University of Technology Sydney

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Seeing the Bio-Nano "Talk" in the brain via real-time multiplex tracking. This project aims to develop new knowledge and smart tools that have the potential to greatly improve brain research. The blood-brain-barrier is the major physiological barrier that protects the brain from environmental toxins, bacteria and viruses, but limits the effectiveness of nanoparticle-based brain imaging agents. Expected outcomes of this project include a better understanding of the mechanisms that allow nanoparticles to penetrate the blood-brain-barrier, as well as improving brain imaging. Benefits of the project include the commercialisation of technologies and smarl tools developed in this projetct, and establishment of a new Australian biotechnology company that exports brain-imaging technologies to the world. Field of research: 4003 - Biomedical Engineering This project will unlock the application potentials of new microscopic smart tools, known as nanoparticles, in basic and translational brain research as disease sensors, imaging tracers and drug carriers. Today’s poor understanding of nanoparticle penetration to the brain has greatly hindered their application in diagnosing and treating brain diseases. This project will uncover the fundamental mechanisms underlying the nanoparticle journey in the brain by visualising the key steps in real-time. The discoveries will enable the design of new next-generation nanoparticles that are smarter and safer, that can be used in futuristic brain imaging and drug delivery, opening a new era for this field, and delivering improved health and better quality of life for Australians. The commercialisation of the nanoparticles and imaging technologies developed in this project will see the establishment of a new Australian biotechnology company that exports brain-imaging technologies to the world.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

An intelligent condition-monitoring system for mineral screening machines. This project aims to develop an intelligent condition-monitoring system for screening machines which are widely used for classifying mineral particles in the mining industry. This project will develop new vibration-based methodologies and techniques for fault diagnostics and remaining useful life prediction of bearings and gears in situations with multiple complex sources and interferences. The monitoring system, as the expected outcomes of this project, will modernise the current maintenance practices towards condition-based predictive maintenance, reducing unplanned downtime, increasing productivity and reducing maintenance costs for the Australian mining industry. It will also add more value to the Australian manufactured products. Field of research: 4017 - Mechanical Engineering Vibrating machines are widely used to classify mineral particles in the mining industry and frequently experience unforeseen component failures due to harsh working environments, leading to unplanned downtime and loss of production. Maintenance expenses typically add up 30 to 50 per cent of the total operating costs of the mining industry (the total expenses of the coal mining industry in Australia amounted to $55.4 billion in financial year 2021). An intelligent condition-monitoring system will significantly develop current Australian mining industry practices toward predictive maintenance. The system will enable improved condition-based maintenance leading to increased productivity and a reduction in maintenance costs. This condition-monitoring system, to be developed with an Australian manufacturer, will meet an increasing domestic demand from the mining industry for smarter vibrating machines. This project falls under the National Science and Research Priority - Advanced Manufacturing – because it will significantly improve the competitiveness of Australian-made and designed vibrating machines.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Real-time bridge performance evaluation based on crowdsourcing and learning. This project aims to develop a novel strategy utilizing the real-time measurements from moving vehicles and bridges for evaluating the safety and operational performance of bridges based on transfer learning and vehicle-bridge interaction model. This is the first essential study on integrating the bridge-moving load models with transfer learning to extract common knowledge from simulation experiments to support the assessment of damaged status in practice. The project will provide an engineer-friendly low cost monitoring system for its deployment, management and maintenance of existing transport infrastructure. The innovative techniques developed enable the safe operation and reliable evaluation and maintenance of transport infrastructure. Field of research: 4005 - Civil Engineering High-quality maintenance ensures safety and efficiency of our public transport infrastructure. Bridges are very expensive to build and maintain, in fact, maintenance over the lifetime of a bridge can be more expensive than the build. Using the latest technology, this project will develop a low-cost monitoring system for accurate, real-time condition evaluation of bridges while in operation. This innovative approach is superior to the current practice where a bridge needs to be closed and load-tested with a heavy testing truck that is not only expensive and disrupts traffic, but also does not give accurate bridge condition assessments. The outcomes of this project will be innovative engineering techniques for Australian Road Authorities to assess bridge condition under normal traffic. This enables infrastructure asset owners to implement an efficient and cost-effective maintenance system, and provides our community with non-interruptive travel and safer use of public transport infrastructure.