UNSW wins lion’s share of research commercialisation grants

Australia’s Economic Accelerator Seed funding of $3.3 million gives the green light to UNSW researchers.

Eleven innovative UNSW Sydney research translation and commercialisation projects will receive $3.3 million from the Australian government. Projects include research translation to reduce greenhouse emissions for commercial shipping, to create hydrogen fuel cells for the aviation industry and to develop robotic sensors with a sense of touch.

Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) funding is part of the Australian government’s support for the development and commercialisation of world-leading research in the university sector.

The AEA has established pilot programs as the full suite of programs is developed, and UNSW has received 11 of the 36 AEA Seed grants announced in tranche 3, which focuses on transport, defence capabilities, and enabling capabilities, such as data science, AI and robotics.

“The number of UNSW projects funded is a sensational result for the University and reflects our commitment to Australia’s innovation and commercialisation ecosystem,” says Professor Bronwyn Fox, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Enterprise (DVCR&E).

“I congratulate each of the grant recipients. Expertise in terms of research translation and commercialisation has been fostered at UNSW over many years now, and these grants will further enable our researchers to bring their expertise to bear on industry-changing technologies and capabilities.”

Transport focused projects

Associate Professor Shane Keating, from UNSW Science, will lead ‘A new method for commercial ship route optimisation using real-time ocean intelligence’ which aims to commercialise research on cutting emissions in the shipping industry by using ocean currents.

The shipping industry produces over 1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year – 3% of total global emissions. At the same time, fuel can be as much as 50-60% of total ship operating costs. A/Prof. Keating has developed an algorithm that allows ships to find more fuel-efficient routes by taking advantage of ocean currents. These routes can reduce fuel use and emissions from commercial vessels by 10-20% with the same transit time. A/Prof. Keating will work with a UNSW spin-out Ocean Intelligence to develop the algorithm into an operational product. (Awarded $198,000.)

Dr Matthew Priestley, from the Division of Research & Enterprise, will lead ‘Developing a novel high-efficiency micro-electric vehicle motor’.

Dr Priestley will develop a prototype Australian e-bike motor which will use up to 40% less rare-earth magnet, allowing Australian e-bike manufacturers to optimise the device cost, weight and range. Given the limited availability and geopolitical concerns surrounding rare-earth motor magnets, this motor aims to alleviate supply chain issues and improve Australia’s sovereign capability to satisfy its sustainable transport needs and compete on the global market. (Awarded $198,000.)

Dr Quentin Meyer, from UNSW Science, will lead ‘New hydrogen fuel cell for aviation transportation’.

Dr Meyer aims to demonstrate the potential of high-temperature fuel cells using low-cost catalysts for the aviation transportation industry. This project will create jobs for the industry in Australia and will significantly decarbonise the hard-to-abate aviation transportation sector. The short-term outcome will be the demonstration of a fuel cell powering a small drone, while the long-term outcome will be the launch of a new industry for Australia's aviation transport sector using clean aircraft low cost, low weight and high range. (Awarded $193,000.)

Defence capability projects

Dr Zhao Sha, from UNSW Engineering, will lead the project ‘Integrated rocket motor case and nozzle using nano-engineered phenolic composite’ with UNSW’s Professor Chun Wang and Associate Professor Jin Zhang, and Dr Fabian Rogg from project partner Thales.

The project will translate and commercialise the carbon composite technology to establish the capability to manufacture single-piece rocket motors with integrated casings, liners and nozzles in Australia. The composite technology uses nanomaterials to toughen phenolic resins and enhance their carbon yield under high temperatures, significantly enhancing their thermal stability and resistance to the extreme conditions of rocket combustion. The breakthrough will offer a lightweight, cost-effective and high-performance alternative to traditional metal-based or hybrid metal-composite rocket motor casings. (Awarded $497,000.)

Associate Professor Kevin Laws, from UNSW Science, will lead the project ‘Scaling of advanced ammunition manufacturing’.

