Open lab 2022
Published on the 23 June 2022
Join us in Week 6 of T2 (4-8 July) for a full week of great opportunities to learn more about the exciting research that is done in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications. This will be an in-person event on the UNSW Kensington Campus.
You will have the opportunity to visit in an informal way our research labs and chat with our academics about their latest research findings and future projects.
Below you can find a list of this term’s offerings. (It will be an in-person event on campus)
Sign up is easy: https://forms.office.com/r/WfmLfac792
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Academic:
Shaghik Atakaramians
(Meeting location: Electrical Engineering building, G17, Room 433, Lv4)
Timeslot(s):
Tuesday (5/7) 13:00-13:30; Tuesday (5/7) 13:30-14:00
Research Area(s):
Terahertz devices and meta-devices for next generation of communications
Research Overview:
My research group (Terahertz Innovation Group) focuses on the design, fabrication and characterization of physical layer devices and meta-devices for future generation of communications, dubbed as 6G. We have a state-of-the-art terahertz facility (broadband and narrowband sources) located in rm 433 (G17) for characterization and testing the devices for next generation of communication. The Terahertz Innovation Group has an interdisciplinary research environment, which spans over areas of telecommunication engineering and terahertz photonics. The group collaborates with other Australian Universities and international industry partner. For instance, we currently work on developing new class on polymer interconnects for Ericsson AB (one of the leading industry partners in telecommunications) to pave the way for the next generation high-speed data processing platforms. The group has opening for PhD candidates who have strong interest in design and test of polymer interconnects and interested in commercial application of fundamental research.
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Academic:
Professor Robert Malaney
(Meeting location: Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications Building, G17, Room 401)
Timeslot(s):
By Appointment Only – please email r.malaney@unsw.edu.au
Research Area(s):
Quantum Communications via Satellite – Experimental Deployment.
Research Overview: Quantum Communication in Space
Quantum communication via low-orbit satellites offers up a paradigm shift in telecommunications. Providing for unparalleled communication security, this emerging technology will also lead us into the development of the global quantum internet. In much of the research work carried out by my group we leverage optical quantum communications, quantum error correction, channel modelling, and state-of-the-art quantum hardware to deliver novel and optimized quantum communication protocols specifically designed for implementation over the satellite-to-ground and inter-satellite channels. The overall aim of the research group is the delivery of new quantum communication solutions that optimize quantum information throughput over very large distances.
Quantum communication is a translational technology that will make an impact on society long before quantum computation will. First commercial offerings of secure quantum communication solutions based on heavily attenuated laser pulses are already on the market. Satellites that are quantum enabled and delivering quantum communication solutions over intercontinental distance are already deployed. Your PhD study will focus on certain aspects of the design and development of a compact communication system that could be deployed onboard a low-Earth-orbit satellite. A novel characteristic of the intended design is that the satellite will be expected to transmit numerous different quantum signals, dynamically switching quantum-signal output as orbit conditions alter. The project will be largely experimental in nature but offers wide scope for theoretical study also.
Investigations into quantum communications via satellite offers students the opportunity to enter an exciting and emerging technology frontier that is positioned at the interface of advanced quantum physics and satellite-based communications. You will be joining a group of six PhD students and two Postdoc Fellows who will be working in this same area with you. Additional opportunities for top-up scholarships, extensive additional training, and collaboration with Industry Partners and other researchers exist through the Sydney Quantum Academy (www.sydneyquantum.org), of which UNSW is a partner.
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Academic:
Gang-Ding Peng
(Meeting location: Electrical Engineering building, G17, Room 419, Lv4)
Timeslot(s):
Wednesday (6/7) 11:30 -12:00; 13:30-14:00; 14:30-15:00
Research Area(s):
Photonics and Optical Communications
Research Overview:
The Photonics and Optical Communications Group (POCG) started photonic fibre research since 1970s. The ongoing research work in the group in recent years including special silica and polymer optical fibres, optical fibre devices, planar photonic and waveguide devices, photonic signal processing, optical fibre sensing and measurement systems.
