Bachelor of Engineering & Master of Professional Engineering - Final Year Project Descriptions

See details at:http://revproject.com/vehicles/jetski.php Braunl, Thomas, Prof Boeing, Adrian, Dr Autonomous Driving Systems Pre-requisite skills: Good programming skills in C or C++ Disc

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ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Bachelor of Engineering & Master of

Professional Engineering Final Year Project Descriptions

Semester 2, 2017

To find a project description, search (Ctrl + F) using the Supervisorssurname The project title and description are listed below eachAcademic’s name Please ensure that the project is applicable to your

discipline

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Aman, Zach, Assoc/Prof

May, Eric, Prof

Johns, Mike, Prof

Stanwix, Paul, Dr

Graham, Brendan, Dr

Flow Assurance and Natural Gas Hydrates

Disciplines: Chemical, Mechanical, Oil & Gas

Natural gas hydrates are ice-like solids that form and can often suddenlystop the flow during oil and gas production The cost of their preventionduring design and production is high and the removal of hydrate plugs isexpensive and dangerous Today hydrates are still a major flow assuranceconcern especially as production moves to deeper water, and many ofAustralia’s major new gas field developments are considering innovativeapproaches to this long-standing problem These projects aim to providethe knowledge needed for a risk-based approach to hydrate management

by establishing quantitative model to assess plugging potential, optimizeinhibitor doses, and develop methods to detect hydrate formation andlocation The outcomes will help reduce chemical use by the industry,provide better methods to locate plugs and provide safer methods for theirremediation, ultimately allowing for the reliable and economicdevelopment of marginal oil and gas fields Students working on theseprojects will measure and/or model hydrate formation, agglomeration anddissociation processes Naturally-occurring gas hydrates also represent atremendous energy reserve: in 2013, first production was reported from anaturally occurring hydrate reserve located offshore the coast of Japan.Projects will also be available in which various properties of these naturalhydrates are quantified, such that more informed decisions regards theexploitation of natural hydrates can be made

An, Hongwei, Dr

Hydrodynamic force on a inline cylinder group

Pre-requisite skills:

Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical

A group of inline cylinders is often seen in offshore strictures The flow fieldaround the cylinder group involves a wide range of interesting flowmechanics features A series of physical model tests will be conductedusing the O-tube facility to measure the hydrodynamic force and flowvelocity on the cylinder The force coefficients and vortex sheddingfrequency will be examined

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This project gives students an opportunity to access to multi-awardswinning research facility (the O-tube) and to gain experience on researchabout hydrodynamics of offshore structures.

Antoszewski, Jarek, A/Prof

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Software.

Microelectronics Research Group (MRG) has been established in 1975 andtoday has about 35 research personnel including academics, researchersand postgraduate students The main focus of the group is R&D in the field

of Infrared based (IR) optoelectronics carried out in collaboration with anumber of leading university and industry based Australian and oversees(USA, Europe, China) research institutions MRG provides top classresearch and experience environment for students, with all facilitiesneeded for the full cycle of optoelectronic device design (computersimulators), growth/deposition of semiconductor, metal, and dielectricmaterials (Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Plasma Enhanced Chemical VaporDeposition, E-beam), full device processing (class 1000 clean room, sub-micron lithography), and characterization (x-ray, SEM, FTIR, I-V, C-V,advanced Hall effect, and many more)

This project is related to the semiconductor material growth process withthe aim to design and implement a PC based software interface allowingfor synchronization of the data acquisition from existing IR ellipsometer(measuring substrate surface quality) with the substrate rotation duringthe growth process The software interface will include two modules: first,for control of existing substrate rotation hardware, and the second forinterfacing/synchronization with ellipsometer software The project willrequire collaboration with original hardware and software manufacturers aswell as efficient team work with other researchers from MRG It will provideopportunity for gaining experience in the design and development of thereal, fully functional (not a prototype), user friendly software module

Antoszewski, Jarek, A/Prof

Gu, Renjie, Dr

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Software interface for automatic characterization

of photodetector arrays

Pre-requisite skills: Solid background in electronic hardware interfacing and

software design

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Software.

Microelectronics Research Group (MRG) has been established in 1975 andtoday has about 35 research personnel including academics, researchersand postgraduate students The main focus of the group is R&D in the field

of Infrared based (IR) optoelectronics carried out in collaboration with anumber of leading university and industry based Australian and oversees(USA, Europe, China) research institutions MRG provides top classresearch and experience environment for students, with all facilitiesneeded for the full cycle of optoelectronic device design (computersimulators), growth/deposition of semiconductor, metal, and dielectricmaterials (Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Plasma Enhanced Chemical VaporDeposition, E-beam), full device processing (class 1000 clean room, sub-micron lithography), and characterization (x-ray, SEM, FTIR, I-V, C-V,advanced Hall effect, and many more)

At MRG we are moving from fabrication of single PV photodetectors toarrays including up to one hundred of these devices Consequently, asystematic measurement of basic I-V characteristics becomes laboriousand time consuming if not automated Therefore, the aim of this project is

to design and implement a PC based software interface for existing dataacquisition hardware which will allow automatic I-V data collection from allconnected photodetectors and its analysis providing graphs showing basictrends like current density vs detector size, or statistical analysis providinginformation about uniformity between devices important for imaging arraysapplications The project will require collaboration with original hardwareand software manufacturers (mostly Agilent) as well as efficient team workwith future users of the system at MRG It will provide opportunity forgaining experience in the design and development of the real, fullyfunctional (not a prototype), user friendly software module

Aslani, Farhad, Dr

Liu, Yinong, Prof

Bakhtiari, Reza, Mr (PhD Student)

Superelastic SMA reinforced concrete beams

Disciplines: Civil, Mechanical

The use of superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) as a reinforcingmaterial in concrete structures is gradually gaining interest amongresearchers Because of SMAs’ different mechanical properties compared

to regular steel, use of SMA as reinforcement in concrete may change

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responses of structures under seismic and repeating loads The objective ofthis study is to investigate the structural performance of superelastic SMAreinforced concrete beams under repeating loads and to develop apreliminary understanding of these beams.

Gunawardena, Yas, Mr (PhD Student)

Behaviour of reinforced concrete bridge beam joints

Bridge beam joints or 'half-joints', which are located away from the bridgesupports , are typically used in pre-cast concrete bridge construction Thisproject proposes to investigate the behaviour of a unique reinforcedconcrete half-joint located on an in-service bridge, through anexperimental programme using scaled test specimens, which will be thefirst time the joint detail of interest will be investigated experimentally

Dight, Phil, Prof

Manca, Mirko, Mr (PhD Student)

Mechanical behaviour of fibre reinforcing

Pre-requisite skills:

Disciplines: Civil

There is little available in the literature about the mechanical behaviour ofsteel and poly macros fibres and their response to a simple pull-out test.Factors that would influence the behaviour include material specification,surface characteristics, fibre geometry, fibre strength and embedmentlength This project will examine these factors for a range of commerciallyavailable fibres The results will be compared with a simple model tocompare the outcome If the behaviours can be shown to be largelycontrolled by known factors, then the behaviour can be incorporated intobeam and slab design

