The University of Western Australia

W/Prof James Trevelyan

Winthrop Professor
School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering

Contact details

Address

School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering
The University of Western Australia (M050)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia

Phone

6488 3057

Fax

6488 1024

Email

james.trevelyan@uwa.edu.au

Personal homepage

http://www.mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/

Qualifications

BE MEngSc W.Aust., FIEAust, CPEng, MASME

Biography

University of Western Australia. He is an elected member of the Council of the International Federation for the Theory of Machines and Mechanism (IFToMM). He chairs the Engineers Australia National Panel on Mechatronic Engineering.

He is well known internationally for pioneering research that resulted in sheep shearing robots (1975-1993).

He and his students produced the first industrial robot that can be remotely operated via the internet in 1994. The robot has been controlled by a conservatively estimated 500,000 people in dozens of countries.

He was presented with the 1993 Engelberger Science and Technology Award in Tokyo in recognition of his work, and has twice been presented with the Japan Industrial Robot Association award for best papers at ISIR conferences.

His teaching has also been well recognised: he was presented with the ASME Award for Mechanical and Mechatronics Teaching at the 2003 AAEE Conference in Melbourne. He has earned four distinguished teaching awards at UWA, and received a further best paper award at the 2004 International Conference on Engineering Education Research conference in the Czech Republic.

Since 1996 he has researched landmine clearance methods and his web site is an internationally respected reference point for information on landmines. He was awarded with honorary membership of the Society of Counter Ordnance Technology in 2002 for his efforts, and was also elected a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia.

His most recent work is research on engineering practice that aims to understand how engineering work is actually performed, an aspect of engineering that has not been researched before. This work is helping to explain why engineering and process-oriented companies can typically lose 30% of their turnover from engineering, maintenance and operation mistakes. It also helps to explain why engineering services in the developed world seem to cost much more than they should, often much more than in industrialised countries.

Key research

Engineering practice, learning and engineering education. Also, part-time, on landmines, robotics and unexploded ordnance.

Publications

2008:

Domal, V., Stappenbelt, B., & Trevelyan, J. P. (2008, December 7-11). Professional development at university: student perceptions of professional engineering practice. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Engineering Education 2008 Annual Conference, Yepoon, Queensland.
Domal, V. K., & Trevelyan, J. P. (2008, June 20-22). Comparing Engineering Practice in South Asia with Australia. Paper presented at the American Association for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, Pittsburgh.
Nair, S., & Trevelyan, J. P. (2008, May 27-29). Current maintenance management methods cannot solve engineering asset maintenance history data quality problems. Paper presented at the ICOMS Asset Management Conference, Fremantle, Western Australia.
Razali, Z. B., & Trevelyan, J. P. (2008, December 7-11). Can practical intelligence from a laboratory experience be measured? Paper presented at the Australian Association for Engineering Education 2008 Annual Conference, Yepoon, Queensland.
Tilli, S., & Trevelyan, J. P. (2008, June 20-22). Longitudinal Study of Australian Engineering Graduates: Preliminary Results. Paper presented at the American Association for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, Pittsburgh.
Trevelyan, J. P. (2008). Coordination in Mechatronic Engineering Work. In J. Billingsley & R. Bradbeer (Eds.), Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice (pp. 51-64). Berlin: Springer.
Trevelyan, J. P. (2008, June 20-22). A Framework for Understanding Engineering Practice. Paper presented at the American Association for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference, Pittsburgh.
Trevelyan, J. P. (2008, August 6). Lets be seen and heard: engineers must shed their invisibility cloaks. Australian, p. 26.
Trevelyan, J. P. (2008, October 2008). Observations of Engineering Practice: Ideas for Engineering Educators. Paper presented at the 2008 Dane and Mary Louise Miller Symposium, http://www.nae.edu/.
Trevelyan, J. P. (2008). Research Challenges. In M. K. Habib (Ed.), Humanitarian Demining: Innovative Solutions and the Challenges of Technology (pp. 57-68). Vienna: I-Tech Education and Publishing.
Trevelyan, J. P., Kang, S.-C., & Hamel, W. R. (2008). Robotics in Hazardous Applications. In B. Siciliano & O. Khatib (Eds.), Springer Handbook of Robotics (pp. 1101-1126). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.

