Study with us - University of Wollongong

Our research students are fundamental to the success of the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre. We welcome applications from prospective research students wanting to undertake a PhD or Masters by Research in the area of sustainability and innovation. For further information on academic opportunities or guidance about possible project areas and supervisors please contact us.

PhD opportunity with SBRC

We have a new PhD Scholarship available, "Data driven methods for delivering demand flexibility from non residential buildings". Read through the criteria, if it sounds like you, apply today!

PhD scholarship Browse UOW Scholarships

Meet our researchers

Associate Professor Georgios Kokogiannakis

My broader research aims to the development of tools and technologies that will lead to improved built environments that reduce the impacts on the energy resources and the environment, while providing healthy and comfortable indoor spaces for the occupants.

Dr Emma Heffernan

A highlight for me has been working within a team of researchers developing a prototype for sustainable mid-rise residential buildings utilising cold-formed steel. The project sought to identify sustainable solutions for mid-rise residential buildings in order to respond to Australian trends in densification of urban areas.

Senior Professor Paul Cooper

It was a privilege to be one of the senior staff on the successful Team UOW Desert Rose Solar Decathlon House campaign. This two-year project culminated in the team winning second place in the Solar Decathlon Middle East Competition, held in the desert an hour's drive from Dubai in November 2018.

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Research areas and topics

A wide range of potential research topics are available for PhD and Masters students.

Energy Efficiency and Decarbonization of Buildings
Modelling and Decision Making
Materials Construction
Human Factors

Thermal energy storage using phase change materials
Desiccant cooling technology
Commercial building energy efficiency
Off-grid renewable heating and cooling
Understanding thermal comfort and energy consumption in Social Housing.
Energy efficiency, comfort and health in low-income households.
Health and comfort implications of low energy retrofit strategies.
Energy monitoring, energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality in buildings
Demand management in electricity networks using renewable generation, energy storage and demand reduction enabled appliances
Auxiliary services for grid-connected renewable distributed generation and microgrid
Solar photovoltaics performance evaluation and optimisation

Building data analytics and deep learning
Building performance simulation
Monitoring of building energy performance
Internet of Things, Big Data and smart buildings
Construction supply chain development in indigenous communities: empowerment vs dictate
Building information modelling
Computational fluid dynamics

Vertical extension of buildings using cold-formed steel
Construction 4.0 – moving construction into the digital age
The role of construction for the circular economy model
Recycled materials in construction
Thermal performance of Full scale façade systems
Sustainable Prefabricated buildings

Occupant behaviours and thermal ergonomics including physiology and sensor development
Ventilation in hospitals and residential aged care

There is a range of Higher Degree Research (HDR) scholarships and awards available for eligible full-time HDR research students at UOW.

