Research programs and centres

The Faculty of Engineering at UTS has a lively and cutting-edge research culture driving advances in engineering technology, practice and education. Our research is needs-driven and collaborative and we work with many enterprises in business partnerships. Our researchers are world-class and recognised leaders in their fields, responsible for delivering new, better and more cost-effective solutions to complex engineering challenges.

Faculty research is varied and utilises modern laboratories and research facilities on the City campus, Broadway. These are supported by extensive computing facilities and library services. The laboratories have excellent back-up workshops and expert support staff. Many opportunities exist for professional development through challenging, well-resourced research programs.

Research profile

The Faculty is host, in whole or in part, to a number of key research areas and strengths, each designated and supported by the University and the Australian Research Council (ARC). These include:

• Institute for Information and Communication Technology
• Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management
• Institute for Nanoscale Technology
• Key University Research Centre for Built Infrastructure Research
• Key University Research Centre in Health Technologies
• University Research Group for Intelligent Mechatronic and Energy Systems
• ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems
• Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems
• Centre for Electrical Machines and Power Electronics
• National Centre for Groundwater Management

Collaborative research

The Faculty's researchers work with private and public companies to achieve their strategic objectives in engineering research and development. These collaborative programs tend to be long-term and offer mutually beneficial outcomes, with the economic, business, social and environmental dimensions of engineering being addressed explicitly. Most collaborative research is supported by sponsorships or grants.

Research opportunities and major research areas

Research opportunities are available in the following areas of specialisation.

Information and Communication Technologies: Networks management, Adaptive intelligent systems, Visualisation tools, Advanced Web technologies, Satellite systems, Wireless technology, Radio frequency hardware

Infrastructure and the Environment: Built infrastructure, Water and environmental resource management, Public health engineering, Groundwater management, Local government

Management, Policy and Planning: Energy policy and planning, Engineering, project, operations and risk management, Systems theory and Socio-technical systems, Engineering practice, Environmental risk

Mechatronics and Intelligent Systems: Health technologies, Mechatronics, Energy, Embedded systems

For up-to-date information on all Faculty designated research groups and current research capabilities, see the Faculty website at:

Research management

Research management within the Faculty is coordinated through two committees.

The Faculty Research Degrees Committee is responsible, under delegations from the Faculty Board in Engineering, for recommendations relating to the admission, progression and examination of research degree candidates, together with the development of policies and practices across the Faculty to assist candidates and enhance outcomes.

The Research Management Committee is responsible for enhancing research outcomes in the Faculty. It has responsibility (inter alia) for developing, implementing and maintaining the Faculty's Research Management Plan, including program allocations and infrastructure development funded by the Faculty; the collection and dissemination of research information; and the promotion of research partnerships with industry and other bodies.

Institutes, key research strengths and research centres

The Faculty of Engineering supports several institutes and centres, each capturing established research strengths in engineering and related fields. These include the following.

Institute for Information and Communications Technology

The Institute for Information and Communications Technology is one of four UTS advanced technology research concentrations involving research staff, industry partners and research students from several faculties, including the Faculties of Engineering and Information Technology. Its research spans interdisciplinary challenges in broadband network management, interactive and intelligent user interfaces, and network enabling technologies, with an emphasis on emerging application domains.

Inquiries may be made to:

Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management

The Institute for Water and Environmental Resource Management undertakes research shaped by the need for sustainable management of water resources, nationally and internationally. As one of four UTS-designated advanced technology research concentrations, it links research staff and students from the Faculties of Engineering and Science with government, industry and community partners through its collaborative programs. Major research themes include groundwater, hydrology and hydrogeology; vegetation and land use salinity; urban water cycles, waste water management and recycling economics; rural water resources including irrigation, recycling and agricultural run-off; and ecotoxicology and environmental engineering.

Inquiries may be made to:

Institute for Nanoscale Technology

The Institute for Nanoscale Technology is a UTS advanced technology research concentration aligned to national science and technology priorities. Its research relates primarily to nanomaterials and devices for biocompatible or energy efficient applications, with major programs on artificial cell membranes and nanosensors, nanograined metals and ceramics, nanocoatings and surface texturing. Opportunities exist for research linking the enabling science and its engineering application.

Inquiries may be made to:

Key University Research Centre for Built Infrastructure Research

The Centre for Built Infrastructure Research (CBIR) encompasses multidisciplinary researchers from the Faculties of Engineering; Science; and Design, Architecture and Building. It aims to develop new technologies to enhance the quality and performance of new infrastructure and to underpin cost-effective strategies for the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure. The Centre currently focuses on collaborative research with industry in areas which include the application of new advanced materials in construction; assessment, maintenance and remediation of structural performance; minimisation of hazard resulting from earthquake, wind or wave action; the assessment and health monitoring of timber bridges; and use of renewable materials and recycled construction and demolition materials.

Inquiries may be made to:

Key University Research Centre in Health Technologies

Continued advances in health care and quality of life in the future will come from new knowledge and innovative scientific/technological breakthroughs. Our research team has an extensive national and international reputation in the field of health technologies. We bring together complementary interdisciplinary research skills unique in Australia in the development of novel devices and intelligent systems for health technology applications.

