Research 2010–2011 @UNSW

2ESEARCH n 5.37

#(!.').';4(%7/2,$ = CHANGING [ THE WORLD ] Research 2010–2011 @UNSW

CONTENTS

CHANGING [ THE PLANET ] 04–05 CHANGING [ TECHNOLOGY] 26–27 The solar story so far 06 Quantum leap 28 The solar solution 07 Just browsing 29 Alternative approaches 08 Look who’s talking 30 Cleaning up 09 Good produce 31 The heat is on 10–11 Concrete proposals 32 Flow of ideas 12–13 Robots to the rescue 33 Damage control 34 CHANGING [ HEALTHCARE ] 14–15 With ﬂ ying colours 35 Building strength 16 CHANGING [ SOCIETY ] 36–37 Unlocking secrets of the mind 17 Stalking a killer 18 The rights stuff 38 Conquering cancer 19 Future prooﬁ ng Australia 39 Eye on the prize 20 A world of difference 40 Future vision 21 Healing power 41 Hi-tech health 22–23 Risky business 42 Medical marvels 24–25 Secret lives of men 43

ENGAGING WITH [ RESEARCH ] 44–45

Industrial strength 46 New research hubs 47 Leading the ﬁ eld 48– 49 Making a difference 50 Credits 51

www.research.unsw.edu.au 03 From leading the world in developing clean solar energy to ﬁ nding the cause of one of Australia’s longest droughts, UNSW research is ﬁ nding answers to pressing environmental problems.

Solar power Emissions trading The crux of the drought Coastal erosion Making drinking water safe Saving marine life Waterbird warriors

04 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 CHAPTER ONE: CHANGING [ THE PLANET]

www.research.unsw.edu.au 05 The solar story so far For 35 years, UNSW has been a major force in photovoltaics research.

1975 1992 2000 • Solar Photovoltaic Group’s ﬁ rst cell • First large system using licensed • World’s ﬁ rst undergraduate program UNSW technology built in Berne, in Photovoltaic Engineering starts* Switzerland • Third Generation Photovoltaics Centre commences

1985 1994 2002 • World’s fi rst 20% effi cient silicon • 24% effi cient silicon solar cell* • Centre of Excellence in Advanced solar cell* Silicon PV and Photonics established • Buried contact cell sales under license to UNSW exceed $300m

1989 1995 2006 • World’s fi rst 20% silicon cell used for • “Spin-off” Pacifi c Solar commences • Collaboration with Suntech Power space* (confi rmed by NASA on • Buried contact cell most successfully leads to announcement of commercial high-altitude aircraft) commercialised in last 15 years production of jointly developed technology for improved top contact design • Stuart Wenham awarded World Technology Award for Energy • Collaboration agreement signed with CEEG Solar, Nanjing, China

1990 1998 2008 • 23% effi cient silicon cell • Pacifi c Solar announces pilot-line • School wins IAG Eureka Prize for • Swiss solar car “Spirit of Biel” wins start-up (thin-fi lm cells) Innovative Solutions to Climate Change World Solar Challenge using UNSW • BP Solar announces 20 megawatt, • PhD student Nicole Kuepper wins British solar cell technology $57m plant in Sydney (buried Council Eureka Prize for Young Leaders in Environmental Issues and Climate • Martin Green wins international IEEE contact cells) Change & People’s Choice Eureka Award William R. Cherry Award for advancing • BP announced Amoco merger photovoltaic energy technology eventually leading to construction • Martin Green honoured as New of this facility in Tres Cantos, Spain South Wales Scientist of the Year • World record 25% conversion effi ciency for silicon PERL cell

1991 1999 2009 • Group’s fi rst thin-fi lm silicon cell • Aurora 101 solar car wins World Solar • Stuart Wenham wins IEEE William Challenge with UNSW cells • BP Solar releases “Saturn” module R. Cherry Award under licence using UNSW technology • Australia Prize to Martin Green and • Australian Solar Institute established Stuart Wenham for solar work (highest effi ciency commercial • Agreement with Roth & Rau to module at 14.3%) establish pilot production line at UNSW

* indicates world best

06 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 The solar solution UNSW’s world-leading solar cell research is proving that clean energy is a force to be reckoned with.

Solar electric power is the fastest-growing UNSW is a founding member of the The array, to be installed this year, will energy market in the world, with demand Australian Solar Institute and will have comprise 2000 high-effi ciency Pluto increasing at a rate of 40 percent or more unrivalled research capacity through the solar photovoltaic panels and will supply annually for an energy source recognised soon-to-be-constructed Solar Industrial up to 70 percent of the STC’s power as one of the most promising technologies Research Facility – the only industrial- requirements, cutting its carbon emissions for a clean, sustainable energy future. grade silicon solar cell pilot line in the by about 555 tonnes a year – the country. In 2012 UNSW will open its equivalent of taking 158 cars off the road. UNSW is a world leader in solar cell $125 million Tyree Energy Technologies technology, with a substantial portfolio of Building, further enhancing the Dr Shi and his wife, Vivienne, made an patented technologies, commercialisation University’s research capabilities. extraordinary $2 million donation from agreements and international awards their family charitable foundation to to its name (see timeline, page 6). Its In commercial terms, deals have been create the solar array, which will be part research program is structured to address brokered for the team’s breakthrough of the STC’s broader Greening the Wharf near, medium- and long-term needs. buried contact and semiconductor sustainability project. technologies with some of the world’s Grid parity – matching the cost of fossil- largest solar cell manufacturers, including The Pluto cell used in the panels is a fuelled electricity – remains the greatest Chinese giant, Suntech Power, which low-cost implementation of UNSW’s challenge for photovoltaic power and the was founded by UNSW alumnus world-record-holding 25 percent effi ciency team at the University’s ARC Photovoltaics Dr Zhengrong Shi. PERL solar cell technology. Jointly Centre of Excellence is focused on developed by Suntech and UNSW’s School pairing cutting-edge technology with The links between UNSW and Suntech of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy market reality. Under the leadership of are having an impact at the heart of Engineering, the technology’s use at the internationally recognised solar innovators, Sydney’s emerging harbourside arts STC is its fi rst major installation in Australia. Scientia Professors Stuart Wenham and precinct. An agreement has been Martin Green, the Centre is a world leader made to install Australia’s largest-capacity in low-cost, fi rst-generation silicon solar rooftop solar panel array at the Sydney THE OPPORTUNITY cell technology. Theatre Company’s (STC) historic Walsh PhD and post-doctoral research Bay building. opportunities are available, as are industry and government partnerships. Grant Turner, Mediakoo Photo Grant Turner,

The power to change ... Scientia Professors Martin Green (left) and Stuart Wenham

www.research.unsw.edu.au 07 Kate Geraghty, Fairfaxphotos.com Photo Kate Geraghty,

Bright future ... Nicole Kuepper develops cheap solar cells in the lab

Alternative approaches Innovation is the key to powering the future.

UNSW Photovoltaics PhD student “I want to stay in this fi eld and see it Dr Hawkes is researching how to Nicole Kuepper captured the collective become a world energy resource,” optimise ethanol as a future fuel. imagination when she took out the 2008 she says. People’s Choice Eureka Award for her “Alternative fuels are going to be a Dr Evatt Hawkes, also of the School of work developing a cheap way to make huge growth area. Biofuels hold much Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy solar cells in developing countries. promise but we need to reduce the cost, Engineering, is looking at developing environmental impact and the competition Cheap solar cells created using simple more-sustainable fuels and engines for with food. We really need to work this components – aluminium spray, inkjet transport. problem from all angles – that includes printing, nail polish remover and low- more productive crops, better ways of With more than 90 percent of the world’s temperature pizza ovens – could deliver converting the crop into fuel and better transport reliant on combustion engines, clean energy to thousands of poor ways of burning the fuel in engines,” researchers are looking to fi nd ways to communities with no access to grid he says. drastically reduce fuel consumption, power. It’s research that demonstrates pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. how inspired engineering could deliver rapid results in the real world. Dr Hawkes has developed computational THE OPPORTUNITY tools which are leading to a better Current solar cell production methods PhD and post-doctoral research understanding of the fundamental physics are expensive and require high-tech opportunities are available, as are and chemistry behind combustion. This equipment, putting them out of reach industry and government partnerships. aids the development of new, sustainable for most people in poorer nations. fuels and engine designs. “We’re working to simplify how the “In a low carbon energy environment and cells are manufactured so they can be with increasing dependence on imported produced in developing countries,” oil, you have really got to think about Kuepper says. what you are going to do in transportation “We’re up to the really exciting stage of fuels,” he says. creating prototypes.” “I think there is some opportunity to Kuepper, who is studying at UNSW’s electrify urban vehicles but there are School of Photovoltaic and Renewable some areas where electrifi cation just can’t Energy Engineering is passionate about work, such as aircraft and heavy trucking. the potential of solar power. It’s in these areas that liquid fuels will remain vital.”

08 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Shutterstock

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Polluter pays ... coal-ﬁred power plants would be part of any emissions trading scheme

Cleaning up UNSW researchers are testing the proposed carbon trading scheme, to make sure it comes up to scratch.

The idea behind emissions trading Using environmental and experimental “International reporting and assurance schemes is simple enough; if it costs to economics, market design, statistics and standards are essential to establish pollute, then cleaner energy and greener econometrics, they are investigating the confidence in carbon trading systems industries, transport and lifestyles should impact of the penalty design and permit and the ‘carbon prices’ they generate as flourish. allocation procedures on performance of well as ensuring schemes achieve their the market. They’ll also gain some insight environmental aims,” he says. But such environmental levers are into human decision making; why one “designer markets”; their effectiveness, or business might choose to pay to continue Professor Simnett – who is working with otherwise, depends entirely on a complex polluting, while another will invest early in ASB’s Dr Wendy Green, CPA Australia and set of rules, policies and regulations. reducing its carbon footprint. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia – is co-chair of the International Environmental economist, Dr Regina “These are purely designer markets, so Auditing and Assurance Standards Board Betz, from UNSW’s Australian School we need to understand how to achieve (IAASB) task force that is developing a of Business (ASB) is at the forefront of emissions reductions efficiently and at the global assurance standard. research on design models for emissions lowest cost,” says Dr Betz. trading schemes. This research has On the other side of the equation, potential to inform policy formulation and The ASB team also used “prediction environmental problems are also offering implementation of schemes currently markets” to forecast possible outcomes of economic opportunities. under consideration by sovereign the crucial Copenhagen Climate Change UNSW’s low emissions building products governments. For example, the Australian Conference; a tool which may prove useful made from the fly ash by-product of Federal Government plans to issue about in other negotiation settings. coal-fired power stations, for example, 400 million carbon permits – or tradable At the same time, ASB researchers are clean up a serious pollutant while reducing “permits to pollute” – in the first year of also working on the development of global the carbon footprint of the construction the scheme. Around 75 per cent of these carbon assurance standards for the new, industry – saving money for businesses would be auctioned. Other governments green bottom line. required to hold permits under carbon are to consider similar schemes. The trading schemes. penalty of not having enough permits is With more than 40 reporting schemes set at a fixed price in the first years and worldwide and various assurance will be linked to the auction price later on. requirements, there’s great uncertainty, says Professor Roger Simnett, head of the THE OPPORTUNITY Together with her PhD student Phillia ASB’s School of Accounting. Postgraduate research opportunities Restiani, Dr Betz has conducted “mock” and collaborations exist across a range auctions and market simulations in a new Experimental Research Laboratory. of initiatives.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 09 The heat Photo Brad Morris is on

As the climate change debate warms up, UNSW research is unravelling the complex interplay between emissions from the land, sea and air.