Research projects of students

Student	Thesis Title	Supervisors
Jacqueline Thim	Thermal behavior of the “Desert Rose House 2018” in a defined climatic zone depending on varied wall and roof constructions	Emma Heffernan, Paul Cooper, Timothy McCarthy, Alan Green
Essam Jnead	Performance of rapid assembly connections in modular cold-formed steel constructions	Timothy McCarthy, Lip Teh, Aziz Ahmed
Alberto Escribano	Lean/ Bim implementation in the construction sector	Timothy McCarthy, Tillmann Boehme
Ross Prandalos	Behaviour of foamed concrete incorporating recycled glass at fibre reinforcement	Neaz Sheikh, Timothy McCarthy
Abdullah Muhamad Ali Al-rawabdeh	An Investigation on the Analysis and Design of Screw Pile Foundations	Vinod Jayan Sylaja, Timothy McCarthy, Martin Liu
Kirthi Chetty	Cultivating Anaerobic Granules for Enhanced Self-healing Concrete in Wastewater Infrastructure	Guangming Jiang, Timothy McCarthy, Faisal Hai
Kanchana Wijayawardena	Exploring the Use of a Care-Focused Approach to Foster Gender Inclusion in the Construction Industry in Australia	Shamika Almeida, Timothy McCarthy, Nadia Zainuddin
James Roth	Optimised Behaviour of Load-Bearing Tensegrities	Timothy McCarthy, Alex Remennikov
Raed Abdelqader	Modelling of Power Quality Disturbances for Improved Mitigation Techniques	Duane Robinson, Sarath Perera
Obaidur Rahman	Integration of Renewables, Storage Devices and Electric Vehicles into the Future Power Grids	Duane Robinson, Sarath Perera, Sean Elphick
Edward Smith	Cooperative Strategies for Improving Power Quality, Utilisation and Resilience in Operation and Control of Microgrids	Duane Robinson, Ashish Agalgaonkar
Jude Suchithra Warnakulasuriya Warnakulasuriya	Power quality impact of utility-scale renewable energy generators on distribution systems	Duane Robinson, Amin Rajabi
Yeganeh Baghi	Delivering innovation in engineering as part of the Solar Decathlon.	Duane Robinson, Zhenjun Ma, Tillmann Boehme
Amin Jalilian	Advanced Protection Schemes for Future Power Grids Containing Renewables	Duane Robinson, Amin Rajabi
Imanka Ranmanna Dewayalage	An on-site calibration system for high/medium voltage power system high frequency measurements	Duane Robinson, Sarath Perera, Sean Elphick
Sean Elphick	Power Quality in Modern Electricity Distribution Systems	Duane Robinson, Sarath Perera, Jon Knott
Jason David	Harmonic Investigation of Large-Scale Wind and Solar Farms	Duane Robinson, Sarath Perera, Vic Gosbell
Samadhi Korale Liyanage	Development of high Fidelity models for large scale solar energy generating systems	Sarath Perera, Duane Robinson
Mututantrige Kasun Darshana Peiris	Power Quality Improvement of Distribution Networks with Distributed Energy Resources	Duane Robinson, Sarath Perera, Sean Elphick
Noah Biddle	Control and Visualisation Method for Small-Scale Microgrid	Duane Robinson, Craig McLauchlan
Zhipeng QI	Stand-alone power system with renewable energy sources	Md Rabiul Islam, Amin Rajabi, Md.Ashib Rahman
Alexander Rainer	Small Signal Stability Aspects Associated with Integrated Wind-HVDC systems	Sarath Perera, Ashish Agalgaonkar, Nalin Pahalawaththa
Pathum Maduranga Sudasinghe Sudasinghege	Study of Three Phase Induction Motor Operation Under Unbalanced Supply Voltages	Sarath Perera, Jeff Moscrop, Philip Commins
Dilhani Madhusha Chathurangi Weerasingha Liyanage	Development of Methodologies for the Evaluation of Solar PV Hosting Capacity in LV Networks Constrained by Voltage Rise	Sarath Perera, Upuli Jayatunga, Tilak Siyambalapitiya, Ashish Agalgaonkar
Quange Tong	Thermoelectric enhanced photovoltaic systems for environmentally friendly building	Zhenjun Ma, Amin Rajabi
Muhammad Bilal Awan	Development of Innovative Solutions for Building Energy Performance Management and Optimization	Zhenjun Ma, Wenye Lin
Jingjing Liu	Membrane-based desiccant cooling and dehumidification	Zhenjun Ma, Faisal Hai
Xinlei Zhou	Ground Source Heat Pump Systems for Enhanced Building Performance	Zhenjun Ma, Wenye Lin, Ping Cui
Xinyi Sha	Heating Characteristics and Optimization of a Solar Assisted Air Source Heat Pump based on Phase Change Material Energy Storage in Different Climates	Zhenjun Ma, Subbu Sethuvenkatraman
Shengteng Li	Development and evaluation of a direct expansion solar assisted heat pump with PCMs in photovoltaic thermal collectors	Zhenjun Ma, Wenye Lin
Yixuan Li	Research on Heat Transfer of the Closed-Loop Thermosyphon System with Microencapsulated Phase Change Material Suspension	Zhenjun Ma, Xuemei Gong
Craig Pickup	Evaluation of Retrofitting Commercial and Industrial Buildings for Energy Efficiency and Improved Work Environments	Zhenjun Ma, Clayton McDowell
Han Du	Robustness Enhancement for Air-conditioning Unit Sequencing Control under Uncertainty	Zhenjun Ma, Yale Carden, Natasa Nord
Menglong Lu	Optimal Design And Operation Analysis Of District Heating System Based On TRNSYS	Zhenjun Ma, Georgios Kokogiannakis
Dilini Nishadika Gunathilake Wickrama Achchige	Household Energy Efficiency and Comfort: Development of Building Simulation and Rating Tools that Incorporate Realistic Occupant Practices	Georgios Kokogiannakis, Paul Cooper, Massimo Fiorentini
Anneleise Carratt	Develop Building Energy Modelling Techniques to Optimise Energy Retrofit Measures in Residential Buildings	Georgios Kokogiannakis; Daniel Daly
Maedeh Motalebi	BIM-GIS platform integration for intelligent data-driven decision making towards sustainable building construction in Australia	Emma Heffernan, Timothy McCarthy
Yao Xiao	Indoor air quality against Sars-CoV-2 in higher education buildings	Timothy McCarthy, Zhenjun Ma
Kate Wingrove	Volume SUSTAINABuild: Embedding Sustainability into Expectations for, and Delivery of, Volume Build Homes.	Emma Heffernan, Daniel Daly
Atiyeh Ebrahimi	Simultaneous Wastewater Treatment and Power Generation using Constructed Wetland and Microbial Fuel Cell	MS Sivakumar, Ashley Ansari, Craig McLauchlan
Yao Xiao	Ventilation for Covid Infection Control in Existing Australian Health care setting	Zhenjun Ma, Paul Cooper, Alan Green, Timothy McCarthy

