Bubbles capture minerals and toxic algae

A radical flotation technology has earned Australia over $4 billion in mineral exports each year by improving mineral particle recovery from wastewater.

Jameson Cell technology is used in over 300 mineral processing plants worldwide. Credit: University of Newcastle

Chemical engineer Graeme Jameson, AO, of the University of Newcastle, developed the technology, which was first used in mineral processing plants and is now being applied to other industrial practices.

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Shine on you tiny diamond

Tiny diamonds have been used to track single atoms and molecules inside living cells.

Photo: Lloyd Hollenberg’s team are using a nanodiamond sensor to explore inside a living human cell. Credit: David Haworth, University of Melbourne

A University of Melbourne team has developed a device that uses nanoscale diamonds to measure the magnetic fields from a living cell’s atoms and molecules, with resolution a million times greater than current magnetic resonance imaging.

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A malaria vaccine target

Photo: Alan Cowman’s research may lead to a vaccine against the malaria parasite, which is transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito. Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Dept Health and Human Services

A vaccine is the holy grail of malaria control. Alan Cowman, of Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, has discovered proteins that are key to the malaria parasite’s virulence, and therefore a potential vaccine target. He’s been able to weaken live parasites by manipulating their genes. It’s the culmination of over 20 years’ research into malaria and won Alan a $50,000 Victoria Prize.

Photo: Alan Cowman’s research may lead to a vaccine against the malaria parasite, which is transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito.
Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Dept Health and Human Services

Mundane passion anchors $20 billion industry

An engineer has credited a passion for the mundane as the driving force behind his geotechnical solutions that have influenced nearly all the oil and gas developments in north-west Western Australia.

Mark Randolph is providing engineering solutions to support offshore oil rigs.

The industry is expanding rapidly to meet the demand for natural gas in the growing Asian economies. Mark Randolph has contributed to anchoring the essential infrastructure as the industry moves offshore and into deep waters. He provides the analysis and design of piled foundations and solutions for offshore foundations, anchoring systems and pipelines.

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Starch to save young lives

A fibre may help save millions of children in developing countries who die or who are left malnourished from diarrhoea each year.

Resistant starch in the diet may protect millions of children in developing countries from diarrhoea.

Graeme Young, AM, of Flinders University, is leading a global project that will test his theory that resistant starch increases zinc absorption in the body.

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Putting off joint replacement

Advanced medical imaging has allowed Tasmanian scientists to trial new therapies for osteoarthritis and to potentially delay the need for joint-replacement surgery.

Photo: Hip replacement surgery may not be needed with Graeme Jones’s new therapy for osteoarthritis. Credit: NIADDK, 9AO4 (Connie Raab-contact); NIH

Graeme Jones and his team from the Menzies Research Institute used dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to see what was happening to a joint’s internal structure as osteoarthritis developed, allowing them to spot changes long before a conventional X-ray could.

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Clunies Ross

The 2013 ATSE Clunies Ross Award Winners follow in the footsteps of past winners such as Ian Frazer, inventor of the cervical cancer vaccine; Nobel laureate Barry Marshall, who discovered the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers; Fiona Wood, inventor of spray-on skin; and Martin Green and Stuart Wenham, international leaders in silicon cell technology.

Australia’s Anzac frigates are being upgraded with Ian Croser’s radar technology to defend themselves against missiles. Credit: Australian Defence Department

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Academy recognition

Photo: Wouter Schellart’s geodynamics research into the activity of the Earth’s mantle, including the Mt Etna volcano, earned him the AAS Anton Hales medal for Earth Sciences. Credit: NASA

The Australian Academy of Science recognised five individuals for their career achievements in 2013.