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Research in Action - Pre-2008 items

Cooling technology 'hots up'

Technology that led to the development of thermoregulation garments worn by 94 per cent of Australian gold medal winners prior to the Athens Olympics is being adapted for other uses.

The ARC-funded researchers at RMIT University who developed the technology, in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Sport, are working with Victorian health providers to test new cooling aids they have designed to provide symptomatic relief for people with multiple sclerosis and head trauma. Other thermoregulation products they have developed are under clinical trial at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in the area of ligament damage.

In addition, the researchers are continuing to assist sport through collaborations with V8 Supercar and Formula 1 racing, and the Australian Shooting Association with the National Elite Sports Council, to prepare members for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Contact: Professor David Mainwaring, RMIT University

Keeping wastewater treatment pure

ARC-funded researchers at Griffith University, in collaboration with Gold Coast Water, are developing an 'early warning system' to detect wastewater treatment problems. Specifically, the team is working on a technique to rapidly identify the presence, as early as possible, of harmful toxicants that reduce the effectiveness of the 'activated sludge' used to break down waste materials in the wastewater treatment process.

Contact: Professor Richard John, Griffith University

Healthcare for older Australians

ARC-funded University of Canberra researchers are working with the Department of Health and Ageing to assess the impact of our ageing population on health funding and our health system. The data will be used to develop population models to predict health services needs for the next decade.

Contact: Professor Ann Harding, University of Canberra

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Perfect baking with the intelligent oven

Researchers at The University of Sydney are working with Electrolux Australia to create a truly 'intelligent' oven.

The ARC-funded researchers are studying the chemical changes that occur during cooking, taking into account food temperature, mass and moisture content, to develop control mechanisms that ensure automatic and near perfect oven-based cooking of different foodstuffs.

Contact: Dr Steven Scheding, The University of Sydney

Ethanol cells are the fuel of the future

Biomass ethanol fuel provides a promising alternative to other energy sources because of its potential to be a reliable power provider that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ARC-funded researchers from Curtin University and Professor Ravindra Datta, of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the US, are developing techniques for the safe operation of ethanol-fed solid oxide fuel cells to advance the technology.

Contact: Professor Moses Tade, Curtin University

Improving the quality of free-to-air television

Network 10 and ARC-funded researchers from University of South Australia are exploring program appeal issues, including the level of Australian content, production values and information/education factors, to improve the quality and long-term viability of free-to-view television that is accessible to all Australians.

Contact: Professor Byron Sharp, University of South Australia

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Giving public health campaigns a fighting chance

The spread of contagious diseases throughout the world has been influenced significantly by the availability of, and people's access to, various vaccines. ARC-funded researchers at University of Tasmania are studying how Edward Jenner's discovery of vaccination spread so rapidly around the world in the first years of the nineteenth century, how the first vaccination programs were organised and promoted in different countries and cultural contexts, and what factors were involved in their success and failure.

The findings will be used to inform issues relating to global disease transmission and take-up of vaccination.

Contact: Professor Michael Bennett, University of Tasmania

Parents could provide key to school success

ARC-funded Charles Darwin University researchers, with The Smith Family, are working with Indigenous caregivers who tend to avoid school interactions to find out why they do not engage. The researchers are using anthropological techniques to explore issues that matter to the 'invisible' parents, that is, those who avoid school overtures at outreach and communication.

If parental involvement in schooling improves the prospects of children at risk of education failure, then knowing the sources of avoidance and alienation is critical. Knowing how to engage parents is key to knowing how to engage students.

Contact: Associate Professor Teresa Lea, Charles Darwin University

Airborne viruses travel far and wide

ARC-funded researchers at the Queensland University of Technology have measured the sizes and numbers of droplets produced when people speak, cough, sneeze or just breathe. The researchers were motivated by an outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong that resulted in the infection of more than 300 people within hours.

The team has discovered that most of the droplets dry almost immediately to form particles small enough to be carried very large distances. Although tiny, about one micrometre, these particles are nevertheless large enough to carry viruses.

Contact: Professor Lidia Morawska, Queensland University of Technology

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Designing smart green schools

Children spend most of their waking hours, five days a week, at school. Schools place a significant emphasis on curriculums, but do not necessarily consider the importance of school infrastructure.

