Chapter 4 – Academic and research focus

University Research Strengths – Science and technology

This information is current as at January 2008. The latest information is available from UTS Research.

This group includes the following strengths, each of which undertakes research that contributes to the study of technological and scientific advances, including information and communication technologies, engineering and the physical sciences.

Centre for Forensic Science

Information about the Centre for Forensic Science is available under Centres of Enterprise, Research and/or Community Service.

Centre for Human Centred Technology Design

The Centre for Human Centred Technology Design (HCTD) brings together researchers who share an interest in information and communications technology design that is focused on those who will ultimately use the end product.

Researchers aim to bring human-centred approaches to the design of existing, new and emerging technologies for both work and leisure activities through four programs of research: software development, information systems, interaction design, and learning environments. The HCTD's research aims to avoid current design weaknesses that result from development processes driven by concerns other than the use of the technology.

Inquiries

Associate Professor Toni Robertson
Faculty of Information Technology
telephone +61 2 9514 1966
fax +61 2 9514 4535
email Toni.Robertson@uts.edu.au

Centre for Intelligent Mechatronic Systems

Building on 15 years of strong cross-disciplinary research in electrical machines and power electronics at UTS, the Centre for Intelligent Mechatronic Systems integrates the disciplines of mechanical, electrical and electronics engineering and computer systems.

The Centre's four main research directions are autonomous robots (operating in unstructured environments and for infrastructure maintenance, search and rescue, health care and road vehicles), electrical machines (new materials and topologies, system optimisation, variable speed control and compact, low temperature fuel cells), automotive systems (performance, comfort, fuel efficiency, road safety and emission control) and human factors (physiological and psychological aspects of human-machine and human-environment interaction).

Inquiries

Professor Gamini Dissanayake
Faculty of Engineering
telephone +61 2 9514 2683
fax +61 2 9514 2655
email Gamini.Dissanayake@uts.edu.au

Centre for Real-Time Information Networks

The Centre for Real-Time Information Networks seeks to apply real-time information and communication technologies to engineering systems that are designed to provide social benefit in Australia. The Centre's areas of interest include national security, health care diagnosis and monitoring, environmental and resource monitoring and the smart use of the Internet in supporting industry.

The Centre's five primary research themes are real-time web engineering, networked sensor information processing, wireless communication networks, network management and architecture-based engineering.

Inquiries

Professor David Lowe
Faculty of Engineering
telephone +61 2 9514 2526
fax +61 2 9514 2435
email David.Lowe@uts.edu.au

Innovation in IT Services Applications

Innovation in IT Services Applications (iNEXT) is a world-class research environment for developing and nurturing innovation for NEXT generation IT services and applications, with an emphasis on commercialisation. These include innovative applications with a special focus on assistive mobile health and Internet-enabled business applications, high-end visualisation technologies for large and complex data, and novel image processing architectures and intelligent recognition algorithms for extracting important information from video streams and wireless sensor networks for advanced surveillance and environmental monitoring purposes.

iNEXT aims to develop enabling mechanisms, applications and services that will allow the transformation of the current connectivity infrastructure into the service infrastructure of tomorrow's Internet.

Inquiries

Professor Doan Hoang
Faculty of Information Technology
telephone +61 2 9514 7943
fax +61 2 9514 4535
email Doan.Hoang@uts.edu.au

Institute for Nanoscale Technology

The Institute for Nanoscale Technology provides an interdisciplinary research focus for nanotechnology research at UTS, building on existing capabilities and expertise. Nanotechnology is beginning to have a major impact on our society, being currently at a similar level to that of computer chips in the early 1970s.

The Institute has four major research programs: light emitting nanostructures, molecular simulations, functional materials and photonic systems. Collectively, the research in these programs is all focused in one way or another on understanding, modelling and exploiting the interaction of light with nano- or mesostructured systems, with each program targeting a different aspect of the science.

Light emitting nanostructures: UTS took the initiative more than a decade ago to establish the Microstructural Analysis Unit (MAU), a centralised large-equipment facility with world-class materials characterisation capabilities. The Unit has grown from strength to strength and is now a key contributor to the research conducted by the Institute. Light emitting nanostructures are a research focus of the MAU, with a particular emphasis on the investigation of the cathodoluminescence properties of ceramic nano-particles, III-V and II-VI semiconductor quantum dots and nanowires, as well as plasmonically active structures.
Contact Matthew.Phillips@uts.edu.au

Molecular simulations: the optical properties of materials derive ultimately from their bonding and crystal structure, and this research program engages directly with the first principles and semi-empirical calculation of properties such as bond strength, molecular conformation, electrical conductivity, crystal structure and optical properties. The program is closely aligned with the Institute's work on molecular electronics devices and novel plasmonic systems.
Contact Mike.Ford@uts.edu.au

Functional materials: this program is directed towards the development of superior spectrally-selective coatings and surfaces with enhanced radiative cooling properties. This theme harnesses a rich resource of prior expertise at UTS in the fields of architectural physics, spectrally-selective coatings and optics, and combines these with the latest technologies of metallic nanoparticles, coatings and photo-active organic molecules. This strand of research has its historical roots in the fact that Australia's climate has created a large market for solar glazing products designed specifically for hot climates.
Contact Geoff.Smith@uts.edu.au

Photonic systems: control and manipulation of photons is a key technology for the 21st century and is likely to underpin advances in both global telecommunications and computing infrastructures. The UTS team has established an international reputation for its work on the analytical and computational analytical modelling of these complex systems. The Photonic Systems team is strongly affiliated with the Centre for Ultrahigh-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS), an ARC Centre of Excellence.
Contact Lindsay.Botten@uts.edu.au

Nanotechnology education: UTS offers an undergraduate course in nanotechnology and is also a popular choice for postgraduate studies in applied nanoscience and technology for both engineering and science graduates.
Contact Geoff.Anstis@uts.edu.au

Inquiries

Professor Michael Cortie
Director, Institute for Nanoscale Technology
CB04.5.58, City campus
telephone +61 2 9514 2208
fax +61 2 9514 7553
email Michael.Cortie@uts.edu.au
http://www.nano.uts.edu.au

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