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VENTURE 

SCIENCE | TECHNOLOGY | INNOVATION 

widening the 

west Gate 

protecting our 

food security 

gastro bug 

identification 

development 

through design 

courtroom 

technology 

www.swinburne.edu.au issue three 2012 

ray of 

light 

optical-fibre 

sensor detects 

early-stage 

tumours

contents 

VENTURE 

Issue Three, 2012 

The magazine of Swinburne 

University of Technology, 

John St (PO Box 218), Hawthorn 

Victoria 3122 Australia 

Editorial ENQUIRIES 

Peter A Brown 

Senior Manager, Marketing 

Swinburne University of Technology 

tel: 1300 275 788 

www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine 

email: magazine@swinburne.edu.au 

esubscribe for free access to current 

and past issues online: 

www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine/subscribe 

Courses 

tel: 1300 275 794 

www.swinburne.edu.au/courses 

Industry research enquiries 

Dr Bruce Whan 

tel: +61 3 9214 5979 

email: bwhan@swinburne.edu.au 

6 

Dr Daniel Murphy, Shanthi Joseph 

and Professor Mrinal Bhave 

Dr Paul Stoddart 

and Emma Carland 

15 

Phil Farrelly AND 

Dr Vivienne Farrell 

VENTURE 

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available now 

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16 

Mark Dunn and 

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Industry student placements 

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Venture is published three times a year 

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COVER STORY 

18 

Dr BAOhua Jia 

20 

Changing the lives of people 

in developing countries 

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ISSN 2200-6338 (Print) 

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Copyright © Swinburne University of Technology 

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The information in this publication was correct 

at the time of going to press, December 

2012. The views expressed by contributors in 

this publication are not necessarily those of 

Swinburne University of Technology. 

8 

warning 

sign 

An optical-fibre sensor 

is being developed to 

detect tumours in their 

early stages. 

by mandy thoo 

4 Upfront 

The latest innovations and events. 

6 FOOD FIGHT 

Unlocking the acacia plant’s secrets 

could help protect our food security. 

10 taking the high load 

The widening of Melbourne’s West Gate 

Bridge became the largest retrofitting 

project in the world. 

12 growth industry 

Research methods on attracting 

and retaining older workers. 

14 GASTRO CSI 

Improving the methods of detection 

of food-borne illnesses. 

15 clouded judgments 

How technology could help to speed up 

the Australian justice system. 

16 winning ways with waste 

Graduates of Swinburne’s Master 

of Entrepreneurship and Innovation 

program are tackling a pressing 

environmental problem. 

18 leading light 

An award-winning Swinburne scientist 

is making exciting advances in 

solar-power technology. 

20 Design making 

a difference 

Design students are involved in 

a number of projects helping 

to improve people’s lives. 

23 setting new standards 

Helping Australian manufacturers 

be more strategic in developing new 

products and taking them to market. 

issue three 2012 | venture | swinburne | 3

upfront 

Eureka 

Prize 

win 

creating solutions 

from partnerships 

and collaboration 

It’s been a busy and exciting period since our last issue. 

The latest results from the prestigious Academic Ranking of 

World Universities ranked Swinburne as one of the top three 

universities in Victoria and equal 10th in Australia. This proves 

the success of our focus and investment in research along with 

our strengths in science, technology and innovation. 

Swinburne was also once again rated as one of Melbourne’s top 

universities for teaching quality in The Good Universities Guide 2013. 

The quality of our teaching equips students with the knowledge and 

capabilities they need to establish successful careers. 

We will continue to build on these great achievements by bringing 

new focus to what we do. Our vision is to be the leading university in 

Australia in science, technology and innovation. 

An important part of this vision is design-led innovation that enables 

the creation of value-added products and services that are critical 

for a competitive knowledge-based economy. For this reason, our 

Faculty of Design will be coming home to Hawthorn in 2014. The 

opportunity for greater engagement with engineering, business, 

information and communication technologies, and the applied 

sciences will position us as a leader in this space. 

In this issue of Venture, we highlight the importance of partnerships 

and collaboration in research. International and industry 

partnerships, and research collaboration allow us to build on our 

great achievements and develop new ideas and new discoveries 

which can help meet the demands of the future. 

You will meet our researchers leading a project with Cochlear, the 

global expert in implantable hearing solutions, to develop laser light 

to stimulate nerves. 

This issue also looks at the research that underpinned the 

engineering innovations employed in widening the West Gate Bridge. 

Our industry partnership on this project has led to the development 

of a new engineering course that will better meet industry needs. 

I hope you enjoy this issue of Venture. Best wishes for a safe 

and happy festive season. 

Professor Linda Kristjanson 

Vice-Chancellor 

Swinburne University of Technology 

Swinburne astrophysicist Associate 

Professor Michael Murphy and a team 

of researchers at the University of 

New South Wales (UNSW) have been 

awarded the prestigious 2012 Eureka 

Prize for Scientific Research. 

Part of the Australian Museum 

Eureka Awards, the prize 

acknowledges the importance of 

the team’s study, which found a 

fundamental law of nature – the 

constancy of physics – may not be true. 

Led by Professor John Webb 

from UNSW, the team measured 

the strength of electromagnetism, 

denoted by the symbol alpha, through 

observations in about 300 distant 

galaxies across the universe. 

“The results astonished us,” says 

Professor Webb. “In one direction 

– from our location in the universe – 

alpha gets gradually weaker, yet in 

the opposite direction it gets gradually 

stronger.” 

Associate Professor Murphy says one 

popular idea is that many universes 

exist, each having its own set of 

physical laws. Even a slight change in 

the laws of nature we observe means 

they weren’t ‘set in stone’ when our 

universe was born. They may depend 

on your ‘space-time address’ – when 

and where you happen to live in the 

universe. 

“There is further research needed to 

firm up a conclusion, but it’s fantastic 

to have been acknowledged by the 

Australian science community for our 

work so far.” 

A major part of the research was part 

of the PhD thesis work of Dr Julian 

King at UNSW. Other members of the 

prize-winning team were Professor 

Victor Flambaum and Dr Julian 

Berengut from UNSW. 

left to right: Dr Julian Berengut, 

ProfESSOR John Webb, Associate 

Professor Michael Murphy and Professor 

Victor Flambaum. Dr Julian King was 

unable to attend the Eureka Prizes 

ceremony and is not shown. 

Image: Australian Museum Eureka Prizes / Daniel O’Doherty. 

Growing appetite 

for online 

shopping 

More Australians will be shopping online 

this Christmas than ever before, according 

to the Swinburne authors of the most 

comprehensive survey of internet usage 

in Australia. Professor Julian Thomas and 

senior research fellow Scott Ewing of the 

Swinburne Institute for Social Research 

have been tracking Australian use of and 

attitudes to the internet as part of the 

World Internet Survey since 2007. 

In that time they have recorded 

Australians’ increasing appetite for 

internet purchases, with online shoppers 

growing from 41 per cent of the population 

in 2007 to 68 per cent last year. Those 

shopping at least weekly grew from 

8 per cent to 22 per cent. 

“There is no question there will be 

more Australians buying gifts online this 

Christmas,” says Ewing. “Australians are 

avid internet shoppers, in fact we are now 

the most frequent online shoppers of the 

countries in the global study. 

“But the picture for Australian retailers is 

far from doom and gloom. The study shows 

local retailers do have advantages over 

their overseas counterparts. 

“Australians have a strong preference 

for dealing with locally based websites 

and recognise there are limits to their 

ability to assess quality and fit of products 

offshore and that returning goods bought 

online can be problematic. 

“Local retailers also should have the 

advantage of timeliness, a factor growing in 

importance for US consumers,” says Ewing. 

Professor Thomas says commerce 

is undertaking massive change 

worldwide. “We are in the middle of 

a very dynamic phase of further, farreaching 

changes in technology, in 

business and consumer behaviour. 

“For consumers, it is an exciting 

time where they can expect greater 

convenience and better customer 

service. For local business, it 

requires new thinking and new 

business models that adapt mobile 

technology to compete on consumer 

experience and customer service. 

For the retailers tied to large 

investments in property, the challenge is 

to adapt new technologies to add to the 

experience for their in-store customers.” 

The full report is available at 

www.cci.edu.au 

4 | swinburne | venture | issue three 2012

upfront 

Tool to spot 

gambling 

problems early 

A checklist is in the final stages of 

development to help gaming machine 

operators and their staff to identify 

early signs of problem gambling 

behaviour. 

With funding from Gambling Australia 

Research, Swinburne psychology 

research fellow Dr Anna Thomas is 

refining and testing the observation 

checklist with regular gamblers and 

gaming machine venue staff. 

The research is seeking to reduce a 

comprehensive checklist of observable 

gambling behaviours developed by 

Dr Paul Delfabbro at the University 

of Adelaide to a validated shortlist of 

predominant observable signs that 

can be readily used by venue staff 

and operators. 

“It is one thing to identify signs of 

potential problems but it is quite 

another for staff or their supervisor 

to approach someone to suggest they 

might have a problem and where they 

might get help,” Dr Thomas says. 

“It is a very sensitive issue, especially 

in a public place, and staff often say 

they don’t feel qualified to deal with it. 

“To overcome this in the trial, we 

have incorporated training for staff to 

help them approach and encourage 

responsible gambling in a safe and 

sensitive way. 

“We hope that by developing a checklist 

which is easy to use and robust, venues 

will feel confident to adopt it and support 

their staff with training.” 

Congratulations to exchange 

student Christopher Holm Hansen 

for winning the People’s Choice Award 

and Third Prize in the Electrolux 

Design Lab 2012 Awards. The 

competition presents innovative 

ideas for appliances of the future. 

Christopher came to Swinburne 

to study entrepreneurship and his 

‘Tastee’ idea is an electronic, 

spoon-shaped taste indicator that 

could use receptors based on the 

human tastebud to assist chefs 

to bring out the flavours in a meal. 

plant 

potential for 

antibiotic 

drugs 

With the growing worldwide 

incidence of Type 2 diabetes, 

a new study reveals that 

Australian plants used 

in traditional Aboriginal 

remedies show potential for 

prevention and management 

of the disease. 

Swinburne researchers evaluated 

the activity of seven Australian 

Aboriginal medicinal plants 

and five Indian Ayurvedic plants 

against two key metabolic enzymes 

(α-amylase and α-glucosidase) 

that break down carbohydrates 

from the diet into simple sugars 

affecting blood sugar levels. They 

also investigated the antioxidant 

properties of the plant extracts. 

“The study reveals for the 

first time the good anti-diabetic 

potential of the Australian 

medicinal plants and how and 

why the traditional Indian plant 

remedies work,” says Associate 

Professor Enzo Palombo. 

Of the plant extracts evaluated, 

Australian sandalwood (Santalum 

spicatum) and the Indian kino tree 

(Pterocarpus marsupium) had the 

greatest effect in slowing down 

both enzymes. 

The extracts of Sandhill wattle 

(Acacia ligulata), pale turpentine 

bush (Beyeria leshnaultii), velvet 

bean (Mucuna pruriens) and tar vine 

(Boerhaavia diffusa) were effective 

against α-glucosidase only. 

The study further found 

that wanderrie wattle (Acacia 

kempeana) and Sandhill wattle had 

an antioxidant effect, eliminating 

free radicals which are heavily 

implicated in diabetes. 

“Type 2 diabetes represents a 

global public health burden, with 

the World Health Organisation 

estimating that more than 

180 million people worldwide 

currently suffer from the disease,” 

says Associate Professor Palombo. 

“More than 800 plants are used 

as traditional remedies in one or 

other form for the treatment of 

diabetes, but the management 

of the disease without any side 

effects remains a challenge.” 

for more on the properties 

of the wattle, turn to page 6. 

secrets of the universe 

The $8.6 million IMAX space 

documentary Hidden Universe 

being produced by December 

Media and Swinburne’s 

Centre for Astrophysics and 

Supercomputing is on schedule for 

release in March/April next year. 

The giant-screen film reveals a 

dramatic new view of the cosmos, 

links between Earth’s extreme natural 

environs and the rest of the universe, 

and the possibility of life on other 

planets, says producer Stephen 

Amezdroz from December Media. 

“Viewers will see what lies within 

the gaze of the world’s most powerful 

telescopes and the incredible knowledge 

they are revealing about the origins of 

the universe,” Amezdroz says. 

The film combines footage filmed on 

remote locations in outback Australia 

and Chile with simulations of the 

cosmos and its turbulent beginnings 

generated by Swinburne Production’s 

CGI and animation facilities led by 

Robots 

with a mind of 

their own 

Paranal observatory, 

chile 

the film’s director Russell Scott, a 

Swinburne graduate. 

Using the university’s two 

supercomputers, the animation team 

processed huge amounts of astrophysics 

research data to generate the 

simulations of the cosmos, including 3D 

images of numerous celestial structures 

never seen before such as the Whirlpool 

Galaxy and the Crab Nebula. 

Viewers will also experience space 

observation through the telescopes 

spotting, in multi-wavelength, previously 

unseen forms such as pulsars and 

stellar nurseries. 

Hidden Universe has backing from 

Film Victoria and is being distributed 

globally by IMAX specialist MacGillivray 

Freeman Films. 

“This is a fabulous opportunity to link 

to a wider, global community and excite 

them about their place in the universe,” 

says Professor Warrick Couch, Director 

of Swinburne’s Centre for Astrophysics 

and Supercomputing. 

For the second consecutive year a team of Swinburne engineering students 

has won the National Instruments Autonomous Robotics Competition. 

Seventeen teams from universities across Australia and New Zealand tested 

their robotics skills at the 2012 competition, hosted by Swinburne as the winners 

of the inaugural completion in 2011. The competition requires the student-built and 

pre-programmed robots to traverse a chequered board avoiding obstacles to collect 

coloured blocks and deposit them in 

squares with corresponding colours. 

The robot built by the Swinburne team 

of Jeremy Wu, Ben Smith and Jason 

Austin completed the set of predefined 

tasks in just over four minutes to take 

out the competition. 

The student team from the University of 

Wollongong finished second followed by 

the University of Newcastle in third place. 

“The competition challenges the 

students’ electronics, mechanical and 

software engineering skills to build a 

robot that has very accurate autonomous 

navigation, object handling and obstacle 

avoidance capabilities,” says Dr Zhenwei 

Cao, program coordinator, Robotics and 

Mechatronics Engineering at Swinburne. 


BIOGENETICS 

“One of the most 

important aspects is 

that the ability to deal 

with salt also appears 

to go with the ability 

to handle drought, 

which is of vital 

concern to the foodgrowing 

industry.” 

Professor Mrinal Bhave 

6 | swinburne | venture | issue three 2012 

left to right: 

Professor Mrinal Bhave, 

Shanthi Joseph and 

Dr Daniel Murphy at 

the Royal Botanic 

Gardens Melbourne.

BIOGENETICS 

food Fight 

our food secUrity challenge 

A team of scientists from Swinburne and the 

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are hoping 

to unlock the acacia plant’s genetic secrets to 

counteract the threat of dryland salination, 

the so-called white death. 

by julian cribb 

An insidious cancer is spreading in 

Australia’s productive farmlands and 

undermining our food security: the 

“white death” of salinity is far from 

defeated, and fresh weapons are urgently 

needed in the continuing struggle to reclaim our 

landscapes from its grip. 

At the forefront of that battle is a team of scientists 

from Swinburne and the Royal Botanic Gardens 

Melbourne: Professor Mrinal Bhave, doctoral 

researcher Shanthi Joseph and Dr Daniel Murphy 

are convinced the solution to salinity is to be found 

in the continent’s ancient gene pool – and are 

searching hard to uncover its secrets. 

A millenia-old problem 

Time and again, as the climate fluctuated, salt has 

ebbed and flowed across the arid Australian 

landscape – challenging our hardy native 

acacias and saltbushes to evolve and adapt 

in a subtle genetic guerrilla war waged over 

almost 30 million years. The team believes 

that in these tough trees and shrubs reside 

the secrets of how to withstand and defeat the 

encroaching salt. 

“Many Australian plants, especially the 

saltbushes and acacias, are highly salttolerant 

and can grow in conditions which 

cause most other vegetation and crops to 

die,” Professor Bhave explains. “Over recent 

decades there have been some outstanding 

practical experiments by farmers and land 

managers where salinised land has been 

reclaimed by planting them. 

“What we still do not know is how these 

salt-tolerant species do it. There is a great 

and complex biochemical secret within their 

genes – and we are trying to work out what 

it is. This knowledge, in turn, will lead us to 

new species and better methods in the fight 

against salt, as well as fresh opportunities in 

agriculture and landscape management.” 

Threatening our natural 

resources 

The National Land and Water Resources Audit 

x 

estimates that 5.7 million hectares of Australia are 

at high risk from dryland salinity. Without effective 

management, this area could stealthily encompass 

17 million hectares of good farming country by 2050, 

poisoning it in the same way the ancient Romans 

poisoned the fields of Carthage by sowing salt. 

The risk is not only to food production, but also to 

native landscapes and river systems that can turn 

hostile to life. 

Furthermore, salinity is far from an exclusively 

Australian problem. It encompasses an estimated 

77 million hectares of country worldwide, affecting 

every inhabited continent and several of the world’s 

key food-bowl regions – in particular it is killing 

areas of vitally needed farmland in India and 

Pakistan, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. 

It poses a real threat to global food security. 

Secondary salinity is primarily a 

man-made problem: the clearing 

of trees and shrubs for rain-fed 

agriculture and the heavy use of water 

in irrigation has rapidly brought 

underlying salty groundwaters to the 

surface, rendering the soil unfit for 

food production. The answer lies in 

using the best plant species to ‘pump 

ACACIA: 

a plant of 

many talents 

The acacia could be 

described as a ‘wonder 

plant’ – yielding the 

following by-products: 

High-value timber 

for furniture 

Charcoal for 

energy production 

or steelmaking 

Fodder for livestock 

Biodiesel 

Edible and 

nutritional seeds 

Pharmaceuticals 

out’ the groundwater, lowering it to a 

safe level. 

