Researchers working with industry and community partners have received Federal Government funding to advance projects exploring clean energy solutions, truth-telling and the biophysics behind vision problems.
Four projects led by The University of Western Australia have collectively received more than $2.1 million as part of the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects funding scheme.
The scheme promotes national and international research partnerships between researchers and business, industry, community organisations and other publicly funded research agencies.
Professor Jane Lydon from UWA’s School of Humanities will lead a team including representatives from the State Library of Western Australia and Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre to produce an overview history of the Goldfields region.
The project, which has received $500,623 under the scheme, aims to model truth-telling in preparation for WA’s bicentenary by creating a collaborative, decolonised research process which ensures data sovereignty for First Nations participants.
The project will produce an exhibition in Kalgoorlie and support State Government truth-telling through WA’s Sites of Truth heritage program, as well as informing library practice, heritage management and forthcoming commemorations.
Dr Hongwei An from the UWA School of Engineering will lead a project to improve the reliability of subsea cable bundles, with the aim of improving hydrodynamic safety and futureproofing thousands of kilometres of subsea cables.
HDVC cable bundles are increasingly used in the offshore wind industry and as interconnectors between countries to efficiently transport clean energy.
The project, which has received $609,987, will generate high-quality data quantifying hydrodynamic forces and cable response, filling existing knowledge gaps around how ocean currents and waves interact with bundles on the seabed.
Associate Professor Hugh Wolgamot, from the UWA School of Earth and Oceans and Oceans Institute, will lead a project given $599,115 to unlock Australia’s offshore wind resources by better understanding the combined effects of winds, waves and currents from different directions on immense floating wind turbines.
The project will use data from a full-scale operating prototype to simplify the complex task of determining loads on the turbine.
Outcomes will include improving ways to simulate ocean conditions and lowering the cost of floating wind, removing barriers to investment in the offshore wind industry and opening the way for jobs, decarbonisation and energy security.
Professor Dao-Yi Yu from the UWA Medical School will lead a team in developing advanced tools to better image blood vessels in the eye that are essential for vision.
The project, which has received $438,246, will deliver an advanced platform for the study of pulse waves in the vascular network in the retina, where blood vessels can be directly imaged.
The platform is expected to provide high-fidelity, full-field characterisation of blood volume and vessel wall changes in the eye, advancing understanding of retinal vascular biophysics and supporting mathematical modelling of vascular pulsation.
The study of retinal vascular biophysics explores the relationship between circulation, neural activity and eye health, providing insights into how the retinal vasculature responds to eye conditions including glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.