Four UNSW Engineering projects have been awarded funding in the first round of a government initiative designed to support nationally significant research and commercialisation.
Projects directed by UNSW Sydney's Dr Vipul Agarwal, Mr Kai Zhao, Dr Ziheng Liu and Dr Aous Naman have been awarded a total of $7.88 million in funding through Australia's Economic Accelerator (AEA) Innovate program .
UNSW's four projects are among 39 recognised around the country, as part of the first round of the AEA Innovate initiative.
The program is designed to bridge the gap between research and real-world application, helping researchers take ideas from the lab and into business. It fast-tracks the commercialisation of research in vital areas such as renewables, agriculture, medical technology, defence and critical minerals.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Enterprise, Professor Bronwyn Fox, said the funding awarded to four projects in UNSW's Engineering faculty highlighted the University's commitment to transformative research.
"This recognition reflects our strong focus on translating world-leading research into practical solutions that benefit Australian industries, communities and the economy," Prof. Fox said.
"I congratulate our UNSW researchers on this outstanding achievement. Their work will help drive progress in pivotal sectors such as clean energy and manufacturing, helping shape the industries of the future and ensuring that Australian innovation makes a global impact."
Giving plastics a new life
Senior Lecturer at UNSW's School of Chemical Engineering, Dr Vipul Agarwal, was awarded the largest grant of all recipients nationally in this AEA round. The $4.99 million in funding will advance his work developing simple, environmentally friendly processes to recycle plastics commonly used in bottles and food packaging.
Dr Agarwal's team developed an innovative method to turn solid plastic waste into tiny plastic particles suspended in water. The process uses very little energy and avoids the need for complicated cleaning steps, making recycling faster and more sustainable.
"This grant is further validation of our innovative technology aimed at solving plastic waste, which is one of the biggest global challenges," Dr Agarwal said.
"This new disruptive technology has the potential to make Australia a global player in waste plastic recycling. It has been an incredible journey from conception, invention to now commercialisation in less than five years with my co-inventor Professor Per Zetterlund."
This new disruptive technology has the potential to make Australia a global player in waste plastic recycling.
Next-generation mining solutions
Research engineer at UNSW's School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering, Mr Kai Zhao, received $1.03 million for his work on a collision warning system that helps prevent accidents in places like underground mines, where it's hard to use GPS.
The system uses Ultra-Wide Band technology, which can accurately measure the precise distance between people, vehicles, or equipment, helping workers and machines detect when they're getting too close.
"This grant is recognition of our lab's long-standing work in advancing intelligent, safer mining solutions," Mr Zhao said. "It will be pivotal in driving the commercialisation of our research."
Advancing Australia's solar technology
Senior Research Fellow at UNSW's School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, Dr Ziheng Liu, received a $1 million grant for the commercialisation of a new type of material designed to improve how solar panels work.
Dr Ziheng Liu and the tandem solar cell team are developing a large-scale production method for the next generation of silicon solar cells.
"It's exciting to receive this funding to advance our novel tandem solar cell technology towards commercialisation," Dr Liu said.
"We are deeply grateful for this support from AEA. This funding is critical in helping us translate cutting-edge research into real-world products."
The hardware shaping the future of imaging
Senior Research Associate at UNSW's School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, Dr Aous Naman, was granted $857,546 for his work creating faster hardware to compress and decompress images and video using an advanced file format called JPEG 2000.
JPEG 2000 is often used in medical imaging, satellites, and video streaming, where images must be kept very clear but also compressed to reduce file size.
