Our experts are pioneers of sustainable manufacturing and life-cycle engineering research. Our mission is to develop technology solutions, product, processes, and systems, with a life cycle view by using circular economy strategies to decarbonize and reduce environmental impact of manufacturing industry while helping them create value to stay within the earth’s carrying eco-capacity.
Life cycle engineering
Life cycle engineering (LCE) is sustainability-oriented product development and manufacturing activities within the scope of one to several product life cycles. Our aim is to develop technologies, methods, tools and techniques for developing product and processes for industrial value creation while minimising resource and energy use, and environmental impact. In order to achieve these, we develop:
- computational and heuristic methodologies that allow designers to consider the entire life of cycle of a product from selecting eco-materials and the energy used in manufacturing of these products. This cycle also includes distributing, collecting, disassembling, and disposing. We also develop methodologies for life-cycle economic and environmental evaluation of future product technologies.
- quantitative sustainability assessment methodologies and carry out carbon and water footprint assessments by using Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and Material Flow Cost Accounting.
Circular economy (CE), industrial symbiosis (IS) & system of systems (SoS)
We design, develop, and analyse complex systems to optimize energy, water and material use, to minimise environmental impact and avoid problem shifting. We have pioneered the circular economy, industrial symbiosis, and closed-loop systems research in Australia since late 1990s. Our work involves:
- developing solutions for enabling circular economy strategies with a system of system perspective from product to industrial systems level.
- developing new technologies, methods, tools, and techniques for designing symbiotic industrial systems, product collections networks, product service systems, maintenance, disassembly, reuse, remanufacture and recycle. Our key mission is to minimise environmental impact, resource and energy use, and waste generation.
Key researchers:
