The QUT High School STEM Internships program will run from April 8 to 12, with online applications closing on February 18. See the 2019 Project Placements and their Reasearchers below.
Virtual Reef Diver Placement
Project Supervisors: Dr Erin Peterson, Dr Julie Vercelloni – ARC Centre of Excellence in Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS)
STEM Disciplines explored: Mathematics, Statistical Science, Environmental and Spatial Statistics
Assumed knowledge: Mathematics B, Mathematics C
In this project placement, interns will work alongside researchers from QUT’s Science and Engineering Faculty and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS), which is using a new approach to monitor and manage the reef. The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s most iconic natural wonders, but despite its popularity, there is still so much more to discover and learn about this magical marine environment.
Interns will contribute to the Virtual Reef Project by classifying images and analysing the data they create using R and RStudio software. This data will help Staff at QUT to better understand the reef; the types of challenges it faces; and how to protect and restore it to ensure the Great Barrier Reef’s future is as bright as the coral seen on some of its 2,900 reefs.
Researcher Bio
Dr. Erin Peterson joined QUT in 2015 as a Principal Research Fellow in the Institute for Future Environments and the ARC Centre for Excellence in Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS). Erin’s educational background and experience allow me to work at the interface of spatial ecology, geographic information science, and environmental statistics. Her research is generally focused on the development of transdisciplinary approaches and tools used to account for the spatial location, configuration, and connectivity of features at multiple scales in statistical models. This research is exciting because it is almost always motivated by real-world challenges in the area of regional monitoring program design, assessment, and reporting.
Dr Julie Vercelloni is a research associate in Bayesian Statistical modelling in Ecology and Postdoctoral Research Fellow with ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies & Global Change Institute. Julie’s research interests focus on combining state-of-the-art technologies for wide-scale reef monitoring offered by machine learning, virtual reality and by the rise of citizen science and, Bayesian modelling to help understanding complex problems related to coral reef conservation.
Australian Centre for Robotic Vision Placement
Project Supervisors: Dr Timothy Molloy Australian Centre for Robotic Vision (ACRV)
STEM Disciplines explored: Robotics, Engineering, Aerospace, Unmanned Automated Vehicles, Software, Mathematics, Mechatronics
Assumed knowledge: Python programming language, Mathematics B
In this project placement, interns will work alongside researchers from the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision, headquartered at QUT, in their work on collision avoidance for unmanned aircraft. The centre is creating a new generation of robots that can understand their environment using the sense of vision, a missing capability preventing robots from performing useful tasks in complex and changing environments. Autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) are a rapidly evolving technology finding a variety of applications in industries such as emergency services, mining, oil and gas, agriculture, and postal delivery. The routine widespread adoption of UAVs is currently hindered by their inability to autonomously detect and avoid mid-air collisions with other airspace users. The interns in this project will develop a UAV vision system for detecting potential collision hazards. They will learn the basics of piloting quadrotors, aerial dynamics, robotic vision, and will be exposed to real research in the field.
Researcher Bio
Dr Timothy Molloy is a Research Fellow in Robotics and Autonomous Systems at QUT and a recipient of an Advance Queensland Early-Career Research Fellowship Safely Guiding Unmanned Aircraft Through Queensland Skies. He is investigating enabling signal processing and control technologies for autonomous aircraft mid-air collision avoidance and vision-based detect and avoid. His work is supported by Boeing Research and Technology Australia and the Queensland State Government. More broadly, his research interests span the fields of control engineering, signal processing, and robotics with a particular focus on the problems of robust detection and estimation, inverse optimal control, and inverse dynamic game theory.
Astrophysics Placement
Project Supervisors: Dr Sean Powell, School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering
STEM Disciplines explored: Physics, Astrophysics, Mathematics, Aerospace
Assumed knowledge: Physics, Maths B
In this project placement, interns will explore concepts in rocket science, space travel and exoplanet habitability to design a mission to relocate humanity to a nearby solar system and save the human race. Using a combination of advanced astrophysics simulation software and practical experiments, interns will determine the composition of planets and stars around us, applying physics, mathematics and basic coding to guide rocket simulators into orbit and beyond. Intern students will leave this placement understanding the critical role astrophysics research plays in investigating the stability and sustainability of Planet Earth in our complex and ever-changing corner of the universe.
