Research projects
Researchers within the Faculty of Computing, Health and Science conduct research across a wide range of fields and disciplines and are encouraged to explore the benefits of cross-disciplinary research.
Faculty
ECU Security Research Institute
- A framework for secure medical information exchange
- Airport security
- Biometric defeat testing
- CCTV
- Computer network and security systems vulnerability testing
- Disaster victim identification
- GPS and mobile phone research
- Radicalisation and counter terrorism
- Radio frequency identification security analysis
- Resilience indicators as an aid to national security personnel vetting
- SImPLE engagement with police
- Smart grid
Electron Science Research Institute
- A multi-wavelength light emitting diode array for near infrared breast scanner
- Fibre-optic sensor network for real-time water quality monitoring
- High speed bidirectional optical interconnect for board to board communications
- Magnetocardiology
- Microphotonic plant discrimination and weed control sensor
- Multi-laser DVD pickup
- Photonic sensor for object discrimination using wavelength multiplexing
- Plasmonics-based metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors (MSM-PDs)
- Quantum information processing
- Ultra-high speed infrared light modulators and magneto-optic light controllers for telecommunications industry
Centre of Excellence for MicroPhotonic Systems
- Adaptive splitters
- Opto-VLSI tuneable fibre lasers
- Photonic signal processing
- Photonics-based smart antennas
- Radio frequency signal digitisation and data transport
- Reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers
Health and Wellness Institute
- A Phase III clinic trial of exercise modalities on treatment side-effects in men receiving therapy for prostate cancer
- Busselton Health Study linked data project - physical activity and chronic disease
- Efficacy and safety of a modular multi-modal exercise program in prostate cancer patients with bone metastases: a randomized controlled trial
- Efficacy of an exercise program on cancer related fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing radical radiotherapy
- Exercise as medicine for management of Lymphoedema in breast cancer survivors
- Exercise training to improve physical functioning and exercise adoption in lung cancer survivors: A randomized controlled trial
- Feasibility and efficacy of resistance exercise in prostate cancer survivors with bone metastases
- Health and lifestyle characteristics and associated health related outcomes in Western Australians between 2003 and 2010
- Impact of the Cancer Council WA Life Now exercise program on quality of life, physical function and body composition in cancer survivors
- Influence of physical activity and sedentary lifestyle on non-communicable disease in Western Australians
- Lucrin exercise support program
- Lucrin exercise trial
- Physical activity behaviours and attitudes in women with breast cancer
- Population based exercise intervention for prostate cancer patients - RADAR
- Promoting physical activity to improve the outcome of depression in later life (Activedep)
- Radar - 6-month telephone and print-material home-based intervention designed to increase physical activity participation for rural prostate cancer survivors
- Randomized controlled trial of vibration therapy administered to breast cancer survivors
- Rev Up! - a pilot church-based healthy lifestyle intervention
- Safety and efficacy of resistance exercise with and without compression garments in women with breast cancer related lymphoedema
- The feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a distance-based physical activity intervention for rural lung survivors
- Whole-body vibration treatment in prostate cancer survivors on androgen suppression therapy
School of Computer and Security Science
Artificial Intelligence and Optimisation Research Group
- Alzheimer's Disease project
- Biometrics recognition (Faces, Iris, Fingerprints)
- Computational red teaming
- Data mining techniques for discovery of biomarkers in biological data
- Data visualisation
- ECU WAMBOT
- Foetal monitoring via mobile phone
- Games for health
- Integration of reinforcement learning and adaptive resonance theory for data classification with application to medical diagnosis
- Search-based software engineering
eAgriculture Research Group
- Agricultural data mining and geo-spatial visualisation
- Agricultural data repository project
- Agricultural information dissemination systems
- eAgriculture techniques and methodologies for application to agriculture data
- Environment sensor networks for real-time catchment monitoring
- Pest acoustic sensor networks
- The use of ICT to improve the delivery of agricultural information to farmers
- Wireless mesh networks for grain quality laboratories
eHealth Research Group
- Information Security Governance in Primary Care
- Investigating standards for the safety of health software
- Medical errors due to information failure
- mHealth: The use of personal mobile devices for healthcare
- Parkinson Disease iPad App
- Remote health monitoring in mining
School of Engineering
School based
Centre for Communications Engineering Research
- 2D barcode design for mobile phone applications