Rising concentrations of greenhouse Working with other researchers, the There, it not only reduces seawater pH gases are the focus of much global team detailed for the fi rst time how a but also reduces carbonate mineral attention in efforts to come to grips with phenomenon known as the Indian Ocean saturation, which plays an important role climate change and its effect on our lives Dipole – a variable and irregular cycle in calcifi cation for many marine organisms and environment. But often neglected of warming and cooling of ocean water and thus for the marine food chain. in the discussions is the impact on the – dictates whether moisture-bearing winds Their study predicts the Southern Ocean world’s oceans. are carried across the southern half of will acidify much earlier than previously Australia. Shedding some new light on the problem thought, causing the shells of sea is UNSW’s Climate Change Research The landmark study explained the creatures to dissolve. That point will be Centre (CCRC). Led by joint directors record-breaking drought in south-eastern reached when atmospheric carbon Professor Matthew England and Professor Australia and solved the mystery of why dioxide levels pass 450 parts per million, Andy Pitman, the CCRC is playing an a string of La Niña events in the Pacifi c which is predicted to occur within 30 years increasingly infl uential role internationally. Ocean – which usually bring rain – has at most. It was recently involved in a global liaison failed to break it. To make matters worse, “Ocean acidifi cation is a direct project between elite climate researchers this period has coincided with a trend consequence of increasing atmospheric in the lead-up to the UN climate change towards higher average air temperatures carbon dioxide concentrations,” notes talks in Copenhagen, updating the science over the land, which may be linked to Dr McNeil. that underpinned the 2007 consensus human-induced climate change. report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel When climate change experts talk about In another recent study, the CCRC’s on Climate Change. a “tipping point” they are usually referring Dr Ben McNeil and colleagues found to an atmospheric point of no return; that Researchers at the CCRC also recently climate change is taking its toll on our moment when emissions-driven global revealed that the causes of south-eastern marine life. Of the 30 billion tonnes warming irreversibly alters life on Earth. Australia’s longest, most severe and of carbon dioxide emitted into the damaging droughts originate far away atmosphere through fossil-fuel burning, But, there’s another related “tipping point” in the Indian Ocean. about one-third is absorbed by the ocean. at which life may change forever.

10 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Rider on the storm ... Dr Mitchell Harley from the Water Research Lab surveys coastal erosion

For nations like Australia, with its people Whether rising sea levels and more rise, ranging from abandoning the town and infrastructure concentrated along frequent storms – like those which to building huge sea defences. The study the coastal fringe, the rising sea levels dramatically shifted Sydney’s sands in is part of a major new WRL research and extreme weather events of climate 2009 – will disrupt this equilibrium is project into optimum climate change change pose some vital questions. crucial to the future shape of our adaptation strategies for coastal Australia. Is there a point at which the coastline will shoreline boundaries. begin to erode and change dramatically Professor Cox also leads the new on a scale never seen before? If so, what At the same time, a collaboration with federally funded Australian Climate do planners and policy makers need to the NSW Government and the surfi ng Change Adaptation Research Network know to make informed decisions about community is deploying networks of for Settlements and Infrastructure. when to reinforce coastal communities cameras, usually used by surfers to or when to retreat inland? check out waves online, for long-term monitoring of changes to hundreds of THE OPPORTUNITY Several projects, led by Associate Australian beaches. A comprehensive range of postgraduate Professor Ian Turner of UNSW’s opportunities exist across these fi elds Water Research Laboratory (WRL), A third major program focuses on are contributing to the urgent need for forecasting out to 2100, using all of research. forecasting on vulnerable stretches of possible inputs to calculate risk. coastline. A recent federal parliamentary “The best evidence suggests sea levels committee identifi ed up to $150 billion are rising in the upper range of what was worth of Australian coastal property predicted; we need to know how fast currently at risk. and how much coastlines are going to Working internationally and locally, change,” says Professor Turner. UNSW researchers are investigating WRL’s Associate Professor Ron Cox an apparent, but little understood, has recently completed a pilot study in mathematical equilibrium, which seems Tasmania assessing “adaptation” options to have long kept coastlines largely for one coastal community as sea levels intact – bringing sand back on to beaches eroded by big seas.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 11 Flow Photo Patrick Cummins of ideas

The world’s most abundant resource is being carefully scrutinised to ensure not a drop is wasted.

Fifty years ago, when UNSW’s Water Beyond coastal safety, the sea surface This breakthrough launched the Research Laboratory (WRL) opened its also holds the answers to the urgent Connected Waters Initiative (CWI); a doors, water experts were thinking about global questions of how energy, heat quantitative analysis of ground and two main issues: huge dams to insure and gas are exchanged between the surface waters to enable sustainable against drought, and hydroelectric and atmosphere and the oceans. management of major irrigation areas. thermal power stations to provide energy. The future of Australia’s vital wetlands, Virtually everything Australians then “Determining the rate at which the as feeder rivers decline, is also knew about water was based on oceans are absorbing carbon dioxide is under scrutiny. overseas research. important for climate change predictions, because it directly affects the severity Professor Richard Kingsford, at the School Today, water research encompasses of what is happening in the atmosphere,” of Biological, Earth and Environmental issues ranging from environmental Dr Peirson says. Sciences, has played a major role in protection of wetlands, climate change, investigating the nation’s ailing river drought cycles and alternative water His team is collaborating with US systems and the devastation wrought on sources. But underpinning these research investigators in studying how waves, from bird life and other native species. efforts is the essential understanding the tiniest ripples to the ocean giants, disrupt the sea surface and how that of Australia’s unique hydrology built up Now Professor Kingsford is leading the disruption affects the exchange of CO2 at the WRL over half a century. Some largest-yet survey of the country’s vital and the heat that drives tropical storms. 4,000 technical and research reports and wetlands conducting aerial studies across 2,000 major industrial projects have been Inland, where drought is challenging the continent to track the abundance and completed since the laboratory opened. farming practices, UNSW researchers led diversity of waterbirds to determine the by Professor Ian Acworth have developed a ecosystem’s health. Research at the WRL, led by director Dr Bill 3D-imaging method to track the movement Peirson, also now has a global perspective. “Wetlands with large numbers of waterbirds of water as it soaks into the ground. For example Dr Peirson and his team are are in a healthy condition,” he says. advancing our understanding of dangerous Using electrical tomography, the method Australians need no reminding that sea conditions and coastal inundation, detects over-watering by measuring fresh water is not only a ﬁ nite resource, including the formation of “rogue waves” whether water is running off into the but is in increasing demand as the which can sweep rock ﬁ shermen into the subterranean aquifers way below the root nation’s population grows. So there’s ocean, even when the sea appears calm. zone; offering irrigators an opportunity to an increasing focus on ensuring water use less of a dwindling resource. supplies from dams and rivers are free from contamination and on recycling wastewater for re-use.

12 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 In the deep ... Professor Brett Neilan’s work has been used by the World Health Organization

In dams and rivers, different strains and in drinking water supplies, and these “High-grade recycled water is used in species of blue-green algae or bacteria patented tests are now the standard industrial applications and in household may be potentially deadly with drastic means of assessing environmental health. dual reticulation systems but there are implications for water supply. potential risks associated with under- “The research had its origins in the early performance or failure of treatment A team led by Federation Fellow Professor 1990s and problems in Queensland, processes,” Dr Khan says. Brett Neilan in the School of Biotechnology New South Wales and South Australia and Biomolecular Sciences, is trailblazing with massive proliferations of blue-green Existing water monitoring systems sophisticated new ways to determine algae,” says Professor Neilan. may not pick up incidents of treatment which bacteria or algae are harmful. failure quickly enough, but fl uorescence NewSouth Innovations has licensed spectroscopy has proven effective as a The research group at UNSW is Neilan’s technology to a company that highly sensitive, easily utilised and high- considered to be one of the world leaders will produce a diagnostic kit pinpointing speed method of testing for dissolved in the genetics of cyanobacteria, or the genes that cause potent toxins in blue- organic compounds. blue-green algae. Proving the point, in green algae and provide an early-warning 2009 Neilan won a record third Eureka testing system that differentiates harmful By detecting the chemicals coming prize for his work in the area, plus a and non-harmful species. through the treatment system the new NSW Scientist of the Year award. method gives a fast, clear indication of Further down the water chain, UNSW how effective the treatment has been. Professor Neilan helped uncover all four researchers are taking an innovative biochemical pathways responsible for the approach to ensuring water treatment production of potent bacterial and algal systems are working. toxins that contaminate our water supplies THE OPPORTUNITY A team at the UNSW Water Research and accumulate in seafood. PhD and post-doctoral research Centre, including Dr Stuart Khan, Dr Rita opportunities are available, as well as In a measure of the signifi cance and Henderson and Professor Richard Stuetz, industry and government partnerships. impact of his research, many international is developing new water monitoring tools groups, including the World Health that use fl uorescence spectroscopy Organization, have already adopted to provide immediate analysis of the Neilan’s techniques for the rapid and effectiveness of water treatments such accurate detection of blue-green algae as reverse osmosis and disinfection.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 13 From new approaches to tackling cancer, to restoring sight among the vision impaired, UNSW research will beneﬁ t countless lives.

Fighting HIV/AIDS Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder Developing a smart drug Changing cancer treatment Restoring sight Bionic eye Surgery without stitches No-wait blood tests Stopping scars

14 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 CHAPTER TWO: CHANGING [ HEALTHCARE]

www.research.unsw.edu.au 15 Photo Nic Bothma, Corbis

Left alone ... a South African child at an orphanage which cares for many children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS

Building strength HIV-infected people in developing countries stand to beneﬁ t from groundbreaking work at UNSW.

With more than 30 million people infected the two-year, 700-patient trial is dubbed NCHECR has also won a $9.1 million with HIV and no vaccine or cure in sight, ENCORE (Evaluation of Novel Concepts NHMRC grant for a program to control global efforts to combat the epidemic are in Optimisation of Antiretroviral Efﬁ cacy). STIs among young people, Indigenous focusing on antiretroviral therapies that It will be carried out by a research network Australians and gay men, and can keep patients alive and reduce the risk in Australia, the Americas, Europe and $17.7 million for a vaccine development of new infections. Asia, with results to be published by program for HIV and hepatitis C, led by mid-2013. Professor Cooper. By 2015 nine million people in developing countries will have access to the “Our goal is to ensure that everyone who The groundbreaking initiative’s eight other expensive drugs, up from three million needs treatment for HIV is able to access chief investigators include colleagues from currently. it,” Professor Cooper says. ”And if that Royal Perth Hospital and the universities can be done for less cost, then that’s a of Adelaide and Melbourne, Andrew Lloyd The success of the rollout is putting great result.” (UNSW’s School of Medical Sciences) enormous pressure on the ability and three NCHECR program heads, to manufacture and pay for the drugs. The Gates’ donation is the latest in a Professors Emery, Tony Kelleher and string of funding successes for NCHECR, But what if the existing drugs could be Greg Dore. made to go further? Could dosing levels reﬂ ecting the international standing be tweaked without compromising the of the Centre led by Professor Cooper, Professor Dore’s research has found that drugs’ effectiveness? If so, millions more a world-renowned HIV clinician and up to 70 percent of hepatitis C patients of the world’s HIV-affected people could clinical investigator. could be cured – and many serious liver conditions prevented – if patients sought be treated for little or no extra cost. A past president of the International AIDS early treatment with standard combination Society, Professor Cooper is leading the A UNSW team led by Professors David drug therapy. Cooper and Sean Emery, at the National push to transform NCHECR into a national Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical institute for infectious diseases. Research (NCHECR), has begun trials to Supported by $40 million from the NSW THE OPPORTUNITY see if the daily dose of one antiretroviral and Federal governments, the new Research opportunities exist in drug – efavirenz – can be reduced to institute will bring together 300 of the mathematical modelling, vaccine work 400 mg from the current 600 mg without nation’s top scientists investigating viral and Indigenous health. compromising effectiveness. hepatitis, HIV/AIDS and other sexually Funded by a grant of more than $18 million transmitted infections (STIs). from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,