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Contextual Behabiour Predictions in Dynamic Mobile E-commerce. The project aims to address behaviour prediction and develop novel techniques and tools for modelling, predicting human behaviours and making effective recommendations based on ubiquitous user behaviour data in mobile e-commerce. The techniques enable multi-source data fusion, context learning and model adaptation, and dynamic recommendation with interpretability ability. Expected outcomes include advances in data analytics theory and informed decision-making. This provides significant benefits of not only placing Australia in the forefront of exploiting multimodal user behaviour big data in dynamic e-commerce but also transforming Australian government and businesses to intelligent and contextual services adaptive to complex situations. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems Australians are increasingly relying on online shopping when purchasing goods and services. In one of the fastest-growing sectors, as much as 46% of e-commerce transactions are conducted on mobile devices. This project provides a valuable opportunity to not only better understand customers’ shopping behaviour through advanced data analytics, but to further improve their shopping experience. Through technological advantages, such as better understanding mobile customer preferences and personalised recommendations, the project will deliver novel digital solutions to the Australian e-commerce sector. This will especially benefit Australian vendors such as grocery chains and local consumer electronics stores by promoting sales to mobile users, therefore gaining added profits at a lower cost. In return, Australian customers will benefit through more relevant product recommendations and a seamless cross-device shopping experience. In the long term, the outcomes will contribute to transforming Australia into a leading and efficient digital economy and society.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Impacts of diet on the brain, body, and microbiome. Dietary habits determine cognitive function, metabolism and the composition of the gut microbiome. This project seeks to clarify the role of the gut microbiome in diet-induced changes to cognition. It aims to do so through longitudinal studies of cognitive function in which dietary patterns are systematically varied, and intervention studies where cognition is tested after experimentally manipulating the gut microbiome. Expected outcomes include new interdisciplinary knowledge spanning psychology, neuroscience, nutrition and metabolism. This project is timely given the enormous shifts in Australian dietary choices. The knowledge to be gained should provide benefits to individual and public health, agriculture, and food systems. Field of research: 1701 - Psychology Australian dietary habits have shifted dramatically in recent years. Over a third of energy intake now comes from energy-dense foods rich in fat and sugar, and 95% of adults do not meet fruit and vegetable intake guidelines. As well as contributing to high rates of overweight and obesity, this dietary pattern is associated with poorer cognitive function and altered composition of the gut microbiome. However, the role of the gut microbiome in the cognitive effects produced by diet remains poorly understood. We need to identify whether the links between cognition and the microbiome are correlational or causal; model dietary effects in longitudinal studies; understand the role of specific nutrients; and isolate the effects of diets from their metabolic consequences. By addressing these knowledge gaps, this project seeks to provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms by which nutritional patterns alter brain function. Knowledge gained will advance our fundamental understanding of issues highly relevant to Australia's future, including optimal nutrition and maintaining cognitive and physical health.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Novel hydrogen-rich liquids for storing and transporting hydrogen at scale. Hydrogen is proposed as the best candidate to store large amounts of energy produced by intermittent sources such as wind and solar. This project aims to address challenges in storing and transporting large amounts of hydrogen in a safe and effective way by developing novel liquid-phase compounds that contain light elements including boron, carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen. Expected outcomes of this project include new liquid compounds that can effectively and safely store hydrogen at scale using the exisiting liquid hydrocarbon fuel infrastructure. This should provide significant benefits in the establishment of renewable hydrogen for domestic consumption and more for exporting sustainable and clean fuel using hydrogen as the energy carrier. Field of research: 0912 - Materials Engineering Australia has access to limitless solar and wind energy resources. These renewable energy sources can be used to split water molecules to produce hydrogen, a potential carrier of these renewables. But effective hydrogen storage and transport methods are currently lacking. The new liquid chemical compounds this project aims to develop will overcome this challenge by enabling the safe, cost-effective and efficient storage and transport of hydrogen at scale using existing liquid hydrocarbon fuel infrastructure, facilitating fast market uptake for various applications. Implementation of the outcomes will deliver Australia significant environmental and economic benefits. By facilitating higher amounts of renewables in its energy mix, Australia can lower its overall energy consumption and carbon emissions, and generate new domestic and export markets for renewables, opening up commercial and employment opportunities for Australian chemical manufacturers and stimulating the renewables sector.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