- A commercial energy framework for medium size enterprise microgrids
- A medium access control protocol to provide efficient mobility in wireless sensor networks
- Building integrated microwave shields for minimising near-field radiation from mobile towers
- Improving quality of service in an integrated 4G/passive optical network
- Improving throughput in LTE-A communications at vehicular speeds
- Integrated electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles along with renewable energy sources for improving reliability and sustainability of a Smart Grid
- Medium access control protocol for guaranteed quality of service of voice and video in wireless local area networks
- New strategies to improve throughput in mobile WiMAX communications
- Optimal control of power quality for microgrids using artificial intelligence
- Wireless sensor networks for environmental monitoring
- Wireless sensor networks for smart homes
Thermofluids Research Group
- An experimental and numerical study of surface interactions in swirling jets
- Biomass energy utilisation and combustion in a lab-scale burner
- Design and development of swirl nozzles
- Modelling a Reverse Osmotic desalination device
- Optimisation of renewable energy systems based on PV/wind/hydrogen using intelligent techniques
- Stand‐alone solar‐PV hydrogen energy systems incorporating Reverse Osmosis
School of Exercise and Health Sciences
Occupational Health Research Group
- Field validation of a laboratory developed heat stress intervention in the Australian liquid natural gas sector
- How healthy are hairdressers? A prevalence study investigating health problems of female Western Australian hairdressers
- Occupational heat stress experienced by LNG personnel in tropical regions of Northern Australia
- Occupational respiratory health surveillance at Minara Resources, Murrin Murrin mine site
Population Health Research Group
Child Health Promotion Research Centre
- An empirical trial to reduce cyber-bullying in adolescents
- Collaborative Research Networks (CRN) Program: Promotion of mental health and well-being in young people
- Constable Care child safety foundation evaluation toolkit
- Cyber 8 - An online learning experience for Year 8 students
- Cyberbullying and the Bystander project
- Developing social conventions of online image sharing: For youth, by youth
- Development and rural pilot of a Perinatal Healthy Lifestyle web-based support network for parents and providers
- Development of a scale to measure harms associated with cyberbullying
- Development of national principles for early childhood safety education
- Investigating the use of social media as a methodological communications technology tool for researching cyber bullying: An assessment of feasibility and acceptability among young people of an innovative research method
- Optimising school nurse involvement in youth-based tobacco control programs
- Raising adolescents: Developing strategies for fly in/fly out parents
- Solid Kids Solid Schools bullying prevention project extension: Formative social marketing campaign
- Strengthening student bystanders’ capacity to respond to covert bullying
- Strong Schools Safe Kids: Building school capacity to reduce social aggression among students
- The relationship between mental health outcomes and bullying trajectories of students transitioning from primary school to high school
- The Starting Childhood Obesity Prevention Earlier (SCOPE) project
School of Medical Sciences
Parkinson's Centre
- ParkC’s cognition research: different subtypes of Parkinson's
- ParkC’s laboratory research: cell replacement therapies and prevention of degeneration
- ParkC’s non-pharmaceutical interventions: benefits of exercise for people with Parkinson's
Systems and Intervention Research Centre for Health
- Creating cultural empathy and challenging attitudes through Indigenous narratives
- Hepatitis B and C online training programs
- Paramedic assessment and referral to access MEDical care at home (PARAMED Home)
ECU Melanoma Research Group
- Circulating melanoma cell detection
- Development of a Prognostic Blood Test
- Isolation and quantification of circulating melanoma cells
- Melanoma is predominantly caused by UV exposure, but effects of heat and chemicals may largely increase melanoma incidence
- Monitoring of skin health in mining areas
- The effect of developmental genes, such as PAX3, on development of Melanoma
Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care
- CSIRO second round funding for the Australian imaging, biomarkers and lifestyle (AIBL2) study
- Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) study
- Extension of the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre (DCRC) funding
School of Natural Sciences
School based
- Designing multimedia chemistry teaching resources, novel chemistry experiments and chemical demonstrations
- Development of capillary electrophoresis, a separation technique, as a tool for the analysis of phytochemicals in Brassica vegetables
- Development of voltammetric methods for low level detection of heavy metals in groundwater
- Investigation of the factors that affect deposition of arsenic on the surface of solid gold electrode
