PERFECT PITCH How STEFAN MAUGER Is Cutting Through the Noise at Cochlear

VOL. 3 NO. 4 MAY 2017

PERFECT PITCH How STEFAN MAUGER is cutting through the noise at Cochlear

Healing touch No thanks Free wheeling Scalpel, suction, driver? Seashell inspired 3D printer: Driverless bus wheel design Engineers in the technology hits won’t get stuck operating theatre the road in Perth in the sand

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02-05_EA020_MAY17_Contents.indd 2 20/04/2017 3:24 PM | THE JOURNAL FOR ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017

The journal for Engineers Australia

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA NATIONAL OFFICE

11 National Circuit, Barton, ACT 2600 Phone 02 6270 6555 www.engineersaustralia.org.au memberservices@engineersaustralia. org.au 1300 653 113

NATIONAL PRESIDENT: John McIntosh FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER IntPE(Aus) APEC Engineer

create is the o cial magazine for members of Engineers Australia

Publisher: Mahlab Australia’s leading supplier of corrugated metal pipes Managing Director: Bobbi Mahlab Editor: Kevin Gomez BS and corrugated plate structures for use in road and rail [email protected] infrastructure projects, as: Senior Writer: Christopher Connolly BE [email protected] - Drainage culverts and stormwater systems Chief Content O cer: Martin Wanless

- Bridge-spans and underpasses Publisher: Stuart Singleton

- Conveyor, personnel and stockpile tunnels Advertising Sales Managers:

- Mine portals and decline tunnels Stuart Neish 02 9556 9122 [email protected] Manufacturing locations: Peter Stephens 02 9556 9116 [email protected] Perth, WA Tom Price, WA Townsville, QLD Art Director: Matt Caul eld Designer: Sonia Blaskovic Capella, QLD Blayney, NSW Production Manager: Kathy Little 369a Darling Street, Balmain NSW 2041 www.mahlab.co

All supplemented by our state-of-the-art mobile mills for on-site Printed by: BlueStar Group manufacture where our experience, and safety record, is unrivalled. Mailed by: D&D Mailing

Cover image: Adam Flipp

ISSN 2205-5983

Opinions expressed by contributors are their own except where they are speci cally stated to be the INQUIRIES: WA 08 9404 5391 QLD 07 4789 6700 General 1800 194 746 www.roundel.com.au views of Engineers Australia. Engineers Australia retains copyright for this publication. Written permission is required for the reproduction of any of its content. All articles are general in nature and readers should seek expert advice before acting on 30 CONTENTS any information contained here in. “I love understanding how the body works, and, because I’m Cover story a true engineer, I love to build Torn between engineering and medicine, something that helps people.” Stefan Mauger opted for the best of both worlds, biomedical engineering. - STEFAN MAUGER

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 3

02-05_EA020_MAY17_Contents.indd 3 20/04/2017 3:25 PM UNSW Women In Engineering Awards - nominations open 1 May

Do you know an outstanding female engineer? Nominate her for a Women In Engineering Award: • UNSW Alumnae Awards – 2 categories with a prize of $5000 each • Ada Lovelace Medal – open to any Australian female engineer

To learn more and nominate visit unsw.to/WIEAwards

_EA_APRIL17_UNSW_FP.indd02-05_EA020_MAY17_Contents.indd 1 4 20/03/201720/04/2017 10:54 3:25 PMAM | THE JOURNAL FOR ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017

Engineers Australia 6 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 7 YOUR SAY 79 CALENDAR NEWS 9 Five girls rede ning what’s possible in STEM 10 Thubber - elastic and 16 thermally conductive 22 12 How to measure non-Newtonian liquids 40 14 What’s the big idea? The arti cial synapse 15 Another sci- device becomes a reality 18 Instrument mimics surgeon’s hand 20 Slip, Slop, Slap, Silicon TRANSPORT 22 Are we there yet? Perth’s driverless bus PEOPLE 30 COVER STORY: Cochlear’s Stefan Mauger has developed a new processor, o ering CONTENTS better than ever hearing quality for its users 66 Virtual reality is driving 58 66 long-distance collaborations 71 Inventing a beach wheelchair UNSW Women In Engineering Awards - and a renewable energy app saw Steve Gates named WA Volunteer of the Year nominations open 1 May 82 SwitchDin founder Andrew Mears is in the create spotlight, discussing distributed energy systems Do you know an outstanding female engineer? COMMUNITY 40 When a cyclone destroyed Nominate her for a Women In Engineering Award: a number of bridges in PNG, there were major challenges • UNSW Alumnae Awards – 2 categories with a prize of $5000 each in the rebuilding project TECHNOLOGY • Ada Lovelace Medal – open to any Australian female engineer 53 When will graphene turn its potential into bene ts? ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA 80 Technology Watch: Four engineersaustralia.org.au of the latest innovations

Check out our weekly newsletter – your best resource for INNOVATION To learn more and nominate the latest news, events, policies, continuing education 58 Doctors, nurses and engineers and career-related information. are scrubbing up for the visit unsw.to/WIEAwards operating theatre

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 5

_EA_APRIL17_UNSW_FP.indd 1 20/03/2017 10:54 AM 02-05_EA020_MAY17_Contents.indd 5 20/04/2017 5:05 PM INSIGHT FROM ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA

FROM THE PRESIDENT Taking a leadership role in shaping the future of Australia Our ongoing engagement with governments will be critical if we are to enhance our reputation as the trusted voice of the profession.

While the engineering profession is often with governments will be critical if we are to described as a broad church, so too is Engineers enhance our reputation as the trusted voice of Australia. After all, we boast a membership that the profession. is 100,000 strong; representing all disciplines of We must continually strive to bridge engineering; who are dispersed across this vast the gap between decision-makers and the land and beyond. engineering profession. Our trusted voice must One of my many tasks as National President be supported by expert technical advice that is to harness the energy of this global cohort, will inform governments when they are making so that we may confront the challenges and decisions that will impact our ability to create exploit the opportunities that await us as an happy, healthy, prosperous and sustainable organisation. It is a duty I discharge gladly, communities. Our commitment to supporting and one which I am committed to, in a STEM and the academic sector must not waver, shared leadership capacity, with the Chief for they are the bedrock of our future. Executive O cer. The CEO, working collaboratively with the As you will be aware, we said farewell to Board, will be instrumental in setting a course Stephen Durkin earlier this year. The process for the future growth and fi nancial stability of fi nding a replacement is well underway. Our of Engineers Australia, ensuring that we take Royal Charter dictates that the CEO must be an a leadership role in shaping the future of this engineer, and a current member of Engineers great country and have the capacity to infl uence Australia. And that it is the Board’s responsibility engineering practitioners beyond our shores. to appoint the most eminently qualifi ed to I know there are some outstanding leaders in this o ce. the engineering profession. Many of them we While Engineers Australia advocates for the count as members. Many, but not all. To those profession, we must never lose sight of the fact who stand outside our realm, let me o er an that it is ultimately the community that will open hand of friendship. Engineers Australia benefi t from our work. To lead us, the Board will welcome all engineers who adhere to the very be looking for a candidate who has a vision for highest standards of ethics and are dedicated Engineers Australia, and can communicate a to advancing the science and practice of strategy for realising that ambition. In essence, engineering. Your contribution may well be the we are looking for a leader who can navigate a ‘tipping point’ for our organisation. course that will inspire others to follow. There is no better time to be a member of Australia deserves a well-trained and highly Engineers Australia. We are fortunate indeed qualifi ed engineering workforce. In fact, just as to be writing our own history, and I look our community demands it, so must we deliver. forward to sharing with you the next chapter of Our This is one area where the Board will be looking our journey. commitment to our CEO for thought leadership. to supporting Make no mistake, the challenges before us STEM and are many. And can be found, not just in the the academic day-to-day operations of an organisation that sector must not boasts such a large membership, but in the waver, for they way we are relevant to our members, both local John McIntosh FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER APEC are the bedrock and abroad, and the engineering profession. Engineer IntPE(Aus), National President of our future.” Engineers Australia’s ongoing engagement [email protected]

6 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

06-07_EA019_APR17_Letters.indd 6 20/04/2017 5:05 PM YOUR SAY

There is never any shortage of discussion among engineers in di erent forms of media. Here is a recent letter we received.

COMMON SENSE ORS in a timely manner we generally have to work with incomplete I am writing to support the views of John Giles data to arrive at an optimised solution to a problem which in expressed in his letter responding to the December itself has to be de ned, again usually with incomplete clarity article ‘Making Sense of IOT’ (create March 2017). of all implications and impacts on people, the environment The use of sensors in engineering will not and and the hip pocket. The properties of materials used are also should not spell the end of over-engineering. subject to manufacturing tolerances. The amount of pre-work A er spending 46 years as a detailed designer in data gathering, maybe building a real or 3D computer model, and in design management in all sorts of projects maybe making and instrumenting a prototype and subjecting and over numerous disciplines and participating in it to all considered load combinations or operational situations the formulation of numerous Australian standards before embarking on the determination of a solution involves in my eld, I believe that engineering can be sound judgment. Part of that judgment surely must involve the de ned as ‘The art of Applying Science’. application of carefully thought out factors of safety. I have In practising this art, engineers used the plural deliberately as di erent operational situations are expected and obliged to or loadings applied to the same item may result in a range of use sound judgement in failure modes or outcomes, the results of which may warrant all facets of a design. Instrumenting things (engines, pumps, process equipment etc) and adding sensors to provide useful feedback on structural elements etc I simply consider as ”The use of sensors in good practice. engineering will not and should not In my view the term ‘over-engineering’ spell the end of over-engineering.” should never be used. An engineer has an obligation to engineer something to be safe, t for purpose (it di erent safety factors. Obviously the degree of con dence can be built, operated/used and maintained) and one has is in the input data and in the performance of the be economic. There are no perfect solutions to any item being designed under the range of conditions it will problem. Optimal solutions are what we need to aim encounter throughout its life will colour the size of the safety for and every situation requires a custom solution to factors applied. allow that optimisation. Instrumentation and sensors are simply tools in the arsenal Engineering judgement will, of necessity, be an engineer needs to carry out his or her function. Their use in uenced by the quality/accuracy/applicability should not necessarily spell the end of ‘over-engineering’ if we of the input data, the validity of the equations/ are to be responsible. programs/modelling used when applied to the problem at hand and numerous other factors. PETER CHOULES MIEAust CPEng (Retired) Engineers are not scientists. To carry out our work

Do you know of an exciting project we should write about? Is there an outstanding engineer in your midst? Are you working on an innovative technology, which you’d like to welcomes share with your fellow members? Are there engineers out feedback there doing their bit to help the community? Do you want to comment on an article you’ve read in create? from the Email [email protected] and we’ll be community pleased to consider your suggestions.

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 7

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The success of an all-girl team at the "It has had a considerable infl uence national fi nals of the F1 in Schools on how we approach the areas of careers Technology Challenge in Adelaide last we will pursue by giving us the practical week is helping inspire more females into and authentic learning environment in STEM (science, technology, engineering which to advance our skills and abilities," and mathematics) subjects at school. Alkhalili said. The Golden Diversity team from The organisation behind the Queechy High School in Launceston are competition, Re-Engineering Australia fi ve girls aged 14 and 15. Foundation (REA), says F1 in Schools “We saw it as an opportunity to extend attracts upwards of 40,000 students our learning," said team manager Yara Alkhalili. each year. "Our school always taught us to take every REA Founder Dr Michael Myers said 38 per opportunity off ered to us.” cent of the entrants in its STEM competitions are The team members believe strongly female and more than half (58 per cent) of those that women and men should receive equal girls say they have changed their career direction opportunity in the area of STEM employment. to one which involves STEM. “Coming into such a male-dominated “We link schools, industry, TAFE, universities competition, as an all-girl team, we felt that we and parents in a collaborative and experiential were underestimated because of our gender by learning environment focused on changing the other teams”, Alkhalili added. metaphor of the education process," said Myers. “The attitude towards us from other girls "The challenge is multi-faceted and has been extremely positive, with many young Above: The multidisciplinary. It encourages students to women coming up to us and saying that we have Golden Diversity collaborate with industry partners within team celebrate. Realise greater engineering efficiency without compromising inspired them to pursue STEM opportunities.” the context of their projects to learn about Below: The The fi ve girls aren't yet certain which careers team's car engineering principles such as physics, on quality. Seamless, Maintenance and Joint Free. they will choose, but say that exposure to STEM (in white). aerodynamics, design, manufacture, leadership/ has opened an unimaginable number of doors. teamwork, media skills and project management.” BENEFITS: GET RECOGNISED! Eliminate your joint maintenance. Nominations are now open for Engineers Reduce time and costs. Australia's Women in Engineering Gender Diversity Awards. Improve long term serviceability. They seek to identify, recognise and reward companies that strive towards national engineering excellence in CONSTRUCT YOUR PAVEMENT COMPLETELY JOINT FREE WITH encouraging gender diversity. It includes the following awards: DRAMIX 4D COMBISLAB. CALL 1300 665 755 OR VISIT BOSFA.COM Most Outstanding Company in Gender Diversity, Most Ambitious Company in THE LEADER IN FIBRE REINFORCED CONCRETE SOLUTIONS Gender Diversity, Most Encouraging Student Group in Gender Diversity.

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08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 9 20/04/2017 3:34 PM P o s i s t r u t F l o o r i n g C a s s e t t e s NEWS PosiStrut CASSETTES are FLOORING customers. Meet thubber Wonder material is elastic and thermally conductive.

It sounds like a character from a children's Despite the amount of metal, the material is show, but 'thubber' is a new thermally also electrically insulating. conductive rubber material that could be used To demonstrate these fi ndings, the team to create soft, stretchable machines mounted an LED light onto a strip of the and electronics. material to create a safety lamp worn around The material, developed at Carnegie Mellon a jogger’s leg. The thubber dissipated the heat University in Pennsylvania, exhibits metal-like from the LED, which would have otherwise thermal conductivity while at the same time burned the jogger. The researchers also having an elasticity similar to soft, biological created a soft robotic fi sh that swims with tissue that can stretch over six times its a thubber tail, without using conventional initial length. motors or gears. “Our combination of high thermal “As the fi eld of ﬂ exible electronics grows, conductivity and elasticity is especially critical there will be a greater need for materials for rapid heat dissipation in applications such We like ours,” said Majidi. “We can also see it as wearable computing and soft robotics, can also used for artifi cial muscles that power Many builders and developers – especially those working on large, multi-storey projects are specifying PosiStrut which require mechanical compliance bio-inspired robots.” see it Flooring Cassettes. The floor includes allowances for deflections, reactions, plumbing locations, voids stacks, wastes and stretchable functionality,” said Carmel used for In addition to athletic wear and Majidi, an associate professor of mechanical biomedicine, the researchers believe there are and duct chases and recessed wet areas. Plus, PosiStrut Flooring Cassettes can utilise top chord support for ease of

artifi cial Photo: Carnegie Mellon University engineering at Carnegie Mellon. also applications in advanced manufacturing, installation. This means they can be craned into position on-site and fixed in minutes! The implications this has on-site The key ingredient in thubber is a muscles energy and transportation. are substantial…with more square metres of flooring laid by less labour in a lot less time! suspension of non-toxic, liquid metal that “Until now, high-power devices have had microdroplets. The liquid state allows the to be affi xed to rigid, infl exible mounts that power For more information about MiTek PosiStrut Flooring Cassettes, metal to deform with the surrounding rubber were the only technology able to dissipate heat bio- call your local state office or visit: mitek.com.au at room temperature. When the rubber is effi ciently,” said another member of the team,

pre-stretched, the droplets form elongated inspired Jonathan Malen, also an associate professor of MGB0780 pathways that are eﬃ cient for heat travel. robots.” mechanical engineering. HOME OF GANG-NAIL BUILDING SYSTEMS

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Many builders and developers – especially those working on large, multi-storey projects are specifying PosiStrut Flooring Cassettes. The floor includes allowances for deflections, reactions, plumbing locations, voids stacks, wastes and duct chases and recessed wet areas. Plus, PosiStrut Flooring Cassettes can utilise top chord support for ease of installation. This means they can be craned into position on-site and fixed in minutes! The implications this has on-site are substantial…with more square metres of flooring laid by less labour in a lot less time!

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MGB0780 PosiCassette Full pg EA Ad_FA.indd 1 19/01/2017 13:01 08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 11 20/04/2017 3:34 PM NEWS

FASTOR SLOW Rethinking how to measure the ﬂ ow of non-Newtonian liquids.

Non-Newtonian fl uids, whose mechanical properties change depending on the level and type of force applied to them, are often used in engineering applications. In fact many are carefully formulated with particles, polymers and other additives to give them their desired fl ow behaviour. Now a team at UC Santa Barbara has joined forces with an Austrian manufacturer is a lot of mystery surrounding what happens to develop new ways to characterise the This structurally when the material reacts to force. mechanical behaviour of non-Newtonian transition Helgeson's lab partnered with Austria-based liquids and soft matter. that goes laboratory instrumentation manufacturer Anton Common non-Newtonian fl uids include Paar to develop new measurement methods condiments like tomato sauce or mustard, from not for a specialised rheometer that will allow quicksand, and cornstarch. According to fl owing to researchers to characterise the mechanical Matthew Helgeson, a professor in the UC Santa fl owing is behaviour of non-Newtonian liquids and soft Barbara Department of Chemical Engineering, important matter, and also witness how the fl uid and these fl uids are found in many applications, and for a wide structures fl ow and deform in response to stress, must be designed from both an application and at the microscopic level. Nobody extends wear life like we do. processing standpoint. range of Typical rheometers consist of two moving You’ve probably heard about the innovation and progress LaserBond is achieving in surface engineering technology. "Condiments are designed to be thick so you complex surfaces that rotate, causing the fl uid to deform. We apply new surfaces to worn parts so they work literally better than new. And brand new parts can also be treated can get them out of the bottle and spread them By measuring the force required to rotate the fl uids.” so they last a lot longer. Customers enjoy longer wear life, fewer shutdowns for component replacement, and on your sandwich without running all over cylinders, it becomes possible to determine the the place, but at the same mechanical properties of the fl uid. better workplace health and safety control. Our laser-applied coatings typically at least double the life of a part. time they need However, in the use of typical rheometers, The new ‘laser cell’ in our SA engineering facility will have the highest-power laser beam used for laser cladding in the it is assumed that the amount of deformation Southern Hemisphere. We already operate the three most powerful lasers in this industry in Australia. These are supported to be able to in the fl uid between the moving surfaces is the by many other processes and technologies, such as HP HVOF, all supported by our own well-equipped metallographic be mixed and bottled same everywhere – which is true for Newtonian laboratory and state-of-the-art workshops. If you’re looking for the best surface engineering available, look no further. quickly when made in the liquids, but not for non-Newtonian fl uids. factory,” he explained. "Typically what happens is that you get a

However, these complex fl uids little region that yields so that it’s fl owing, and Photo: Scott Condon/UCSB

Y LaserBond – an excellent choice can be challenging to engineer because the everything else is just sitting there or moving R A 1 9 S 9 R 2 E • 2 IV relationships between microscopic behaviour very slowly,” Helgeson explained. 017 • ANN and fl ow properties are diﬃ cult to observe, The new instrumentation enlists the help of said Helgeson. The new laser optics and light scattering particles in order LaserBond Limited | www.laserbond.com.au While it is easy to observe on a macroscopic rheometer in use. to directly visualise what is going on in the fl ow Sydney | Adelaide | Freecall 1 300 527 372 level how the material responds to stress, there and track the fl uid deformation. International +612 4631 4500 | Fax +612 4631 4555 Quality 9001, Environment 14001, Email [email protected] Health & Safety 4801 12 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU 14664 Branding1EngAus

08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 12 20/04/2017 3:34 PM Nobody extends wear life like we do. You’ve probably heard about the innovation and progress LaserBond is achieving in surface engineering technology. We apply new surfaces to worn parts so they work literally better than new. And brand new parts can also be treated so they last a lot longer. Customers enjoy longer wear life, fewer shutdowns for component replacement, and better workplace health and safety control. Our laser-applied coatings typically at least double the life of a part. The new ‘laser cell’ in our SA engineering facility will have the highest-power laser beam used for laser cladding in the Southern Hemisphere. We already operate the three most powerful lasers in this industry in Australia. These are supported by many other processes and technologies, such as HP HVOF, all supported by our own well-equipped metallographic laboratory and state-of-the-art workshops. If you’re looking for the best surface engineering available, look no further.

Y LaserBond – an excellent choice R A 1 9 S 9 R 2 E • 2 IV 017 • ANN

LaserBond Limited | www.laserbond.com.au Sydney | Adelaide | Freecall 1 300 527 372 International +612 4631 4500 | Fax +612 4631 4555 Quality 9001, Environment 14001, Email [email protected] Health & Safety 4801

14664 Branding1EngAus

08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 13 20/04/2017 3:34 PM NEWS

What’s the big idea?

Working out how to make a low energy artificial synapse.

A new organic artificial the flow of electricity between synapse could support the other two. computers that better recreate Like a neural path in a brain being the way the human brain processes Professor reinforced through learning, the researchers information, and lead to improvements in brain- Alberto Salleo program the artificial synapse by discharging machine technologies. with graduate and recharging it repeatedly. Through this Researchers at Stanford University and Sandia student training, they have been able to predict within Scott Keene. National Laboratories, both in California, have one per cent of uncertainty what voltage will be made an advance that could help computers required to get the synapse to a specific electrical mimic a piece of the brain, the synapse, the space state and, once there, it remains at that state. In over which neurons communicate. other words, unlike a common computer, where “It works like a real synapse but it’s an organic you save your work to the hard drive before you electronic device that can be engineered,” said turn it off, the artificial synapse can recall its Alberto Salleo, associate professor of materials programming without any additional actions science and engineering at Stanford. or parts. “It’s an entirely new family of devices because This makes it well suited for the kind of signal this type of architecture has not been shown identification and classification that traditional before. For many key metrics, it also performs computers struggle to perform. Whereas digital better than anything that’s been done before transistors can be in only two states, such as 0 with inorganics.” and 1, the researchers successfully programmed The artificial synapse is based off a 500 states in the artificial synapse, battery design. It consists of two thin, It works like a real which is useful for neuron-type

flexible films with three terminals, computation models. In switching Photo: LA Cicero connected by an electrolyte of salty synapse but it’s an organic from one state to another they used water. The device works as a transistor, electronic device that can about one-tenth as much energy as a with one of the terminals controlling be engineered.” state-of-the-art computing system.

14 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 14 20/04/2017 5:02 PM REALITY BYTES Australian researchers have designed a handheld device similar to Doctor Who's sonic screwdriver or the tricorder in Star Trek.

Science fi ction fans will be familiar with ANU researchers drive diseases, such as cancer, and cures for devices such as the sonic screwdriver in Marcus Doherty those diseases. Doctor Who, which can scan and identify (le ) and "Every great advance for microscopy has matter, or the multi-purpose tricorder in Star Michael Barson. driven scientifi c revolution," he said. Trek, which can provide a detailed analysis "Our invention will help to solve many of living things. A team from the Australian complex problems in a wide range of areas, National University has developed a handheld including medical, environmental and device that will use the power of MRI and biosecurity research." mass spectrometry to perform a chemical Molecular MRI is capable of identifying the analysis of objects. chemical composition of individual molecules, Lead researcher Dr Marcus Doherty from while mass spectrometers measure the masses the ANU Research School of Physics and within a sample. Engineering said the team had proven the concept of a diamond-based quantum device to perform similar functions to these science SCIFI BECOMES REAL fi ction tools and would now develop a prototype. ❖ Flying cars such as those ❖ Lexus recently demonstrated "Laboratories and hospitals will have the featured in The Jetsons are a a hoverboard like the one power to do full chemical analyses to solve reality with companies like from Back to the Future, complex problems with our device that Ehang from China. although it could only operate they can a ord and move around easily," ❖ Star Trek can lay claim to having on a special course. said Doherty. invented 3D Printing with its ❖ Dick Tracy's wristwatch

"This device is going to enable many replicator device. communicator is basically Photo: Stuart Hay/ANU people to use powerful instruments ❖ Interactive holograms featured the same as the Apple Watch like molecular MRI machines and mass in movies like Minority Report (although Maxwell Smart's spectrometers." He said medical researchers are being used in products such shoephone is yet to see the could use the device to weigh and identify as Microso 's Hololens. light of day). complex molecules such as proteins, which

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 15

08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 15 20/04/2017 5:06 PM LB_SMART_CUSHION_420x275_PRESS.pdf 1 17/03/2017 9:34:27 AM

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CY Code for Unit number / date / sequence Reset/Repair required CMY is on sci-XX unique Smart Cushion number SP only Shear Pins were required

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08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 16 20/04/2017 3:34 PM LB_SMART_CUSHION_420x275_PRESS.pdf 1 17/03/2017 9:34:27 AM

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sci-01 07/15 sci-02 07/15 sci-03 09/15 sci-04 10/15 sci-05 10/15 sci-06 11/15 sci-07 11/15 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP sci-0811/15 sci-09 11/15 sci-10 12/15 sci-11 04/16 sci-12 05/16 sci-13 05/16 sci-14 06/16 1st SP+DP 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP+DP 1st SP+DP sci-1507/16 sci-16 07/16 sci-17 10/16 sci-18 10/16 sci-19 11/16 sci-20 11/16 sci-21 11/16 1st SP+DP 1st SP+DP 1st SP 1st SP+DP 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP+DP sci-2211/16 sci-23 02/17 sci-24 02/17 sci-25 02/17 sci-26 02/17 sci-01 09/15 sci-02 02/17

1st SP 1st SP 1st SP 1st SP+Sd 1st SP+Sd 2nd SP+DP 2nd SP sci-0611/15 sci-07 07/16 sci-08 12/15 sci-09 12/15 sci-14 07/16 sci-25 11/16 sci-01 11/15

C 2nd SP+DP 2nd SP+DP 2nd SP 2nd SP+DP 2nd SP 2nd SP+DP 3rd SP

M sci-0611/15 sci-09 05/16 sci-01 12/15 sci-06 09/16 sci-09 12/16

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08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 19 20/04/2017 3:34 PM NEWS siliconSLIP SLOP SLAP The Smart Sensing Network is working on sunburn-alerting skin patches and improving air quality.

The NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN) The next phase of the project will include has been launched by the NSW Government, mass producing the sensors and conducting universities and industry to look into pollution, more studies. A biomedical project is looking wildlife and human health. at repurposing glucose meters, which allow The network is being led by Benjamin people to detect basic receptors such as bacterial Eggleton from the University of Sydney’s School infections in hospitals. of Physics and UNSW’s professor Justin Gooding “We think we’ve come up with a unique way of from the School of Chemistry. [using antibodies and antigens] that would allow “I think a key message here, in all the projects a glucose meter to be used in a diff erent way, so that we’re doing, is it’s not really about coming you no longer think of it as a glucose meter, you up with new research papers. It’s all about taking think of it as a detector,” Gooding said. very pragmatic approaches and using whatever For this project, one of the biggest challenges infrastructure and technologies that already exist, will be developing sensors that can cost and repurposing them for what we want to do,” eff ectively be brought to market. Gooding said. Meanwhile, the wearable technology project The network will focus on fi ve will be focused on seamlessly key projects – air sensing, wildlife, integrating sensors into biomedical, wearables and water someone’s everyday life. quality, with work across chemists, HARNESSING The NSSN is looking at two physicists and engineers. projects in this fi eld. One is The air sensing project, led HYPERSOUND being led by Stephen Fleming by Eggleton, is developing air ❖ Phonons are particles of sound, at the University of Sydney to pollution sensors that measure just as photons are particles of light. make optical fi bres that can be small particulate matter that are ❖ Hypersound is created by phonons with woven into fabrics and provide harmful when we inhale them. frequencies from 100 megahertz to tens information on movement. These particles come from diesel of gigahertz. The other is developing engine fumes, wood burning and ❖ Harnessing hypersound on a chip a wearable sensor that can coal particles from mines. enables the manipulation of microscale tell people when they’ve “Our sensors are based on optics biological and chemical elements. had too much exposure to – a laser beam – that interacts ❖ It will be possible to mix, sort and select the sun or need to re-apply with the particles and allows us to and even create a centrifuge on a chip. their sunscreen, and alerting detect their concentration and size,” someone when they’ve had Eggleton said. “Using light allows enough sun exposure to meet the measurement speed to be very their vitamin D needs. fast, with many measurements in a But developing the second, to track how pollution moves over time.” technology is just one facet of wearable devices – So far the air sensor has passed the initial public acceptance is another. prototyping phase and the team is conducting “A wearable sensor can tell you about how fi eld test measurements in the Hunter Valley. your daily activities are going, and hence

20 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 20 20/04/2017 3:34 PM improve your general health and wellbeing. I think the general public accepts that it would be really nice to know about the quality of the air or whether a waterway is polluted,” Gooding said. “I think people are generally supportive of this sort of device.” The question is whether people are willing to Develop pay for it. a wearable Sensor technology has come a long way since sensor that the 1980s. But not all sensors have advanced at the same technological pace, and how well- can tell people developed the technology is can depend on how when they've they’re used. had too much “The physical sensors, such as the exposure to accelerometer you have in your watch, are a the sun.” fantastically developed technology,” he said. “The challenges [are around] sensors that detect chemical species, so we have a variety of gas sensors that do that already, but there are a lot of improvements needed.” Eggleton said another challenge can be making sure that the data from sensing devices are reliable and accurate. Below le : Ben “Many types of air sensors can be found, Eggleton. ranging from low cost household devices to Below right: fully calibrated industrial instruments. Sydney We are aiming at the sweet spot University to ﬁ nd a sensor that can be PhD student, Rejvi Kaysir, in mass produced, but has the the lab with accuracy to inform correct an example results,” Eggleton said. of wearable “The other major technology. challenge will be to decide what this data means for

our health.” Photo: NSSN

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 21

08-21_EA020_May17_News.indd 21 20/04/2017 5:07 PM TRANSPORT

Are we there yet

With the increasing uptake of autonomous vehicles worldwide, more work is needed to take the vehicles from self-contained pieces of technology to a network. By Nicholas Brant.

n the banks of South Perth’s While still in various stages of testing, experts picturesque foreshore, the latest stage are certain autonomous vehicles – immortalised in of autonomous vehicle technology in science fi ction works like The Jetsons or Minority the form of the RAC Intellibus cruises Report – will be taken up for commercial and around, bringing the future with it. private use in just a few, short years. OThe Australian-fi rst trial of the level four, fully The key to safely integrating these vehicles into driverless, electric shuttlebus on open roads is an the complexity of the modern transport system initiative of WA automotive group RAC, which is lies in having all autonomous vehicles wirelessly enabling members of the public to ride the bus as connected with each other, with other road users part of an extended trial which kicked oﬀ in August and with the surrounding infrastructure. last year. University of Michigan (U-M) Mechanical The vehicle is equipped with stereovision Engineering Professor Huei Peng tells create the cameras, GPS and 2D and 3D LIDAR (light detection on-board sensors in current driverless vehicles are and ranging) technology, which uses ultraviolet sophisticated, but they have limitations. light to measure distance and build a map of the The on-board sensors on level three and four environment and helps the Intellibus detect and autonomous vehicles – such as the Google Car – avoid objects. include cameras, radar and LIDAR but, much like The Intellibus is one of the latest examples of humans, can only see what is in their line of sight. increasingly advanced autonomous vehicles which “Poor lighting or bad weather conditions can are steadily popping up in cities all over Australia hinder their performance,” Prof Peng says. “These and the rest of the world. shortcomings make it diffi cult to ensure the

22 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

22-29_EA020_MAY17_Intellibus.indd 22 20/04/2017 3:36 PM The Future Bus shuttles

between Photo: Mercedes Schiphol Airport and Haarlem.

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 23

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safety and reliability of autonomous vehicles if The Intellibus and is similar to Wi-Fi technology but is designed they do not communicate with each other or the in Perth can to have low communication overhead and time surrounding infrastructure.” carry up to 11 latency, so would enable hundreds of autonomous Wi-Fi-like tech makes for faster, reliable passengers. vehicles to communicate eff ectively. communication options. Prof Peng, who is also Work on DSRC is forming part of U-M’s overall the director of U-M’s Mobility Transformation autonomous vehicle research which is seeing them Centre, says connected vehicles can use wireless team up with automotive giant Ford. communication technology called Dedicated Short- Under the agreement, the car manufacturer Range Communication (DSRC) to anonymously moved a team of its engineers onto U-M’s Ann and securely exchange data about location, speed Arbor campus late last year in its bid to have fully and direction. autonomous SAE-defi ned level four-capable The messages can be transmitted over a longer vehicles available for high-volume commercial use range than on-board sensors on autonomous in 2021. vehicles, and through heavy snow or fog, providing To make this a reality, Ford is focused on mass- more accurate information at a lower cost. producing aff ordable LIDAR sensors, developing “Connected vehicle communication also makes advanced processing algorithms and advancing it possible to link multiple vehicles, enabling their high-resolution 3D mapping capabilities. Also, coordination and cooperation that can reduce in 2016 Ford increased its autonomous vehicle test congestion and improved traffi c fl ow,” Prof Peng says. “Pedestrians and cyclists can be linked in through portable devices.” He says compared to on-board sensors, DSRC is “How do we get the cars to understand more mature and aff ordable, but the key remaining engineering challenge for them is to secure human body language and how do we the technology for cyber security and privacy communicate back from the car to the purposes. DSRC is not new, it has been under heavy pedestrian or the cyclist?”

development in the United States since the 1990s Photo: RAC

24 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

22-29_EA020_MAY17_Intellibus.indd 24 20/04/2017 3:36 PM fl eet to 30 self-driving Fusion Hybrid sedans on where autonomous cars and humans are more likely the roads in California, Arizona and Michigan FUTURE to interact, she says. and signalled plans to triple that test fl eet again BUS “How do we get the cars to understand human this year. body language and how do we communicate back OVERVIEW from the car to the pedestrian or the cyclist who Technology uptake The Future Bus may be wondering ‘is the car going to stop for me or uses cameras, Monash University Civil Engineering lecturer not?’,” she asks. radar, GPS and Alexa Delbosc tells create that autonomous “With a human driver they would wave or make communication vehicles represent an overwhelming road safety systems to eye contact, but how do they read the car?” benefi t as the technology greatly reduces the navigate along Andrew Hart, Director of global research agency human factor in crashes. its route safely. SBD, says vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) capabilities are But she warns that even if all cars are Together they crucial, especially if the large volume of vehicles automated, the traffi c system is still a complex help the bus have higher levels of autonomy. locate its environment. Non-autonomous cars, “If you imagine a world in which every car position on the motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians trying was autonomous, the fl eet could be much more road, and detect to interact with the autonomous traffi c other vehicles eff ectively managed if those cars could stream could present a problem. As opposed and pedestrians. communicate with each other and a central to highways and motorways, it is on local roads infrastructure,” he says.

dGPS Vehicle2 Lane camera, Infrastructure range 80 m communication range 200 m

Global localisation Stereo camera for visual cameras, range traffi c light recognition, > 200 m range up to 30 m

Close-up cameras, Stereo camera for far range range up to 5 m pedestrian recognition, range up to 60 m

Far range vehicle recognition radar, range 200 m

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ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 25

22-29_EA020_MAY17_Intellibus.indd 25 20/04/2017 3:36 PM maxon product range The solution is always a matter of the right combination.

maxon DCX motors are configurable online via maxons interactive web based configuration portal. This allows a customer to change the motors shaft shape and dimensions, the gearhead features, the mounting holes, the winding and even the connectors. As more mechatronic and automation engineers use the technology the products available online expand. Recently we have seen the addition of 12 mm, 14 mm and 16 mm micro DC motors as well as “mix and match” different motor and gearhead diameters.

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210x275.indd 9 31.08.2016 10:08:38 22-29_EA020_MAY17_Intellibus.indd 26 20/04/2017 3:37 PM TRANSPORT

Connected vehicles Testing at the A large deployment of connected vehicles on University of Australian roads may come as soon as 2019 under Michigan. plans initiated late last year by the Queensland Government, which will see 500 regular cars retrofitted with V2V communication capabilities. The trial involves Ipswich motorists having their cars fitted with cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) technology which allows vehicles to communicate with other maxon product range vehicles or the surrounding infrastructure using dedicated short-range wireless systems to share information, such as vehicle position and speed with other connected vehicles at a rate of 10 times per second. Driverless buses The solution is always a matter This system then notifies the vehicle’s human By late 2016 the four-metre-long Intellibus had driver of potential hazards, such as a build-up of firmly captured Perth people’s imaginations vehicles further ahead on the road. having carried roughly 1000 members of the public of the right combination. In the US, Prof Peng says the Department of on a brief journey from South Perth’s Sir James Transportation is expected to propose a Federal Mitchell Park to the Old Mill and back again at Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, which would see about 14km/h. DSRC incorporated on all new light vehicles. This scenic route is part of a track that engineers Once this occurs, connected vehicles could map out and pre-program into the vehicle, make an appearance on public roads as early according to Diego Isaac, a spokesperson for the as 2020, but most of them will still be driven by vehicle’s French manufacturer NAVYA. He says the humans. Separate to the US Government’s plan, mapping work is made possible via the vehicle’s major car companies aim to put driverless vehicles LIDAR, odometry and GPS sensor data, all of which on the road by 2021. are active while the vehicle is operating. By the end of 2016 NAVYA technicians were maxon DCX motors are configurable online via maxons interactive web based configuration portal. This allows a customer to change the motors

in Perth upgrading the vehicle’s advanced Photos: University of Michigan shaft shape and dimensions, the gearhead features, the mounting holes, the winding and even the connectors. As more mechatronic and automation engineers use the technology the products available online expand. Recently we have seen the addition of 12 mm, 14 mm and 16 mm micro stereovision cameras, meaning it can recognise DC motors as well as “mix and match” different motor and gearhead diameters. “From 2020 the first level-four other cars on the road whereas before it could only recognise certain colours and road signage. maxon motor australia Pty Ltd., Unit 1, 12-14 Beaumont Road, Mount Kuring-Gai, NSW 2080, +61 2 9457 7477, www.maxonmotor.com.au autonomous cars will start to hit the The upgrades prepare the Intellibus for future road, but only on a very small number trial phases which will see it travel from Sir James of pre-tested highways.” Mitchell Park to Perth Zoo and back, a route which will put the shuttlebus in contact with traffic

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 27

210x275.indd 9 31.08.2016 10:08:38 22-29_EA020_MAY17_Intellibus.indd 27 20/04/2017 3:37 PM TRANSPORT Maximising

The Future congestion problems in the foreseeable future. Bus driver Andrew Hart, who co-authored the whitepaper, only needs to says levels three, four and fi ve autonomous vehicles land values intervene in could potentially have a detrimental eff ect on traffi c emergencies congestion, particularly while the penetration of ENGINEERED or when traffi c cars with higher levels of autonomy remains low. regulations “This could be due to an increase in accidents as dictate. RETAINING WALLS drivers of non-autonomous cars struggle to adapt lights and an increased traffi c stream from the or a change in acceleration/deceleration patterns as DESIGN. CONSTRUCT. CERTIFY. Mitchell Freeway’s nearby off -ramp. autonomous cars strive for comfort over speed for The prospect of a publicly accessible driverless passengers,” he says. bus is also being played out in Amsterdam but on New Car Assessment Programs are gradually a much larger scale with Mercedes-Benz testing its increasing the threshold for 5-Star ratings to 12-m-long Future Bus, which navigates the 20 km include advanced driver assistance systems. Talk to Concrib about your design route between Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and Hart said Europe is leading the way for driver parameters. the town of Haarlem. assistance system uptake through EuroNCAP and 1 Like the Intellibus, the Future Bus uses GPS the US is expected to follow suit soon. to build an accurate picture of the surrounding “However, this still relies on a mostly market-led environment and is also equipped with stereo approach to increasing fi tment, which means that cameras which can visually detect the status of largescale penetration across the entire fl eet of Let us analyse your parameters with our traffi c lights ahead of it and act accordingly. vehicles can take one to two decades to achieve,” specialist design program. But unlike Intellibus, it can wirelessly he says. “A more abrupt increase could be achieved 2 communicate with sets of traffi c lights, doing away through legislative means but given the immature with the need to visually recognise light changes. technologies and uncertainties surrounding liability, it is unlikely that governments will rush to Low adoption rates mandate autonomy.” A recent whitepaper released by SBD in conjunction He expects from 2020 the fi rst level-four We’ll provide you with a complimentary with mapping company HERE found increasing autonomous cars (operating without driver 3 preliminary design spreadsheet. levels of vehicle automation will add to traffi c interaction), will hit the road in limited ways.

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CRB_EngAustApril2015_275x210 [P].indd 1 20/07/2015 4:39 pm 22-29_EA020_MAY17_Intellibus.indd 29 20/04/2017 3:37 PM COVER STORY

Photos: Adam Adam Flipp Photos:

30 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

30-39_EA020_MAY17_Stefan.indd 30 20/04/2017 4:07 PM LISTEN

Biomedical engineering took Stefan Mauger to Cochlear, where he has helped develop UP!a new processor oﬀ ering better than ever hearing quality for its users. He talks to Christopher Connolly about what it’s like to work at one of Australia’s most innovative companies.

