1,339 research outputs found
Author GOH Rivera Sun Speech
No full textAuthor GOH Rivera Sun gives her speech during the banquet ceremonies of Mythcon 52 in Albuquerque, NM on July 31st, 2022
Editorial: Australian Journal of Mechanical Engineering
No full textRasul, M ORCiD: 0000-0001-8159-1321The editorial board would like to thank and recognise our authors, reviewers, readers, and contributors for the outstanding support for the journal. Without this invaluable support, the journal would not have been as successful as it currently is. For your information, the journal has been
accepted into the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). Our next target is to be considered for SCI (Science Citation Index). We hope to count of the support given thus far and will endeavour to strive towards the impending goal
2010 Southern Region Engineering Conference (SREC 2010)
No full textConcentrating Solar Power – Parabolic Trough (CSP-PT) installations consist of linear parabolic mirrors which concentrate solar energy to heat tubes of oil or salt to high temperatures, typically to several hundred degrees centigrade. The thermal energy produced can be stored to enable continuous 24-hour operation of the turbine generator, but this option is generally expensive. As an alternative, a ~20% boost from natural gas can be deployed, which enables the plant to operate continuously. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate if the CSP-PT +20% gas boost technology would present the best option for Australia to address its growing energy demand.
There is a lack of detailed literature on the topic, but an initial investigation has revealed that generating solar power using CSP-PT +20% gas would only be about twice as expensive as fossil derived power (10 US cents compared to 5 US cents per kWhr). Whether due to future shortage of supply or carbon taxation policy, the price of fossil fuel then only to double to make CSP-PT+ 20% gas technology very competitive – significantly more competitive than most other forms of renewable or non-renewable energy production.
Given a satisfactory emission trading scheme in Australia and globally, CSP-PT +20% could be the future energy choice for Australia, and other hot countries where sunshine and dry flat land are abundantly available. CSP-PT+20% sites would have to be located not too far away from existing power transmission lines, and where natural gas was locally available. An initial market price of ~10 US cents per kWhr would be required to make CSP-PT+20% technology economically viable, but this could fall substantially with economies of scale, as we progress gradually into a low carbon economic future.
Land with better soil quality and higher rainfall is able to produce biofuel, but frequent severe droughts and poor soil preclude this option for most of Australia. CSP-PT+20% technology thus presents a very attractive option in terms of providing energy security for Australia, and enabling transition to a low carbon economy. Future research is required to be carried out jointly by resource economists and engineers to see if CSP-PT+20% can be executed in Australia, even more cheaply than 10 US cents per kWhr. There may be some possibilities to reduce labour costs of manufacture if composite materials are used for the mirrors, for example
Do small worlds synchronize fastest?
No full textSmall-world networks interpolate between fully regular and fully random topologies and simultaneously exhibit large local clustering as well as short average path length. Small-world topology has therefore been suggested to support network synchronization. Here we study the asymptotic speed of synchronization of coupled oscillators in dependence on the degree of randomness of their interaction topology in generalized Watts-Strogatz ensembles. We find that networks with fixed in-degree synchronize faster the more random they are, with small worlds just appearing as an intermediate case. For any generic network ensemble, if synchronization speed is at all extremal at intermediate randomness, it is slowest in the small-world regime. This phenomenon occurs for various types of oscillators, intrinsic dynamics and coupling schemes. Copyright (c) EPLA, 201
2010 Southern Region Engineering Conference (SREC 2010)
No full textThis experiment investigated the effect of electro-osmosis on water and salt movement in soil with potential application in agriculture. A range of voltages were applied for different durations to a sandy soil in an isolated transparent acrylic plastic cell. The tests were performed at voltage gradients 3, 6 and 10 Vcm-1. The measurements included the volume of soil-water extracted from point lysimeters, electrical conductivity of the soil-water, soil-water potential (SWP) and pH value at different voltage gradients. The results showed that the electric field intensity affected the salt distribution from anode to cathode during the application of the direct electric current. Soil-water content was observed rising with increased electric field intensity. The pH of the soil-water has changed due to the effect of electrical field
2010 Southern Region Engineering Conference (SREC 2010)
No full textThe widespread deterioration of timber sleepers combined with an intensified pressure on limiting the use of hardwood timber because of various environmental concerns are the main drivers of research conducted throughout the world directed towards finding a suitable alternative for replacing timber sleepers. While many railway infrastructure companies have long been trialing pre-stressed concrete and steel for replacing timber sleepers, this has gained limited success as these materials have not proven reliable alternatives to timber turnout sleepers. Research and development has now been focused on fibre composites as this material can be made to have similar usability and design characteristics to hardwood timber with the added advantages. However, several challenges need to be overcome for fibre composite sleepers to become a suitable alternative to timber sleepers. This paper provides an overview of the various initiatives at the Centre of Excellence in Engineered Fibre Composites which aims to further the understanding of the design and performance issues associated with the eventual application of this new technology. Results of the on-going research and development on sleeper material made from a new generation fibre composite sandwich structure for replacement sleepers in a railway turnout are highlighted in this paper
