Research Experience Placements 2006/7
General Information
The Faculty of Engineering, at the University of Sydney is offering students the opportunity to participate in Research Experience Placements, in our four Schools, during the summer vacation 2006/2007.
The Engineering Research Experience Placements provide students with the possibility to participate in research projects offered within the Faculty under the supervision of academic staff. As a result of this unique learning experience it is anticipated that projects may result in a presentation and a report or paper possibly for publication.
These placements are available to students of Engineering or a relevant Science discipline who expect to complete First Class Honours degrees in 2006, and who are considering undertaking research higher degrees in Engineering in 2007.
The Faculty of Engineering has a reputation for being research intensive and offers projects in the areas of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Information Engineering and Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering. Academic staff will work with students on selected projects to provide guidance and leadership during this unique learning experience.
The length of each Placement is 10 weeks and is broken into two periods to allow for the Christmas New Year period. The first period commences on 27 November and goes until 15 December 2006 and the second is from 3 January to 16 February 2007. The complete terms and conditions associated with this educational experience will be issued to the student with the official letter of offer.
The Engineering Research Experience Placement is a Summer Vacation Scholarship and therefore the student will be awarded a total of $5,000 AU. This is the equivalent of $500 AU per week (tax free). Payment will be issued to the student in two lump sums valued at $2,500 AU each. Additionally, students living outside Sydney will receive accommodation at a University residential college and return travel expenses from their normal place of study (Australia and New Zealand only). International students must have medical and hospital insurance. Proof of cover will be required upon commencement.
The selection criteria are based on academic performance. Third year students with grades leading to a first class honours degree are encouraged to apply. The Faculty Research Committee will be assessing all applications.
Applications for the University of Sydney Faculty of Engineering Research Experience Placements will close on 29 September 2006. Applications will be assessed and successful students advised by the end of October. Successful applicants will be sent an official letter of offer accompanied by the terms and conditions.
General Enquiries can be directed to:
Myra Koureas
Email:
Application Details
The application form can be downloaded from:
www.eng.usyd.edu.au/pdf/REPApplication2006.pdf
Applications MUST be accompanied by academic transcripts of all semesters completed AND a statement detailing your reasons for applying for a Research Experience Placement, your interest in the areas of research you have listed on the application form, and your future career plans.
Students wishing to be considered for a Research Experience Placement should send their completed application to:
Research Experience Placements
Engineering Scholarships Office
Room 231, Link Building J13
Faculty of Engineering
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Applications should reach the above address no later than 5pm on 29 September 2006. Applications submitted via fax or email will not be accepted.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE PLACEMENT PROJECTS
The research experience placement projects offered for the summer vacation 2006/7 are listed below. Refer to the information below to see the projects offered in each of the four Schools in the Faculty of Engineering
School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Observing Crystallisation in Cocoa Butter
Supervisor: Dr Howard See
Email:
Many materials such as polymers, metals and various foodstuffs exist normally in the crystalline state. Shearing flow, often present in commercial processing, influences the kinetics of crystallization from the molten state and the resulting crystal structure and morphology.
This project will examine the effect of shearing on the crystallization of cocoa butter, which is the main fat ingredient of chocolate. The crystalline structures formed strongly influence the texture and appearance of chocolate. Two techniques will be employed: direct microscopic observation of crystallization under shearing; and measurements using a rheometer to examine the change in flow properties with temperature.
Structure-property relations of nanoparticles from RAFT Emulsion Polymerisation
Supervisor: Dr Vincent Gomes
Email:
Emulsion polymerisation is widely used in industry to produce products ranging from adhesives, paints to biomedical preparations. The polymerisation process involves reactions in a complex multivariable, multiphase system. Reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) techniques are suitable for synthesising polymer nanoparticles having targeted end-use product attributes. This project will investigate some of the key product characteristics, that depend on fundamental properties such as the polymer structure. The project requires skills with experimental work, a grasp of reaction kinetics and programming (Excel and Matlab). Training will be provided for all aspects of the experimental work.
The Minimisation of Wall Deposition in Spray Dryers
Supervisor: Associate Professor Tim Langrish
Email:
Spray dryers are important pieces of equipment for particle production in a wide range of industries and applications, from pharmaceutical and health-care products, to the production of detergents and milk powders and the drying of bioproducts. They have important applications in environmental engineering, with the scrubbing of exhaust gases from power stations and the processing of waste products being good examples. Issues associated with spray drying include minimising the deposits of particles on walls. In this project, the patterns of wall deposits and the yields will be compared for a miniature-scale spray dryer.
School of Electrical & Information Engineering
Mobile Spatial Audio
Supervisors:
Dr Andre van Schaik Email:
Dr Craig Jin Email:
The development of outdoor spatial-audio communication over head-sets, hand-held communication systems and mobile phones is an emerging technology area. It requires the integration of GPS, orientation sensing, and hand-held computing. We have projects in this area that can provide students the opportunity to learn the techniques required for spatial-audio communication. These projects focus on real-time software development with some hardware development for incorporating spatial location information into communication systems. Personal radio and Voice-over-IP are possible communication mediums for this project. Off-the-shelf electronics will be combined with custom software to develop the spatial-audio communication system.
CMOS IC Design for a GPS receiver
Supervisors:
Dr Andre van Schaik Email:
Dr Craig Jin Email:
This project implements a complete single-chip GPS receiver on a CMOS IC. We will meet several important requirements, such as small size, low power, low cost, and high sensitivity for mobile GPS applications. The receiver will be combined with an off-line, software baseband processor for the GPS receiver.