Chakrabortty, Anup, Dr

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New types of self-compacting concrete (SCC)

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) can be placed and compacted under itsown weight with little or no compaction It is cohesive enough to behandled without segregation or bleeding Modifications in the mix design ofSCC may significantly influence the material’s mechanical properties.Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all the assumed hypothesesabout conventional concrete also hold true for SCC structures This project

is particularly examining the effect of fly ash, ground granulated furnace slag and micro silica content on strength and the durability of theconcrete

blast-Basarir, Hakan, Assoc/Prof

Karrech, Ali, Assoc/Prof

The analysis of stresses around advancing longwall face: A parametric study

Disciplines: Civil, Mining

Longwall mining is a widely used method in underground coal mines Theassessment of the stresses around the advancing longwall face is veryimportant not only for designing safe main and tail gate support systemsbut also for maintaining the overall stability of underground coal panel.Traditionally empirical and semi empirical methods are used for theprediction of stresses (Whitttaker and Singh 1979; Hudson, 1993; Wilson,1983) But such methods are restricted by simplifying assumptions (Basarir

et al., 2014)

The purpose of this project is to analyze the effect of different parameterssuch as coal seam thickness, inclination, production sequences on stressdistribution around longwall panel For this purpose 2D and/or 3D finiteelement (FE) method based software will be used The results of numericalmodeling will be analyzed in detail and the conclusions about the effect ofaforementioned parameters will be derived

Wilson, A 1983 The stability of underground workings in the soft rocks ofthe coal Int J Min Eng ; 1:91-187

Whittaker, B., Singh, R 1979 Design and stability of pillars in longwallmining Min Eng; 139:59-70

Hudson, JA (ed) 1993 Comprehensive Rock Engineering Oxford:Pergamon Press

Basarir, H., Oge, I F., Aydin, O., 2015 Prediction of the stresses aroundmain and tail gates during top coal caving by 3D numerical analysis.International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 76, 88-97

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Basarir, Hakan, Assoc/Prof

Hsieh, Ariel, Dr

Use of different techniques for evaluating the damage during uniaxial compressive strength testDisciplines: Civil, Mining

One of the most interesting discussions regarding the conventionallaboratory rock material testing is the determination of damage level oronset failure during uniaxial compressive strength test So far differentresearchers used different techniques and sensors such as volumetricstrain, acoustic emission, for this purpose (Asadi et al., 2013; Chen et al.,2016) The aim of this thesis is to analyze the possibility of improvement of

a method combining different techniques for damage evaluation or onsetfailure A series of laboratory tests will be conducted on different rocksamples (or concrete samples) using variety of sensors Using the testresults different modeling techniques will be applied for the development

of the models to be used for damage evaluation

Asadi, M., Bagheripour, MH., Eftekhari, M., 2013 Development of optimalfuzzy models for predicting the strength of intact rocks Computers andgeotechnics, 54, 107-112

Chen, W., Konietzky, H., Tan, X., Frühwirt, T., 2016 Pre-failure damageanalysis for brittle rocks under triaxial compression Computers andgeotechnics, 74, 45-55

Basarir, Hakan, Assoc/Prof

Elchalakani, Mohamed, Dr

Production of high early strength, sustainable concrete for underground mining applications

Disciplines: Civil, Mining

Underground mines in Australia continue to go deeper to access viable orebodies This results in increased mining costs and safety concerns becauserock instability becomes more likely as mining depths increase One of thesolutions for the issues is the production of early strength gainingsustainable concrete to be used for different mining applications i.e.backfilling applications, bulkhead construction In this thesis differentconcrete samples will be prepared using alternative cement replacementmaterials i.e mine tailings, fly ash, slag The necessary quality assurancetest will be conducted on prepared samples Using the results of the

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experiments the models will be constructed for the prediction of thestrength of concrete depending on the content and curing time.

Beemer, Ryan, Dr

Chow, Shiao Huey, Dr

Probabilistic Analysis of Soil Testing

The main focus of this research is to understand the variability in soilstrength tests What is the likelihood that measured strength of soil ishigher tor lower than average? These statistics are needed for probabilisticdesign of geotechnical structures, but statistics for many soils are notreadily available to practicing engineers We are specifically interested inthe variability of Direct Shear and Direct Simple Shear experiments whentesting fine sands This will involve repetitive testing of identical soilsamples to measure its variability Of specific interest are the statistics ofsamples with different dry densities, vertical effective stresses, and grainsize This is a continuation of research from a previous final year studentwho studied the statistics of coarse sand

It has been a longstanding mystery how galaxies formed over the past13.8 billion years history of the Universe In this project, we try tounderstand the details of galaxy formation processes using computersimulations and deep learning Recently, deep neural networks have beenused in a variety of artificial intelligent tasks such as: image/speechrecognition We will be applying the latest advance of this technology

Bennamoun, Mohammed, Winthrop Professor

Dwivedi, Girish, Wesfarmers Chair in Cardiology Rybicki, Frank, Professor of Cardiology (University of Ottawa, Canada)

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A deep-learning-based approach for noninvasive computation of coronary fractional flow reserve (FFR) from computed tomography

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic and Software

A deep-learning-based approach for noninvasive computation of coronaryfractional flow reserve (FFR) from computed tomography of heart imageswill be developed The deep-learning model will be trained on a largedatabase of synthetic vessel trees, followed by verification and validationagainst an existing physics-based model, as well as invasivemeasurements

Dwivedi, Girish, Wesfarmers Chair in Cardiology

Diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (heart attack) with deep learning

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a serious and patients typically presentwith chest pain Electrocardiography (ECG) and laboratory tests are used indiagnosis The aim of the study will be to diagnose ACS and help thephysicians with the decision making i.e when to discharge or to hospitalizeusing machine learning techniques by using patient data including age,sex, risk factors, and cardiac enzymes (CK-MB, Troponin I) of patientspresenting to emergency department with chest pain

Detection of nonobstructive and obstructive coronary arterial lesions from computed tomography angiography by machine learning.Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic and Software

Visual identification of coronary arterial lesion from three-dimensional coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) remains challenging

We aimed to develop a robust automated algorithm for computer detection

of coronary artery lesions by machine learning techniques

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Prediction of risk factors of atherosclerosis using machine learning techniques

In this project we aim to develop machine learning techniques forpredicting the risk factors of atherosclerosis based on a longitudinal study

of patients taking part in the Busselton cohort of WA

Blair, David, Winthrop Professor

Ju, Li, Professor

Zhao, Chunnong, Professor

Research in vibration isolation for gravitational wave detectors

Pre-requisite skills: Practical skills, understanding of basic concepts of

resonance and vibration Interest in physics and black holes Helpful to have experience in finite element modelling and Mathematica or Matlab.

Disciplines: Mechanical

The first successful detection of gravitational waves recently gavehumanity the opportunity to listen to gravitational sounds from across theuniverse Detectors are masterworks of optical and mechanical engineeringbut there is enormous opportunity for improvements

These projects relate to one of the key technologies: vibration isolation.They involve testing of new concepts in vibration isolation based on Eulersprings Some of the project work could involve visits to UWA's GinginGravity Precinct The projects are part of the research for the Centre ofExcellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery

Braunl, Thomas, Prof

Boeing, Adrian, Dr

Electric Jetski

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic.

