•    Resources and energy
•    ICT and emerging technologies
•    Health
•    Sustainable development

These areas capture the multidisciplinary nature of the University’s research programs, which are accessible across all of its four academic faculties – Science and Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities and Business.

RESOURCES AND ENERGY
Curtin’s pragmatic approach to international linkages demonstrates how China’s emergence as a science and engineering powerhouse naturally complements Australia’s leading role in energy resources production and related research. In particular, Curtin’s new partnerships with Chinese research institutions demonstrate confidence in the ability of the two nations to lead in the development of new, ‘green’ energy technologies.

During 2009, Curtin’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Jeanette Hacket visited China to establish formal research linkages in the area of energy research. The first of the agreements reached was with the Institute of Process Engineering within the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences. The two institutions will jointly undertake research in areas such as biomass and coal gasification, carbon capture and storage, and the development of fuel cells.

Another key achievement of Professor Hacket’s visit to China was the establishment of the Curtin–Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) Joint Research Laboratory for Coal and Biomass Utilisation, which unites the Curtin Centre for Advanced Energy Science and Engineering (CCAESE) with the State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion at HUST.

The Joint Research Laboratory is progressing projects that focus on harnessing new (biomass) energy sources, and developing technologies to reduce emissions from coal combustion. One of the biomass projects focuses on advanced biomass co-firing in conventional coal-fired power stations. The project is being funded under the Australia–China Special Fund for Science and Technology Cooperation, established by the Federal Government and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

These collaborations will greatly contribute to the development of advanced clean coal and biomass technologies in Australia and China.

CURTIN RESOURCES AND CHEMISTRY PRECINCT
Curtin’s leading role in resources and energy research is also clearly demonstrated by the new Curtin Resources and Chemistry Precinct at the University’s Bentley Campus. The $116 million development is funded by Curtin, BHP Billiton, ChemCentre (WA’s flagship chemical science facility) and both the Federal and Western Australian governments.

During 2009, Curtin research teams have been relocating to the precinct, and will soon be utilising its advanced laboratories. These include the Nanochemistry Research Institute, the WA Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre, the Curtin Water Quality Research Centre, and the WA Corrosion Research Group. ChemCentre has also relocated to the precinct, adding to the hub of expertise for collaborative research. Ultimately, more than 200 professional scientists, engineers and staff will occupy state-of-the-art facilities for chemistry and energy-related research.

Further endorsement of Curtin’s research capabilities in resources and energy-related fields was seen recently with the announcement of the Cooperative Research Centre for Deep Exploration Technologies. Curtin’s involvement in the CRC will be through its Centre for High Definition Geophysics, where research focuses on developing new seismic technologies to detect mineral resources.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Sustainable development is a strategic priority for Curtin, and renewable energy is one area in which the University continues to strengthen its research contribution.

Reflecting this, the Federal Government recently awarded Curtin $2.5 million to investigate the sustainable production of high quality second-generation transport biofuels from mallee biomass. The program will be conducted at the Curtin Centre for Advanced Energy Science and Engineering (CCAESE), which is one of 16 centres under the research umbrella of the Australian Sustainable Development Institute (ASDI) at Curtin.

Curtin was the only WA university to receive funding from the Government’s $15 million Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development Program, and it confirms the University’s role – and that of the CCAESE specifically – in the development of renewable energy sources that reduce CO2 emissions.

ICT AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Curtin has continued to build impressive capabilities in radio astronomy, and develop advanced projects for the highly coveted international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.

Through the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (CIRA), the University is positioning radio astronomy as a science and technology strength for WA. CIRA is jointly led by Premier’s Research Fellow Professor Steven Tingay (astrophysics and technical astronomy research) and Professor Peter Hall (engineering research and industry collaboration), who is the only Chair in Radio Astronomy Engineering in Australia.