16 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Photo Patrick Cummins

Finding the links ... Dr Melissa Green with Scientia Professor Philip Mitchell

Unlocking secrets of the mind New research suggests many similarities between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Evidence suggests schizophrenia and neuroimaging, cognitive testing and Schizophrenia Epidemiology and bipolar disorder can be inherited, but how physiological measurements to identify Population Health. The Chair is a joint do you identify those most at risk? What shared genetic susceptibility, which may project with the Schizophrenia Research are the subtle fi rst signs of onset? And manifest in common cognitive and frontal Institute, with funding of $2.125 million who will show resilience? brain dysfunctions. from NSW Health. To help fi nd answers researchers from Results from the study, being conducted Professor Carr is comparing records Brain Sciences UNSW are driving two in collaboration with the Schizophrenia from health and education departments landmark international studies to pinpoint Research Institute, the Black Dog Institute, to uncover new risk factors. Potential risk factors and provide the information the Prince of Wales Medical Research relationships between pregnancy for early identifi cation and treatment. Institute and Leiden University in The complications, school performance and Netherlands, are already indicating that behavioural problems could point to later “There is still no way of identifying schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are development of schizophrenia or other someone in the very early stages of more similar than previously thought. mental health problems. bipolar or schizophrenia, or someone who is most at risk,” says Scientia Professor “Already some medications are commonly The appointment cements UNSW’s Philip Mitchell, the head of the School prescribed for the two disorders, to reputation as a world leader in the fi eld of Psychiatry and one of the country’s treat overt psychotic symptoms. With and complements the work of Cyndi leading brain science experts. more information, new drugs could be Shannon Weickert as Macquarie Bank developed to improve the enduring Group Chair of Schizophrenia Research. “Current identifi cation practices are cognitive defi cits as well,” she says. extremely poor. It’s like only diagnosing people with heart disease when they A second landmark study to identify those THE OPPORTUNITY present with a heart attack,” he says. most at risk from bipolar disorder is being led by Professor Mitchell and the Black A PhD Scholarship in imaging genetics To fi ll the gap, Dr Melissa Green, an ARC Dog Institute. The study – the largest of is available, as are PhD opportunities in Future Fellow, has brought together its type, with partners in four US-based bipolar research. sufferers of schizophrenia and bipolar research institutions – will recruit 500 disorder to determine similarities and young Australians who have at least one distinctions between these diseases’ relative with the illness. genetic causes and manifestations. Also boosting schizophrenia research is Dr Green and her team will integrate the appointment of Professor Vaughan data from genetics, functional Carr to Australia’s fi rst Chair in

www.research.unsw.edu.au 17 Photo Patrick Cummins

A broad scope ... Professor Levon Khachigian has invented a drug with many applications

Stalking a killer The secrets of Australia’s biggest killer – cardiovascular disease – are being pieced together by UNSW researchers.

Imagine the possibility for disease Pre-clinical studies have already shown “That the heart has any regenerative prevention if we could develop a smart Dz13 can dramatically reduce heart capacity at all is an enormous surprise, drug to act like a friendly assassin in the muscle damage after a heart attack and that even mature heart muscle body, neutralising the master regulator and may lead to signifi cantly improved cells can divide fl ies in the face of genes that play a role in some of our patient outcomes. dogma that has been around for many, most common diseases. many years,” says Professor Graham, The drug also reduces incidental cell who is based at the Victor Chang Cardiac A smart drug which does just that – Dz13 and tissue death in procedures such Research Institute. – is ready to be trialled on humans. as balloon angioplasty and stent placements, and may have a role in Graham’s work gives much hope to the Developed by Professor Levon improving the effectiveness of coronary many thousands of people worldwide Khachigian, an Australia Fellow and artery bypass grafts. who suffer a heart attack. Director of the UNSW Centre for Vascular Research, the breakthrough Signifi cantly, the heart’s pumping action has global implications for the treatment is protected by the drug, improving the of diseases ranging from age-related patient’s chances of a full recovery. THE OPPORTUNITY macular degeneration, diabetes-induced Research and PhD opportunities are “While this drug doesn’t prevent the heart blindness, arthritis, certain cancers and available in the Centre for Vascular attack, it does reduce the damaging even cardiovascular disease. Research while the Victor Chang Cardiac effects of the blockage on the heart Research Institute offers research, Starting this year Khachigian will use once it’s happened,” Khachigian says. PhD, BSc (Hons) MSc and post-doctoral Dz13 to “switch off” a master disease- opportunities. Until recently, the human heart was regulating gene in skin cancer patients. thought to have little or no ability to Once it’s found to be safe and well repair itself by regenerating new tissue. tolerated, human trials will begin for other conditions. Recent studies from UNSW Professor Bob Graham’s laboratory (in collaboration “The drug is like a ‘nano-assassin’ with colleagues in the US) have shown that gets into cells under the cover of that even mature heart muscle cells darkness, then seeks out and destroys can be coaxed into dividing and thus, its molecular target,” says Khachigian. regenerating heart tissue.

18 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Photo Patrick Cummins

Putting people ﬁ rst ... Professors Robyn Ward and Philip Hogg

Conquering cancer New treatments developed at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre are revolutionising the ﬁ ght against the disease.

Cancer breakthroughs make headlines, Professor Hogg’s colleague, Professor “The new drug to be trialled in Australia but if they don’t lead to new treatments Robyn Ward – winner of the same prize is about 20 times more effective than and cures they’re little consolation to the in 2007 – is charged with getting Lowy’s the original and in animal trials at least, more than 110,000 Australians diagnosed basic science into the clinic. it’s also better tolerated,” says Professor each year with the disease. Hogg. If the results are replicated in Diagnostic tests for childhood leukaemia, humans, the world could have a new Ensuring discoveries in the lab make a developed by CCIA, are already in use, class of therapy consisting of the two difference at the bedside is the aim of while Professor Ward’s own research new drugs targeting a number of cancers. UNSW’s newly built $100 million-plus into the interplay between genetic and Lowy Cancer Research Centre and its epigenetic codes has identifi ed an “It will be very exciting to take a drug inaugural director Professor Philip Hogg. additional mechanism by which people developed at UNSW, and put it into human inherit cancer predisposition – essential trials at the only site in the state that has Professor Hogg is overseeing the information if screening is to be targeted an FDA-approved phase-one facility,” relocation of more than 400 medical and cost-effective. Professor Ward says. “That’s an important scientists from the Faculty of Medicine part about Lowy. It’s located next to the big and the Children’s Cancer Institute In 2010, Professor Ward will also guide hospitals and you can take the discovery Australia (CCIA) to the facility, which landmark human trials of a second- from Lowy and test it next door.” brings together adult and childhood generation cancer-fi ghting drug developed cancer research for the fi rst time. by Professor Hogg. The trial, funded Professor Hogg agrees: “You can count by the Cancer Institute of NSW, will be on one hand the number of home-grown Combining the two makes the Centre conducted at the Prince of Wales Hospital. drugs that have actually made it into the somewhat unique, Professor Hogg says, clinic. To have two of them – well, that’s but it’s the focus on getting oncology The drug’s precursor is already showing unique. It’s real translational medicine.” breakthroughs to the people who need promising results in treating ovarian them – the patients – that really sets cancer in trials in the UK. The anti- it apart. mitochondrial compound “starves” tumours to death by cutting off their THE OPPORTUNITY “Good translational research – that’s blood supply. While those trials could Postgraduate research opportunities what we are probably better at than fi nd funding only overseas, Professor are available in the causes of cancer almost anyone else,” says Professor Hogg credits the Lowy Centre with and application of new drug treatments. Hogg, who was named 2009 NSW bringing the second phase home. This encompasses basic research into Cancer Researcher of the Year. epigenetic changes that underpin the development of colorectal cancer and brain tumours.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 19 Grant Turner, Mediakoo Photo Grant Turner,

Seeing the light ... Doctors Stephanie Watson and Nick Di Girolamo

Eye on the prize In a world-ﬁ rst breakthrough, stem cells cultured on a simple contact lens are restoring sight to sufferers of blinding corneal disease.

Contact lenses have transformed vision Stem cells have also been used by UNSW He says the research, backed by the for millions of people, but now the researchers to re-grow muscles in mice. Oncology Children’s Foundation, has also technology is being used to restore The discovery last year opened up a world recently turned up another positive result; the sight of sufferers of blinding of possibilities in treating human diseases that muscle stems cells do not lose their corneal disease. by regenerating whole tissues. ability to regenerate as they age, meaning a parent or grandparent could be a Dr Nick Di Girolamo and Dr Stephanie While Professor Peter Gunning, Professor suitable donor for a sick child. Watson, from UNSW’s Centre for Infection Edna Hardeman and Dr Antonio Lee are and Infl ammation Research, have focusing on muscles, and muscle-wasting While human trials are at least three developed a non-invasive technique that diseases such as myopathy and muscular to fi ve years away the results move uses contact lenses to deliver stem cells dystrophy, their breakthrough technique regenerative treatment into the realm to the cornea. has potential applications for all tissue- of real-world possibility. based illnesses, affecting areas such as Stem cells are harvested from a patient’s the brain, liver and pancreas. own eye, cultured on a simple contact lens and placed on to the cornea, allowing the The researchers from UNSW’s School of THE OPPORTUNITY stem cells to “re-colonise” the damaged Medical Science managed to dramatically PhD and post-doctoral research eye surface. strengthen the ability of donor muscle opportunities are available. stem cells to regenerate damaged tissue The novel technique is a signifi cant by adapting a technique being trialled breakthrough for a range of painful and in bone marrow transplantation. A gene debilitating conditions, which have been is introduced into the donor stem cells notoriously diffi cult to treat. making them resistant to chemotherapy, Doctors Di Girolamo and Watson have which is then used to clean out the trialled the technique on two patients damaged cells and allow the new stem with corneal damage and one suffering cells to take hold. from a genetic eye condition. In all three “Until now the new, healthy cells had patients, sight was signifi cantly improved no advantage over existing damaged within weeks. cells and were getting out-competed,” The simplicity of the procedure means it says Professor Gunning. is ideal for developing countries without access to sophisticated medical facilities.

20 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Mehau Kulyk, Science, Corbis Mehau Kulyk, Illustration

A great leap forward ... creating a bionic eye to help the vision impaired

Future vision Research is about to deliver a bionic eye, one of several breakthroughs set to improve the lives of the vision impaired.