Studying the acacia’s 

evolution 

One of Australia’s leading authorities 

on acacias, Dr Murphy has been 

assembling the ‘family tree’ displaying 

the phylogenetic relationships between 

Australia’s 1000-plus acacia species. 

“This is helping us to understand how 

they have evolved over the past 20 to 

30 million years, their special 

attributes and the connections 

between seemingly quite differentlooking 

species,” he explains. 

Professor Bhave and Shanthi Joseph 

are using this collaborative data to 

carry out intensive biochemical and 

genetic investigations with the aim of 

explaining just how incredibly tough plants like our 

native saltbushes deal with salt. 

“There appear to be several different pathways for 

handling salt – some plants take it in and isolate or 

excrete it, others may filter it in the roots or exclude 

it at the roots,” says Professor Bhave. “One of the 

most important aspects is that the ability to deal 

with salt also appears to go with the ability to handle 

drought, which is of vital concern to the food-growing 

industry. So this knowledge has wide relevance.” 

Salt-tolerance properties 

Using genetic markers and working from four acacia 

species known to be salt tolerant, the team has so 

far identified around 30 other species of acacia with 

similar characteristics, and is preparing to put them 

to the ultimate test of seeing how they cope with very 

salty conditions, and which ones perform best. 

As a bonus, Ms Joseph has demonstrated that 

some of the most salt-resistant saltbushes also 

produce compounds that may be beneficial to the 

health of animals, including sheep, meaning that 

productive activities like wool and meat production 

can occur on land being reclaimed from salt. 

Acacias can yield a wide range of useful byproducts 

(see box, left) turning the act of land 

reclamation from salt into a range of potentially 

profitable new farming and agro-forestry industries 

built on a suite of salt-tolerant species that can 

cope with different environments. All this depends, 

however, on a clearer scientific insight into how 

these plants function and what gives them their 

special attributes. 

This knowledge will not only benefit Australian 

farmers and landscape managers – and consumers 

too – but in time may help to defuse emerging 

salinity crises in many other similarly affected parts 

of the world, Professor Bhave says. 

Adds Dr Murphy, “Our plants have been evolving 

these special attributes for tens of millions of 

years, adapting to harsh, dry and saline conditions. 

Through this work we are gaining new insights 

into the Australian evolutionary story, but also 

understandings that will be of real value when it 

comes to protecting our landscapes and food supply 

into the future.” l 


iomedical engineering 

by mandy thoo 

w 

rning sign 

An optical-fibre sensor that can detect tumours 

in their early stages is on its way. 

Researchers at Swinburne 

are developing a leadingedge 

sensor that will help 

detect and diagnose 

cancers early, potentially 

saving many more lives. 

The new technology is the vision of 

PhD researcher Emma Carland. 

Inspired by her experience helping sick 

children in intensive care at The Royal 

Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, 

Emma decided to use her biomedical 

engineering skills to give people a 

better chance against illnesses. 

“I maintained and tested life-support 

medical equipment such as drug 

pumps and respirators, and saw how 

the kids rely on these tools in their 

day-to-day struggle for life,” Carland 

says. “This was a powerful motivation 

for me to embark on this research.” 

Building on existing 

technology 

Her work is based on an optical-fibre 

touch sensor as fine as a human hair 

built by her supervisors, Dr Paul 

Stoddart and Dr Scott Wade, last year 

to prevent injuring delicate ear tissues 

during cochlear implant insertion. 

The sensor is built into an optical fibre 

– a technology that has revolutionised 

communications – that sends light 

between its two ends. Due to its tiny 

size and fast transmission of signals, 

optical fibres are often used in 

medicine, including endoscopies and 

‘keyhole’ surgeries. 

“In our touch sensor, light either 

passes through or is reflected by two 

sets of parallel ‘lines’, or gratings, in 

the fibre,” says Dr Stoddart, who is an 

associate professor in biomedical 

engineering and also involved in 

Swinburne’s bionic-eye project. 

“When the sensor is untouched, the 

light that reflects from the first grating 

matches the second one, resulting in 

a ‘low’ signal. 

“When you apply pressure to the 

sensor, the light reflected by the first 

grating will shift, and now that it no 

longer matches the second grating, the 

detector picks this up and emits a ‘high’ 

signal. The difference between these 

two signals will tell you how much 

pressure the sensor experiences.” 

Sensing cancerous tissue 

Now, the researchers propose to use 

the device for early detection of 

tumours by vibrating the sensor against 

a particular tissue: as the sensor 

nudges and withdraws from the area, 

the detected signals will alternate 

between being either high or low. 

“A tumour is stiffer than cells from 

a healthy area,” says Emma. “So, the 

difference between the sensor’s 

signals tells you how stiff the tissue is 

– a diseased tissue, being firmer, will 

push back at the sensor with more 

force, resulting in a larger difference.” 

Dr Stoddart continues, “Once we test 

the tissues at different vibrating 

frequencies, we can find out that at this 

Advances in hearing 

technology 

Dr Paul Stoddart is the head of 

Applied Optics at Swinburne, which is 

associated with two of the university’s 

leading research centres, the Centre 

for Atom Optics and Ultrafast 

Spectroscopy and the Industrial 

Research Institute of Swinburne. 

He began working on the optical fibre 

touch sensor with Cochlear Ltd in 

2007. The cochlear implant, or bionic 

ear, helps people with profound 

deafness, and is implanted in 250,000 

people worldwide. In the procedure, 

electrodes are surgically inserted into 

the ear to stimulate auditory nerves 

and provide hearing. While it has a high 

rate of success, the procedure still risks 

damaging delicate membranes in the 

ear, reducing any remaining hearing. 

Now, with its long, flexible and hair-like 

structure, the touch sensor can curl 

around the spirals of the snail-shaped 

cochlear. “Previously, you’d only 

find out if the ear membranes were 

damaged after the surgery,” says Paul 

Carter from Cochlear Ltd. 

“But the sensor has proven to be very 

sensitive and surgeons can use it 

during the surgery and find out, in real 

time, when the electrodes bump into 

the thin cochlea walls.” Dr Stoddart 

is now working with Cochlear Ltd on 

a project that attempts to use light, 

instead of electrical currents, to 

stimulate the cochlear. 

particular frequency, for a healthy 

tissue, the signal should be at this 

range. Larger signal differences mean 

the tissue is firmer and indicate that 

they’re more cancerous. 

“This allows us to make an accurate 

assessment of the tumour’s stage – 

and the best way to treat it. This is 

something many tumour tests can’t 

provide, as they only tell you whether 

the tissue is diseased or not. We can 

then build a database with the 

information and embed it into 

software,” he says. 

The long, thin and flexible structure 

of the fibre sensor will also allow it to 

be inserted into endoscopes that 

explore small tissue regions, such as 

ear, nose, throat cavities and the colon. 

“Endoscopies usually take tissue 

samples and send them to the 

laboratory for analysis, which could 

take a while,” Dr Stoddart says. “With 

the sensor, we can judge the area to 

see how the tissues respond, which 

gives us quicker results. 

“This means we can obtain very 

precise measurements of small tissue 

regions, which allows for the early 

identification of any abnormal tissues.” 

Positively affecting 

outcomes 

Cancer remains a leading cause of 

death worldwide, with half of the 

nation’s men – and one-third of women 

– likely to experience the illness by the 

age of 85. Finding tumours at early 

stages – before they spread through 

the body – makes them easier to be 

removed or treated, the researchers 

say. It increases a person’s chances of 

survival, and is what we hope the 

sensor can achieve. 

“Emma’s placement allowed her to 

see the needs and constraints of 

medical tools – she understands that 

you can’t just build something without 

considering the people who will use it,” 

Dr Stoddart says. “Connecting research 

and practical application is important 

to get the right outcomes.” 

And with her passion in biomedical 

engineering, Emma envisions being 

in the same field in future years, 

providing society with the right tools 

to battle diseases. l 

case study 

Breathe 

easy 

Biomedical engineering 

undergraduate 

Sovit Baral is working 

on an optical sensor 

to monitor oxygen 

in blood. 

Q: Can you describe your 

current project? 

A: We’re developing a noninvasive 

oximeter to measure the 

amount of oxygen in a person’s 

veins. Compared with arterial 

pulse oximeters, these aren’t 

common in the market – current 

sensors are invasive and are 

only used in intensive care. 

Also, arterial-pulse oximeters 

only tell you how much oxygen 

is delivered from the heart, and 

not whether the circulation to 

vital organs is adequate. With 

the device, instead of checking a 

patient’s blood every two hours, 

we can tell straight away if they 

are getting enough oxygen. 

Q: How does it work? 