Open Lab Time *:
11:00 -12:00, Wednesday, 6 July
Photonics labs: EE429, EE430, EE431, EE432, EE433, EE324, EE433, EEG17, EEG19
* Meet Dr Yanhua Luo, Lab Manager, in front of EE433, 11:00, Wednesday, 6 July for a guided lab visit.
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Academic:
Prof. Vijay Sivaraman
Meeting location: Electrical Engineering (G17), Room 435 (Software Defined Networking Lab)
Timeslot(s):
Wednesday (6-Jul) 13:00-13:30 & 13:30-14:00
Research Area(s):
Terabit-speed network traffic analytics
Research Overview:
My research focuses on helping Telecommunications Networks Operators and Internet Service Providers (like Telstra, Optus, NBN) analyse network traffic in real-time to troubleshoot user experience events on streaming, gaming, and conferencing applications. Such analysis has become challenging as network speeds have grown to Terabit scale, while traffic content is being increasingly encrypted. Our research group has developed novel techniques that use a combination of Programmable Networks and Artificial Intelligence to overcome these problems. Our ideas are being commercialised via spin-out Canopus Networks, a start-up that has raised over $14M in venture investment, and the algorithms are operational in commercial networks. Our research group has openings for PhD candidates with a strong interest in programmable networking, machine learning, and emerging real-time applications like cloud gaming and the metaverse.
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Academic:
Branislav Hredzak
(Meeting location: Tyree Energy Technologies Building (TETB), third floor lift area)
Timeslot(s):
Thursday 14:00-14:30
Research Area(s):
Distributed energy storage, reconfigurable converters, battery management systems
Research Overview:
My research group is working on the development of advanced control algorithms for distributed energy storage systems, battery management systems and reconfigurable power converter topologies. We have developed novel control algorithms for hybrid energy storage systems coordinating operation of batteries and ultracapacitors subject to their operational limits. Our current work concentrates on development of real-time distributed clustering algorithms for aggregation of distributed energy storage systems into virtual energy storage power plants for provisioning the bulk (low-frequency) power demand and the high-frequency power demand. In the area of power electronic converters, we are working on reconfigurable multiport converters for integration of PV generation, electric vehicles, batteries and grid.
We have existing collaborative industrial projects with several energy storage developers on development of battery management systems and battery characterization.
Group is supported by excellent infrastructure on energy storage, power electronics and power systems-related research. This includes Elgar TerraSAS PV simulators from Ametek, Arbin Instruments tester with TestEquity temperature chamber, dSPACE DS1006 systems for control systems implementation, programmable DC/AC loads and power supplies, different chemistry batteries. The RTDS real-time simulator provides the most current equipment for real-time simulation of distributed energy storage in power systems.
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Academic:
Steve Yianni
(Meeting location: Newton building (J12), LVL 1 – ANFF lab)
Timeslot(s):
Tuesday – 11:00 am, Wednesday – 11:00 am
Research Area(s):
Quantum physics and computing, Nanoscale, Fabrication, Scalability, Metrology, Industry, Academia
Research Overview:
The demand to make smaller computer transistors has reached length scales where quantum mechanical effects are unavoidable, resulting in undesirable quantum effects hindering their normal operation. Rather than avoid these effects – why not harness them, towards building transistor architectures for quantum computing. One such transistor is a Spin Qubit (Quantum bit), which harnesses the electron’s quantum mechanical spin to build quantum computers.
At UNSW, our research and facilities are world leading in developing, making, and measuring Spin Qubits. In this session we’ll be highlighting the ability to make Spin Qubits at the Australian National-Fabrication-Facility (ANFF). From designing and making single electron transistors, ideal for studying fundamental physics; to arrays of Spin Qubits to build quantum computers, towards real world and industrial applications. (www.diraq.com)
This session is organized back-to-back with a tour from Dr. Nard Dumoulin Stuyck from Dzurak group on Spin Qubit research, operating them at temperatures near absolute zero.