A grand vision is nearing completion. tolerance, of a “bionic eye”, and new The greatest challenge is creating the Professor Nigel Lovell and Associate ways to introduce multiple electrodes software to achieve the smooth integration Professor Gregg Suaning have developed into the retina. of different navigational technologies, says a viable vision prosthesis, and a UNSW- spatial systems engineer, Dr Binghao Li. prototype “eye” could be ready for human This will allow an external micro-camera “We don’t expect to entirely replace a cane, implantation as early as 2012. and micro-processor mounted on glasses to transmit a signal to an electronic but we aim to provide the vision impaired The researchers from the Australian Vision circuit and electrode array connected with a great deal of rich, new navigational Prosthesis Group are developing a 98- to the retina – offering realistic hope to information,” says Associate Professor channel device that has the potential to sufferers of common eye conditions Andrew Dempster, who leads UNSW’s create relatively detailed, patterned vision such as macular degeneration and research into new navigation technologies. using signals fed through the retina, at retinitis pigmentosa. Both projects illustrate the range of the back of the eye. The vision impaired can also expect applications of new technologies and UNSW’s “bionic eye” team is a lead to benefi t from emerging navigational highlight UNSW’s research strengths. member of the Bionic Vision Australia technologies. UNSW hosts both Australia’s largest (BVA) consortium that brings together biomedical engineering school and Researchers from UNSW’s School of Australia’s best biomedical engineering, Australia’s largest group investigating Surveying and Spatial Information and clinical and surgical researchers. satellite navigation and location the School of Computer Science and technologies. The strength of the BVA consortium, Engineering are combining the best plus the Federal Government’s recent available positioning systems – such as $50 million commitment to fund relevant Assisted GPS, WiFi, Radio Frequency research, offers Australia the best possible Identifi cation and Inertial Navigation THE OPPORTUNITY chance of building a world-leading bionic System – to generate an unprecedented PhD and post-doctoral opportunities eye, to follow the world-fi rst Australian “picture” to assist the vision impaired to are expanding in the growing bionic eye “bionic ear”, or cochlear implant, navigate through daily life. research team. In location technologies, according to Associate Professor Suaning. several PhD scholarships are on offer. The aim is to produce a low-cost, While other researchers worldwide are off-the-shelf unit, similar to an iPhone, pursuing the same goal, the UNSW project enabling the user to move seamlessly has two unique characteristics; the use of from GPS outside, for example, to other existing, safe materials to achieve greatly technologies inside to detect the locations enhanced bio-compatibility, or human of doors, stairways and other features.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 21 Hi-tech Photo Mike Gal health

Surgery without stitches and no-wait blood tests are transforming our most common medical procedures.

The days of waiting – sometimes – known as Ripple-Down Rules (RDR) – to optimise healthcare in emergencies, nervously – for the results of a blood test has dramatically simplifi ed the way such as natural disasters. are numbered. knowledge-based systems are managed. Professor Ray says health professionals Professor Justin Gooding, from UNSW’s Professor Paul Compton, the head of on the ground could text doctors outside School of Chemistry, has developed the School of Computer Science and the area to seek advice. hand-held devices that will make blood Engineering, devised the approach as a “Often phone lines are congested in a tests faster and more effi cient. This will way of building and changing computer disaster,” explains Professor Ray. “Texting ensure effective follow-up can be arranged systems while they are already in use. would allow for some response. While without delay. “RDR doesn’t specify a particular it would not be a full diagnosis, it would The kits can even be used by non- technology,” he says. “Rather it’s the basic allow vital information to be passed on.” specialist staff with huge savings idea that you can very simply add a rule to If the phone infrastructure is destroyed, – estimated at up to 20 percent – for a system without corrupting the existing satellite phones could be used. the health budget. knowledge in the system.” Trials in Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami The technology – which won Professor Professor Compton is a founder of proved so successful the World Health Gooding the 2009 UNSW Eureka Prize for spin-off company, Pacifi c Knowledge Organization has sponsored the next Scientifi c Research – also includes sensors Systems, which provides the technology stage of the study – assessing e-health in that minimise side effects from drugs and for pathology. At least fi ve other India, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. assist with pesticide detection in drinking companies worldwide have technology water. based on RDR. Some surgical practices have changed little over time. Ancient Egyptian healers “Ultimately the research will enable the A 2010 ARC Discovery Grant will look at used animal sinew to stitch up wounds development of diagnostic devices to RDR systems that can anticipate when a and although more sophisticated materials detect bioactive compounds, and predict system cannot deal with a problem. are used today – from natural silk to how people will respond to them,” Also utilising technology for healthcare synthetic dissolving thread – sutures says Professor Gooding. “This means is Associate Professor Pradeep Ray and remain the standard method for surgical customising dosage and types of drugs a team from the Asia–Pacifi c Ubiquitous closure. for individual patients, minimising side Healthcare Research Centre. effects, and again saving costs.” Yet sutures can lead to infection, so They have been looking at electronic alternatives such as surgical glues and Other revolutionary technology developed health (e-health) systems in developing adhesives are capturing an increasing at UNSW is already in use in about a third countries and the use of mobile phones share of the US$5 billion global market of Australian pathology labs. The system for such products.

22 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Faster, better ... Professor Justin Gooding’s work is changing the face of pathology

In response to design criteria established rats and has achieved results suggesting The team is also investigating the by surgeons, a team led by Associate that it actually promotes healthy cell wound-healing abilities of chitosan, used Professor John Foster of the UNSW Bio/ division and possibly even differentiation on the battlefi eld by US and Australian Polymer Research Group (BRG), in in some adult stem cells. forces in haemostatic bandages. the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, is investigating Thanks to a Fulbright Senior Scholarship, While platelets attach to chitosan potential applications of the world’s fi rst Professor Foster will spend four months bandages, researchers are trying thin-fi lm surgical adhesive that uses a of 2010 working in the US with leaders to understand what facilitates that unique combination of laser technology in the fi eld of regenerative medicine, attachment. and biomaterials. exploring the potential of SurgiLux® in this powerful new medical fi eld. Known as SurgiLux®, it is a natural, THE OPPORTUNITY environmentally friendly, strong, fl exible Meanwhile, Professor John Whitelock and his team at the UNSW Graduate Licensing opportunities for SurgiLux® fi lm that is compatible with living tissue are available to industry. Research and is based on the US Food and Drug School of Biomedical Engineering have opportunities are available in all the Administration-approved chitosan, a been working with the global medical schools mentioned. Scholarships are biomaterial derived from crustacean products company HemCon to create the shells. The fi lm is simply placed over a building blocks of a new generation of on offer at the Asia–Pacifi c Ubiquitous wound or surgical incision and activated medical technologies. Healthcare Research Centre. with a conventional infrared clinical laser Based on natural materials that promote to effect closure. It is so unique, the blood fl ow, this research promises to have Federal Government has awarded a an impact from operating theatres grant to help its development for delicate to theatres of war. brain surgery. They are investigating using chitosan UNSW scientists are now working in to create synthetic vascular grafts and, collaboration with colleagues elsewhere ultimately, artifi cial blood vessels to help to explore the potential for new biomedical in the fi ght against heart disease. materials and devices that may be more suitable not only for closing wounds but “Our work is aimed at understanding how to effect other surgical joins and seals. blood cells interact with chitosan . . . to enable us to develop a blood vessel in SurgiLux® has also been successfully the laboratory.” applied in vivo to repair sciatic nerves in

www.research.unsw.edu.au 23 Medical Photo Patrick Cummins marvels

Today’s new breed of drugs use nano-technology to deliver dosages to the right place at the right time.

Developing better drugs is the Nearly all cases of the disease are caused “At the core of our work is our desire to pharmaceutical industry’s holy grail. But by infection with the human papillomavirus understand how self-assembly works – the better drugs have little therapeutic value (HPV), which is typically transmitted very mechanism nature uses to build life – unless they can be delivered to the right through sexual contact. Injectable and if we can grasp its power we should be place in the right quantity at the right time. vaccines – such as Gardasil and Cervarix able to tackle some of the key medicinal and – guard against high-risk strains of HPV. environmental challenges in our society.” The industry’s new focus has become the targeted delivery of smart therapeutic The availability of an orally delivered Dr Thordarson’s work is part of a growing agents. vaccine would address signiﬁ cant trend in chemistry and biomedical barriers to injectable vaccines, including sciences to work with nature by mimicking Professor Neil Foster and colleagues at their expense, requirements for repeated biological systems perfected by evolution UNSW’s Supercritical Fluids Group are doses and sterile conditions, and over millions of years. pioneering the application of supercritical patient fear and pain, which lead to ﬂ uid technology to increase the solubility Professor Rose Amal is developing poor patient compliance and and bioavailability of several drugs. magnetic gold nanoparticles that could compromised therapeutic effects. help deliver anti-cancer compounds to Their focus has been the development The key challenge of this research is to tumours in the body. of inhalable insulin. If it proves encapsulate the vaccine so that it can successful it could take the needle out The nanoparticles are clusters of iron oxide safely pass through the body and be of the management of type 1 and type 2 molecules sealed in gold. The presence released to a target site in the body. diabetes. of magnetic iron could allow potential Accurate delivery of drugs is critical. Dr Pall therapeutic particles to be manipulated For a child with type 1 diabetes this Thordarson is an expert in the development inside the body while gold’s inert property would prevent them having to endure of smart self-assembling materials aimed provides an ideal surface for carrying drugs more than 20,000 insulin injections by the at more precisely delivering anti-cancer or biological monitoring agents. age of 15 years. drugs to cells in the body and limiting their Professor Amal heads UNSW’s Particles The Group’s research also underpins plans unpleasant side effects. If successful, this and Catalysis Research Group in the School by UNSW, the University of Queensland method could improve the survival rate and of Chemical Sciences and Engineering. and Australian biotech company Prima quality of life of chemotherapy patients. The Group is also investigating the use of BioMed Ltd to develop an oral vaccine for “We are only starting to understand how needle-shaped magnetic nanoparticles for the prevention of cervical cancer. these materials interact with living cells gene therapy applications. Such a vaccine could reduce the incidence but this understanding will be essential for of cervical cancer, which claims more than their use in medicine,” says Dr Thordarson 253,000 lives globally each year. of UNSW’s School of Chemistry.

24 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Stopping scars ... Professor Laura Poole-Warren

Other groups at UNSW are looking the Lowy Cancer Research Centre and Centre for Polymers, is reducing the towards gene silencing, which would Professor Heather Maynard at UCLA, are fi brotic scarring that occurs around effectively knock out diseases entirely. designing organic polymers which bond surgical mesh used to prevent or repair with a component of siRNA to create hernias. By targeting disease-causing genes and synthetic polymer-gene nanoparticles. preventing them from being expressed When meshes are placed into the The goal is to create nanoparticles robust in the body, gene silencing using siRNA abdomen, extensive scar tissue can form, and stable enough to survive the body’s (short interfering Ribonucleic Acid) has causing the mesh to stiffen, buckle and defences and deliver gene-based drugs the potential to eliminate serious diseases rub on underlying organs. A common to the site of disease. such as cancer, AIDS and hepatitis. complication is more scar tissue forming “These molecules have huge potential,” onto the bowel and causing dangerous Dr Volga Bulmus of the School of says Dr Bulmus. adhesions. Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, and Professor Tom Davis of “Using siRNAs we can silence any “We are interested in ways to modulate the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular disease you can think of which is fi brosis around a material without Design, are developing siRNA-based drug related to genes and with polymers changing the material, and that involves delivery systems which could take gene we tailor them to overcome the various some form of surface modifi cation,” silencing from the lab to the hospital ward. challenges involved.” Professor Poole-Warren says. “The siRNA approach is a very fl exible approach: siRNA are molecular strands of chemical Gene silencing can also help the body you can produce a platform technology information, which interfere with or halt the heal itself. Professor Laura Poole-Warren which is able to deliver a wide range of expression of a gene in the body. While of the Graduate School of Biomedical applications.” RNA interference is a natural process Engineering is leading research focused in living cells, scientists can tailor a on reducing damaging scarring around component of siRNA to interfere with the sites of surgery. a chosen target gene, meaning siRNA THE OPPORTUNITY could be used as a magic bullet to stop By coating medical implants with siRNA PhD scholarships are available through diseases in the fi rst place. that interrupts the expression of genes ARC Discovery funding held by associated with scarring, the formation Professor Davis and Dr Bulmus. PhD and But a magic bullet still needs a powerful of scar tissue can be minimised. post-doctoral opportunities are available and accurate gun. Dr Bulmus and Professor Davis, as part of a project with One application of the research, being in other areas. Associate Professor Maria Kavallaris from conducted with the Cooperative Research

www.research.unsw.edu.au 25 UNSW technology researchers are building the next generation of super computers and speeding up the way we mine online information.