A: The device combines a laser 

and sensor – when you aim 

the laser at the neck, some of 

the light will be reflected. The 

sensor picks up the reflected 

light, which indicates how much 

oxygen is present in the tissues. 

Q: Has your industry placement 

helped you for your studies and 

future career? 

A: Definitely – it gave me a chance 

to address real-life biomedical 

engineering problems, and the 

experience has reaffirmed my 

passion and devotion towards 

my profession, helping me to 

plan my career path. 


iomedical engineering 

“the [kids’] day-to-day 

struggle for life ... was 

a powerful motivation 

for me to embark on 

this research.” 

Emma Carland, PhD researcher 

PhD researcher 

emma carland 

with Dr paul 

stoddart at the 

royal children’s 

hospital, 

melbourne. 


engineering 

taking the 

high load 

The largest 

retrofitting project 

in the world saw 

Melbourne’s iconic 

WEST Gate bridge 

widened thanks 

to cutting-edge 

technologies. 

by james hutson 

The West Gate Bridge spans 

Melbourne’s Yarra River, linking the 

inner city and western suburbs. It 

carries more than 160,000 vehicles 

per day, including numerous heavy 

trucks. When the bridge opened in 

1978 it carried only 40,000. Worsening 

congestion put strain on the bridge 

and commuters. This major arterial road needed 

an upgrade, and Swinburne played a major part in 

delivering a solution. 

The solution accepted by Vic Roads was appealingly 

simple. “Widening” of the bridge would occur “in 

lane” only. Emergency lanes would be absorbed 

and lines redrawn to create five commuter lanes in 

each direction. 

Sinclair Knight Mertz (SKM) were the consulting 

engineers for the West Gate Bridge Strengthening 

Alliance on the concrete sections of the bridge. Their 

engineers analysed the increased stresses and strains 

which increased traffic loads would likely inflict. 

The bridge would certainly need strengthening; in 

fact, it would become the largest retrofitting project of 

its kind in the world. 

SKM bridge engineer Grahme Williams approached 

Professor of Structural Engineering at Swinburne, 

Riadh Al-Mahaidi, whose research focuses on retrofitting 

structures with advanced composite materials. 

As Williams explains, the collaboration that followed 

was invaluable. “Typically in construction we go for 

the quickest and cheapest method, which often relies 

on standard methodologies. It’s rare we get projects 

of this magnitude, with this much scope for potential 

savings. By spending a little bit of money upfront on 

this research program we were able to save millions 

of dollars in implementation down the road.” 

Finding efficiencies 

“Grahme and I looked at the efficiencies in the 

proposed design together,” Professor Al-Mahaidi 

says. “We discussed what options we had and if 

design guidelines would allow us to use alternative 


ENGINEERING 

newspix / andrew tauber 

Opened in 1978, 

the West Gate Bridge 

was widened in a project 

completed last year. 

Anchors of cloth 

“We developed an anchorage system that is added to the carbon-fibre laminates 

but also uses carbon-fibre material. This anchoring system increased the efficiency 

of the fibres by up to 260 per cent. What this really meant was that we reduced the 

overall amount of fibre we needed to use,” Professor Al-Mahaidi says. 

The anchorage system is simple and cheap. A 25 centimetre-wide strip of 

carbon-fibre fabric runs across the end of all the carbon-fibre beams, like a line 

of super-strong sticky tape. 

The fabric anchor is a different weave so the strength-bearing threads run in 

two directions. It anchors the laminates and spreads their load to surrounding 

concrete to increase the overall strength of the system. 

The strength, delicacy, ease and versatility of the 

West Gate Bridge 

stats 

Opened: 

15 November 1978 

Total length: 

2582 metres 

Maximum width: 

37 metres 

Longest span: 

336 metres 

Clearance below: 

58 metres 

Strengthening 

complete: 

June 2011 

Number of Lanes: 

5 inbound 

5 outbound 

Daily traffic: 

160,000 vehicles 

Strengthening Cost: 

$347 million 

Strengthening 

materials: 

38km of carbonfibre 

laminate, 

12,000m 2 of carbon 

fibre fabric, 

400,000 bolts and 

1600 tonnes of 

steel fabricated 

into 80,000 pieces. 

techniques. And they did, if we could prove the 

efficiency of another system experimentally.” 

Traditionally bridges are strengthened by reinforcing 

them to resist strains by glueing steel plates or 

jacketing sections with additional concrete that act 

in the same way as a splint or putting a cast on a 

broken limb. But over the past two decades engineers 

have been investigating alternative bracing materials 

like carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP). CFRP 

is a strong, lightweight fabric of interlocking carbon 

threads with up to 10 times the strength of steel, twice 

the stiffness, yet only one-seventh the weight. 

Furthermore, it is very durable, with none of the 

corrosion problems experienced with steel and 

concrete. 

Prefabricated carbon-fibre laminate beams can be 

fixed with epoxy to structures like external ribs. In the 

case of the West Gate Bridge, however, only around 

20 per cent of the CFRP’s strength would have been 

harnessed using these standard design guideline 

approaches. 

CFRP laminate and fabric system recently took 

Professor Al-Mahaidi to Karbala city in Iraq. The 

system was used in the repair of Al-Abbas ibn Ali 

shrine masonry dome, which was damaged by artillery 

and tank fire in 1991. 

Mimicking a bridge 

At Monash University and then at Swinburne, 

Williams, Professor Al-Mahaidi and his team tested 

possible anchoring solutions to the point of failure 

using concrete blocks to mimic bridge sections 

and the position of areas prone to delamination 

(stress fractures). 

“During tests we monitored the blocks using 

surface sensors to measure the level of stress and 

strain, and used photogrammetry, two cameras 

continually recording any surface deformation,” 

says Professor Al-Mahaidi. 

“In addition, computer simulation gave us a deeper 

understanding of what was happening within these 

zones. These computer models also correlated with 

the physical evidence from the lab testing.” 

This work was commissioned by The West Gate 

Bridge Strengthening Alliance comprising SKM, 

VicRoads, John Holland and Flint & Neill, with funding 

from the federal and Victorian governments. 

Strengthening the curriculum 

The scale of the West Gate Bridge strengthening 

project, the novelty of the solution and importance 

of these maintenance processes have created a body 

of knowledge Professor Al-Mahaidi feels is worth 

codifying and sharing. 

“The research over the past 10 years has 

encouraged us to introduce a new unit of study to the 

curriculum, which is the first of its kind in Australia: 

‘Strengthening and monitoring of structures’.” 

The unit relates many findings from the West Gate 

Bridge and is suitable for fourth-year and masters 

engineering students. l 

“We developed an 

anchorage system 

that is added to the 

carbon-fibre laminates 

... This anchoring 

system increased the 

efficiency of the fibres 

by up to 260 per cent.” 

Professor Riadh Al-Mahaidi

employment 

growth industry 

releasing mature potential 

by fiona marsden 

working longer strengthens the 

economy and is vital in order to look after 

our ageing population. Aged-care employers 

are turning to modern research methods to 

help attract and retain mature-age staff. 

No matter which way you slice it, 

Australians will have to work 

smarter – not just harder – to 

support a growing proportion of 

older people in the community. 

The Federal Treasury’s 2010 

Intergenerational Report projects 

that by 2050, there will be more 

than twice as many people aged 

65 to 84, and more than four times as many people 

older than 85. In contrast, the number of workingage 

Australians will increase by just 44 per cent. 

In demographic terms alone, encouraging people 

to stay on in the workforce makes good sense. 

It could also pay economic dividends. In a 2012 

report prepared for the Australian Human Rights 

Commission, Deloitte Access Economics says 

boosting mature-age participation rates by just 

3 per cent would increase GDP by $33 billion. 

Health sector skew 

Just as Australia’s general population is getting 

older, so is our workforce – particularly in the 

aged-care sector. According to a 2008 report by the 

National Institute of Labour Studies, 70 per cent of 

aged-care workers in community settings and 60 per 

cent in residential care settings, are older than 45. 

In short, aged-care workers are older than the 

Australian average, and more are reaching the 

conventional retirement-age bracket. 

“Many aged-care employees want to stay at work 

as they get older,” says Associate Professor Libby 

Brooke, director of Swinburne’s Business, Work and 

Ageing Centre for Research. 

“Older employees feel they have something 

valuable to contribute to their workplace and to 

society. They also provide ‘cultural stability’ in an 

industry where almost 40 per cent of staff come 

through agencies. However, changing personal 

circumstances or priorities mean they may require 

x 

Expert 

knowledge 

Associate Professor Libby 

Brooke has been leading 

Australian research into the 

ageing workforce, and the agedcare 

sector in particular, since 

the mid 1990s. 

Her recent research projects 

include ‘Working Late’, which 

explains how governments 

and employers are managing 

labour supply in a context 

of demographic change and 

industry restructuring, and 

‘Retiring Women’, examining 

how interrupted career 

trajectories may disadvantage 

women later in their working 

lives. She is also working with 

the Victorian Employers’ 

Chamber of Commerce and 

Industry on a project aiming to 

increase the employability of 

mature-age people by applying 

Workability to recruitment. 

more adaptable work 

arrangements.” 