In August, WA Premier Colin Barnett launched the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Perth – a $100 million joint venture funded by the WA Government, Curtin and The University of Western Australia, with CSIRO and iVEC as collaborating partners. ICRAR’s leadership team, drawn from both universities, includes Professors Tingay and Hall.

Complementing the ICRAR initiative, the new Pawsey Centre for High-Performance Computing and SKA Science was launched in September by the Federal Minister for Science and Innovation Kim Carr, at Perth’s Technology Park, adjacent to Curtin’s Bentley Campus.

The $80 million Pawsey Centre is funded under the Government’s Super Science program. At the launch, Senator Carr emphasised the Pawsey Centre’s focus on radio astronomy that will help demonstrate Australia’s readiness to host the SKA, and its close linking “with the leading-edge Australian SKA Pathfinder radio-telescope being built in WA as a precursor to the SKA project”.

At CIRA, Tingay and Hall are now coordinating several key pathfinder radio telescope projects; foremost among these is the Murchison Wide-field Array (MWA). Resulting from a major collaboration between Australia, the US and India, the MWA will survey the entire sky at a far greater speed than existing instruments, and reveal new information about the Universe and its radio phenomena.

The development of next-generation information and communication technologies remains an area of exciting opportunities for researchers.

For example, an inspirational collaboration between WA’s Main Roads authority and two Curtin research teams will realise a next-generation traffic management and control system. The project involves the Digital Ecosystems and Business Intelligence Institute (DEBII), the Planning and Transport Research Centre (PATREC) and Main Roads WA.

DEBII’s research expertise lies in determining how to process and utilise data, and how best to derive meaning and provide context to information. Technical innovations being designed and developed by the DEBII team for the project are considerable, and will exploit the capabilities of the next-generation internet, known as the ’Web of Things’.

The new devices will collect traffic data, via compact sensors implemented through programmable logic arrays, encapsulated and deployed as monitors. Each will have an IP address, providing it with a logical location aligned with a geographical location (supplied by GPS), and therefore have the flexibility to be either stationary or mobile monitors. Relevant data will then be transmitted wirelessly to monitors at Main Roads’ control centre. Benefits for road-users will be reduced congestion, a shortened travel time, a safer road environment, and less pollution as result of vehicles being on the road for less time. The Australian Research Council is supporting the research with a three-year Linkage Project grant.

HEALTH
Chronic conditions now dominate health-care spending in Australia. Accordingly, health research must look closely at preventative care and long-term health maintenance. To address the issue, Curtin has established an integrated health research institute – the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI).

CHIRI’s programs respond astutely to the shifting health care patterns of ageing populations, and of societies that suffer from chronic illnesses such as diabetes, obesity, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Curtin is providing more than $60 million for new infrastructure, and research programs for evidence-based solutions to contemporary health challenges. CHIRI’s outstanding capabilities are drawn from respected research groups in the Faculty of Health Sciences. These include the Centre for Research into Ageing, Centre for Developmental Health, Centre for International Health and the National Drug Research Institute.

EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH
These examples demonstrate Curtin’s commitment to providing outstanding opportunities for researchers seeking to engage in and advance both academically rigorous and internationally relevant research. This commitment attracts many high-calibre researchers to Curtin’s centres and institutes, and enhancing the University’s vibrant research culture that is characterised by dedicated research staff, their programs, and our partnerships.

Weighing only 16 kg per square metre on the roof (compared to up to 100 kg/sqm with conventional flat panels systems) the system is particularly well suited to meeting industrial and commercial static loading limits. The panels have been tested to withstand wind speeds up to 209kph and do not require rooftop penetration, attachments or ballast. The panels can be swiftly connected through a series of clicks, thereby greatly reducing installation time and costs.

Installed horizontally, the panels cast no shadow across vacant roof space, increasing useable roof space. The lightweight and self ballasting feature allows for easy manoeuvring – panels can be placed over previously unusable parts of the roof such as air ducts and other piping. For access, panels are simply moved aside.