Researcher Bio:
Dr Sean Powell’s research experience is in theoretical and computational modelling of particle dynamics and diffusion and MRI characterisation of diffusion in complex pore spaces. In addition, Sean has industry experience in computer software and hardware engineering, 3D visualisation systems, and solar thermal energy research. Presently, he leads the biofabrication research team within the Biofabrication and Tissue Morphology research group at QUT. His quantitative and problem solving skills as a physicist complement those of the multi-disciplinary team of biologists, organic chemists, clinicians and medical engineers. He is also passionate about learning and teaching, and lectures undergraduate physics at all year levels from introductory to advanced.
Environmental Engineering Placement
Project Supervisor: Professor Les Dawes, School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment
STEM Disciplines explored: Environment, Civil and Mechanical Engineering; Siphon Physics; Mathematics
Assumed knowledge: Maths B
In this project placement, interns will explore and apply engineering concepts to design, build and test cheap and sustainable solutions to safely drain water for application in developing countries. Based on research from the Science and Engineering Faculty and Institute for Future Environments at QUT, it has been identified that increased temperatures globally are causing glaciers to retreat, with the meltwater filling and expanding glacial lakes, potentially leading to glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF’s). These “inland tsunamis” can be triggered by a breakdown of the natural lake wall or by an avalanche of rock or snow displacing large volumes of water from the lake. Through hands-on prototyping, interns will learn how water siphons and non-mechanical water pumps can be used to transport water with minimal mechanical energy and scarce materials.
Researcher Bio
You will be mentored by Dr Les Dawes, a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Science and Engineering Faculty at QUT. Les’ research is application based and grounded in finding solutions to complex environmental problems. His research focuses on environmental management in developing countries. His extensive expertise includes water reuse, alternate building materials, contaminated soils, groundwater evaluation, site analysis and the development of sustainable water and wastewater systems. He has worked on long term projects for Aid Development agencies in the Pacific (Tonga, Kiribati) and South East Asian (Thailand, Bhutan) regions.
Dr Dawes is passionate about improving the quality, relevance and performance of STEM and Engineering education. His research focus involves increasing the participation rates of high school leavers in STEM and Engineering Education especially of women and non-traditional sources of students and promoting the development and use of inquiry focused teaching techniques and tools and promote teaching effectiveness.
Solving Tomorrow’s Problems Today: Institute for Future Environments Placement
Project Supervisors: Dr Jawahar Nerkar, Dr Dmitri Bratanov, Dr Josh Lipton-Duffin, A/Prof Charlotte Allen, Institute for Future Environments
STEM Disciplines explored: Environment, Civil and Mechanical Engineering; Physics; Chemistry, Mathematics; Robotics
Assumed knowledge: Maths B, Physics, Chemistry
At QUT’s Institute for Future Environments, we study how our natural, built and virtual environments interact, change and converge, to find ways to make them more sustainable, secure and resilient. We bring the brightest minds together with cutting edge facilities to take on the grand challenges that will shape our future.
In this project placement, students will rotate through four of IFE’s areas of expertise working with leading researchers to explore the tools to solve the problems of the future:
- Energy: How can we store and transmit energy to power a planet and move its people? Explore QUT’s battery fabrication facility and superconductors research reducing size of conventional motors. (with Dr Jawahar Nerkar)
- Future mobility: Robots and autonomous systems are changing the way we interact with the world, but how will these new technology opportunities shape the future of transport? Join our experts in the Research Engineering Facility to work on the engineering and operations of airborne, terrestrial and marine robots. (with Dr Dmitri Bratanov)
- Next generation materials: Can we build materials from the bottom up, using atoms or molecules as nano-sized building blocks? QUT hosts instruments capable of detecting chemical, electronic and structural changes down to the atomic level. Students will work alongside researchers who are using these tools to build and measure brand new materials which have never before been created. (with Dr Josh Lipton-Duffin)
- Chemical signatures: Identifying traces of elements in a range of gas, liquid and solid substances allows us to find important metal ores, measure atmospheric greenhouse gases, detect trace elements in food, and more. Our analytical laboratory houses an array of top-end instruments for chemically analysing samples down to parts per trillion. Students will work with researchers using these tools to answer questions about the future of our earth and environment. (with A/Prof Charlotte Allen)
The Genomics Research Centre Placement
Project Supervisors: Dr Larissa Haupt Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI)
STEM Disciplines explored: Biomedical Science, Human Molecular Genetics, Cell Biology
Assumed knowledge: Biology, Chemistry, Maths B
In this project placement, interns will explore molecular and gene expression studies of migraine. Migraine is a common complex genetic disease that affects approximately 12% of the Australian population. The Genomics Research Centre (GRC) is currently undertaking studies aimed at identifying the genes involved in the disorder with the aim to develop a diagnostic test and new treatments for this common debilitating disorder. To do this, interns will join GRC researchers to investigate studies into candidate genes and/or genomic regions implicated in migraine through two main approaches - association studies and linkage studies. Linkage studies test for co-inheritance or segregation with DNA markers to identify genes involved. Intern students will leave this placement seeing firsthand how diagnostic testing of diseases such as migraine is leading to ground breaking studies into new treatments for common debilitating disorders.
Researcher Bio:
Dr Larisa Haupt is a Senior Research Fellow and Program Leader of the Mesenchymal Stem Cell Research Program, Supported by the Estate of the late Clem Jones AO, within the Genomics Research Centre and IHBI, QUT. Dr Haupt has established a series of multi-disciplinary research collaborations across University, government and non-government sectors, both within Australia and Internationally. These collaborations include researchers working in the discipline areas of human molecular genetics, pathology, bone and stem cell biology and breast cancer research.
Within the Genomics Research Centre, Dr Haupt is the Laboratory Manager and contributes to the mentoring and development of graduate and undergraduate research students including direct supervision of honours students, and PhD students along with numerous technical staff, undergraduate research students, junior post-doctoral researchers and international research students.
Liver Disease and Iron Disorders Placement
Project Supervisors: Dr Michelle Melino, Dr Gautam Rishi and Professor V. Nathan Subramaniam, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI)
STEM Disciplines explored: Biomedical Science, Physiology, Molecular Biology
Assumed knowledge: Biology, Chemistry
In this project placement, interns will work alongside researchers to investigate genes involved in the development of liver disease. Affecting more than 6 million Australians, liver disease claims more than 7,000 Australian lives each year. The LDIDR Group is currently undertaking studies aimed at identifying new genes involved in the progression of liver disease with the overall aim of developing novel drug targets for patient treatment. From this placement, interns will gain a better understanding of the importance of the liver within the human body and the damage that occurs to the liver and other organs when exposed to insults such as excessive alcohol and fat. Through hands-on experience, students will use laboratory techniques including qPCR, immunofluorescence microscopy and immunohistochemistry to investigate the role of specific genes in liver disease progression and will see firsthand how researchers are paving the way for the development of new drugs for the treatment of this life-threatening condition.
Researcher Bio:
You will be mentored by Dr Michelle Melino, a Research Associate in the Liver Disease and Iron Disorders Group at IHBI, who is passionate about connecting high-school students and scientists. Her research interests lie in the study of the immune cells and the role they play in the progression of liver fibrosis. Dr Melino has extensive experience in human and animal models of liver injury in addition to various laboratory techniques including cell culture, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and real-time PCR. The goal of her research is to identify potential drug targets for the treatment of liver disease.