ARC-funded researchers from The University of Melbourne's Faculty of Architecture, in collaboration with the Victorian Department of Education, are evaluating schools to support the development of innovative, environmentally friendly school designs.

Contact: Ms Claire Newton, The University of Melbourne

Tracking stress in young children

WA researchers are tracking 2,000 children from the womb to the age of four to determine the genetic and environmental factors that trigger stress in children.
The ARC-funded Murdoch University study is testing a theory that children are 'pre-set' from pregnancy and birth to cope with stress in their life, but that stress can also be shaped by a child's environment.

Contact: Professor Anne McMurray, Murdoch University

Helping low-skilled men get jobs

About 30 per cent of working age men in Australia who did not complete Year 12 do not have a full-time job either.

The ARC is funding a Flinders University study into the barriers faced by low-skilled men when seeking jobs in areas of rising employment. The research will be used by welfare authorities to help men in this situation to overcome the barriers.

Contact: Professor Bill Martin, Flinders University

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Tasmanian devil disease test

A new preclinical diagnostic test could help stop the dramatic decline of the iconic Tasmanian Devil, which is being devastated by Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD). Using a small blood sample, the test will detect changes linked to DFTD in the animal’s blood protein.

ARC-funded researchers at the University of Tasmania are developing the test in an effort to develop effective management strategies to ensure the ongoing survival of the Tasmanian Devil.

Contact: Dr Michael Breadmore, University of Tasmania

Native grass seeds: An alternative to wheat and rice

Professor Robert Henry, Director of Southern Cross University's Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics, is assessing the viability of native Australian grasses to provide an environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional food and fodder crops such as wheat and rice.

Native grasses have lower tillage and fertiliser requirements and increased salt, shade, frost and/or drought tolerances than the current introduced cereal and fodder crops. In addition, they can be grown in areas in Australia where traditional crops cannot be grown. The ARC-funded project aims to accelerate the domestication of native grasses.

Contact: Professor Robert Henry, Southern Cross University

Conserving the earless dragon

The Grassland Earless Dragon, a native Australian lizard, is on the brink of extinction as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation.

ARC-funded University of Canberra researchers Stephen Sarre and Will Osborne, in collaboration with Canberra International Airport, are studying the lizard with the aim of developing a conservation management strategy that will ensure the lizard's ongoing survival.

Contact: Dr Stephen Sarre, University of Canberra

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New toxic sediment warning system

ARC-funded researchers at Charles Darwin University are working with mining companies, the Northern Territory Environment Protection Agency and the Northern Land Council to develop an early warning rapid biological assessment (RBA) for sediment toxicity. It is intended that the RBA will be undertaken alongside chemical tests to detect environmental changes.

Contact: Associate Professor Karen Gibb, Charles Darwin University

Coral reef ecology

The Great Barrier Reef, stretching for 2,000km along Australia’s north-east coast, is one of the world's great treasures. The Reef supports vibrant tourism and fishing industries that contribute more than $5 billion a year to Australia’s economy, while the goods and services provided by coral reef biodiversity are linked to the welfare of 500 million people worldwide.

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies aims to address the global need for scientific knowledge to underpin management of coral reef resources. Its research activities inform reef industries, governments, development agencies, and non-government organisations around the world.

Led by James Cook University, the Centre was established in 2005 with research partners The Australian National University and The University of Queensland. It is one of the world’s largest providers of graduate training in coral reef sciences, with more than 100 graduate students from 24 countries enrolled in 2006.

Dictionary of Australian Artists Online

Led by The University of New South Wales Library and College of Fine Arts and supported by the ARC, the Dictionary of Australian Artists Online (DAAO) enables historians and the community to create and discover new knowledge about those involved in the creation of Australia’s artistic and national identity.

Building on 45 years of Australian art historical scholarship, the DAAO comprises more than 6,000 biographies, the functionality to maintain ongoing editorial processes, including online submissions, complex searching and rigorous double-blind peer review of new research output.

