Research Interests (attention students)

I have assisted with/facilitated) the running of postgraduate Industrial Mathematics weeks  in Indonesia (at ITB Bandung), in Canada (PIMS in Regina and  Calgary), South Africa (AIMS, Wits) and Australia. Many interesting problems from industry arose out of these meetings.

Below is a list of problems that I am currently working on that would be suitable for Honours or post graduate student work. Being a modeller I often work with individuals and groups outside mathematics. Papers related to this work can be found in my publication list. Other material is available on request. The problems that I've worked on have come from many companies, small and big, concerned with improving their competitive edge. As a modeller my interest lies with the sums and the students, not the money. Companies that I've worked with include Uncle Toby's, BHP, Hardie, CRA, ICI, duPont, British Steel, BrewTech, Mouldflow, Age Developments, Unilever, LNEC,  Packers International. I also work with colleagues in Engineering and Physics and from medicine.

• Malting. (Brewtech) The main task in the brewing process is the conversion of the starch in barley grains into alcohol. This process involves malting, milling, mashing, boiling and fermentation. Germination occurs during malting producing enzymes that break down starch molecules into sugars which are converted to alcohol by adding yeast during fermentation. An understanding of the production, diffusion and reaction processes occuring during germination is thus of interest to the brewer as well as the biologist and modeller.
• The AAR reaction in dams. Concrete suffers from an `ageing process' due to a chemical reaction between active silica present in aggregates and alkalais present in cement. This reaction produces a gel which swells and thus affects the strength of concrete structures in general, and in dams in particular. This problem comes from LNEC, Portugal.
• Water Cooling of Concrete dams.
  
• The flotation process: Foams can be used for separating out valuable minerals. Ofter unwanted materal is floated to the foam surface as well as the valuable material. How to improve the process? Foams are also used for building materials, and are important for food products, beer and icecream.
• Mike Trefy and Lloyd Townley, (http://www.dwr.csiro.au) at CSIRO WA have a number of interesting and important environmental problems involving transport of water and pollutants through soil. Joint supervision would be appropriate for these studies.
• Radiation Propagation over the Ocean (with Brett Nener, Engineering). The propagation of light rays over the ocean is strongly influenced by the presence of water droplets generated by the action of wind on water waves and by temperature and humidity variations. The aim is to produce a usefully simple mathematical model to determine accurately the propagation of light rays over large distances in known conditions, and to use this model for solving the inverse problem.
• Inverse Problems. Various groups at the UWA are involved in inverse problems, and joint supervision is encouraged. The basic aim of this work is to use wave propagation methods (sound, EM radiation, light) to determine the physical structure of an unseen object. In Western Australia, where valuable minerals are abundant, ore detection is of special interest, but the same problems arise in medical areas (detection of anatomical abnormalities). 
• Ice Cream models. Ice cream manufacturers would like to ensure that their final product tastes good and can withstand the (thermal) buffeting that occurs during storage and transport. Ice cream is a partially frozen mixture of water, air, cream fat, and other natural indegrients introduced to stabilize the final product. Thermal buffeting can change the structure.
• Ice Accretion on Aircraft Wings (British Aerospace). During holding ice can build up on aircraft wings. This can reduce lift and increase drag. Lubrication theory models need to be developed to determine the buildup under glazing conditions.
• Badminton racquet design. The aim is to design the racquet to fit the player by adjusting the racquet parameters.
• Cancer research models (Cross Institute). By using combination therapies one can improve the prognosis.
• Geothermal problems.
  
• Oil detection using electromagnetics.
  
• Enzyme kinetics. The malting process in brewing.
  
• Crack propagation, and crack repair problems in mining.
  
• Wind turbine design.
  
• Packer design.
  

Student Supervision

I am happy to supervise both honours and Ph D students in all of the topics indicated above, and other suitable industrial or medical modelling topics. I encourage student to do cross discipline work with joint supervision. We have an active research Continuum Mechanics and Industrial Mathematics Group at UWA working with colleagues at Murdoch University, Curtin University, and various CSIRO groups, and other interstate and overseas groups, with a continual stream of visitors.

At present I am supervising:

Feb 2011