Students unveil their vision for the future on national stage
Australian Maritime College
9 -12-2013
The future of the Australian maritime sector will be empowered by marine engineering above and beneath the waves, and autonomous underwater vehicles will play a central role in this vision.
AUVs will help drive the discovery of marine bioactive compounds to provide relief for medical ailments and treat diseases such as cancer. Plastic ocean pollutants will be transformed to manufacture the next generation of AUVs, which in turn will be powered by carbon neutral biofuels.
This exciting future is the brainchild of three AMC students and has generated interest on the national stage during the finals of the Warren Centre Vision30 competition.
The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering is an independent, industry-linked institute dedicated to fostering innovation in engineering. Its Vision30 competition aims to help create a strategy for Australian industries for the next 30 years by tapping into the ideas of the under-30 generation.
Naval architecture students James Keane and Reuben Kent together with marine conservation student Natalie Radojcic were part of a group of finalists to provide their view of “what might be, what can be, what should be”.
“Using waste harvested by autonomous drones from the world’s oceans, we can create recycled composites capable of replacing the most advanced materials used in engineering. The technology to restore our oceans exists today; Australia just needs the motivation to do so,” James said.
“The next generation of maritime engineers are all nerdishly excited about the applications for AUVs. Our colleagues are already preparing fleets of drones capable of providing quick, safe response to natural disasters, so in 30 years we envision highly capable and powerful fleets of aerial and underwater drones increasingly operating with human collaborators in the marine environment.”
As the biologist of the three, Natalie said her role was to explain how maritime engineering could further our biological knowledge of the ocean and allow for greater discovery.
“There is great potential for the discovery of marine bioactive compounds to cure and provide relief to medical ailments,” she said.
“The ability for humans to access these materials is limited. AUV technology will abolish these limitations, providing the opportunity for greater exploration in our oceans and improving the health and wellbeing of Australians.”
Reuben said the competition provided an invaluable networking opportunity and taught him the importance of discussing results rather than ideas.
“The think tank was interested in innovation in the way that it drives social change, rather than technology for its own sake,” he said.
“So we learnt to propose our future ideas as drivers of change, and to discuss our ideas for AUVs in terms of how it will affect society as a whole.”