A Green and Fire-resistant Magnesium Oxychloride Cementitious Composite . This project aims to develop a novel and green fibre reinforced magnesium oxychloride cementitious composite with durability and resilience for buildings subject to fire/bushfire attack via well-integrated multiscale numerical and experimental studies. This enhances integrity and safety of buildings and increases the energy efficiency for buildings. The project will significantly advance the research and application of green cement, and find a solution for recycle and reuse a large amount of waste/industry by-products in construction towards circular economy. The research outcomes are innovative material, models, experiment technology and modelling methods, with significant impact and benefits to environment, economy and society. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering Manufacturing of conventional cement and cement-based construction materials such as concrete emit a large amount of carbon dioxide, causing strong concern to environment. Australia is currently facing an immediate challenge of waste management, and bushfire poses risks to buildings and life. This project aims to develop an innovative light, green and fire-resistant construction material based on a green cement-magnesium oxychloride cement via rigorous and innovative scientific investigations to achieve durability, sustainability and resilience for buildings subject to fire/bushfire attack. This new material will consume a large amount of wastes and industry byproducts providing a solution to the waste issue along with significant environmental benefit contributing to a circular economy. The application of light, fire-resistance material with thermal insulation properties will enhance the structural safety and energy efficiency of buildings. The project brings commercial and economic benefits, advancing the products of Australia industries and enhancing the application of innovative construction technology.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

The Role of Energy Absorbing Rubber Grid on Ballast Track Performance. Breakage and excessive displacement of ballast lead to instability and regular maintenance of railways. The project aims to study the fundamental mechanics of ballast aggregates interacting with the apertures of recycled-Rubber Energy Absorbing Grids (REAG). The role of REAG on enhanced track performance by damping the cyclic wheel loading and impact will be quantified via rigorous mathematical methods complementing a computer-based numerical model and validated by laboratory & field data. When placed within the rail substructure REAG will enable reduced ballast movement and breakage while attenuating noise/vibration. The research outputs will facilitate improved rail track design enabling enhanced longevity and reduced cost of maintenance. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering This project will deliver rigorous design tools and guidelines for adopting recycled-rubber energy absorbing grids (REAG) in rail ballast and to improve track stability using a sustainable solution. Utilising REAG in railways can potentially deliver wide economic, commercial, and environmental benefits. Ballast degradation accounts for the bulk of track maintenance costs for rail authorities, where replenishing ballast alone costs over $15 million/year in NSW. Meanwhile, there are limited incentives for industry to recycle the large volumes of end-of-life tyres and worn conveyor belts; at present these go to landfills, stockpiled in mine sites, or illegally dumped. Revisions to technical specifications and Australian standards to incorporate REAG will ensure that an environmentally responsible solution is implemented to upcycle rubber waste and lessen the carbon footprint of industry. Rail authorities can expect substantially reduced maintenance costs as well as enhanced track performance and longevity. New markets for recycled rubber will also generate employment and socio-economic benefits for Australia.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Robust meta learning for risk-aware recommender systems. Recommender systems are the core of many online services but they are highly vulnerable to risks like shilling attacks, privacy leaks, and unexpected change. This project aims to develop new adversarial Bayesian-based, privacy-preserved and self-adaptive fuzzy meta learning methods and meta recommender systems that are robust to these risky, uncertain and dynamic environments. The anticipated outcomes should significantly improve the reliability of recommender systems with particular benefits for online personalised service systems, e.g., e-government, e-business and e-Learning. The outcomes will also advance machine learning knowledge with a new robust meta learning schema for general data analytics and applications. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing "Recommender systems play an increasingly central role in delivering personalised online products and services to the Australian public, but are currently extremely vulnerable to three cyber risks: emergency situations, malicious attacks and privacy leaks. The intended outcome of this project is the development of fundamental, translation-ready know-how to significantly reduce these risks, and improve safety, reliability and privacy guarantees in personalised online services. This will benefit numerous sectors in the Australian e-commence and in e-government, particularly dung periods of peak demand, e.g. searching for jobs online or accessing government services during a crisis (e.g. Covid-19). Businesses and online vendors will be able to increase customer trust and improve customer relationships through the protection of an individual’s privacy in everyday online activities. These potential applications will increase public trust in Australia’s transformation into a leading and efficient digital economy and society."

