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
Improving the resilience of older masonry building roofs against winds and cyclones
Wind and cyclonic actions are important in the design of new buildings in many Australian regions including in QLD. Cyclone Tracy in NT proved that older masonry building were particularly vulnerable to cyclonic actions, and the even resulted in the improvement of construction codes.However, there are many buildings that predate the introduction of modern codes. These buildings may be vulnerable to wind and cyclonic actions. This project has been designed to study the wind vulnerability of older masonry buildings and …
- Study level
- Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Centre for the Environment
Mathematical and computational models for diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI)
In 1985, the first image of water diffusion in the living human brain came to life. Since then significant developments have been made and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) has become a pillar of modern neuroimaging.Over the last decade, combining computational modelling and diffusion MRI has enabled researchers to link millimetre scale diffusion MRI measures with microscale tissue properties, to infer microstructure information, such as diffusion anisotropy in white matter, axon diameters, axon density, intra/extra-cellular volume fractions, and fibre orientation …
- 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
Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Bio-inspired design to create strong and toughness composites
A fundamental challenge to materials design for mechanical capability is to attain both strength and toughness at the same time in one body. Conventional metallic materials generally have relatively large plasticity due to having massive population of microstructural defects and effective plastic deformation mechanism, which have long been exploited for fabricating flaw tolerant (toughness) materials for structural applications. By the same token theseStructural defects render the materials relatively low strength, thus low load-bearing capability. In contrast, ceramics and intermetallic compounds …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Supercapacitor with 2D vertical heterostructure electrodes
Supercapacitor is a promising energy storage device with advantages of high power density, fast charging/discharging rate and long cycling life. However, the energy density of supercapacitor is relatively low as compared to that of other devices such as lithium-ion battery. To improve the energy density, new electrode materials including graphene and metal oxides have been explored for supercapacitor electrodes.Two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures recently offered a compelling solution to enhance the performance of supercapacitors by combining more than one components into a …
- Study level
- PhD
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
Habitable water infrastructures
This project explores buildings, public/civic spaces, and landscapes as water infrastructure. Water is integral to human survival; hence understanding buildings and urban spaces as habitable water infrastructure has the potential to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis and navigate too much water (floods) and too little water (drought) while offering different modes of occupation.With increasing rainfall intensities, floods, rising sea levels, and drought, the pervasive dichotomy between habitable spaces and water infrastructures can no longer hold. The two can't …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Architecture and Built Environment
Exploring green infrastructure optimisation for climate change adaptation and mitigation
Green infrastructure refers to public and private green spaces in cities that provide water cycle benefits. These green spaces range in the range from single trees on city streets to urban parks, and waterway walkways. Some are natural, such as the remains of native plants, while others are more geometric, for example green roofs and green walls. Green infrastructure can increase the sustainability and vitality of cities through benefits such as greening and cooling, water quality, and managing hotter weather. …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Architecture and Built Environment
2D heterostructures for future electronics
The traditional approach to the miniaturisation of electronic devices is coming to a halt. Experts agree that the Moore’s law prediction of doubling the number of transistors per chip every two years will cease to be fulfilled in 2020, as the heat produced in small structures cannot be cooled down quickly enough.However, by reducing the size of the device, the quantum nature of atoms and solids can be turned into an asset. By exploiting the phenomena occurring at these scales, …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Chemistry and Physics
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices
Understanding the structure-property relationships in reduced graphene oxide hydrogels
Graphene consists of hybridised carbon atoms in a hexagonal two-dimensional (2D) lattice. This material has extraordinary mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. However, one problem in practical applications is the aggregation and restacking between neighbouring graphene layers.In contrast, a possible way to avoid this problem is by transforming 2D graphene sheets into graphene hydrogel (GH) consisting of a three dimensional (3D) porous structure. Recently, 3D GH has been widely investigated in energy storage and conversion, catalysis and sensors. Furthermore, its accessible …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices
Optimisation of piezoelectric materials for robotics applications
Piezoelectricity, which translates to “pressure electricity”, is the phenomenon in which certain materials convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, and vice versa. Such materials are common-place and are used in a variety of applications including sensor, actuator, and energy harvesting technologies. The capabilities of such piezoelectric materials have not yet been fully realised. We plan to use computational structural optimisation to design new piezoelectric materials and components that may contribute to novel sensing technologies for robotics applications. Essentially, robots need …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
Structural assessment of 100+ years old masonry arch bridges
Masonry is an ancient and versatile material. It has been used since the beginning of civilisation for making civil structures. The Australian railway track network has many 100+ years old masonry arch bridges which are still in service.However, their structural assessment for increased train loads is essential. This project will use the digital image correlation (DIC) technique to evaluate the level of deflections and stains at the key locations of the masonry bridge arch.The aim of this project is to …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Computational methods for multi-scale structural optimisation
Structural optimisation is a powerful computational methodology for finding high-performing designs for structural components or material architectures. For example, what periodic scaffold would provide the highest possible stiffness for its weight?Solving such a problem computationally requires an understanding of the relevant equations required to model the physical properties of interest, as well as efficient implementation of a range of numerical methods including finite elements, finite differences and optimisation.With recent developments in 3D printing technologies it is now becoming possible to …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Mathematical Sciences
Structural application of green concrete
The need for sustainable construction has prompted researching alternative concrete technologies around the world. In QUT, a project has been developed to investigate structural applications of environmentally friendly (Green) concrete.Project activities can be undertaken by students at various levels, including VRES, final-year undergraduates, and PhD researchers.
- Study level
- PhD, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Materials Science
Centre for the Environment
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