Quantum computing Computer search technology Self-guided farm machinery Strengthening buildings Robots Satellite image technology Next generation of ﬂ ight

26 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 CHAPTER THREE: CHANGING [ TECHNOLOGY ]

www.research.unsw.edu.au 27 Michelle Young, Lantern Studio Photo Michelle Young,

Need for speed ... Dr Andrea Morello (left) and Professor Andrew Dzurak

Quantum leap A UNSW team working on the world’s largest program in silicon-based quantum computing is starting to reap results.

A single quantum computer could, for Silicon is not the only base material The fi rst commercialised quantum some tasks, be more powerful than all used in quantum research, but it offers technology has already emerged in the the computers in the world today running the advantage of being widely used and area of secure communications. Quantum together in parallel. understood in the computer industry. cryptography offers failsafe security and is attracting great interest for military and It’s not simply speed and power that Professor Andrew Dzurak is the NSW corporate fi nancial applications. gives quantum computing the edge – it Node Manager for the Centre for Quantum also offers vast advances in security over Computer Technology (CQCT) and NSW The CQCT is the world’s largest standard technology. Node Director of the Australian National combined effort in silicon-based quantum Fabrication Facility at UNSW. He and computing and works closely with Sandia It uses the behaviour of subatomic Dr Andrea Morello, Manager of the National Laboratories in the US and a particles – electrons and photons – to Quantum Measurement and Control number of other international centres. Its store and process data. The fundamental Chip Program, have recently achieved research is funded by the ARC, the NSW structure in quantum computer technology breakthrough results relating to the Government, the US National Security is the quantum bit or qubit. One type of measurement of qubits. Agency and the US Army Research Offi ce. qubit, being studied at UNSW, uses the “spin” of electrons associated with a “The key requirement for our silicon single atom in the same way that silicon quantum bits is we need to control THE OPPORTUNITY chip transistors use zeroes and ones to and measure the spin of an electron represent data. associated with a single phosphorus PhD and post-doctoral positions are atom. We have been able to perform an available for research in silicon-based Quantum computing’s power comes important experiment making contact quantum computing, involving state- from the fact that electrons can have with those single atoms for the fi rst time,” of-the-art nanofabrication, and low- a spin equivalent to a zero or one but, Professor Dzurak says. temperature and high-frequency when coupled together, can deliver an exponential increase in their ability to While a quantum computer that can measurement facilities. represent data. outperform conventional computers is more than a decade away, Professor At UNSW, researchers have made Dzurak says important breakthroughs important advances in creating and using are already being made, which will qubits based on a single phosphorus deliver “fi rst-mover” advantage in related atom embedded in silicon. nanotechnology fi elds as well as lay the groundwork for large-scale computing.

28 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Photo Patrick Cummins

Out of the blue ... Professor David Taubman with his image compression software, Kakadu

Just browsing Searching the web has become much easier thanks to technology developed at UNSW.

Do a Google search today and you will “It’s good publicity for the school and it matched to the user’s interests and the be using a search engine tool, known as demonstrates our students are ready for quality of the network connection, rather Orion, developed by Ori Allon during his the real world,” he says. than leaving the user at the mercy of the PhD candidature at UNSW’s School of way a web page was designed. In the fi eld of image compression, Computer Science and Engineering. Professor David Taubman, head of the Professor Taubman says Kakadu is The program makes web searching easier Telecommunications Research Group licensed to thousands of non-commercial by offering related terms to enhance a at UNSW’s Faculty of Engineering, users and among the 210 commercial user’s search and by displaying expanded stands out. licensees are some of the biggest names text extracts in results, removing the need in the industry including Google, Disney A key contributor to the JPEG2000 to click through to web pages. and Warner Bros. international standard for image Google was so impressed by Allon’s work compression, Professor Taubman and “It is very satisfying to see your work that in 2006 it bought the rights to Orion US colleague, Professor Michael Marcellin, go into something very real,” says and hired its creator. wrote what is considered the defi nitive Professor Taubman, adding he has no textbook on the new standard. intention of stopping there. Allon says he was surprised by the job offer, but confi dent in his technology. To help demonstrate the more interesting “The great thing is that Kakadu is also features of JPEG2000, Professor a vehicle for getting other ideas we are “For the most part, the concept is close Taubman, as an afterthought, wrote working on out there.” to what I developed during my PhD. a program to include with the book. The primary difference is the complexity of the algorithm required for it to scale to That compression software, known as serving millions of queries a day,” he says. Kakadu, permits the rapid transfer of THE OPPORTUNITY massive image and video fi les, and has Postgraduate coursework and research Allon credits his success in part to his become a hit in its own right. Kakadu lets programs are available to suit a range of former supervisor, Dr Eric Martin, and users view an image or video at reduced backgrounds. Head of School, Professor Paul Compton, quality, or with an arbitrary region of and says UNSW “defi nitely prepared me interest, while downloading only a tiny well for the commercial world”. fraction of the fi le. Dr Martin says it is rewarding to see In this way the interactive multimedia Orion integrated into Google’s main browsing experience is simultaneously search page.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 29 Grant Turner, Mediakoo Photo Grant Turner,

Perfecting pixels ... Associate Professors François Ladouceur and Martina Stenzel

Look who’s talking Everyday communication, from reading the newspaper to answering the phone, is about to change.

Electronic newspapers you can roll “Because the self-organising ability of “Until now, one particular method up and carry as easily as the printed the polymer eliminates the need for the of speech characterisation for voice version; cereal boxes displaying animated expensive lithographic processing used identifi cation has dominated the fi eld since pictures; smart phones that can identify in silicon-based displays, the process also the 1990s and has been the mainstay of and ignore spam callers – such are the promises signifi cant reductions in costs,” commercial systems,” says Dr Epps. latest applications for communications Associate Professor Ladouceur says. “By adding our technique to the technology. “We’ve improved the technology and are conventional method we can show a fairly Associate Professor François Ladouceur, now working on new ways of controlling signifi cant improvement.” Head of the Photonics and Optical the pixels themselves.” With voice identifi cation increasingly Communications Group and Associate being used in security, forensic, defence Professor Martina Stenzel, from the While this team is focusing on the and commercial operations, the pursuit School of Chemical Sciences and printed word, for Dr Julien Epps it’s all of greater accuracy is all-important. Engineering, are developing a new in the voice. Dr Epps, from the Speech The breakthrough is already garnering generation of electronic paper or Processing Research Lab, is part of a international interest. The development “e-paper” that is cheap, fl exible and team of world leaders in the fi eld of voice may even be the saviour of householders perhaps even disposable. identifi cation software. battling spam callers. “This new breed of electronic display The signal processing group, including “With the advent of VoIP telephony, one will be so fl exible you can wrap it around Professor Eliathamby Ambikairajah, way of fending off spam telephone calls things,” Associate Professor Ladouceur Dr Mohaddeseh Nosratighods and PhD will be to use speaker identifi cation to says. “The winning technology is not yet student Tharmarajah Thiruvaran, was work out who is speaking before you let available, but there is a whole industry out part of a consortium that ranked fi rst in them through.” there waiting for the breakthrough.” an international evaluation run by the US National Institute of Standards and The team are hoping their approach of Technology in 2008. utilising photonics and self-assembling THE OPPORTUNITY polymer nanotechnology will give them The UNSW group has continued breaking new ground and publishing Postgraduate research work in speaker the edge. The work has attracted the recognition, forensic voice comparison, interest of UK company Plastic Logic work challenging the main method for emotion recognition from speech and new which is a leader in the fi eld of non-silicon, characterising speech. The team has communications technologies. plastic-based electronics. developed a piece of software – VolP – that analyses digital speech waves and gives greater identifi cation accuracy.

30 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Grant Turner, Mediakoo Photo Grant Turner,

On track ... Dr Ray Eaton (left) and Associate Professor Jay Katupitiya

Good produce Position is everything in the disparate worlds of nanomaterials and agriculture.

Associate Professor Jay Katupitiya is meantime the team is developing a robotic 50 nanometres wide (a few-thousandths hoping the hardest decision farmers will planter fi tted with sensors that can correct the width of a human hair) and up to soon have to make is which book to read errors introduced by the tractor to deposit several micrometres long. while the crops are being sown. seeds at predetermined sites. His work will involve national and As one of the research leaders behind “If you control the planting and do that international collaborations with two of the development of self-guiding tractors accurately, then the follow-up operations the world’s leading nanomaterials groups, and robotic weeders and seeders, become easy,” says Associate Professor headed by ARC Laureate Fellow Professor Professor Katupitiya believes autonomous Katupitiya. Chennupati Jagadish at ANU and agriculture can take the tedium out of Professor Lars Samuelson at Sweden’s “It becomes all about position. You are farming while delivering greater effi ciency Lund University. not interested in what you are going to kill and productivity. when weeding, you are interested in “The materials aspects of nanowires The work of Professor Katupitiya and killing anything that is in the wrong place.” are now becoming developed enough colleagues, at the School of Mechanical to start exploring their potential for new Position is also everything in the fi eld and Manufacturing Engineering along with electronic devices. My interest is in of nanotechnology. UNSW researcher Dr Ray Eaton, from the School of Electrical looking at possible uses of these wires Associate Professor Adam Micolich is Engineering and Telecommunications, for spintronics – devices where the about to delve into the fi eld of nanowire is being funded by the Australian electron’s spin rather than its charge is research as part of an ARC Future agricultural industry. And industry has used for computing applications,” says Fellowship. Professor Micolich, part of shown a keen interest in protecting the Associate Professor Micolich. the Quantum Electronic Devices Group intellectual property already generated within the School of Physics, is taking “The idea is that this takes what we’ve by this research. the group’s leading-edge work of the recently done at UNSW on developing The big-ticket item is a self-guided tractor past fi ve to 10 years in nanoelectronics whole quantum wires ... and transferring that uses GPS and Inertial Navigation to see if it can be transferred across to that knowledge to new materials.” System data for navigation and computer semiconductor nanowires. software that steers and accelerates In contrast to most nanoelectronic the vehicle. THE OPPORTUNITY devices, which are made by etching away The pinpoint accuracy needed to achieve at a large semiconductor chip, nanowires Postgraduate research in the School automated farming in Australia’s rough are self-assembled structures just of Physics, leading to a PhD or MPhil. terrain is still to be mastered. In the Postgraduate research in autonomous agriculture.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 31 Grant Turner, Mediakoo Photo Grant Turner,

Ahead of the curve ... Professor Mark Bradford

Concrete proposals UNSW engineers are strengthening structures and manipulating precious metals to solve some of the built environment’s biggest problems.

