Engineering and IT at UTS

2019 Major grant successes

The Faculty of Engineering and IT had a stellar year in 2019. We successfully received funding across the following major categories :

• 10 ARC Discovery Projects totalling to over $4M in funding,
• 5 ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRAs) totalling to over $2M in funding
• 2 Future Fellowships totalling close to $2M in funding and 1 CRC-P totalling to $3M in funding.

The outcomes of these schemes have been a tremendous achievement for UTS and well deserved recognition for the many researchers that contribute to the ongoing success of the faculty.

Australian Laureate Fellowship 2019

Distinguished Professor Jie Lu, Associate Dean Research Excellence, has been awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship for her exemplary commitment to research excellence. This highly regarded fellowship scheme supports world-class researchers to conduct research in Australia and marks the first Australian Laureate Fellowship for UTS. Professor Lu’s project aims to create a novel research direction – autonomous machine learning for data-driven decision-making – that innovatively and effectively learns from big data to support decision-making in complex (massive, uncertain, dynamic) situations.

A set of new theories, methodologies and algorithms will give artificial intelligence the ability to learn autonomously from data to enable machine learning capability to effectively handle tremendous uncertainties in data, learning processes and decision outputs, particularly enabling smart learning in massive domains, massive streams, and massive-agent sequentially changing environments. The project’s outcomes are expected to improve data-driven decision-making in multiple industry sectors.

Australian Museum Eureka Prize 2019

Professor Longbing Cao has won the prestigious 2019 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for his excellence in data science research.  The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are the country’s most comprehensive national science awards, honouring excellence across the areas of research and innovation, leadership, science engagement, and school science.

Presented annually in partnership with some of the nation's leading scientific institutions, government organisations, universities and corporations, the Eureka Prizes raise the profile of science and science engagement in the community by celebrating outstanding achievement. Professor Cao has developed cutting-edge theories and systems to analyse real-life complex data for smarter business transformation and enabled more efficient, active and tailored debt recovery and payment collection practices, which produced significant socio-economic benefits to Australia.

UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT and DXC Digital Transformation Centre (DTC)

The UTS and DXC Digital Transformation Centre (DTC) was officially launched in the Faculty of Engineering and IT in early December 2019. The collaboration with DXC Technology, the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company, introduces a new model of engagement between industry and research, designing and developing digital solutions to solve business and societal challenges. The DTC will generate endless opportunities for students, staff, the Faculty and the University as a whole.

Engineers Australia’s Most Innovative Engineers

Distinguished Professor Jie Lu and Dr Ha Pham were named as one of Australia’s Most Innovative Engineers for 2019 within the Community and General Industry categories. Australia’s Most Innovative Engineers listing seeks to recognise engineering innovation and raise the profile of the profession by showcasing the important role engineers play in solving some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Our research students

Our Faculty had over 124 PhD and Masters (research) candidates complete their degrees in 2019.

Engineering and IT Professionals are among the top trusted professions in Australia, and for good reason – they make ideas come to life and help shape the future.
 
UTS is about transformative learning experiences. The Faculty of Engineering and IT is recognised for practice-based education, and we are proud to play a leading role in supporting the future STEM workforce. A key focus of our degrees is enabling students to gain real-world experience during their studies. We are committed to developing strong industry partnerships in support of our models of learning, which include internship and scholarship programs.
 
We offer over 8,000 students access to rigorous internships and work experience programs. Over 1,000 Engineering and IT students undertook a placement annually.
 
UTS's fundamental commitment to Social Justice, equity and respect for diversity ties closely with the proud tradition of helping all students, no matter what their background is, to reach their full potential. The faculty also awards over 90 scholarships annually supported by more than 60 partners ranging from organisations to Foundations to Family Trusts and bequests. These scholarships not only provide financial support, but many also offer industry experience, mentoring, leadership and professional development opportunities, and support for women in STEM, students from under-represented groups or those experiencing educational barriers, and high achieving students.

• Over the past three years, Galuwa Experience has attracted 84 high school students from years 9 to 12. The program to date has raised $403,000 in sponsorship to help expand the program. Current sponsors include Aurecon, ABB, Lend Lease, TransGrid, Westpac, James N Kirby Foundation, UTS College and UTS Jumbunna.
• 193 students supported the Faculty's new volunteer initiative, reaching out to over 5,000 high school students and encouraging them to consider engineering and IT as a career.
• The Lucy Mentoring Program ran at UTS for the fifth time and successfully linked up female engineering and IT students with industry mentors.

• Received a 5-star Green Certified Design rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, representing Australian Excellence in the sustainable design of education buildings.
• Received a Denis Joseph Award for Innovative Use of Solar Energy in HVAC&R, recognising its outstanding system that utilises solar energy to operate a HVAC&R system.
• 'Highly Commended' in the NSW Government's Green Globe Awards for Built Environment Sustainability.