September 2006 — Recognition for designer of new ventilation system

The national competition Fresh Science, has recognised Simon Shun from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering for his work on a sun- and wind-driven ventilation system.

The new system, designed by Simon in collaboration with A/Professor Noor Ahmed, relies on solar and wind power when it can. However, when the wind drops, or there is not enough sun, the system automatically switches to mains electricity, ensuring that the building meets the ventilation standards legally required for health, safety and comfort.

The system is intended for use in commercial situations that require a constant ventilation flow rate. The researchers anticipate that the power requirements of commercial ventilation systems could be reduced by 15 to 20 per cent with the use of this technology.

Current commercial ventilation systems use significant amounts of electrical power. This new system uses clean energy to the maximum possible effect and has the potential to help reduce peak energy demands during hot summers as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To maximise the use of wind energy, a horizontal spin-axis configuration was designed to increase the effectiveness at which energy is extracted when wind speeds are low. The device has double the ventilation output at wind speeds between 0 and 10 metres per second compared with standard ventilation systems. Standard ventilation systems have a single element that functions both as a turbine that extracts energy from the wind, and as a pump that removes air from inside a building.

"The problem with this is that the physical configuration required to make an effective turbine or pump is different," said Simon. "The design of our ventilation system allows these two functions to be separated, therefore optimising the turbine and pump functions individually, and providing the system with better performance overall."

Under zero wind-speed conditions, an electric motor powered by a stand-alone solar panel powers the system. If wind and sun conditions are both less than ideal, mains electricity is used as a back-up power source to maintain a constant ventilation flow rate.

"An electronic control module was designed to perform switching between the power sources of wind, sun and mains electricity," said Simon. "The module receives inputs about the ambient wind speed and solar intensity conditions, and makes a logic decision as to the most appropriate power source to use."

The system was developed in conjunction with funding support from Edmonds, a business unit of CSR Ltd, and the ARC.

"A trial system is being planned," said Simon. "And we hope to turn the trial system into a prototype system and run it through longer tests."

Simon recently completed his Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, and is hoping to do a PhD in the area of wind turbines and renewable energy with A/Prof Ahmed.

August 2006 — Plenary speaker wins Young Investigators award

At the 7th World Congress on Computational Mechanics (WCCM VII), held in Los Angeles in July 2006, Dr Tomonari Furukawa received the Japan Association on Computational Mechanics (JACM) Award for Young Investigators in Computational Mechanics for his pioneering work in computational material modelling. This follows the awarding in 2004 of the International Association on Computational Mechanics (IACM) and the Asian-Pacific Association on Computational Mechanics (APACM) Young Investigator Awards to Dr Furukawa, meaning he has now received every international award currently available in computational mechanics.

Dr Furukawa was also one of 20 Plenary speakers at the WCCM VII, recognised as the largest computational mechanics event held in the world and attracting more than 2,000 participants. He was the only Plenary speaker from Australia, as well as being the youngest.

July 2006 — Breakthrough in engineering project risk management

Front row, from left: Berman Kayis (UNSW), James Hearne (Hearne Scientific Software Pty Ltd) and Adrian Rispler (Boeing-HdH). Back row: Tony Carolan (Boeing-HdH), David Galvin (CRC-IMST), Mingwei Zhou (CSIRO), Yong Bing Khoo (CSIRO) and Miro Miletic (Boeing-HdH).

April 2006 — Annual Prize Giving Ceremony

Prize winners, sponsors and presenters at the School's annual prize giving ceremony, held on 6th April 2006.