May 27, 2020

UOW awarded $1M for research projects with industry

Research collaborations to deliver practical solutions to real-world problems

Three University of Wollongong-led research projects have been awarded close to $1 million funding through the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects scheme.

The ARC Linkage Projects scheme grants, announced by Federal Education Minister Mr Dan Tehan, are designed to bring university researchers together with industry partners to undertake research collaborations that will deliver benefits to the Australian community.

“Our investment in research supports the development of long-term strategic research collaborations between university researchers and businesses, industry and community organisations to find solutions to problems and improve the lives of Australians,” Mr Tehan said.

UOW Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) Professor Jennifer L Martin AC welcomed the announcement and congratulated the successful researchers.

“Each of these projects is a great example of UOW researchers working directly with industry and community partners to find practical solutions to complex real-world problems,” Professor Martin said.

In addition to the $1 million Australian Research Council funding, the industry and stakeholder partners will contribute a further $2 million in cash and in-kind support to the projects.

Professor Jo Spangaro from UOW’s School of Health and Society was awarded $442,364 for her project, Screening and responding to domestic violence experienced by refugee women, which will adapt and test an evidence-based intervention to identify and address domestic violence experienced by newly arrived refugee women.

“Domestic violence is the leading contributor to premature death among Australian women, and costs Australia $22 billion each year, with refugee women at heightened risk,” Professor Spangaro said.

“This intervention should reduce the human and financial cost of domestic violence among refugee and other vulnerable migrant women, providing tools to settlement services to address this complex, hidden problem.”

UOW will collaborate with Settlement Services International, one of Australia’s largest providers of settlement programs, on the project. Other participants include University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, Auckland University of Technology, Settlement Council of Australia, Domestic Violence NSW, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australian Institute of Health And Welfare, South Western Sydney Local Health District, and the NSW Ministry of Health.

Professor Willy Susilo (pictured above), head of UOW’s School of Computing and Information Technology, received $199,857 for his project Enabling Anonymity and Privacy for Blockchain Technology in a Quantum World.

“Australia is home to many leading blockchain initiatives, including industry-specific trials for solutions in energy, agriculture, and the public sector. However, blockchain applications are vulnerable to quantum computer attacks,” Professor Susilo said.

“The technologies developed in this project will benefit Australian cybersecurity research since they will enable anonymity and privacy protection of users in many online activities.”

UOW’s industry partners on this project are KDDI Research and Tide Foundation.

Professor Haiping Du, from UOW’s School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering, was awarded $337,578 for his project, Innovative Magnetorheological Powertrains for Electric Heavy Duty Vehicles.

“A new era of high-efficiency electric powertrains could potentially be launched through the development of these novel technologies,” Professor Du said.

“This project aims to explore innovative powertrains to maximise driving range, reduce power consumption, and enhance the dynamic performance of electrified vehicles.

“The proposed powertrains are expected to achieve seamless gear changing for driving and better braking performance and therefore significantly improve vehicle dynamics and economic performance.”

The project partners are Xiamen Golden Dragon Automobile Electronic Company, M&S Engineering and University of Waterloo, Canada.