Industry bursary sends Deakin PhD student to international timber engineering forum

Ms Das is in the second year of her PhD with Deakin’s School of Engineering, working on a project sponsored by AusNet Services investigating non-destructive testing for precise condition assessment of timber utility poles.

'Timber poles are widely used all over the world for power and distribution networks. Current practice relies on visual and manual inspection to assess the pole’s condition, and statistics in Australia show a significant number of poles are replaced unnecessarily, while other poles fail unexpectedly,' Ms Das says.

'My research focuses on developing a novel statistical algorithm for the condition assessment of timber poles using advanced signal processing techniques and machine learning algorithms to reliably determine the condition of timber poles.

'We also believe this non-destructive technique will reduce the test duration for each pole, resulting in more effective management of resources.'

In August, Ms Das had the opportunity to discuss her work with timber researchers from around the world when she attended the 2018 World Conference on Timber Engineering in Korea.

'I was very delighted to be one of eight PhD students selected from Australia to receive a conference bursary sponsored by WoodSolutions to participate in the conference,' Ms Das says.

Deakin School of Engineering’s Associate Professor Mahmud Ashraf and Dr Mahbube Subhani, her main supervisor, supported Ms Das in her application for the travel bursary.

Ms Das says hearing about innovative and exciting uses for timber and meeting other researchers and industry professionals were two conference highlights.

'There were so many great talks at the conference. It was my absolute pleasure to meet academic researchers and industry professionals, share my research and get to know about their work. I also made some good contacts with PhD students and researchers working in my field.'

Prior to coming to Deakin, Ms Das studied at BRAC University in Bangladesh.

'From my childhood, I grew up watching my father working as an electrical engineer in the Rural Electrification Board of Bangladesh,' Ms Das explains.

'He used to take me with him during site visits, to workshops and seminars. From then, it was my dream to follow in his footsteps and work in the same field that has some impact on real-world problems. Following my dream, I completed my bachelor degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

'One of my future goals is to explore the extensive possibility of utilising this novel technique I am developing for assessing other timber structures and contribute to the timber industry through my research.'