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Formal Verification of Quantum Logic Circuits. The project aims to develop comprehensive theory and effective techniques for formal modelling, equivalence checking, and model checking of quantum circuits. The research is timely as the rapid growth of quantum computing hardware makes it an urgent task to develop verification techniques for quantum hardware design and quantum compilers. The successful development of the algorithms and software tools proposed in this project will significantly advance the knowledge on formal verification of quantum circuits and help Australian quantum start-ups build and maintain an internationally leading position in the rapidly emerging quantum electronic design automation (EDA) industry. Field of research: 0802 - Computation Theory and Mathematics The outcomes of this project include theoretical results, algorithms and prototype software tools which could have a significant impact in quantum hardware verification and profound potential benefits for new and advanced knowledge and implications for the Australian economy. Its successful completion will complement Australia’s strong research success in quantum hardware, consolidate our position in the global research community, and benefit Australian Information and Communication Technology industries. This project addresses the National Science & Research priority of advanced manufacturing by contributing essential theoretical support and prototype software tools for Australian quantum start-ups, helping them establish and maintain an internationally leading position in the rapidly emerging quantum electronic design automation (EDA) industry, which could better exploit Australia’s advantages in attracting, training, and maintaining high-end human resources in quantum computing, while avoiding the common disadvantages of its being in an isolated geographic position.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

The Molecular Basis of Nanoparticle Resistance in Mixed-Species Biofilm. The project aims to understand how the globally significant mixed-species growth of pathogens develop resistance to silver nanoparticle, currently one of the most important alternative antimicrobials to antibiotics. The integrated research is to elucidate, for the first time, the nanoparticle multi-targeting toxicity on mixed-species bacterial community and how, in turn, the bacteria activate their cell-to-cell signalling for a synergistic defence to adapt to the nanoparticle toxicity. The pioneering knowledge is the foundation for technologies targeting the interspecies metabolite cross-talking to overcome the resistance phenomena, ensuring a long-term efficacy of the alternative antimicrobial on the difficult-to-control pathogenic growth. Field of research: 1007 - Nanotechnology The world is fighting a serious crisis of antibiotic resistance with bacterial pathogens becoming increasingly resistant to almost all antibiotics. Nanosilver is now an important alternative to antibiotics and the project seeks to preserve the long-term efficacy of the nanoparticle on the clinically and environmentally significant mixed-species biofilm growth of pathogens. Mixed-species growth is the leading cause of stubborn and in many cases, untreatable infections in human and livestock. The generated knowledge of how pathogens in mixed-species consortium communicate to coordinate defence against the potent nanoparticle, can guide development of technologies that can switch off this biological signalling. With no discovery of new effective antibiotics over the last 30 years, the project ultimate purpose is to protect the efficacy of nanosilver as a valuable alternative antimicrobial, saving lives and the billions currently spent in healthcare, livestock industries, as well as environmental remediation to cope with the issue of antibiotic resistance.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Cleaning of tough paints on advanced composites using laser technologies. This project researches fundamental knowledge and algorithms to underpin the deployment of a novel ablation technology using pulsed lasers to remove paints, in particular tough paints, from surfaces of advanced composite structures, e.g. airframes and turbine blades. It establishes thermal mechanical models to describe ablation mechanisms of pulsed laser removal of the paint using both IR and UV bands. Optimal processing protocols to clean paints with different properties, without damaging the underlying composites, will be determined and demonstrated. It meets a cleaning technology need for this paint-on-composites material system to support retrofitting and re-manufacturing in industry. These are crucial industry requirements. Field of research: 0910 - Manufacturing Engineering The original protective coating on complex equipment or structural frames, such as aircraft, wind turbines, and high-speed rail, needs to be removed for maintenance or re-manufacturing. Traditional technologies based on mechanical tools or chemical solvents have been widely adopted by industry for metallic equipment and structures. Mechanical methods become less viable for advanced composites made of reinforcing fibres in polymer matrices, because of the potential to cause damage. Chemical solvents create environmental hazards by releasing harmful volatiles. In recent years, pulsed lasers have been used for removal of paint or graffiti from metallic and concrete structures. It has been applied in practice because of its advantages of low environmental pollution, high paint stripping efficiency, and automatic operation. This project develops fundamental engineering science that underpin the deployment of a novel ablation technology using pulsed lasers to remove paints, in particular tough paints, on advanced composite structures and equipment. It meets a need in advanced cleaning technologies for paints.