Curtin University has been awarded almost $4 million by the federal government to fund new research projects, ranging from the solar system and the Earth’s tectonic records to lithium batteries and renewable energy – each with flow on benefits for the Australian space industry and its attempts at value adding to global programs.
Two research projects led by John Curtin Distinguished Professor Zongping Shao, from Curtin’s WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, were awarded more than $750,000.
Professor Shao’s research will aim to develop high-performance lithium batteries that have the potential to boost Australia’s world-leading lithium mining industry, as well as developing an innovative hybrid hydrocarbon-carbon fuel cell for long-life power generation.
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New research, led by John Curtin Distinguished Professor Phil Bland, who leads Curtin’s Space Science and Technology Centre, received $526,000 in ARC funding to pinpoint the origins of hundreds of meteorites as part of an international collaboration.
Other Curtin projects funded by ARC Discovery Projects grants will aim to gain a better understanding of Australia’s natural resources, investigate how to support people achieve difficult goals, explore an energy storage solution to a dish-Stirling concentrated solar power system, and search for the most disruptive stellar-mass and supermassive blackholes in the universe.
Curtin University deputy vice-chancellor, research, Professor Chris Moran congratulated the Curtin researchers on being awarded ARC Discovery Projects grants.
The remaining projects will work to identify the source of cosmic rays – the highest-energy particles in nature – using the Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope, investigate creating green concrete from lithium waste, and examine the history, impact and potential future of zoo biology with the aim of improving human-wildlife relations.
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"The ARC Discovery Projects scheme aims to support national and international research collaborations and enhance the scale and focus of Australian research," Professor Moran said.
Professor Moran added, "With this support from the federal government, these Curtin researchers will lead significant research projects that have the potential to create lasting scientific, economic, sustainability and social benefits."
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