Research

The School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics has an active research culture which encompasses several research concentrations:

Advanced Enterprise Information Management Systems (AeIMS) Group
Artifical Intelligence Research (AIR) Group
Computational Astrophysics, Imaging & Simulation (CompAIS) Group
Health Informatics (eHealth) Group
Telehealth Research and Innovation Lab (THRIL) Group
Theoretical Investigations in Mathematics & Statistics (TIMS) Group,

Advanced Enterprise Information Management Systems (AeIMS) group

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to provide effective business solutions is the key to successful organisations in the 21st century. The Advanced enterprise Information Management Systems (AeIMS) research group at the University of Western Sydney has been researching on issues relating to organisations effectively using ICT to gain competitive advantage in the emerging global knowledge economy.

These research issues can be broadly classified into

Methodologies to transform the organisation (eTransformation) which includes business processes, skills of the employees, management structure of the organisation, management style, business strategies and ICT infrastructure.
Methodologies to develop eBusiness Applications within time and budget that can evolve with changing business requirements.
Study of emerging technologies and the impact on business strategy, eBusiness application development methodology and the possible new applications.

		Accordingly AeIMS research group is organised into 3 sub groups; -eTransformation Group, – eApplication Development Group and – Emerging Technologies Group.

AeIMS research group has very strong links with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Western Sydney Region which is the fastest growing economic region in Australia. There are 72,000 businesses in the region and about 10% of the Australian population live in this region. This region provides AeIMS research group an ideal test bed to verify their research findings. In 2000 and 2003 AeIMS research group carried out 2 major surveys to determine the usage of ICT in businesses in the entire Western Sydney Region.

[Click here for AeIMS web site]

The Artificial Intelligence Research (AIR) group

Artificial Intelligence Research (AIR) group comprises of academic staff, research fellows and postgraduate students from the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, the University of Western Sydney, Australia. AIR members share research interests in computational intelligence, software development and computer security. It is the objective of AIR to undertake excellent research in these areas and their fundamental common grounds.

Currently, AIR has four academic staff, two postdoc research fellows, and eight Honours and postgraduate research students. Generating the high quality research outcomes is always the primary goal of AIR. Through these years research practices, AIR has established its excellent research profile including a strong research training program, successful national competitive grant applications, and high standard publication records in the fields.

AIR has strong interests to retain current collaborations and establish new linkages with external individual researchers, research groups/institutes and industrial organizations, and to conduct joint research projects with these parties.

[Click here for AIR web site]

Computational Astrophysics, Imaging & Simulation (CompAIS) group

Our program in Computational Astrophysics builds on the scientific and technical strengths in the College of Health & Science (School of Computing & Mathematics) and on our relationships with the various world-wide institutes, to create at the University of Western Sydney a unique emerging national research group that will advance UWS and its (inter)national agenda for astrophysics.

CompAIS is engaged in fundamental and generic astrophysical observational research on the life of stars at all frequencies (Radio, Optical, IR, X-Ray) using available national and international instruments. The group wishes to expand the scope and enabling of its research, which includes:

Improved resourcing to enhance the current experimental observation work
Enhance our generic understanding of the astronomy and astrophysics of the universe (e.g. understanding Supernovae Remnants, Planetary Nebulae and Galactic magnetic field structures)
Galactic formation studies using computational modelling and simulation
The astrophysical origins of life: testing the Copernican principle of mediocrity from statistical stellar studies of star and galactic systems. Contribution to Astrobiology and the existence of life and its uniqueness in the universe from an astrophysical point of view. (e.g. SETI andSETI@home)
Development of data analysis, data mining and imaging software (e.g. image deconvolution and interpolation)
Use of distributed and networked computing facilities to perform simulation and theoretical modelling (e.g., N-body galactic simulation)
Promoting science and computing to community through engagement with IT-enabled research in Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics

Researchers from the group will contribute interactive demonstrations from Astronomy and Astrophysics to “Science in Suburbs” and other community targeting UWS events in GWS and beyond.