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Academic:
Nard Dumoulin Stuyck
(Meeting location: Newton building (J12) Ground Floor – NML lab)
Timeslot(s):
Tuesday – 11:30 am, Wednesday – 11:30 am
Research Area(s):
Quantum physics and computing, Nanoscale, Cryogenics, Measurements, Industry, Academia
Research Overview:
Quantum computing is considered to be the 21st century’s space race. Global efforts are ongoing to design, fabricate, and characterize quantum processors, with ever increasing numbers of quantum bits (qubits), that can harness the exponential computational power of the quantum realm.
The Dzurak group at UNSW is world leading in the development of a specific type of qubit called a spin qubit. These devices store and process quantum information using individual electron or hole spins. Measuring spin qubits requires an extremely well controlled environment, down to a few milli Kelvin in temperature -just above absolute zero. In this session we will shed light on how qubits function and can be measured and show you the different cryogenic equipment and setups which are used in state-of-the-art quantum computing research. (www.diraq.com)
This session is organized back-to-back with a tour around the UNSW nanofabrication facilities from ANFF by Dr. Steve Yianni.
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Academic:
AProf Rukmi Dutta
(Meeting location: Electrical Engineering Building, G17, Room 111, Lv1)
Timeslot(s):
Monday 12:00-12:30; Tuesday 12:00-12:30, Wednesday 12:00-12:30
Research Area(s):
Electrical Machines and Drive systems
Research Overview:
My research group focuses on the design optimisation and control of the next generation electric motors and generators for applications in range of advanced and emerging technologies such as electric vehicles, electric aircrafts, robotics, renewable energy conversion, as well as in more traditional applications in numerous industries and manufacturing plants. One of the key concepts is to design more efficient, compact and light-weight novel electric machines and develop advanced control achieve optimum performance under all operating conditions. Our team has developed several novel motors and patented them. We have designed and constructed a 100,000 rpm, 5kW motor with unique characteristic. This motor is available in the laboratory EE111 for demonstration. We have strong collaboration with many industries, CSIRO and world renown laboratories of motor-drive research area. Many of our past PhD graduates are working in industries that are in the forefront of transport electrification, energy, and grid transformation.
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Academics:
Prof. Aruna Seneviratne
Dr. Deepak Mishra
(Meeting location: Electrical Engineering building, G17, Cyber-Physical Systems Lab Room 425, Lv4)
Timeslot(s):
Tuesday (5 July) 14:30-15:00; Tuesday (5 July) 15:00-15:30
Research Area(s):
6G Wireless Networking, WiFi Sensing, Backscatter Communications, and Cyber Security
Research Overview:
Our research group focuses on wireless networking, next-generation wireless sensing, cyber security and backscattering communication. We have state-of-the-art commercial IoT-enabled microcontrollers and small board computers, like Raspberry Pi, ESP32, and Powercast Energy Harvesting Evaluation boards. Further, we also have an extensive backscattering setup that includes RFID and WISP tags. On top of this, we also have workstations to support AI-enabled research located in our Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Lab in Room 425 (G17). Our CPS Research Group has an interdisciplinary research environment, which spans areas of wireless networks, communication systems, signal processing, Artificial Intelligence, and network theory. The group collaborates with top universities globally and many international industry partners on exciting, challenging, practical problems. For instance, currently, we are working on applying WiFi Sensing for Fire Detection and Traffic Monitoring in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel with Trantek MST. We are looking to recruit motivated research students to work with us as Postdocs, PhDs, MPhils, research assistants, thesis/project or Taste of Research students broadly in the areas of Environment Monitoring using WiFi Sensing, Machine Learning and Cross-layer Optimization for Mobile/UAV Networks, and Smart Cyber Security Protocols for 6G and Beyond Wireless Communication Systems.
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Academic:
Beena Ahmed and Vidhya Sethu
(Meeting location: Electrical Engineering Building, G17, Room 438, (meet in front of the equipment lift on level 4 in the North Block – next to the staff/PhD kitchenette)
Timeslot(s):
Monday 1:00-2:00 pm, Tuesday 2:00-3:00 pm
Research Area(s):
Signal processing, machine learning
Research Overview:
The explosion of sensors now gathering and transmitting signal streams, such as video, audio, health, accelerometric data, positioning data, real-time WiFi access information has led to a whole new area of research, Big Signals. The Signals, Information & Machine Intelligence Lab researches novel signal processing and machine learning methods to uncover patterns and information from these massive datasets that can answer questions such as ‘has the person had a heart attack?’, ‘does the person have dementia?’, ‘does the person speaking have the correct level security clearance?’, ‘is the person speaking over the phone distressed?’. It exploits the relationships between the signals at different points in time and across different signal to augment information available and identify relationships that exist in these big signals to answer these questions more precisely.
