Research
interests
Research in ISST has a strong national and international research reputation in the broad area of environmental sustainability within individual research disciplines, and work effectively with an extensive range of industry, government and other partners both locally and internationally.
CRC - Sustainable Cities
Following on from the ATN Sustainability Symposium held in Adelaide, we are working on a proposal for a new CRC in the area of Sustainable Cities.
The vigour of ISST's research engine can be demonstrated by the following research projects
- Agricultural machinery : on farm equipment research and development
- Agricultural machinery : post harvest technologies
- Agricultural machinery : product design and development
- Environmental modelling
- Sustainable design and manufacturing
- Sustainable energy
- Sustainable health
- Sustainable transport
Agricultural machinery : on farm equipment research and development
Subsoil improvement technologies
Deep tillage delving and
loosening; Vibratory tillage and vibration measurement; Subsoil amendment incorporation; Energy requirements; Force modelling
Seeding systems for conservation cropping
Field evaluation in
no-till context; Residue-tool interactions; Seed/fertiliser placement
mechanics; Soil/machinery/crop interactions in cropping system; Disc and
narrow point seeding technologies
Ground engaging technologies
Wear performance evaluation; Force
modelling and energy requirements; Soil loosening and manipulation
Precision agriculture technologies
NIR sensors for canopy
management and weed detection; Machinery applications with local/global
positioning systems; Computer vision systems for plant recognition
Harvest technologies
Harvester field evaluation; Harvester
modifications for problem crops; Harvest mechanisation
Sprayer technologies
Spray drift and target coverage evaluation
in-situ (vineyards/orchards); Specialised sprayer development and testing
(plantation); CDA shielded technologies
Other technologies
Screw conveyor capacity and safety testing
Agricultural machinery : post harvest technologies
Separation technologies
Contaminant/grain and sultana
separation; Pulse splitting mechanisation
Agricultural machinery : product design and assessment
Mechanical testing to standards
Roll over protections; Vehicle
stands
Expert witness
General farm machinery
Industry secondment: research and development
Tillage and seeding
implement design and evaluation
Prototype design and testing
Specialised sampling mechanisation
Modelling and drafting
Earth moving and digging equipment;
Specialised plot seeders
Environmental modelling
Optimal driving strategies of solar electric vehicles
Design and
development of efficient driving strategies for Aurora racing team
Fuel efficiency and optimal scheduling in rail transport
A suite of
projects aimed at energy efficiency in the rail industry conducted under the
umbrella of the Rail CRC
Sustainable manufacturing systems
A pilot project on product
stewardship and life cycle analysis conducted for UNEP
Time series analysis of climatic variables
Energy demand modelling
for the Electricity Supply Industry Planning Council (ESPIC) of South
Australia
Water cycle management
ARC Discovery Grant on mathematical models
and water cycle management
Modelling the thermal performance of buildings
Energy score sheet
for houses developed for DELFIN
Integration of renewable energy sources
Wind farm modelling for ESPIC
Influence of herbivory on vegetation cover
Project completed in
2006 for Desert Knowledge CRC
Uncertainty analysis in environmental models and modelling the
predictability of the El Nino, Southern oscillation
Handbook on
uncertainty analysis under contract with Springer
Ecological footprint
Calculations of ecological footprint for SA
Government and Adelaide City Council
Environmental modelling
Editorial Office of Environmental Modelling
and Assessment, an international journal published by Springer
Phenological indicators of climate change and phenological statistics
Book entitled Phenological research: methods for environmental and
climate change analysis, under contract with Springer
Biodiversity enhancement and habitat creation: connection through water
sensitive urban design
Creating spatial design(s) for invertebrate
capture - towards an accurate measure of biodiversity
Sustainable design and manufacturing
Optimisation of assembly sequence planning; design for disassembly; an integrated framework for design for recyclability; modelling and optimisation in design for product upgradability; development of an environmentally friendly permeable pavement material using recycled aggregates and carpet wastes.
Sustainable energy
Solar heating and hot water systems
Development of a combined
heating, cooling and hot water system; Development of a roof integrated
solar heating system, Evaluating the performance of commercial hot water
systems
Low energy ventilation, heating, dehumidification and cooling systems
A desiccant dehumidification/ cooling system; Evaluation of factors
affecting the actual performance of air conditioning systems; Development of
multistage heating and cooling systems
Thermal energy storage systems
Development of phase change
materials for comfort heating and cooling applications; Development of
a phase change storage system for refrigerated trucks
Energy management in industry
Energy management advice to a number
of government and industry sectors
Evaluation, monitoring and reduction of energy and emissions in building
and housing developments
Score sheet for evaluation and monitoring
energy use and GH emission in housing; Validation of AccuRate house star
rating system through detailed monitoring; Evaluation of housing ecological
footprint and sustainability indices; Evaluation of the impact of passive
and active features and materials on thermal performance
Solar and electric car technology
Design and development of low
energy solar and practical commuter electric vehicles; Energy use of
electric and solar vehicles; Fleet impacts on the use of electric and solar
vehicles
Photovoltaic applications and integration into buildings
Comparative performance monitoring of different types of PV systems;
Evaluation of different techniques for cooling PV modules; Antireflective
coatings for PV cells
Alternative fuels and bio-fuel applications
Biodiesel evaluation
for public transport buses
Wave/tidal energy utilisation
Evaluation of potential for
utilisation of wave/tidal energy
Sustainable health
GIS based human health risk modelling for arsenic contamination
Spatio-temporal modelling mathematics and statistical design
Modelling sleep and awake
UniSA 2007 grant Sustainable and
measurable health and safety to initiate and pilot statistical and
dynamic modelling of sleep and awake
Sustainable transport
Transport planning and policy
Vulnerability of transport
networks; Accessibility in transport planning; Road user charges including
congestion charging; Public transport planning and service design; Transport
for an ageing society; Infrastructure planning for multimodal transport
corridors; Travel demand modelling; Transport-land-use environment
interaction
Logistics
City logistics; Simulation modelling of supply chain
operations; Facility location planning; Reliability of intermodal networks
Energy and emissions in transport
Vehicle fuel consumption and
emissions modelling; Testing up to 800 diesel vehicle for emissions and FC
performance; Development of a heavy vehicle environmental rating scheme
Transport management and control
New generation urban traffic
control systems; Non-recurrent traffic congestion and incident detection in
road networks; Microsimulation modelling of transport networks;
Implementation and evaluation of ITS systems
Spatial information technology
Use of GPS for analysing traffic
systems performance; Network reliability for urban and regional areas
Sustainable transport
Use of alternative fuels for transport;
Travel demand management; Evaluation of voluntary travel behaviour change
programs
Rail transportation
Member of New Rail CRC; Rail network
capability; Optimal mode split for multimodal transport corridors
Non motorised transport
Bicycle research