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Our electric jetski has made some waves at the end of last year when itwas first demonstrated to the public For 2017, we are looking at a number

of additions and improvements to make the system more useable androbust

Goals:

- Implementation of Battery Management System

- Development of Integrated Safety System

- Weight shifting for performance tuning

- Performance modelling, measurement and evaluation

This project will include numerous test drives with the completed jetski tocollect data for your theses See details at:http://revproject.com/vehicles/jetski.php

Boeing, Adrian, Dr

Autonomous Driving Systems

Pre-requisite skills: Good programming skills in C or C++

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.

We are currently operating two autonomous vehicles, a donated BMW X5and a student-built Formula SAE-Electric vehicle Both vehicles alreadyinclude the low-level drive-by-wire technology and are equipped withseveral sensor systems, including GPS, camera, Ibeo Lux lidar (laserscanner), Xsens IMU (inertial measurement unit) and wheel encoders

We further have the latest automotive control hardware in form of anNvidia Jetson TX1 board that will be used for fast real-time sensorprocessing and deep learning algorithms

Goals:

- Autonomous navigation on UWA-internal roads and on external racetrack

- Sensor fusion of GPS, Lidar, inertial measurement system, odometry

- Path planning and collision avoidance

- Vision sub-system for road and vehicle detection using OpenCVhttp://opencv.org

- Exploring of deep-learning systems such as Caffehttp://caffe.berkeleyvision.org

-Braunl, Thomas, Prof

Croft, Chris, Mr

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Drones / Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software.

Drones are a new technology area with almost unlimited application areasfrom mining to agriculture, from architecture to logistics In this project

we want students to develop autonomous control and guidance softwarefor an advanced hexacopter system We are using an open source Pixhawkcontroller in combination with a Raspberry Pi-3 for implementing practicalapplication systems for the drone See: https://pixhawk.org

Goals:

- Autonomous mapping of specified 2D area (e.g crop surveying)

- Autonomous mapping of presented 3D object

- Sensor fusion between GPS, inertial measurement unit, laser distancemeasurement

-Braunl, Thomas, Prof

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV)

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic, Software.

We have two autonomous submarine systems, Mako and USAL Both AUVshave a Raspberry-3 as controller, vision, distance sensors, IMU (inertialmeasurement unit), etc

Goals:

- Implementation of area surveying application for autonomous AUV

- Implementation of autonomous navigation in and mapping algorithms(SLAM) in unknown environment

- Adaptation of AUV simulation system for our AUV models

See details at: http://robotics.ee.uwa.edu.au/auv/

Embedded Robotics

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic, Software.

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We are using a more advanced version of the lab-robots you know fromEmbedded Systems These are based on a Raspberry-3 controller, usingvision, PSD distance sensors and a colour display For this project we arelooking at the development of several practical robot applications in thefollowing areas:

- Autonomous navigation and path planning software in a mazeenvironment

- Establishment of Robotics image processing library for visualnavigation

- Intelligent learning systems for driving robots

- Integration of new robot features in the EyeSim simulation systemSee details at: http://robotics.ee.uwa.edu.au/eyebot7/Robios7.html

Bräunl, Thomas, Prof

Fourie, Andy, Prof

Arthur, Dan, Adj Assoc Prof (BHP Billiton)

Mine Truck Electrification

Disciplines: Chemical, Electrical, Environmental, Mechanical, Mechatronic,

Mining, Oil & Gas, Petroleum, Software

Electrification of mining vehicles is inevitable Since 2010, UWA's 'REVProject' has been converting vehicles from fossil fuel to electric drive(http://therevproject.com/) The team selected for this project will workwith senior engineers from BHP Billiton's Global Technology team to designthe next REV project, the Electric Mining Truck As with all REV projects,the Electric Mine Truck project will provide a unique opportunity to learnand develop multi-disciplinary teamwork plus innovative, design,leadership, management, marketing, finance and practical skills

Burrel Andrew, Senior Technician

Kennywell John, Ass Prof

Coward David, Ass Prof

Remote internet power switch for a robotic observatory

Pre-requisite skills: electronics and some software

Disciplines: Electrical, Mechatronic

The Zadko Telescope is a sophisticated research intensive robotictelescope operating remotely and with minimal human intervention Projectwill develop a secure web based power switch that can turn on/off the

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Zadko computers, PLC etc The system must be able to turn devices on/off

in a programmable sequence via the internet

Burrel Andrew, Senior Technician

Kennywell John, Ass Prof

Coward David, Ass Prof

Electronic temperature controlled cooler for a CCD camera

Disciplines: Electrical, Mechatronic

The Zadko Telecope uses a very sensitive CCD camera for imaging Theproject will design and build an external electronic temperature controlledcooler for the camera Must be light weight and encapsulates the camera

to prevent moisture and dirt ingress, ie no fans

Cardell-Oliver, Rachel, Assoc/Prof

Virtual Sensing for Infrastructure Monitoring

Prerequisite skills: Programming (e.g R or Python or Java), data structures and

algorithms, interest in smart buildings and sustainable building practices

Disciplines: Electrical, Environmental, Mechatronic and Software

Virtual sensing is a technique in which sensor readings in a sensor network are estimated some of the time instead of taking direct measurements Virtual sensing conserves energy on the sensor nodes, and it can be used for recovering missing data due to node or network failure, and for estimating values where permanent sensor installation is in-feasible The main challenge is to reduce the costs of a sensor deployment (purchase, installation, maintenance) while maintaining accurate estimation over a long time frame.

This project will investigate virtual sensing using data sets including a UWA rammed-earth building-monitoring sensor network with over 100 heterogeneous, noisy sensors from different suppliers.

Summer research scholarships will be offered for this project subject to good performance during the first project semester

Recommended reading:

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Smart meter Analytics to Pinpoint Opportunities for Reducing Household Water Use

The aim of this project is to investigate the hydrodynamic forces onpipelines laid on rocky seabed The effect of bed topography and porosity

on hydrodynamic forces will be investigated through conducting a number

of physical tests in the world unique O-tube testing facilities located atUWA and a wave flume located at Dalian University of Technology in China.The flow conditions examined include (1) steady currents, (2) waves and(3) combined waves and steady currents Overseas travel scholarships will

be provided for successful applicants of this project

Chow, Shiao Huey, Dr

Beemer, Ryan, Dr

Orszaghova, Jana, Dr & Wolgamot, Hugh, Dr

Mooring of wave energy devices using plate anchors

Disciplines: Civil, Oil & Gas

Would you like to participate in the Woodside FutureLab RiverLab working

on an innovative engineering solutions? This RiverLab project will pulltogether a multi-disciplinary team to study the response of plate anchors inmooring wave energy devices This project is particularly relevant tomeeting Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET), with UWA located atthe western coastline of Australia, which has one of the highest wavepower levels in the world

The development of offshore renewable energy, particularly wave energy,has taken off slowly due to technical and economic challenges One criticalchallenge is to produce a reliable and cost effective anchoring system toanchor the floating energy device to the seabed A solution could be the