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Moth behaviour and crops

An ARC-funded study conducted by researchers at The University of Queensland, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, and Liverpool John Moores University, UK is leading to a greater understanding of how moth behaviour might be controlled.

For example, the species of moth Helicoverpa armigera, commonly known as 'boll worm' in cotton crops or 'corn ear-worm', lays eggs on plants with flowers that emit attractive odours. It is an endemic pest, especially at the caterpillar stage of its life cycle.

Research into moth sensory systems is important because it is helping researchers to develop practical strategies to control boll worm and reduce damage to agricultural crops.

Ballet Russe

Francesca da Rimini was brought to Australia by Col. W. de Basil’s Original Ballet Russe and was first performed in Sydney at the Theatre Royal on 26 January 1940. Australian ballet audiences were overwhelmed by the ballet company’s high-modernist aesthetic and inspired by the collaborative ideals celebrated in its balletic, theatrical and musical masterpieces.

The University of Adelaide, in collaboration with The Australian Ballet and the National Library of Australia, are researching the content, impact and legacy of Australian tours 1936-40 by various incarnations of de Basil’s acclaimed Ballet Russes.

The ARC-funded project is being undertaken using an innovative interactive research methodology to establish a vital nexus between scholarly research, artistic practice and digital archival management and dissemination strategies.

International Gemini Project

Australia, with assistance from the ARC, is playing a key role in a major international astronomy project that may unlock the mysteries of how and when the universe was created and whether life exists elsewhere in our galaxy.

Australia is one of seven nations participating in the prestigious International Gemini Project, which involves constructing and using the two most powerful optical-infrared telescopes in the world. The National Science Foundation in the USA is coordinating the project and invited Australia to participate because of our astronomers' expertise. The telescopes are in Hawaii and Chile.

Participating astronomers believe they will be able to ‘look back in time’ to the period following the so-called Big Bang, when galaxies were forming, and learn more about the origins and evolution of stars, planets, galaxies and the universe.

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Quantum photonics

Teleportation is no longer simply science fiction. Researchers at The Australian National University are making major breakthroughs in successfully conducting teleportation - annihilating an object and reconstructing it in another location in a split second. Teleportation and the technology behind it have major applications for the development of the world's first quantum computer, cryptography (securing encrypted messages) and telecommunications.

Australasian Legal Information Institute

The Australasian Legal Information Institute provides free on-line access to Australian and international legal material - in effect, a public law library on the Internet. With more than 1.5 million searchable documents, it is one of the largest sources of legal materials on the net.

The site attracts more than 1 million 'hits' a week or 20,000 users a day. Users include educational institutions, the legal profession and business, community organisations, government and overseas users.

Safer cars

In the past decade, 30,000 people were killed and about 300,000 seriously injured in car accidents in Australia. The cost to society of these accidents is estimated at about $6 billion a year.

However, Monash University Accident Research Centre in collaboration with Holden, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Australian Automobile Association, Autoliv Australia, Monash Civil Engineering and other specialists anticipates that, as a result of its ARC-funded research, it could help save thousands of lives, revolutionise car manufacturing worldwide and cut millions of dollars from the cost to society of car accident injuries and deaths. It could also significantly enhance Australia's reputation as a maker of quality cars and boost export sales.

The research involves applying harm reduction theory to the production of cars to enable engineers to alter the structure, strength and shape of the design in order to minimise the stress on car occupants during a side collision.

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Quantum computer technology

The basis of the computer industry, the multi billion-dollar semi conductor sector, has hit a brick wall. Computers cannot be made much smaller because, despite their sophistication, their construction is founded in the laws of classical physics. The limit on their size limits their power and capability.

However, by applying quantum mechanics to computers, and designing the silicon chip - the brains of the computer - at the atomic level, computers could be up to one billion times more powerful while remaining the same size. Experts agree that such power may enable computers to do things that cannot be imagined at this stage.

The ARC Special Research Centre for Quantum Computer Technology in Sydney aims to build the world's first silicon-based solid state quantum computer. One of the advantages of the Centre's work is that quantum chips could sit in silicon, enabling a smooth changeover for the existing silicon chip industry.

