someone needs to develop these models and make them available to health authorities! This work has been going on in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering over the past 15 years, with a focus on influenza and dengue viruses. The approach we take is to build “virtual worlds” of communities, capturing the movement of people (and mosquitoes) between households, schools and workplaces; it is this movement which allows diseases to spread. So we simulate disease spread via movement and transmission algorithms which are implemented in software.

The project will develop a novel spatially-explicit malaria simulation model. It will build on a dengue/Zika model previously developed at UWA and implemented in C++. This model captures people and mosquito movement over the landscape, and infection transmission by mosquitoes biting humans. Our project will work through the key phases of software development, including: requirement specification; version control; and testing against malaria infection data from PNG. It is planned to use Atlassian tools such as Jira and Confluence throughout the project.

Prerequisites: good C++ skills

Outcomes: skills development in teamwork; training in disease modelling; contribution to a public good project

Milne, Ian, DrCo-supervisors: Whelan, James, Dr (Woodside)

Predicting Mooring Line Failure of FPSOs Using Machine LearningDisciplines: Civil, Mechanical Prerequisite skills: Hydrodynamics, Metocean, MatlabDetecting a mooring line failure on Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facilities used in the oil and gas industry is a significant challenge faced by operators. FPSO mooring systems typically have

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between 6 and 20 mooring lines. Single line mooring failures are frequent and can be costly if not detected in a timely manner and remediated. Existing systems for monitoring mooring integrity are expensive, difficult to install, or require significant ongoing maintenance of the instrumentation packages. To address these challenges, a mooring integrity monitoring system based on analyzing the statistics of the FPSO mooring turret trajectory using machine learning is proposed. The approach analyses the statistics of the FPSO turret trajectory during a 1-hour time period of stationary metocean conditions with expected turret trajectory statistics. Machine learning is then used to assess whether the mooring system is intact or has experienced a single line failure. This research project will investigate the performance of the machine learning approach by (i) utilising measured turret trajectory data for an FPSO located offshore Western Australia and comparing the predictions against numeric analysis and (ii) assessing its robustness to uncertainty in FPSO loading conditions and metocean inputs. The project will be undertaken using numeric mooring analysis software Arianne and MatLab machine learning modules. The project builds on research undertaken in 2017-18.These projects are technically challenging and previous experience with floating systems and oil and gas operations is highly desirable.

Nener, Brett, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Parish, Giacinta, Professor

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Transistor-based biosensorsDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic Prerequisite skills:Students will work together on the one or more of following integrated project components (and will also work alongside students working in the adjacent projects on “transistor-based chemical sensors for contaminant monitoring”).1. Physical, chemical, materials and biological characterisation of functionalisation methods, particularly surface and cell studies2. Electrical, chemical, biochemical and physical characterisation and optimisation of functionalised ion sensors3. Mechanical, electrical and chemical characterisation and optimisation of packaging techniques4. Design and integration of complementary sensors (pH, temperature, drift compensation) to maximise reliability.5. Adapt device design, packaging, measurement protocols for reliable, reference electrode free, operation.

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6. Modelling of individual devices, packaged devices and the device-functionalisation layer-solution interface.

Orszaghova, Jana, DrCo-supervisors: Wolgamot, Hugh, Dr; Rijnsdorp, Dirk, Dr; Ragni, Raffaele, Dr; Chow, Shiao Huey, Dr

Studying moorings for wave energy devices using scaled field trialsDisciplines: Civil, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills: Passed GENG5501 Coastal and Offshore Engineering unit to be considered for the projects. Due to the nature of the project, successful students will be encouraged to complete a UWA snorkelling course so that they can participate fully in field tests.

Are you interested in renewable energy technology – specifically ocean wave energy? Would you like to participate in the Woodside FutureLab-funded RiverLab working on innovative engineering solutions? This RiverLab project will pull together a multi-disciplinary team to investigate the suitability of suction caissons for mooring wave energy devices. This project is particularly relevant to meeting Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET), with UWA located on the west coast of Australia, which has one of the highest wave power levels in the world. The development of offshore renewable energy, particularly wave energy, has taken off slowly due to technical and economic challenges. One critical challenge is to produce a reliable and cost effective foundation to moor floating energy devices to the seabed. A solution could be a suction caisson anchor. The performance of suction caissons relies on successful installation to the required embedment depth. Once installed, it is imperative to be able to predict the capacity of the suction caisson when subject to environmental (i.e. wave ) loading. This project will build upon a recently completed Riverlab project on wave energy. The Swan River will be utilised as a model wave basin, where field tests of the complete system (anchor + mooring + floating buoy) will be performed. The geotechnical aspects of the project will focus on design, installation and in-service performance of the model suction caisson. A critical element will be a development of an improved load cell for monitoring the foundation loads during operation of the system. The hydrodynamic aspects of the project will focus on design of a scaled floating resonator optimised for the Swan River wave climate. Study of the locally generated wind waves will be an essential part of the project. More details about the Woodside FutureLab RiverLab program can be found here: http://www.oceans.uwa.edu.au/collaborations/woodside-futurelab/riverlab Project 1: Design and response of the resonant floating oscillator and its mooring system (supervised by Jana Orszaghova, Hugh Wolgamot) The student will design a resonant system comprised of a floating buoy and a taut-mooring with a suitable restoring force. The system will be optimised to

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match expected wave conditions in the River. He/she will then be involved in the deployment and field monitoring of the system. The gathered motion and load data will be analysed and compared to theoretical predictions.

Project 2: Measuring and predicting wave climate in Swan River (supervised by Hugh Wolgamot, Dirk Rijnsdorp, Jana Orszaghova) The student will measure the local wave conditions in the Swan River using a sophisticated acoustic surface tracking device (Nortek Signature), and analyse the data to define the wave climate, and to better understand both operational and extreme conditions that the device can encounter. Modelling tools and empirical formulations will subsequently be developed and validated based on the collected data in order to be able to predict future wave conditions that the floating oscillator might encounter.

Project 3: Installation and performance of suction caisson under environmental loading (supervised by Raffaele Ragni) The student will design the model suction caisson to produce the most optimum foundation size and the required installation system. He/she will then be involved in the field installation and monitoring of the in-service performance of the model suction caisson under environmental loading.

Project 4: Measuring the mooring line load (supervised by Shiaohuey Chow) The student will design and develop a self-contained measurement unit (combining a load cell and inertial measurement unit) that is able to measure the mooring line load and trajectory in the field tests. He/she will conduct bench-marking tests on the prototype measurement unit in the laboratory and the Swan River.