People:

[Clikc here for CompAIS web site]

Health Informatics (eHealth) group

Health Informatics (also called “eHealth”) covers the use of Information and Communications Technologies in supporting clinical processes and services in many diverse healthcare situations. Some well known components of Health Informatics are:

clinical decision support
electronic health records
health communications / messaging
health information management and analysis
telehealth / telemedicine
web services health applications

Health Informatics at UWS concentrates on three broad areas within the ICT space:

Health Data, including databases, data analytics / mining, medical image data
Health Decisions, including computational learning and pattern recognition
Health Processes, including hospital systems and patient journey modelling

At UWS, a multidisciplinary approach is taken in our Health Informatics activities and projects involve collaborators from areas outside ICT, either internally (eg Business, Medicine, Nursing) or externally (eg GP, Hospital, Health Department).

Current Health Informatics Research (eHealth) Projects

“A healthy start to life” – Targeting the year before and the year after birth in Aboriginal children in remote areas, NHMRC (J Curry) in collaboration with Charles Darwin University (L Barclay) and University of Technology Sydney ( Sally Tracy)
Automatic Tracking of Eye Gaze Patterns: Application to Quality Assessment and Security (A Maeder) in collaboration with Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden (U Engelke)
Patient Journey Modelling Meta-Methodology (J Curry) in collaboration with University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada (C McGregor)
Repository system for digital mammogram research (A Maeder) in collaboration with Flinders University (M Bottema)
Walk 2.0 wellness/fitness monitoring with social networking extensions (Gregory Kolt, Anthony Maeder) with Central Queensland University (NHMRC 2010-11)
ManUp health challenge online system (Gregory Kolt, Anthony Maeder, Rhys Tague, Emma George) with Central Queensland University and CSIRO (Queensland Health 2010-12)
Business systems design/engineering for Telehealth processes using standard software component methodology (Anthony Maeder, Athula Ginige)
Adaptive blended data clustering methods for complex health datasets (Arshad Muhammad Mehar (PhD student), Anthony Maeder, Kenan Matawie)
Online health education and promotion environment for diabetes patients (Glenn Mason (PhD student), Ian Wilson, Anthony Maeder)
Visualization of patient vital signs timelines for chronic disease management systems (Rhys Tague (Hons student), Anthony Maeder, Quang Vinh Nguyen)

Current Staff Members Involved in Health Informatics (eHealth)

[Click here for eHealth web site]

Telehealth Research and Innovation Lab (THRIL) group

The aims of THRIL are to create a research entity of National prominence in Telehealth and eHealth. This rapidly emerging Health-ICT niche area is critical to the future strength of our Health System and aligns with Australian Health Reform and National Broadband agendas.

Established in Jan 2011, the Telehealth Research and Innovation Laboratory(THRIL) operates on a multidisciplinary collaboration model drawing on the academic expertise of a number of key member participants from the Schools of Computing & Mathematics, Biomedical & Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing & Midwifery, as well as a number of other strong University of Western Sydney research groups. Equipment and computational capabilities were contributed from an existing Smart Space facility at University of Western Sydney’s Campbelltown campus, to establish a computationally sophisticated networked and reconfigurable sensor-rich environment for conducting innovative health informatics research.

The overall strategy of THRIL is to progress research and collaboration using intelligent and innovative ICT methods supporting new models of Health care in areas such as aged care & independent living, chronic disease management, and physiotherapy & rehabilitation. The ICT dimension will consist of three elements:

Data Management and Analysis: e.g. database/eResearch tools, data mining, modelling, visualisation, linking/annotating data, health records
Software/Hardware for Telehealth/eHealth: e.g. deision support, health workflow and patient journey modeling, health business process ehngineering design/development methodology
Intelligent Automated Systems and Human Factors: e.g. user interaction, virtual/aware environments, assistive technologies, monitoring devices/sensors, natural language processing, image/video, visual attention.

All are underpinned by current or recent funded research activities and existing expertise and research momentum.

[Click here for THRIL web site]

Theoretical Investigations in Mathematics & Statistics (TIMS) group

TIMS is a group of researchers who share expertise in various theoretical aspects of the mathematical sciences. While all members have key interests in the fundamental aspects of mathematics and statistics, all also have wider scientiﬁc interests that look to applications of mathematical and statistical ways of thinking.

[Click here for TIMS web site]