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plate anchors The performance of plate anchors relies on its embedmentdepth, which is dictated by the installation process, hence it is crucial to beable to predict the trajectory of the anchor during installation Onceinstalled, it is imperative to be able to predict the capacity of the anchorwhen subject to the environmental (wind, wave etc.) loading

This project will utilise the Swan River as a model wave basin by modellingthe installation process of the anchor, and investigate the response of plateanchor as a complete system moored to a model floating device in theSwan River Rather than require construction of a scaled wave energydevice, the project will construct a resonating system which mimics theresponse of such a device The project will require a team of three studentsworking together on the following multi-disciplinary scopes:

• Project 1: Design and response of the resonant floating oscillator andits mooring system (supervised by Jana Orszaghova, Hugh Wolgamot)

The student will carry out a desk study to identify suitable test sites in theSwan River based on hydrodynamic considerations, design of the resonator(to match expected wave conditions) and its mooring system (taut mooringline with suitable restoring force) He/she will then be involved thedeployment and field monitoring of the performance of the system

• Project 2: Installation of plate anchors (supervised by Ryan Beemer)The student will study the installation process of the plate anchor in theSwan River sediment He/she will design and implement theinstrumentation scheme that would monitor the anchor trajectory duringinstallation

• Project 3: Mooring load on plate anchors (supervised by ShiaohueyChow, Hugh Wolgamot)

The student will work closely with the partner in Project 1 in identifying thetest site, focussing on the geotechnical consideration He/she will focus oninvestigating the required size of the anchor based on the capacity whensubjected to the environmental loading

Interested students are encouraged to contact Dr Jana Orszaghova(jana.orszaghova@uwa.edu.au), Dr Hugh Wolgamot(hugh.wolgamot@uwa.edu.au), Dr Ryan Beemer(ryan.beemer@uwa.edu.au) or Dr Shiaohuey Chow(shiaohuey.chow@uwa.edu.au) for more information More details aboutthe Woodside FutureLab RiverLab program can be found here:http://www.oceans.uwa.edu.au/collaborations/woodside-futurelab/riverlab

Chua, Hui Tong, Prof

High flux bright light synthesis of valuable nanomaterials

Disciplines: Chemical

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This project makes use of a first-of-its-kind high flux bright light facility tosynthesise valuable nanomaterials For example, we aim to synthesiseMoS2 and WS2 nanoparticles from their naturally occuring MoS2 and WS2materials The former materials have phenomenal applications in engineand medical applications They are mainly used as advanced lubricants inthose applications, but are also very promising as materials forsupercapacitors as well.

We will also work on synthesising graphene from graphite particles, whichhas great applications in batteries, supercapacitors and membranes, aswell as boron nitride nanoparticles from boron nitride

This project will be conducted in collaboration with colleagues at the BenGurion University of the Negev, Israel and the Taiyuan University ofTechnology, China

Industrial waste heat distillation, desalination, bauxite residue remediation

Disciplines: Chemical, Mechanical

This topic will have 2 sub-topics

1 Reconcentrating spent liquor using waste heat from an alumina refinery

- 4 students Students will get to build and operate an actual pilot plant incollaboration with South32 and making use of actual spent liquor.Students need to travel to Worsley Alumina and Rockingham, Murdoch Unicampus for the actual test Students will also get to be trained to thesafety standard of South32 - a fantastic project for prepare for a career.Chemical engineering students are required

2 Bauxite residue remediation - using centrifuge to dewater miningresidue, an exciting technology - 1 student This project is to be co-supervised by Prof Andy Fourie of Civil Engineering We are lookingforward to investigate the prospect of substituting the traditionalimpoundment method as practiced by the industry A mechanical/civilengineering student is good for this project

Catalytic cracking of methane for graphitic carbons and hydrogen

Disciplines: Chemical

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This is an ongoing project with the UWA ASX-listed spin-off company, HazerGroup, to focus on producing graphene by cracking methane There will betwo aspects to this project One is to work on fine-tuning the catalyticprocess to get consistent and good yield, another is to work on purifyingthe as-cracked carbons in favour of graphene and other carbonmorphologies.

The Hazer technology has been spun off from UWA lab and is now worth

$20mil

Geothermal energy applications

Disciplines: Chemical, Mechanical

1 Modelling and Controlling geothermal swimming pool - this is an ongoingtopic to work with the local councils on managing geothermal swimmingpools and specifically the Beatty Park Leisure Centre The student needs tophysically visit the Beatty Park Leisure Centre or other swimming pools tocollect pool data - 1 student This project has the potential of informing thedesign/consulting sector in terms of the proper sizing of the heatingcapacity of swimming pools, which has a huge ramification in terms of theadoption of renewable energy

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

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small amplitude well conductor motions (Jeanjean 2009 OTC 20158).Previous work at UWA has shown that the p-y stiffness of a pile in soft soilcan change significantly with time Changes to the p-y stiffness over timenot only affects the local curvature of the riser but also the fatigue hot spotlocation, both of which have a strong influence on the overall fatigue life This project will involve conducting numerical simulations to assess theimpact of changing soil stiffness on well conductor fatigue.

Doherty, James, Dr

Performance of infrastructure on soft soils

Pre-requisite skills: Geotechnical engineering

Using in-situ, laboratory and large scale field trial embankment data, thisproject will investigate the accuracy of numerical models for forecastingcreep and consolidation settlement

Doherty, James, Dr

Lehane, Barry, Prof

Back analysis of driven piles in sand

Pre-requisite skills: Geotechnical engineering

This project will involve back analysis of piles driving into sand using threedifferent methods, and subsequently tested under vertical and horizontalloads The aim is to determine the influence of installation method onvertical and lateral pile behaviour

Draper, Scott, Dr

Measuring Surface Waves in the Swan River

Pre-requisite skills: Preferably GENG 5501 (completed or taken concurrently) Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Mechanical

This project will involve measurement and analysis of surface waves in theSwan River One project will measure waves at several locations andcompare these measurements with existing numerical model predictions.Comparison will be undertaken on the wave statistics and kinematics Thesecond project will measure wind near the water surface coincidently with

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the surface waves The short term interactions between the wind andwaves will then be explored.

Both projects will build towards a better understanding of surface waves inthe Swan River This will be useful for the Woodside-UWA RiverLab project(www.bit.ly/riverlab), which aims to use the river as a giant wave basin totest floating structures

Durham, Richard, Prof

Industry topic based on your vacation work

Disciplines: Mining

During your vacation work, you should ask your employer if they have anytopic(s) suitable for your thesis Ask them at the beginning, and then againtowards 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 typeanalysis), but once we've agreed on the scope and objectives it's all fine.Usually up to 50% of mining students get industry based thesis topics likethis They tend to be single student projects, but a multi-student topic can

be considered

Electric Vehicles Underground (two student project)

“The use of electric vehicles in underground mining has many advantageswhen compared with the typical diesel vehicles Primarily the removal ofcarcinogenic fumes A thesis by Hewitson (2015) provided an economiccomparison, based a single underground gold mine He summarised thefuture work as:

- a more detailed understanding of the ventilation requirements Detailedventilation simulation that accounts for the mine design and air flowcharacteristics should be conducted

- Refinement of the input data, such as clarifying the rimpull curves,production capacity and maintenance costs of electric vehicles should also

be investigated

- Further development of electric solutions is also encouraged Batterytechnology is rapidly advancing, meaning that larger more economicallycompetitive machinery could be on the horizon

- Bucket capacity is the key downfall of electric loaders in this study, and

so a focus on producing a large battery operated LHD is suggested

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- Finally, it is recommended that this work be applied to existing operations

to identify suitable targets for electric fleets This can increase the rate ofuptake, and research into electric fleets offering social, environmental andfinancial benefits

UWA's School of Population Health has done some research in the healthissues associated with diesel fumes and mine workers, and there might bescope to liaise with the researchers there.”