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 31

30-39_EA020_MAY17_Stefan.indd 31 20/04/2017 4:07 PM COVER STORY

here is something very clever about our Best of both worlds hearing. For most of us, we can have a Mauger was born in Warracknabeal in the far west conversation in a noisy environment of Victoria and the family moved around a number and understand what the other of small towns in the Wimmera and Mallee person is saying. Our brains adjust the districts before settling down in Mooroopna near Tperception of the signals it receives to allow you Shepparton where he fi nished school. to focus on what you want to hear. However, for His father was a mechanical engineer working people with hearing diﬃ culties, this is far more in the water sector and his brothers were all diﬃ cult and noise reduction technologies in engineers too, so it seemed inevitable he would hearing aids have provided little benefi t. be drawn to engineering as well. But Mauger also Enter Stefan Mauger, a principal research had an interest in medicine and, after fi nishing engineer at Cochlear. He has helped develop a school, applied for both medicine and engineering noise reduction technology for cochlear implants at university. La Trobe University made an off er he resulting in a roughly 20 per cent improvement couldn’t refuse, biomedical engineering. in speech understanding and a 55 per cent “It seemed to fall right in the middle of the two improvement in listening quality in noise. things that I was good at and really enjoyed,” says The technology was included in Cochlear’s Mauger. “La Trobe at the time was really the only Nucleus 6 SmartSound iQ sound processing suite Stefan Mauger university that had the electronic and biomedical and is now used in over 100,000 sound processors, (above) with engineering double degree. And they off ered me providing users who have either received a the Nucleus an entry scholarship as well, which meant I didn’t cochlear implant system for the fi rst time, or who 6 cochlear have to go fruit picking every summer to aff ord it.” are current cochlear implant users upgrading to implant system. During his degree, he started doing some work the new sound processor. in hospitals, including Shepparton Base Hospital

32 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

30-39_EA020_MAY17_Stefan.indd 32 20/04/2017 4:07 PM WHO IS STEFAN? which Cochlear makes, or a Cochlear implant. And then there’s a small group of people either ✤ Background: Stefan Mauger grew up in country Victoria. born without an auditory nerve or have a tumour His mother and sisters were teachers while his father and on the nerve that needs to be taken out. It means brothers were engineers. there’s no connection between their ear and their brain anymore, and they would require a brain ✤ Education: He completed his engineering degree and PhD at La Trobe University in Melbourne. His PhD on brain stem stem implant. The project was trying to determine implants led him to the door of Cochlear. He also did studies where best to implant the electrodes in the brain in entrepreneurship and innovation at Swinburne University stem and how to best stimulate the brain itself to of Technology and an MBA at Melbourne Business School. give the hearing sensation.” This research introduced him to the world ✤ Current position: Principal research engineer at Cochlear. He describes it as an inventor’s role, nding new and novel of Cochlear. He was already familiar with the ways to improve the company’s devices. company because he had some hearing problems himself growing up and had done an assignment ✤ Challenges: He says one of the biggest challenges working on them in high school. But the fact that Cochlear on products like Cochlear hearing implants is minimising power consumption so users don’t need to recharge them makes brainstem implants meant he began during the day. meeting their researchers at conferences. He was impressed. And so were they. “There’s quite a few up and coming implantable medical companies, but Cochlear’s by far the biggest in Australia,” he says. “They were the company of choice for me because of their size and the kind of device they make.” So, in the fi nal year of his PhD, he turned up on the company’s doorstep, resume in hand, and said, “You’ve in his home town. The experience helped got to hire me guys, I’d really love to crystallise a longer-term plan. work here.” This bold approach saw “That was around the stage when I decided, him o ered part-time work during rather than maintaining medical equipment, to that year, and when a full-time job go into the design of it,” he says. later became available he already One of his lecturers found the perfect project had his foot in the door. for him in his fi nal undergraduate year, a collaboration between biomedical engineering Hearing gain and a neuroscience team in the school of Mauger says the Chief Scientist at psychology doing brainstem implantation work. Cochlear told him when he started This in turn guided him towards his PhD. that he wouldn’t necessarily work on “Hearing aids are for those people who specifi c projects. have got some mild to moderate hearing “It’s a research engineer’s role, they loss,” he says. “If you’ve got moderate to said, it’s an inventor’s role. You need to severe hearing loss, then you’d go for understand the industry, understand the either a bone-anchored hearing aid, fi eld you’re working in, and then fi nd new and novel ways to improve our devices,” he explains. “So the area I was given was hearing in noise in the signal processing “It seemed to fall right in the middle team. I had to read up on the available of the two things that I was good at literature in the hearing aid fi eld, as well as a and really enjoyed.” couple of other cognitive science areas about what’s really important in speech understanding.

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 33

30-39_EA020_MAY17_Stefan.indd 33 20/04/2017 5:03 PM I have been invited to be involved in a number of innovative engineering projects throughout Australia and also to help inspire the next INDIVIDUAL generation of engineers.

Winner of the 2016 Young Professional Engineer of the Year AWARDS 2017 David Lacey MIEAust CPEng NER RPEQ

AWARDS CATEGORIES

Professional Engineer of the Year Engineering Technologist of the Year Engineering Associate of the Year Young Professional Engineer of the Year Young Engineering Technologist of the Year Young Engineering Associate of the Year

NOMINATIONS CLOSE WEDNESDAY, 31 MAY 2017 @EngAustralia

@EngineersAustralia For more information visit: engineersaustralia.org.au/nominate PH: 02 6270 6126 The Individual awards is a nominator-driven program. Self-nominations will not be accepted. [email protected]

30-39_EA020_MAY17_Stefan.indd 34 20/04/2017 4:08 PM COVER STORY

I have been invited to be involved in a number of innovative engineering projects throughout Australia and also to help inspire the next INDIVIDUAL generation of engineers.

Winner of the 2016 Young Professional Engineer of the Year AWARDS 2017 David Lacey MIEAust CPEng NER RPEQ

DO YOU KNOW AN ENGINEER WHO SHOWS INNOVATION AND RESOURCEFULNESS IN THEIR WORK? Nominations are now open for inspiring engineers who demonstrate a contribution to the well-being of the Flipp and Cochlear Adam Photos: people and communities of Australia. State and Territory winners will progress I was able to fuse the engineering and “That was really fantastic, because in hearing to be assessed at the National level. The speaker neuroscience areas together to work on the kind of room (top) aids they’ve been doing a similar kind of thing for things that would be really important for Cochlear allows users some years, and they’ve not been able to find an AWARDS CATEGORIES implant recipients.” to test their improvement in speech understanding.” As his research progressed, it evolved into responses to Partly, this came down to the different way Professional Engineer of the Year noise reduction designed specifically for cochlear specific noises. hearing aids and Cochlear implants work. Engineering Technologist of the Year implant recipients and, before he knew it, he “Hearing aids, providing acoustic stimulation, Engineering Associate of the Year was working on a project. The final product is have to worry a lot about the relationship between the culmination of a number of innovations the amplitude of the signal and the phase of the Young Professional Engineer of the Year across auditory neuroscience, understanding signal across frequency. But the way that we Young Engineering Technologist of the Year the unique signal characteristics driving user’s electrically stimulate individual groups of neurons Young Engineering Associate of the Year performance, quality, and acceptance, and across in cochlear implants means that we focus on signal processing, developing state-of-the-art the place of stimulation, the electrode, and the signal enhancement techniques to accentuate stimulus amplitude,” he explains. “So, because NOMINATIONS CLOSE these characteristics across diverse listening of the way we stimulate the cochlear, there’s a environments. The first innovation was the WEDNESDAY, 31 MAY 2017 @EngAustralia transition of noise reduction principles to the cochlear implant setting, and clinical outcomes @EngineersAustralia showed significant performance improvement “The project was trying to determine For more information visit: were possible. where best to implant the electrodes engineersaustralia.org.au/nominate PH: 02 6270 6126 “When we tested it for the first time, we got a significant improvement in speech in the brain stem.” The Individual awards is a nominator-driven program. understanding,” Mauger says. Self-nominations will not be accepted. [email protected]

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 35

30-39_EA020_MAY17_Stefan.indd 35 20/04/2017 4:08 PM WOMEN IN HARD HATS Engineer your leadership and career!

… with a coaching program that creates outstanding female leaders in engineering

The Women in Hard Hats coaching and mentoring program helps you maximise your potential so you can seize the opportunities you seek in your career and in life. Your coach is Jenny Bailey, a woman who knows your industry, its challenges and rewards – because she’s been there. In fact, she wrote the book on it!

Jenny is the author of the book that inspired her program, Women in Hard Hats: Building Leadership, Conﬁ dence and Life Satisfaction.

Jenny Bailey is Australia’s only female leadership coach with an engineering degree!

Call Jenny today on 0408 400 659 to ﬁ nd out more. Or you can email [email protected] to set up a meeting.

JennyBailey_HPH.indd30-39_EA020_MAY17_Stefan.indd 1 36 10/03/201720/04/2017 3:484:08 PM COVER STORY

HOW IT WORKS WOMEN IN HARD HATS Remote control: The Cochlear Nucleus 6 System. While the Nucleus 6 is automated, the Engineer your leadership and career! Remote Assistant allows users to select Coil: specifi c settings. Transfers the signal from the processor to the implant.

Procesing unit: … with a coaching program Picks up sound and converts that creates outstanding to a digital signal. female leaders in engineering The full set: The Nucleus 6 coil and processor with the The Women in Hard Hats coaching and Nucleus Profi le implant. mentoring program helps you maximise your potential so you can seize the opportunities you seek in your career and in life. Flipp and Cochlear Adam Photos: Your coach is Jenny Bailey, a woman who knows your industry, its challenges and rewards – because she’s been there. number of techniques we can use and signal characteristics we can target that would not In fact, she wrote the book on it! work for hearing aid recipients. Through a number of clinical research projects, we were signifi cantly involved. Even out to the Jenny is the author of the book that inspired able to optimise the aggression, the adaptation global product launch.” her program, Women in Hard Hats: Building characteristics, some of the smoothing Mauger was invited to do a characteristics, and how we applied these presentation along with the CEO and Leadership, Conﬁ dence and Life Satisfaction. over the frequency range. Things can come into Cochlear’s European President where acoustic signals that are called musical noise, and he explained the benefi ts of the signal they are quite annoying for normal listeners and processing technologies. hearing aid users. We were able to optimise this for “Even after that, there were external cochlear implant recipients who have a diff erent research groups investigating the set of limitations. These were only able to be found technology,” he says. “We’re still working out through extensive testing with our research on improvements and enhancements to participants.” that for future generations, because you As the project developed, a lot of other people, learn a lot when you have it on 100,000 Jenny Bailey is Australia’s only including engineers and audiologists, got people’s heads, and broader information on its female leadership coach with an involved, undertaking clinical trials, and refi ning use and success comes back through our system.” the mathematics in the signal processing. But engineering degree! Mauger was involved from beginning to end. Getting the balance right “This consisted of the initial and revisionary One of the challenges in a project like this is the inventions and associated patent submissions fi ne line between performance, listening quality, Call Jenny today on 0408 400 659 and papers,” he says. “As a key contributor to the and acceptance of new technologies. to ﬁ nd out more. Or you can email clinical research team we developed the testing “You can always tune a technology to get protocols and conducted many acute and chronic very good performance, but you may not have [email protected] to set studies with our research participants. Final everyone accept that technology, or the listening up a meeting. clinical testing was conducted where I was also quality for that technology might not be as high

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 37

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as you’d like,” Mauger says. “Similarly, you could I can hear clearly now get very good acceptance by making a new At a personal level, he is quietly adding other technology which makes only limited changes to strings to his bow. While completing his PhD, he the signal, but you’d get virtually no performance did a postgraduate course in entrepreneurship improvement. So the aim with these technologies and innovation through Swinburne University of is trying to get the best balance between Technology. More recently, he followed this up everything. We want very high acceptance in any with a Master of Business Administration at the new technology we launch, we also want to have Melbourne Business School. the right balance between listening quality and “Cochlear’s very good at training up their staff performance improvements.” and one of those things was to support me in my This is where a company with an innovation MBA studies,” he says. culture like Cochlear comes into its own. “Being in a growing global business there is a lot “I think it’s fantastic. In Cochlear, there to understand outside of technology development. are so many systems and structures that And I’ve really enjoyed that and it’s given me allow innovation,” he says. “Particularly in the a broad perspective on companies and on the department I work in and the departments I work medical industry and on how to make a successful with, innovation is at the forefront of our mind. company. And I think that’s probably something We’re always looking for new inventions. We’re I’ll rely on more going forward.” encouraging people to be creative, and we have However, he is perfectly happy staying where systems in place which capture that creativity he is for the time being. and develop it further along. It’s a very good “I’m doing what I love at the moment. And I just innovation environment and I guess a testament love medical technology,” he says. “I love understanding how the body works, and, because I’m a true engineer at heart, I love to build Stefan Mauger something that helps people. So I think for the places the Nucleus 6 I love understanding how the short-term at least, I’m very happy being able to device on Kate body works, and, because I’m a innovate and develop new technologies that can Obermayer’s very quickly end up in products that are able to head. true engineer, I love to build help people.” something that helps people.”

to why Cochlear is a world leader in its area. We do put a lot of thought and time and money into innovation and staying at the cutting edge.” He believes that innovation in high-tech areas is something that Australia could be very good at it. “I think it’s always going to be a tough area, but in the cutting-edge technology areas, I think Australia’s got a lot to offer for medical technical companies in the future,” he says. “We’ve got great students, great universities, and great institutes. It would just be fantastic to see some more support for new med-tech companies and new start-ups. The Federal Government’s got some funding for innovation there, and hopefully that will be going to successful biomedical start-ups. It would be great to see our research talent translated into commercial success.”

38 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

30-39_EA020_MAY17_Stefan.indd 38 20/04/2017 4:08 PM QUALITY OF LIFE

Kate Obermayer was such as thunder right above program, which means “These accessories have diagnosed with a mild me, or a truck right next to I can set and forget my opened up the world of sensory-neural hearing me. But they sound very processor,” she says. podcasts and radio,” she loss in primary school and faint,” says Obermayer. “It uses smart technology says. “I’ve started listening prescribed hearing aids. “If there is a fire alarm to assess the sounds around to podcasts for the first However, the condition going off, I can’t hear it. I me, and it automatically time in my life using the deteriorated to the point cannot understand speech changes the settings to suit Wireless Mini Mic. I can also where she was profoundly or hear music at all.” the environment – such use the phone now using the deaf in her early 20s and the When she received the as wind buffer for windy Wireless Phone Clip, which is hearing aids were only able cochlear implant, it was outdoor places, a café a Bluetooth enabled phone to give her environmental fitted with the Nucleus setting for noisy indoor piece. It means I can answer sound. At 29, she received a Freedom processor, and it places, and a music my mobile phone and speak cochlear implant in her right has been upgraded twice setting for when I am to anyone around the world ear, keeping a hearing aid in since then; first to the listening to music.” in any environment, her left. Nucleus 5, then the Other features she because it blocks out “Without the cochlear Nucleus 6. loves are the rechargeable external noise, and delivers implant, I can only hear very “The most amazing batteries and Cochlear’s sound to both my hearing loud environmental sounds, difference is the SCAN True Wireless accessories. aid and cochlear implant.”

ENGINEERSENGINEERS AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA | APRIL| MAY 2017 39

30-39_EA020_MAY17_Stefan.indd 39 20/04/2017 4:08 PM COMMUNITY

BR IDGING COMMUNITIES

40 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

40-49_EA020_MAY17_Bridge.indd 40 20/04/2017 4:06 PM Working in a challenging environment can sometimes make any engineering project just that bit more di cult. Australian company, Canstruct, had to knuckle down and get the job done during a multiple bridge

build in Papua New Guinea. By Chris Sheedy. Photos: Canstruct

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 41

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2007 cyclone that brought an intense years earlier. No stranger to bridge building (one THIS WILL SOON BE tropical low to Papua New Guinea recent job included the rebuilding of 11 bridges (PNG) caused such heavy rainfall on the Cairns to Kuranda Railway Line) or that hundreds died and major pieces to working in remote environments (the of infrastructure were destroyed. company installed navigation aids in the Coral SYDNEY’S VIBRANT AOn 13 November the ﬂ oodwaters, a result of Sea, 400 km o the Queensland coast), the Cyclone Guba, caused rivers to rise across Oro business got to work on planning their Papuan Province. Trees were uprooted and ﬂ ung about like engineering extravaganza. matchsticks by the angry waters. “It is a very hard environment,” says Dan NEW FINANCIAL HUB. More than 200 people lost their lives and 20 Murphy, Director and Senior Project Manager of bridges in the province were destroyed. Some of Canstruct. “One thing I severely underestimated Containing thousands of copper pipe fittings that will these were temporary structures, but they also at the beginning of the project was the levels of included larger, steel girder bridges. Major road maintenance of equipment that were required. ensure sustained drinking water hygiene for the future. crossings on rivers such as Eroro, Girua, Ambogo In the end I had to double the budget for spare and Kumusi had their abutments washed out or parts and maintenance. It was very trying. their mid-channel piers carried away. “It’s one thing to break an excavator, or to International Towers Sydney is being developed by Lendlease as a future economic centre for the Asia- Suddenly the local population was left, quite need a new hose. But to get that hose or some Pacific region, right next to Sydney Harbour. Viega ProPress copper fittings are being used throughout literally, high and dry and without access to other spare part to the site was torturous. You to provide the 131 floors of the three towers with a reliable supply of drinking water. Not only does the system impress with its excellent hygienic properties, it is also quick and easy to install – a significant basic needs such as work, markets, schools and send one and it would get lost, then you send advantage for a major project like this on a tight schedule. Viega. Connected in quality. health care. In 2013, Canstruct, a family-owned another one and meanwhile the machine is and managed business based in Queensland, The new down for a week. It was completely isolated. was contracted to design and construct the four Eroro Bridge. There was virtually nothing that we could source major bridges that had been washed away six locally. So logistics was the real challenge.”

International Towers Sydney, Sydney, Australia

“You have to get your supply chain right and we struggled with that at the beginning.”

viega.com.au/About-us

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 43

170310DU_Image_Sydney_AUS_210x275_CREATE_Magazine_F39--GRA06.indd 1 06.03.17 10:44 40-49_EA020_MAY17_Bridge.indd 43 20/04/2017 4:06 PM COMMUNITY Filter Nozzles FOR EVERY APPLICATION

Initially, Dan says, containers ﬁ lled with spare Australia’s Largest Range of Filter Nozzles parts for various machines were sent to the sites. But often it was the parts that had not been sent Makes Any System Upgrade Easy that were needed. “I’ve still got lots of gearboxes for Custom designs available as required. See our website for case studies. some obscure kind of ute,” Dan laughs. “You have to get your supply chain right and we struggled with that at the beginning. Deeper into the project we got it right.” Fruit and meat, and other food for the workers, was often imported from Australia. And many of the workers themselves were sourced locally, after a carefully planned public relations campaign.

“I designed some of the major bridges in the country even though I was only 23 or 24 years old at the time.” Spray Nozzles Hose Reels & Wash Down Hearts and minds Correct spray nozzles Canstruct sta were sent into the region fi rst, for all applications Nozzles before any work began, to engage the local PNR spray nozzles are made High quality, European communities. Workers could not be transported from brass, stainless steel made stainless steel from one job to the next, as the destroyed bridges and a range of plastics. hose reels were spaced over a distance of about 100 km Various capacity sizes are and were therefore on the land of di erent available to produce spray Retracting hose reels ensure exceptional tribal groups, so each site required its own crew. types from a fine mist to performance, durability and hygiene for all work Those tasked with engaging local workers set up a deluge. sites with the greatest priority placed on reliability, ease of use and operator safety. sponsorship of sporting events and handed out items that would help local communities, such as pedal-powered sewing machines, coloured pencil sets and sports equipment. “We needed the local people to realise that the Dust and Odour Control guys from Canstruct are okay, that we were there to help them,” Dan says. “We bought trophies and Bespoke Misting Systems & Solutions went to rugby league games in the bush, which Complete misting systems utilising atomised water to control was grand. I had a terrifi c time doing it.” dust and suppress odour in a wide range of applications. Over 300 local people were employed, Dan says. Also suitable for evaporative cooling and humidification Top: Robin and Then the seriously hard work began. Dan Murphy applications. “The rivers are wide and fl at with steep banks, with Chief which is a constant challenge, especially for piling of Chiefs work,” he says. Kingsford Penanu. “It rains a lot and that’s not so good for Bottom: building roads or putting down concrete, plus it’s Kumusi relentlessly hot. We just had to work around those conditions and be fl exible with the schedule. If one bridge under For your free catalogue and more information on our Filter Nozzles, construction. river was fl ooding, it didn’t necessarily mean the simply call 1800 832 776, or [email protected] others were. And thanks to the sudden nature of Technical Solutions You Can Rely On

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40-49_EA020_MAY17_Bridge.indd 45 20/04/2017 4:06 PM Nominations and Elections

GET INVOLVED. LEAD YOUR PROFESSION.

Nominate for an Office Bearer position with Engineers Australia: Board Directors | Division Committee | College Board

Getting the best directors for Engineers Australia’s Board Any member can now nominate for election to our Board

We are again preparing for the annual nomination and members from the current Board and from National election cycle. This includes nominations from any Congress. Director and Board Chair John McIntosh is the member (other than students, companions and affiliates) Chair of the committee, and is joined by fellow Director to be elected as a director to our peak governing Board. Michelle Kennedy. Delegates Nee Nee Ong and Steven Goh will represent National Congress. The process also applies to nominations and elections (where required) for positions on Division Committees If you know of a member of Engineers Australia who and College Boards. you feel would make an excellent contribution at Board, Division Committee or College Board level, please Two director positions will be advertised for election consider nominating them for election. by National Congress in November 2017. Candidates elected as directors on the Board will have a three-year More information about what these positions entail can term, and may seek re-election for a second term. be found at engineersaustralia.org.au/nominations The Board Directors nominations will be managed by the Board Nominations Committee, which consists of

Nominations for the 2018 Board, College Board and Division Committee positions open from 13 June—28 July 2017

NOMINATE NOW engineersaustralia.org.au/nominations

40-49_EA020_MAY17_Bridge.indd 46 20/04/2017 4:06 PM COMMUNITY

Nominations and Elections

GET INVOLVED. LEAD YOUR PROFESSION.

“When they were hit by a 2000-year ﬂ ood, the bridges disappeared overnight.”

the fl ooding, we could never leave equipment on the riverbed overnight.” A volcano had erupted in 1951, killing thousands of people, meaning the ground was fi lled with long “And then I was made a District Engineer, looking sections of rock and boulders that had once after an entire province, at the age of 25. I had a been part of a molten fl ow. Drills snapped, workforce of 1000 locals and about 20 expats.” engines blew and machinery buckled. The rain So the Murphy family really is no stranger to descended, the heat su ocated and the teams building bridges in PNG, although never in the waited for replacement parts. Bit by bit the bridges Oro province. They fi rst heard rumblings about took shape, just as they had decades earlier. the new bridges contract in 2011. “The fl ood in 2007 was a once-in-2000-year The father fi gure event,” Robin says. “Every bridge in the province Robin Murphy, Dan’s father and the founder of was washed away, most designed by a well- Canstruct, fi rst began building bridges in Papua known engineering consultant for a 100-year Clockwise New Guinea in 1963. His wife moved there 12 fl ood. When they were hit by a 2000-year fl ood, from top left: months later and their daughter Jane, now the the bridges disappeared overnight, the whole Dan Murphy business’s Communications & Engagement lot of them. We found steel three kilometres (r) with a local Manager, was born in PNG. Robin’s son Adrian, worker; Robin downstream – big steel beams with the concrete also part of the business, was born there, too. Murphy with still attached. It’s a very treacherous place. Nominations for the 2018 Board, College Board and Division An almost 60-year member of Engineers Oro Governor “So during this project there were physical Australia, Robin graduated from University of Gary Ju a and challenges such as the river itself. But as Dan Committee positions open from 13 June—28 July 2017 Queensland with a civil engineering degree in Sohe Chief of said, the real problem was logistics. This is a very 1961 and moved to PNG to build bridges on behalf Chiefs John remote area. The only thing we could buy locally of the Australian Government. “I designed some Oru; the local was fuel and poor-quality timber. Everything else NOMINATE NOW of the major bridges in the country even though I workforce. we had to bring in. We shipped in three 80 to was only 23 or 24 years old at the time,” Robin says. 100-t cranes. We had about 20 to 30 trucks and

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 47

40-49_EA020_MAY17_Bridge.indd 47 20/04/2017 4:06 PM Change takes real action.

As an industry leader in gender diversity, AECOM has:

38% $1m 100% 2016 Engineers Australia of our of year-end of roles Most Outstanding Company ANZ Corporate remuneration open to Executive budget reserved flexibility in Gender Diversity Committee roles for gender pay filled by women To find out more visit aecom.com/careers

40-49_EA020_MAY17_Bridge.indd 48 20/04/2017 4:06 PM COMMUNITY

GOING PILE HIGH Piling for the Oro Bridges project was originally designed as groups of H-piles at each pier and abutment location. Canstruct sta simpli ed the vehicles of all descriptions. All of that had to be Below: The piling design by substituting the large number of H brought in and maintained.” Ambogo piles with two heavy-walled circular hollow section (CHS) piles at each pile bent. These were continued Security could also have been an issue, Robin bridge. up to the underside of the headstock, eliminating says. Often when large businesses send sta to construction of pilecaps in the river bed. PNG they lock them up in secure compounds and Piles had to be driven much deeper than the tell them to never go out without armed guards, geotechnical reports originally indicated. At three but Canstruct took a di erent tack. sites, piles required greater length to achieve “We spent a lot of time and e ort and money capacity for the structural design. Boulder trying to befriend the locals and we had an obstructions were encountered in the river bed. The Canstruct team had to be innovative in their excellent relationship with them,” he says. “After thinking to overcome these issues. They used the the bridges were ﬁ nished the Governor of Oro available length of pipe on site to complete the Province, Gary Ju a, said. ‘We have come to know majority of the rst three bridges then additional Canstruct. They have been part of our community. lengths were ordered. In the end, two additional Even when they leave they will be in our hearts.’ shipments of piles from Australia comprising That was a great testament to our success in 22 x 12 m pipe lengths were required. bonding with the community.” The majority of installed piles were Dan was honoured to be made a chief during longer than 20 m and the three-year build, and Robin was inducted into the total number of a tribe during a particularly memorable ceremony. piles across all bridges “It was an absolute hoot,” Robin smiles. “They was 36. The total gave me a hat and chains of o ce, which is like a length of pile driven mayoral chain except it’s made of boar tusks. They for the project was also gave me a killing club, a live pig and half a 915 m. truckload of sweet potatoes and yams. At least the pig had something to eat!”

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 49

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Engagement strategy transforms landscape Sydney–Industry Fusion is a bold new approach in engineering and technology collaboration.

he University of Sydney equipping our graduates with Ceramic bones has transformed the way knowledge transfer skills to better The university’s biomedical it partners with industry. answer those needs in the future.” engineering work with Allegra T Increasing its focus on The university has already Orthopaedics is helping the industry needs, as identifi ed by a demonstrated that listening works. The organisation to tap into the US$1.9 recent research study with both Australian Centre for Field Robotics’ billion global bone graft market. large organisations and technology four-year partnership with Qantas Working with the Faculty of start-ups, the university’s Faculty has helped to reduce the airline’s Engineering and Information of Engineering and Information fuel use and provided more direct, Technologies’ Professor Hala Zreiqat, Technologies is now moving into an optimised routes. Qantas’ Chief Allegra is developing ceramic implementation phase of an ambitious Pilot, Captain Richard Tobiano, said bones from a uniquely strong but exciting new strategy. the partnership would help Qantas and biocompatible material called “Industry expects us, as the improve performance for their Sr-HT-Ghanite, which Allegra says is University of Sydney with its customers and reduce fuel burn and 100-times mechanically stronger than reputation for excellence, to attract carbon emissions. “We are delighted synthetic bone substitutes. the highest calibre of students and to to be working with the University Beyond its traditional engineering be working closely with organisations of Sydney on a project that is at the strengths of robotics and biomedical like Qantas and Rio Tinto,” says cutting-edge of aviation technology engineering, the university is Professor Kim Rasmussen, Associate research,” Captain Tobiano says. identifying and exploring particular Dean (Research). “We expect that the Qantas Future industry challenges to be brought “What industry can now also expect Flight Planning Project (QFFPP) into a unique collaborative program is a dynamic approach, one which will replace our current fl ight planning for fast problem-solving, prototyping involves proactively listening to their systems in early 2018. Coupled and further research and technical most pressing needs, and working with new aircraft and ground development (R&TD). These “grand with them as one united team. technology, QFFPP will bring about challenges” will initially include those “It’s about quality research and signifi cant improvements in Qantas’ around urban transport, feeding Asia, development, but it’s also about operational e ciency.” energy, and water security.