Phoenix Solar testing has shown the energy yield of the Solyndra panel to be competitive with conventional modules mounted at about the latitude angle. Overall, Solyndra’s system can provide higher electricity output per rooftop. The commercial and industrial application of this new technology from Solyndra has the potential to greatly assist local industry with its peak daytime electricity needs, thereby reducing the risk of summer black outs making electricity supply more reliable during hot summer periods.

The BioCube: “The social and economic impact of this could be phenomenal, not to mention the massive reduction in the carbon footprint”

One of the first grant recipients under the Climate Ready program, the Biofuel Partnership’s BioCube project delivers valuable biodiesel resources on-site in developing countries – at no cost to the environment.

The BioCube – developed by Gold Coast-based company The Biofuel Partnership – is a fully integrated, compact biodiesel processor half the size of a shipping container. It can be thought of as a community’s own green fuel station, capable of providing 300 to 400 people with a sustainable source of affordable clean energy.

The company’s technical director, and BioCube inventor, Sandy Kelly, says the BioCube is aimed at developing communities in the Tropics. However, it is also ideal for remote areas struck by natural disaster, as it is small enough to be lifted by helicopter.

“The BioCube costs approximately 1% of a mid-sized refinery, takes a fraction of the space, and is highly energy-efficient,” Kelly says. “It uses its own biodiesel to operate and processes feedstock at rates equivalent to much larger refineries.”

Socio-economic impact

Kelly came up with the idea for the BioCube while living in southeast Asia. He recognised small communities – and the environment – throughout the developing world would be far better off if farmers could refine their own biofuel crops in situ, instead of exporting them, and then importing the processed fuel.

“I saw that the social and economic impact of this could be phenomenal, not to mention the massive reduction in the carbon footprint,” says Kelly, a marine engineer and entrepreneur who has lived in the Philippines for the past 20 years.

“For instance, East Timor has a reservoir of crude fossil oil sitting in the seabed,” he continues. “The oil is tapped and shipped to Singapore for refining and then returned to East Timor. There is a net outflow of precious cash resources.”

Trials and challenges

After two years of trials and challenges, the first BioCubes were manufactured in 2009 in Victoria by the Australian arm of German engineering group, EDAG, ready for export to countries in Oceania, Asia, India, Africa and the Americas.

The Biofuel Partnership has raised more than $1 million through the Australian Small Scale Offerings Board Limited, and has a six member management team with expertise in engineering, business and marketing, and brand management.

The company was one of the first recipients of funding under the Australian Government’s Climate Ready program. The company was awarded a $500,000 dollar-fordollar grant in early 2009.

The company also claimed the ‘R&D Tax Concession’ while developing the BioCube, which incorporates four ‘innovations’ (see below).

Invaluable assistance

Inventor Sandy Kelly, the Biofuel Partnership’s technical director, with the BioCube

Laurence Baum, the company’s commercial director, says receiving the Climate Ready assistance has been “invaluable”.

“Capital raising is always a big issue for a start-up company, and you either need investors with deep pockets, or venture capital assistance,” he explains. “One of the problems with venture capitalists is they tend to stymie innovation because their agenda is to turn a short-term profit, rather than the excitement of the invention itself. “Being able to leverage assistance from AusIndustry provided valuable funding, and gave private investors confidence in us because they know that the Climate Ready application is a rigorous process, and the Australian Government must have confidence in us and our internal processes.

“As well, the R&D Tax Concession, through the R&D Tax Off set, gave us a $190,000 tax credit for the $1.5 million we spent developing the BioCube. This is a considerable amount for a small, start-up business.”

Sustainable feedstocks

The BioCube can run on a variety of feedstocks, but The BioFuel Partnership had ethical concerns about using traditional food sources such as palm oil and soya bean. “We researched different plants, and narrowed our list to three sources, of which jatropha and coconut constitute 80% of our interest,” Kelly says. “Jatropha can prosper on marginal soil that wouldn’t sustain most food crops and it also permits inter-cropping so that farmers can benefit from a continuous yield. Waste coconut is almost a nuisance crop in some places, and provides an inexpensive feedstock source.”