We will use the Cadence CAD tools for this project.
Biomedical Signal Processing
Supervisor: Associate Professor Steve Simpson
Email:
Data from eeg’s (brainwaves) can be analysed by converting them to three-dimensional signature images and the technique holds promise for detecting various abnormal conditions. In particular, epileptic seizures can be detected 20 minutes in advance, so patients have a warning and can take appropriate action or even intranasal medication to avoid the seizure. The technique has the potential to improve the quality of life of epilepsy sufferers. The project is to work in collaboration with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on researching preseizure using various signal processing techniques. Knowledge of C++, signal processing, and possibly a biomedical background would be valuable.
Tracking maximum power from solar panel for injecting to the power grid
Supervisor: Dr Swamidoss (Kumar) Sathiakumar
Email:
There has been a strong move through out the world to utilize cleaner energy due to growing concern for environmental protection issues. Among the cleaner energy resources the solar and wind energy are the popular ones and some electric utilities have also installed solar and wind forms in the outskirts of the city to generate power. It may be argued that such move to have large forms is not an efficient way to generate power and to effectively utilize land resources for such purposes. If the power is generated in every households and put to use then the losses due to power transmission may be eliminated.
This project is to develop a system to extract maximum available solar power from solar panels that could be installed in any household to supplement the usage of power from or inject the excess power to the power grid. The system may consist of a power converter controlled by a microcontroller to track the maximum power from the panel and to inject the power to the power grid using a buffer storage medium like batteries.
Three Projects in Power Supply and Electronics
Supervisor: Dr. Dylan Lu
Email:
Topic 1: Quasi-Active Power Factor Correction for Single Phase AC/DC Power Supplies
Power supply is an enabling device for all electronic and electrical equipments. For AC/DC power conversion, power factor correction (PFC) is an important technique for the commercial power supply, which draws power from the AC mains, to comply with international regulations, to save energy, and to minimize interference to adjacent equipments being connected. Nowadays design of power supplies involves an extra stage of power electronics circuit to implement PFC function. In order to lower the size and cost of power supply while achieving PFC in AC/DC power supplies, this project investigates a novel power converter circuit. The circuit is a modification of a popular DC/DC converter circuit used in telecommunication or computer products. This eliminates the use of an active PFC circuit. This project will involve analysis and simulation of the proposed power converter using OrCAD simulation package and MATLAB.
Topic 2: High Step-up Ratio Power Converters for Low Input Voltage Applications
In many occasions a power converter needs to provide a high output voltage from a low input voltage source, for example, using 12V car battery to supply power to other AC adaptors at 240VAC, powering equipment by a fuel cell, etc. This project aims to investigate a modified converter topology and compare with the existing one. Students will involve in circuit simulation using simulation tool such as OrCAD PSpice, and implementation of a hardware prototype.
Topic 3: Modeling of Integrated Magnetics in Power Electronics Circuits
With the advancement of packaging technique in semiconductors, intensive research is undergoing to reduce the size of bulkiest components in the power supply such as magnetic components and large electrolytic capacitors. To fully utilize the transformer core, integrated magnetics technique has been introduced. This technique involves putting more than multiple transformer windings of different groups into a single core. A powerful modeling technique called Gyrator Model enables engineer to accurately model and design such transformer.
This project aims to derive a suitable model for the design of a AC/DC power supply and verify the design by OrCAD simulation package.
School of Aerospace, Mechanical & Mechatronic Engineering
Prosthetic Knee: Undertake dynamic wear testing of a prosthetic knee in a simulated physiological environment.
Polymer-matrix Biomaterials: Fabrication and mechanical testing of a range of polymer-matrix biomaterials suitable for soft tissue replacement applications.
Supervisor: Dr Andrew Ruys
Email:
Control of Intelligent Flexible Structure System: Experimental and numerical study of vibration control of flexible beam like structures with integrated actuators and sensors.
Supervisor: Professor Liyong Tong
Email:
School of Civil Engineering
Contaminant Migration in Soil and Groundwater: A Computer Interface
Supervisor: Abbas El-Zein,
Email:
An interactive interface for analyzing contamination scenarios and viewing results will be developed. The most suitable development environment will be established, and the application designed, implemented, validated and fine-tuned. The student will develop an understanding of contaminant migration problems, computer-graphics environments and more advanced programming techniques.
Simulation of the effects of uncertainty reduction on the underlying value of projects
Supervisor: Dr Li Liu
Email:
The project simulates the effects of varying the level of uncertainties on the underlying value of a project. The study uses real option theory and numerical methods to model multi-phased projects as compound options. The simulation results will allow management to design strategies for the effective management of project risks for maximising the project's value.
Familiarity with Real Option theory and experience with Matlab are desirable.
Connections on hollow sections
Supervisor: Dr Tim Wilkinson
Email:
This project will involve the student designing some small experiments on steel connections, measuring loads, strains and deflections and developing a mathematical model to explain the behaviour.
Computer Modeling of Contamination Problems
Supervisor: Abbas El-Zein,
Email:
The current practice and current needs in computer modeling of contaminant migration in Australia will be established. Research recommendations will be made through industry interaction. The student will develop an understanding of environmental consulting and environmental practice in general, as well as approaches to real solving contamination problems.