Swinburne University of Technology has been awarded a substantial amount of funding, exceeding AU$ 1.1 million, for three projects that are linked to industry as part of the latest allocation of funding from the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects initiative.
This funding will allow Swinburne to further advance its research efforts and strengthen its collaborations with industry partners. The projects, which have been selected for funding, will tackle important and relevant challenges facing various industries, and the outcomes of these projects will be expected to have a significant impact on both the academic and business communities.
The three projects will explore innovative solutions for making roads and pavements more sustainable using recycled glass, enhancing Australia’s 5G network, and incorporating new technologies to enhance quality of life in aged care facilities.
The University has achieved an outstanding success rate in the latest round of funding from the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects initiative. With a 100% success rate, compared to the overall success rate of 42%, Swinburne’s research efforts have been recognized and rewarded.
In addition to the Federal Government funding, contributions from partner organizations have further increased the value of the projects to over $2.5 million. This level of funding will allow Swinburne to tackle complex challenges and drive innovative solutions in collaboration with industry partners.
The Swinburne’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research stated that these three projects demonstrate Swinburne’s strength in working with industry to develop practical solutions to real-world problems. Their 100 per cent success rate in this round is a testament to the quality of work being produced by the Swinburne community in partnership with industry.
Industry-linked research
In partnership with two firms in Australia, a research team led by Professor Arul Arulrajah is developing green ground improvement technology using biocemented recycled glass columns.
This project expands upon Swinburne’s expertise in using recycled grass for constructing new roads and sidewalks, thereby reducing waste in landfills, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, and discovering innovative ways to utilize glass waste commercially. The Swinburne research team also includes Associate Professor Annan Zhou, Professor Jian Chu, Professor Suksun Horpibulsuk and Kanagesperan Verumandy.
Meanwhile, Associate Professor Qiang He and Professor Yun Yang are continuing their pioneering work on supercharging Australia’s transition to 5G with a new project with AIBUILD. The objective of the project is to reduce the costs and increase the safety for software providers transitioning to 5G by creating innovative models and methods to enhance multi-access edge computing (MEC), a crucial technology that enables quicker 5G network speeds.
The team, which includes Swinburne’s Dr Feifei Chen and the CEO of a firm that helps businesses develop and integrate web technologies, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality into their business model to improve operation, are also working on an ARC funded project to support an innovative 5G-enabled AR/VR learning platform.
Finally, Professor Sonja Pedell and Professor Leon Sterling will work with not-for-profit aged care provider and an edu-tech company to effectively bring technology into aged care. The project aims to enhance the quality of care and promote fairness in technology utilisation by jointly designing services and plans that encourage technology adoption among residents.