This project aims to provide insights and design advice to Living Seawalls and Reef Design Labs in the structural stability of the Living Boulders Coastal Protection Units. https://www.livingseawalls.com.au/moduletypes.
The student will work alongside engineers from the Water Research Laboratory, a world renowned uni consulting firm based at UNSW's Manly Vale campus.
The student will conduct a series of lab scale wave flume tests to understand how using Living Boulders influences the stability of traditional revetment design. The student will have the opportunity to learn how to scale designs to flume dimensions, determine design wave conditions, and design a typical rock revetment structure.
The project is ideally suited for someone interested in cross disciplinary research including interests in Nature based solutions, eco engineering, Coastal Engineering and ecology. There are opportunities to expand this work into a 4th year Research Honours Thesis and we are ideally looking for students interested in longer term research opportunities as this project is the first of multiple proposed.
School
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Area
Coastal engineering | Civil hydraulics | Ecological engineering | Environmental engineering
Suitable for recognition of Work Integrated Learning (industrial training)?
Yes
- Research environment
- Expected outcomes
- Supervisory team
- Reference material/links
The project is based at WRL. This is UNSW's Manly Vale campus that is home to ~25 HDR students, ~25 full time engineers, and ~6 academic staff. We are a tight knit group, with students having lunch together, socials, and coffee/tea breaks. The project is lab based and the student will be expected to be on site for the 60 days.
The ideal student will be highly self motivated and be able to demonstrate that they can take directive but work independently with routine meetings from more senior engineers and academics.
- The lab results will be written into a technical report and depending on scope may be suitable to future publication at Coasts and Ports (EA conference).
- Technical outcomes include design advice on the living boulders for use in both low to high energy environments to Living Seawalls and Reef Design Labs.
- Honours students have the opportunity to apply for the EA DN Foster Award to attend the EA Coasts and Ports conference every 2 years.
The project is supervised by Prof. Kristen Splinter (CVEN), in conjunction with A/Prof Mariana Pinto (BEES, Living Seawalls). Additional supervision from Dr. Francois Flocard and A/Prof Stefan Felder. Alex Goad (Reef Design Lab) will also be involved.