News
Awards, appointments & job opportunities
Technology team win Imagine Cup with farm water management solutionComputer Science student Ed Hooper is part of the student team which won the Australian final of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup with a project to help drought-affected farmers better manage their limited water resources. The Oz-dream team developed the Smart Operational Agriculture Kit (SOAK) – a highly sophisticated watering system – which uses sensors to measure everything from dam depth to soil moisture and collects data about weather forecasts and the environment. One of the judges said that their entry ‘quite simply blew the judges away’. Ed and the team will represent Australia at the international final in Paris in July. Read more about Ed’s entry on the Australian PC Magazine website.
MSE ARC Grant successCongratulations to Engineering researchers on their outstanding ARC Grant success (From the Dean's office) Our success was well above the national average, in EE the national average is 46%, The University did well, 2nd to UNSW. The University obtained about 12.5% of the overall Nine successful grants
Total ARC contribution 2,819,737, plus about 20% in addition from our industry partners. Well done! Total University 8,047,807 Engineering share is 35%
Engineering Professor wins ATSE Clunies Ross AwardProfessor Iven Mareels, Dean of the Melbourne School of Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, is one of five recipients of the ATSE Clunies Ross Award, Australia’s pre-eminent award for scientists and technologists. The ATSE Clunies Ross Awards – presented annually by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) – recognises research excellence and projects which make a significant economic, environmental and social impact. Professor Mareels has been honoured for a revolutionary new approach to reducing water wastage through an IT-based management system for irrigation channels. Read the full media release here. Orica Design PrizeMechanical Engineering students Aroonroth Angsuwittaya, Erika Margetson and Matthew Sundberg are the joint winners of the 2007 Orica Design Prize for their outstanding contributions to mechanical engineering design. Orica Engineering is a strong supporter of engineering design at the University. The Orica Design Prize has been awarded for more than 25 years to the outstanding student or students in the year long design-300 subjects (the penultimate design subject in the Department of Mechanical Engineering). The award is based on project work performance and is shared equally between the winners. New President of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure AssociationAssociate Professor Abbas Rajabifard (Department of Geomatics) has been elected as the next President of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association (GSDI), a leading international association in the development of spatial information and management. Previously, Abbas was Treasurer and a member of the board. This appointment, beginning in 2009, together with his role in the UN sponsored Permanent Committee of GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific will enable him to provide international leadership for the discipline over the next four years. The appointment is also an exciting opportunity for the University of Melbourne and Asia-Pacific region. The GSDI Association is a non-profit, global organisation made up of members from over 80 countries. It provides international cooperation and collaboration in creating local, national and international Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) to assist nations to address social, economic and environmental issues. MSE staff appointed to expert working groupsProfessor Priyan Mendis (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) and Leon Sterling (Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering) have been appointed to two of the five expert working groups established to develop an updated National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) Roadmap. Priyan has joined the ‘Safeguarding Australia’ group and Leon has been appointed to the ‘Frontier Technologies’ group. NCRIS is a major federal Government initiative to provide researchers with access to the infrastructure and networks necessary to undertake world-class research.
Laureate Professor Rod Tucker appointed to panel to assess National Broadband Network proposalsProfessor Rod Tucker (Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering) has been announced as a member of the Panel of Experts appointed by the Federal Government to assess proposals to build the National Broadband Network. Rod is one of six telecommunication industry, academic and corporate experts on the panel. The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy, said that the Government will formally call for proposals to roll-out the new network with a view to having construction underway by the end of 2008. Full details are available on Senator Conroy’s website at http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/media_releases/2008/016.