Balancing 

experience and 

operational needs 

The growing need for skilled 

staff in an expanding industry 

combined with the older age 

profile of its existing workers 

poses a complex issue: how best to 

retain the expertise of mature-age 

employees, while balancing their 

changing needs with the organisation’s 

objectives. 

This is where ‘Workability’ comes in. 

Workability refers to the balance between 

an employee’s resources – such as physical 

and psychological health, skills, experience, 

work preferences and family commitments – 

and the organisation’s operational demands. 

Developed by the Finnish Institute of 

Occupational Health, the Workability model uses 

the Workability Index to measure each employee’s 

subjective perceptions of their workability, along 

with health indicators such as injury, impairment 

or disease. 

“The Workability model has been evaluated for 

more than 20 years,” says Associate Professor 

Brooke. “It’s shown to improve people’s ability 

to work well and productively into later life.” 

She and her colleagues are working with agedcare 

providers to trial the Workability model in 

Australian workplaces. 

They have also developed a Workability Survey 

specifically for the aged-care industry. The 

survey measures employees’ physical and 

psychosocial work demands, along with potential 

counterbalances such as a sense of control and 

work/life balance. 


employment 

encouraging people to stay 

on in the workforce makes 

good sense. It could also 

pay economic dividends 

... boosting mature-age 

participation rates by just 

3 per cent would increase 

GDP by $33 billion. 

case study 

promising 

results 

illustration: gregory baldwin 

Rural needs and 

responsibilities 

In sparsely populated rural areas, 

maintaining adequate staffing levels 

can pose a considerable challenge. 

Alpine Health, one of the aged-care 

providers working with Associate 

Professor Brooke, is an organisation 

that provides acute, residential and 

community-based care across three 

sites to around 13,000 people in 

north-eastern Victoria. 

The company has 360 employees, 

of which more than half are older 

than 50. “Our mature-age workers 

remain very much attuned and 

committed to the community’s 

health needs,” says Human 

Resources Manager Nick Shaw. “At the 

same time, some need to reconfigure 

their work commitments for 

personal reasons.” 

Alpine Health has been trialling 

the Workability model since mid 2011. 

Shaw believes it has reinforced and enriched 

existing initiatives. “Our Workability survey showed 

considerable overall job satisfaction. It also highlighted areas 

for improvement, such as ensuring we continue to access enough 

casual staff to avoid excess pressure on permanent employees.” 

For Shaw, working with Associate Professor Brooke and her team 

provides credibility and methodological rigour. “Workability is becoming 

an integral part of our organisational-development agenda.” 

For more 

information on the 

ageing workforce and 

increasing employability 

of mature-age people, 

contact Associate Professor 

Libby Brooke at 

lbrooke@swin.edu.au 

Taking a ‘life course’ approach 

In a cautionary note, Associate Professor Brooke says staff retention 

policies should avoid singling out or stereotyping a particular age group. 

“People have different life trajectories that influence the way they 

need to engage with the workforce. Organisations need to recognise 

this and create adaptable, interactive ways to prolong their employees’ 

working lives.” l 

Melbourne-based Catholic 

Homes has nine residential 

services facilities and around 

600 staff. 

“As a large cohort of baby 

boomers ages, we expect more 

demand for our services,” says 

Human Resources Manager 

Dominic Calabro. “Attracting and 

retaining experienced staff will 

be a growing challenge.” 

Half the organisation’s 

employees are older than 45. As 

Calabro points out, aged- 

care work can become 

more physically 

demanding as staff 

grow older. “The 

Workability model 

helps us better 

understand their 

needs and explore 

interventions that 

balance them with 

the requirements of 

the business.” 

Interventions during the 

initial one-site trial last year 

included reorganising rosters 

and workloads, improving 

ergonomics, offering refresher 

courses and running social 

activities. The staff’s Workability 

Index rose, and the project has 

been extended to two more sites. 

“It’s early days,” says Calabro, 

“but we believe implementing the 

Workability model alongside preexisting 

initiatives is reducing 

absenteeism, WorkCover claims 

and staff turnover.” This may 

help Catholic Homes become 

an employer of choice for 

experienced workers. 


health sciences 

GASTRO CSI 

Gastroenteritis from food-borne illness is a major public 

health concern in Australia and internationally. 

Swinburne and the Victorian Department of Health 

are working together on a project to improve detection 

of the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni. 

by jAMES HUTSON 

Each year in Australia there 

are more than 5.4 million 

cases of gastro, involving 15,000 

hospitalisations and 80 deaths. 

The burden on the healthcare 

system is over $1.2 billion per 

annum, with additional costs arising 

from loss in lifestyle and productivity. 

Gastrointestinal illnesses are generally caused 

by three types of bacteria: E. coli, salmonella and 

campylobacter jejuni. The general public tends to be more 

familiar with salmonella outbreaks, but Louise Dunn, investigator and 

program manager for Swinburne’s Bachelor of Health Science degree, 

notes that campylobacter jejuni is the most significant cause of food-borne 

illness in Australia and worldwide. 

“We have about 6000 cases per year being reported in Victoria. 

It is a significant burden. The incidence of infection also appears to be 

increasing across all age groups, including children and young adults.” 

Difficult to detect 

A big problem with identifying and controlling campylobacter jejuni 

is that most of the infections seem to be sporadic. It might be from 

contaminated water or contact with pets, birds, animals or food (such as 

chicken, offal or undercooked meat). 

“Outbreaks aren’t always occurring in a particular pattern or interval, 

they are just an occurrence, and each year only one or two outbreaks are 

detected,” says Dunn. “This means that there is not enough information 

about how to manage and detect the source of the infection.” 

Current testing methods are time consuming and require skilled 

personnel. The current “gold standard” uses gel electrophoresis to 

genetically differentiate the specific strain (genotyping). Growing cultures 

of the sample for genotyping analysis takes three to four days, a delay 

that makes tracing the origin of the contamination through accurate 

interviews and further sample collecting more difficult. 

Finding the source 

Tracing the origin or source of the contamination is critical if health 

outcomes are to improve. The Victorian Department of Health is looking 

for ways in which they can use evidence for 

better decision-making. To this end they have 

awarded a research scholarship to Swinburne 

PhD student Monir Ahmed to focus on more 

rapid ways to detect campylobacter jejuni 

and better inform the Victorian Department of 

Health’s policies. 

“Swinburne has a long-term relationship with 

the Victorian Department of Health,” says Dunn. 

“We produce a lot of graduates who work in regulatory 

and surveillance areas within local and state government 

departments and this scholarship allows us to investigate how we 

can help the food safety system by developing techniques for detecting 

outbreaks of campylobacter jejuni more readily.” 

Instead of relying on genotyping, Ahmed has obtained samples from 

the University of Melbourne’s Microbiological Diagnostic Unit and is 

working to identify a selection of virulent (toxin) genes associated with the 

campylobacter infection. These gene groupings could then be used to 

more quickly and accurately identify and categorise different strains. 

Ahmed uses Swinburne’s MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer to accurately 

identify strain-specific metabolic fingerprints. These results are then 

fed into a database of different cell proteins allowing the comparison of 

new strains with those previously identified. In an outbreak situation this 

method could be used to quickly differentiate between unrelated strains 

and those from the same source. 

Faster results 

“Analysis is very quick,” says Professor Elena Ivanova, microbiologist 

and one of Ahmed’s PhD supervisors. “You can get the preparation 

stage down to one day and then get the results through the MALDI-TOF 

in half an hour.” This greatly reduces the time and effort required to 

identify the origin of a campylobacter jejuni contamination, meaning 

that improved education, regulation or clean-up policies could be 

applied, therefore also addressing some of the public health costs. 

Developing a field-portable biosensor to aide in tracing the 

source is the project’s ultimate goal. Fighting future outbreaks of 

gastroenteritis will draw on these technologies, ensuring better 

health outcomes for Victorians. l 


technology 

clouded judgments 

Cloud technology is set to 

revolutionise Australia’s courts. 

by caroline boyd 

Courtrooms around Australia 

could, in just a few years, be using 

electronic tablets to see and hear 

evidence, with information being 

downloaded directly from the cloud 

to the courtroom. 

Swinburne researchers are 

investigating ways to best integrate the technology 

into practice. It will be a far cry from today where 

high-quality audio evidence is often presented on 

a crackly CD player in the corner of many courts 

and long adjournments are called to allow for 

time-consuming searches through bulky 

paper-based legislation and past cases. 

It’s all part of the project being driven by 

Swinburne researcher and lecturer Dr Vivienne 

Farrell in collaboration with courts and tribunals 

from around Australia. 

At the moment, technology is generally a “minor 

contributor to evidence presentation within the 

court procedure”, Dr Farrell says. “Paper-based 

booklets, which include documents and images, 

are given to all members of the court during 

trials. This can mean juggling and sorting through 

hundreds of pages. Videos are displayed using 

projectors, making them difficult for all members 

of the courtroom to view and hear.” 