Parish, Giacinta, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Nener, Brett, Professor

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Transistor-based chemical sensors for contaminant monitoringDisciplines: Chemical, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, MechatronicPrerequisite skills:Reliable, economically accessible technology for in situ monitoring of contaminants in water has the power to transform health, industry, and society the world around. Applications of such monitoring range from process control monitoring and optimisation for industry, to water supply quality and wastewater monitoring, to environmental monitoring for resource extraction, and beyond.The microelectronics-based technology under investigation in this project will enable in situ, real-time contaminant monitoring that is accurate,

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reliable and low-cost. Semiconductor-based technology offers high performance and can also be mass produced at low-cost with flexible functionalisation allowing for a variety of analytes. Furthermore, it offers the ability to integrate multiple sensors into one chip, along with wireless communication technology for maximum benefit of the in situ monitoring capability.Students will work together on the one or more of following integrated project components (and will also work alongside students working in the adjacent projects on “transistor-based biosensors”).1. Physical, chemical, materials characterisation of functionalisation methods, particularly surface studies2. Electrical, chemical and physical characterisation and optimisation of functionalised ion sensors3. Mechanical, electrical and chemical characterisation and optimisation of packaging techniques4. Design and integration of complementary sensors (pH, temperature, drift compensation) to maximise reliability.5. Adapt device design, packaging, measurement protocols for reliable, reference electrode free, operation.The ability to monitor biological and chemical signals with an electronic device is a tremendously innovative approach for cell research and process control in pharmaceutical and microbiological production, and chemical sensing applications. A bio-friendly, chemically inert and stable III-Nitride-transistor-based bio/chem-sensor will be developed to detect responses to various specific compounds/chemicals, particularly through cell receptors. The successful development of this electronic biosensor technology has the potential to improve health and disease treament through major improvemements in throughput, precision, quality, speed and simplicity of, for example, drug and disease testing methods.

Ravanbakhsh, Mehdi, A/Professor and Mapizy CEOCo-supervisors: Mian, Ajmal, A/Professor

Ramzi, Pouria, Mapizy CTO

Automatic solar panel extraction in aerial images

Disciplines: Civil, Oil & Gas, and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Python Programming, image processing, computer visionSolar power generation has emerged as one of the most rapidly growing renewable source of electricity. There has been a significant increase in the number of installed solar panels in recent years. However, little information on geographical distribution and density of solar panels is available. Up-to-date maps of solar panels is a key information for effective energy policy making and financial assessment of solar distributed generation.

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The current approach for solar panels detection is manual which is time-consuming and costly. Furthermore, manual approach cannot keep up with the demand for frequent updating of solar panels map.

This project aims to develop an automated approach for the extraction of solar panel in aerial images. It includes two steps: first, solar panels presence are determined through deep learning technology followed by their delineation through computer vision methods and techniques

Ravanbakhsh, Mehdi, A/Professor and Mapizy CEOCo-supervisors: Mian, Ajmal, A/Professor

Ramzi, Pouria, Mapizy CTO

Automatic swimming pools extraction in aerial images

Disciplines: Civil, Enviromental, Oil & Gas, and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Python Programming, image processing, computer visionAn accurate and up-to-date map of swimming pools is needed by authorities for the estimation of energy expenditure to maintain the pools, water volume for fire-fighting and the potential spread of mosquito’s related diseases.The current approach for swimming pools detection is manual which is time-consuming and costly. Furthermore, manual approach cannot keep up with the demand for frequent updating of swimming pools map.This project aims to develop an automated approach for the extraction of swimming pools in aerial images. It includes two steps: first, swimming pools presence are determined through deep learning technology followed by their delineation through computer vision methods and techniques.

Reynolds, Mark, A/ProfCo-supervisors: Vulpe, Cristina, Dr

Development of new software tools for mapping deep-water environment changes

Disciplines: Oil & Gas and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Data science, programming

The purpose of the project is to develop software capable of reading and interpreting large databases of centrifuge experiments outputs.

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A series of centrifuge tests has been carried out in order to characterize the changing properties of the deep-water environment during the operating lifetime of oil&gas infrastructure. The centrifuge tests results database tracks the changes in the soil and water conditions under and around the deep-water infrastructure.

The new software is expected to be capable of:- Reading large databases of centrifuge outputs concurrently- Interpret the change in environment during the lifetime of deep-water infrastructure operations- Present in 3D graphical form changes in deep-water environment during deep-water infrastructure operationsExcellent programming skills are required, as well as a desire to work on a multi-disciplinary topic (i.e., geotechnical engineering and data science). Some use of AI or Machine Learning techniques is expected to fill in for some missing data and extrapolate. Prior knowledge of fundamental soil mechanics and consolidation theory are not compulsory.

Reynolds, Mark, A/ProfCo-supervisors: Huynh, Du, Dr

Bat Call Identification via Machine LearningDisciplines: EE and SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Programming (familiarity with Python would be ideal)

Bats are useful indicator species in ecological surveys. Typically, a device will record ultrasonic echolocation calls in the field and the subsequent data will be analysed to identify the bat species present. This is a laborious process that is amenable to machine learning. One such proprietary system has been used successfully to classify several years of calls in the South Coast region of WA. However some bat species, especially of the genus nyctophilus, are not amenable to the zero crossing techniques commonly used. McKenzie and Bullen (2003, 2009, 2012) have shown that the sharpness quotient, Q, of the fundamental harmonic and the characteristic frequency of the bat call cluster rather distinctly between different species of bats including nyctophilus. The aim of this project is to examine whether similar techniques might be used for machine learning of call identification for the bats of the South Coast region. You would be provided with full spectrum recordings covering several years in WAC/WAV files plus zero crossing analysis data and probable bat identification.

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There would be a requirement to complete a Bush Heritage Australia research project form, which details IP and the like.

Schediwy, Sascha, DrSynchronisation of the Square Kilometre Array Radio TelescopeDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: Required: experience with analogue electronics and PCB designBeneficial: experience with optical fibre systems, digital electronicsThe aim of this project is to contribute to the development of the frequency synchronisation system for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope.

The SKA will be the largest and most complex astronomical instrument to date, with individual antennas spread over continental scales. One of the most complex technical challenges will be the coherent combination of astronomical signals collected by the hundreds of remote antennas. To achieve this, astronomical observations must be synchronised using timing signals of exquisite accuracy and precision. The SKA will utilise the same optical fibre network to transport the astronomical data to the SKA’s central computer and to distribute high-quality timing signals to each antenna.

The student will work as part of the Astrophotonics Group at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) to help design, build, and test an optical fibre-based frequency distribution system tailored to meet the scientific needs and logistical challenges of the SKA. This system will be developed in our UWA laboratory and tested on Perth’s AARNet fibre networks, with the aim to deploy the finished product on the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa, and at the Murchison Radio Observatory in outback Australia.

This research will be conducted in collaboration with the international SKA Signal and Data Transport Consortium, the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory, and SKA South Africa. For more information, see: www.icrar.org/people/sschediwy/. If you have further questions about the project or doubts about meeting the prerequisites listed below, please contact Dr Sascha Schediwy before selecting this project.

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Schediwy, Sascha, DrFree-Space Laser Links for Space ApplicationsDisciplines:, Electrical & Electronic, MechatronicPrerequisite skills: Required: experience working with electronic systemsBeneficial: experience working with optical systemsThe aim of this project is to further the development of ultra-precise laser timing links to support the next generation of pioneering space missions and cutting-edge timing technology.

The pioneering mission for laser timing links is the European Space Agency’s Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) project. This $100M global mega-science project will compare the time-scales of atomic clocks in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station, against state-of-the-art atomic clocks on Earth, with the University of Western Australia having been selected as the only ACES ground station in the Southern Hemisphere. However, as first-generation laser timing links are simply re-purposed existing satellite laser ranging facilities, which all use pulsed-laser systems, clock-comparison measurements can only be made over small fractions of the total satellite transit time.