50 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

50-52_EA020_May17_Advertorial.indd 50 20/04/2017 4:00 PM Left: Kristina Mahony is working on a new low-cost hand prosthetic powered by the muscles in the patient’s abdomen. Above: Professor Hala Zreiqat is developing ceramic bones which are 100-times stronger than synthetic bone substitutes.

Every student will have the opportunity to industry sponsors are seeing the apply their developing expertise to creatively di erence through the output of the students working via their internship tackle authentic problems in industry, or industry placement. community, research and innovation settings.” Creativity of thought Innovation economy the calibre of applicants to the Fourth-year biomedical engineering Beyond its approach to research Leadership Scholarship Program and student, Kristina Mahony has been collaboration, Sydney University the achievements of students through working with Dr Justin Bobyn, in has also transformed its 2018 to graduation,” says Professor David partnership with the EPIC laboratories undergraduate curriculum to prepare Lowe, Associate Dean (Education). at Westmead Hospital, on a new graduates for success in the new “The Sydney di erence is what we low-cost hand prosthetic powered by knowledge innovation economy. do with these passionate, driven the muscles in the patient’s abdomen. The research conducted by individuals: we’re empowering them “Kristina brought a creativity Sydney agency, Pollinate, found that to be entrepreneurial and adaptable to of thought and an ability to work employers expect more from graduates meet the ever-changing challenges in independently that was laudable in today’s fast-paced technology today’s technology industry.” and contributed signiﬁ cantly to the environment. They are not just looking As a part of the new Sydney project,” says Dr Bobyn. for technical expertise, but passion, undergraduate experience, every Software engineering student Chris leadership and soft skills to enable student will have the opportunity to Kondo was taken on by the Insurance them to add value to their organisation apply their developing expertise to Council of Australia to undertake work from the get-go. creatively tackle authentic problems on a variety of geospatial tasks for the “We have no doubt that we are in industry, community, research general insurance industry. attracting the best students given and innovation settings. Already their “Without the beneﬁ t of formal

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 51

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Professor Salah Sukkarieh is helping Qantas reduce its fuel use and provide more direct, optimised routes.

GIS qualifi cations or training, The work completed by the student has Chris immersed himself in the GIS made more than a few senior GIS analysts stare challenges faced by the general insurance industry and delivered in wonder at both its volume and its accuracy.” amazing results,” says General Manager Risk, Karl Sullivan. the Faculty of Engineering and “Chris taught himself the basics Information Technologies in 2016, of geospatial science within the fi rst brings together industry partners and MORE INFORMATION few days of employment and then fourth- and fi fth-year students to If you would like to nd out more went on to produce a considerable wrestle with authentic projects over about the strategy and how it portfolio of results, including the a 12-week period. Tata Consultancy will bene t your organisation or extraction of extreme rainfall data for Services (TCS) was just one of many start-up business, contact: all 13 million addresses in Australia such partners who worked with the and the digitisation of fl ood mapping student groups in the pilot program. For student placements – reports.” The work completed by the “The students clearly understood the Keiran Passmore student has already been put to use by complexities of the proposed problem Manager Education, Professional the insurance industry and “has made and delivered a viable solution, as Industry and External Engagement more than a few senior GIS analysts well as other recommendations,” says [email protected] stare in wonder at both its volume and Philip Ratcli e, Business Relationship +61 2 9351 5768 its accuracy”. Manager at TCS. The team behind Sydney–Industry For research partnerships – Authentic projects Fusion is looking to start conversations Dr Anders Hallgren Jacaranda Engineering Consultants with new and existing partners in [email protected] (JEC), the newly-created industry both the research and student-led +61 435 484 551 engagement project launched by projects areas.

53-57_EA020_MAY17_Graphene.indd 52 20/04/2017 4:03 PM TECHNOLOGY

Graphene has created excitement in the past few years, yet struggled to make it out of the lab. Phil Aitchison of Imagine Intelligent Materials talks about what could happen next. WONDER By Brent Balinski. MATERIAL

quick Google News search for graphene will remind you of the signifi cant global e orts to exploit the potential of this atom-thick layer A of carbon. This year we saw research that could point the way towards revolutionary biosensors, paper electronics, micro-supercapacitor, solar cells, heat-resistant plastics and more. Articles featuring the words “scientists have used graphene to...” are easy to fi nd. “Graphene does nearly everything. It’s wonderful!” explains Dr Phil Aitchison, co-founder, chief operating o cer and head of research at Imagine Intelligent Materials, which opened Australia’s fi rst graphene factory last year. “I think a big challenge is actually for the companies commercialising it to decide what to focus on.” Discovered in 2004 and the subject of a Nobel Prize in 2010, graphene’s rise is both recent and speedy, though successes outside of laboratories are rare.

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Vito Giorgio Despite promising research, graphene’s in them,” he tells create. “I think you’ll (left) and Phil journey into the marketplace has been slow. see more marketing of graphene... Whether Aitchison According to Aitchison, the issues include a it’s actually got any real value or not is almost with a model. lack of recognised standards and di culties irrelevant. Look out for that I think.” with repeatability. The bulk of attention from industry has “When people say graphene, what do they been directed at electronics, where graphene’s actually mean?” he asks rhetorically. transparency and (unbeatable at room “Graphene is not a very tightly deﬁ ned material. temperature) heat and electrical conductivity It’s a broad suite of materials, all of them based properties might provide an edge. A 2015 report around the carbon atom hexagon backbone… from the UK Intellectual Property O ce on [And] There’s always going to be a certain type of patents highlights this, showing Samsung as the graphene for a certain type of application.” worldwide leader. Standards on deﬁ ning and characterising For Imagine IM, it has brought products into graphene have also been slow to develop. E orts the real world this year including anti-static are being led by academia and government. thermoplastics and leak detecting, graphene-

However, in 2017, Aitchison expects limited-run coated geotextiles. Rather than produce and ship Photos: Imagine IM mobile phones and graphene-enhanced batteries raw graphene, as many others are doing, it has to emerge, with the latter only slightly better than chosen a ‘technology partner’ model of business, current technology but aggressively spruiked. providing for-purpose solutions. “They’re not actually graphene batteries – “What we’re seeing here is the valuable they’re normal batteries with graphene aspects of graphene, from our

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GRAPHENE AND SILLY PUTTY?

Jonathan When graphene sensitive to Anti-static Coleman and is added to the slightest graphene his son play polysilicone, it can deformation or impact. polymer with G-putty. conduct electricity, and Due to this property, composites. be used as the basis for the researchers could creating extremely sensitive measure human breathing, sensors, according to Irish and pulse and even blood British researchers. pressure by mounting G-putty These new sensors open up (graphene-modi ed putty) onto new possibilities in inexpensive the chest or neck of patients. devices and diagnostics in As slight deformation or healthcare and other sectors. impact translated into electrical Cross-linked polysilicone resistance, this G-putty polymer, also known as Silly sensor was shown to have Putty, ows like a viscous liquid unprecedented sensitivity to when deformed slowly but strain and pressure. bounces like an elastic solid It also works as a very when thrown against a surface. sensitive impact sensor, able Professor Jonathan to detect the footsteps of Coleman from Trinity College small spiders. Dublin, discovered that It is believed that the electrical resistance this material will nd of putty infused with applications in a graphene was range of medical extremely devices.

perspective – which are within lightweight metal’s benefi ts really reach – are conductivity leading to became apparent. communications,” explains Aitchison of “When aluminium was discovered, who where he sees the potential of the nanomaterial. knew it would fl y us to the moon?” read one In the longer term, he expects that bit of signage at a recent exhibition devoted to opportunities will be seen in licensing graphene’s history, held in the city where it was functionalised fabrics (using the example fi rst discovered, Manchester. of Gore-Tex), enhancing the structural properties In the near-term, Aitchison thinks graphene of existing materials, and potentially in could start appearing in fl exible electronics, long water management. seen as an ideal area. As for where the killer app for graphene might “For example, a mobile phone or a laptop with Photos: Imagine IM, UC Dublin lie, that is what everyone is still trying their best to a roll-up screen – I think there could be a few fi nd out. break-out products really early, advanced stu , Some have used the example of aluminium to ahead of the curve,” he says. suggest that the future could surprise us. “Those products may not succeed, but they Discovered in the 1820s, it wasn’t until will show what will be coming within a couple an aerospace industry came about that the of years.”

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HEALING TOUCH

Wearable technology which can detect cancer cells during surgery and 3D printers that can generate viable tissue are among the goals of a new team of Western Australian engineers. By Nicholas Brant.

58 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

58-65_EA020_MAY17_Cancer.indd 58 20/04/2017 4:09 PM ngineers of all di erent backgrounds are Laboratory head popping up in medical laboratories and Dr Barry Doyle operating theatres throughout Perth as part of a program designed to bring new solutions to the minds of surgeons. EThe initiative forms part of the new Biomedical Engineering@Perkins program, a joint-initiative between the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and the University of Western Australia. The program involves 16 researchers split across two laboratories with backgrounds in engineering (electrical, mechanical, chemical or biomedical) and physics who sit down with doctors and surgeons to hash out engineering-backed answers to important medical problems. It was during one of these conversations that a throwaway comment from one surgeon gave rise to one of the engineering program’s latest innovations in the form of a 3D-printed fi nger-mounted optical imaging probe to detect cancer. Dr Brendan Kennedy, who leads the Bioimaging Research and Innovation for Translational Engineering Laboratory (BRITElab), says the probe is intended to be worn on the end of a surgeon’s fi nger during operations. In most breast cancer operations, surgeons remove the tumour and a region of healthy tissue surrounding the tumour and then use their fi nger and eyesight to detect if any of the tumour remains, he tells create. “Using existing techniques, it is di cult to

ensure all tumour has been removed. Photos: Perkins Institute

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In fact, in up to 30 per cent of cases here in Perth The problem with the solution and we feel this is the patient requires another surgery, which is Biomedical much more suitable than the techniques obviously a terrible outcome for the patient and a Engineering@ previously proposed.” huge expense for the healthcare system,” he says. Perkins team In some cases, existing imaging tools such as is looking to Aneurysm research ultrasound or X-rays are used to detect remaining 3D print viable Once Dr Kennedy’s bioimaging team has cancer cells, but these techniques often don’t have human tissue. successfully documented a pathology that has sufficient resolution to detect small traces come across their desk, the medical baton is of tumour. handed to the Vascular Engineering Laboratory Dr Kennedy says using these existing imaging (VascLab) headed by biomedical engineer Dr Barry tools is like putting a round peg in a square hole. Doyle. His lab focuses on combating all forms The finger-mounted optical probe measures of cardiovascular disease, which is the world’s tissue stiffness on a microscopic scale using high biggest killer and takes one life every 12 minutes in resolution imaging technology at the tip of the Australia. Some of their current research projects probe to detect cancer cells that are too small to see involve abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture or feel. The probe delivers information from tissue risk assessment, coronary artery disease, type B optically via a fibre optic cable that runs the length aortic dissection and using 3D bioprinting to create of the surgeon’s arm to the imaging system and new medical devices. ultimately to a high-resolution screen for far better “Much of our work focuses on creating 3D tumour visibility. geometries from medical images which can be The probe is the result of a series of technological developments which started with a large benchtop system that provided baseline data on the technique’s sensitivity and specificity. “The VascLab focuses on combating all Dr Kennedy says the finger probe offers a far forms of cardiovascular disease, which is more practical solution for surgeons. “We think our technology is a better match to the world’s biggest killer and takes one life the clinical problem at hand,” he says. “It is like every 12 minutes in Australia.” any engineering problem, you need to match the

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used for patient-specifi c risk assessment to predict which patients may need surgery and which ones can be managed through other simpler “There is no limit to what material you can interventions such as medication and monitoring,” or cannot use with some of these printers he says. Dr Doyle has been working on the aneurysm because all you are doing is squeezing a rupture project since 2005 and the researchers are liquid out of a syringe.” already able to predict the exact location that an aneurysm will rupture most of the time. They do this by combining CT and MRI scans rupturing, and not based on the likelihood of the to create highly accurate 3D reconstructions of general population. the aneurysm and applying a solid mechanics “That is the beauty of what engineering can approach to determine the stresses in the vessel. bring into medicine, it takes away any The researchers are currently testing this ambiguities and it focuses right down on that approach—synthesised into a software platform specifi c patient, helping to make better informed called BioPARR—in a study of 350 patients clinical decisions.” with aneurysms. On the day create toured the laboratories, the If the biomedical engineers can correctly resident engineers were using their bioprinters to predict the likelihood of rupture in 100 per cent of blend hyaluronic acid and methylcellulose which cases they hope to do a worldwide trial involving Dr Doyle says could be used to treat burn wounds. hundreds of patients per centre before the system Meanwhile, another of their bioprinters was can be rolled out in hospitals. working on a blend of alginate and gelatin as part of “No matter what disease we are examining, we a project to create a benchtop trachea. try to use as much patient-specifi c detail as possible Dr Doyle says varying the ratios of the base to determine the risk profi le,” Dr Doyle says. materials changes how the 3D-printed shapes “For patients with aneurysms, this means behave and can help create structures that are we calculate the likelihood of their aneurysm PATIENT-SPECIFIC stiff enough to support itself but also have MODELLING Converting images RECONSTRUCT of blood ﬂ ow in an SIMULATE aneurysm into a simulation.

