The Australian Research Council (ARC) has unveiled over $1.1 million in new funding for projects spearheaded at the University of Southern Queensland.
Judi Zielke, CEO of ARC, unveiled the $221 million federal funding as part of the centre’s Discovery Projects scheme.
The scheme seeks to back individual researchers or research teams in innovating and building the new knowledge essential for a knowledge-based economy.
Computing research leader Professor Yan Li, one of the funding recipients, will develop a $420,000 prototype system to help organisations overhaul their business networks to embed cyber security protocols.
“Due to continual changes in networking technologies and web services, almost all organisations need to develop new workflows to either replace existing procedures which are inadequate for current conditions or for new services,” Li said.
“This project aims to develop an innovative cybersecurity system for workflows, which enables organisations to provide flexible and more secure web-based services and business communication,” she added.
Materials engineering researchers Professor Hao Wang and Dr Venkata Chevali have secured a total of $399,236 to manufacture novel carbon fibre composites using high-performance thermoplastic polymers.
The initiative seeks to enable rapid production, reduce manufacturing costs and explore the potential for composites to be reprocessed and recycled.
“A key objective of this study is to produce sustainably manufactured composite materials that are also commercially relevant,” Wang said.
Civil Engineering Professor Allan Manalo received $302,100 to support his project that will look into the degradation mechanisms of structural composites under extreme weather conditions.
The research will inform the development of new, highly durable materials that will help the longevity of Australian infrastructure.
“The changing weather patterns and increasing solar radiation in Australia have greatly impacted the durability of construction materials and caused substantial damage to critical infrastructure,” Manalo said.
Researchers from UniSQ are also part of externally-led projects, including Associate Professor Ingo Jahn at The University of Queensland’s expansion initiative for scramjet operating envelope through oxygen enrichment and Dr Ana Stevenson at the University of Wollongong’s research into “Archiving Social Movements and Building Historical Literacy for a Digital Age.”