Appetite for change 

However, the judiciary is beginning to embrace 

tablets such as iPads as a reference tool thanks 

to their ease of use and portability, and this has 

created an opportunity for a major technology 

change in the court system. 

Dr Farrell and her team are investigating whether 

a Windows-based tablet would suit the court 

system better than the iPad offering, given many 

judiciaries use Windows applications on their 

computers. The project has included a presentation 

with 80 members of the judiciary that, Dr Farrell 

says, highlighted the need for proprietary software 

suited to the Australian legal system. Dr Farrell 

and her Swinburne colleagues – Dr Graham Farrell, 

Cloud technology will allow 

legal practitioners to: 

Reference legislation and other relevant 

documents on demand 

Download documents which will alleviate the need 

to transport copious amounts of documents for 

tribunals and make it easier for magistrates who are 

required to visit regional courts 

Present high-quality evidence directly from 

their tablet to a major screen and/or to tablets 

that are held by the jury 

Annotate documents and evidence on the fly 

Save annotated and related case documents. 

Cloud technology will allow 

The jury to: 

View evidence on their individual tablets 

Resize the screen images and adjust volumes 

to suit their individual needs 

Annotate evidence for further reference. 

auscript’s Phil 

Farrelly and 

swinburne’s Dr 

Vivienne farrell. 

Rob Tipping and Dr Clinton 

Woodward – have been analysing 

the user needs of such an 

interface, and designing, 

developing and testing a solution. 

The team is also working with 

Professor David Tait from the 

Juries and Interactive Visual 

Evidence (JIVE) group at the 

University of Western Sydney, 

Professor Anne Wallace from 

Perth’s Edith Cowan University, 

Phil Farrelly from Auscript, and 

Canada’s University of Montreal. 

Trial runs 

Human-computer interaction 

students from Swinburne’s 

Masters of Information Technology 

have been involved in the 

groundbreaking project and have 

visited courts to get a greater 

understanding of just what is 

needed. The students consulted 

a criminologist and after 

reviewing off-the-shelf evidence 

presentation tools, trialled the 

new technology in a mock court. 

Later this year, Dr Farrell and 

her colleagues will run a moot 

court involving judges, barristers, 

court staff and jurors from a 

range of Australian courts. “We 

hope to inform the judiciary of 

the advantages of using tablets in 

the courtroom while also receiving feedback on the 

interface usability and how it meets the needs of the 

court,” she says. 

Phil Farrelly, director of Auscript Technology 

Solutions, a specialist transcription company, has 

been working in the court space for 20 years. 

“We’re on the cusp of a major change,” he says. 

“In the legal space this technology is the fastest 

taken-up technology ever. It’s as simple as that. I’ve 

never seen the technology catch on as quickly as 

the tablet technology has.” 

One obvious challenge in sending such important 

documents to the cloud and having them available 

online is security. “Security is a major issue with 

which we must come to terms,” says Dr Farrell. 

“Technology company Cisco is coming onboard 

now, having a look at how we can overcome the 

major security issues for document and video 

transfer. Given the nature of the application we 

cannot afford to get it wrong. The ramifications 

could be detrimental to a case and consequently 

the outcome for the individual. An early failure 

could also jeopardise the uptake of technology 

altogether.” l 


ENTREPRENEURShip 

winnin 

Swinburne graduates 

Gareth Williamson 

and Mark Dunn. 


entrepreneurship 

Half a million tonnes of absorbent 

hygiene products go into landfill 

annually. In fact, according to Mark 

Dunn, graduate of Swinburne’s Master 

of Entrepreneurship and Innovation 

(MEI) program, Australia generates 

enough nappy and continence-aid waste to fill the 

MCG every seven months. 

It is a problem that Dunn, together with fellow 

MEI graduate, Gareth Williamson, hope to solve. 

Dunn and Williamson have formed a company, Relivit, 

which is planning to build seven plants around 

Australia to recycle absorbent hygiene material 

– about 180,000 tonnes per year. 

The idea for Relivit came out of a business plan 

assignment they had been working on. Gareth had 

been a customer of a company called MyPlanet in 

2004, which offered a household nappy recycling 

service, but which was closed down when the parent 

company was sold. “As part of the course assignment 

we investigated what happened, examined the business 

model and identified where it could be restructured. 

We concluded that the idea was a very viable one in 

the current environment,” explains Williamson. 

In Australia there is no alternative to this material 

going to landfill. As Dunn explains, “Not only is this 

a loss of materials, but it also adds immensely to 

landfill. That alone is becoming a serious problem 

as new landfills are expensive, invariably located 

further away from the city and so are more costly 

to reach.” 

Refining the business model 

Dunn and Williamson spent a lot of time researching 

the market. They put into practice the business theory 

they were learning in the course to analyse and 

assess the opportunity. Then they asked the crucial 

question – Will this actually make money? 

In addition to the course content, Dunn and 

Williamson believe the opportunity to participate in 

business plan competitions held by Swinburne and 

other universities have been crucial. According to 

Dunn, “They require you to pull it all together and 

expose it to critical review. That feedback then 

prompted us to address weaknesses and find answers 

to important questions.” 

Performing in business plan competitions is 

something that Dunn and Williamson have excelled 

at. Not only did they take the Swinburne Venture Cup 

2010, but they also won the John Heine Challenge 

in 2010 (an Australian national competition) and 

then eventually the Licensing Executives Society 

International (LESI) Global Award this year. 

This success has helped them to make valuable 

contacts, who have been “instrumental in getting us 

ahead”, says Dunn. “We strongly recommend that any 

A solution to a pressing environmental 

problem is being developed thanks to 

the skills acquired by graduates 

of swinburne’s master of 

entrepreneurship course. 

g w ys 

by lisa starkey 

with waste 

student seriously planning to launch their own 

venture commit to participating in the competitions.” 

Seth Jones, acting director of Swinburne 

Knowledge (Swinburne’s commercialisation office) 

and mentor to Dunn and Williamson agrees. He cites 

the opportunity Dunn had to meet a representative 

of Kimberly-Clarke – a global supplier of absorbent 

hygiene products – when participating in the 2012 

LES Foundation Graduate Student Business Plan 

Competition in Boston, as a prime example. 

Jones believes in the potential of Relivit. “I think 

the timing is good. As a society we need to find more 

effective ways of dealing with our waste. They have 

a technology that can address a community need. 

It’s also really significant that they have got traction 

with industry partners.” 

Raising capital 

Relivit is in its third round of fundraising, to provide 

the capital to build its first plant in Sydney, which 

will open next year. “We are currently securing 

absorbent hygiene waste from commercial washroom 

waste-management providers such as Pink Hygiene 

Solutions,” says Williamson. “The main focus of 

our sales team in Sydney is the aged-care sector, 

where we’ve had major interest in our service to 

collect and recycle continence pads. Winning the 

awards has given us valuable media coverage as we 

build our brand in the sector,” says Williamson. 

Relivit is a capital-intensive business. Perhaps not 

surprisingly then, the biggest challenge has been 

fundraising. As Dunn explains, “The Relivit project is 

not the sort that can grow organically in a garage, so 

we have had to look to others for funds. You have to 

be very convincing, and it takes a lot of time and 

effort away from actually working on the business.” 

A useful foundation 

Dunn and Williamson credit the MEI program with 

helping them gain the skills to develop their concept 

and communicate it to key stakeholders, particularly 

potential investors. 

Jones believes the MEI program is a valuable steppingstone 

for entrepreneurs, “It brings like-minded people 

together, which is a great benefit. Mark and Gareth 

hadn’t met before starting the program. As a result of 

the program they were able to work on an idea they 

were passionate about. The MEI program has a history 

of enabling that kind of connection. Also, in this case 

Mark and Gareth found their second-round investor via 

the MEI program network.” l 

case study 

student 

consultants 

Tony Duncan of Circa Group wasn’t 

sure what to expect when a group of 

Swinburne final-year undergraduate 

entrepreneurship students participated 

in a consultancy for his company, but he 

was very pleased with the results. 

“The diversity of the student 

cohort provided a view that was of 

considerable benefit, not only to Circa 

but also to fellow students. It was a 

tremendous learning process.” 

Circa is a privately owned chemical 

manufacturer, established with the 

objective to commercialise their unique 

process for converting cellulosic 

waste into value-added renewable 

chemical products. Levoglucosenone, 

in particular, is a valuable feedstock for 

the pharmaceutical industry, and Circa 

has developed a proprietary process that 

means it can be produced efficiently at 

an industrial scale for the first time. 

Duncan set the students a task. “We 

asked them to identify opportunities 

and develop business concepts to take 

our business to the next level.” Circa has 

some unique advantages that Duncan 

asked the students to develop strategies 

to exploit. “At the outset I was expecting 

a fairly narrow range of approaches but 

was very pleased with the breadth and 

diversity of the students’ responses. 

