Field Research Projects 2007 / 2008

Chemical Engineering
Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering
Computer Science & Engineering
Civil Engineering
Renewable Energy Vehicle (REV) Project
St Ives Gold





Chemical Engineering

Catalytic Decomposition of Methane
The first proposed project is to synthesize, analyse and optimize a novel catalyst for direct catalytic decomposition of methane to produce CO2 free hydrogen and carbon.

Tasks will include:

-          Catalyst synthesis and characterization (material selection, preparation optimization).
-          Process optimization (changes in pressure, temperature, space velocity).
-          Carbon characterization using SEM, TEM, EDS and XRD.

This project can accommodate two students.


Storing H and CH4
Measure the storage capacity of promising materials for both hydrogen and methane.  Students will be able to handle a purpose built volumetric measurement apparatus and a BET surface analyser to measure the storage capacity.  They may also be able to participate in the syntheses of metal-N-H systems through various ball milling techniques.  The materials can also be characterized with SEM, TEM, EDS and XRD.

This project can accommodate two students.

These projects can be conducted throughout the semester time and there is no need for students to stay behind. However, if you wish students to spend more time on the project, they can certainly stay for extra few weeks so as to contribute more to the project.


Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering

Entecho Pty Ltd: Projects on the Hoverpod
The full size prototype has been built and is being tested. There will be a number of projects in the following areas:

1. analysing all the Computational Fluid dynaics results so as to look for improvements in the aerodyanamics of the flow systems;

2. research into various types of power plants that can be used for the Hoverpod for various applications;

3. to build up a knowledge base for all the practical issues relating to this type of flying objects;

4. to build up a good computer model for further design analysis. It is particularly suitable for students with good CAD skills and competent in using Solidworks, or for students who want to build up great competency in CAD.


Computer Science and Engineering

Build a 3D Art Gallery

Client: Jay Jay Jegatheva Jegathesan & Len Zuks

A website has been developed to display the works of renowned WA artist Len Zuks, who has many sculptures & paintings housed in the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering. This work would entail enhancing the  interactive website  (3-D popups which rotate, etc), that is easily searchable on the net through google, as an art gallery in WA, and where potential customers can order the product, etc as well.

Base Website: http://zuks.csse.uwa.edu.au/

The focus of this project would be to build the 3D portion oif the gallery into one that hold all the artworks & scupltures in the computer science building, as well as the 'room' that the 3D artworks are housed in.


The Virtual Universe Project - Build a 3D Model of the UWA Campus

Clients: Jay Jay Jegatheva Jegathesan & Dr Peter Kovesi

This project arises from our vision to have a virtual model of the UWA Campus. The approach this project will take is inspired by the Google Build Your Campus in 3D Competition (which unfortunately is only open to entries from the US and Canada). The aim is to use any innovative method OR Google SketchUp to build 3D models of buildings on the campus and to have these available for viewing either on the web, or via download, or through google earth.

This is going to be a big job. For each building measurements will have to be established, photographs taken, a model built, and textures mapped onto it. We probably want to build two versions of each model, one highly detailed for generating high quality virtual reality views, and the other heavily simplified with the polygon count and textures optimized to minimize download time. Possibly even a third model, with level of detail somewhere between the two may also be desired.

Clearly, to do this will require a huge amount of effort from many people. Thus the primary aim of the project will be to establish a collaborative environment that will allow contributions to be made from people from all over the campus over an extended period of time.

A possible approach might be to establish a project under SourceForge (or similar) which can then act as a repository for models that can be checked in and out and updated as needed. The project would also act as a repository for photographs, texture maps, documentation and instructions, building dimensions and positions, and so on. Note SourceForge is just mentioned here as a possibility, we would expect the group to investigate the most appropriate collaborative tool for this project.

The planned deliverables from the project will be:

The establishment of a collaborative environment for the project;
Documentation, guides and instructions that will allow anyone to contribute to the project;
A basic model of Winthop Hall;
A basic model of The Computer Science Building;
Some promotional material to encourage people to contribute to the project.

Useful links:
Google Build Your Campus in 3D Competition http://contest.sketchup.com/entry.php
Google SketchUp  http://www.sketchup.com/
SourceForge http://sourceforge.net/
The NTU Virtual Campus http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/assourin/VirCampus.html
This is not in Google Earth, but is a very impressive example of what can be done.


Epidemic Simulator GUI Project

Client : Professor George Milne

Our research group has constructed a program for simulating the spread of influenza through the population of a town of approximately 30,000 people. This project would involve building a graphical user interface for the simulator. The interface would allow the user to specify all the information needed to run a simulation, including selection of data files and specification of numeric parameters. Using the entered simulation specification, the interface would then invoke the existing simulator as an external program, collect the simulator output, and present the results as plots of infections cases versus time, and as various tables.  The interface would be written in Java.


Wildfire Simulator Graphical Interface

Client : Professor George Milne

We are developing a wildfire simulator which takes a set of environmental inputs, simulation model settings and ignition events and predicts the progress of a fire over the landscape.  A graphical user interface would facilitate the setting of model parameters enabling the user to visualise quickly cause and effect for inputs and outputs of the model.  The environmental inputs include the following static raster data: vegetation type, fuel load (quantity), elevation.  It also includes the weather parameters: wind strength and direction, temperature and relative humidity, all of which vary with time, but may be assumed to be uniform across the landscape.  The user interface should also allow setting simulation model parameters such as the fire behaviour model (relationship between environmental parameters and the forward rate of spread of fire) and the spatial resolution.  Finally, a graphical user interface would allow scheduling of intervention strategies such as building a fire break, water bombing and back-burning (i.e. extra ignition events).  It should also be easy for the user to modify the weather data to examine how the fire might behave under different weather scenarios.


Civil Engineering

Wave Energy Power Generation

Two students to work alongside a final year civil engineering student who has done the investigation and a basic design for a wave energy power generation device. They would be expected to learn the fundamentals of wave energy extraction, assess the design, make a prototype working model for the device and test in in our wave tank.


Hydraulic Jet Cutting Systems for Underwater Seabed Applications

When laying pipelines / foundations under sea-bed, sometimes one will encounter slopes of hard clay formation as in the case on W.A.'s North West Shelf.  Two students will work as a group to investigate the state of art in this area and identify what are the available equipments.


Renewable Energy Vehicle (REV) Project

1. Design / manufacture of a brush shifting mechanism to rotate the brushes in proportion to the current for the armature of the electric motor. Although this sounds electrical, it suits a mechanical student or any student with a desire to design something for a practical usage.

2.  steering mechanisms for the prototype / next phase REV

3. braking mechanism for the prototype / next phase

4. suspension system for the prototype / next phase

5. CAD layout of the prototype.

Projects 2, 3, 4 and 5 would suit any engineering student who has / wish to have good CAD skills.


St Ives Gold (preliminary information)

2-3 week projects in environmental science monitoring
cyanide levels - more information to follow


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