QUT offers a diverse range of student topics for Honours, Masters and PhD study. Search to find a topic that interests you or propose your own research topic to a prospective QUT supervisor. You may also ask a prospective supervisor to help you identify or refine a research topic.
Found 22 matching student topics
Displaying 1–12 of 22 results
Validating smart-device 3D photography for remote healthcare of children with spinal deformity
Scoliosis is a three dimensional (3D) spinal deformity that manifests as a structural deformity of the spine and ribcage. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common presentation, affecting 2-4% of adolescents. AIS has no known cause or cure, and is most frequently severe in females.Effective management of paediatric scoliosis is heavily reliant upon early diagnosis, and timely specialist appointments at tertiary spine clinics in Brisbane. At these appointments, it is important for the spinal specialist to see the patient's …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Unlocking the Potential of Simplex-Truncated Distributions
This PhD project aims to develop new methods for generating random samples from a specific type of probability distributions called simplex-truncated distributions. These distributions are commonly used in various fields such as statistics, machine learning, and biology.The project will involve the development of new techniques to generate random samples from simplex-truncated distributions. These techniques are based on a method called continuous-time Monte Carlo which is a cutting edge method in statistics that can generate random samples from complex distributions.The main …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Developing bacterial cell rupture model on a nanotextured surface using finite element computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique.
Nanoscale roughness on the materials as that of the cicada and dragonfly wings exhibited strongly antimicrobial properties that repel and/or kill bacteria. The nano-texture is usually produced by applying wet-chemical etching, electrochemical etching, and hydrothermal processes. Nano-textured Al 5005 and Al 6063 were tested against gram-negative Escherichia coli (E coli) bacterial cell, and observed bactericidal. In order to understand the killing mechanism and the optimum geometry of the nanotexture, computational study is often time saving and more viable than the …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Simulating fluids using smoothed-particle hydrodynamics
Smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a computational method used for simulating the mechanics of continuum media, such as solid mechanics and fluid flows. PIXAR has used the method to make their movies such as Finding Nemo and Finding Dory more realistic looking when it comes to flowing water. However, it is not widely used in urban hydraulics and this project aims to change this.
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Modelling the response of expansive soil under wetting and drying
Expansive soils are those which can experience significant volume change when water content varies and as of this reason they are considered as problematic soils in geotechnical engineering. Expansive soils are widely distributed globally and cover a significant percentage of world land surface, especially in arid and semi-arid area.In Australia, expansive soil covers around 20% of surface soils and approximately 30% of the total ‘built-up’ land area is covered by expansive soils. This figure is expected to increase, as the …
- Study level
- Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Discrete-event-simulation modelling in Simpy with animation
Discrete-event-simulation (DES) is a dynamic modelling technique commonly applied in areas of mining, manufacturing, services sector, transport, logistics, supply-chains and healthcare, to name a few. It provides a computerised representation of a real or proposed system which can be analysed, tested and optimised through what-if analysis. Simpy is a freely available Python package which is superior to many expensive commercially available DES software packages in terms of its flexibility to model very complex systems, and to integrate seamlessly with a …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
Optimising a soft robot using a differentiable physics simulator
A physics simulator is a valuable tool for designing robots. For example, it helps in optimising geometry, choosing appropriate materials, predicting dynamics, and improving control algorithms without having to build a real robot. This allows designers to rapidly test multiple designs before fabricating the robot.Soft robotics is the field that deals with the design of robots using materials like rubbers and plastics that readily deform when a load is applied. This gives a lot more freedom in designing robots that …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Robotics
Basic aircraft collision risk modelling and visualisation
Aircraft collision risk modelling is complex yet key to ensuring safe air transport (both crewed and uncrewed aircraft). Different collision risk models are better suited to different airspace environments which means model comparison and evaluation is an important research problem. This project takes a deeper look into a specific collision risk modelling approach: gas models.
- Study level
- Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Robotics
Simulation of turbulent fluid flow through a microfluidic device using CFD
Microfluidic devices (MFD) are extensively used in microbial studies. Bacterial cell attachment onto surfaces under flow conditions in laminar regime has been previously studied using a custom designed MFD.As an extension of this study, microbial attachment under turbulent flow is to be studied in a future project. The suitability of current MFD for microbial studies under turbulent flow must be evaluated to adopt / redesign the MFD.A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is proposed to examine the fluid flow inside …
- Study level
- Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
Simulation of bacterial cell motion using CFD and DPM methods
Studying bacterial motion under flow conditions demands greater amount of resources. Computer simulations can reduce the need for expensive experimental investigations by predicting bacterial motion under specific flow conditions.Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to analyse fluid flow using computer simulations, and Discrete Phase Method (DPM) is used to analyse flow of particles in a fluid. Combining these two methods, bacterial motion under fluid flow has been simulated.However, these simulation models have limitations such as absence of bacterial interactions, or …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
Implementing virtual reality techniques to investigate users’ perceptions of hospital rooms
We have an ongoing project that investigates how patients and their carers respond to different lighting conditions and outdoor views in hospital rooms (recovery ward). We want to better understand how daylighting and views influence occupants’ attitudes during their recovery process.This would contribute to designing hospital environments that are more responsive to users’ requirements for well-being.
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Architecture and Built Environment
Efficient Parameter Estimation for Stochastic Simulations
Stochastic simulation-based models are routinely used in many areas of science to describe inherent randomness in many real-world systems. Applications include the study of particle physics, imaging if black holes, biochemical processes, the migration of animals, and the spread of infectious diseases. To apply these models to interpret data requires statistical methods to estimate model parameters.Unfortunately, standard statistical techniques are not capable of analysing data using these models. This is largely due to the model likelihood, the probability of the …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
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