DISCRETISE

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62 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

58-65_EA020_MAY17_Cancer.indd 62 20/04/2017 4:09 PM RE-ENGINEER GLOBAL FOCUS FOR PROBE ENGINEERING. At Western Sydney University engineering isn’t just Dr Kennedy tells create necessary hurdles to something we teach. It’s something we do. For example, that fi nalising the make it into surgical the pivotal M7 toll road in Sydney’s south-west was technological aspects of theatres in Australia in the the result of a joint research project between Western the fi nger-mounted probe next fi ve-to-ten years. Sydney University and the Maunsell SMEC design represents only a fraction The plan is to seek team. And our Center for Infrastructure Engineering, of the work required to get approval for the the first of its kind in Australia, provides world class it released as a medical device from Australia’s testing facilities as well as cross-disciplinary research across Engineering, Construction and Industrial device for widespread use Therapeutic Goods Design programs. in surgical theatres. Administration and to “Once you have any look beyond the relatively Our Master of Engineering degree lets professionals new medical device small Australian market to and recent graduates upgrade their skills and working properly you then Europe and America. knowledge and adapt to dynamic environments. need to get regulatory “It makes sense to Held at our innovative Parramatta City Campus, the course enables you to pursue a specialisation approval and convince get approval from the in civil, environmental, mechanical, electrical, insurance companies (US) Food and Drugs telecommunications or mechatronic engineering. With that they will save money Administration,” Dr provisional accreditation at the Professional Engineer if they give patients a Kennedy says. level by Engineers Australia, the streamlined course rebate,” he says. “The Australian market can be completed in two years to get you fully qualified They believe the probe is usually too small to and into the workplace quicker. will have cleared these focus on.” TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MASTER OF ENGINEERING VISIT WESTERNSYDNEY.EDU.AU/POSTGRADUATE

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Engineers Australia’s members enjoy exclusive access to specialist databases such as Knovel, ENGnetBASE, Emerald, Informit and Compendex. Not available to the general public, these collections represent a unique and comprehensive resource for Engineers Australia members. Through every stage of your career development, the Information Resource Centre provides invaluable assets to assist with your research, work or study. Take advantage of this members-only resource today. engineersaustralia.org.au/IRC

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some level of compliance so they can, for example, expand and contract in a breathing cycle. “There is no limit to what material you can or cannot use with some of these printers because all you are doing is squeezing a liquid out of a syringe, so long as that liquid can cure and solidify, you can print with it,” he says. “One difficulty in bioprinting with these materials, and with bioprinting in general, lies in keeping the printed structure alive and functioning long enough to transplant into a patient.”

Main challenge Of all the projects being worked on in the VascLab, Dr Doyle says bioprinting presents the greatest engineering challenge. EXCLUSIVE He says while you can increase the number of different needles (with each one depositing a certain material) that can be fitted to a 3D bioprinter, the challenge is being able to work with RESOURCES the materials that come out of the needles. “If you wanted to print a living structure with 10 different materials and multiple cell types, AT YOUR each material often requires its own engineering specification to work with,” he says. FRESH WAY OF “It is a huge interdisciplinary challenge for engineers and material scientists to print and PhD student THINKING FINGERTIPS. understand the behaviour of the printed structure. Louis Parker Apart from their research activities, Drs “Then of course the application requires a whole working on Kennedy and Doyle, along with Professor Tim raft of people from different disciplines far beyond 3D printing. Sercombe, Head of the School of Mechanical typical engineering.” and Chemical Engineering, are also leading the development of a new Masters in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Western Australia. The five-year program, which starts in 2018, slots into the university’s existing structure of three years of engineering science, followed by two years of Masters specialisation. Engineers Australia’s members enjoy exclusive access to specialist They have already run a new semester- long introduction to biomedical engineering databases such as Knovel, ENGnetBASE, Emerald, Informit course at UWA in 2016, which had close to 100 and Compendex. Not available to the general public, these students enrolled. collections represent a unique and comprehensive resource for “What we would really like is to teach Engineers Australia members. Through every stage of your career students transdisciplinary skills to break development, the Information Resource Centre provides invaluable down the boundaries that exist with medicine and biology,” Dr Kennedy says. assets to assist with your research, work or study. Take advantage “This will be achieved by teaching of this members-only resource today. engineering students not only the core principles of medicine, biology and physiology, but also by training them in interacting with engineersaustralia.org.au/IRC researchers from different backgrounds.”

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 65

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In the Driver’s Seat Virtual reality allows engineers from di erent locations to collaborate on product development. Ford Australia is making real strides in this area. By Brent Balinski.

66 ENGINEERSAUSTRALIA.ORG.AU

66-69_EA020_MAY17_Cave.indd 66 20/04/2017 3:50 PM “The 1:1 CAD geometry is irtual reality (VR) has fi nally reached perfect for showing how the a point where head-mounted displays are a ordable and widely customer would view and V available – perhaps even on the cusp interact with a car.” of widespread adoption. Within engineering, all disciplines could potentially see advantages from and usability,” he tells create. “At engineer stage, VR their use, believes John Page, Senior Lecturer is key to detect any errors or understand simulation at the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing results so as to iterate between teams in charge of Engineering at University of NSW. various disciplines.” The ability to “Such technology can [even] be used by visualise before The collaborative usefulness is not lost on Ford Photos: Trusst biomedical engineers,” he tells create. building o ers Australia. The company opened their VR lab in 2012 “This approach can also be used on aircraft signifi cant cost to ease communication throughout the or other vehicles to allow the engineer to cruise savings. Asia Pacifi c (the Broadmeadows site in Melbourne, through the hydraulic, fuel and electrical systems though it no longer produces cars, is the regional looking for potential future problems. We have also Product Development Centre). used it in space engineering where it provides ... an Since being upgraded in 2014, the VR lab was o -earth environment.” “crucial” in developing the Escort for China, and Within industry, aerospace and automotive “instrumental” in developing the current Ranger have been among the leading adopters, says David and Everest models, the company says. Nahon, Director of the Immersive Virtuality Lab at “By allowing our craftsmanship engineers access Dassault Systemes. to see a full scale vehicle before it is manufactured These sectors have benefi ted from expensive and assembled we were able to improve the design CAVE systems (cave automatic virtual environment and quality of the vehicle,” Jasmine Mobarek, Ford’s – a theatre, generally a cube-shaped room, with Communications Manager, tells create. projections beamed onto the walls). Adoption was Though it ended Australian vehicle production limited to moneyed users. Others might not realise in October 2016, the company’s engineering and the ROI on such an expensive set-up. design operations have grown. Sta were 1,100 Among jobs types, designers and engineers have when it announced plans to quit manufacturing in been the fi rst users, says Nahon. “It enables fewer 2013, though now has 1,750 engineers, designers physical prototypes in the early design phases so as and technicians among its employees. Globally, to validate new concepts in terms of attractiveness Ford has been using VR for almost two decades.

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 67

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Headset TM NVIS ST50 PowerCad-5 Features Compliance Checking The Melbourne site is one of only two (with its asynchronous collaboration,” he adds. As to • Cable Voltage Drop • Passive Harmonic Computer Dearborn headquarters) equipped with what it what other applications would emerge across Calculations Filter Sizing Dual Intel Xeon calls its Ford Immersive Vehicle Environment lab. di erent sectors, he predicts that the big jump • Circuit Breaker Selection • Substation Sizing clause 2.5.5.3 arcing fault clearing capacity Processor E5-2650 “We have satellite facilities in China, India, in interest in 2016 would see the increased use of protective devices for feeds of 800amps v2 (eight core HT, • Time/Current • Standby Generator Mexico, Brazil and Germany,” adds Mobarek, Co-ordination Curves Sizing and above 2.6 GHz Turbo, of VR continue. explaining that the 1:1 CAD geometry is perfect Now that VR headsets are hitting the market • Co-ordination Curve • Single Line Diagram 20 MB) On Screen CB OCR Display clause 2.5.7.2.3 supply circuit discrimination for showing how the customer would view and many more industries will be interested,” he adds. Adjustment (dynamic) 128 GB (16 x 8 GB) • Single Line Diagram with option for checking protective devices interact with a car. Within Australia, Page says there’s a number of ® • User Defined Export to AutoCAD less than 250amps 1866 MHz DDR3 ECC Time/Current RDIMM “This setup enables us to work collaboratively organisations exploring the possibilities – some Co-ordination Curves • L.V.Distribution Network Modelling across the globe, allowing us to explain of which UNSW is helping – though Transport • Selectivity/Cascading clause 5.3.3.1.1 protective earth conductor 512 GB 2.5-inch by visualisation any changes required to for NSW is making “real strides.” • Bus-Tie modelling thermal stress check. SATA Solid State • Maximum Demand engineers in di erent regions and vice versa. “The demonstration I went to at NSW • Check metering Drive • Cable Thermal Stress modelling We often have global reviews with our upper Railways showed us they were looking at clause 5.7.4 earth system impedance 2 x 3 TB 3.5-inch • Automatic Mains management on the overall styling of a vehicle, stations and the inside of trains both in VR and • Let Through Energy check at 0.4s and 5 sec disconnect times SATA (7,200 rpm) and Submains Cable so we can get a concise agreement on the ER [enhanced reality],” he recalls. • Cable Sizing Selections Hard Drives • Automatic Final direction of the product.” “They were also interested in using it for • Conduit Sizing Subcircuit Cable Sizing Integrated LSI 2308 3D surface geometry is translated from VR pedestrian track planning though that • Fault-loop Impedance • Variable Speed Drives 6Gb/s SATA/SAS the studio from a JT (Jupiter Tessellation) technology is still in the research phase.” Controller • Fault Level Calculations • Display Load Starting ARC FLASH CALCULATIONS fi le format and converted into VRED format The ability to visualise before building Current Profile • ARC Fault Check 12 GB Nvidia Quadro (a proprietary visualisation software made anything o ers potential cost savings in pretty • AutoCAD® Interface for K6000 • ARC Flash calculations Loads Input IEEE1584 by Autodesk). “If there is 3D CAD geometry well any industry that builds things, Mobarek available, we will also translate that into VRED,” o ers. She speculates that the savings in • Harmonic Analysis • Light Fitting and NENS 09-2014 Tracking Motor Libraries Equipment says Mobarek. prototyping costs and time to market will • Network Resonance Check • Reports with Print 19 Vicon Bonita B10 Data is then cleaned up, so qualities like likely be examined by more companies – and Preview • Harmonic Mitigation cameras materials, surface fi nish and shadows are more of the companies that provide their • Direct Online Support • Power Factor Correction W VICON Tracker clearly articulated. Communicating across software – over time. • Active Harmonic • Standards s o w a r e di erent geographies, as in the above “Already we are seeing games appear that Filter Sizing AS/NZS,IEE,BS,CP5, SAS 3141POW 3141PO and IS (India) example, is a key benefi t VR could provide, allow a VR user to sculpt and create,” Mobarek according to Nahon. “In particular, it supports observes. “This in turn will allow engineers and the PLM activities, in both synchronous or designers a di erent space to conceptualise.”

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 69

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WOULDN’T ITIT BEBE NICENICE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Steve Gates’s day job is in mechanical engineering, but in Engineers Australia (EA) is the largest, Eligible for EA membership and with a his spare time he uses those skills most diverse peak body for professional passion for the engineering profession, as a volunteer, and last year was engineering in Australia. You will be you pride yourself on your proven track joining a leading member-based, not-for- record of engaging and leading teams to rewarded for his eﬀ orts. profit professional association committed realise a vision. You are highly regarded to advancing engineering and the for your exceptional interpersonal and professional development of its members. stakeholder management skills and are Employing over 250 full-time staff, recognized as a seasoned executive. Engineers Australia serves and represents If you aspire to influence the future more than 100,000 engineering of the engineering profession, there professionals, across all fields of practice is no other comparable role. and around the world. EA’s highly Engineers Australia is an Equal engaged membership provides more than Opportunity employer and we 4,000 volunteers that hold office bearer encourage applications from roles in some 400 committees and groups. women and indigenous people. Reporting to the Board (which is To apply, please go to www.davidsonwp. chaired by the National President), you com. Further information is available from will become a ‘trusted voice’ of the Seamus Scanlon on 03 9929 9589 or engineering profession, working diligently Jarrod McLauchlan on 03 9929 9515. to influence public policy and engage with a range of sectors including government, industry and education. Leading a highly here are many reasons people choose to equipment frequently isn’t suitable. His fi rst couple capable organisation you will deliver on a volunteer their time for others, but for of projects involved musical instruments. vision that is centred around members and Western Australian Volunteer of the Year “One was for a lady who wasn’t able to depress Steve Gates, it was Engineers Australia the pedals on her piano,” he says. “Another one sets the organisation up to achieve the T that guided him down that path. In the early 90s, was a younger girl who was trying to play the next level of success. Gates was talking to then WA Division president clarinet, but she only had the use of one hand. She Andrew Yuncken who mentioned a group called needed a way to support that. So I made a couple Technology Assisting Disabilities WA (TADWA). of devices and they seemed happy.” “It sounded interesting because it was a way to apply technology to helping people with Surﬁ n’ safari disabilities,” Gates says. Then, TADWA received a request from local “Apparently, TADWA had started from a few councils for a wheelchair that would allow the Telecom technicians who’d gotten together to help carer to take a disabled person from a car park, some people who had problems seeing screens and across a beach down to the sea. using phones and other devices back in those days.” “Initial trials with various conventional types of davidsonwp.com BRISBANE | MELBOURNE | SYDNEY | AUCKLAND Gates says people with disabilities often have a wheels didn’t show much promise to the people lot of specialised needs, and commercially-available who were working on it,” Gates says.