Price prediction (single student project)

A key issue with most mine planning is the prediction of the commodityprice Companies specialise in predicting these, but are they really anybetter than taking the current price, or a simple rolling mean? A backanalysis of past performance is required

3D stereo-nets (single student project)

The classical stereo-net used in rock mechanics is a projection of a sphere(either equal angle or equal area) onto a 2D piece of paper, similar to themanner in which maps represent the earth’s surface This is a necessaryinaccuracy caused by the absence of the ability to view the data in its true3D However, nowadays with 3D software, it should be possible toreproduce all the mathematics of stereo-nets in a true 3D environment.Datamine software has had the ability to display rock mechanics data in a3D display for 20 years, but without the necessary analysis tools

Pre-requisite skills: CIVL4403 "Structural concrete"

Disciplines: Civil, Materials

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The use of Glass Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) reinforcement as analternative to steel for use in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures hasdeveloped significantly in recent years GFRP’s excellent corrosionresistance, high tensile-strength-to-weight ratio, nonmagnetic,nonconductive make it an excellent solution for projects requiringimproved corrosion resistance or reduced maintenance costs Despite anumber of recent studies illustrating the effective use of GFRP rebars aslongitudinal reinforcement for concrete compression members, the currentinternational design codes such as ACI 440.1R-15 (2015), CAN/CSA S806(2012), TR55 (2012), ISO 10406-1 (2015), and FIB (2007) do notrecommend including GFRP reinforcement in the compression membercapacity calculations

Recent Experimental research at UWA showed that GFRP RC columns aremore ductile under their steel RC column counterparts This project is afurther step to compare the behaviour and design of such columns underdynamic loading

In this research project, laboratory tests will be conducted on RC slabs andbeams reinforced under lateral impact

Experiments to Repair Corroded Steel RC Columns Using GFRP Bars

Pre-requisite skills: CIVL4403 "Structural concrete"

Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mining, Oil & Gas,

Petroleum

Deteriorating concrete infrastructure is costing the Australian economymillions of dollars every year The use of Glass Fibre-Reinforced Polymer(GFRP) reinforcement as an alternative to repair steel Reinforced Concrete(RC) structures has developed significantly in recent years GFRP’sexcellent corrosion resistance, high tensile-strength-to-weight ratio,nonmagnetic, nonconductive make it an excellent solution for projectsrequiring improved corrosion resistance or reduced maintenance costs.Despite a number of recent studies illustrating the effective use of GFRPrebars as longitudinal reinforcement for concrete compression members,the current international design codes such as ACI 440.1R-15 (2015), CAN/CSA S806 (2012), TR55 (2012), ISO 10406-1 (2015), and FIB (2007) do notrecommend including GFRP reinforcement in the compression membercapacity calculations

Recent Experimental research at UWA showed that GFRP RC columns aremore ductile under their steel RC column counterparts This project is afurther step to compare the behaviour and design of repaired columnsunder static loading

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Impact Tests for Rubberised and Geopolymer Concrete Material and Columns

Disciplines: Civil, Environmental, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Oil

& Gas, Petroleum

The use of Glass Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) reinforcement as analternative to steel for use in Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures hasdeveloped significantly in recent years GFRP’s excellent corrosionresistance, high tensile-strength-to-weight ratio, nonmagnetic,nonconductive make it an excellent solution for projects requiringimproved corrosion resistance or reduced maintenance costs Despite anumber of recent studies illustrating the effective use of GFRP rebars aslongitudinal reinforcement for concrete compression members, the currentinternational design codes such as ACI 440.1R-15 (2015), CAN/CSA S806(2012), TR55 (2012), ISO 10406-1 (2015), and FIB (2007) do notrecommend including GFRP reinforcement in the compression membercapacity calculations

Recent Experimental research at UWA showed that GFRP RC columns aremore ductile under their steel RC column counterparts This project is afurther step to compare the behaviour and design of such columns underdynamic loading

In this research project, laboratory tests will be conducted on RC cylindersand columns reinforced with GFRP bars and with and without carbon fibrewrapping under lateral impact

Faiello, Cosimo, Assoc/Prof

Sustainability applied to project management & engineering practice

Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Electrical & Electronic, Environmental, Materials,

Mechatronic, Mining, Oil & Gas and Petroleum

This topic will introduce students to the field of project management andengineering 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 aproject A sustainable approach to project management and engineeringpractice is recognised globally by many organizations, as being vital toachieving their strategic objectives By researching this topic students will

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learn how to apply theoretical concepts and frameworks to ‘real worldprojects’ in order to achieve sustainable outcomes using a TBL strategy.

Fourie, Andy, Prof

Integrating remote monitoring of tailings storage facilities with on-site measurements

Pre-requisite skills: Bachelor of Engineering Science

Disciplines: Civil, Electrical, Environmental, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining,

Software

Virtually every year there is one or more failure(s) of tailings storagefacilities (TSFs) somewhere in the world In November 2015 the SamarcoTSF in Brazil failed, a failure that cost at least 17 lives and is expected tocost in excess of $5 billion when costs are finally tallied Since then, therehave been at least 3 other failures worldwide To prevent future failures ofthis type requires vastly improved monitoring techniques A previous FinalYear project investigated the use of drones and satellites to monitor water

on a TSF This project will build on the outcomes of the previous project,using the drone that was acquired for field use It will also implementprocedures to link the data from the drone (and perhaps satellites) with in-situ instrumentation such as piezometers and settlement measurements,providing a real-time option for monitoring and managing a tailings facility

French, Tim, Dr

Hassan, Ghulam Mubashar, Dr.

Reynolds, Mark, Prof

Autonomous Transport Model

Pre-requisite skills: Programming and basic electronics

Disciplines: Electrical, Mechatronic, Software

The aim of this project is to design and build a table top model that cansupport investigations of autonomous vehicle networks The model willconsist of bluetooth controlled vehicles, raspberry pi microcomputers, adata projector and a machine vision camera This is a complex large scaleproject, but the first phase will focus on building a basic control loop thatcan detect the location of different vehicles, and based on this pass drivinginstructions onto those vehicles Later phases and projects will involvemodelling observability and implementing traffic routing algorithms

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Fridjonsson, Einar, Dr

Metaxas, Peter, Dr

Johns, Michael, Prof

Development of bench-top cancer detection technologies

Pre-requisite skills: NB: this project DOES NOT require biomedical experience Disciplines: Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical

The intended outcome of this project is to pave routes towards thedevelopment of sophisticated technologies for rapid and economicaldiagnosis and monitoring of cancer Benefiting from links with medicalscientists, the project will focus on the testing and development of bench-top NMR techniques and novel magnetic sensor devices for detectingcancer bio-markers via magnetic "tags" (functionalised nanoparticles)

Fridjonsson, Einar, Dr

Industrial and Oilfield Water Management

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 (formation) water which needs to be discharged back into

the sea We are currently developing technologies to both monitor ppm

oil contamination of this discharge water such that it is compliant with

environmental legislation, as well as the use of novel NMR-based

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 NMR based clamp-on monitoring technology, as well as, process modelling and optimisation

Project are also 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, and the effective separation of frequently

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encountered and troublesome water-in-crude oil emulsions into their constituent

parts

Gong, Peijun, Research Associate

Sampson, Danuta, Research Associate at LEI

Sampson, David, Prof

OBEL: Methods for non-invasive optical imaging

of blood vessels

Pre-requisite skills: Materials, mechanical systems or mechatronics, OR signal

processing and computer programming OR both

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Computer, Materials, Mechanical, Software.

In OBEL, we have been working on the development of non-invasive opticalimaging of blood vessels in humans – which is important in skin scarringand healing, diabetes, and in retinal diseases This project will involve thedesign and manufacturing of an imaging phantom to mimic the blood flow

in biological tissue, capturing images, and improving data analysistechniques to segment the blood vessels As a step toward clinicalapplications, the effectiveness of the data analysis techniques on humanclinical 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 thisproject

Gong, Peijun, Research Associate

Sampson, David, Professor

OBEL: Pushing imaging into the UV

Pre-requisite skills: Interest in optics (but no prior knowledge expected),

instrumentation or experimental systems and good hands-on skills

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Computer, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Software

UV and narrow band visible light provide exciting opportunities to buildcontemporary endoscopes and microscopes that may make cancer morereadily detectable This project will investigate optical engineering ofinstruments that have a fundamentally new take on the age old problem ofcontrast Build your own UV or narrow-band microscope or endoscope andput it to work

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Graham, Brendan, Dr

Natural Biopolymers for Corrosion and Scale Control in Subsea Pipelines

Corrosion is an ever present problem in subsea pipelines, especially where water and carbon dioxide can react to form corrosive acids Traditional mitigation procedures involve injections of various industrial chemicals to control the corrosion and others to control scale formation where heavy ions, (Ca 2+ , Ba 2+ Sr 2+ ) precipitate on the pipe walls as carbonate salts and restrict the pipe flow These salts can also cause problems in surface production equipment This project is investigating the use of renewable natural biopolymers to control scale formation

in pipelines allowing for novel corrosion control systems to be employed This project is fully funded by Chevron and has already resulted in a patent being issued due to the successful initial experiments The project will involve a number

of different research areas to complete the overarching goal of optimising the use

of this biopolymer so it can be deployed in the field Research areas will involve (but not limited to), a) thermal stability, b) chemical characterisation, c) pipe flow studies, d) corrosion studies through Linear Polarisation Resistance Monitoring e) materials compatibility measurements, both structural materials and other associated injected chemicals This work is suitable for both Chemical and Mechanical engineers and does not involve hard chemical knowledge

Hassan, Ghulam Mubashar, Dr

MacNish, Cara, Prof

Optimization of cracks in deformation monitoringPre-requisite skills: Programming experience (including Matlab) required

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic, Software

Visual monitoring is important in a range of applications from security tomineral exploration to space exploration Structural health monitoring(SHM), which seeks to recognise very small changes in natural and man-made structures, is important for maintenance and disaster prevention

Traditional techniques for SHM assume a fixed sensor (camera, radar, etc)

In future, more flexible and comprehensive monitoring will be availableusing moving sensors (drones)

This project seeks to combine fine-grained image analysis techniquessuitable for fixed sensors with adaptive search techniques suitable forlarger scale movement, with a goal of observing small-scale changes from

a moving platform

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Hu, Pan, Dr

Bienen, Britta, Dr

Cassidy, Mark, Prof

Numerical modelling of jack-up foundation installation in subsoils

Disciplines: Civil, Mining, Oil & Gas

In offshore oil and gas fields, the majority of drillings in shallow water areperformed from self-elevating mobile jack-up rigs The soil beneath the rigfails as its foundation is loaded during preloading until equilibrium isachieved at the end of the preloading operation This project will carry outnumerical modelling to investigate the mechanism of the abovechallenging problems It provides opportunity of learning the softwareABAQUS, though the student familiar with it is preferred Please feel free tocontact Dr Pan Hu (pan.hu@uwa.edu.au) for more information

Hu, Yuxia, Prof

Leek, Colin, Mr (City of Canning)

Pavement Engineering

Pavement design can follow the design guidelines by Austroad However,some design aspects need to consider local conditions and climates Thereare three projects proposed for these aspects:

1 The effects of pavement age and rainfall on FWD (falling weightdeflectometer) data ( 1 student)

2 TMI map for metropolitan area of Perth (1 student)

3 Road trials using recycled concrete subbase and in situ bitumenemulsion stabilised limestone base (2 students)

Huang, David, Professor

Wireless network design for open-pit mines

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mining,

Mine site wireless communications with seamless coverage and Quality ofService guarantees are a key element to improving operational efficiency

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and employee safety of contemporary open pit mines The wirelesscommunication services provided by public telecom operators often cannotsatisfy (or can only partly satisfy) the needs of open-pit mines Forexample, the operations of open pit mines require more broadband uplinkwireless communications to support automated mining and remoteoperations As a result, mining companies often need to set up andmaintain their own private wireless networks.

The topography of a typical pit consists of benches and slopes withmineral-rich reflective surfaces, and its size and form can change quicklyduring the lifetime of the mine This makes the radio propagationconditions of open pit mining very different from typical commercialwireless communication systems On the other hand, quickly deployableportable wireless nodes (e.g a repeater or a portable base station) arecritical for providing wireless services to the mining industry, as they can

be used to quickly adapt to the change of a pit, extend the radio coverage,and cover black spots

By taking this project, you can choose the following research topics (butnot limited to):

 Algorithm design for iterative detection and channel estimation atthe repeater or base station

 Enhanced signal processing at the base station for uplinktransmission using turbo equalization

 3D radio propagation modeling for typical open pit mine structuresuch as benches and slopes

 Radio coverage analysis for different antennas over typical miningpits

 Data traffic modeling for typical devices employed in an open pitmine

 Developing analytical models for the deployment of various wirelessnetworks

 Modeling and analysis of capital and operating expense of variouswireless networks

Huang, David, Prof

Build Your Own Digital Communication System Using USRP

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Mechatronic

Can you imagine using a single gadget to produce and receive all thepossible radio signals (e.g., digital radio, TV signal, your mobile phonesignal, to mention a few)? The USRP (Universal Software Radio Peripheral),aided with a general purpose computer and the “software‐defined radio”

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technology, can achieve this task So using the USRP, you can easily buildyour own radio station Potentially, you can also use the box to eavesdropyour mates’ mobile phone conversation, though we do not recommend you

to do so Potential projects include but not limited to:

• Implement a digital radio receiver using USRP

• Implement a TV receiver using USRP

• Implement a digital communication system using USRP

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1502.01812.pdf

In this project, the student is expected to do a detailed literature review incrowded scene analysis and compare two state-of-art techniques usingsome standard benchmark datasets The student taking the project shouldhave good background in computer vision and machine learning As somethe project will involve programming codes, the student should also

have strong programming skills in Matlab/C/Python

Iu, Herbert, Prof

Fernando, Tyrone, Prof

South West Energy Experience (SWEE)

Pre-requisite skills: Matlab, knowledge of renewable energy

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic

The Shire of Manjimup are in the process of delivering the South WestEnergy Experience (SWEE) – a new entry statement building for the town ofManjimup including a Museum, Café and Visitor Servicing Centre Theprimary role of SWEE is to house the State’s energy collection, formerly inthe Western Power museum However the aim for this building is to not

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only display and interpret the history of energy but also showcase currentenergy developments and the future of energy The building has beendesigned and engineered to a 50% design completion level which includesall of the essential components for delivering the project (e.g.requirements for the museum, café etc.) but leaves room for theContractor (to be appointed this year) to deliver the project within budgetwhilst meeting the objectives During the 50% design completionmechanical and electrical engineering plans and specification weredeveloped (as well as others), which included a PV system to supplymajority (if not all) power required and features such as an EnergyMonitoring Display System that visitors can see as a component of theexhibition The detail of this engineering is minimal, and aimed to helpprogress the project to a Design and Construct Tender process

The aim is for the building to be ‘off-the-grid’ but bring connected to grid incase of failure or emergencies Therefore power generation that isequivalent to the buildings energy profile, inclusive of power storage

The Shire wish to engage final year students that are equipped to do a fulldesign review of the buildings designs and drawings, and providerecommendations for the buildings energy systems including fullspecification of recommended products The final product from thestudents is to be a practical solution for the Shire of Manjimup which can

be implemented, which means the design and products must be robust,within budget, easy and affordable to repair and replace and has ademonstrated long life cycle

The selected students are encouraged to work closely with the Shire ofManjimup’s project manager to ensure all design solution considerationsare suitable for the Shire’s needs and capacity

The aim of this partnership is to not only provide the most practical andinnovative solution for powering the South West Energy Experience butalso to show case the technological developments in the renewable energyindustry

May, Eric, Prof

Carbon Sequestration

Western Australia has several major offshore gas assets containingsignificant quantities of carbon dioxide Scenarios for dealing with this CO2must be developed before these gas fields can be developed One scenarioinvolves the re-injection of carbon dioxide produced from one reservoir intothe extremities of a different natural reservoir for the purpose of both CO2disposal and enhanced gas recovery However, such a strategy is onlyviable if the probability of breakthrough by the re-injected CO2 to theproducing wells is small Simulating reliably this novel reservoir production

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scenario requires an improvement in our fundamental understanding of thehydrodynamic behaviour of supercritical CO2 in heterogeneous gas andwater-saturated rock Research projects are available measuring thisbehaviour for its inclusion into relevant field simulations.

Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Oil & Gas

Internal waves are a ubiquitous feature of the Australia Northwest Shelf.They have a significant impact on the design of offshore infrastructure asthey often provide the strongest near-bed currents Furthermore, theycause vertical mixing and cross-shelf transport that delivers nutrients tosupport primary productivity This project will examine 2.5 y of existingfield observations to better characterize, understand and increasepredictability of internal waves

Jones, Nicole, Dr

Rayson, Matt, Dr

Riverlab-Swan River physical dynamics project

Pre-requisite skills: Desirable: Matlab skills (or equivalent); Strong interest in

fluid mechanics

Disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Environmental

The RiverLab – a collaboration between Woodside and The University ofWestern Australia – is a unique initiative aimed at developing innovations

in offshore engineering via research, education and outreach.http://www.oceans.uwa.edu.au/collaborations/woodside-futurelab/riverlabThis project will explore the physical dynamics of importance within theSwan River using existing and new field observations For example:

1) Salt fluxes in the Swan River- quantifying the movement of the fresh andmarine water in the estuary using new observations

2) Turbulent mixing in the Swan River- developing techniques to observeturbulence using new instrumentation

Ju, Li, Prof

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Blair, David, Winthrop Prof

Zhao, Chunnong, Prof

Suppression of ultrasonic acoustic modes in gravitational wave detectors

Pre-requisite skills: Some experience in finite element modelling and excellent

understanding of vibration and acoustics Practical skills of test instrument Other software such as Methematica and Matlab would be helpful.

Disciplines: Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronic

The first successful detection of gravitational waves recently gavehumanity the opportunity to listen to gravitational sounds from across theuniverse Detectors are masterworks of optical and mechanical engineeringbut there is enormous opportunity for improvements

These projects relate to the suppression of ultrasonic modes in massivemirror test masses They involve modelling and testing of resonantabsorbers that consist of small resonant structures with eddy currentenergy absorption The projects are part of the research for the Centre ofExcellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery

Karnowski, Karol, Research Fellow

Li, Qingyun, PhD Student

OBEL: Optical engineering of novel components for polarization

Pre-requisite skills: Interest in optics (but no prior knowledge expected),

mechanics, modelling in solid works and good hands-on skills

Disciplines: Electrical & Electronic, Materials, Mechanical

We developed advanced prototype of polarization sensitive imagingsystem providing additional contrast, promising for instance in cancerdiagnosis The aim of this project is to improve existing system byproviding novel optical solutions and/or reducing current system sizebringing this technique towards handheld, clinical applications Come andtalk to us about this project

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Analytical and Numerical modeling of steel structures with and without strengthening using CFRP

Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic, Mining, Oil & Gas

In this project, analytical and numerical models will be developed for

design presupposes for steel structures reinforced with CFRP Steel

structures all around the world including bridges, offshore platforms and mining infrastructure require retrofitting Conventional methods for

repairing and strengthening steel structures has generally always been to cut out and replace plating, or to attach additional external steel plates that are bulky, heavy, difficult to install and prone to corrosion and fatigue

In addition, welding or bolted connection repair works are not a favorable solution due to further fatigue issues, and extensive installation time

respectively The superior mechanical, fatigue, high strength to density ratio and in-service properties of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites make them excellent candidates for strengthening and

retrofitting of steel structures

Numerical Modellling of Single and Double Skin Columns filled with Rubberised Concrete

Disciplines: Civil, Materials, Mechanical, Oil & Gas

In Australian modern construction, concrete filled double skin steel tubularcolumns are becoming a popular method of construction particularly forhigh rise buildings Limited experimental tests showed that concrete fillingmay delay or fully prevent local buckling of the external steel tubes Themain factor affect the response is the diameter-to-thickness ratio of thesteel tubes and the strength of concrete The full range of D/t ratios wasnot tested Wide variations among the international design codes such asAS3600 to predict the strength of such columns This project will focus onthe use of the Finite Element method an an effective approach to providedesign models for such composite columns and to provide valuableinformation on their response The results will be recommended as a futureamendment for AS3600, the Australian Concrete Design Code

Tasker, Lee, Mr

Attar, Mostafa, Dr

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Comparing modeled strain changes of a concrete wall experiencing increasing load, with measured single-channel Ground Penetrating Radar data

Pre-requisite skills: Programming skills

Disciplines: Civil, Mining, Software

The objective is to observe if there are similarities in the modeled straindistribution of a concrete wall that is experiencing increasing load and themeasured amplitude response of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) datacollected during the loading of a wall with similar properties anddimensions

The theoretical 3D strain distribution of the concrete wall should bemodeled for an incrementally increasing point load The 3D model willrequire 2D visualisation (e.g slices) of strain distribution through themodeled wall, at specific depth intervals

The 2D strain-slices will be compared to previously measured 2D GPR dataamplitude distributions at the same depth intervals

GPR data can be provided to the student if they would like to visualise theGPR data with their own code

Tasker, Lee, Mr

Attar, Mostafa, Dr

Comparing modeled strain changes of a concrete wall experiencing increasing load, with measured 3D Multi-channel Ground Penetrating Radar dataDisciplines: Civil, Mining, Software

The objective is to observe if there are similarities in the modeled straindistribution of a concrete wall that is experiencing increasing load and themeasured amplitude response of 3D Multi-channel Ground PenetratingRadar (GPR) data collected during wall loading

The theoretical 3D strain distribution of the concrete wall should bemodeled for an incrementally increasing point load The 3D model willrequire 2D visualisation (e.g slices) of strain distribution through themodeled wall, at specific depth intervals

The 2D strain-slices will be compared to measured 2D GPR amplitudeslices, taken through the 3D data-set, at the same depth intervals

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The student can assist with designing and collection of engineering data forthe experiment (e.g measuring changes in strain etc.) The measuredengineering data can be used as input parameters for models created bythe student.

The student can also assist with the data acquisition of 3D Multi-channelGPR during the loading of the concrete wall

3D Multi-channel GPR data can be provided to the student if they wouldalso like to visualise GPR data with their own code

Keating, Adrian, Assoc/Prof

Putrino, Gino, Assoc/Prof

Sugar cube sized energy harvesting for trackingPre-requisite skills: Much of the work leverages electrical engineering, design

skills, instrumentation and data collection and analysis

Disciplines: Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronic

This project has significant industrial interest Students will considerenergy harvesting technologies, specifically to harvest the heat orvibration from a vehicle's engine We need to create extremely smallsensors than can be attached onto a vehicle allowing it to continuouslyreturn data All students working of this project will assist in the

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development of the basic energy harvesting circuit and associated systemare they are interconnected System integration will require connectingthe energy harvestor to a wireless radio, accelerometer and/or GPStransponder.

Keating, Adrian, Assoc/Prof

Parish, Gia, Prof

Materials made from thin air - porous film properties

Pre-requisite skills: Much of the work leverages electrical engineering,

instrumentation and data collection and analysis

Disciplines: Electrical, Materials, Mechanical, Mechatronic

This project investigates how the addition of nanometer sized pores in amateral can alter the mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties.Such "meta"-materials are useful in 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 technologyand it's applications Thermal characteristics is required a thermalimaging system to be developed and existing thermal characterization ofdevices is required Electrical characterization of noise in these micronthick films is also required based on preliminary results obtained

Kennywell John, Ass/Prof

Coward David, Ass/Prof

Howell Eric, ARC DECRA Fellow

Robotic telescope smart scheduling algorithmsPre-requisite skills: Python programming

Disciplines: Mechatronic, Software

The robotic Zadko Telescope will be used to develop and test algorithmsfor space debris tracking The algorithms will be used to test the sensitivity

of the CCD for imaging small Earth orbiting space debris In addition aparallel project will develop telescope scheduling software that is linked toalerts sent from NASA and LIGO

The software will be optimised and linked to a commercial robotictelescope software package The project will play an active role inunderstanding rare and unpredictable astronomical transient events

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Kim, Youngho, Research Assoc

Hossain, M Shazzad, Assoc/Prof

Investigation of Dynamically Installed Anchors (DIAs)

Pre-requisite skills: Basic knowledge of geotechnical engineering principles Disciplines: Civil, Oil & Gas

Dynamically Installed Anchors (DIAs) are a recent type of mooringtechnology that have been shown to provide a cost-effective alternative toother forms of anchoring system in deep water clayey sediments Theseanchors are released from a designated height above the seafloor, causingthe anchor to penetrate into the seabed by the kinetic energy obtainedthrough ‘free-fall’ and through the self-weight of the anchor

The project will investigate the behaviour of DIAs in clay at different impactvelocities and soil conditions using Finite Element Method (FEM) andtheoretical solutions

This project would be suitable for students interested in practicalapplications of geotechnical engineering, particularly when applied to thedeep sea developments

Kimiaei, Mehrdad, Ass/Prof.

Machine Learning Algorithms for Damage Detection of Fixed Offshore Platforms

Pre-requisite skills: Familiarity with basic dynamic analysis and offshore

engineering concepts (enrolled in CIVL5505 or already passed it) and structural / mechanical engineering background are necessary

Structural Health monitoring (SHM) is one of the most powerful and wellestablished tools for structural integrity management of civilinfrastructures It consists of continues, periodic or occasional dataacquisition from dynamic response of the structure through a sensornetwork and then post processing the data to detect possible structuraldamages Machine Learning (ML) is one of the techniques for statisticalmodelling to analyse the distribution of the extracted features MLAs haveshown high sensitivity and accuracy in damage detection of complexstructural systems

There are different established ML methodologies with wide range ofapplicability and classification performance in detecting damages Mainaim of this research, defined as a part of Woodside RiverLab project in

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UWA, is to investigate different ML algorithms for damage detection offixed offshore platforms which are always under time varyingenvironmental conditions It consists of experimental (monitoring and dataacquisition of a sample frame in the Swan river) and numerical works (postprocessing the data and then using ML algorithms)

This project is suitable for two final year, preferably MPE, civil/mechanicalengineering students who are interested in combination of experimentaland numerical works with main focus on dynamics of structural systemsand signal processing

Kostylev, Mikhail, Prof

Ivanov, Eugene, Prof

Microwave interferometric instrument for noise high-precision measurements of super-low levels of microwave absorption

low-Pre-requisite skills: knowledge of electronic engineering and/or computer

control

Disciplines: Electrical, Software

The microwave interferometric instrument recently developed at School ofPhysics @ UWA is able to perform unique low-noise measurements ofmicrowave power absorption of extremely low magnitude [1] Thisinstrument is largely used by Spintronics and Magnetisation DynamicsGroup (Kostylev) and Frequency Standards and Metrology Group (Ivanov)for their experimental activities

The goal of the proposed project is to bring the instrument closer tocommercialisation The students will design proper packaging for theinstrument, fabricate, and commission a prototype of the instrument in theform ready for commercialisation They will also test the fabricatedinstrument to determine its operational characteristics to be included intothe data sheet for it

Sub-projects for two students within this topic are anticipated One will beresponsible for hardware design and implementation The other one willwork on developing computer control for the instrument

[1] E N Ivanov and M Kostylev, ArXiv1402.3459 (2014)

Lehane, Barry, Prof

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