2022 HDR Completions

Student	Project title	Supervisors
Dissawe Mudiyanselage Lasanthika Harshani Dissawa	Utilisation of Inexpensive Sky-Imaging Technology for Irradiance Forecasting of Distributed Solar PV Generation	Janaka B. Ekanayake, Roshan I. Godaliyaddaa, Parakrama B. Ekanayakea, Ashish P. Agalgaonkar, Sarath Perera, Duane Robinson
Steven Beltrame	Thermal Performance of Apartment Buildings in Australia: Measurements, Modelling, and Codes	Paul Cooper, Zhenjun Ma

2021 HDR Completions

Student	Project title	Supervisors
Clayton McDowell	Energy efficient retrofits of residential buildings	Georgios Kokogiannakis, Paul Cooper
Ahmed Al-Bdoor	Development, Performance Evaluation and Design Optimisation of an Air-to-air Membrane Enthalpy Exchanger	Zhenjun Ma, Paul Cooper
Brendan Banfield	Model Predictive Control of Distributed Energy Resources in Smart Buildings and Grids	Duane Robinson, Phil Ciufo, Ashish P. Agalgaonkar
Tuan Vu	Harmonic Allocation to Major Loads in Transmission Systems	Duane Robinson, Vic Gosbell, Sarath Perera, Rizah Memisevic

2020 HDR Completions

Student	Project title	Supervisors
Kehua Li	Energy performance assessment of campus buildings using data mining technologies	Zhenjun Ma, Duane Robinson
Haoshan Ren	Development, Modelling and Performance Assessment of Phase Change Enhanced Desiccant Cooling	Zhenjun Ma, Weihua Li, Stefan Gschwander
Dilini Darmawardana	Higher Frequency Emissions in the Range of 2 - 150 kHz (Supraharmonics) in Electricity Distribution Networks	Sarath Perera, Duane Robinson, Phil Ciufo, Jan Meyer, Upuli Jayatunga
Asanga Jayawardana	Development of a Model Predictive Control Method to Optimise the Operation of a Residential System with Battery Storage and Solar PV Generation	Ashish P. Agalgaonkar, Duane Robinson, Massimo Fiorentini
Ana Villaça	A methodology to characterise the potential for sustainability retrofits in small commercial and retail buildings in regional centres	Emma Heffernan, Timothy McCarthy