The Biofuel Partnership conducted field trials of jatropha in The Philippines and in Papua New Guinea, and applied to AusIndustry for a provisional certificate for proposed overseas research and development (R&D) activities. This meant they were able to claim a 125% tax concession under the R&D Tax Concession.

The innovations

The BioCube runs continuously and produces 2,000 litres of diesel in 10 hours. All parts have been designed to be easy to use and service.

The intellectual property includes:

• an oil expeller incorporating a number of unique features;
• a hydraulically-driven mixer that uses straight cut gears to stimulate mixing, and high temperatures to enhance molecular activity;
• a filtering device christened ‘the Cauldron’ that allows the glycerine to settle while separating off excess methanol; and
• ‘the Chantrelle’, a device that uses the thermal energy of the fatty acid methyl ester and the movement of air to remove any remaining methanol.

“The BioCube is extraordinarily effective as even the by-products can be used as fertiliser or even as high nutrition biscuits for refugees,” says inventor Sandy Kelly.

Another unique aspect of the BioCube is its business model. “We identified that a further aspect of the BioCube lay in changing the business model from that currently employed by the biodiesel processor manufacturers,” Kelly says.

“The Biofuel Partnership developed a ‘cradle to grave’ approach by supplying all chemicals within a distributor network – a philosophy currently unique within the industry.”

Website: www.biofuelpartnership.com

This mantra was the catalyst for three employees who developed a field invention that is now being used across the business to help ensure the safety of its employees.

‘Safetees’ a plastic plug resembling golf tees, helps electrical field workers identify the live parts of a circuit, highlighting unfinished areas of work, or marking incorrect wiring and open circuits.

This simple, effective and innovative invention was developed to meet CitiPower and Powercor’s need to reduce the number of outage incidents caused by test leads being inserted into the wrong panel terminals at zone substations.

Marking the circuit board with a colour-coded ‘Safetees’ has not only created a safer working environment for employees, it is also saving the company money.

Under the current regulatory regime, distribution businesses can incur penalties if equipment is damaged and outages occur as a result of incorrect test lead insertions.

The inventors of ‘Safetees’ were the 2008 winners of CitiPower and Powercor’s annual Business Innovation Cup, an internal competition to encourage and support innovative thinking and development.

Innovation Manager Nuria Ruiperez said the Business Innovation Cup was developed to offer employees the opportunity to see their good ideas come to fruition.

“There are a lot of creative people within our organisation that have terrific ideas inspired by their daily roles.

“The Business Innovation Cup is a vehicle to develop and realise these ideas. There is a significant cash prize incentive, along with the full support of the business to put these ideas to market.

“Safetees met an immediate business need that offered considerable safety benefits and cost savings.

“Safetees is already attracting a lot of interest from other distribution businesses and we encourage the use of Safetees across the industry, not only due to the cost saving, but more importantly for ensuring the health and safety of our workers,” she said.

Solar cities on trial

Another idea that was derived via CitiPower and Powercor’s innovation program, eighthgate, is Solar Citites.

The environment is a topic that our employees are passionate about and we understand that innovative thinking is required to meet future demands.

Continuing to forge innovative business, Powercor is participating in a sustainability flagship program.

The Solar Cities Programme is a $94 million Federal initiative designed to help communities change the way they think about and use energy.

There are several Solar cities underway in Australia and Powercor is a consortium member of the Central Victorian Solar City Project.

The program aims to demonstrate economic and environmental impacts of integrating cost-reflective pricing with the concentrated uptake of solar, energy efficiency and smart metering technologies; as well as identifying and implementing options for addressing barriers to distributed solar generation, energy efficiency and electrical demand management for grid connected urban areas.

We also view the Solar Cities as an opportunity to explore further possibilities in the environmental space as well as to better understand the energy needs of our customers

Work on the five year trial started last year and is expected to run until 2013.