Achievements and awards
Celebrating our award-winning community.
Swinburne University of Technology community members are recognised for excellence in their fields, reflecting the depth and breadth of knowledge, experience and service.
Our international reputation as a leader in research and innovation continues to go from strength to strength, further elevating the cutting-edge technologies, partnerships and expertise for social impact and the benefit of our community.
We congratulate our staff and students on their success, and we are proud to provide an environment in which excellence can thrive.
October 2024
Swinburne’s Distinguished Professor David Moss elected as 2024 Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Fellow
2 October 2024
Distinguished Professor David Moss has been recognised for his 30+ years of work in science and engineering.
Director of Swinburne’s Optical Sciences Centre, Distinguished Professor David Moss, has been elected as a 2024 Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) Fellow.
Elected by peers, Distinguished Professor Moss will join the Academy to help Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems.
Distinguished Professor Moss has made seminal contributions to photonics and optics, particularly his work with microcombs – devices that can link the electronic and optical frequency regimes.
He reported the first integrated microcomb in 2010, a game-changing advance with potential applications across spectroscopy, communications and optical clocks, among many fields. This breakthrough addressed energy and bandwidth bottlenecks for on-chip and chip-to-chip communications.
“I’m greatly honoured to be elected a Fellow of the ATSE,” says Distinguished Professor Moss.
“I look forward very much to contributing to the Academy and continuing my 30-year contribution to science and engineering in Australia generally. This recognition means a great deal to me.”
September 2024
Swinburne advertising student wins national 2024 Ad Student x TikTok Competition
19 September 2024
Marika Tsourekis created a TikTok to inspire high school students to make an advertising major their first preference for university education.
Swinburne second year Bachelor of Media and Communications student Marika Tsourekis is the national and Victorian winner of the 2024 Ad Student X TikTok Competition.
Majoring in Advertising herself, Marika had to create a video to inspire high school students to make an advertising major their first preference for university education. Marika has won an internship at Melbourne Advertising Agency Cummins&Partners, a career guidance chat/mentoring with Paul Nagy (Chief Creative Officer of VML) and free entry to an IAB Industry event in Melbourne.
Marika says that the competition was initially quite intimidating, as she had never actually created a TikTok before.
“Navigating TikTok helped me bring my creative ideas to life and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was excited to find out that I have won both state and national awards and feel very grateful and look forward to these amazing opportunities!”
Swinburne Advertising Lecturer and Academic Lead for Victorian competition entrants, David Reid, says the competition ignited a spark in the next generation, showcasing how creativity can drive real-world impact.
"By crafting captivating TikTok videos targeting prospective students, current university students successfully promoted advertising undergraduate study at universities across Australia, unveiling the exciting career paths awaiting them in the dynamic world of advertising."
Swinburne’s Victorian Hydrogen Hub awarded Engineers Australia’s 2024 Victorian Project of the Year
17 September 2024
Swinburne’s Victorian Hydrogen Hub (VH2) has received Engineers Australia’s 2024 Victorian Project of the Year award.
Swinburne University of Technology, along with partners Pacific Energy and CSIRO, has been awarded the 2024 Engineers Australia Victorian Project of the Year for our Victorian Hydrogen Hub (VH2) and CSIRO Hydrogen Refuelling Station.
The award was part of Engineers Australia’s annual Engineering Excellence Awards, which recognise Australia’s most outstanding engineers and engineering projects, and showcase the profound impact their work has on society.
Launched in 2023, the $2.5 million state-of-the-art Hydrogen Refuelling Station uses green hydrogen produced with electricity from renewable sources, allowing hydrogen cars to travel over 600km emissions-free on a full tank.
As one of Australia’s first all-in-one fast hydrogen refuelling stations, the Hydrogen Refuelling Station represents a major step forward in decarbonising transport.
The innovative facility enables the production and dispensing of green hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and provides critical infrastructure for the future of hydrogen-powered transport.
With its compact, integrated design, the station also serves as a scalable model for hydrogen refuelling, offering a solution to one of the key challenges in transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
Swinburne’s winning VH2 team will go on to represent the Victoria division at Engineers Australia’s national awards gala dinner on 21 November 2024.