The student will work as part of the Astrophotonics Group at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and will use a new custom-built, continuous-wave laser system with a technique to actively suppress atmospheric path-length fluctuations and test this over a multi-kilometre laser link test facility at UWA. The work will include constructing an adaptive optics system and incorporating this into the existing laser link. The final system will then be deployed at the Mount Stromlo Satellite Laser Ranging Observatory for long-range atmospheric trials.

This work will be conducted in collaboration with the Australian National University and the Technical University of Munich. For more information, see: www.icrar.org/people/sschediwy/. If you have further questions about the project or doubts about meeting the prerequisites listed below, please contact Dr Sascha Schediwy before selecting this project.

Schediwy, Sascha, Dr

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Building the First Long-Baseline Optical Astronomical InterferometerDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: Required: physics undergraduate degree or equivalentBeneficial: optical systems, high-speed data acquisition

The aim of this project is to take the first steps to develop a revolutionary new type of optical telescope. What if you had a telescope with the baseline length of radio interferometers, like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), but with the resolving power of optical wavelengths?

This project will explore the feasibility of optical very-long baseline interferometry, by building on the University of California’s Infrared Spatial Interferometer at Berkeley, and combining this with recent developments in stabilised optical frequency transfer over 100s of kilometres of optical fibre. This work could open the door for a telescope with spatial resolution 100s of times greater than the current best, revolutionising high-surface brightness astronomy including the detection of Earth-like extra-solar planets, the structure of active galactic nuclei, the formation mechanism of stars and planetary systems, and more.

The student will work as part of the Astrophotonics Group at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) with a multidisciplinary team to build a three-element interferometric optical telescope, with a baseline length of up to several kilometres.

This research will be conducted in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley. For more information, see: www.icrar.org/people/sschediwy/. If you have further questions about the project or doubts about meeting the prerequisites listed below, please contact Dr Sascha Schediwy before selecting this project.

Sercombe, Tim, ProfElectropolishing of 3D printed partsDisciplines: Chemical, Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:3D Printing is most ideally suited to parts with a high degree of geometric complexity. This provides challenges when considering methods of improving surface finish. For metals, the surface finish is similar to that of a casting and it is one area where it falls behind conventional manufacturing

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technologies. This work continues on from previous students and will further explore the electro polishing of 3D printed metal parts. It will look at optimization of the process and the effect of the polishing on complex geometries.

Sercombe, Tim, ProfCo-supervisors: Ingliss, Tim, Prof

Recycling of plastic containers from pathology testingDisciplines: Chemical, Environmental, Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:The testing of pathology specimens creates a huge waste stream of single-use plastic containers. Currently, these are not recycled in any way and mostly end up in land fill. The aim of this project is to find an engineering use for this waste stream.

Silva, Dilusha, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Putrino, Gino, Associate Professor; Faraone, Lorenzo, Professor

Advanced Sensing Technologies: Sensing in liquidsDisciplines: Chemical, Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills:Researchers within AST are the leaders in Australia for micro machines (MEMS). One of their recent inventions is an ultrasensitive MEMS based chemical and biological sensor. The technology operates on a tiny cantilever that produces a tiny movement in response to a chemical or biological agent it comes in contact with. At present, the key application of this technology is in gas sensing, and has already demonstrated sensitivities better than parts-per-million. However there are immense applications of this technology, if it could be used in a liquid environment. The broad objective of this project is to deploy and demonstrate this technology in various liquid environments.


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Advanced Sensing Technologies: Absorption spectroscopy for organics in solutionDisciplines: Chemical, Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills:Absorption spectroscopy can determine chemical components of a material by measurement of which wavelengths of light are absorbed due to interaction with a sample. Applications of this technology range from determining hydrocarbon contamination in water to detecting cancer in skin.This project will evaluate the ability of infrared (IR) spectroscopy to measure the chemical composition of aqueous solutions. Trials with solutions containing a matrix of varying and interfering IR-absorbing components will be performed for applications in environmental and agricultural monitoring.Techniques to improve the component prediction accuracy using techniques such as principle component analysis will be investigated.


Advanced Sensing Technologies: Nanotechnology SpectrometersDisciplines: Chemical, Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills:Infrared spectroscopy is finding increasing application in many industries including, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, viticulture, remote sensing, and defence. IR spectroscopy has successfully been demonstrated to detect a range of substances, including water, nitrogen and carbon in soil, protein in wheat, and pollution in the atmosphere. Deployments of spectroscopy range from lab-based instruments for high-precision applications, to semi-miniaturised instruments for portable applications, to multi- and hyper-spectral imaging instruments for airborne remote-sensing applications. In the airborne arena, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based deployments are looking increasingly attractive. The main limiting factors to more pervasive deployment of infrared spectroscopy are presently, the capital and maintenance costs of the spectroscopy equipment; size and portability; sensitivity to vibration and shocks; and calibration maintenance. Particularly for application in Agriculture and the minerals industry, the need for low cost, small and rugged spectroscopy instruments is immense.

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Researchers within AST are the leaders in Australia for micro machines (MEMS). One of their recent developments is a suite of nanometer-scale thin-film spectrometer technologies, which stands to address all the requirements to turn infrared spectroscopy into an everyday tool. Just imagine a spectrometer in your mobile phone that can tell you if your fruit is ripe enough or your milk is turning sour. The overall aim of this project will be to assess and develop thin-film spectrometer technologies for various applications. While these projects are highly challenging they can be immensely rewarding.


Advanced Sensing Technologies: Multispectral CameraDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills:Infrared spectroscopy is finding increasing application in many industries including, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, viticulture, remote sensing, and defence. IR spectroscopy has successfully been demonstrated to detect a range of substances, including water, nitrogen and carbon in soil, protein in wheat, and pollution in the atmosphere. Deployments of spectroscopy range from lab-based instruments for high-precision applications, to semi-miniaturised instruments for portable applications, to multi- and hyper-spectral imaging instruments for airborne remote-sensing applications. In the airborne arena, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based deployments are looking increasingly attractive. The main limiting factors to more pervasive deployment of infrared spectroscopy are presently, the capital and maintenance costs of the spectroscopy equipment; size and portability; sensitivity to vibration and shocks; and calibration maintenance. Particularly for application in Agriculture and the minerals industry, the need for low cost, small and rugged spectroscopy instruments is immense.

This project will focus on developing a low-cost spectral imaging camera for agricultural applications. The project will involve assembling the camera module to a Raspberry Pi single-board-computer, incorporating the spectral selectivity elements, and deveoping the software to acquire and process spectral images.

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Smith, David, ProfCo-supervisors: Gardiner, Bruce, Prof (Murdoch)

Development of a suitable computational model of fluid flow from the eye

Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, and MechanicalPrerequisite skills: This project requires a willingness and the skills to develop a detailed knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the eye. Only then can appropriate hypotheses be developed, and a suitable modeling approach be chosen. Computational modeling will involve the solution of ordinary and/or partial differential equations, solved using either excel, matlab or finite elements, depending on the model type.Excessive pressure in the eye is the main risk factor for glaucoma, a leading cause of visual impairment. In this project, we will attempt to develop a suitable computational model of fluid flow from the eye, with a particular emphasis on explaining the ‘outflow resistance’ of the eye.