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Radio Frequency Camera for Low-Complexity and High-Resolution Radar Imaging. This project aims to develop the theory and enabling techniques to realise a low-complexity and high-resolution radar imaging system with uncoordinated illumination. New scientific breakthroughs include fundamental radar imaging theory, advanced radio frequency frontend design and fast signal processing algorithms. These will lead to a paradigm shift in active and passive imaging technologies. A proof-of-concept prototype of the proposed imaging system with 77 GHz millimetre wave will be developed to demonstrate its feasibility and performance. The expected outcomes include Australia’s scientific and technological leadership in radar imaging and enhanced capability in emergency response, defence, public safety, and healthcare industries. Field of research: 0906 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering The project will enhance Australia’s leadership in advanced radar imaging technology, thus supporting industries such as emergency response, defence, public safety, and healthcare. With improved sensing capability, the developed radio frequency camera will enable many new applications which are not possible today, such as helicopter landing in poor visibility, illegal object detection in airports and public areas, and medical examination on the spot and at home, thus bringing economic and social benefits to Australian society. The project also targets technology transfer and commercialisation and hence will stimulate growth of the local industry and attract overseas investment to Australia. The benefits of the breakthrough imaging technology will contribute to maximising Australia’s competitive advantage and meeting the emerging global and domestic public security and healthcare demands. The project is expected to generate intellectual property in the form of technical publications and patent disclosures, build research strength, and nurture critical mass of Australian talent for this emerging technology.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Creation of a super-resolution map of the bacterial cytokinesis machinery . Cell division is a fundamental process essential for life. Yet our understanding of this process on a molecular level is limited, mostly hampered by the inability to visualize the different components of the division machinery inside these tiny cells with adequate resolution. To overcome this barrier, capitalizing on recent advancements in imaging and molecular technologies combined with innovative engineering, this project aims to create a spatial and temporal map of the division machinery inside bacterial cells at unprecedented resolution. The expected outcomes are new knowledge on the mechanism of bacterial division and technological advances in biological imaging, informing applications in a wide variety of sectors. Field of research: 0605 - Microbiology Knowledge generated in this project could form the foundation for the development of new tools to combat an increasing global health treat; antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The importance of basic research in this area cannot be overstated as the world is rapidly heading towards a post-antibiotic era where several million people are predicted to succumb to bacterial infections each year. Other future potential applications of this work include advances in manufacturing, wastewater management, agriculture and bioremediation. More immediately, this project is expected to generate knowledge that will be disseminated in high-quality scientific literature that will help Australia maintain its front-line position in interdisciplinary basic research that has proven vital for the sustainability of an advanced progressive society. The innovative technologies in engineering, molecular science and biological imaging we will develop will provide excellent training for our young Australian scientists, and contribute to maintaining our strong reputation in basic interdisciplinary research leading to translation.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Self-Healing Concrete for Mitigation of Chloride Induced Steel Corrosion. This project aims to develop an intrinsic self-healing concrete using crystalline admixtures for rapid healing of concrete cracking. In marine environments, concrete cracking provides a direct access for chlorides from sea water to the steel reinforcement, leading to early and severe steel corrosion. The self-healing concrete will be designed to address the two main causes of concrete structures deterioration in Australia: early age cracking due to restrained shrinkage and chloride induced steel reinforcement corrosion. The outcomes of this project will drive the advances in developing and applying crystalline admixture-based self-healing concrete to extend the service life of concrete structures and avoid costly repair. Field of research: 0905 - Civil Engineering Concrete is the most widely used construction material of choice for much of Australia’s infrastructure. Moreover, most of Australia’s critical infrastructure is located on or near the coast in high saline conditions, and is therefore exposed to a high risk of corrosion of reinforcing steel. Our ability to design or repair such structures with the full knowledge of their long-term performance is crucial, both economically and strategically, to the nation's wealth and security. This project will provide benefits for developing intrinsic self-healing concrete, aiming for mitigating chloride transport and preventing corrosion propagation of steel reinforcement. This novel crystalline admixtures-based self-healing technology will cater for the stringent requirements on smart concrete infrastructures, and will create new revenue streams, and bring this novel technology into cement and concrete industry to improve durability, serviceability and sustainability of structures, producing important economic, environmental and social benefits, enhancing workforce skills of engineers, builders and civil constructors.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Journeys and Legacies of European Émigré Lawyers in Australia. This project investigates the reception and contribution of legally-qualified European émigrés to Australian law, institutions and society. Examining the cohort who arrived in Australia before, during and immediately after the Second World War, we focus on three sites: the legal academy, the legal profession, and the role of international institutions and agencies. Using archival research, oral history, personal papers and case law, the project makes an Australian contribution to international research into the journeys and legacies of European émigré lawyers. The project provides important new knowledge about the role of migration in shaping Australian legal institutions. Field of research: 1801 - Law In 2019, almost 30% of Australia’s population was born overseas, with most being skilled migrants. Only a small fraction of these are represented in Australia’s legal profession and legal academy. This project examines this lack of diversity, recovering evidence of the lives, journeys and careers of legally-qualified migrants. Focusing upon European émigrés arriving in the period before, during and immediately after the Second World War, this project investigations their reception in Australia and their contributions to the legal profession, legal academy and to Australia’s engagement with international institutions and agencies. It generates important new knowledge about the contributions that have been made to Australian legal institutions by émigré lawyers.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