July 2024
Distinguished Professor Qing-Long Han becomes first Australian President-Elect of the Asian Control Association
25 July 2024
Swinburne’s Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research Quality), Distinguished Professor Qing-Long Han, has been named President-Elect of the Asian Control Association (ACA) at the ACA Steering Committee Meeting. He will serve as the 11th president of the ACA in 2026-2028 and will be the first Australian to serve in the role.
The ACA, formed from the Asian Control Professors Association (ACPA) established in 1996, promotes control science and engineering in Asia. It consists of volunteers dedicated to supporting these fields.
Reflecting on his election, Distinguished Professor Han said, “I am very pleased to be elected as President-Elect of the ACA. I'm honoured to be recognised for my contributions to control communities in Asia and Oceania, and proud to represent Swinburne — a leading university in the area of control engineering."
Swinburne granted $25m to continue ground-breaking job seeker training
15 July 2024
Swinburne has won an approximately $25 million tender to expand a ground-breaking program that is helping job seekers build their skills and secure jobs through stronger reading, writing, maths and computer skills.
The Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) has awarded Swinburne a new contract to continue delivering the Skills for Education and Employment program (SEE) for 10 years at Croydon and Wantirna. The program will also expand to Hawthorn.
Skills for Education and Employment training has helped more than 3,000 students over the past 16 years. It has provided a personalised and tailored approach for each student’s abilities and goals. It has helped students like young mum Emily Foster-Davies, who went from being lost and in limbo, to completing a Certificate IV in School-based Education Support in 2023 after completing SEE at Swinburne in 2022. Emily is now working as a teacher aide at a primary school and credits SEE with providing the “breakthrough” she needed to reach her education goals.
Anthony Green-Cooper had a disrupted primary school experience and ‘dropped out’ of school in Year 7 due to patchy attendance. By undertaking SEE at Swinburne, Anthony has been able to complete his VCE and is considering studying psychology at university – a goal that would have been unattainable without SEE.
45-year-old Darren Cop was a disengaged secondary student and drug and alcohol user from an early age. He made several unsuccessful attempts at getting back into education before finding SEE at Swinburne’s Croydon campus. Fast forward to 2024 and Darren has graduated with a Certificate IV in Youth Work. Like other SEE students, Darren benefitted from support from a SEE Life Mentor, who helped him access support to overcome housing instability and tackle mental health issues.
Swinburne is proud to have supported more than 3,000 students on their educational and career journey through SEE over 16 years, and looks forward to continuing this important work for the next decade.
Swinburne awarded for innovation in energy transition
8 July 2024
Swinburne University of Technology has won the Innovation in Energy Transition Award at the 2024 Siemens Beyond 1% Summit’s Awards.
The summit brought together global and local experts from academia, research, industry, and government, providing invaluable insights into how we can achieve net-zero goals and drive sustainable change.
Director of the Siemens Swinburne Energy Transition Hub Professor Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian says this award is a significant acknowledgement of the industry-engaged capabilities across Swinburne’s electrical engineering discipline.
“This award shows that our industry-academia partnership is extremely powerful and is now needed more than ever in our energy transition roadmap. We are laser focused on working with partners in industry and meaningfully contributing to their decarbonisation journey."
Key discussions at the summit demystified Australia's net-zero commitments, exploring the impacts and opportunities for businesses. Experts delved into the key technologies essential for accelerating sustainability, such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital twins. Real-world examples showcased successful innovations and highlighted avenues for businesses to access government support from innovation to commercialisation.
Dr Anais Möller wins Women in AI Space Prize
3 July 2024
Swinburne’s Dr Anais Möller has been awarded the coveted Women in AI Space Prize at the 2024 Women in AI APAC Awards.
The award recognises women who are leading and innovating in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Asia-Pacific region. Hundreds of women in the public, private and university sectors apply for this honour. The awards span AI advances in different areas, from manufacturing to agriculture and space. The space category recognises outstanding achievements in astronomy, satellite technologies and any space related field using AI.
Dr Möller says this recognition highlights her work across AI in astronomy, specially focusing on identifying the different types of cosmic explosions in telescope data.
“Transients are astrophysical bursts of radiation spanning days to weeks. I have spearheaded the classification of supernovae to study Dark Energy/fundamental physics and pioneered interpretable AI for these tasks using Bayesian Neural Networks.”
