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 396 matching student topics
Displaying 49–60 of 396 results
Spider silk: self-healing in a super fibre
Spider silks possess a range of qualities that are rarely found simultaneously in one material. Its outstanding toughness, extensibility and strength are only a few of the desirable traits that make spider silk of such interest. It is biodegradable, biocompatible, and extremely lightweight.A further advantage lies in its processing conditions and requirements. Whereas production of Kevlar and other synthetics comes at a high monetary and environmental cost, spiders spin recyclable fibres on demand, under ambient conditions using water as a …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
Preventing grate overheating in biomass fired boilers
The furnace grate is a key component in the combustion of renewable waste biomass in the Australian sugar industry to provide steam and power. Some of its important functions are: providing a pilot support flame to the fuel burning in suspension, provision of combustion air and removal of ash.Over-heating of the grate under adverse conditions can result in grate damage and high capital replacement costs as well as potential factory stops. Fuel build up on the grate due to furnace …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy
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
Technologies to capture human-building interactions for responsive built environments
We have an ongoing project that investigates how people change their work environment to suit their comfort needs. We want to better understand how building systems can be designed to increase human comfort over their personal comfort. This would contribute to designing buildings that are more responsive to occupant’s preferences and needs.
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Architecture and Built Environment
Indoor sensors to measure and visualise environmental data
We have an ongoing project that investigates how people change their work environment to suit their comfort needs. We have existing electronic devices that we want to optimise for better correlation and visualisation of the indoor climate measurements (lighting, thermal, air quality, occupancy). This would contribute to devices that are better integrated and more responsive to the demands of occupants.
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics
Analysis of professional squash matches
This project concerns computer vision and statistical analysis of performance in professional level matches in the game of squash.The goal is to use computer vision and existing systems to capture and analyse patterns of play, allowing coaches and professional players to develop strategies to improve performance, to counter particular types of play and even to tailor game plans to attack individual opponents.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
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
Bio-production pathways: how much greenhouse gas emissions can be saved with bio-products?
The climate emergency is spurring a new generation of products and manufacturing industries with low or net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (carbon footprint). This will include the manufacture of bio-products (bio-fuels, bio-plastics, bio-materials, bio-chemicals) from biomass (residues and wastes from agriculture, forestry, food waste etc.). It will be particularly important for Queensland, due to its ideal climatic conditions for growing biomass to support a bio-based manufacturing industry. These new industries will need information about the net GHG emission savings from …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy
Visualisation and sonification for genomic data sets
Successive revolutions in sequencing technology over the past two decades have led to an explosion in the availability of genomic data. Analysing biological datasets and identifying relationships within them is challenging - some of the process can be automated but interactive exploration offers a number of advantages, and supports serendipitous discovery.This project looks at visual analytics and sonification - the use of sound and musical encodings - to enhance our understanding of biological networks.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours, Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Science
- School
- School of Computer Science
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Data Science
Modelling the deformation of bacteria on nanopatterned surfaces
The antibacterial mechanism of nanopatterned surfaces promises to be a valuable tool in the fight against implant infection, fomite transmission and antibiotic resistance. This mechanism is principally physical in nature, arising from the deformation of the bacterial envelope upon contacting the nanopatterned surface.To enhance understanding of the mechanism, this project will involve modelling the deformation of gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial envelopes using finite element analysis in ABAQUS. The key aims of the modelling are to identify locations of critical stress/stress …
- 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
Centre for Biomedical Technologies
Bio-based Olympics for Brisbane 2032: what would a carbon-neutral Olympics look like?
The aim of this project is to investigate how bio-based products (i.e. next generation materials made from biomass rather than fossil fuels) could be incorporated into the energy, transport, consumables and infrastructure used for the Brisbane Olympic Games 2032.The Olympic Games in 10 years will be the opportunity to promote Queensland’s capacity for bio-based manufacturing. Manufacturing bio-fuels, bio-plastics, bio-materials, bio-chemicals from biomass (residues and wastes from agriculture, forestry, and food waste etc.) is an important part of decarbonising the economy …
- Study level
- Vacation research experience scheme
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- School
- School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering
- Research centre(s)
- Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy
Design and testing of a novel dynamic scaffold cell culture system
Each year, millions of people suffer from traumatic tissue damage due to cancers, congenital defects or injury. Biofabrication is the rapid 3D printing of replacement tissue and organs that are customised to the specific needs of the patient. This future of manufacturing technology is set to revolutionise regenerative medicine and deliver high quality health outcomes.The Biofabrication and Tissue Morphology group is a world class multi-disciplinary research team focused on embedding biofabrication into routine clinical use. Based at our state-of-the-art labs …
- 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
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