AI-Human Empowered Team Decision-Making. This project aims to introduce machine intelligence into human team decision-making using the brain-to-brain synchrony that arises when people cooperate toward achieving a goal. The expected outcomes are models and indicators of this synchrony, and methods to fuse individual human decisions with autonomous machine agents, into collective decisions. This new knowledge is expected to greatly increase our understanding of cooperative decision-making by humans and machine agents. The tools produced are expected to provide a computational basis for human-autonomy teaming, the core of Industry 5.0, that software developers and end-users in various industries could further build upon to optimise complex decision-making to benefit humanity. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing Cooperative decision-making software used in various private and public sectors lack the engagement of intelligent machines as teammates. Enhancing the decision-making power of human-machine collaboration, which is the core of Industry 5.0, with the added perspective of machine intelligence, holds extraordinary potential for more accurate, better-informed and more timely collective decision-making in complex situations (e.g. healthcare, transport). The expected outcomes of this project are translation-ready AI-empowered tools to optimise human group planning and decision-making for Australian enterprises. The commercial potential of these tools is expected to (1) position Australia as a leader to exploit AI and cognitive science for collaborative decision support software; and (2) advance three of the Australian government’s Strategies for the Future: Artificial Intelligence, Boosting Science and Innovation, and Increasing International Collaboration. The project also provides substantial training opportunities to add to Australia’s capacity in AI where demand for skills is growing rapidly.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Interpretable Behaviour Analysis with External Structured Knowledge. This project aims to develop novel interpretable neural models for predictive analytics tasks on human behaviour, operating on sequence behaviour data associated with external supportive structured knowledge. It is expected to present theoretical foundations for robust representation learning on heterogeneous behaviour data and interpretable machine reasoning models, which can support a broad scope of intelligent systems. Expected outcomes will be a next-generation interpretable behaviour analysis system with versatile abilities to reason over various data structures and provide a high-level interpretability about its reasoning procedure. The benefits will span the research and industry sectors, e.g., retail, healthcare, service provider. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing This project adopts a novel approach to deliver ground-breaking advances for augmenting artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to drive an uplift in productivity for Australian businesses and organisations through predictive data analytics. The outcomes will embody the transparency and explainability principles in Australia’s new AI Ethics framework. It will unlock next-generation predictive analytics that can provide enhanced automatic data processing, and more accurate and transparent predictions to support responsible data-driven decision making. The innovative outcomes will enhance the capacity of Australian organisations across different sectors to deliver significant economic and social benefits. The latter range from enabling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across social and healthcare services to deliver more accurate predictions for effective and timely support to vulnerable populations, all the way to enabling advanced manufacturing industries to gain better data-driven insights for client demands and new trends in product design.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Robust Federated Learning for Imperfect Decentralised Data. This project aims to develop a next-generation robust federated learning framework to tackle the challenging scenarios of imperfect decentralised data in real applications, e.g. mobile phones and the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The outcomes will bring great benefits to a broad range of industry sectors by providing novel large-scale intelligent applications with privacy preservation. The proposed method will advance the development of a cutting-edge technique to develop new intelligent applications in a decentralised and privacy-sensitive scenario. This game-changing research will advance current data mining and artificial intelligence research from centralised intelligence to decentralised intelligence with a collaboration network. Field of research: 0801 - Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing "Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being increasingly used in many sectors of Australia. The benefits of AI become particularly powerful when several organisations or end users collaborate and combine their data. This project will develop novel AI techniques to allow different participants to collaborate and share their records while maintaining data privacy and security, and can also automatically adapt to each participant’s characteristics and changing environments. By incorporating the privacy protection principles of the Australian AI Ethics Framework into the project, Australian end-users, from large industry organisations to small businesses, will be able to combine their data and develop a wide range of advanced AI tools to improve their processes and services - without exposing their records to each other. This will deliver economic benefits especially to businesses with complex supply chains, such as agriculture, transport logistics and manufacturing. The outcome of using improved AI tools will deliver improved quality-of-service of many sectors, including healthcare, social services and education."

