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News & EventsThe Department has had fantastic recent research success with ARC Discovery Projects, CSIRO Collaborative Grants and ARC Networks, as well as awards for staff and students. See the links below for further details:
Space satellite to help farmers gauge water levels in paddocksAustralian farmers will soon be able to measure soil moisture in paddocks from data collected by a space satellite under a University of Melbourne, NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) experiment. Dr Jeff Walker from the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University
of Melbourne is leading an international experiment, (the
National Airborne Field Experiment) to test and enhance satellite
technology that will measure soil moisture levels in paddocks
for Australian primary producers. By Serene Chia: UniNews
Underground dams — the new water-storage solution?Current research at the University of Melbourne may change the way water resources are managed — a topic of increasing importance in Australia and throughout the world. Amgad Elmahdi 's PhD thesis, Improved Seasonality of Flows through Irrigation Demand Management and Water Bank Approach, aims to identify opportunities to manipulate seasonal irrigation demand and supply in a way that optimises the social, environmental and economic outputs from all available water resources within a catchment. Amgad has more than 11 years' experience in various aspects of hydrology and water management and holds three Masters degrees. He earned a Master of Science in Water-Ecological Studies from the University of Manosoura in Egypt, won a European Union scholarship to study environment conservation in Greece. In August 2003, Amgad was awarded an Australian Government International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and started his PhD at the University of Melbourne. His research at the University of Melbourne focuses on the Murrumbidgee River, and will increase understanding of how to improve the environmental quality of the Murrumbidgee through better irrigation-demand management and the use of an underground dam. His research is being supervised by Associate Professor Hector Malano , Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Melbourne; Dr Teri Etchells , a Research Fellow in the Department; and Professor Shahbaz Khan, Professor of Hydrology at the Charles Sturt University. Using a combined system-dynamics and multi-objective optimisation approach, plus spatial and modelling data, Amgad is developing an integrated hydrological economic model which will assist land and water managers to make decisions based on the evaluation of the trade-off between the triple bottom line (environmental, social and economic). This research will enable farm, system and catchment managers to collectively optimise water resource management and distribution at both the short-term tactical and long-term strategic levels. Amgad's research investigates storing water in the aquifer (an underground layer of gravel or porous stone that yields water), creating a ‘water bank' 50 metres or deeper underground. The research indicates the potential to store up to 200 gigalitres of water in the aquifer (imagine the MCG filled 476 times over). One advantage of storing water underground is that no water is lost to evaporation or leakage; any water lost from the aquifer simply seeps back into the river system. Using the aquifer improves the efficiency of the water distribution system and also improves the natural seasonal flow of the river by releasing water from the head dams during the winter or wet months and storing it for recovery during dry months or the high-demand period. This in turn improves the health of the river by freeing more water to the environment and mimicking the river's natural flow. Due to finish his PhD later this year, Amgad is planning to work in the field of water resource management research and hopes one day to work with the United Nations, assisting developing countries to manage their water resources. Engineering harmonyIn addition to his ground-breaking research, Amgad is very active in the life of the University of Melbourne. He was elected as a postgraduate councillor for the University of Melbourne Postgraduate Association (UMPA) in 2004, and then as the Activities and Communication Officer. In July of this year Amgad was named the SBS Australian Harmony Hero for his work promoting cross-cultural understanding and dissolving cultural barriers amongst students at the University. The Australian Harmony Hero award is administered by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA), which aims to promote community harmony and address issues of racism in Australia. > more Emma Koch: Research Review 0906 : Engineering
Graham Moore wins Engineering Teaching Excellence AwardThe Dean of Engineering Professor Jannie van Deventer announced the recipients of the Engineering Teaching Excellence Awards at the Faculty’s annual Dean’s Presentation Ceremony. The Presentation Ceremony is an opportunity for the Faculty to recognise the achievements of students as well as its teaching staff. The recipients of the Awards were selected by a panel and were each awarded a grant to support their research activities. The highest ranked of the three recipients was awarded the Kelvin Medal and a years membership to the Kelvin Club, courtesy of the Kelvin Club. The recipients of the 2006 Teaching Excellence Awards were:
Nelson Lam and John Wilson awarded the Warren MedalDate: September 22, 2006 Assoc Prof Nelson Lam and Prof John Wilson have been jointly awarded the Warren Medal by the Civil College of the Institution of Engineers Australia for their paper entitled : Earthquake Design of Buildings in Australia by Velocity and Displacement Principles Congratulations to Nelson and John!
Research strenthens Australian Infrastucture against disasters
Professor Michael Taylor, University of South Australia. More information about the Research Network for a Secure Australia:www.secureaustralia.org
Amgad Elmahdi wins Australian Harmony Hero award for 2006Doctoral student Amgad Elmahdi, from the CRC for Irrigation Futures, has been awarded the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and SBS award of Australian Harmony Hero 2006 for work as Activities Officer at UMPA, promoting integration between students from different overseas nations and between local and international students.