Dr Möller is currently co-leading an international team, Fink, that uses AI to single out the most interesting transients like exploding stars and kilonovae from a hundred thousand detections every night. The team is currently preparing for the next_generation survey at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, with expected millions of detections every night for a decade.
“AI is crucial for future surveys,” she says.
“I am very honoured to be recognised as an AI leader in the Asia Pacific region and loved attending the award ceremony last week. It was an incredible event recognising outstanding women!”
June 2024
Swinburne astronomers honoured by the Astronomical Society of Australia
27 June 2024
Swinburne’s Dr Sara Webb and Tamsyn O’Beirne are among eight astronomers to be recognised by the Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) with prizes at its Annual Scientific Meeting, on Wednesday 26 June 2024.
The Annual Scientific Meeting is an opportunity to celebrate advances in Australian astronomy, an area of research in which Australia is a world leader.
Dr Sara Webb is the winner of the 2024 David Allen Prize for exceptional achievement in astronomy communication. Dr Webb is not only chasing gravitational wave counterparts, hunting for fast radio burst progenitors, cataloguing the fastest flare stars in the galaxy and building AI tools to help astronomers work faster – she is also sharing the wonders of the Universe with millions of people through the media, YouTube, Ted talks, The Conversation and more.
Over the past three years, Dr Webb has built an impressive outreach presence across multiple forms of media, with over 17 million social media views, and a reach of tens of millions annually through traditional media.
Tamsyn O’Beirne is also highly commended for the Bok Prize for her research exploring the dark and low surface brightness Universe with the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Survey (WALLABY).
Swinburne innovators achieve global recognition for sustainable metallurgy and Martian metals
21 June 2024
(L-R) Dr Mark Pownceby, CSIRO, with Swinburne's Bima Satritama, Adjunct Research Fellow Dr Deddy Nababan and Professor Akbar Rhamdhani.
Swinburne PhD student, Bima Satritama, has won the ISASMELT Test Hub global competition at the MOLTEN 2024 International Conference. He shares this win with Dr Lassi Klemettinen from Aalto University, Finland. The competition sought groundbreaking ideas to promote circularity in metallurgy, aiming to revolutionise pyrometallurgical processes. Bima's innovative concept involves using gypsum by-products, high-sulphur pet coke, and Australia's nickel laterite to extract and produce critical nickel metal. As a winner, Bima will get the chance to test his idea in a real ISASMELT reactor, with resources and support valued at $93,000 USD for the trial.
Dr Deddy Nababan, a Postdoctoral Researcher at CSIRO Mineral Resources and Adjunct Research Fellow at Swinburne, has won the best poster Research Award for his work on iron alloy smelting behaviour on Mars. This work is built on the previous work done at Swinburne on thermodynanmics of iron production on Mars and currently being developed further jointly by Swinburne and CSIRO. His study looks at how to get metals from Martian soil using a process called carbothermic reduction, which uses carbon from Mars's CO2-rich atmosphere. The analysis suggests that this method can produce almost pure liquid iron. Using local resources on Mars, like extracting metals from Martian soil, is crucial for future exploration, building habitats, and setting up industries on the planet.
Swinburne researchers win Manufacturing Letters Best Paper Award
21 June 2024Professor Suresh Palanisamy, Director of Swinburne's Manufacturing Futures Research Platform on behalf of his team.
Professor Suresh Palanisamy, Director of Swinburne's Manufacturing Futures Research Platform, and his team of post-doc researchers Dr Novana Hutasoit and Dr Rizwan Abdul Rahman Rashid have been awarded the latest Manufacturing Letters Best Paper Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).
The award-winning paper, titled Sars-CoV-2 (COVID-19) inactivation capability of copper-coated touch surface fabricated by cold-spray technology, platforms innovative research into using copper-coated surfaces to combat COVID-19. The research exemplifies the practical application of advanced manufacturing techniques in addressing global health challenges, and was carried out in collaboration with industry partners SPEE3D and 360BioLabs Pty Ltd.
The Best Paper Award was presented at the North American Manufacturing Research Institution (NAMRI) SME awards luncheon in Knoxville, US. It recognises the researchers’ significant contributions to the field of manufacturing engineering and reinforces Swinburne’s position at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation.
