Leading edge research receives boost through prominent ARC grant

Professor Thanh Tran-Cong and Dr Nam Mai-Duy were awarded a prominent ARC Discovery Project Grant

A leading edge research project led by two USQ academics has been recognised with a prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project Grant.

The ARC Project Discovery scheme provides funding for research projects that can be undertaken by individual researchers or research teams with only a quarter of applications Australia wide successful in 2009.

Professor Thanh Tran-Cong and Dr Nam Mai-Duy from USQ’s Computational Engineering and Science Research Centre (CESRC) will lead the project, which will look at developing new methods of computer modelling to address engineering and science problems.

'The Discovery Project Grant is the most prestigious national research award from the ARC so we were delighted to receive one,' Professor Tran-Cong said.

'The project itself deals with using numerical computer modelling to predict the behaviour of large scale systems such as composite materials where the properties vary over very fine scales,' Dr Mai-Duy added.

'This could be applied in many different settings as composite materials can be used in such things as wings on aeroplanes, the hull of a boat or even car bodies and these industries could use the modelling at a low cost to accurately test the strength of these structures before they are manufactured.

'It may also improve the engineering of new and advanced mechanisms involved in such things as water filtration and recycling.'

Awarded funding for three years as part of the scheme, Professor Tran-Cong said that while the grant would help financially it was the prestige that came with the honour which meant a great deal to researchers.

'Discovery Project Grants are very hard to get because those that are awarded them must have a project that is leading edge and unique.

'There is a bit of money involved but there is greater intellectual satisfaction in the recognition that we have received as a result of the Grant.'

The project also has the potential to bring about greater research opportunities for the CESRC.

'If the project is successful, as the team is confident it will be, it will further enhance our reputation and broaden the on-going collaboration between the CESRC and other researchers like those in the Centre of Excellence in Fibre Composites (CEEFC) at USQ.'

Contact Details:
Media Contact: Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 2559 or 0400 025 429