Allergy prevention

The number of Australians with an allergy has increased dramatically in the past 30 years. Up to 700 people in Australia die from asthma each year, while an estimated 40 per cent of the population suffers from hayfever. The social and economic cost of hayfever in the USA is estimated at $2.4 billion a year. Hayfever is five-times more prevalent in Australia than in the US.

The ARC has funded researchers at The University of Sydney, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, to develop new remedies for allergies like asthma and hayfever by developing new agents to switch off the genes that trigger allergic responses.

3-D virtual city

Using a three-dimensional interactive computer model of the city of Adelaide and its buildings, a group of American insurance underwriters was able to complete earthquake-risk assessments of all the buildings without leaving their desks in California. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of dollars were saved because expensive and time-consuming site visits were not required and the job was completed much faster.

Researchers at The University of Adelaide developed the 3-D interactive model of Adelaide based on detailed geographical information systems (GIS). The model contained detailed spatial data of all buildings and objects and is believed to have been the first in the world to use GIS to address a range of social issues.
GIS modelling has been used to assess people's access to services such as hospitals, schools, banks and post offices in regional and rural Australia.

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Indigenous culture

The ARC Special Research Centre for Cross Cultural Research at The Australian National University compiled the first comprehensive publication of all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture, published in 2000.
The 400,000-word multi-authored reference book called The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture provides scholars with insights into, and a range of perspectives on, the art and culture of the world's oldest existing race.

Treating HIV

Most treatments for HIV infection involve a heavy cocktail of several different drugs taken three times a day. The doses can be very high and cause serious side effects. And, unfortunately, the virus is developing resistance to the drugs.

Research funded by the ARC and being used by the Centre for Drug Design and Development at The University of Queensland may lead to development of more efficient and effective drugs to stop the spread of the virus.

This could mean lower dose drug treatments administered possibly only once a day, with fewer side effects. The design of the drugs could also make it more difficult for the virus to develop resistance, significantly extending the life of effective drug treatments for people infected with the HIV virus.

Applied philosophy

The ARC Special Research Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, a partnership between Charles Sturt University and The University of Melbourne, analyses national and global philosophical and ethical issues with a view to advising the development of policies in many areas, including information technology, medicine, agriculture and defence.

For example, the Centre has looked at ethical issues surrounding internal investigations in the New South Wales Police and armed military intervention in places like Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo and East Timor. It has also analysed issues such as reproductive technology and cloning, Internet copyright, and ownership rights in relation to plant varieties.

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Sewage in the food chain

The ARC funded researchers at the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies at The University of New South Wales to investigate the assimilation of nutrients from human waste into the pelagic food chain.

To try to gain some insight into this process, the researchers studied a small species of planktivorous off Sydney and at two sewage affected regions. By determining the levels of organic carbon and nitrogen in sewage-derived nutrients and tracing these isotope rations through the food chain, this natural tag was used to determine the extent to which the material was being incorporated into the food chain.

The results showed that Sydney, the affected region which receives primary treated effluent, was significantly different to the two control regions. It appeared that there was a significant contribution of sewage effluent to the pelagic food chain in the Sydney region.

The role of children of separation or divorce

ARC-funded research by The University of Queensland Family Centre, in partnership with the Family Court of Australia and the Australian Institute of Family Studies, involved examining sibling relationships in the aftermath of separation and divorce of the parents.

The research also looked at the extent to which children in post-divorce families tended to become 'parentified' by becoming a confidante to their residential parent, or being made responsible for the care of younger siblings or for tasks inappropriate to their age or stage of development.

The findings provide valuable information for those who counsel post-divorce families, particularly when advising parents.

Torch technology

An ARC-supported collaborative research team from The University of Adelaide and Adelaide-based firm Fuel & Combustion Technology International were responsible for designing the fuel system of one of the most important symbols of the Sydney 2000 Olympics - the Olympic relay torch.

A second ARC-funded collaboration between Macquarie University and ALT Microprocessors in Sydney developed laser micromachining processes to drill the ultra-high precision holes for the Olympic torch nozzles. The micromachining technology was based on visible lasers developed over a 10-year period with the assistance of ARC funding.

Content Last Modified:

6/2/08

 

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