Engineering Capstone: Supporting humanitarian workers with Engineers Without Borders
Adele van der Winden, Ally Moodie (Civil Engineering) and Madura Senadeera (Electrical Engineering) won the 2021 Engineers without Borders (EWB) Human-centred Design Award for their Engineering Honours Capstone project. The team’s research, working with Engineers Without Borders as an industry partner, aimed to support the safety of humanitarian workers through wearable technology.
Judges were impressed by the team's commitment to engaging with users to deliver a truly human-centred outcome. The team was supervised by Professor Les Dawes, Head of School, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Dhammika Jayalath, Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering.
Engineering Capstone: Designing renewable energy solutions for the Royal Australian Army
Electrical Engineering students Darren Harris and Jason Oliveri, and Mechanical Engineering students Dean Grandfield and Ashley Gibson developed a solar powered battery box to power the sub-systems on M777A2 Howitzers. The project was in partnership with the Royal Australian Army and supervised by Dr. Veronica Gray.
The renewable energy box is designed to replace current diesel generators which are noisy, harmful to the environment, require significant maintenance and require a constant supply of fuel. The students designed, built, and trialled their work in collaboration with the 1st Artillery Regiment and their prototype is currently being used in-field by the Royal Australian Army.
Industry placement: Using AI to track and manage power outages with Energex
Final year Electrical Engineering student Caitlin Nicholas spent a year with Energex, analysing data and using algorithms to identify power outage tweets. The project aimed to quantify the value of using publicly available data to identify and manage power outages by developing an algorithm using natural language processing, machine learning and deep learning techniques.
Caitlin also received an industry scholarship, and participated in the Dean’s Scholars Program throughout her studies.
Road safety research in action
'My HDR internship experience with Advanced Mobility Analytics Group allowed me to meet transportation specialists around the globe, and learn directly from road safety technology experts – an eye-opening experience which is currently shaping the direction of my career. The hands-on experiences helped me understand the industry environment and the connection between research-based knowledge and practical implementation. Most importantly, the networks I have built, and the skill sets I have developed will set me up well for a career in road safety.'
First-hand industry experience
'My research is focused on developing a validated hydrogel system to provide more accurate treatment regimes for breast cancer patients. As part of my studies, I undertook a 9-month industry partnership with Gelomics, where I saw first-hand the robust quality assurance requirements for chemically engineered products and the complex pipeline of product commercialisation. This industry experience provided me with both personal and professional confidence, technical skills and has greatly expanded my professional relationships.'