From the great domes of Europe to the In Australia, new dome construction, silver, platinum and metal oxides and in bridges of Sydney, time is taking its toll particularly from concrete, is rare particular their self-assembly structures. on the materials that form our most because the structures face poorly Dr Jiang hopes increasing knowledge of iconic structures. understood stresses that can result in how these metals perform at the nano- catastrophic failure. For Professor Mark Bradford, at the Centre level could lead to understanding how for Infrastructure Engineering and Safety in The pair is using complex computer they can be manipulated to enhance UNSW’s School of Civil and Environmental modelling to better understand the forces their capabilities. Engineering, overcoming the effects of that can affect the integrity of curved In particular Dr Jiang is working on age, acid rain and climate change is a concrete forms. challenge he is ready to accept. developing new methods of encouraging They have already built four-metre- self-assembly of these nanoparticles on Supported by an ARC Discovery Grant, diameter domes and tested these in the a larger scale. Professor Bradford and colleague Centre’s state-of-the-art heavy structures He hopes his fi ndings will be useful Dr Ehab Hamed, are developing an research laboratory. innovative retrofi t approach that can in developing new and complex With cement being the second-most used strengthen domes with externally nanostructures for use in industry material on Earth next to water, Bradford bonded composite materials. applications such as gas sensing, says it makes sense to open up the catalysts and lithium ionic batteries. Dr Hamed has already used the architectural possibilities of the resource. technology on masonry buildings in “This is not a very new fi eld, but there “Nobody previously had the expertise the Middle East with positive results. are many challenges still,” Dr Jiang says, to do the mathematical modelling of adding his work could lead to high-capacity, Professor Bradford says the team has also concrete shells,” says Professor Bradford. low-cost and long life-span batteries that had approaches from NSW Roads and “We are now developing these models.” could help reduce greenhouse emissions. Traffi c Authority to see if the technology Dr Xuchuan Jiang, an ARC Future Fellow can be used on infrastructure such as within the School of Materials Science bridges nearing the end of their life cycle, THE OPPORTUNITY and Engineering is dealing with a rarer or which need strengthening to cater for resource to enhance capabilities. Graduate research work leading to a increased traffi c loads. Master of Engineering, Master of Science, He is looking at the functional properties As part of their research they are also Master of Philosophy or PhD is available, and potential of low-dimensional hoping to pioneer an innovative way as well as coursework in the School of nanostructures of metals such as gold, of building thin curved or domed Materials Science and Engineering. concrete structures.

32 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Grant Turner, Mediakoo Photo Grant Turner,

Designing intelligence ... Professor Claude Sammut

Robots to the rescue Fast-learning, intuitive and autonomous robots are coming closer to reality.

A robot that searches for survivors in a “This highly promising technique of prototype is a maze game. Two players collapsed building and then maps the learning by demonstration results in a have to cooperate to pick up treasures site for human rescuers to follow would robot adapting to unknown and changing in the maze. We’ve been playing it at a make search and rescue missions far circumstances,” Professor Sammut says. nursing home. People love it.” less perilous. As well as working on rescue robots, Other research by Dr Ryan focuses Making it actually happen is the goal the group is striving to develop general on more effi cient control of the giant of the Artifi cial Intelligence Research cognitive abilities of robots. Under stevedoring robot cranes that move cargo Laboratory, which is part of the ARC the leadership of Associate Professor around Australian ports. Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Maurice Pagnucco, Dr Alan Blair and He hopes the work will change the way Systems. newly appointed Future Fellow, Professor these multi-tonne cargo robots operate Michael Tielscher, the researchers so that more of them are able to move The group at UNSW’s School of are investigating new methods for around without running into each other. Computer Science and Engineering has programming and learning complex established an international reputation problem-solving behaviour. by harnessing the competitive spirit of its researchers in the creation of highly The promise of making artifi cial THE OPPORTUNITY innovative robotic software. intelligence work to greater effect while Several scholarships are available to giving a richer interactive experience is students working towards a PhD or Led by Professor Claude Sammut, the ambit of yet another lecturer at the Masters by Research. the challenge has been to improve school: Dr Malcolm Ryan. locomotion, navigation, sensing, decision-making and learning in robots He uses computer games to help elderly that are used in real-life situations. people who have suffered an injury rehabilitate their sense of balance. “The focus of most of our robotics The work uses the same 3D vision research is the use of machine learning technology of the rescue robots to monitor to help create autonomous systems,” patients’ body movement in the game. Professor Sammut says. “Rehabilitation exercises are usually dull A rescue robot is taught how to drive and repetitive,” Dr Ryan says. “We want over a simulated rubble fi eld by capturing to make them more motivating and fun human input at a keyboard and then by incorporating them into a computer matching that with the images seen by game. It’s called exergaming. Our current the robot.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 33 Frederick J Brown, AFP, Getty AFP, J Brown, Photo Frederick

Among the ruins ... a survivor of the Sichuan earthquake

Damage control Technology being developed at UNSW is helping improve responses to workplace and environmental disasters.

It’s hard to imagine greater need for between UNSW and a number of The simulators are teaching mineworkers disaster risk management than in the Chinese authorities. how to survive potentially life-threatening aftermath of the devastating Sichuan workplace hazards using virtual-reality This partnership will not only help earthquake and Victorian bushfi res. mining environments. Australian researchers monitor unfolding Researchers from UNSW’s School of disasters, but will improve research Developed by UNSW’s School of Mining Surveying and Spatial Information Systems capability on a range of environmental Engineering in a seven-year collaboration played a leading role in the earthquake issues as well. with Coal Services Pty Ltd, the system recovery effort in China, using radar re-creates hazardous situations through UNSW is also making a difference in satellites to survey the ground movements interactive training scenarios that are similar another disaster zone with a team of in the quake zone after the disaster. to a highly sophisticated computer game. more than 80 scientists investigating the Under the guidance of Associate Professor impact of the Samoa tsunami and helping “Our research efforts are directed Linlin Ge, the group was among the the government enhance its disaster at developing new kinds of artistic THE OPPORTUNITY fi rst in the world to generate a ground risk-management strategy. experiences that can also inspire innovative displacement map of the region, showing Theindustrial Australian and commercial Laureate Fellowship applications,” has a The team is being led by Associate earth surface upheaval while identifying strongsays iCinema focus on Centre building director, and mentoringProfessor Professor Dale Dominey-Howes, potential aftershock and landslide areas. theDennis next Del generation Favero. of PhD scholars. co-director of the Australian Tsunami There are PhD opportunities for those The School, headed by Professor Chris Research Centre and Natural Hazards They may not win an Oscar for their interested in the area of Public Law. Rizoz, is today recognised as a world Research Laboratory, a global leader in efforts, but the iCinema training technology leader in satellite image technology. the fi eld. could avert a mining disaster. The power of this technology was again This Centre, also headed by Professor revealed when bushfi res ravaged Victoria James Goff, is unique in the region for in 2009. its use of geologists, geographers, THE OPPORTUNITY engineers, sociologists, policy scientists PhD and post-doctoral research The team was able to pass on to Victorian and ecologists to gain a holistic opportunities are available, as are fi re authorities high-resolution imagery understanding of hazards phenomena. industry and government partnerships. of the fi re zones by accessing data from Chinese satellites. At UNSW’s iCinema Centre disaster risk management is all part of the game and Scientists are now able to respond more its award-winning iCASTS – (iCinema effectively to disasters such as these Advanced Safety Training Simulators) because of a valuable new partnership – are attracting great interest.

34 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Dr John Brackenbury, Science Photo Library Science Photo Brackenbury, Photo Dr John

High ﬂ iers ... locusts might hold clues for researchers to develop microaircraft

With ﬂ ying colours The sky is the limit when it comes to aviation technology.

A dream of a microaircraft that mimics Limiting aircraft noise and emissions in The team is looking at composite the fl ight of insects is more than just a the wider world of aviation is also a focus helicopter airframes and has developed fl ight of fancy. of research at UNSW. models to predict how a frame might behave under stress, such as in an Dr John Young, at the School of Dr Sameer Alam, another ADFA-based emergency landing. Engineering and Information Technology researcher, has developed the Air Traffi c at the Australian Defence Force Academy and Operations Management Simulator “The particular response we are looking (UNSW@ADFA), is using computer (ATOMS), the fi rst system worldwide to for is a crushing behaviour that maximises modelling to reveal how a locust’s wings integrate air-traffi c modelling with data the energy that a structure can absorb,” change shape during fl ight. and computations on aircraft noise and says Professor Kelly. emissions. The work, carried out in collaboration with The researchers are working with Oxford University researchers, has been The system is used by Airservices Australia Australian Aerospace in a program published in the journal Science. The to study the environmental impact of air directed by the Cooperative Research team used high-speed cameras to fi lm traffi c procedures and is also the primary Centre for Advanced Composites the wing movements of locusts then fed simulator in a study funded by the Structures. They hope to test the the information into Dr Young’s 3D model, Eurocontrol Experimental Centre in Paris. crashworthiness of a new generation which showed how the wing structure helicopter structure in Germany in 2010. Simulation results from ATOMS show that contributes to effi cient fl ight. The knowledge the team is gaining on savings of up to 30 percent are possible carbon fi bre performance and failure in The fi ndings are, Dr Young believes, on fuel and have resulted in reductions airframes is improving helicopter safety another step toward the creation of in fl ying time, carbon dioxide emissions and positioning Australian industry miniature aircraft. and noise. to have world-leading design and “Certainly these aircraft are going to “Many of the procedures aircraft now follow building capabilities. be fi elded in the next decade. They’re were developed in the 1970s without any probably not going to be as sophisticated real scientifi c thought,” notes Dr Alam. as nature’s fl yers but we will see them,” THE OPPORTUNITY “We can use our system to work out Dr Young says. optimal routes and change fl ight plans to Postgraduate programs are open to And the work has real applications minimise noise and emissions.” civilians as well as defence personnel. with the microaircraft already slated Scholarships are available. In the School of Mechanical and for deployment in areas as diverse as Manufacturing Engineering, Professor Don bushfi re monitoring, search and rescue Kelly and colleagues are not concerned with and industrial accidents. how planes fl y, but rather how they crash.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 35 Researchers at UNSW are ﬁ ghting for individuals’ rights, working to sustain the fabric of our communities and helping people in developing countries.

Human rights Green buildings High-density housing Welfare in the developing world Mental health after the tsunami Reducing drug harm Emotional lives of men

36 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 CHAPTER FOUR: CHANGING [ SOCIETY]

www.research.unsw.edu.au 37 Photo Patrick Cummins

Democratic defender ... Professor George Williams

The rights stuff Anti-terrorism laws are posing major challenges for democratic nations.

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, “Despite the volume of literature, much UNSW has also been instrumental in democratic nations have enacted security about these laws remains to be examined the push for better protections federally. laws of stunning scope and number. and understood,” he says. “There is Professor Williams, along with colleagues War-like measures that were once also the prospect that more laws will be Andrew Lynch, Ed Santow and Paul unthinkable – detention without charge, enacted in response to further terrorist Kildea at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre, and heightened surveillance and new sedition attacks, like those in Mumbai.” Andrea Durbach and Andrew Byrnes offences – are now accepted as normal. at the Australian Human Rights Centre, Also to be investigated is the “leakage” wrote submissions to the Federal inquiry “The legal system has been fundamentally of exceptional measures into other areas charged with determining whether altered,” says Anthony Mason Professor of criminal law. “These measures ought Australia needed formal human rights of Law, George Williams. “In the past to have been contained in the terrorism protections. these extreme powers were for confl icts context, but they’re turning up in anti-bikie like World War II which had a clear legislation. That’s a real concern,” he says. Chaired by UNSW Visiting Fellow Father endpoint. But the confl ict against terrorism Frank Brennan, the inquiry recommended has no endpoint. A second thrust of the research will Australia enact a human rights act. address some of the thorniest issues “It’s no longer an exceptional response to in public law; namely the adequacy of a transient threat, but a long-term shift in oversight and review mechanisms to the way the law works,” says Professor monitor the operation of the laws, and THE OPPORTUNITY Williams, recently awarded an ARC the ability of human rights mechanisms The Australian Laureate Fellowship has a Laureate Fellowship to investigate the to protect individuals. strong focus on building and mentoring challenge these laws pose for democratic the next generation of PhD scholars. “This is especially important in Australia nations. There are PhD opportunities for those in the absence of a human rights act,” interested in the area of Public Law. The prestigious Fellowship gives Professor Professor Williams says. Williams, founding director of the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law at UNSW, The weakness in human rights protections the resources for a detailed comparative in Australia has been a long-term concern analysis of the scope and operation for UNSW’s legal researchers. In 2005 of the laws in countries ranging from Professor Williams chaired the Victorian Australia and New Zealand, to India, Human Rights Consultation Committee, the UK and the US. which led to the enactment of the fi rst Charter of Rights by an Australian state.