- The Western Australian Black truffle
- Voltammetric detection of barium in gunshot residues
Centre for Ecosystem Management
- Bridging the gap between cultural practices and mainstream visitor management approaches to develop an integrated monitoring framework for Australia's northwest
- Children's dietary exposure to metals
- Children's exposure to dust (PM10) and metals in Perth
- Ecohydrological equilibrium theory and Banksia woodland vegetation
- Ecosystem services and productive base in the Murray Darling Basin
- Maternal exposure to Bisphenol A
- Metals exposure, bone density and kidney health
- Particulates, metals and human exposure in Port Hedland
- Point Fraser monitoring and evaluation program
- Usability index for the Swan Canning Riverpark
Mine Water and Environmental Research Centre
- Assessment of the affects of pit lakes on human health
- Conceptual modelling of pit lake processes and ecological risk
- Development of an inventory of pit lakes data and preliminary assessment of end-use options for Collie pit lakes
- Ecology of black-stripe minnow (Galaxiella nirostriata, Pisces: Galaxiidae) in remnant populations on the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia
- Geochemical modelling of pit lake water chemistry to support management decisions
- Monitoring strategies for Australian pit lakes and connected waters
- Temporal variability and ecosystem function of the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities of seasonal south-western Australian wetlands
Centre for Marine Ecosystem Research
- Beach wrack dynamics
- Do grazers and wave energy offset the effects of nutrient pollution on seagrasses?
- Fish biology and ecology in area closure planning
- Improving capacity to predict impacts of dredging - modelling light and seagrass responses
- Kelp wrack subsidising seagrass ecosystems
- Monitoring the health of seagrasses in Geographe Bay
- Predicting effects of climate change on seagrasses
- Protection of coastal ecosystems and marine resource management (CRN)
- Species diversity in the seagrass genus Posidonia
- Trophodynamics in coastal marine systems
School of Nursing and Midwifery
School based
Clinical Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre
- A pilot study to assess if evidence based guidelines can reduce symptoms of burden and psychological distress in patients undergoing chemotherapy
- Biobanking: Developing the process of consent for research purposes
- Developing and testing an instrument to measure emotional comfort
- Early intervention and action: Developing a simulation learning module to empower clinical educators
- Evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention for recently bereaved men: The men in the kitchen project
- Evaluating the feasibility and impact of implementing ward-based patient safety teams to improve patient outcomes
- Exploring experiences of chronic back pain in adults mediated by the Feldenkrais method
- Investigation into English language competence for English as a second language students undertaking nursing training in an Australian university
- Midwifery workforce plan – safe, affordable and sustainable midwifery staffing
- Refining a nursing and allied health discharge and transfer care plan to enhance discharge communication
- Safe and affordable nurse staffing
- The economic benefits of increased levels of nursing staffing in the hospital setting
- The effect of ginger therapy on the physical and psychological wellbeing/functioning of adults with osteoarthritis: a pilot study
- The impact of adding nursing support workers (Assistants in Nursing) to patient, nurse and system (ward) level outcomes
- The impact of metallic or non-metallic deodorant on skin reaction during breast radiation: a randomised controlled trial
- The impact of patient, ward and staffing characteristics on nursing-sensitive outcomes – A pilot study
School of Psychology and Social Science
Social Justice Research Centre
- Evaluation and advice for the It Takes a Village: Multicultural Early Learning Program (ITaV)
- Face-to-Face: Exploring communication access to government services
- Gender, status and empowerment: A study among women who work in Sri Lanka’s export processing zones (EPZs)
School based
- Communication difficulties in Indigenous Australians after stroke
- Factors that contribute to the resilience of gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals
- Reading the language of the body: A creative investigation of somatic symptoms in relation to trauma in women who have experienced childhood rape
Cognition Research Group
- Building financial literacy and retirement savings engagement by developing a financial education program for the workplace
- Development of computer game to facilitate the acquisition of arithmetic skills
- Effects of live versus recorded music and stories of salivary biomarker indicators of pain, anxiety, and immune function in palliative care cancer patients
- Re-evaluating self-reports of memory: Do affect and personality moderate the accuracy of subjective memory complaints?
- The role of automaticity in the development and transfer of cognitive skills
- The role of cognitive reflection on saving behaviour
- The role of expertise in judgement and decision making