Roles, responsibilities and expertise

Leads mechatronics discipline at UWA, teaches sustainability.

Future research

http://www.mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/pes.html/ - Engineering practice and engineering education

Funding received

Approximately $0.75 million for work on engineering practice since 2003 (through grants, scholarships for graduate students, and company donations.)

Industrial relevance

Australia is experiencing a long-term skills shortage in engineering, yet we have little idea of what is actually meant by engineering skill. In 2006, there were around 65,000 engineering graduates working in Australia in unrelated occupations. Why, then, could companies not find enough engineers at a time of peak demand?

Languages

English, some Urdu, French & German

Memberships

Engineers Australia (Fellow)
American Society for Mechanical Engineers (member)
American Society for Engineering Education (member)
Australian Robot & Automation Association,
Australasian Association for Engineering Education
Society for Counter-Ordnance Technology (honorary)

Honours and awards

Engelberger Award for Science and Technology Development 1993 (top international robotics award)
Japan Industrial Robot Association award for best papers at ISIR conferences (1988 inaugural, 1996)
ASME Award for Mechanical and Mechatronics Teaching 2003
UWA Distinguished Teaching Awards

Patents

JP 2519289 (Japanese patent) Wrist mechanism for robotic manipulators. (1988) (With coinventors D. Elford, P. Kovesi, M. Ong. May 1996. Contribution 25%
AU 8431508 (Australian patent ) Contact sensing device. (1985) (With M. J. Crooke, coinventor) International Patent Convention WO 8500445 designated states Australia, Japan, USA, EEC.AU 8820664 (Australian patent) Animal head restraint. (1989) (With A. Whitehead, coinventor). Corresponding patents in New Zealand (ZA 8805870), South Africa, United States of America (4887553), Europe) Contribution 50%
SE 8800567 (Swedish patent) Wrist mechanism for robotic manipulators. (1988) (With coinventors D. Elford, P. Kovesi, M. Ong. Corresponding patents in Australia (AU8812154), Europe, Japan, USA (US 4862759) New Zealand (ZA 8801211), Britain (GB 2201140), Germany (DE 3805528), France (FR 2611161), South Africa). Contribution 25%
AU 8776112 (Australian patent) Leg restraint. (1987) (with coinventors D. Elford, R. Leslie). Contribution 30%.
AU 8776111 (Australian patent) Nose restraint. (1987) (with coinventors D. Elford, R. Leslie). Contribution 30%.
AU 8433725 (Australian patent) Positioning, manipulating restraining of animals during shearing. (1985). (with coinventors D. Elford, R. Leslie). Corresponding patent in New Zealand (ZA 8407660). Contribution 30%.
No. 210154 N.Z. patent for resistance sensing. (November 1984. Coinventors R. Greenhalgh, R. A. Leslie) (Corresponding Australian (52100/86, 591645, PCT/AU85/00304) and overseas patents) Contribution 30%.
AU 8815016 (Australian patent) Sensor shielding device. (1988). Corresponding patents in Britain (GB 2204132), New Zealand (8802625).
AU 9068360 (Australian patent) Hybrid follower control. 1991.

Teaching

Teaches sustainability for engineering students (climate change, engineering practice, social, political and economic factors affecting engineering projects). Supervises 10-15 graduate and final year research students.

Useful links

http://www.mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/shearmagic/ - Robot Sheep Shearing Project
http://www.mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/demining/ - Demining Research Project 1996-2001

Current projects

http://www.mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/pes.html - Engineering Learning and Practice Research Group

Research profile

Research profile and publications