Dr Jenny Crosbie inducted into Disability Employment Australia's Hall of Fame
20 June 2024
Dr Crosbie receives her award at the Disability Employment National Conference in Melbourne, 12 June 2024. Image credit: Melissa Hobbs
Dr Jenny Crosbie, Principal Industry Fellow at the Centre for Social Impact Swinburne University (CSI Swinburne), has been inducted into Disability Employment Australia's Hall of Fame.
This prestigious honour recognises Dr Crosbie's enduring commitment to advancing disability employment in Australia over the past 35 years.
Throughout her career, Dr Crosbie has significantly contributed to enhancing inclusion for people with disabilities. She managed two disability employment organisations early in her career and served as the first Executive Officer of DEA in the early 2000s. Recently, her research has focused on addressing barriers to economic participation for young people with intellectual disabilities, aiming to improve service systems and promote inclusion in employment.
Dr Crosbie's PhD research offers new insights into economic participation for young people with intellectual disabilities, identifying factors that support their inclusion in community-based roles. Her dedication has led to significant advancements in this field.
Professor Erin Wilson, Director of CSI Swinburne, commended Dr Crosbie's contributions.
"Dr Crosbie's work has been instrumental in reshaping how we understand economic participation for young people with intellectual disabilities,” she said.
Dr Crosbie expressed her gratitude for the recognition and emphasised her ongoing commitment to creating opportunities for people with disabilities.
May 2024
Swinburne sweeps top awards at 2024 Australian Space Awards
29 May 2024
Swinburne space experts at the 2024 Australian Space Awards, whose nominations spanned six categories
Swinburne University of Technology has won University of the Year and Swinburne astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb has won Rising Star of the Year – Enterprise at the 2024 Australian Space Awards.
The success reaffirms Swinburne’s global reputation as a groundbreaking leader in space and aerospace, with our physics subjects ranking in the Top 200 globally, and our campuses home to world-leading endeavours like the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) and the Ngarrgu Tindebeek supercomputer.
Swinburne’s talented academics were nominated as finalists in six categories at this year’s Australian Space Awards, reflecting expertise across astronomy and astrophysics, space technology, engineering and instrumentation, and satellite data analysis.
Other Swinburne individual finalists in this year’s awards included Dr Rebecca Allen, co-director of our Space Technology and Industry Institute, who was nominated for Female Space Leader of the Year – Enterprise, and PhD candidate Thomas Graham, whose research is investigating responsible AI in space, who was also nominated for Rising Star of the Year – Enterprise.
In the awards’ group categories, Swinburne's Youth Space Innovation Challenge program was a finalist for Outstanding STEAM Outreach and Diversity Initiative Program of the Year. The program is led by Dr Sara Webb and is currently accepting registrations for its July 2024 intake.
Swinburne-founded startup Fourier Space was also a finalist in the Startup of the Year category. Fourier Space translates techniques from radio astronomy to solve digital signal processing challenges for the space and satellite communication sectors. Swinburne's Chief Scientist, Professor Virginia Kilborn, is a company director and Shaw prize-winner and OzGrav director, Professor Matthew Bailes, is a co-founder, director and chair.
Swinburne researcher receives an Honorary Doctorate from the Danish Technical University (DTU)
8 May 2024
Credit: Steen Brogaard
Swinburne nanophotronics expert, Professor David Moss, has received an Honorary Doctorate from the Danish Technical University (DTU) in Copenhagen. The award was presented at the annual DTU commemoration ceremony this year with King Frederik X of Denmark in attendance.
Professor Moss has been commended for leading extensive international research networks in nanophotonics and has over 520 publications including numerous articles in Nature family journals. He has previously won several notable awards for his research including the 2011 Australian Museum Award and the Google Eureka Science Prize for Innovation.
“I’m deeply honoured by this award, particularly coming from DTU in Copenhagen, arguably the founding city of modern physics. I’ve been collaborating with colleagues from the DTU for 30 years and look forward to continuing to work with them for many years to come.” Professor Moss said.
With an extensive career spanning 33 years of research in academia, industry and government research laboratories, Professor Moss is a demonstrated leader in his field. This award served as a testament to his longstanding collaboration with DTU and his career achievements.