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Academic:
Hassan Habibi Gharakheili
(Meeting location: Electrical Engineering building, G17, Room 417, Lv4)
Timeslot(s):
Tuesday (5th July) 13:00-13:30; 13:30-14:00
Research Area(s):
IoT cybersecurity; behavioural characterisation and risk assessment for networked devices at scale
Research Overview:
My research group (IoT Network Security) focuses on developing methods and systems to automatically classify connected assets, systematically quantify cyber risks, and detect anomalous behaviours indicative of cyber-attacks. My group has pioneered research methods for formal modelling network behaviour of large scale IoT networks, evidenced by now top hit in Google search for “IoT MUD” (where MUD refers to the new IETF standard “Manufacturer Usage Description” developed for securing IoT devices).
We analyse network traffic data in the form of packet traces and/or flow streams/logs. Our research employs existing and develops new techniques in the areas of programmable networking and AI/ML-based modelling of network traffic to systematically combat sophisticated cyber-attacks. We build prototypes with real networked devices to demonstrate the efficacy of our methods. My group collaborates with Australian and international industry partners (Google, Cisco, NIST, KDDI) and research institutes (Brown University, The University of Adelaide, Deakin University, UNSW CSE) to measure and improve Internet cybersecurity.
Recently, our research into IoT cybersecurity has attracted investment from London-listed IP Group to help fund a UNSW spinout called CyAmast, now offering a commercial solution used by multiple enterprises in Australia, Europe, and the USA.
The group has openings for PhD candidates who have a passion for developing fundamentally new approaches to solving real-world problems in securing large and complex networked systems. Our work is largely empirical and tends to follow a two-phase methodology. First, we gather real-world network data that allows us to formalise and quantify specific problems. Second, we then develop new techniques that can address those newfound problems. Thus, strong programming, computer networking and data analysis skills are critical.
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Academics:
Prof. Jinhong Yuan
Dr. Deepak Mishra
Dr. Shane Xie
(Meeting location: Electrical Engineering building, G17, Wireless Communications Laboratory, Room 426, Level 4)
Timeslot(s):
Wednesday (6 July) 12:00-12:30; Wednesday (6 July) 12:30-13:00
Research Area(s):
Wireless communications, 5G and 6G cellular systems, satellite and space communications, underwater communications, integrated sensing and communications (ISAC), signal processing for communications, detection & estimation, FPGA and software-defined radios (SDR) design
Research Overview:
Our research group focuses on Communications Theory, Massive Multi-user MIMO, Millimeter-Wave Technology, Channel Coding and Signal Processing, Orthogonal Time Frequency Space Modulation and Underwater Acoustic communications. We have state-of-the-art software-defined radio (SDR) enabled wireless communication lab (WCL) equipped with advanced measurement tools and software from Agilent and National Instruments. Further, we also have a Spectra LTE-U Small cell base station that can transmit 4G LTE signals in the unlicensed spectrum for testing 4G performance in a realistic environment. Our WCL Research Group has an interdisciplinary research environment, which spans areas of information theory, satellite communications, signal processing, and physical layer FPGA and SDR design. The group collaborates with the top academic schools across the globe and many international industry partners like Ericsson, Telstra, CSIRO, Nokia-Bell Labs, and Huawei. We are looking to recruit motivated research students to work with us as Postdocs, PhDs, MPhils, research assistants, thesis/project or Taste of Research students broadly in the areas of communications technologies and theory, signal processing, time-varying communication systems, coding and modulation design, SDR and FPGA based next generation of communications system development.