2019 HDR Completions

Student	Project title	Supervisors
Nicholas Franklin	Loadbearing Cold-Formed Steel for Mid-Rise Residential Buildings in Australia	Timothy McCarthy, Lip Teh, Emma Heffernan
Wenke Fan	Development, modelling and optimisation of high-temperature photovoltaic thermal system	Georgios Kokogiannakis, Zhenjun Ma
Alan Green	Sprinkler systems for the protection of buildings from wildfire	Paul Cooper

2018 HDR Completions

Student	Project title	Supervisors
Lei Xia	Performance evaluation and optimisation of stand-alone ground source heat pumps and hybrid ground source heat pumps with integrated solar photovoltaic thermal collectors	Zhenjun Ma, Georgios Kokogiannakis
Navid Asadzadeh Aghdaei	Energy retrofitting of existing residential buildings: developing a decision process for energy saving and cost effectiveness	Timothy McCarthy, Georgios Kokogiannakis
Wenye Lin	Building performance enhancement using phase change materials and solar photovoltaic thermal systems	Zhenjun Ma, Georgios Kokogiannakis
Xiang Deng	Indoor Thermal Comfort in Naturally Ventilated and Mixed-mode Ventilated Buildings	Zhenjun Ma, Paul Cooper, Georgios Kokogiannakis

2017 HDR Completions

Student	Project title	Supervisors
Rui Yan	Application of data mining technology for commercial building performance assessment	Zhenjun Ma, Georgios Kokogiannakis
Yi Guo	Electrodialysis-assisted Liquid Desiccant Dehumidification: Experimental Investigation and System Development	Zhenjun Ma, Paul Cooper
Federico Tartarini	Impact of temperature and indoor environmental quality in nursing homes on thermal comfort of occupants and agitation of residents with dementia	Paul Cooper, Richard Fleming
Hung Cong Duong	Membrane distillation for strategic desalination applications	Long D. Nghiem, Paul Cooper
Jones Daniel	Economic Evaluation of Retrofitting Residential Buildings for Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort	Paul Cooper, Timothy McCarthy, Matthew Pepper
Mehdi Robati	Development of a sustainability approach for the structural design of buildings	Timothy McCarthy, Georgios Kokogiannakis
Ali Hussein Jabbar Al-Jubainawi	Experimental and numerical investigation of mechanisms governing the performance of electrodialysis for liquid desiccant regeneration	Zhenjun Ma, Long D. Nghiem
Bosui Li	Evaluation of building demand and PV system output in order to devise an improved tariff and operational strategy for sharing PV power	Duane Robinson, Ashish P. Agalgaonkar

2016 HDR Completions

Student	Project title	Supervisors
Joel Anderson	Modelling and performance evaluation of net zero energy buildings	Duane Robinson, Zhenjun Ma

2015 HDR Completions

Student	Project title	Supervisors
Daniel Daly	Optimal Retrofit Strategies and the Effects of Occupant Behaviour in Commercial and Educational Buildings to Minimise Electricity Consumption	Paul Cooper, Zhenjun Ma
Laia Ledo Gomis	Energy Efficiency and thermal comfort Upgrades for Higher Education Buildings	Paul Cooper, Zhenjun Ma
Su Huang	Energy Performance Evaluation and Optimisation of Ground Source Heat Pump Systems	Zhenjun Ma, Paul Cooper
Scott Redwood	Sustainable construction of new and retrofitting of buildings	Timothy McCarthy, Lip Teh
Michael Whitehouse	Illawarra Flame retrofit augmented reality 3D building information display	Duane Robinson, Paul Cooper
Massimo Fiorentini	Hybrid Model Predictive Control of Residential Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems with On-site Energy Generation and Storage	Zhenjun Ma, Paul Cooper
Athmi Vidarshika Jayawardena	Contributions to the development of microgrids: Aggregated modelling and operational aspects	Sarath Perera, Lasantha Meegahapolsa, Duane Robinson

2014 HDR Completions

Student	Project title	Supervisors
Aqeel Mohaisen	Development and modelling of an advanced solar-assisted liquid desiccant dehumidification air-conditioning system	Zhenjun Ma, Paul Cooper

Meet our Research Students

Yeganeh Baghi

Jingjing Lui

Get in touch

Contact SBRC