Sydney researchers awarded $3M in industry fellowships

The Australian Research Council has awarded seven Early Career Industry Fellowships to University of Sydney academics to work with senior researchers and Australian businesses to help solve some of the biggest challenges facing industry. The Fellowships support innovation in the research and industry sectors, and enable the translation of research from the lab to real-world application.

Researchers from the faculties of Science, Medicine and Health, Law, and Engineering will share in $3.17 million in funding, the equal highest number of Fellowships received by any University.

“Congratulations to our early career researchers who have been recognised by the Australian Research Council,” said Professor Emma Johnston, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research).

“These academics are leading the way in developing industry-ready solutions to some of our most pressing challenges.”

Dr Ali Amin from the Faculty of Engineering, will explore how to reduce the severity of cracks in large tunnelling projects lined with fibre reinforced shotcrete.  The project will establish a theoretical framework and best practice guidelines for civil engineers to account for different restraints and conditions to ensure stringent crack control requirements are adhered to for the entire life of newly constructed tunnels. A framework to assess and predict the remaining service life of existing tunnel structures will also be developed to enhance safety and reduce ongoing maintenance costs.

Industry partner: PSM Admin.

Dr José-Miguel Bello y Villarino from the Faculty of Law and the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, will examine how anticorruption agencies and researchers can implement artificial intelligence to uncover corruption. Designed and conducted with the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), this project aims to harness the pattern-matching potential of AI systems to provide a legal and policy roadmap which ensures the fair use of AI and the reliable delivery of insights to anticorruption officials.

Industry partner: NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Dr Syamak Farajikhah from the Faculty of Engineering, will use his grant to develop a portable biosensor for food safety and quality monitoring that can detect different pathogens that can cause food poisoning. The sensor will be able to detect even small levels of contamination, and could also be applied in other industries where spoilage poses a risk, such as farming, pharmaceuticals, and medical device manufacturing.

Industry partner: HA TECH

Associate Professor Sonia Liu from the Faculty of Science and member of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre and Charles Perkins Centre, is working to establish new nutrition and management guidelines for Australia’s poultry industry to improve productivity and reduce the industry’s environmental footprint. Egg and chicken are the preferred and affordable sources of animal protein in Australia, and are a key component of our food security. Dr Liu will explore amino acid metabolism and digestive dynamics in poultry to improve the early nutrition and welfare of the 14 million chickens produced in Australia every week.

Industry partners: Complete Feed Solutions; Aviagen Australia.

Dr Ben Mather from the Faculty of Science, will develop new models of how groundwater moves copper through sub-surface sedimentary layers. This project aims to identify new sources of sedimentary copper that require less energy to extract than current sources and produce less waste, all while helping to meet the growing demand for copper as part of a transition to renewable energy sources. The findings from this project could be applied to continental-sized groundwater systems.

Industry partner: BHP

Dr Richard Tan from the Faculty of Medicine and Health and member of the Charles Perkins Centre, aims to develop new implantable materials through better understanding of the immune system’s foreign body response to synthetic polymers. These new biomaterials could enhance the durability and function of implantable devices in everyday applications from medicine to cosmetics and consumer electronics.

Industry partner: Endoluminal Sciences.

Dr Zhenbang (Charlie) Cao from PlasmaLeap Technologies also received a Fellowship to work with the University of Sydney to develop new methods to convert carbon dioxide into methanol on an industrial scale, opening new avenues for CO2 emissions to be harnessed as part of a circular carbon economy. The project will use non-thermal plasma technologies to create a carbon-neutral fuel source for industries that are difficult to electrify, such as shipping.