Sreeram, Victor , ProfCo-supervisors: Zulfiqar, Umair, Dr

Lower Order Controller Design for Flexible Space Structure with Unknown Mathematical Model

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, MechatronicPrerequisite skills: Good mathematical background especially linear algebra

The mathematical model of the plant is required to compute a controller for the specific control problem. If the mathematical model is not known a priori, system identification techniques are employed to estimate the model. A large-scale model is generally constructed to ensure the fidelity of the model. Since this model is an input to a controller design procedure, it results in a very high controller which is not suitable for implementation. Therefore, controller reduction techniques are used to obtain a controller of practically acceptable dimensions. In this project, low order controller design is sought for a flexible space structure whose mathematical model is not known a priori.

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Sreeram, Victor , ProfCo-supervisors: Zulfiqar, Umair, Dr

Fast Circuit Simulation via Model ReductionDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: Good mathematical background especially linear algebra

The circuit simulation of large-scale integrated circuits is a challenge because the computational resources are limited despite significant advancement in the past few decades. Model order reduction techniques are used to reduce the memory demand which aims to yield a lower order model which accurately estimates the original system. However, the essential properties of circuits like stability, passivity, and contractivity must be preserved in the reduced model to avoid the non-physical behavior. In this project, fast and accurate simulation of large-scale integrated circuits will be accomplished using model reduction algorithms.

Sreeram, Victor , ProfCo-supervisors: Kharrazi, Ali, Mr

Optimal Sizing of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in MicrogridDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: Power System Analysis, Power Electronics, Microgrid and Optimization technique knowledge

A Microgrid is a small scale power system that consists of distributed generation sources; linked in an intelligent communication and control system to supply power to distributed loads. It can operate autonomously to be part of the main grid or switch to be islanded depending on its type and operation scenarios. With such complicated operation requirements, microgrids’ control in general is designed to optimize their operation by maximising their efficiency and reliability.

Operation control in microgrids including constraint dispatch/unit-commitment, ancillary services (spinning reserve, load following and reactive support) planning, can be formulated as a mixed linear integer problem, and can be solved using linear/non-linear solvers.

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) can be a key player in optimising the operation of microgrids due to its ability to perform multi-operational functions e.g. demand management, power quality control, backup power and energy trading.

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Due their high installation cost, finding their right size is an essential part of the planning and design of microgrids’ development. Integrating BESS within the unit-commitment problem in microgrids requires complicated decision making algorithms and can formulate another optimization problem. The objective of this problem is reducing operation cost at minimum BESS size.

This project investigate the art of using optimization techniques in operating microgrids, and using BESS to reduce their operation cost. It will also cover the BESS sizing options and highlight the role of intelligence in reducing their size and maximising their utilisation.

Stanwix, Paul, DrCo-supervisors: May, Eric, Prof

Microwave Cavities for Phase Behaviour SensingDisciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:Accurate knowledge of the phase behavior of fluid mixtures is crucial for the design and operation of gas processing and transport systems. This project aims to develop innovative fluid sensing technology using high-precision microwave cavities, which will be capable of accurately investigating the behavior of fluid mixtures near their phase boundaries. This technology will be used to generate reference-quality data, necessary for development and validation of equations-of-state, and to understand the underlying mechanisms involved in phase transitions. Students working on this project will contribute to the design and modelling of microwave cavities, measurement of fluid mixture phase boundaries and phase fractions, and development of automated measurement and data analysis systems.

Stanwix, Paul, DrCo-supervisors: May, Eric, Prof; Al Ghafri, Saif, Dr

Measuring sound speed in low Global Warming Potential refrigerantsDisciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:The growing need for low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants has motivated the study of numerous 4th-generation refrigerants for which there is a dearth of thermophysical data. This project will involve measuring the speed of sound in low GWP refrigerants using a recently

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constructed ultra-sonic pulse-echo experiment, developing analysis tools, and deriving further properties such as density and specific heat capacity.

Stanwix, Paul, Dr

Developing New Approaches to Skin DiagnosticsDisciplines: Chemical, Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills:Whilst clinical scanners have revolutionised patient outcomes with high-resolution imaging, there are many conditions for which it is either too expensive or doesn't provide the required sensitivity. Skin disorders, for example, are often confined to a small region extending only a few millimetres below the surface, for which a whole-body scan would be excessive and inconvenient for the patient.This project will look at applying compact single-sided Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and simple Dielectric Measurements to the profiling of skin and assessing its viability as a diagnostic and monitoring tool. Please contact me if you would like to learn more about the project and how you can be involved.

Stanwix, Paul, Dr

Signal enhancement for low-field NMR sensingDisciplines: Chemical, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Oil & GasPrerequisite skills:Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LFNMR) is an attractive technique for the development of sensors to monitor environmental and chemical engineering processes as it is cheap, compact, and portable. It suffers, however, from the small signal associated with operating at low magnetic field. This project will implement strategies to improve the signal to noise of LFNMR through signal enhancement techniques and control systems to reduce sensitivity to environmental variations. The intended application will the development of a signal enhancement module for multi-phase flow metering. Students will be involved in developing hardware, performing experiments and optimising analysis of the results. Please contact me if you would like to learn more about the project and how you can be involved.

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Stanwix, Paul, Dr

Diamond sensors for investigating chemical processesDisciplines: Chemical, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:This project will explore the application of diamond based sensors to the study of processes that occur at the micro-scale, for example hydrate formation or gas adsorption in in porous media. Our understanding of and ability to model these processes would be greatly improved by the ability to perform direct measurements of pressure and temperature inside the pores, which requires sensors with resolution below 100 nm. Diamond is a promising platform for development of such a sensor as it is sensitive to a wide range of parameters, even at the nano-scale, and can withstand harsh environments. Students on this project may be involved in the development of laser-based experiments to probe diamond material, software development, and data analysis. Please contact me if you would like to learn more about the project and how you can be involved.

Sunderland, Andrew, DrCo-supervisors: Ju, Li, A/Prof

Airborne Gravity Gradiometer suspensionDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Experience making, modelling or designing mechanical systemsAirborne Gravity Gradiometers flying 100m above the ground are used for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration. These gradiometers are affected by aircraft motion and engine noise. We are looking for Physics and Engineering students to help develop a new suspension system and acoustic shield for the Falcon airborne gravity gradiometer which will reduce the noise. This project will involve a lot of experimental work with shakers, novel materials and field testing.

Tavner, Angus, DrCo-supervisors:

UWA Motorsport Projects

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Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills:The UWA Motorsport team have commenced work on the design of an electric race car for 2018. These projects are intended to support this design and construction, and to develop technology for the team's use. Students applying for these projects are expected to be (or become) active and engaged members of the UWAM team. A detailed list of project topics will be provided to interested applicants.

Tavner, Angus, DrCo-supervisors:

Fire TestingDisciplines: Civil, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, MechatronicPrerequisite skills:There are various methods available to repair steel infrastructure using composite materials, however the repairs need additional protection in the event of a fire. Recent student projects have developed a test rig for fire testing materials to AS1530, and it can also be used for hydrocarbon pool-fire testing. These projects will involve refining the apparatus and testing various materials in different conditions.

Tavner, Angus, Dr

Testing of adhesive bondsDisciplines: Chemical, Civil, Materials, Mechanical, MechatronicPrerequisite skills:Repairing infrastructure using adhesive joints is cheaper and safer than welding, but the quality and durability of the adhesive bond is more difficult to predict. These projects will carry on work by recent students looking at different adhesives, surface preparation and priming, tolerance of surface contamination, and durability.

