Author Editor
Date April 20, 2021

Training Centre Director, Andy Ball and Deputy Directors, Kalpit Shah and Aravind Surapaneni recently toured the site of the new Pilot Plant facility currently under construction at RMIT’s Bundoora West campus, with project manager Melinda Iser.

The ARC ITTC Transforming Biosolids Pilot Plant facility will be utilised by academics from the schools of both Science and Engineering – researchers involved in both RMIT and ARC-funded Centres. This new unique facility will help strengthen RMIT’s international standing in resource and waste technologies’ research mainly around the chemical, thermal and hydrothermal processing of biosolids. RMIT is poised to become a unique place to host various waste technology research in Australia.

Through funding from ARC and industry, RMIT acquired ten new unique assets (several lab-, bench-, semi-pilot and pilot-scale rigs as well as gas analysers) which are due to be housed at this site.

The new facility is due to be completed by July 2021.

[Image: RMIT Project Management  (L-R) Dr Aravind Surapaneni, Dist. Prof. Andy Ball, A/Prof Kalpit Shah, Melinda Iser]

 

 

 

Author Editor
Date April 1, 2021

UPDATE: These positions have now been filled. (Ed)

 

Exciting progress today on implementing the Training Centre’s biosolids research programme with the advertising of four (4) new Postdoctoral Research Assistant positions at RMIT University.

Located at the Bundoora campus,  the Postdoctoral Research Assistants will work with Centre Director, Dist. Professor Andy Ball and the Centre’s Deputy Director (Academic), Associate Professor Kalpit Shah on Projects 1B, 1C and 3C.

For further details, and links to the RMIT Careers website, go to our Training page – located here

Author Editor
Date January 27, 2021

Congratulations to our Theme Leader, Professor Damien Batstone from The University of Queensland, on his involvement in the above project which was successful in the recently announced CRC Projects Round 10 awards.

This CRC-P brings together industry, regulators and research partners to develop a suite of technologies to increase existing treatment infrastructure capacity, produce quality biosolids for soil fertiliser and increase bioenergy recovery.

Details can be found here.

Author Editor
Date December 16, 2020

The ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource took a leap forward this week by finalising all its project proposals.

In a series of on-line Industry Endorsement Workshops held over the past 5 weeks during November and December, Chief Investigators on all ten projects presented feedback received from industry partners following the initial consultation round, and reviewed amendments to the projects as a result of this valuable industry input.

Workshop discussions then helped to clarify and prioritise industry expectations and sought to identify potential impacts from the Centre’s research on the future of the sector.

The close cooperation and support of industry personnel and user groups for the Centre’s research program is significant in helping to create strong partnerships and ensuring the long term practical application of research outcomes.

Author Editor
Date December 9, 2020

UPDATE: These positions have now been filled. (Ed)

 

The University of NSW is seeking two Research Associates to work on Theme 3 Projects 3A and 3B.  The recruitment process has commenced and details of these positions and how to apply can be found  on the UNSW website.

Applications close on 4 January 2021.

For further details please refer to the following:

• Details on the Theme 3 projects – see here
• Research Associate position for Project 3A – see here
• Research Associate position for Project 3B – see here

 

Author Editor
Date December 9, 2020

Biosolids Training Centre researchers were recently named as recipients of the following notable awards:

Dr Sarvesh Soni from RMIT University (pictured left) has received the 2020 RMIT Award for Research Impact – Technology. The citation notes the “potential and impact of his research includes transformation in the way biosolids are managed in Australia, which paves the way for improved and more environmentally sustainable practices globally”. See more from RMIT’s award announcement here.

Professor Stuart Khan from the University of New South Wales is among 25 leading Australian scientists and engineers announced as the 2020 Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) Fellows. Professor Khan’s pioneering contributions to the field of water management – through his research and advocacy for urban water quality and management – have influenced water policy and industry adoption internationally. For more, see the UNSW Newsroom’s article here.

Author Editor
Date September 21, 2020

UPDATE: The conference organisers advised this event has been postponed due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  (Ed)

The Australian Water Association and the Australian & New Zealand Biosolids Partnership are holding the Biosolids National Conference 2021 on 4-5 March 2021.

This biannual conference will be delivered as a digital event. Details are available here.

Author Editor
Date September 15, 2020

RMIT News reports today that

“Researchers have used biosolids to produce hydrogen from wastewater, in new technology that supports the comprehensive recycling of one of humanity’s unlimited resources – sewage”.

 

Refer here to read this article.

 

 

SOURCE: RMIT News – published 15 September 2020

Author Prof. Andrew Ball
Date September 8, 2020

This is the first meeting of the ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource.

The meeting aims to provide an opportunity for all partners in the Centre to meet online.

The meeting will provide an outline of the Centre’s focus, governance and high level strategy and vision.

Presentations will also cover:

• the industry outlook, current and future challenges
• key industry expectations; and
• an outline of each of the three main research themes and associated projects.

The event will close with a Q&A session and a look at Next Steps for the Centre.

 

Update

The recording of the webinar is now available here (Duration: 1 hour 34 mins)

[Note this link appears to be limited to RMIT users – wider distribution links  are being investigated – Ed]

Key presentations can be found at the following indicative times (hour.mins.secs) during the recording:

9.30       Trevor Stevenson & Clare Russell – RMIT welcome

14.20     Andy Ball, Director – Centre focus and governance

22.30     Barry McGookin – Introduction & presentation – industry outlook, challenges

32.57     Anas introduced Panel

34.00    Judy Blackbeard – Introduction & presentation – key industry expectations

47.22     Damian Batstone – Theme 1 projects

58.24     Megan Ryan – Theme 2 projects

1.09.52  Richard Stuetz – Theme 3 projects

1.23.26  Q and A

1.29.20  Andy Ball – Close

1.34.05  End.

Author Prof. Andrew Ball
Date July 13, 2020

Since the Ministerial announcement regarding the award of the Centre much has happened. However, everyone involved in the Centre has continued to work towards the establishment of the Centre. I am pleased to report that following the execution of the grant agreement in November 2019 and a Centre Ignition Meeting held just before the lockdown at the end of February 2020, all Participating Organising Agreements have been executed. I am delighted to confirm that the ARC Training Centre for the Transformation of Australia’s Biosolids Resource will formally commence on 1 August 2020.

The Centre will operate until 31 July 2025 and this presents us all with a unique opportunity to develop new ways to manage biosolids that will help transform the agriculture and manufacturing industries through capability and knowledge building, creating new business opportunities as well as providing an environmental dividend.

Due to current events that have unfolded over the past few months, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide an update on behalf the Centre Leadership team and confirm the next steps to be undertaken as we begin formal operations.

Centre Projects

All 10 research projects (under 3 themes) are now being finalised with our industry partners on terms of review and sign-off to allow us to commence research activity within the Centre. 

Centre Manager Recruitment

• The process of recruiting a Centre Manager is nearing completion. We expect to announce the outcome at the beginning of July, with the Manager in position for the formal Centre commencement date (1^st August 2020).
• Industry Centre Higher Degree Students and Industry Centre Postdocs has been finalised and will be communicated shortly.
• We expect that the first 6 months of any PhD which commences in the first year of the Centre is likely to be undertaken remotely, with literature reviews and other scoping activities the focus during this period.

New Centre Partners

Since the Centre was awarded, there have been numerous requests from organisations to join the Centre, a testament to its central role that we will be playing in transforming industry sectors. To date, we have taken the position of holding off on onboarding new partners until such time that all existing participants had signed on. With this now complete, the Centre Leadership team will now begin discussions with these parties.