Cutting edge research to be unveiled at student conference

Sep 22, 2006

Research projects including the stabilisation of soft railway tracks, stopping rear vision mirrors in cars from shaking and the revitalisation of cinema will be just some of the exciting presentations on display next week (Wednesday 27 September) at the University of Wollongong’s Higher Degree Research (HDR) Student Conference.

The Conference will be attended by students, industry partners and academic and general staff and will showcase the diverse range of projects being undertaken by UOW research students based on five themes – promoting and maintaining good health, frontier technologies and scientific discovery, cultivating creativity and innovation, understanding societies and culture and understanding our environment.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Margaret Sheil, will officially open the conference.

“The conference is an outstanding opportunity to showcase our world-class research and give potential students the chance to see the range of opportunities available in postgraduate research at UOW,” said Professor Sheil.

Prizes will include a $500 cheque and certificate for the best presentation in each theme and a $250 cheque and certificate for the best poster.

Mr Tony Larchez is one of the researchers who will be presenting a project at the conference. Titled “Predicting the Good Vibes: Cancelling the Shaking in Vehicle Mirrors”, his project is a complex convergence of many fields including electronics, mechanics, signal processing and control.

The PhD candidate has been working for three years to create a ‘new generation’ of mirror systems with active intelligence after being approached by the world’s largest producer of automatic rear view mirrors – Schefenacker Vision Systems Australia.

“The main reason for this research is driver safety,” he said. “Particularly for large trucks and Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) where vibration in rear view mirrors is more significant and can create blurred images that exceed tolerable levels for human vision.

"I use mathematical computer models to actually predict the vibrations and can therefore work on cancelling the forces by applying an active, controllable source of vibration precisely placed on the mirror.”

Keynote speaker at the event will be the Director of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute at UOW, Professor Gordon Wallace.

Professor Wallace’s research interests include organic conductors, nanomaterials and electrochemical probe methods of analysis. A current focus involves the use of these tools and materials in improving biocommunications from the molecular to skeletal domains - improved Bionics. In 2006 he was the first-ever UOW academic to be awarded an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship.

When: Wednesday 27 September from 10am

Where: UniCentre Function Rooms (Bldg 11)For further information: Visit HDR 06

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128