Access to space and uncrewed aerial systems are rapidly decreasing in cost, driving new opportunities. We pursue topics in space systems engineering, advanced propulsion systems, and control of aerospace structures and vehicles. A key central topic of the School of Engineering is aerospace systems for Earth observation. These topics will leverage particular ANU strengths in electrical and mechatronics engineering, as well as expertise from the Advanced Instrumentation Technology Centre. We continue to be a key contributor to ANU InSpace. We design and deliver a world-class systems-focused aerospace engineering education program with a suite of offerings including microcredentials, undergraduate, and postgraduate coursework. We aim to be the education partner of choice for national and international aerospace companies, particularly in the systems space. 

Electrical engineering fundamentally underpins many of the solutions to current societal challenges. This includes the design and development of advanced communications, signal processing, and control algorithms. Existing expertise in these areas would provide strong support to endeavours in several of the other activity clusters; particularly mechatronics and aerospace engineering, and collaborating with the School of Computing in the area of computer engineering. We contribute to the zero-carbon energy transition by advancing the state-of-the-art in 21st century power systems, particularly through the Battery Storage & Grid Integration Program. We also continue to make fundamental contributions in the area of energy and devices, particularly in the area of solar photovoltaics and including the technology to underpin the hydrogen economy. 

Managing our natural and urban environments in the face of growing population pressures and climate change – including increasingly severe droughts, storms, and bushfires – is one of the great challenges of our time. We focus on areas of significant national importance including interconnected urban systems, management and monitoring of our waterways and surrounding oceans, and bushfire prediction and response. This will leverage expertise in other engineering clusters for the development of sensors, monitoring platforms, and signal processing algorithms, as well as in Computational Science and Data Science & Analytics clusters in the School of Computing. We work closely with allied efforts across the ANU including in the Fenner School of the Environment and Research School of Earth Sciences. We propose to found a first-in-the-nation Indigenous Environmental Engineering Design Studio with the specific aim of threading Indigenous ways of knowledge throughout our work in this space. In collaboration with the Design cluster in the School of Cybernetics, this will readily serve as a seed activity to grow the support and use of Indigenous ways of knowledge across the College. 

Industry 4.0+ will rely heavily on advanced, flexible, and configurable manufacturing. Environmental monitoring will require autonomous mobile air, land, and sea systems. We build on ANU historical expertise in computer vision, machine learning, robotics, and systems and control to carve out a unique and internationally recognised mechatronics activity. We will pursue broad application areas in distributed optimisation and control of autonomous systems with a particular focus on the development of low cost, safety-critical monitoring and control systems. We will be well-positioned to support multiple highly competitive international student design project teams in mechatronics, providing students with world-class educational experiences particularly with respect to systems design, integration, and operation drawing on expertise across the College.