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA | MAY 2017 71

70-77_EA020_MAY17_Gates.indd 71 20/04/2017 3:48 PM PEOPLE WaterAid / Tom Greenwood Tom / WaterAid

“Then I got involved, because I had worked with efficiency, and distributes the load over a very a guy, when I was living in California, who was a large area, because that rim essentially works project engineer on the development of the NASA like a caterpillar track. It conforms to the ground, lunar rover.” rather than digging-in and gives you a ground He showed Gates some of the wheel pressure loading of only about one tenth of what configurations that they’d tested, and one of them you would have if you stand with one foot on the struck him as ideal for this wheelchair. sand. You can roll over loose, dry sand and only “It has a normal hub with a simple bearing in leave very, very slight imprints on the top of it. As it. Then the rim, or tyre, is actually made up of a you can imagine, that makes traversing the sand a flexible, steel strip. The connection between the rim Steve Gates lot easier. And, because it’s stainless steel, it can go and the hub are a series of half-bent strips of steel (above). in the water without floating. The disabled person as well. When you look at the wheel from the side, The ‘Beach can actually experience the water without the Trekker’ it looks almost like a cut-through of a nautilus shell. carer having to lift them in and out.” (below) allows You see this kind of spiral of the spokes,” he says. The invention made it onto the former users to enjoy “The way it works, essentially, is that steel has a television show, The New Inventors, as the ‘Beach the sea very high coefficient of restitution. In other words, Trekker’, where it won the weekly prize and, at the without having it doesn’t lose much energy, so when you bend and end of the year, the show’s ‘humanitarian of the to be lifted in release it, you get 99-plus per cent of the energy and out. year’ award. back. The beauty of that is when it rolls and it deflects in one way, it deflects back the other way The warmth of the sun after it’s rolled over, with little resistance.” The volunteering bug bit and Gates got involved He describes it as like riding on giant in local environmental groups. By 2006, he and marshmallows, almost bouncing over bumps, two friends decided that renewable energy wasn’t ditches, even stairs. being given a fair hearing for its benefits. So they “It’s very stiff, laterally, but started a group called Sustainable Energy Now ‘gives’ softly in the (SEN) with the goal of promoting renewable rolling direction,” energy in Western Australia, focusing initially on It all starts he says. “It’s high the Southwest electricity grid known as the ‘SWIS’. with water

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It all starts with water

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As the only engineer of the three, Gates took of view, I think, one of the best freely available charge of the technical group, which attracted other around the world, because it integrates NASA engineers and scientists. global weather data and the proven ‘System “Some of those engineers, and they’re all Advisor Models’ from the US Dept of Energy, and is volunteers, have 35 years’ experience in power easy to use,” he says. generation and distribution with the local state “SEN has always maintained that a mix of energy generator,” he says. renewable energy types combined with various “We also have people with soil carbon options of storage: batteries, pumped hydro, accounting, IT and economics backgrounds. So we concentrated solar thermal with molten salt, and have a pretty good team of experienced people.” gas or sustainable biofuel for backup, provides a One project he’s particularly proud of is system that is reliable and stable,” he says. a simulation SEN developed called ‘SIREN “The short-term storage types basically take care PowerBalance’ which allows people to experiment of the daily peaks and troughs to a large extent, with renewable energy scenarios for different areas. and for the low solar and wind periods lasting for “You can click and place a solar or wind farm in say a few days, you can add generation in the form any area you think is in good position, guided by of biomass, bio-fuels or conventional gas.” renewable resource overlays,” he says. He says currently in Western Australia there are “SIREN will connect those generators to the grid a number of wind farms, one utility-scale solar PV and calculate the levelised-cost of the electricity farm (although a privately funded 100 MW plant (LCoE) and the transmission lines. And it gives you is expected to be operating this year), and a small an hourly output of that renewable energy scenario wave power farm, as well as the potential for tidal after deducting the grid demand, for any year since energy in the north. the mid 2000s.” “The way that Carnegie Clean Energy company He says renewable energy is a difficult thing for has gone about developing wave power has been a lot of people to get their heads around because it very methodical from a technical point of view. is intermittent. SIREN allows users to add energy They build a small model and test it to verify, then storage and non-renewable supply. go out and build a bigger model and test it. It’s “The technology that SEN’s developed here been a little bit slow, but I think that’s been the key in Perth, is actually, from an engineering point to its success so far.”

“The technology that’s been developed here in Perth is actually, from an engineering point of view, probably the best around the world.”

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I GET AROUND And while wave power is best suited to the Although Steve Gates has lived school there, and then did my southern half of Australia, tidal energy comes into in Australia for the past 25 engineering degree and worked its own in the northern areas, although the lack of years, his accent betrays him as for 12 years, basically in oil and population in the north of Australia at the moment a foreigner. But where does he gas-related stuff, then defence,” means it’s unlikely to attract large scale investment come from? he says. in the near future. “I’m actually originally from “In 1991, I decided to migrate He says from a political point of view it all comes Zimbabwe,” he explains. “We had to Australia. I always was a bit down to cost, but the LCoE of renewables such a farm there. My dad was a civil intrigued with Australia. There’s as wind and solar PV are now cheaper than new engineer and he was working on a a lot of great things about living coal-fired generation, batteries are starting to be lot of projects around the world, in the US, but there’s a lot of installed, and so we will be seeing an acceleration in contracting. So I grew up all over downsides too. the take-up of the various technologies. the world, Pakistan, Thailand, “I just felt that Australia was “What we’re talking about is aiming for high various parts of Africa.” more the kind of society that I penetration levels of renewable energy by 2030, When his father died in the mid- wanted to be a part of. I really using foresight gained through modelling, to plan 70s and the political situation in liked the bush and the weather. for a reliable system,” he says. Zimbabwe was uncertain, the There are a lot of other, subtle “Our initial modelling a few years ago used family moved to California. reasons, but I just feel more at the year 2025 costs from the Australian Energy “I finished my last year of high home, I guess.” Technology Assessment (AETA) report 2013 update, to compare the costs to build a like-for-like fossil

“That’s the good news for renewables. It’s actually cheaper than what we’ve modelled in a lot of ways.”

generation system versus a renewable energy generation system for the SWIS. “The AETA costs are out of date, as renewables now are cheaper than some of the costs that they projected in 2025. So SEN’s latest modelling uses more recent cost data and shows that WA’s southwest grid can achieve an 85 to 100 per cent renewable energy supply by 2030 by replacing our ageing coal generation with solar PV, wind and various options of storage, combined with gas/ biofuel/biomass backup for comparable electricity cost of replacing with more new coal generation. “A renewable energy grid would also provide more long-term industry and economic diversity, and increased nett jobs for both regional and metro WA. This would be a lifeline to the coal and farming Steve Gates community for a positive future, while dramatically pushes reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. someone “Couple that with the uptake of electric vehicles, across the sand charging from the grid, and we’ll further clean up our easily in the environment. That’s the good news about renewables. Beach Trekker. We’re taking this message to our politicians, unions, industry, and community groups.”

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78-79_EA020_May17_Events.indd 78 20/04/2017 4:11 PM CONFERENCES

Upcoming Conferences SAVE THE DATE June 2017 - May 2018

Coasts & Ports 2017 16th Australasian Tunnelling 21 Location: Cairns, QLD 30 Society Conference Website: coastsandports Location: Sydney, NSW - 2017.com.au - Website: ats2017.com.au 23 The 2017 theme Working with 01 ATS2017 - Challenging JUNE Nature recognises the need to OCT/NOV Underground Space: Bigger, design and operate projects that place Better, More will encourage you to the natural environment at the forefront expand your thinking about the use of of the project, to bene t the community underground space. and nature. 13th Hydraulics in Water 28th Mining Electrical 13 Engineering Conference 10 Safety Conference Location: Sydney, NSW Project Controls Brisbane, QLD - hiwe2017.com.au Location: Website: 20 Conference 2017 - Website: mesaqld.com. HIWE will cover all aspects of 16 Location: au/2017-mining-electrical- NOV hydraulics including: Hydraulic 12 - Sydney, NSW JULY safety-conference Structures; Stormwater and Dam 22 Website: MESC brings together a diverse range Hydraulics; River and Coastal Hydraulics SEP projectcontrols2017.com.au of stakeholders to discuss all matters and much more. relating to electrical safety within the mining industry. Electric Energy Conference - Project Controls 2017 will showcase 22 EECON 2017 developments across all industries Chemeca 2017 Location: Melbourne, VIC and sectors and appeal to Company 23 Location: Melbourne, VIC - Website: eecon.com.au Owners and Executives. - Website: racicongress.com/ 23 EECON 2017 will bring leading Join us to explore the theme Improving Chemeca2017 NOV industry in uencers to maturity in Project Controls – keeping 26 Chemeca 2017 ‘Innovation Melbourne to discuss, collaborate, and investments on track. Presentations JULY through Science and innovate towards a brighter future – don’t and workshops will provide case Engineering’ will celebrate new miss out on this tremendous opportunity. studies that highlight best practice knowledge and trailblazing technologies across the three key areas – People, that enhance our quality of life. 9th Australasian Congress Process and Technology. 27 on Applied Mechanics Be inspired to create a winning culture, 19th Australasian Engineering Location: Sydney, NSW advance your processes and gain 09 Heritage Conference - Website: acam9.com.au insights into cutting edge technology. Location: Mildura, VIC 29 ACAM 9 provides an Headline speakers include (pictured - Website: heritageconference. NOV international forum for you above clockwise): 13 org.au to exchange and disseminate recent Dr Mehreen Faruqi – Member, OCT Discover our rich engineering ndings on contemporary and wide- NSW Legislative Council, history with the theme Putting Water ranging topics in Applied Mechanics. The Greens NSW to Work – from the steam power that Lance Stephenson – Director of opened Australia’s inland waterways to 2018 Conference on Railway Operations, AECOM Canada navigation in the 19th century. 30 Excellence - CORE 2018 Marion Terrill – Transport Program Location: Sydney, NSW Director, The Grattan Institute 2017 Sustainable Engineering - Website: core2018.org Dr Alexia Nalewaik – Principal 18 Society Conference 02 CORE is the premier technical Consultant/Director, QS Requin Location: Melbourne, VIC APR/MAY event in the Australasian rail Corporation - Website: engineersaustralia. conference market and will examine the 19 org.au/seng-2017 theme Rail: smart, automated, OCT The 2017 SENG Conference sustainable for 2018. ‘Engineering Sustainable Cities’ Engineers Australia provides a range will provide a forum to debate of bespoke partnership opportunities. and discuss sustainability To position your organisation at the and climate issues forefront of Australian and international engineering conferences and events enquire at a ecting Australian cities. [email protected]

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LIGHT BUT STRONG The Isomax cell con guration. Photo: UCSB

University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) mechanical engineer Jonathan Berger has come up with a high-performance solid foam material whose secret lies within its structure. Berger conceived of a solid foam material called Isomax, which is light, strong and versatile, allowing it to be used in a variety of applications, from buildings to vehicles to packaging and transport. The reason this material performs so well is due to the three- dimensional pyramid-and-cross cell geometry within. While normal foam materials have a structure resembling bubbles or honeycombs, the ordered cells within Isomax are set apart by walls forming the shapes of pyramids with three sides and a base. These pyramids join together into octahedra, which are reinforced inside with the cross of intersecting diagonal walls.

SUPER MATERIAL MANIPULATES SOUND Bricks that slow down sound. Photo: University of Sussex

A British team has created a ‘super-material’ capable of bending, shaping and focusing sound waves that pass through it. This could transform both medical and engineering applications. Finely shaped sound elds are used in medical imaging and therapy, and are also used for crack detection in engineered structures. They are also used in a wide range of consumer products such as audio spotlights and ultrasonic haptics. The team from the University of Sussex found a simple and cheap way of manufacturing and assembling acoustic metamaterials capable of creating these shaped sound waves. The base unit of these metamaterials are small bricks that coil up space. These space coiling bricks act to slow down the sound waves in various ways, and when assembled with other bricks to form a metasurface, can transform the sound eld, creating acoustic lenses and phase inversion layers.

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80-81_EA019_MAY20_TechWatch.indd 80 20/04/2017 5:20 PM THREE LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BETTER Photo: Alain Herzog/EPFL

Swiss researchers have discovered a faster and more e cient gait, never observed in nature, for six-legged robots walking on at ground. The team from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Lausanne carried out a host of computer simulations, tests on robots and experiments on fruit ies to determine why insects use a tripod gait and identify whether it is, indeed, the fastest way for six-legged animals and robots to walk. The tripod gait involves having three legs on the ground at all times, two on one side of their body and one on the other. They found that the common insect tripod gait came out on top when they optimised their insect model to climb vertical surfaces with adhesion on the tips of its legs. By contrast, simulations of ground- walking without the adhesiveness of insects’ legs revealed that bipod gaits, where only two legs are on the ground at any given time, are faster and more e cient, even though in nature no insects actually walk this way. They then built a six-legged robot capable of employing either the tripod or bipod gait. The bipod gait was again demonstrated to be faster, corroborating the simulation algorithms’ results.

(UNIST) have been looking for cheaper alternatives. They synthesised ruthenium and CN, a two-dimensional organic IMPROVING HYDROGEN HARVESTING structure, into a catalyst they call Ru@CN. The process A schematic diagram of Ru@CN with ruthenium shown in gold, carbon in involved mixing ruthenium salt (RuCl) with the monomers, grey, and nitrogen in turquoise. Image: UNIST which forms the porous two-dimensional organic structure, CN. The Ru@CN catalyst is then produced a er going through reduction and heat treatment processes. A team of Korean engineers has developed a new ruthenium- “Our study not only suggests new directions in materials based catalyst that can split water into hydrogen almost as science, but also presents a wide range of possibilities well as platinum, but is less costly and more available. from basic to applied science,” says team leader Professor Platinum-based catalysts su er from being expensive Jong-Beom Baek of the Department of Energy and Chemical and less stable in an alkaline environment, so the researchers Engineering at UNIST. “This material is expected to attract from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology attention in many areas thanks to its scienti c potential.”

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80-81_EA019_MAY20_TechWatch.indd 81 20/04/2017 4:12 PM SPOTLIGHT

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