March 2024
Swinburne Plumbing students take home first and second prize at World Plumbing Day Apprentice Skills Contest
21 Mar 2024
Swinburne Certificate III Plumbing students, Matt Steward and Michael MacDonald, have won first and second place at the PICAC 2024 World Plumbing Day Apprentice Skills Contest this month. Matt claimed first place, with Michael closely following in second. Both students are now in the running to represent PICAC and Australia at the annual United Association’s International Apprentice Skills Contest in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA in August. Swinburne plumbing teachers recognised both winners for their dedication, attention to detail and genuine work ethic in their studies.
World Plumbing Day is celebrated around the world on March 11 to spread awareness of the importance of plumbing in protecting public health. The international plumbing community, as represented by the World Plumbing Council, has a vital role in promoting the link between good quality plumbing, health, environmental sustainability and, increasingly, economic prosperity.
“It was an honour to compete in the recent PICAC World Plumbing Day Skills Competition. From the outset I was challenged by the nine other high-calibre contests from across the country, however I was able to apply my learnings taught to me by Swinburne teachers and skills I learnt on the job to achieve a great outcome on the day,” says Michael MacDonald.
“A big thanks to everyone involved including Swinburne University, Plumbing Apprenticeships Victoria, PICAC, Reece, the PPTEU and Master Plumbers. A special mention to Swinburne teacher Paul Fenton for his continued support and mentoring.”
Cosmos recognises Swinburne researcher as one of 50 amazing women in Australian scienceen Innovation Challenge
14 Mar 2024
Swinburne Associate Professor Andreea Molnar is among 50 female researchers and scientists recognised by Cosmos for her dedication and contribution to Australian science.
In honour of International Women’s Day 2024 and with the support of Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) and Australia’s five Learned Academies, Cosmos showcased the achievements of these amazing female researchers and scientists on their website.
Associate Professor Molnar’s research aims to develop computing for social good and incorporates elements from information systems, human computer interaction and educational games. It has applications in health, education and governmental services.
This follows her appointment as a Fellow of the International Science Council last year, further cementing her as a leader in her field.
Swinburne’s AIR Hub wins Hydrogen Innovation Challenge
07 Mar 2024
Swinburne's Aerostructures Innovation Research (AIR) Hub has won the Zero Carbon Hydrogen Australia and Smart Energy Council’s Hydrogen Innovation Challenge.
AIR Hub’s winning submission was the Small Hydrogen Aircraft Evolution and Development (SHADE) project, in which the team designed, developed and flight-tested Australia’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) uncrewed aircraft system (UAS). Judges commended the AIR Hub team on their innovative approach and dedication to advancing sustainable energy solutions.
AIR Hub Director, Dr Adriano Di Pietro, said the win is testimony to Swinburne University’s commitment to contributing to the global renewable energy transition.
“The entire AIR Hub team is dedicated to furthering innovation in aerospace and aviation and to building a greener sector for future generations. It’s an honour to have this work recognised by the Smart Energy Council,” says Dr Di Pietro.
“I’d like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to all members of the SHADE team for the hard work and expertise you have brought towards this project. Together we are building towards a more sustainable future.”
The Hydrogen Innovation Challenge aims to showcase groundbreaking innovation in the renewable hydrogen sector. Entrants were judged on how their submission demonstrated excellence in innovation, feasibility and its potential to foster growth in Australia's nascent green hydrogen sector.
February 2024
Vicky Peters awarded scholarship to further elevate leadership
06 Feb 2024
Director, Indigenous Engagement, Vicky Peters has been awarded the Jo Fisher Future Board Scholarship.
Now in its second year running, the Scholarship offers a springboard to better prepare leaders for board opportunities as they arise.
Peters says she is profoundly grateful to receive the scholarship and is excited by how it will elevate her leadership.
"As a proud Aboriginal woman, being awarded this scholarship is not just a personal triumph but represents a significant stride towards advancing the interests of my community at decision making levels. This opportunity not only bridges the financial gap that often hinders individuals like me, but also serves as a powerful platform for me to continue advocating for better outcomes and opportunities within my community.” Peters said.
“This scholarship represents positive change and I am committed to making the most of this opportunity."
Founder of the scholarship, Jo Fisher believes there is a critical opportunity for Australian organisations to embrace diversity.
“My hope is that the annual Jo Fisher Future Board Scholarship encourages different and unique board talent to come forward. And that each year an outstanding individual, who may not have otherwise had the chance, is elevated by this program. The quality of applications over the years has been outstanding.