38 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Angela Wylie, fairfaxphotos.com Photo Angela Wylie,

High-density housing ... apartment living may not be suitable for all

Future prooﬁ ng Australia The ﬁ ndings of UNSW sustainability researchers are helping to shape critical public policy.

With the construction sector responsible Researchers at the City Futures Research to a huge drain on the public purse in for around 30 to 40 percent of our annual Centre (CFRC) believe that buildings not the form of extended pensions. global greenhouse gas emissions, a only have an effect on the environment, The Australian Institute for Population climate emergency could be averted but also on their inhabitants. Ageing Research (AIPAR) has launched by making our existing buildings more “High-density housing may well be the the fi rst nationwide Longevity Index sustainable. answer to Sydney’s urban sprawl but more designed to assess the effects of interest “If we retrofi t our existing buildings the than 50 percent of Sydney apartment rates, infl ation and longevity on the cost energy we’d save would reduce the dwellers are unhappy in their homes,” the of self-funded retirement. need for additional power stations,” Centre’s Director Dr Bill Randolph says. The researchers behind the index, says Dr Peter Graham from the Faculty He warns that the NSW Government’s the Australian School of Business’s of Built Environment (FBE). Metropolitan Strategy, which plans Professor Michael Sherris and Professor “Carbon emissions can be reduced 640,000 new dwellings for Sydney – John Evans, say past modelling has by 30 percent with little cost to the 70 percent of which will be high-density underestimated the population’s economy and jobs can be created at – will only work if apartment living is longevity in light of improved medical the same time.” made more appealing. treatments – leaving many fi nancial institutions scrambling to fund extended Dr Graham has spent the past two years “Planning assumptions based on an superannuation requirements. with the United Nations Environment ideal type of apartment resident – young Program in Paris coordinating the singles, couples and empty-nesters “These are the types of things that we Sustainable Buildings & Climate – don’t suffi ciently capture the complexity need to know and consider, when we’re Initiative (SBCI). The SBCI aims to help of the apartment population. thinking about retirement decisions,” says “mainstream” sustainable buildings Professor Sherris. “The question is not whether more globally and assist the industry in rapidly apartments are a sustainable option but reducing its greenhouse emissions. Much whether increasing numbers of people THE OPPORTUNITY of the work Dr Graham was coordinating living in apartments can be sustained,” The CFRC works in partnership with the at SBCI was released at the UN Climate Dr Randolph says. Change Conference in Copenhagen. community, government and business to The nation’s sustainability is also contribute to the issues that impact on “Australia lacks a consistent framework infl uenced by Australia’s ageing urban regions. Postgraduate research for policy that sets regulatory targets population. opportunities are available in FBE to urban for the industry, such as zero carbon or researchers wanting to expand their skills. zero energy buildings, that could help us The proportion of Australians aged 65 and Postgraduate research opportunities are avoid the worst-case scenarios of climate over is projected to almost double to a available in many areas of AIPAR’s work. change,” says Dr Graham. quarter of the population by 2050, leading

www.research.unsw.edu.au 39 Photo Ryan Pyle, Corbis

Struggling to survive ... an elderly woman cleans clams in Fujian province

A world of difference From China to Papua New Guinea, UNSW researchers are working for the good of some of the globe’s most vulnerable.

UNSW researchers are looking at welfare “Most of the population will remain Associate Professor Worth’s team is and economic issues affecting the two dependent on old-age provision through also evaluating programs to reduce the extremes of age in China. family support for many years to come,” transmission of HIV to newborn children. says Professor Whiteford, also from At the Social Policy Research Centre “This therapy is highly effective in the SPRC. (SPRC), Professor Ilan Katz and preventing HIV among newborns, but Dr Xiaoyuan Shang are looking at the “The question is how do you create in PNG many women ... do not come extent, nature and cause of child abuse a pension system that gives people back to an antenatal clinic to receive in China. adequate incomes in retirement as the this treatment and many babies die from Chinese population rapidly ages?” AIDS-related conditions,” she says. “Our “Early fi ndings reveal that most people in research is aimed at fi nding out why.” China would not do anything about child Closer to home, Associate Professor abuse because they think it’s a private Heather Worth from the International HIV While infection rates in PNG have not matter for the family,” Professor Katz says. Research Group is helping stem the HIV yet come down, the work of Associate epidemic in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Professor Worth and her colleagues is “There isn’t really a legal framework for changing the way PNG responds to HIV them to intervene when a child is being For the past three years, the UNSW – ultimately saving lives. abused so we need to help establish a team has worked with the PNG Institute new child welfare law and a system for for Medical Research implementing the responding to abuse.” HIV social research training program with THE OPPORTUNITY 10 full-time, early-career researchers. Their research will lead to a raft of This program coincided with the fi rst PhD and Masters by Research programs recommendations to Chinese government national HIV research agenda and in social research, particularly in Asia and agencies. provided a pool of well-trained the Pacifi c. At the other end of the ageing spectrum, researchers where previously there Professor Peter Whiteford is helping forge were few. an effective national pension system for “The HIV epidemic in Papua New the Asian giant. Guinea is serious,” says Associate The research provides a detailed Professor Worth. “The estimated description of the system over the past prevalence is more than two percent 30 years and assesses whether it has in adults, making it one of the achieved its goal of social security for most HIV-affected countries in the more people. Asia–Pacifi c region.”

40 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Dimas Ardian, Getty Images AsiaPac Getty Images Photo Dimas Ardian,

Out of the shadows ... a survivor in Aceh remembers the tsunami

Healing power When disaster strikes its impact is more than physical. Trauma is being dealt with by UNSW researchers using methods from psychiatry to the ﬁ ne arts.

When the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 mental health and livelihood interventions and South Africa examining responses to rocked the Indonesian province of Aceh, to ease the trauma and poverty the epidemics and disasters. it was just one more disaster in a decade people experience. of misery to strike the people. She has worked with the University of “Aceh has a strict Islamic tradition and Ulster on an exhibition that examines In the aftermath of the killer quake, that will be carefully taken into account the trauma of dispossession in Northern UNSW researchers joined with non- in our research,” says Professor Bryant. Ireland, Indigenous Australia and South government agencies to help deal with “We’re putting a lot of effort into Africa. post-trauma and the mental health impact understanding local perceptions, idioms, “Much of our work focuses on dimensions of the catastrophe. terms and constructs to explain what’s of traumatic experience that are not happened and how people cope. Yet it soon became apparent that the civil readily expressed or represented in confl ict and human rights abuses post- “Essentially what we’re trying to do is everyday language, but that needs to be disaster, had mental health implications bring science to an international problem addressed if a reconciliation or confl ict far outstripping those of the tsunami itself. that traditionally has not been amenable resolution is to succeed,” she says. to scientifi c study.” Examining this phenomena is a “In this sense, art or creative expression collaborative project between the UNSW In recent years there has been a is vital to expanding understanding and Schools of Psychology and Psychiatry signifi cant growth in trauma studies analysis of the effects of trauma. It can even – under the stewardship of Australian among cultural researchers. directly assist a reconciliation process.” Laureate Fellow Professor Richard The UNSW Centre for Contemporary Bryant, Professor Derrick Silove and Art and Politics at the College of Fine Dr Zachary Steel. Arts, under the directorship of Professor THE OPPORTUNITY The team is working with tsunami- Jill Bennett, has pioneered work on the Postgraduate research and PhD displaced residents from the district study of trauma and its expression in art, scholarships exist in many study of Barat – one of the worst hit areas in particularly in relation to post-confl ict areas. Clinical and forensic psychology the disaster – doing a series of needs communities. postgraduate programs include intensive assessments and evaluations. Professor Bennett is involved in professional training. The ultimate aim is to develop whole- collaborative research projects with of-community programs that combine academics in The Netherlands, China

www.research.unsw.edu.au 41 Photo Bruce Magilton, Newspix

Big Day Out ... young people were asked about drug use

Risky business Research into reducing drug harm is targeting a new generation of young people.

The number of people infected with contract hepatitis C within the ﬁ rst three In 2009 the study revealed that crystal hepatitis C in Australia is on the decline years, less than 30 percent of young methamphetamine – or ’ice’ – use – a happy development for educators adults exposed to injecting knew where fell across Australia, with NSW targeting injecting drug users about the to access sterile needles. recording the steepest drop. This dangers of sharing dirty needles. contrasted with a sharp increase in “We need to be aware that injecting cocaine use by the state’s injecting But researchers warn a new generation is a part of young people’s social and recreational users. “In a perfect of teenagers and young adults may be networks and that, if educated properly, world we’d like to see decreases in falling through the education net. they can share information with their all the drugs monitored,” says Chief peers about reducing the harms. Research shows that despite the decline Investigator Dr Lucy Burns. in overall Hepatitis C cases, infection “This means we have to provide better “We know people who are highly rates are highest in people under 20. education to school-aged kids in order dependent on drugs are unlikely to to get that information to them before According to an annual survey conducted stop, but at least we can focus on they start to inject.” at the Big Day Out concerts by the harm reduction by providing information National Centre in HIV Social Research Reducing drug harm is also the focus for the implementation of targeted (NCHSR), one in four young adults aged of another of the University’s premier policies.” between 16 and 25 is aware of injecting national research centres. drug use among their friends but has In the past 10 years the National Drug minimal knowledge of how hepatitis C THE OPPORTUNITY and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) is transmitted. A comprehensive range of postgraduate has coordinated the Illicit Drug Reporting “Around 83 percent of infections are System and the Ecstasy and Related research opportunities exist at NDARC caused by blood-to-blood contact through Drug Reporting System – Australia’s and NCHSR. unsafe injecting practices yet a large largest drug-monitoring programs. percentage of young people surveyed The programs report on the price, thought it could be caught from sharing purity and availability of drugs and toilets or kissing,” says Research Fellow serve as an early warning system, Dr Joanne Bryant. identifying trends in illicit drug markets Dr Bryant says the study is unique – essential information for governments, because it captures young people before law enforcement agencies and they start injecting. While most users health workers.

42 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Photo Patrick Cummins

Men’s business ... Dr Clifton Evers explores the lives of surfers

Secret lives of men The emotional lives of men are being revealed through UNSW research.

Among surfers a pat on the back can The impact is likely to be worse for men “Intimacy is a very big part of their lives, convey a wealth of meaning, while in who are single, separated, divorced or so for instance getting a pat on the back retirement men often fi nd their so-called widowed because of their lack of support, from an older guy means much more than golden years tarnished by loneliness. he says. just hello,” he observes. “It means you are bonded through shared experiences.” These are just some of the insights into “I suspect that a lot of men would like the secret life of men being revealed by to be more social in retirement, but they While young men might put surfi ng and UNSW researchers. don’t know how to make new friends out their mates front and centre, they are still of the work environment,” he says. exploring their emotional lives. Social Policy Research Centre Research Fellow Dr Roger Patulny says while social In contrast, surfi ng is predominantly the “The way they have learned to talk about contact in older age is vital for wellbeing, domain of younger men, who hang out their emotional lives is by acting it out research shows men are often isolated in groups. through a third object such as surfi ng, – putting them at risk of depression and cars or sports stars,” he says. Until now, however, there has been little poor physical health. understanding of the bonds uniting “They may talk about a mate and the Before retirement, men and women spend devotees and their emotional lives. experiences that he is going through, but similar time with family and friends outside really they are trying to work out what is Dr Clifton Evers – a lifelong surfer the household (70 minutes and 75 minutes going on for themselves.” himself and Post-doctoral Fellow in the respectively per day), he says. Journalism and Media Research Centre But post-retirement men retreat to their – debunks the idea of surfers as “straight families, spending just 53 minutes a day as steel, strong as granite, austere and THE OPPORTUNITY on social contact outside the home, while inviolate”. Postgraduate research possibilities are women spend almost double that time available in journalism, media, cultural “Young guys hang out in tight-knit – 103 minutes – socialising outside. studies and social policy work. crews,” he says. “There are strict pecking “Retired men report a shift towards orders and through that they develop an spending more time with partners emotional life. – a fi nding strangely at odds with what women say,” Dr Patulny says.

www.research.unsw.edu.au 43 UNSW research is changing the world – and so can you. Whether it’s work on the environment, health care, technology or society, there is room for your input.