Dr Gautam Rishi is a Research Associate in the Liver Disease and Iron Disorders Group at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology. Dr Rishi’s research focusses on understanding the interplay between iron homeostasis and other physiological processes including erythropoiesis, inflammation and liver disease. Other research interests that Dr Rishi is passionate about include personalising blood donations, targeting fibrosis, the role of iron in cancer and understanding the cross-talk between inflammatory stimuli and iron homeostasis. The research methodology includes the use of a variety of in vitro and in vivo models of disease. In the laboratory we use a number of different techniques ranging from Next generation sequencing to flow cytometry. Dr Rishi has experience in a wide range of cellular and molecular biology techniques including proximity ligation assays, confocal microscopy and genome editing technologies (CRISPR).
Professor Nathan Subramaniam was appointed as Professor in Biomedical Sciences (Molecular Medicine) and established his research group, the Liver Disease and Iron Disorders Research Group, at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) in August 2016. Professor Subramaniam’s interests lie in the study of liver injury and understanding how the liver regulates iron homeostasis. An important area of research in the group is the study of liver diseases associated with liver injury, co-toxicity associated increased fat and iron, and liver fibrosis.
Bacterial Pathogenesis (BacPath) Placement
Internship Supervisors: Associate Professor Makrina Totsika Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) @ QIMR-Berghofer, QUT Herston
STEM Disciplines explored: Biomedical Science, Medical Microbiology, Microbiology, Genetics
Assumed knowledge: Biology, Chemistry, Maths B
In 2014 the World Health Organisation declared antimicrobial resistance to be a global public health crisis. If no action is taken, by 2050 more people will die each year from antibiotic resistant infections than cancer and diabetes combined. Right now multidrug resistant Escherichia coli are of the outmost international concern, as they cause some of the most common infections in hospitals and the community: urinary tract infections and bloodstream infections. In addition, nontyphoidal Salmonella, a common cause of foodborne diarrhoea, are also becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics that are commonly used to treat infections (fluoroquinolones).
In this research project, students will work alongside researchers who are aiming to understand the mechanisms that multidrug resistant pathogens employ during infection of the host, particularly the molecular mechanisms that E. coli and Salmonella use to produce sticky fibres, called adhesins, which mediate bacterial attachment to host cells. Adhesins are crucial virulence factors that facilitate the first step of the infection process. Understanding of adhesins and other virulence strategies then guides the design of inhibitors aimed at disarming (antivirulence) rather than killing (antibiotics) bacteria. Students will also get the opportunity to conduct hands-on testing of a new and exciting class of antimicrobials recently developed by the BacPath team.
This work is promising to revolutionise the way we treat infections in the near future and the BacPath team is leading the way by evaluating the benefits of new antivirulence drugs using the latest technologies in genomics and molecular microbiology. This placement will give students an insight into cutting-edge research that aims to directly address the currently unmet need for effective strategies to combat the rise and spread of superbugs.
Researcher Bio:
Dr Makrina Totsika is currently a Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow at QUT. Originally from Volos, Greece, Dr Makrina Totsika moved to Scotland to study at the University of Edinburgh, where she graduated with a First Class BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences-Genetics (2002), a MSc by Research in Life Sciences with Distinction (2003) and a PhD in Bacterial Genetics (2007). Makrina was the recipient of a prestigious Wellcome Trust 4-Year PhD studentship for her research project on virulence gene regulation in pathogenic bacteria that she conducted at the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research.
After her PhD Makrina immigrated to Australia and spent 5 years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Queensland. In 2013, Makrina received a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council for: ‘Understanding how bacteria become sticky’.
Makrina joined QUT in mid-2014 to start her own research group at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI). Makrina is currently a Senior Research Fellow and leader of the Bacterial Pathogenesis (BacPath) group within the Infectious Diseases Program at IHBI. Her group studies bacterial virulence, adhesion and host-pathogen interactions during urinary tract infections caused by multi-drug resistant pathogens. Makrina has also attracted funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council for her research investigating a new class of anti-infection drugs designed to prevent superbugs from sticking to host cells and thus blocking the first step of the infection process.