Tom McMahon wins 2006 ASCE Arid Lands Hydraulic Engineering AwardEmeritus Professor Tom McMahon has been awarded the 2006 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Arid Lands Hydraulic Engineering Award. Tom's award citation is:
China and Australia to collaborate on water management challengesMedia Release, Friday 17 February 2006University of Melbourne researchers will play a major role in a new centre to foster water research in China and Australia - the Australia-China Centre on Water Resources Research. The Centre will be launched by the Chinese Minister for Science
and Technology, Professor Xu Guanhua, at the University of Melbourne
next Monday 20 February. source: UniNews
University of Melbourne's 'Smart' water systems to improve irrigation in VictoriaMedia Release, Friday 10 February 2006Victorian Minister for Innovation John Brumby will today launch the University of Melbourne's 'Regional and Economic Benefits Through Smarter Irrigation' project in the Goulburn Valley. Professor John Langford, project
leader and Director of the University of Melbourne's Melbourne
Water Research Centre, says irrigation uses 70 per cent
of total water harvested in Victoria and makes a vital contribution
to the regional and State economy. source: UniNews
Civil Engineering joint degree with National Uni of SingaporeThe University of Melbourne has approved the awarding of undergraduate and postgraduate coursework degrees jointly badged by the University and other universities. The first to be approved by the University of Melbourne is
a joint civil engineering course between the University's Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of
Civil Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
NUS is a Universitas 21 partner with the University of Melbourne. Source: UniNews
Maths models may help to explain normal growthHow a single cell can grow into a complex and 'normal' living being - or instead go 'wrong' - may be answered with the help of mathematical models developed by University of Melbourne engineers. The models could help answer questions such as: Why do we grow
ears on the sides of our head rather than somewhere else? and,
What exactly goes wrong when a creature is born with a congenital
abnormality? Source: UniNews
Dedicated SMOS campaign activities down underAs an essential part of preparing for ESA's SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission, arrangements are currently well underway for an intense one-month campaign that will bring researchers from all over the world to the Goulburn River Catchment test site, in New South Wales, Australia. The campaign for validating the operation of SMOS (coSMOS) will be carried out in November and is designed to acquire a set of 'SMOS-like' observations to ensure that the mission's soil moisture retrieval algorithms are finely tuned and properly validated before the satellite launches in 2007. "Planning the logistics of such an important and extensive period of campaign activities is altogether a challenging task and involves a number of institutes," stated Dr Jeff Walker from the University of Melbourne, Australia who is coordinating the in-situ campaign activities at the Goulburn River Catchment test site. > more Source: European Space Agency
Researchers crunch numbers to control crowdsUniversity of Melbourne researchers have developed a mathematical model which can predict and prevent dangerous crowd situations. In what is believed to be a world-first, engineering PhD graduate
Ris Lee and her supervisor Professor
Roger Hughes have developed
a model for predicting when people are at greatest risk of being
trampled or crushed in large crowds. Source: UniNews
Hong Kong student makes waves with quake researchA 24 year-old Hong Kong PhD student modelling the effects of large scale earthquakes has a plan that could potentially save lives, targeting the same volatile shelf that was devastated by the Boxing Day disaster. Hing Ho Tsang, from the University of Hong Kong, won the 2005
Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Award enabling him to further
his leading research into earthquake engineering. He takes on
a six month tenure at the University of Melbourne. Source: UniNews
Landfill research promotes environmental sustainabilityA new waste management technique with the potential to help the environment while also delivering economic benefits is to be tested by University of Melbourne researchers. Dr
Samuel Yuen will lead the
'Australian Alternative Covers Assessment Program' investigating
the positive environmental impacts of 'phytocapping' landfill
waste management.
Queens Birthday Honours 2005: Order of Australia Congratulations to Prof
John Langford for his AM (member
in the general division) announced in the Queens Birthday Honours
listing on Monday "for service to water resource management,
particularly through organisations that regulate and research
water supply, quality and usage"
Winners in e-research grantsA global tidal-wave database is one of 37 projects to get a boost from the $3.62 million round of Australian Research Council e-research grants announced last week. Melbourne University Associate Professor Priyan Mendis says the tidal-wave database project, led by his associate Saman Halgamuge, will fill a gap in information about tsunamis and help in the collection and distribution of tsunami data internationally. The project was one of 73 considered that ranged from artificial intelligence to grid computing, and from the creation of virtual research communities to protein folding. "Around the world people have collected data on tsunamis and waves. There are databases about the different tsunamis but no global database," says Professor Mendis, a reader in the university's department of civil and environmental engineering and convener of the council's Research Network for a Secure Australia. The new database, which received nearly $100,000 in funding over two years, will be divided into technical data for the measurement of waves and wave effects, and less formal data surrounding the event. > more source: The Age
State Government's Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) infrastructure grants programProfessor John Langford, Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been awarded $1.5 million for the project: Regional and Economic Benefits Through Smarter Irrigation. The STI Infrastructure Grants Program is the biggest State grants investment program in science and technology infrastructure in Australia. The grants support leading-edge biomedical, environmental, agricultural, manufacturing, and information and communication technology projects that are generating economic, environmental and social benefits across metropolitan and regional Victoria. more source: UniNews
Water seekers awarded $1 MillionThursday 17 March 2005More than $1 million has been awarded for a project to develop new techniques which will help farmers make use of water trapped in soil and could relieve pressure on Australia's key water catchments. Dr
Jeffrey Walker from the University of Melbourne's Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering says Australia's main
river basins are under mounting pressure to satisfy a wide range
of competing needs for water and that farmers are feeling the
strain of limited access to this crucial resource. source: UniNews
Launch of "Secure Australia" research networkThursday 24 February 2005The University of Melbourne has welcomed the launch today by Attorney General Phillip Ruddock of a $2 million, University of Melbourne-led ARC Research Network for a Secure Australia. Led by Associate Professor Priyan Mendis from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the ARC Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA) is a knowledge-sharing network of national and international researchers focussed on developing ways to protect critical infrastructure from natural disasters and terrorist attacks. more source: UniNews
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