Research Capabilities

Research conducted within each of the three schools of our Faculty, is often directly linked to business and industry. The main focus areas are described briefly below with further detailed information (including research undertaken by our Priority Research Centres) contained within this downloadable document (PDF, 1.30MB ).

School of Architecture and Built Environment

Construction Innovation
- globalisation and Internet-based supply chain management have impacted on the Australian property and construction industry through increased exposure to fierce international competition.

Management of the Built Environment
- sustainable management practise is integral to the conservation of our built environment particularly with reference to protection of heritage areas. Innovative research is being undertaken in the School of Architecture and Built Environment to study conservation planning.

Spatial Visualisation Group
- technological improvements in assessment methods for urban design may now become possible and valued through pioneering research being conducted in the School of Architecture and Built Environment.

School of Engineering

Energy Technology
- innovative research into energy technology has many positive applications to industry in providing solutions to overcoming challenges such as reducing levels of carbon dioxide and other chemical emissions in industry processes.

Environmental Engineering and Water Resources
- engineers are developing new innovative computer and other models to provide methods of assessment of environmental impacts and management of disturbed ecosystems.

Fluid Mechanics and Turbulence
- management and control of turbulent flows is currently of major international focus in turb ulence research primarily due to its wide spread technological, economic and environmental implications

Geotechnical Engineering
- experts in the Faculty are working on providing solutions to difficult problems presented to industry in geotechnical engineering. Their aim is to develop new methods and advanced computer software that will result in cheaper and safer designs of civil infrastructure.

Particle Technology and Interface Science
- research activities in Particle Technology and Interface Science are concerned with the fundamental understanding and subsequent exploitation of physical systems composed of bubbles, particles, droplets and foams.

Process Safety and Environment Protection
- new standards in process safety and environment protection are currently being developed in Australia for industry. This is particularly relevant to fire studies and control and activities

Structural Engineering
- currently, there is an urgent national need for rational assessment procedures, techniques and criteria for the assessment of the remaining life performance of infrastructure of all types. The School of Engineering is involved in pioneering studies, developing an understanding of the durability of infrastructure and material characteristics.

Surveying
– surveying enables us to obtain information about the size and shape of objects in our world through precise measurement. Today new technology in surveying is changing the nature of the work of surveyors.

The Masonry Group
– the Masonry Group has established itself as a research centre of excellence in developing an improved understanding of concrete and masonry products and its applications.

Bulk Solids and Particle Technologies
- much progress to date has been made in the theory and practice of bulk solids handling and particulate technologies. However it is becoming progressively clearer that there are many gaps where further research is necessary. Researchers in the School of Engineering are aiming to gain a better understanding of bulk solids.

Materials Engineering
- the ability to manipulate the properties, behaviour and structure of a material to enhance its performance is of interest to researchers in the School of Engineering.

School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Control and Systems Automation
- researchers in the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment are interested in developing intelligent methods for innovations in modelling, control, design and decision-making in systems.

Data Mining and Bioinformatics
- research in bioinformatics is tightly related with the development of powerful methods for knowledge extraction from computer databases.

Embedded Systems
– researchers are working on creating smart environments in which any possible device, from human body, clothing, tools, appliances, buildings, cars, workplaces and whole city areas, can be equipped with embedded systems to connect the device to a network of other devices.

Machine Learning and Robotics
- the availability and affordability of fast workstations and new robotic hardware has created a significant growth of research in machine learning and robotics.

Smart Structures
- the Smart structure group in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is interested in exploring the development of new technologies that can improve the design of smart structures and systems to optimize their performance, and safety.

Telecommunications
– researchers are active in developing, designing, implementing and managing telecommunications hardware, software and systems for processing and transmitting information.