Co-attention-Based Pairwise Learning for Author Name Disambiguation
No full textDigital libraries face a pressing issue of author name ambiguity. This paper proposes a novel pairwise learning model for author name disambiguation, utilizing self-attention and co-attention mechanisms. The model integrates textual, discrete, and co-author attributes, amongst others, to capture comprehensive information from bibliographic records. It incorporates an optional random projection-based dimension reduction technique for efficiency to handle large datasets. The attention weight visualizations provide explanations for the model’s predictions. Our experiments on a substantial bibliographic catalogue repository validate the model’s effectiveness using accuracy, F1, and ROC AUC scores.</p
Fifty years of ‘More is different’
No full textAugust 1972 saw the publication of Philip Anderson’s essay ‘More is different’. In it, he crystallized the idea of emergence, arguing that “at each level of complexity entirely new properties appear” — that is, although, for example, chemistry is subject to the laws of physics, we cannot infer the field of chemistry from our knowledge of physics. Fifty years on from this landmark publication, eight scientists describe the most interesting phenomena that emerge in their fields
23rd Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2012)
No full textCochrane & Goh (2008) explore a librarian's and course examiner's reflections on an information literacy experiment in a third year Materials Engineering course. Following this experiment, the course was restructured using authentic project-based learning and information literacy strategies. Authentic learning environments open up opportunities to help students learn about the value of research skills and the importance of professional sources. The research is framed around relational and constructivist pedagogy in that if students are immersed in a rich and authentic professional environment with real-time input from industry practitioners, they are more engaged with the learning experience as designed. This paper proposes that authentic learning environments designed around scaffolded learning opportunities have the ability to change the values and behaviours of engineering students. This paper provides additional research data that was not previously presented at the preliminary stage of the investigation. The observations and analysis presented are of a preliminary nature, hence, the suggested findings are provided with limitations on its reliability and validity
30th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE2019)
No full textThe Technology, Sustainability and Society course at the University of Southern Queensland teaches engineering and built environment students the knowledge and skills required to meet the sustainability requirements of the Code of Ethics of Engineers Australia (Engineers Australia 2017a). It also addresses engineering competencies in areas like social, cultural, environmental, commercial, legal and political contexts (Engineers Australia 2013). The topics taught in this course (which include the history of technology, sustainability, politics, economics, models of society, cultural impacts, law and management) have accordingly been designed to address the main aspects of sustainable engineering practice and management.
This course is taught to learners in engineering, spatial science and construction undertaking a full degree program, in each of the three teaching semesters of the University. Its learners are normally at Level 1 or Level 2 in their study program. As over 70 per cent of these learners would typically study online, material in this course is delivered in a blended learning format that uses an online Study Desk designed to allow learner interaction with their teaching staff and each other, and to enable them to better understand and apply the principles that they have learnt through engagement with the course material. In order to further develop such engagement, several initiatives have been undertaken that are designed to better engage them in studying this course.
While this course has been taught for several years, its acceptance by learners, as measured by student feedback at the end of each teaching semester, has varied. In particular, the importance of its subject matter has not been fully understood by many learners, a number of whom have not seen a clear relationship between their future professional work and a strong focus on sustainable management principles, which may not have an immediate technical application. There has also historically been a mixed degree of engagement by learners with the course and its content, resulting in concerns that a number of learning outcomes were not being achieved. It has therefore been considered important to address these matters, as an understanding of the principles taught in the course at an early stage in the engineering study program provides opportunities for learners to understand their application to practice as they progress with their studies.
Therefore, because of this mixed acceptance of this course by learners, and the desirability to better engage them, considerable effort has been invested over time to improve the content of this course; make it as relevant as possible to engineering and built environment practice; maintain currency with technological developments and the changing environmental, social and political landscape; and encourage the understanding by learners in the course of an increasing worldwide focus on sustainability,
The objective of this paper is to discuss recent developments in this course aimed at improving learner engagement with it, and the way in which these developments have challenged learners and aided their engagement with it
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