Partnerships New research hubs Making a difference Fellowships Prizes

44 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 CHAPTER FIVE: ENGAGING WITH [ RESEARCH]

www.research.unsw.edu.au 45 Coming full circle ... OneSteel’s Paul O’Kane with Professor Veena Sahajwalla

Industrial Strength Strong partnerships between researchers and industry can take innovation to new levels.

Australian steel-maker OneSteel was OneSteel’s Sydney and Melbourne plants “We can do the research, but we can only putting its engineering cadets are now manufacturing all their steel get as far as proving our work in the lab,” through UNSW when it was introduced products, mainly for the construction says Professor Sahajwalla of the crucial to a novel research project in the Materials industry, using the UNSW “polymer role of industry partners. Science labs, which promised to take injection” green steel method. “You are always going to have people recycling to a new level. “It was a very novel idea but the people who look at something new and are a bit Five years later, having steered the in OneSteel wanted to do something unsure. So, you need industry leadership, UNSW concept through industrial trials environmentally friendly,” says Mr O’Kane. to believe in the idea and to convert it into at its Sydney steel plant, OneSteel has a commercial reality.” turned Professor Veena Sahajwalla’s “With the added benefi t of reducing UNSW’s world-leading photovoltaics idea into a reality. electricity use, the potential to cut production costs, increase productivity researchers will also benefi t from a new What OneSteel Technical and and create a competitive advantage for link with the leading international supplier Development Manager, Paul O’Kane, an Australian-made product, in the face for the solar power industry, Germany’s saw was a chance for a major steel of imports, was also very high.” Roth & Rau AG. company to make a signifi cant The company will set up a state-of-the- environmentally friendly change. Electric OneSteel has continued its cadetship art silicon solar cell production line on arc furnace steel-making recycles scrap program with UNSW, providing campus, in the $20m Solar Industrial metal, so it is already an industrial-scale scholarships for undergraduates in Research Facility, the fi rst solar research recycling process accounting for about the School of Materials Science and and development facility of its kind 40 percent of steel production worldwide. Engineering. in Australia. But, it’s also energy-hungry. Mr O’Kane sees the tie-up as the right Professor Sahajwalla had discovered that combination of educational, technical and industrial experience to build the waste plastic and tyres – which usually THE OPPORTUNITY clog landfi ll around the world – could company’s next generation of managers. With the “green steel” collaboration, The ARC links academics and industry be “mixed in” with the coke and coal through Linkage grants. In 2009, UNSW in an electric arc furnace, creating a OneSteel not only opened its own plant won $17.4 million in ARC Linkage grants, cleaner, more effi cient burn – and up for industrial trials, but sponsored reducing the electricity required in the fi ve extra PhD students to work on the which brought a further $31.5 million steel-making process. research. to the table in co-contributions from industry and other partners.

46 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Photo Patrick Cummins

A grand vision ... the Lowy Cancer Research Centre at UNSW

New research hubs Two new places of research, made possible by signiﬁ cant donations from philanthropists, will facilitate ground-breaking research at UNSW.

The Lowy Cancer Research Centre, The Centre’s existence is in no small way CERPA is the fi rst place in Australia to offi cially opened in 2010, is the fi rst due to the vision of businessman and cover all aspects of energy research – from research centre in Australia to bring philanthropist Mr Frank Lowy, whose family renewable technologies and sustainable together childhood and adult cancer agreed to donate $10 million toward the fossil fuel use to markets policy. research at the one site. The $100 million- cost of the new building - the largest single The institute will be housed in UNSW’s plus facility houses up to 400 researchers philanthropic donation ever received by from UNSW and the Children’s Cancer fl agship research facility, the Tyree Energy the University. Institute Australia (CCIA), making it one Technologies Building (TETB), which is due of the largest dedicated cancer research A new energy research institute at UNSW, for completion in 2012. centres in the Southern Hemisphere. the Centre for Energy Research and The $125 million building is supported UNSW is a leader in the fi eld of adult Policy Analysis (CERPA), is providing a by $75m in funding under the federal cancer research with internationally groundbreaking approach to fuelling our government’s Education Investment Fund recognised medical scientists such as future in a clean, sustainable way. and is one of the fi rst such projects to get under way. inaugural Centre Director Professor Philip The multidisciplinary Institute brings Hogg and Professors Robyn Ward and together the capabilities of seven UNSW UNSW alumnus Sir William Tyree, Levon Khachigian (see pages 18 and 19). faculties: Engineering, Science, Law, Arts after whom the building is named, has They are teamed at the new Centre with and Social Sciences, Built Environment, the generously donated $1 million towards the CCIA’s renowned childhood cancer Australian Defence Force Academy and the building and pledged a further bequest of $10 million. researchers, including Professors Michelle Australian School of Business. Haber, Murray Norris and Glenn Marshall. Photo FJMT Architects

Engineering a new future ... an artist’s impression of the Tyree Energy Technologies Building, viewed from Anzac Parade

www.research.unsw.edu.au 47 Leading the

ﬁ eld Photo Steve Lunam copyright Australian Museum

Major research prizes Royal Society of NSW Edgeworth 2009 Khwarizmi International Awards David Medal Professor Brett Neilan awarded in 2009 Associate Professor Adam Micolich School of Biotechnology and School of Physics Biomolecular Sciences ENI Renewable and Non-Conventional (see page 31) (see above) Energy Award Eureka Prize for Scientiﬁ c NSW Scientist of the Year Award Professor Martin Green Research (sponsored by UNSW) – Physics, Earth Sciences, Chemistry ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence and Astronomy (see pages 6 and 7) Professor Justin Gooding School of Chemistry Associate Professor Linlin Ge Premier’s Award for Outstanding (see pages 22–23) School of Surveying and Spatial Cancer Researcher of the Year Information Systems Eureka Prize for Water Research (see page 34) Professor Philip Hogg and Innovation UNSW’s Cancer Research Centre NSW Scientist of the Year Award (see page 19) Professor Brett Neilan School of Biotechnology and – Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Sciences Sir William Upjohn Medal Biomolecular Sciences (see pages 12–13) Professor Gernot Heiser Professor David Cooper School of Computer Science and National Centre in HIV Epidemiology NSW Scientist of the Year Award Engineering and NICTA and Clinical Research – Environment, Water and Climate (see page 16) Change Sciences Green Globe Awards – Sustainability Champion Category Australian Academy of Sciences Professor Brett Neilan Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal School of Biotechnology and Professor Stuart Wenham Biomolecular Sciences ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence Professor Victor Flambaum (see above) (see pages 6 and 7) School of Physics

48 Research@UNSW 2010 –2011 Celebrating at the Eureka Awards ... UNSW individual ﬁ nalists (l–r) Professors Levon Khachigian, Justin Gooding, Brett Neilan, Associate Professor Greg Leslie and Professor Stuart Wenham. Not pictured: the team from the iCinema Centre

Royal Australian Chemical Institute 2009 NHMRC Academy (inaugural) Major Fellowships RK Murphy Medal Professor Bruce Brew Professor Neil Foster St Vincent’s Clinical School awarded in 2009 School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering 2009 NHMRC Academy (inaugural) NHMRC Australia Fellowship (see page 24) Professor Glenda Halliday Prince of Wales Medical Professor George Paxinos 2009 Fulbright Senior Scholarship Research Institute Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute Associate Professor John Foster Professor Levon Khachigian School of Biotechnology 2009 NHMRC Academy (inaugural) Centre for Vascular Research and Biomolecular Sciences Professor Andrew Lloyd (see page 18) (see pages 22 and 23) School of Medical Sciences ARC Laureate Fellowship 2009 Fulbright Professional Scholarship 2009 NHMRC Academy (inaugural) Dr Vanessa Hayes Professor Mark Harris Professor Richard Bryant Children’s Cancer Institute Australia School of Public Health & Community School of Psychology for Medical Research Medicine (see page 41)

2009 NHMRC Academy (inaugural) Professor George Williams School of Law Professor Richard Bryant (see page 38) School of Psychology (see page 41)

www.research.unsw.edu.au 49 Photo Britta Campion Making a difference

If you would like to collaborate with Students interested in pursuing a UNSW researchers and/or would like postgraduate research opportunity to explore the possibility of an industry should contact: partnership please contact: Graduate Research School Ofﬁ ce of the Deputy The Graduate Research School is the Vice-Chancellor (Research) central administrative and support unit The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) for all students enrolled in PhD, MPhil is responsible for driving the strategic and Masters by Research higher degrees research direction, in particular, at UNSW and their supervisors. maintaining and advancing the University’s Phone: + 61 2 9385 5500 proﬁ le in research and research training, Fax: + 61 2 9385 6238 as well as technology transfer. Email: [email protected] Room 137, The Chancellery, UNSW Web: www.grs.unsw.edu.au Phone: + 61 2 9385 2700 Fax: + 61 2 9385 8008 Email: [email protected] For information on commercialisation Web: www.research.unsw.edu.au possibilities please contact:

Postal Address: NewSouth Innovations The University of New South Wales UNSW SYDNEY NSW 2052 NewSouth Innovations Pty Limited (NSi) Australia is UNSW’s commercialisation arm and specialises in transforming research and Ofﬁ ce of Media and technology developed at UNSW into Communications successful ventures or products. The Ofﬁ ce of Media and Communications Phone: + 61 2 9385 5008 is responsible for the management Fax: + 61 29385 6502 of internal and external communications Email: [email protected] and handles all media liaison for Web: www.nsinnovations.com.au the University. UNSW Foundation Phone: + 61 2 9385 3249 Fax: + 61 2 9385 1683 The UNSW Foundation Limited, a Email: [email protected] registered charity, is a company limited Web: www.unsw.edu.au/news/pad/ by guarantee. Registered in 1988, the articles/index.html company is linked to the University by a trust deed and is the principal vehicle for UNSW’s fundraising activities. It oversees the raising of philanthropic gifts for scholarships, research and capital projects. Phone: + 61 2 9385 3202 Fax: + 61 2 9385 3278 Email: [email protected] Web: www.unsw.edu.au/alumni/pad/ alfoundation.html

50 Research@UNSW 2010 -2011–2011 Looking to the future ... detail of the Law Building at UNSW Credits

Produced for the UNSW Ofﬁ ce of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) by the Ofﬁ ce of Media and Communications Managing Editor: Mary O’Malley Editor: Susi Hamilton Deputy Editor: Fran Strachan Sub-editor: Dani Cooper Proofreader: Pam Dunne Design and production: Tonic Connective Contributors: Bob Beale, Dani Cooper, Anabel Dean, Dan Gaffney, Susi Hamilton, Denise Knight, Steve Offner, Fran Strachan, Peter Trute and Louise Williams Copyright: The University of New South Wales, January 2010. CRICOS Provider No: 000098G ISSN: 1836-1978 (Print) ISSN: 1836-1986 (Online)

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