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Academic:
Eliathamby (Ambi) Ambikairajah and Vidhyasaharan Sethu
Meeting Location: Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications Building, G17, Room 102, Level 1
Timeslot(s):
Monday: 11.00 – 11.30, 2.00 – 2.30
Thursday: 11.00 – 11.30, 2.00 – 2.30
Research Area(s):
Speech and Audio processing, Cochlear modelling – integrating auditory models into deep learning, Speaker verification, Emotion Prediction, Deep learning models employed in speech processing.
Resources:
The School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications has a state-of-the-art Speech Processing laboratory, with all the software that is required for speech signal processing research. Voice biometrics, emotion recognition and language identification baseline platforms developed by recent PhD graduates and postdoctoral fellows and expertise are available in the Speech Processing laboratory. Access to a vast range of speech databases that are utilised to train a number of systems including those for speech recognition, voice biometrics, emotion recognition and language verification will be provided. These databases were obtained under licence agreements by UNSW.
Current project(s):
Integrating Biologically Inspired Auditory Models into Deep Learning
Fundamental Research Question: How can a front-end be designed to provide a truly robust speech representation that can be used by any speech processing system under all realistic conditions? Keeping in mind that the human auditory system accomplishes this goal very well and that state-of-the-art deep learning systems provide the means to train various kinds of speech processing systems, how can the desirable properties of the human cochlea and auditory system be integrated into a deep learning framework?
The aim of the proposed research is to discover how a biologically inspired auditory model can be tightly integrated into a state-of-the-art deep learning speech processing framework, to model, design and exhaustively verify a deep learning based auditory model. This model aims to exploit both the adaptive properties of auditory models and the learning capabilities of deep learning systems, in order to form a continuously adaptive and interpretable deep learning model. This model should tremendously improve the robustness of speech processing systems and allow them to operate accurately under adverse noise conditions, which humans easily deal with, but which are currently an unsurmountable challenge for machines, and consequently make systems robust, secure and less open to voice-based spoofing attacks.
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Academic:
Aron Michael
(Meeting location: G17, Room 316, Lv3)
Timeslot(s):
Tuesday 11:00-11:30; Wednesday 11:00-11:30; Thursday 11:00-11:30.
Research Area(s):
NEMS, MEMS, Micro/nano actuators and sensors for micro-optics, piezoelectric thin film materials, low thermal budget Si and SiGe, CMOS-MEMS/NEMS-Photonics integration.
Research Overview:
The focus of my research is to develop novel nano/micro-scale devices with electrical, optical, and mechanical functionalities on a silicon chip with integrated circuits and photonics. It aims to address some of the major technological challenges that the semiconductor industry currently faces and well into the future, which is to enable low-profile and smaller systems with enhanced performances and functionalities. The need to address these challenges, although long-standing, has recently been accelerated by the unprecedented growth of artificial intelligence, IoT, and wearable applications. Specific projects include: (i) advanced piezo-electric micro-actuator for micro-optics devices such as smartphone cameras, pico-projector, wireless and confocal endoscopy, and recently microlidar for the autonomous driving system; (ii) low thermal budget Si and SiGe technologies for 3D monolithic integration of CMOS, MEMS, and silicon photonics;(iii) advanced nano cantilever probes for on-chip high-speed parallel scanning probe microscopy and lithography; (iv) smart nanomechanical cantilevers for chemical and bio-sensor applications.
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Academic:
Dr. Georgios Konstantinou & Dr. Felipe Arrano-Vargas
(Meeting location: Tyree Energy Technologies Building (TETB), Level 3, Lab 365- RTS@UNSW)
Timeslot(s):
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 10:30-11:00.
Research Area(s):
Real-time Simulations; Power Electronics; Hardware-in-the-loop testing;
Research Overview:
UNSW Sydney and the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications host the largest Real-time Digital Simulation Laboratory in Australia with extended simulation capabilities in the areas of: High-voltage DC networks; Multiterminal DC grids; Power System Protection Relay Testing; Renewable Energy Systems Controller testing; Smart Grids; Microgrids; Renewable Energy Systems.; Distributed Generation; Power Electronics.; Control System Testing; Controller Hardware-in-the-loop; Power Hardware-in-the-loop Testing.
For all information about our lab visit: https://research.unsw.edu.au/projects/real-time-digital-simulation-rts-laboratory-unsw-sydney