Gigabit wireless chip unveiled at the Melbourne University-based laboratories of NICTAThe world’s first transceiver integrated on a single chip that operates at 60GHz on the CMOS (complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) process, the most common semiconductor technology, was announced today by NICTA, Australia’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence. The development will enable the truly wireless office and home of the future. As the integrated transceiver developed by NICTA is extremely small, it can be embedded into devices. The breakthrough will mean the networking of office and home equipment - without wires - will finally become a reality. Researchers from NICTA’s Gigabit Wireless Project, which is based out of NICTA’s Victoria Research Laboratory, are the first in the world to have developed an integrated transceiver, a complete transmitter and receiver, on a single chip at 60GHz on CMOS. This technology breakthrough will enable the wireless transfer of audio and video data at up to 5 gigabits per second, ten times the current maximum wireless transfer rate, at one-tenth the cost. The 27-member team, led by Professor Stan Skafidas, includes 10 PhD students from the University of Melbourne. For more details, visit the NICTA website. NHMRC awards researchers $19.6 million to target colon cancerResearchers at the University of Melbourne – together with investigators from four Melbourne institutions – have been awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant of $19.6 million to develop new ways of detecting and treating colon cancer. University of Melbourne initiates Australia's ultra-resolution global collaboration laboratoryDeputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Victorian Premier John Brumby today joined politicians, industry, science and media representatives - on both sides of the Pacific – to experience a powerful next generation ultra-resolution visualisation carried over a superbroadband network linking the University of Melbourne and the University of California San Diego (UCSD). In an Australian first, this next generation platform - set to revolutionise the way Australia interacts with the rest of the world – allows real-time, interactive collaboration across the globe - combining high-definition video and audio with the sharing of ultra-resolution visualisations from a broad range of disciplines. Today's demonstration was an initiative of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue (AALD). In the last two months, the University of Melbourne has constructed a massive 96 million pixel "OptIPortal" visualisation wall - known affectionately as the 'OzIPortal' - constructed from 24 x 30 inch LCD screens, For comparision, a standard PC can show about 1-2 million pixels. Funding for the OptIPortal has been provided by the Victorian Government ($120,000) and the University of Melbourne ($500,000). This ultra-resolution OptIPortal visualisation wall - the largest in Australia - enabled scientists, industry leaders and politicians in Melbourne to demonstrate cutting-edge medical and environmental research to participants in the AALD's West Coast Leadership Dialogue at the University of California San Diego using a novel interactive high-definition television stream over a 1000 megabit/sec ("gigabit/s") super-broadband optical fibre connection. Bringing the OptIPortal and gigabit/s super-broadband networking together is the cutting-edge expertise of two of the world's leading telecommunications research units - the University of Melbourne School of Engineering's Centre for Ultra Broadband Information Networks (CUBIN) and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), a UCSD/University of California Irvine partnership. The link-up was made possible by use of the high-capacity backbone of AARNet, Australia's academic and research network, with a connection to the US West Coast using SXTransPORT on the Southern Cross Cable Network to the Calit2 network in San Diego via Pacific Wave and CENIC in the US. In Melbourne, Deputy Prime Minister Gillard and Premier Brumby joined Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu, Federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science & Research Senator Kim Carr, Victorian Minister for Industry & Trade, Information Technology, & Major Projects Theo Theophanous, and Qantas Chairman, Leigh Clifford. The cross-Pacific discussion included presentations demonstrating the capacity of the OptIPortal by leading neuroscientist, Professor Graeme Jackson, and water researcher, Professor John Langford, both from the University of Melbourne. Participants in San Diego including Director of the Calit2 Professor Larry Smarr, Vice Chancellor for Research at UCSD Professor Art Ellis, and Vice- Chancellor of the University of Melbourne Professor Glyn Davis, were able to quiz Professor Langford and Professor Jackson as if they were in the same room. Amanda Johnston, an Executive Director at BigPond co-moderated the discussion in Melbourne with Mr Phil Scanlan, founder of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue, in San Diego. Unique in Australia, the OptIPortal facility brings together two individual concepts - ultra-resolution visualisation walls and high definition video collaboration technologies creating a powerful new tool enabling collaborative research across great distances in real time with participants visually exploring massive data sets. Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis praises the ingenuity of staff in the University's School of Engineering, Calit2 and AARNet which has made the Melbourne OptIPortal a reality. "They have used the real time and high definition visualisation of the OptIPortal to build the Melbourne facility. This technology is a powerful communication tool which will push new boundaries for higher education and research in Australia." Dean of Engineering at Melbourne, Professor Iven Mareels, says, "The ‘real-time' nature of the technology means people on opposite sides of the world can work together on projects in real-time. For instance, a surgeon in Australia could direct an emergency surgical intervention by operating a robot in Antarctica; scientists in Australia and Japan could share research tools such as the Synchrotron, or operate an underwater robot exploring the Great Barrier Reef – all from the comfort of an OptIPortal room." Calit2 Director Professor Larry Smarr notes that today's demonstration marks the entry of Australia into the growing OptIPlanet Collaboratory, enabling innovators around the world to work together on major data-intensive scientific, medical, and environmental challlenges. "Based on today's success, we will connect other Australian universities together with universities in the United States and around the world using these advanced technologies in 2008." "This is a landmark event for Australia-US research communities and represents a quantum leap in broadband communications for Australia," says Chris Hancock, CEO of AARNet. "It means research teams in areas such as medicine, astronomy, science and technology can now visualise larger, more detailed, higher resolution images than ever before. This technology opens up a world of opportunities for collaboration across the Pacific and helps to ensure Australia's place at forefront of global collaborative research." Leadership Dialogue founder Phil Scanlan says the key to Australia's ability to sustain high community performance is its capacity and commitment to invest in education, science, technology, human capital and related areas of human endeavour that deliver gold medal outcomes. The University of Melbourne demonstration marks a major milestone in Australia's triumph over the 'tyranny of distance' – from its first overseas telecommunications link in 1872, first overseas airmail in 1935 and passenger flight, 1935, to its first overseas internet connection – at the University of Melbourne - in 1989. More information
Times Higher Education Supplement's 2007 World University RankingsThe University of Melbourne has been ranked in the top 30 universities in the world by the Times Higher Education Supplement's 2007 World University Rankings. Melbourne has come in at No 27 and is the only Victorian university in the top 30. The Melbourne School of Engineering has been ranked No 21 in the world for Technology and is the top Australian university in this category and the highest ranked discipline in the university. More: The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 1, No. 19
University of Melbourne launches Engineering Research InstituteMedia Release, 21 November 2007 The Melbourne Engineering Research Institute (MERIT) – a dedicated institute for engineering research – will be officially launched today at 11am at the University of Melbourne by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Glyn Davis. Incoming Director of MERIT, Professor Rod Tucker, said the Institute brings together world leading research in the Melbourne School of Engineering to address four critical areas – bioengineering, information and communications, materials and sustainability. "MERIT will increase opportunities for researchers to work together on a large scale and to increase partnerships with industry. It offers a single point of contact for industry to link with specific research areas." Professor Tucker said the establishment of MERIT also contributes to the University's goal to have one of the top-ranking engineering schools in the world. The four themes of focus within the Institute are: Biomedical Engineering – in support of medicine and health; Information and Communication Systems – which underpins the future of information sharing, collaboration, education and business; Structured Matter – the role modern materials play in our world; and Sustainable Systems – the future of water, energy and the environment for our society. "In areas such as nanomaterials, research will have direct benefits for the community, ranging from environmental to medical applications," said Professor Tucker. "There are other activities focusing on water resources, new research looking at sustainability and global energy implications of the internet and ICS projects exploring communications for remote communities and developing regions of the world. The list of activities is extensive. "By consolidating the School's research into four research themes, unified by the common goal of engineering research for the benefit of society, we can further develop our world-class research environment and continue to attract the best researchers and research students." Following the launch, leading researchers will present their vision of the future technology-enabled world in a symposium titled 'Melbourne Engineering Looks to the Future'. More: MERIT website
Launch of Melbourne School of EngineeringOn Friday the 26th of October the Faculty of Engineering officially became the Melbourne School of Engineering, covering all the activities previously undertaken by the Faculty and incorporating a new Graduate School in line with the formation of similar schools across the University. The Melbourne School of Engineering is the first school of graduate studies in Australia to offer a comprehensive range of engineering masters programs. The School will offer coursework and research programs for engineers and scientists who want to deepen their technical expertise or gain skills to move into management. The two-year Master of Engineering will build upon a range of engineering majors in the New Generation undergraduate degrees. This combination of depth and breadth in the undergraduate degrees is an ideal platform for a more intense and professionally-focused engineering training at the graduate level. The two-year graduate component will be introduced progressively from 2010 and will be fully implemented in 2011, ready for the first group of students commencing five-year engineering pathways in 2008. The Master of Engineering will be available in eleven streams: Biomedical, Biomolecular, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Environmental, Geomatics, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Software and Structural. The Melbourne School of Engineering will continue to offer one and two year advanced Masters programs for practitioners already working in industry as well as other continuing education options.