Togneri, Roberto, Professor

Defending against the Imposters: Spoofing and CountermeasuresDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Software

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Prerequisite skills: MATLAB or Python Programming, Signal ProcessingVoice authentication is an important tool in the cyber security arsenal when dealing with authenticating access to personal data using biometric voice. Speaker verification technology has matured but so have the spoofing methods which rely on sophisticated speech synthesis methods or simple replay attacks (as they do in the movies). In this project you will work with one of the PhD research students on the design of a simple spoofing attack and investigation of the countermeasures based on detection of anomalies in the speech spectrum representation or recording system transfer function. Want to know more: ASVspoof2017 Challenge , Literature Survey

Togneri, Roberto, Professor

Who are you listening to? Audio Source SeparationDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: MATLAB programming, signal processingRemember the last party you went to and how noisy it was with so many people speaking? And yet you were able to understand what the person next to you was saying. Welcome to the world of source separation! Your microphonic ears receive a mixture of speech signals and yet by clever use of the statistical distribution of the speech and spatial separation using both ears (binaural hearing) you can eliminate the interference and get the clear speech. Sounds easy? Working with one of our PhD research students or on your own find out by researching what blind source separation is all about and explore with your own simulations. Want to know more: SiSEC2016 Challenge , BSS Lecture Notes

Togneri, Roberto, ProfessorNo Noise please: Speech EnhancementDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic Prerequisite skills: MATLAB Programming, Signal ProcessingYou have a single recording of speech which has been degraded by background noises both distorting the speech and making it hard to understand. Criminal forensic investigators face this problem every day. In this project you will investigate the approaches based on manipulating the spectrum to remove the noise and interference, from spectral subtraction to Wiener filtering. Of course if you are up to the challenge you can consider more sophisticated machine learning approaches. This is a fun but

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http://www-lisic.univ-littoral.fr/~puigt/LectureNotes/Intro_BSS/Lecture_BSS.pdf

https://sisec.inria.fr/sisec-2016/

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2014.10.005

http://www.asvspoof.org/

challenging project where you get to play out sounds and hear for yourself whether you have succeeded or not. Want to know more: Speech Enhancement Bible , Easy Research Paper , Patented Technique , Importance of Phase

Togneri, Roberto, ProfessorDid you just say that? Spoken Keyword SpottingDisciplines: Electrical & ElectronicPrerequisite skills: MATLAB or Python Programming, Signal ProcessingSpeech recognition has become an important means to interact with smart devices like your TV and phone. But in data analytics and cyber security it is necessary to listen to many hours of recordings and detect and classify key words (“explode”, “bomb”, etc.) or command sequences (“over and out”, “roger that”, etc.) of interest. In this quite challenging project you will investigate advanced statistical estimation and detection methods applied to audio signals and spectra based on the idea of query-by-example (which does not require a messy speech recognition engine). Want to know more: Gaussian Posteriorgrams , Dynamic Time Warping .

Wan, Zhijian, DrCo-supervisors: Mr Zhezi (Zeno) Zhang and Professor Dongke Zhang

Spent tyre pyrolysis liquid: speciation, desulphurization, distillation, recovery of valuable chemicals and synthetic fuelsDisciplines: Chemical, Materials, MechanicalThe disposal of biomass and industrial wastes, such as forestry by-products, agriculture residue, municipal wastes, spent tyre, represents a major environmental issue throughout the world. Pyrolysis is a simple, robust, and scalable approach for simultaneous production of gas, liquid and char. The raw pyrolysis liquid needs to be upgraded, due to presence of impurities, such as water, particulates and sulphur, before further process and utilisation. This project will investigate the sulphur-containing species in the spent tyre pyrolysis oil and screen the methods for the sulphur removal.Sub-project 1: Oxidation desulphurisationThe objective of this sub-project is to investigate the sulphur removal efficiency using oxidation desulphurisation method. The effect of oxidation agents, temperature and time on the sulphur removal efficiency will be studied. The changes in the species and amount of the sulphur-bearing

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https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6855122/



https://patents.google.com/patent/US9031834B2/en

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2016.06.032

https://www.crcpress.com/Speech-Enhancement-Theory-and-Practice-Second-Edition/Loizou/p/book/9781138075573

https://www.crcpress.com/Speech-Enhancement-Theory-and-Practice-Second-Edition/Loizou/p/book/9781138075573

compounds before and after the removal will be identified using advanced analytical techniques including GC, GC-MS, ICP-AES.Sub-project 2: Adsorption desulphurisationThe objective of this sub-project is to investigate the sulphur removal efficiency using adsorption desulphurisation method. Adsorbents including activated carbon, biochar, alumina, silica, molecular sieves will be tested. The effect of adsorbent loading ratio and operation time on the sulphur removal efficiency will be studied. The changes in the species and amount of the sulphur-bearing compounds before and after the removal will be identified using advanced analytical techniques including GC, GC-MS, ICP-AES.Sub-project 3: Extraction desulphurisationThe objective of this sub-project is to investigate the sulphur removal efficiency using extraction desulphurisation method. Solvents depending on their polarity will have different affinity to sulphur containing species. The effect of different solvents, such as ionic liquids, dimethyl formamide (DMF), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on the sulphur removal efficiency will be studied. The changes in thespecies and amount of the sulphur-bearing compounds before and after the removal will be identified using advanced analytical techniques including GC, GC-MS, ICP-AES.Sub-project 4: fuel upgradingThe objective of this sub-project is to upgrade the spent tyre pyrolysis retort liquid suitable to be used as fuel. The presence of organic acids and N-containing species (amines) incurs great instability to the pyrolysis retort liquid, hindering its use as a fuel. The transformation of the organic acids into esters and amines into surfactants will greatly mitigate/eliminate their impacts on the oil stability. The formed surfactants can also serve as oil stabiliser. Methanol will be used for organic acids conversion to esters. Halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons will be used for amines conversion to surfactants. The stability of the oil before and after the treatment will be studied by accelerated ageing and the changes in the acids and amines before and after the treatment will be identified using GC and GC-MS.

While, Lyndon, DrEngineering Optimisation through Machine Learning and Intelligent Search TechniquesDisciplines: All disciplinesPrerequisite skills: programming ability in Python, Java, C, or similar languageMany engineering problems involve optimising complex scenarios that are not amenable to simple analysis. Examples are common in logistics and scheduling, in design, and in operational settings. In this project you will

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apply modern computational methods to analyse an engineering problem of your choice with the aim of developing human-competitive solutions.

Confidence in constructing computer programs involving advanced algorithms and data structures is a requirement, either from scratch or using libraries and tools available on the web.