To defend a country and train its armed forces, a nation requires ammunition. Currently, Australia is unable to independently mass produce ammunition. This inability highlights a shortfall in sovereign defence capability for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) if a supply chain was disrupted. A/Prof. Law’s project aims to demonstrate economic mass production of new, high-performance ammunition alloys for the ADF. This will seek to regain Australia’s ammunition manufacturing capability, the security of the supply chain and provide a strategic performance advantage, laying the foundation to support a national ammunition alloy foundry. (Awarded $60,000)

Enabling capability projects

Associate Professor Robert Nordon, from UNSW Engineering, will lead a project with partners Genesys Electronics Design and CSL: ‘Pilot-scale manufacture of microfluidic bioreactors for the biotech industry’.

This innovative technology, developed by A/Prof. Nordon and his team, automates and miniaturises lab-based cell culture methods, which could potentially reduce the cost of biopharmaceutical production. This is particularly beneficial for personalised gene-modified cell therapy products like CAR T cells used in cancer treatment which cost around $500,000  per dose. The establishment of a pilot plant will pave the way for the commercial manufacture of microbioreactors in Australia. (Awarded $491,000.)

Dr Fei Deng, from UNSW Engineering, will lead ‘Pioneering portable labs: user-friendly molecular level COVID test strips’ with partner Biopoint.

The project aims to commercialise a new user-friendly, scalable and very sensitive testing methodology for COVID-19 test-strips. The test strips will be sensitive enough to replace the current PCR-based COVID-19 testing and will be suitable for field use by untrained individuals. The technology could also be used to test for other pathogens, which will meet the growing needs of global infectious disease in-vitro diagnostics. (Awarded $491,000.)

Dr David Tsai, from UNSW Engineering, will partner with Contactile, a UNSW spin-out, on ‘Miniaturising and up-scaling of robotic tactile sensors with CMOS photonic pixel arrays’.

Conventional tactile sensors are bulky, have few channels, provide limited sensitivity and/or lack ruggedness. Dr Tsai’s goal is to give robots a sense of touch with miniaturised, high-density tactile sensing arrays. Contactile has developed a light-based tactile sensing array in centimetre-sized packages. Using silicon semiconductor technologies, this project will reduce the sensor footprint by a further nine-fold, for 17-times higher tactile sensing density, and greater than 38% reduction in electronic component costs. (Awarded $418,000.)

Professor Ronald Van der Meyden, from UNSW Engineering, will lead ‘Development of a commercial version of a software model checker’. (Awarded $325,000.)

Software errors can have catastrophic consequences, particularly in domains such as defence, where human life and national security are at stake, or in financial systems, where there is a risk of large financial losses. Smart contracts on blockchain systems, for example, can suffer losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars due to malicious attacks.

Prof. Van der Meyden will improve a prototype automated software verification system developed at UNSW to enable it to be offered commercially. In addition to work to develop the verification system, the project will develop a domain specific interface for blockchain financial smart contracts.

The result will be a system that assists software developers and code auditors to provide assurance of system correctness and security, and so avoids the dire results of software errors.

Associate Professor Jarryd James Pla, from UNSW Engineering, will lead ‘Commercialising a wideband quantum microwave amplifier’.

This project aims to commercialise quantum-enhanced amplifiers that boost the strength of faint microwave frequency signals. The amplifiers are made from superconducting materials, operate at low temperatures, and enhance microwave signals while adding only the smallest amount of noise permitted by quantum mechanics. The technology can be applied to improve the accuracy of reading information from quantum computers and in applications such as deep space satellite communication and radio astronomy. (Awarded $250,000.)

Dr Honghao Chen, from UNSW Engineering, will partner with Jennmar Australia on ‘Commercialisation of an anti-corrosion coating technology for underground mine application’.

Anti-corrosion coating technology will enhance the safety of underground working environments by protecting roof bolts from corrosion failure, which in turn will prevent roof fall. (Awarded $197,000.)