Launch of Graduate SchoolsThe University of Melbourne is revolutionising higher education in Australia, becoming the first Australian university to introduce a comprehensive graduate school model of education. This week, the University officially unveiled the first of its graduate schools in a move that will provide genuine diversity in Australia's higher education sector. The new graduate schools are:
They will be home to the University's first suite of professional Masters-level graduate degrees to be introduced in 2008. source: The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 1, No. 17
Formula SAE Racing TeamThe Formula SAE racing team is featured in the latest episode of Visions: Episode 15.
COSIT'07The Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT'07) was held in Melbourne on 19 - 23 September. The event was a great success with more participants and the most competitive paper selection process than ever before. It attracted participants who engaged in intense discussions, even during the evenings, and feedback from the attendees was described as 'only excitement'. The COSIT conference series has been shaping and leading the interdisciplinary research in theoretical GIScience for years and generally takes place in Europe or the US. COSIT'07 was an unique chance for participants from Australia/Pacific to meet all the distinguished researchers in this field, and this opportunity was taken up by a number of students from our two departments. The proceedings, lecture notes and photos are now available online.
Australian Research Council (ARC) - Results for funding in 2008The Australian Research Council (ARC) has announced the grant outcomes for Discovery, Linkage, Linkage Infrastructure and Equipment Funding (LIEF) and Linkage International. Melbourne Engineering staff have been successful in all of these grant schemes. ARC funding programs come under the umbrella of the National Competitive Grants Program, a significant component of Australia's investment in research and development. The list of funding outcomes for Engineering staff is now available on the Engineering website. To view the list of University of Melbourne funding recipients, please visit the ARC website.
BGeomE accredited by Royal Institution of Chartered SurveyorsThe Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has recently accredited the Unversity of Melbourne's Bachelor of Geomatic Engineering for students entering in 2006 and 2007. The Institution is also currently considering the University's new Professional Graduate Degree, the Master of Engineering (Geomatics), for accreditation. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors stated:
Podcast: Precision Drug Delivery with NanotechnologyEpisode 11 of the Up Close podcasting series , features Professor Frank Caruso discussing how advances in Nanotechnology are enabling the delivery of therapeutic drugs with "pin-point" accuracy in the human body. The Up Close podcast is available here. Melbourne, Monash in $2m water crisis move: ‘Food bowl' focus for strategic uni researchThe University of Melbourne and Monash University have joined forces in Uniwater, a major research-driven response to the current water crisis. The two leading Australian universities have each put in more than $1 million over three years to spearhead a unique collaboration creating a powerful critical mass of expertise in water-related research. The collaboration is the first initiative under the revitalised Melbourne Monash Protocol which was set up in 1997. Uniwater was launched recently by Victorian Minister for Water John Thwaites with support from the University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis and Monash University Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins. Minister Thwaites said the collaboration "will further develop our ability to provide sustainable water supplies into the future by increasing our knowledge and understanding of water issues". Director of Uniwater, Professor John Langford, agrees that research holds many of the answers to the water crisis. "We cannot begin to solve water management problems until we do that research," he said. Professor Langford previously headed the University of Melbourne's Melbourne Water Research Centre. > more Source: The Voice [Christina Buckridge]
State Government grant: low cost hydrogen fuelled engineA State Government grant of $1.2 million has been awarded to the University of Melbourne and industry collaborators Ford Australia and Haskel Australia to build a highly efficient low cost hydrogen fuelled engine and fuel tank. The grant is from the Energy Technology Innovation Strategy (ETIS) in the Department of Primary Industries. It was awarded on Wednesday 28 March at a ceremony at Federation Square in Melbourne by Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, the Hon. Peter Batchelor. This is a cross Faculty project bringing together the expertise of Dr Michael Brear, Dr Chris Manzie and Professor Harry Watson, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Professor Will Ducker of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Professor Dragan Nesic, Electrical and Electronic Engineering. For more information see The Voice | press coverage |