“I look forward to seeing these beneficiaries make a truly positive contribution to the boards and organisations they join in the future," Fisher said.
January 2024
New project revolutionises smart composites with graphene formulations
24 Jan 2024
Swinburne School of Engineering’s Dr Nisa Salim and PhD student Vishnu Pillai have showcased their GraphIT project at Prototypes for Humanity in Dubai. Selected from 3,000 applications in over 100 countries and being invited to attend COP28, they are presenting their research on creating graphene sensors for real-time structural health monitoring.
GraphIT addresses challenges in detecting damage, especially in hard-to-reach locations like wind turbines, and utilises graphene’s remarkable properties to be cost effective and efficient to maintain.
These graphene sensors will be able to help avert catastrophic failures, such as bridge collapses, safeguarding both property and lives. The technology has potential applications spanning aerospace, defence and automotive industries.
Swinburne’s Dr Nishar Hameed and Dr Premika Govindaraj were also involved in this innovative project, pioneering a new era in infrastructure safety and sustainability.
The project highlights the significance of research into graphene, including an Australian Research Council project between Swinburne and Sparc Technologies, led by Dr Salim. This project on smart coatings has the potential to revolutionise industries including aerospace, infrastructure, space exploration and renewable energy.
Swinburne software engineer receives world-renowned Outstanding Research Award
23 Jan 2024
Professor Tsong Yueh Chen has won the 2024 ACM Special Interest Group on Software Engineering (SIGSOFT) Outstanding Research Award for his contributions to software engineering through the invention of metamorphic testing. This is a leading award in the software engineering community globally.
Professor Chen’s more than 20 years at Swinburne have inspired hundreds of follow-up metamorphic testing studies by other researchers. This legacy has seen metamorphic testing evolve beyond software testing to program proving, debugging and other software engineering applications.
Metamorphic testing was endorsed as a standard testing technique by ISO/IEC/IEEE in 2021, the only technique added into industry standards in the past twenty years.
In addition to the invention of metamorphic testing, Professor Chen has delivered significant results in software testing, partition testing, failure-based testing and adaptive random testing.
PhD students flex their BICEP into ELO2 Big Dipper Challenge final
22 Jan 2024
A team of three Swinburne PhD students, featuring Daniel Ricardo, Belinda Rich and Philipp Zanon, has been chosen as one of three first place entries for the ELO2 Big Dipper Challenge. The Challenge invited Australians to design a sample acquisition device to collect lunar soil, known as regolith, for the newly-announced Australian Roo-ver mission.
The team’s design, a Biomechanically Inspired Excavator (BICEP), represents a fresh approach to lunar excavation and is inspired by the human arm.
The mechanism features a series of pulleys and a cup-shaped mechanism for dust tolerant sample collection and can perform multiple functions, including cutting and bulldozing. Designed specifically for use on small lightweight rovers, BICEP weighs less than 600g and draws just 4 Watts to operate low excavation forces.
The team is now busy developing a final design and set of guidelines ahead of participating in the final round of the Big Dipper Challenge.
Astrophysicist Ryan Shannon wins 2024 Jackson-Gwilt Medal
13 Jan 2024
A researcher from Swinburne’s Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Professor Ryan Shannon, has been jointly awarded the high-regarded 2024 Jackson-Gwilt Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society. Professor Shannon was awarded alongside CSIRO’s Dr Keith Bannister for turning an Australia telescope into a fast radio burst discovery machine.
Fast radio bursts are intense brief flashes or radio waves that last only a fraction of second. Their fleeting nature made them challenging to find.
Working on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio interferometer, Professor Shannon and Dr Bannister co-developed a supercomputing-based detection system to maximise the observed field-of-view.
After deploying the new system, the first fast radio burst was found in less than five days, and in the next year they collected a sample of 20, nearly doubling the previous decade’s haul. Since being discovered in 2007, fewer than 20 fast radio bursts had been found and confirmed to reside in other galaxies.
“We are continuing to develop new fast radio burst search systems for ASKAP which will allow us to better understand these unusual signals and harness them to answer other foundational questions about nature of the Universe,” says Professor Shannon.
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Achievements and recognition
Swinburne’s reputation as a leader in research and innovation is growing year-on-year. Our world-class researchers focus on projects that cross disciplines and make real-world differences.