Dr Stephen Wilkinson

Director of Research & Head of the Smart and Sustainable Cities Research Cluster, University of Wollongong in Dubai

HOW ARE YOU CREATING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR THE REGION?

As the Director of Research at the University of Wollongong in Dubai, I am also Head of the Smart and Sustainable Cities Research Cluster, the goal of the Cluster is to develop new technologies and approaches to work towards a smarter and more sustainable future. I believe in “living research”. By this I mean that research should ultimately have impact; it should be taken out from the library shelves and online archives, and should be used to make a difference in the real world. The University is partnering with local government and industry, including startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to help them to develop ideas and technologies. Enabling them to use the University’s research resources and expertise to increase their impact on society.

The University of Wollongong in Dubai’s researchers are visionaries. They must imagine things to be different to the way that current wisdom would describe them. Researchers then design experiments to test their imagined reality against conventional wisdom and sometimes their experiments lead to a better understanding search Cluster at the University of Wollongong in Dubai works on the development of new low carbon, no carbon and negative carbon technologies. For example, one of my research projects is turning desert sand into solid building material using atmospheric carbon. When implemented, the impact of this will be that for every house built, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will decrease. We are also working on using this technique to 3D print houses from desert sand.

The wider Research Cluster also has expertise in timber products used in construction. In addition to creating novel materials the research cluster also works on process efficiency, digital transformation, paper free offices, and building information modelling. We also work on automation of processes in manufacturing and construction to optimise efficiency.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU FACE?

As Director of Research focusing on sustainability, I face a number of challenges. These include the recruitment of good PhD students and post-doctoral researchers, access to research funding focusing on sustainable projects, developing effective partnerships with industry to ensure research has impact, and facilitating conversations between researchers, industry leaders and entrepreneurs to test which research ideas and directions have the most traction. As you may tell, I am focused on increasing the impact of sustainability research within the Middle

HOW ARE YOU OVERCOMING SAID CHAL -

Collaboration is key, I regularly meet with companies and individuals to discuss their goals and how the University of Wollongong in Dubai can help them. Dubai, and indeed the UAE as a whole, is excellent at organising events, trade fairs, and networking opportunities. I regularly attend these and present the University’s research achievements and opportunities.

The UAE is also home to a large number of incubators and accelerators. I regularly visit these and seek opportunities to work with start-up companies, to help build their success both locally and globally.