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Wikipedia and the nation’s story: Towards equity in knowledge production. As the world’s largest source of public information, Wikipedia is a crucial site in which national stories are made. This project aims to institute a critical approach to understanding Wikipedia by investigating how it produces knowledge in its coverage of Australian historic events. The project expects to advance digital media studies, utilizing an innovative conceptual approach to undertake the first systematic examination of events from a national perspective. Expected outcomes include an expanded evaluation framework and an international research collaboration. This should provide significant benefits, building research capacity and creating tools to help generate more equitable coverage for millions of users in Australia and beyond. Field of research: 2001 - Communication and Media Studies It is in Australia’s interest that its citizens are able to access information about themselves, their country and their culture. With over 200 million monthly page views, Wikipedia has become the most powerful and widely used source of public knowledge about the Australian past. But Wikipedia is a very limited resource. Not only does its content only partially reflect the national story, but no survey of its Australian coverage has ever been undertaken. By providing new tools to understand the coverage of Australian events in Wikipedia, this project will benefit millions of Australians by enabling them to better see themselves in Wikipedia’s pages, and will also benefit the Australia in its international relationships, through expanding and improving Australian representation in one of the most globally used sources of information.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Milk protein profiling powered by multiplexed single molecule assay. This project aims to develop a novel device, comprising advanced single molecule imaging, microfluidics and immunoassay technologies, for quantification of milk protein variants. Milk quality is central to dairying and variants of proteins in milk affect its market value. No current milk protein detection technologies are readily applied in milk production quality control. This project aims to produce a device that can be used by milk producers and farms to profile protein variants with high sensitivity in a single test in an hour and screen unwanted protein contamination. The platform also has great potential for detecting other complex and low content analytes. It builds on innovations in nanoparticles and recent industry collaboration. Field of research: 0301 - Analytical Chemistry Australian dairying is worth $13 billion p.a. This project aims to help this industry to improve quality control, reduce quality control costs and increase markets. The new method and device developed in this project will enable the industry to meet growing demand for milk without unwanted protein ingredients. For the first time, Australian dairy farmers and milk product companies will be able to do testing quickly, with high accuracy, on their own premises. The technology will identify A1 proteins, which are considered to affect some people’s digestion and to cause allergic reactions. Improved quality assurance for A2 milk and dairy products will benefit Australians who do not tolerate conventional milk products. Technology from this project will also benefit the broader Australian food industry, including confirming product provenance. It has potential in the Australian life sciences and diagnostics industries, including for testing at points of care. The project will strengthen links between a university team and an Australian R&D service provider that has worked for many years with the food industry.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Effective, efficient and scalable processing of the graph of graphs. This project aims to develop novel approaches to realise the value of the graph of graphs (GoG), which has been widely used to capture the relations among the structured entities. Several key challenges will be addressed: better models to capture the similarity and cohesiveness of the structured entities, increased efficiency, and greater scalability of the processing and analytics of the GoG. The novel models and algorithms developed within this project will be incorporated into a prototype for both evaluation and to demonstrate real-world practical value for business, industry, and academia. Success in this project should see significant benefits for many important applications such as health, cyber-security and e-commerce. Field of research: 0806 - Information Systems Graph of graphs (GoG) techniques offer powerful insights into the structure of complex entities, like chemical molecules and proteins, and their relationship and interactions with other entities, and are used in many important applications from the life and material sciences through to e-commerce. This project will develop new methods for systematically processing and analysing GoG in an effective, efficient, and scalable way, positioning Australia as a leader of the research field of graph processing and analytics. New knowledge generated will enable data analysts and researchers to better understand and analyse graph data across a wide spectrum of applications. Enhanced cybersecurity solutions based on project findings will benefit Australian e-commerce businesses and their customers - such as health-related applications, e-commerce, cyber-security and social networks. The outcomes will also accelerate Australia’s transition toward patient-centred consultation and treatment, enabling Australian healthcare operators and patients to benefit through more accurate precision medicinal products and better health outcomes.