Based on significant devices which have been developed by core members of the Centre (such as the Mind Switch and the Non-Invasive Hypoglycaemia Monitor), and numerous novel systems (such as microwave ablation of artrial fibrillation or cancer lesions, a predictive test for retinal damage, liver-directed gene therapy, assistive technology for severely disabled people, detection of driver fatigue, early detection of breast cancer and fusion of tomology images), an ambitious program has been developed to enhance our capacity to deal with major illnesses in terms of effective prediction, diagnosis and rehabilitation. The focus of the group is on the study of health and disease processes, and the development of new devices and advanced techniques for the prediction, diagnosis and rehabilitation of lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, neurological disorders and cancer.

Inquiries may be made to:

University Research Group for Intelligent Mechatronic and Energy Systems

The aim of the UTS University Research Group for Intelligent Mechatronic and Energy Systems (IMES) is to focus the research effort in intelligent systems at UTS into four strategic interdisciplinary areas encompassing Mechatronics and Energy systems, namely Autonomous Robots, Automobile Systems, Electrical Vehicles and Artificial Hearts.

Recent progress in intelligent systems research at UTS has made it opportune to build up a multidisciplinary team to undertake innovative fundamental research and develop practical implementations in these four application domains. The research program of the group exploits the existing expertise of the core and associate members in system modelling and synthesis, sensing, estimation, control, and embedded computer systems.

Inquiries may be made to:

ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems

This Centre is run in conjunction with the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR) at the University of Sydney and the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

The aim of the Centre for Autonomous Systems is to research and explore the nature of intelligence in problems of perception, learning and control, and to lay the scientific groundwork for the development and application of intelligent autonomous systems. Autonomous systems represent the next step in the fusion of machines, computing, sensing and software to create intelligent systems capable of interacting with the complexities of the real world. Autonomous systems have a broad and diverse range of applications of national importance. These range from field applications such as automated mining and cargo handling, construction, forestry and transport, to potentially dangerous applications including robotic bushfire fighting, search-and-rescue and areas of air, land and maritime defence, as well as social applications in robotic health care, automotive and entertainment.

Inquiries may be made to:

Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems

The Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems (CRCSS) was established in 1997 to design and build robust and innovative satellite systems. Participants in the CRCSS include UTS, the CSIRO, University of South Australia, La Trobe University, Queensland University of Technology, University of Newcastle, Auspace Limited, VIPAC Scientists and Engineers Pty Ltd, Curtin University of Technology, the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, the ARIES Consortium, D-Space Ltd, Optus Communications, and Kodak Ltd.

As a core member of the CRCSS, UTS is represented on the management board for the program. UTS is part of the telecommunications group of the CRCSS with the specific role to design and develop Ka band microwave earth stations to be used with the Federation Satellite One (Fedsat-1). Fedsat-1 will be a low-cost micro-satellite, conducting telecommunication, space physics, remote sensing and engineering experiments. The Ka band is a new commercial band in the higher end of microwave spectrum being utilised by a number of low earth orbit satellite business ventures for global direct satellite access to the Internet and Internet-based services. The Ka band is 30 Gigahertz on the uplink from earth to the satellite and 20 Gigahertz from the satellite to the earth station. The two frequencies are used to separate received signals from transmitted signals. Using the Ka band requires the development of new communication techniques and subsystems.

Inquiries may be made to:

Centre for Electrical Machines and Power Electronics

This Centre is principally concerned with electrical variable speed drives and generation of electricity using rotating electrical machines and renewable sources (wind, hydro). The technical research disciplines necessary for these two areas are very similar, covering electrical machines design, power electronics, and mechanical design. The interest in renewable energy generation is primarily for remote areas and developing countries, so the incorporation of expertise in design for such areas is valuable, with the inclusion of energy requirements analysis, energy economics, technology transfer and human management issues.

Research topics cover:

• new models for analysis and design (electrical, thermal, mechanical)
• new control techniques (new theories and computer processors)
• new practical designs for commercialisation (new materials and components), and
• new processes relevant to remote areas and developing nations (local organisations, high reliability).

Major interdisciplinary projects include:

• 2.5–20kW electric generators and controllers for wind turbines for remote area power supplies
• 40kW hydroelectric scheme for Solomon Islands
• very low-cost, efficient variable-speed drive for small fan motors
• implantable rotary blood pump with integrated motor, impeller and bearings
• brushless, doubly-fed, twin-stator drive for large fans and pumps, and
• 40kW brushless motor controllers and battery chargers for 105-seat hybrid electric ferry.

Inquiries may be made to:

National Centre for Groundwater Management

The National Centre for Groundwater Management is operated jointly with the Faculty of Science. Research areas include: contaminated land evaluation and rehabilitation; groundwater quality management strategies for industrial, agricultural and urban use; contaminant transport and water resource modelling; optimisation; groundwater geophysics and remote sensing; and hydraulic modelling, with applications such as irrigation management.

Inquiries may be made to: