Three cutting-edge Flinders University research projects have each received $150,000, under the latest round of the Defence Innovation Partnership's Collaborative Research Fund (CRF).
The projects, which involve collaboration between South Australian and national partners across defence, industry and academia, promise to deliver advanced technologies for defence applications, while generating economic benefits for the state.
Among the successful projects is research that seeks to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of naval port operations, by addressing challenges posed by the accumulation of microorganisms, such as algae, on naval ships and docks.
The biofilm project, led by Flinders, ultimately aims to develop an intelligent, predictive tool to demonstrate how quickly marine growth appears and attaches to vessels according to different conditions, such as water temperature and other environmental factors.
Marine growth can cause a number of problems including reduced efficiency of the vessel, increased maintenance costs and potential environmental issues.
Dr Tamar Jamieson, Postdoctoral Research Associate, ARC Training Centre for Biofilm Research and Innovation, says the tool will help develop data-driven decision-making for maintenance of maritime assets, enhancing the availability of new and existing platforms.
"I am delighted to have led a successful application with colleagues from the ARC Training Centre for Biofilm Research and Innovation at Flinders, with Dr Andrew Scardino (DSTG), Professor Sophie Leterme (Flinders) and Dr Ehsan Arzhagi (QUT)."
"In collaboration with Dr Nick Fewster-Young (UniSA) and Mr Paul Shinks (ANI), this project will develop a better understanding of how environmental conditions and antifouling materials affect biofilm growth, by integrating existing knowledge and real-time field data into an intelligent predictive tool.
"It is anticipated that the results of this project will provide direct benefits for AUKUS partners interested in asset management and sustainment."
The other two successful Flinders projects include:
Developing an underwater recharging station to maximise the endurance and mission effectiveness of autonomous/uncrewed underwater vehicle
Partners: University of South Australia, DSTG, EfficientSee
A tool for simulation-based evaluation of human-driven processes for critical infrastructure operations resilience (HDP-CIOR tool)
Partners: University of South Australia, Priori Analytica, DSTG
Flinders University is also a partner in a University of Adelaide-led innovation project that has received $400,000 funding from the DIP Activator Fund.
In collaboration with Fivecast, the project will develop a model and prototype tool to help defence end-users understand how online communities and informal networks evolve over time.