Wittek, Adam, Prof.Towards Realistic and Robust Surgical Simulations: Meshless Algorithms of Computational Biomechanics for Predicting Organ (Brain) Deformations Due To Needle InsertionDisciplines: Civil, Electrical & Electronic, MechatronicPrerequisite skills: Excellent knowledge of numerical methods and solid mechanics, some knowledge of and experience in computer programming, willingness to engage in challenging tasks and move beyond the boundaries of own disciplineSurgical tool placement/insertion in the body organs (such as e.g. needle insertion when conducting biopsy) is a challenging task that requires to account for changes in the surgical target position caused by organ deformation due to interactions between a surgical tool and the tissue. One may attempt to track a surgical target (e.g. tumour) and tool using medical imaging. However, intraoperative 3D imaging (magnetic resonance imaging MRI, computed tomography, ultrasound US) for surgical tracking is limited using the equipment in standard operating theatres. Predicting the intraoperative organ/tissue deformations using the methods of computational biomechanics can augment the currently used imaging techniques for surgical tracking. Possible applications include computer integrated surgery (CIS) systems and control systems for surgical robots — integration of computing and robotics has been recognised as one of the key elements of “the wave of third industrial revolution” (a term used in the article in “The Economist” from October 4th, 2014). This project focuses on evaluation of meshless algorithms of computational biomechanics (that use computational grids in a form of a “cloud” of points) for predicting deformations within the brain undergoing surgery (needle insertion) and forces acting on surgical tools (needle) against the previously conducted (in cooperation between UWA Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory ISML and Surgical Assist Technology Group from AIST in Tsukuba, Japan) experiments using swine brain specimens. It may involve conducting and analysis of computational biomechanics simulations using meshless and finite element methods of computational biomechanics, analysis of previously conducted experiments using swine

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brain specimens (this will include image analysis/processing), and conducting experiments using the mechanical brain phantom (made from silicone gel). The project will be conducted as a part of collaboration between the Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory at the University of Western Australia and Robotics Design Laboratory at the University of Queensland.

Wittek, Adam, Prof.Beyond Finite Elements in Surgical Simulation: Verification of Meshless Algorithms of Computational BiomechanicsDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Excellent knowledge of Numerical Methods and Solid Mechanics, willingness to engage in challenging tasks, some knowledge of and experience in computer programmingIt has been recognised that computational biomechanics models and surgical simulation my assist surgical training, surgical planning and surgical navigation through prediction of organ deformations during surgery and forces acting on surgical tools.Computational biomechanics and surgical simulation have been dominated by finite element analysis that utilises computational grids in a form of interconnected mesh or finite elements. There are two key challenges/obstacles preventing real world (clinical) application of the models relying on such grids:1) Construction of finite element meshes to accurately represent an organ of a given patient tends to be time consuming and typically requires involvement of an experienced analysts. This is incompatible with clinical workflow (hospitals are unlikely to hire PhDs in computational mechanics to build computational biomechanics models and conduct the simulations);2) Accuracy of the finite element solution tends to deteriorate when finite element meshes undergo distortion due to large local deformations and “fragmentation”/cracks induced by surgical procedures (including insertion of surgical tools).Meshless algorithms that utilise computational grids in a form of a “cloud” of points have been proposed to overcome these challenges. The purpose of this project is to verify a suite of meshless algorithms of computational biomechanics created at the Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory at the University of Western Australia. The project may involve development of meshless algorithms of computational biomechanics.

Xiao, Gongkui, Dr.Co-supervisors: Arami Niya, Arash, Dr.; Graham, Brendan, Dr.

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Advanced Gas SeparationsDisciplines: Chemical, Materials, Oil & Gas, Petroleum, SoftwarePrerequisite skills:Application of adsorption based gas separation processes in natural gas purification and carbon capture can be a good alternative for the current conventional energy intensive thermal separation processes. By development of new adsorbents and optimization of the process, non-thermal separations such as the adsorptive gas separation can offer enormous energy savings and environmental benefits. The capture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen from natural gases are two areas that could potentially present such savings and benefits. Carbon dioxide capture, whether from natural gas streams or from flue gases, is an important and increasing area of research with significant implications for our economy and environment. N2 capture from natural gas is increasingly important in the development of LNG projects where this component is energetically parasitic. These projects will look at the use of novel materials and processes for improved carbon dioxide and nitrogen separation efficiency that use solid adsorbents, including carbons, zeolites and metal organic frameworks (MOFs). Students working on these projects will help in synthesis, development and testing the separation performance of new adsorbents, and /or use the results of such experiments to develop advanced separation processes via physical adsorption process experiments or numerical models. Projects will also be available in which various literature reported adsorbents for carbon dioxide and nitrogen capture are critically analysed and screened by our numerical models, such that promising materials and processes could be advanced to industrial scale applications.

Zhang, Dongke, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Mr Zhezi (Zeno) Zhang; Mr Jorge E. Preciado Hernandez

Preparation of activation carbon from solid residue of spent tyre pyrolysisDisciplines: Chemical, , Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:The disposal of biomass and industrial wastes, such as forestry by-products, agriculture residue, municipal wastes, spent tyre, represents a major environmental issue throughout the world. Pyrolysis is a simple, robust, and scalable approach for simultaneous production of gas, liquid and solid residue. Pyrolysis solid residue has a high potential to be upgraded into various high value carbon materials (activated carbon, carbon black, metallurgical reductant, soil conditioner etc.), this project will focus on the upgrading of the spent tyre pyrolytic solid residue for activated carbon production.

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Sub-project 1: activation using CO2/N2 mixture as the activation agentThe objective of this sub-project is to produce activated carbon form the solid residue of spent tyre pyrolysis using CO2/N2 mixture. Activation experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor. The effect of activation temperature, particle size, activation time and molar ratio of steam to N2 on the product yield, physical and chemical properties of the activated carbon products will be investigated. The physical and chemical properties will include: BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution, particle size distribution, reactivity, mineral form and content and surface functional groups.Sub-project 2: activation using steam/N2 mixture as the activation agentThe objective of this sub-project is to produce activated carbon form the solid residue of spent tyre pyrolysis using steam/N2 mixture. Activation experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor. The effect of activation temperature, particle size, activation time and molar ratio of steam to N2 on the product yield, physical and chemical properties of the activated carbon products will be investigated. The physical and chemical properties will include: BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution, particle size distribution, reactivity, mineral form and content and surface functional groups.Sub-project 3: activation using CO2/steam/N2 mixture as the activation agentThe objective of this sub-project is to produce activated carbon form the solid residue of spent tyre pyrolysis using CO2/steam/N2 mixture. Activation experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor. The effect of activation temperature, particle size, activation time and molar ratio of CO2 to steam on the product yield, physical and chemical properties of the activated carbon products will beinvestigated. The physical and chemical properties will include: BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution, particle size distribution, reactivity, mineral form and content and surface functional groups.Sub-project 4: activation using alternating CO2/steam/N2 mixture as the activation agentThe objective of this sub-project is to produce activated carbon form the solid residue of spent tyre pyrolysis using alternating CO2/steam/N2 mixture. Activation experiments will be conducted in a fixed-bed reactor. The alternating CO2/steam/N2 mixture activation experiments will start with CO2/N2 activation for a period of time, followed by steam/N2 activation for a period time and the combinations of the two activation agents thereafter. The effect of activation temperature, particle size, and activation time on the product yield, physical and chemical properties of the activated carbon products will be investigated. The physical and chemical properties will include: BET surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution, particle size distribution, reactivity, mineral form and content and surface functional groups.

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Zhang, Dongke, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Dr Mingming Zhu and Mr Zhezi (Zeno) Zhang

NH3 as a clean transport fuelDisciplines: Chemical, , Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:In a carbon-constrained world, there are two strategies for de-carbonisation of transport: (1) electrification and (2) carbon-free alternative fuels. In the concept of “hydrogen economy”, hydrogen is considered as the ultimate carbon-free fuel and energy carrier for both transport and electric power applications. However, the fact that pure hydrogen does not exist naturally and has a low volumetric energy density, even in the liquid form under cryogenic conditions, means that hydrogen is faced with immense technical, economical and infrastructure challenges before it can play a major role in powering transportation. It appears that hydrogen would require a suitable carrier. With its high content of hydrogen per unit of mass or volume, ammonia (NH3) is an excellent H2 carrier for easy storage, transport and distribution of hydrogen. In fact, NH3 itself is a carbon-free liquid fuel that can be used in internal combustion (IC) engines. As a fuel for combustion in IC engines, it suffers from high ignition energy, narrow flammability limits, low flame temperature, low burning rate, and potentially high NOx emissions. It has been found that a small amount of H2 addition can promote combustion of NH3. The required H2 can be obtained directly by partially dissociating NH3 in-situ to produce an NH3/H2 mixture before injection into the engine cylinders. This project is designed to study the effect of H2 on the basic ignition and combustion characteristics and NOx formation and destruction of NH3.Sub-project 1: Effect of H2 on flame speed of NH3The objective of this sub-topic is to study the effect of H2 on the flame speed of NH3. The experiments will be conducted using a Bunsen burner with a Schlieren system. The effect of equivalence ratio, initial H2 concentrations in the mixtures, and initial temperature on the flame speed will be studied.Sub-project 2: Effect of H2 on flammability and minimum ignition energy of NH3The objective of this sub-topic is to study the effect of H2 on the flammability and minimum ignition energy of NH3. The experiments will be conducted using the Hartmann bomb system. The effect of equivalence ratio, initial H2 concentrations in the mixtures, and initial temperature on the flame speed will be studied.Sub-project 3: Effect of H2 on NOx formation and destructionThis sub-project is aimed to study the effect of H2 on NOx formation and destruction in NH3 combustion. The experiments will be conducted using a flat flame burner. The concentration of NOx of premixed NH3/air and NH3/H2/N2/air flames will be quantified using a NOx analyser. The effect of

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equivalence ratios, initial H2 concentration in the mixtures, and initial temperature will be studied.Sub-project 4: Kinetic modelling of ignition and combustion and NOx formation of NH3/H2/NOx/N2/O2 mixturesThis sub-project is designed to investigate the ignition and combustion characteristics of NH3 and effect of H2 and NOx as combustion promoters using kinetic modelling to understand chemistry and reaction mechanisms. The student is expected to (1) conduct a detailed literature review on the combustion characteristics of NH3, NOx formation and reaction mechanisms of NH3/H2/N2/NOx; (2) study the effect of H2 and NOx on the laminar flame speed, ignition delay times, flame temperature and NOx emission as a function of initial temperature, equivalence ratio, H2 or NOx ratio in the fuel mixtures through kinetic modelling using commercial software Chemkin Pro. The data will be validated against the experimental results.

Zhang, Dongke, ProfessorCo-supervisors: Dr Mingming Zhu and Mr Chiemeka Onyeka Okoye

Manufacturing of carbon black by partial combustion of heavy fraction of spent tyre pyrolysis liquidDisciplines: Chemical, , Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:The disposal of biomass and industrial wastes, such as forestry by-products, agriculture residue, municipal wastes, spent tyre, represents a major environmental issue throughout the world. Pyrolysis is a simple, robust, and scalable approach for simultaneous production of gas, liquid and char. After desulphurisation and extraction of high value chemicals, the remaining heavy residue of the pyrolysis liquid still contains a high amount of PAHs, a great source material for carbon black production. This project will focus on the manufacturing of carbon black by partial oxidation of the heavy liquid residue.Sub-project 1: effect of temperature on the yield of carbon blackThe objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of temperature on the yield and properties of carbon black produced. The experiments will be conducted using a laboratory scale burner simulating industrial carbon back manufacturing process. The burner will burn pyrolysis gas with air to provide high temperature flame. The heavy pyrolysis liquid fraction will be injected into the burner and pass through the high temperature flame to make carbon black. The carbon black will be produced at various flame temperatures and then characterised for its physical and chemical properties. In this sub-project, the yield of carbon black will be evaluated and the carbon black will be characterised for proximate and ultimate analysis and BET surface areas.

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Sub-project 2: effect of temperature on the properties of carbon blackThe objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of temperature on the yield and properties of carbon black produced. The experiments will be conducted using a laboratory scale burner simulating industrial carbon back manufacturing process. The burner will burn pyrolysis gas with air to provide high temperature flame. The heavy pyrolysis liquid fraction will be injected into the burner and pass through the high temperature to make carbon black. The carbon black will be produced at various flame temperatures and then characterised for its physical and chemical properties. In this sub-project, the carbon black will be characterised for its pH value, loss on heating and particle size distribution.Sub-project 3: effect of residence time on the yield of carbon blackThe objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of temperature on the yield and properties of carbon black produced. The experiments will be conducted using a laboratory scale burner simulating industrial carbon back manufacturing process. The burner will burn pyrolysis gas with air to provide high temperature flame. The heavy pyrolysis liquid fraction will be injected into the flue gases with the high temperature to make carbon black. The carbon black will be produced with various residence times by varying the gas velocity and then characterised for its physical and chemical properties. In this sub-project, the yield of carbon black will be evaluated and the carbon black will be characterised for its proximate and ultimate analysis and BET surface areas.Sub-project 4: effect of residence time on the properties of carbon blackThe objective of this sub-project is to experimentally study the effect of temperature on the yield and properties of carbon black produced. The experiments will be conducted using a laboratory scale burner simulating industrial carbon back manufacturing process. The burner will burn natural gas with air to provide high temperature flue gas. The heavy pyrolysis liquid fraction will be injected to locations in the high temperature to make carbon black. The carbon black will be produced with various residence times by varying the gas velocity and then characterised for its physical and chemical properties. In this sub-project, the carbon black will be characterised for its pH value, loss on heating and particle size distribution.

Zhao, Chunnong, Prof.Control and Data acquisition System (CDS) for 80-meter suspended optical cavitiesDisciplines: Electrical & Electronic, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: Previous experience in Linux system and signal processing would be helpful.

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The ARC centre of excellence for gravitational wave discovery (OzGrav), UWA node is in the process of upgrading its distributed control and data acquisition system for Gingin high optical power facility . The project involves the setup and integration of software and hardware necessary to measure and control vibration isolators. The system can be set up and integrated at UWA campus.

Zhou, Tongming, ProfessorCo-supervisors:

Vortex shedding from multiple cylinders at low and high Reynolds numbersDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Fluid mechanics/HydraulicsVortex shedding is a phenomenon which occurs when a flow passes a bluff body. The shedding process can induce time dependent drag and lift forces on the structure. When cylindrical structures are arranged in a group, such as the risers in offshore oil and gas industry, skyscrapers and offshore wind farms, vortex shedding characteristics may be influenced by the separation between these structures. In this project, experiments in a wind tunnel will be conducted to investigate the dependence of vortex shedding frequency on cylinder gap ratio and on the number of cylinders. Hot-wire techniques will be used to detect the vortex shedding frequency and flow visualization using smoke wire technique to be used to visualize the vortex flow structures. These results will then be compared with those reported in the literature. One student will focus on Reynolds number of 1000 and the other will focus on Re=180.


Suppression of vortex shedding and vortex-induced vibration of a cylindrical pipeDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Fluid mechanics/HydraulicsVortex shedding is a phenomenon occurs when a flow passes a bluff body. The shedding process can induce vibration of the structure, which, at resonance, can result in excessive motion and possible structural failure. In this project, vortex shedding and vortex-induced vibration will be controlled using passive methods by attaching elements prepared with a

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3D printer and/or by inserting a pipe filled with water inside the larger one to simulate multiphase flow inside an oil riser. The experiments will be conducted in a wind tunnel and/or water flume using Particle image velocimetry after the control is used and the results can then be compared with that of a bare pipe.


Suppression of vortex shedding and vortex-induced vibration of a cylindrical pipe using soft marine growthDisciplines: Civil, MechanicalPrerequisite skills: Fluid mechanics/HydraulicsVortex shedding is a phenomenon which occurs when a flow passes a bluff body. The shedding process can induce vibration (which is normally termed as vortex-induced vibration, or VIV), which, at resonance, can result in excessive motion and possible structural failure. Marine growth, such as mussels, will develop on offshore pipelines and risers over some time of operation in the sea. The growth may change the hydrodynamic and VIV characteristics of the marine structures. In the present project, hard marine growth, which can be simulated using artificial materials, will be attached to the circular cylinders and tested both in the wind tunnel and water flume for VIV and force characteristics. Particle image velocimetry will be used to examine the wake features after the control is used and the results can then be compared with that of a bare pipe.

Zhao, Wenhua, DrCo-supervisors: Draper, Scott, Dr

Hydrodynamics of a new offshore concept - subsea shuttleDisciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mining, Oil & Gas, SoftwarePrerequisite skills: good knowledge on hydrodynamics or good skill in field testingA new concept has been developed, which is used to deliver chemical products from sea surface to sea bed. The concept will significantly save the cost of conveying chemical products to the subsea structures, compared to conventional methods.

This project involves both numerical simulations and field testing in the Swan river. This project require knowledge in fluid mechanics, offshore

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hydrodynamics. This project may also involve communications with colleagues from industry, as we will receive a lot of input from them as well.

Zhu, Mingming, DrCo-supervisors: Mr Yusron Sugiarto and Professor Dongke Zhang

Two-Phase anaerobic digestionDisciplines: Chemical, , Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:Two-phase anaerobic digestion (TPAD) is expected to produce hydrogen-enriched biogas, which has higher quality and more ideal combustion properties than biogas produced from conventional single-phase anaerobic digestion. Biochar addition in single phase anaerobic digestion has been proven to enhance the methane production by 32%. However, the effect of biochar addition on TPAD has never been explored. This project will investigate the effect of biochar addition on TPAD under different operational conditions. This project will also investigate biogas cleaning using biochar.Sub-project 1: The effect of biochar on the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal from biogas using bench scale and pilot scale biogas cleaning unitThe aim of the sub-project is to use biochar to remove H2S in biogas. The experiments will be conducted using both bench scale column reactor and pilot scale biogas cleaning unit. The gas composition will be measured using gas chromatography and the efficiency of H2S removal will be calculated. The effect of type of biochar, particle size and addition ratio of biochar and gas retention time on H2S removal efficiency will be determined. The profile of biochar before and after experimentation will be examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Sub-project 2: The effect of biochar on ammonia (NH3) removal from biogas using bench scale and pilot scale biogas cleaning unitThe aim of the sub-project is to use biochar to remove NH3 in biogas. The experiments will be conducted using both bench scale column reactor and pilot scale biogas cleaning unit. The gas composition will be measured using gas chromatography and the efficiency of NH3 removal will be calculated. The effect of type of biochar, particle size and addition ratio of biochar and gas retention time on NH3 removal efficiency will be determined. The profile of biochar before and after experimentation will be examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Sub-project 3: Commission and operation of a laboratory reactor to produce hydrogen and methane from food waste

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The aim of the sub-project is to commission and evaluate the performance of a laboratory scale semi-continuous reactors simulating TPAD process. The system consists of a hydrogen-producing reactorand a methane-producing reactor. The system will be commissioned to realise biogas production (H2 production in the first reactor and CH4 production in the second reactor). The gas volume and compositions will be measured daily using volumetric gas gauge and GC, respectively. Volatile fatty acid (VFA) and pH changing will also be monitored periodically.Sub- project 4: Commission and operation of TPAD process demonstration unit (PDU) to produce hydrogen and methane from food wasteThe aim of this sub-project is to commission the TPAD PDU in the Centre for Energy. The PDU consists of a hydrogen-producing reactor (volume: 150 l) and a methane-producing reactor (500 l). The TPAD PDU will be commissioned to realise continuous biogas production (H2 production in the first reactor and CH4 production in the second reactor). The gas volume and compositions will be measured daily using volumetric gas gauge and GC, respectively. Volatile fatty acid (VFA) and pH changing will also be monitored periodically.

Zhu, Mingming, DrCo-supervisors: Mr Zhezi (Zeno) Zhang and Professor Dongke Zhang

Homogenous combustion catalysts in diesel enginesDisciplines: Chemical, , Materials, MechanicalPrerequisite skills:This project is designed to systematically investigate the effect of a homogenous combustion catalyst, known as Fuel Performance Catalyst (FPC) manufactured by Fuel Technology Ltd Pty., on the fuel efficiency and emissions of a diesel engine fuelled with diesel and biodiesel fuels. The catalyst will be dosed into diesel or biodiesel and play a catalytic role during combustion process in diesel engines to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The experiments will be conducted using the fully instrumented diesel engine system available at the Centre for Energy. The effect of FPC dosing ratio and engine operation conditions on the fuel efficiency improvement and emission reductions will be quantified.Sub-project 1: Effect of FPC on fuel efficiency of a diesel engine fuelled with diesel fuelsThe objective of this sub-topic is to study the effect of FPC on the fuel efficiency of a diesel engine. Caltex diesel, BP diesel and BP ultimate diesel will be tested. The effect of FPC dosing ratio, engine load and speed on the fuel efficiency will be studied.

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Sub-project 2: Effect of FPC on Particulate Matter (PM) emission of a diesel engine fuelled with diesel fuelsIn this sub-topic, the effect of FPC on PM will be investigated. Caltex diesel, BP diesel and BP ultimate diesel will be tested. PM emission will be measured by monitoring the smoke opacity of the exhaust with a Bosch RTM 430 infrared opacimeter. The effect of FPC dosing ratio, engine load and speed on the smoke will be studied. Sub-project 3: Effect of FPC on exhaust gas emissions of a diesel engine fuelled with diesel fuelsThis sub-project is aimed to study the effect of FPC on exhaust gas emission including unburned hydrocarbons, CO, CO2 and NOx. Caltex diesel, BP diesel and BP ultimate diesel will be tested. The gas emissions will be measured using a NOx analyser. The effect of FPC dosing ratio, engine load and speed on the gas emission will be studied.Sub-project 4: Effect of FPC on fuel efficiency and emissions of a diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel fuelIn this sub-project, the effect of FPC on the efficiency and emissions of a diesel engine fuelled with a biodiesel fuel will be examined. The palm oil based biodiesel provided by Wilmar International will be used in this study. The effect of FPC dosing ratio, engine load and speed on the fuel efficiency, exhaust emissions will be systematically studied.

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