“For example, a number of the group 

reports used inputs from students’ 

experiences in Asia. Since the end of the 

project we have had discussions about 

establishing ourselves in these markets.” 

One of the more unexpected results 

of the project was the opportunity it 

gave Circa to reflect on its own business 

strategies. As Tony explains, “Regular 

questioning by students forced a degree 

of examination of the approach we were 

taking to commercialisation.” 

In the students’ final reports, they 

produced various scenarios, ranging 

from feedstock supply chains through 

to innovative pricing models. Circa has 

been able to use these to reflect and 

workshop current strategies. A win-win 

for this industry–university partnership. 


nanotechnology 

leading 

light 

Dr Baohua Jia is making exciting 

discoveries in nanophotonics, a new 

frontier of science that aims to 

transform the world’s solar industry. 

by jessica gadd 

Can you imagine a future where the 

glass on every skyscraper is coated 

in a thin membrane that generates 

solar energy, allowing the building 

to be entirely powered by sunlight? 

Swinburne Senior Research Fellow 

Dr Baohua Jia can, and as 

testament to this, she and her 

colleagues have already produced thin-film solar 

cells that are 20 per cent more effective than current 

thin-film solar cell technology. 

Her next goal is to increase the thin-film solar 

cells’ efficiency by a further 40 per cent, the 

amount required to make them a viable commercial 

alternative to existing solar panels – which are 

effective, capturing 15 to 20 per cent of the sunlight 

shining on them – but bulky and expensive. 

UV is the key 

Dr Jia believes the secret to achieving this lies in 

creating a way for the thin-film solar cells, which can 

only capture visible light, to also capture ultraviolet 

(UV) light using semi-conducting particles, or 

“quantum dots”. Converting the UV light to visible 

light with the quantum dots increases the amount 


nanotechnology 

of light the cells receive, which in turn increases the 

amount of energy the cells can produce. 

“Many who are trying to convert solar cells look 

at engineering or design, building the cell from 

scratch,” Dr Jia says. “We have an advantage in that 

we don’t need to actually produce the cells – we just 

put a layer of nanomaterial over the top of them. 

So we can actually implement our nanotechnology 

within the existing thin-film solar cells to 

dramatically increase their efficiency. 

“It will take three to four years to validate this 

technology, and another few years to get to 

production. But because the cells already exist, it will 

be easier for industry to apply – they just have to add 

a couple of steps to an existing production process.” 

A partnership for progress 

Dr Jia stresses the importance of scientists working 

collaboratively with industry in order to transform 

ideas into a reality, explaining that while scientists 

are interested in fundamental research, and industry 

in creating products, there are ways to find a balance 

between the two. She says the thin-film solar cells 

are a perfect example of when the relationship can 

work well, with practical outcomes. She says another 

key to her success are the contributions made by her 

colleagues at Swinburne. 

“I think it’s because we all work so well together 

that we can achieve such great results,” Dr Jia says. 

“Nanometric science isn’t governed by the normal 

rules we know: it’s a new frontier in science, so it’s 

always exciting to explore. There are other elements 

in addition to physics, such as chemistry, so there’s 

lots of interaction among the team and we all spark 

off each other.” 

Having a positive impact on the environment is 

also important to Dr Jia, and she is pleased that her 

experience in nanotechnology will contribute to a 

reduction in pollution, resulting in a beneficial effect 

on people’s lives. 

Senior Research 

Fellow Dr Baohua Jia. 

“Nanometric science 

isn’t governed by the 

normal rules we know: 

it’s a new frontier in 

science, so it’s always 

exciting to explore.” 

Dr Baohua Jia 

But her work is not limited to solar cells, and 

neither is her area of expertise, nanophotonics 

(optical science at nanometer scale). It’s a field 

that’s said to be on the edge of a revolution in 

miniaturisation and integration on a par with the 

silicon electronics revolution of the past 50 years. 

“Nanophotonics has a really big future,” Dr Jia 

says. “The world is moving towards sustainability 

and this is truly green technology – it depends on 

light, which doesn’t generate any waste. The world 

depends on this kind of technology – the value of 

photonics is estimated to be worth US$200 billion 

to the global economy.” 

Dr Jia, who grew up near Beijing, in China, credits 

her brother-in-law for inspiring her to enter the 

field of optics, a branch of physics concerned with 

understanding the properties of light and the way it 

behaves. Her brother-in-law was well travelled, and 

taught her that absorbing different cultures creates 

new ways of thinking. 

“I really admired my brother-in-law, who had been 

abroad and advised that the experience helps you to 

broaden your mind,” Dr Jia says. “He told me optics 

had a bright future. I knew my capacity but was too 

young to know the opportunities, so I’m grateful for 

his advice.” 

National and international 

recognition 

Dr Jia has received substantial accolades and 

support for her work in the form of numerous grants 

and awards, most recently the L’Oréal Australia and 

New Zealand ‘For Women in Science’ Fellowship 

in August, and the 2012–2014 ARC Discovery Early 

Career Researcher Award in 2011. 

She is also a project leader for the Centre for 

Ultrahigh-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (an 

Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence), 

managing a project exploring nanoplasmonics 

that includes representatives from five Australian 

universities. 

“I’m working in a really exciting field, and I consider 

myself most fortunate,” Dr Jia says. “Students will 

find there are lots of good career opportunities in 

nanophotonics. People tend to think science is filled 

with difficult equations – it’s not. Equations are just 

tools for helping us understand the rules. I was not 

very good at physics when I first started, but my 

teacher was smart, he used simple rules to teach 

and inspire us. He taught us that science is beautiful. 

Open your mind to the possibility that it’s not difficult, 

and you’ll find it’s beautiful too. 

“And keep your curiosity: just try to explore, don’t 

be prevented from trying new things – it’s important 

for science. Always ask the question.” l 


design 

by fiona killman 

Design 

MAKING A difference 

The innovative skills and knowledge of 

Swinburne students are helping to change 

the lives of people in developing countries. 

Design is one of the world’s most 

powerful tools and plays a significant 

role in our everyday lives. For most 

of us, it’s the roof over our heads, the 

buildings around us and the products 

we buy. However, for millions of others 

around the world in developing countries it can be 

the difference between fresh or contaminated water. 

Innovative projects by Swinburne students from 

across the design discipline are making a tangible 

difference in developing countries: from product 

design solutions to help improve hygiene and access 

to fresh water, to a digital design project that is 

providing access to valuable information. 

Tom Hurd, who completed his masters in industrial 

design earlier this year, says Swinburne gave him 

the opportunity to use his design education on a 

global level for communities that needed urgent 

attention. “There is an extensive list of problems that 

need to be solved and the unique thinking that comes 

from Swinburne’s design education, particularly 

holistic system- and service-based design, can 

really create some amazing solutions that are well 

thought-out,” he says. 

Aalto Design Factory project 

with UNICEF 

Hurd was one of the first postgraduate students 

from Swinburne to travel to the Aalto Design Factory 

in Finland as part of the new partnership with the 

Swinburne Design Factory. 

He chose to work on a product-development project 

for UNICEF. The Aalto-UNICEF Finland project, in 

collaboration with UNICEF Uganda, started with a 

two-week research trip to Uganda to look at how to 

improve water sanitation and hygiene. 

The team designed several products, including 

a durable auto shut-off tap to prevent hand 

contamination and theft of tap water; a mode of 

water transportation to prevent people carrying 

water on their heads; and a monitoring device that 

reports via SMS statistics on the use of latrines and 

hand-washing facilities. 

Hurd describes the experience as “intense, 

difficult, fun and ultimately life-changing”. The 

project offered up huge challenges, one of which was 

gaining an understanding of local manufacturing 

capabilities. “One of our primary goals was that 

whatever we designed must be locally producible,” 

he says. “This presented many issues, principally 

that Uganda is based on a small-business and 

marketplace economy, which meant that large 

machinery and even some materials that we take for 

granted in the developed world, simply don’t exist, or 

are of poor quality, or are cost-prohibitive to use.” 

Local knowledge 

Four students from Uganda’s Makerere University, 

who were part of the team, helped to identify what 

was possible. “We also had to consider that, if 

the demand is enough, then it will often become 

possible,” he says. 

“To ensure our products were locally producible, 

every time we produced a prototype we would 

consider the local limitations, and our Ugandan 

teammates would make the same prototype and 

report back any issues.” 

During the implementation project in Uganda, Hurd 

and the team tested the prototypes and made quick 

progress on organising the production chain. “We 

got some fantastic feedback from the community, 

especially for the Elephant Tap, which is intended to 

replace cheap, easily-broken taps,” he says. 

“It also prevents re-contamination after handwashing 

by using an auto-off mechanism, and acts 

as an educational tool by teaching children to wash 

their hands for as long as the water flows. The 

children particularly were taken with this tap, and 

they were quick to learn how to use it. We left two 

taps installed in a school and a community centre.” 

z 

The 

Design Factory 

model 

The world’s first Design Factory opened 

at Aalto University, Finland, in 2008, 

providing a place for students, teachers, 

researchers and business partners to 

interact. The factory offers students a 

holistic learning experience through reallife 

challenges, a relaxed and enthusiastic 

atmosphere, and daily international 

collaboration. It supports world-class 

product design in educational, research 

and practical application contexts. 

