Advanced Engineering

The Advanced Engineering Program at the University of Sydney is open to students who have proven outstanding academic ability (a UAI of 98 or higher). It offers the opportunity to defer physics and mathematics in the first year and work in a supervised design group of about six students developing a premise into a working prototype.

Entry to the program is by invitation from the Dean following the release of HSC results. The program is available in all engineering disciplines at the University of Sydney and continues in Year 2, 3 and 4.

In 2006, first year students are working on a series of exciting research projects, which address humanitarian and sustainability issues. Clever, easily manufactured products and solutions for the undeveloped world are unlikely to be produced by the free market economy. Students in the Faculty of Engineering have the opportunity to design products that will help the undeveloped world.

The projects will focus on any of the following areas: clean water, improved housing, solar pumps, innovative transport, food preservation, information dissemination and electricity generation. The projects aim to deliver simple solutions and improvements to everyday problems using materials which cost little or nothing. Some of the projects include:

• The Cup of Life ... a child's personal water purifier: This projects aims to develop a cup which is to be used to scoop water from an unclean source and transform it into clean drinkable water. Every child would get one and be taught to treasure it. The energy to operate the filter would be that of the child. It could combine reverse osmosis with good filtration.
• Economic safe roofs for earthquake zones: The purpose of this project is to provide a safe, ductile roof system, probably of cold formed steel with energy absorbing joints. The non load bearing infill walls could then be of any suitable traditional materials.
• Auto mapping: The third world needs infrastructure, this means mapping. The aim of this project is to involve local high school students by equipping them with GPS. This would become a means for storing and uploading track, path and road data. A central data base would automatically build a composite picture of terrain and contours.
• Cheap artificial limbs: This project aims to explore possibilities for the development of cost effective modern prosthesis which can be manufactured locally. This is needed for landmine infested areas.
• Personal mine detector: The need is obvious. The locals have to be empowered to make their fields safe from these evil contraptions. It's some sort of inspired metal detector or E-nose or ultrasound. It's operated on a long stick. Some sort of GPS or laser guided, blast proof, thumping and poking machine with radar, magnetic or ultrasonic sub-surface detectors.
• Sun tracking mechanism for solar boiler or refrigerator: The purpose of this project is to design and build a simple mechanism that does not use batteries. It should track the sun by rotating through the day and than reset at night.
• Solar refrigerator: In this project, students will develop a solar refrigerator. The design parameters are large capacity, simpler materials, rather than using expensive photovoltaic cells. Sodium chloride solution maybe. This might work in conjunction with the solar boiler at the focus of a sun tracking mechanism or a stainless steel parabola.