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Low-Cost Multiple Pencil-Beam Lens Antenna System. The project aims to develop a new multiple pencil beam antenna system, taking advantage of CIs' preliminary inventions in lens antennas, 3D printed antennas and arrays, and antenna feeding networks. A dual-polarised antenna array architecture will enhance the sensing quality and resolution of our partner organisation's cleaning robot. It will enable the robot to recognise human presence and movement in low-light conditions for rapid and safe disinfection of public spaces. The project will have an immediate socio-economic impact on local businesses and communities. The outcomes of the project will create safer public environments for people living and working in Australia, and boost economic recovery in the post-pandemic period. Field of research: 1005 - Communications Technologies The project aims to develop a lightweight, high performance and 3D printable multibeam antenna system that will enhance the wireless sensing capabilities of the Partner Organisation’s intelligent autonomous cleaning robots. Integration of the developed antenna system would enable them to safely operate in non-line-of-sight and low-light scenarios, making them suitable for safe deployment in high-traffic and complex environments such as trains, hospitals, airports, shopping centres, and warehouses. Deployment of autonomous cleaning robots would enable public authorities and industry to deliver enhanced cleaning routines at a reduced cost to improve environmental hygiene. Demonstrating implementation of the technology will scaffold resilient 3D printing-based supply chains, and unlock new market opportunities for at-scale commercial integration of this advanced sensing technology to meet increasing domestic and international demand. This will stimulate jobs growth in advanced manufacturing, drive productivity and economic growth, and position Australia as a leader in advanced manufacturing innovation.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

A First Nations Sovereign Approach to Decolonising Colonial Institutions. This Laureate Fellowship aims to fundamentally re-make Australia’s colonial legal institutions in order to remove the harm they currently do to Indigenous people and communities. It is well known that colonial legal institutions such as the criminal justice system, coronial processes and child protection systems continue to have significant negative impacts on First Nations Australians in the twenty-first century. Researchers have not yet been able to answer the question of how we can best decolonise colonial legal systems. This project hypothesises that we can drive positive change by theorising and developing a coherent strengths-based self-determination model that is applicable across legal and regulatory sectors. Field of research: 4505 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Society and Community This Laureate Project aims to reduce the harmful overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the criminal justice, coronial and child protection systems. This will be achieved through the development of a framework that will be incorporated within these institutions, resulting in changed decision-making processes which specifically define the ways Indigenous peoples are treated. The new processes will support positive outcomes for Indigenous peoples and their communities: reducing the current overrepresentation will improve socio-economic outcomes for First Nations people; contribute to closing the gap in life outcomes; and support the broader national priority of ensuring safe and healthy communities. Meaningful collaboration with the Aboriginal community-controlled sector and utilisation of existing relationships with Australian legal institutions are hallmarks of project design. Research outcomes will be shared in forms directly accessible to Indigenous communities and the Aboriginal community-controlled sector - including as film, websites and podcasts.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2022 · 2022-01

Control and learning for enhancing capabilities of quantum sensors. This project aims to develop new theories and algorithms to enhance capabilities in engineering quantum sensors from the perspective of systems and control. The project is significant because it is anticipated to advance key knowledge and provide systematic methods to enable achievement of high-precision sensing for wide applications, e.g., early disease detection, medical research, discovery of ore deposits and groundwater monitoring. The intended outcomes are fundamental theories, effective control and learning algorithms for achieving highly-sensitive sensors. These outcomes should make important contributions to and deliver new knowledge and skills for Australia's sensing industries, which could benefit Australia's economic growth. Field of research: 4007 - Control Engineering, Mechatronics and Robotics According to Australia’s 2020 Quantum Technology Roadmap, our quantum sensing industry has the potential to generate over $0.9 billion revenue and 2900 new jobs by 2040. Quantum sensing has many potential applications including in early detection of diseases, groundwater monitoring and iron ore discovery. However, it is unclear what the physical limits of emerging quantum sensors are, and how to minimise their production costs. This project will characterise fundamental limits of quantum sensors and develop control and learning methods for producing efficient and reliable quantum sensors with minimum resource requirements. The discoveries made in this project, which will be translated to support policy decision-makers and sensing industry manufacturers, will offer the Australian government and key industries a better understanding of what capability quantum sensors can achieve, and create new knowledge for developing highly advanced quantum sensors for commercial advantage. These outcomes will support Australia to realise the economic, industrial and workforce benefits envisaged by its Roadmap.