Swinburne will open a $100 million centre 

for design, innovation and advanced 

manufacturing next year. The centre will 

reflect the factory’s pursuit for inspiring 

individual uniqueness in students, 

providing a purpose-built teaching and 

learning environment where teams 

of design, business, engineering and 

information-technology students can 

work on industry-sponsored projects. 


design 

The unicef project team 

in uganda working on the 

design of the elephant 

tap from concept 

through to installation. 


DESIGN 

Making science accessible 

Another innovative design project based in Uganda 

is led by designer and Swinburne lecturer James 

Marshall. The Curly Questions project is a partnership 

between Swinburne, private company onlinegalleries. 

com.au and Kasese Humanist Primary School 

(KHPS). The aim is to build the school’s technology 

infrastructure and develop science-based learning 

materials for primary school students via the website 

curlyquestions.com.au. 

Grade 6 students from Kasese posed a list of 40 

questions, which are being answered by 50 students 

from Swinburne’s digital media design course in the 

form of a children’s book and three-minute animation. 

“Every single student is working on an individual 

question. For example: ‘What is a mammal?’ and ‘How 

does the Earth rotate?’” Marshall says. “For each of 

(top) James marshall looks over a student’s 

work and (below) examples of work 

produced for the Curly Questions project. 

the questions asked, design students partner with 

scientists to make sure the answers are accurate. 

The answers will be hosted on the website, which we 

hope to make live by December.” 

The project has also provided funds to build a 

computer lab at the school with internet access, as 

well as educational materials. Marshall says the 

students are passionate about the project, which will 

teach evidence-based thinking to students globally 

and increase public communication of science. “All 

of the students find doing real-world projects more 

rewarding than prototypes,” he says. 

Swinburne digital media design student Rachel 

Leahy says it is refreshing and motivating to be able 

to design and create something for the children at 

KHPS. “I have been working on a storybook based 

on a question asked by a little girl: ‘What causes a 

rainbow to appear in the sky sometimes?’ We have all 

done extensive research on our questions and have 

consulted scientists.” 

Bwambale Robert, director of the Ugandan 

primary school, says the project will have a positive 

impact on staff by easing their workload, and for the 

students by exposing them to modern technologies 

and information. “The Curly Questions project is 

going to equip our children to understand the world 

around them and beyond,” he says. “The students are 

extremely happy for this opportunity to ask questions 

on things they want to know about and are looking 

forward to receiving the answers.” l 

Anyone interested in participating in the project 

or sponsoring children from KHPS can contact 

James Marshall via email at jgmarshall@swin.edu.au 

case study 

engineers 

without 

borders 

Product design engineering 

student Rob Reid is working 

with Engineers Without 

Borders on a final-year project 

to improve water quality 

and cooking conditions in 

the small community of 

Devikulam, India. 

Q: What is the project’s aim? 

A: To develop a biomass cooking stove incorporating a 

purifier, which reduces fuel use and improves the health 

of the user. I was interested in choosing a project which 

could benefit a developing country. Engineers Without 

Borders (EWB) had opened applications for projects in 

India and Cambodia, so I applied and was awarded the 

open research challenge. 

Q: How have you done your research? 

A: My research has been conducted through literature 

and the experiences of others who have been involved 

in appropriate technology programs. I focused on 

topics surrounding related engineering theory, the 

associated health concerns from smoke inhalation 

and consuming contaminated water, and previous 

stove dissemination programs. 

Q: Describe the design process 

A: After conducting the majority of my research I 

compiled a list of user needs and product specifications 

which are the major features the stove needs to have. 

From here I sketched concepts covering a diverse range 

of configurations and ideas. For the last two months 

I have been developing my chosen concept through 

prototyping and computer-aided design to refine it. 

Q: What challenges have you overcome? 

A: The hardest part of this design is trying to keep it 

appropriate for a developing world situation. The design 

needs to stay simple so it can be manufactured at a low 

cost and be affordable for the end user. This is especially 

difficult as the temperatures reached inside the stove are 

very high and low-grade materials will deform quickly. 

Q:Has the project affected you? 

A: After attempting to build stoves and cook on them, 

I don’t take my kitchen for granted. 

Q: What testing have you done? 

A: I’ve constructed stoves out of tin cans, empty paint 

tins and parts found at any local hardware store. 

Using these materials makes it quick and affordable 

to emulate my designs. 

Q: What are your future aspirations? 

A: I hope to use my abilities as a designer to improve 

the living standards of people in poverty. Getting 

involved with humanitarian engineering organisations 

such as EWB has really opened me up to the possibilities 

of how you can help others. 

For more information 

unicef.org.au 

aaltodesignfactory.fi 

kasesehumanistschool.webs.com 

ewb.org.au 

swinburne.edu.au/design 


innovation 

setting 

new standards 

A “rubber hits the road” innovation program is 

reaping rewards for Australia’s manufacturing sector, 

helping it to be more strategic in developing new 

products and taking them to market. 

by caroline boyd 

case study 

FOCUS 

ON IDEAS 

When Sydney company 

Focus Press attended an 

Innovativity seminar, 

they were amazed at the 

results. “Many employees 

in manufacturing 

industries come to 

work, do their job and 

go home. So nobody 

ends up listening to their 

ideas,” says Louise Pastro, 

group sustainability and 

stakeholder engagement 

lead with Focus Press. 

“Innovativity taught 

us how to encourage 

and develop staff and 

management buy-in. 

We have now introduced 

a program to work 

together with our 

employees to develop and 

implement their ideas.” 

Australian manufacturing has been 

under pressure in the past decade. 

In the 10 years to 2011, Australia 

slipped from seventh to 20th on the 

World Economic Forum’s Global 

Competitiveness Index, and a high 

Australian dollar and increased competition from 

low-cost international producers have compounded 

the challenges. 

One area ripe for improvement is the number 

of companies innovating. Figures show that 

just 23 per cent of Australian small-to-medium 

enterprises (SMEs) have new-to-market products, 

compared with 60 per cent across the OECD. 

“We always say that Australians 

are innovative, they’re free thinking, 

they’re very creative people,” says 

Jerome Donovan, a lecturer in 

international business, and the 

co-program leader of innovation and 

internationalisation at Swinburne. 

“But it seems we really lack the 

capacity in organisations to translate 

these into business outcomes.” 

A practical catalyst for change? 

Hoping to unlock this potential for innovation 

is Innovativity, a program designed specifically 

for SMEs, run by the Advanced Manufacturing 

Cooperative Research Centre (AMCRC) with support 

from a Swinburne team headed by Donovan. 

Bruce Grey, managing director of the AMCRC, 

says the Innovativity project, which is running 

around Australia, is already having an impact. 

“For a number of companies it has changed their 

new-product development processes,” he says. 

Leah Paff, program leader in industry, training 

and innovation at the AMCRC, says the program 

takes participants through the entire innovation 

process from start to finish. 

“You do activity-based work using the tools in the 

program with your other classmates,” says Paff. 

“We’ve had some really great success because 

“We’ve had 

some really great 

success because we’ve 

focused on the practical. 

We’ve found that the 

outcomes are real 

tools that people 

take back and use.” 

Leah Paff 

we’ve focused on the practical. We’ve found that 

the outcomes are real tools that people take back 

and use.” 

Innovation Benchmarking tool 

Donovan and his team support the program by 

regularly evaluating its effectiveness through pre 

and post surveys. They are also building an online 

benchmarking tool, which will allow businesses 

to compare themselves against best practice 

in Australia. 

To develop the innovation audit and benchmarking 

tool, they will survey 10,000 Australian businesses 

and draw on a wide-ranging literature 

review. “We’re going to profile what are 

the practices within the organisation 

that will lead to the greatest 

innovation performance and the 

best outcomes,” says Donovan, who 

believes the thoroughness of the 

tool will be a first. 

“There are different snapshot 

surveys and short-audit tools 

available on the internet in different 

places around the world, but I haven’t seen 

anything like what AMCRC wants to develop,” 

he says. 

Grey says the benchmarking tool will motivate 

Australian businesses to reach for new highs. 

“I think there’s going to be a huge value in 

addressing these skill shortages in innovation. 

You’re looking at a sector that makes a huge 

contribution towards the Australian economy where 

there’s massive value-add potential. There are also 

a lot of multipliers in manufacturing in terms of 

creating jobs in other sectors.” 

In Victoria, the recently launched Innovation 

Technology Voucher Program is expected to allow 

more small-to-medium enterprises to take up the 

Innovativity program. “We have applied to become 

an approved supplier so there will be an opportunity 

for Victorian companies to make use of the voucher 

to attend the course,” says Grey. l 

For more information on the innovativity program, 

visit www.innovativity.com.au

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