| Smart Timber Monitor set to save industry millions Associate Professor Peter Farrell, from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, is working with researchers from the Melbourne School of Land and Environment to remotely monitor decay and insect manifestations in construction timber that could save Australia millions. | |
| Out of this world: Exchange student’s Swedish rocket project “The experience of a lifetime” is how Will Reid described his time managing a rocket experiment in Sweden for the past 18 months. The Mechatronics and Computer Science student’s handiwork will be launched 85km into the earth’s atmosphere later this year. | |
| Electrical engineering alum wins national IET competition Congratulations to electrical engineering graduate, Genevieve Beart, who has won the National final of the IET Present Around the World competition. | |
| Graduate Engineering and IT Expo At our Graduate Engineering and IT Study Expo on Tuesday 12 June, you will have the chance to learn more about our suite of graduate courses. | |
| MAP Info Night: commercialise your great ideas Attend the MAP Participant Information Night on Thursday 26 April to find out how your bright engineering ideas can be turned into commercial reality. Open to staff, students and alumni (up to five years from graduation) of the MSE. | |
| Brian Krongold wins teaching award Dr Brian Krongold from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has been awarded the 2012 University of Melbourne Edward Brown Award for Teaching Excellence. | |
| Wireless monitoring of knee osteoarthritis IBES and Ericsson Australia have funded the production of a prototype device to remotely monitor patients with knee osteoarthritis. | |
| Biomedical engineers research to control epilepsy Associate Professor David Grayden, Deputy Head (Academic) of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering is leading a research project in conjunction with the Bionics Institute and St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, that is investigating how electrical stimulation of the brain can be used to stop epileptic seizures. |
Dragan Nesic, Future Fellow
Voice, vol 6, no 1, Jan 11 – Feb 8 2010
Professor Dragan Nesic, recent Melbourne Future Fellowship recipient, is one of 25 outstanding early and mid-career academics who will conduct research into an area of national priority to advance Australia’s standing in research and innovation. Dragan’s research into control engineering features in this month’s edition of the Voice
Dr Darryl Veitch has been recognised by the IEEE for for contributions to measurement, estimation, and characterization of internet traffic and performance. Dr Veitch is elevated to IEEE Fellow effective 1 January 2009
Professor Stan Skafidas leads the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering's research in nanoelectronics, as well as being the course coordinator for the Master of Nanoelectronic Engineering program.
Students benefit from having access to an electronics test and design facility unique in the South East Asian region, which provides hands on experience with testing and design of micro- and nano- electronic systems.
Nanoelectronic systems are a new and exciting area of technology and the next step in the progression of micro-electronic systems. New nanoelectronic systems distinguish themselves from their micro-electronic counterparts in that they: are smaller; more integrated; operate at higher frequencies; and use less power.
Nano-electronic systems are critical in many areas including medicine, the environment, aerospace, wireless and photonic communication systems, and automotive applications. Read more ...

Staff: Erik Weyer, Michael Cantoni, Peter Dower, Iven Mareels, Yuping Li, Nadia Bedjaoui
Sponsors: Rubicon Systems, Australian Research Council
Email Contact: ewey@unimelb.edu.au
Key Phrases: modeling and control; distributed control; hierarchical control systems; irrigation networks;
Water is an increasingly precious resource and as such, it is important to manage it well. Large-scale networks of irrigation channels supply farmers with water from rivers and reservoirs, and in Victoria alone there are several thousand kilometres of irrigation networks. The water losses in these channels are large, and it is estimated that as much as the equivalent of Melbourne's total water consumption is lost in irrigation channels in Victoria. In most cases, the losses are due to the tendency to oversupply resulting in the release of more water than is necessary from rivers and reservoirs. In this project we have developed automatic control systems which command automated gates along the channels to regulate the flows and water levels on the basis of on-line measurements.