NIER Delivering discoveries and solutions that make a difference The Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources (NIER) is a world-class research facility established with the explicit role of facilitating research within the minerals, energy and resources fields. Funded through the Education Investment Fund, NIER is part of the Government’s Education Revolution aimed at supporting world-leading, strategically focused infrastructure investments that will transform Australian tertiary education and research. NIER brings the University’s leading energy and resources researchers together under an umbrella institute and addresses national priorities in sustainability within the energy and resources sector.
Priority research areas include: • reduction of energy and water consumption in industries of national significance • reduction of carbon emission through next generation clean coal, carbon capture and storage technologies • development of alternative energy sources including geothermal, biomass, wind and polymer solar cells • improved efficiencies in energy generation and conversion • smarter and more efficient networks for the distribution and utilisation of electricity and water • social change and the sustainability of resources and the environment. NIER will be the preeminent and most comprehensive energy and resources research institute of its kind in Australia, focused on achieving best practice industry and academia collaboration, and providing both practical and viable benefits to industry, the community and the economy. On a scale unrivalled at any other education and research centre in Australia, NIER is housed in a world-class research facility comprising extensive mineral, chemical and technical laboratories, industrial-scale pilot plant workshops and offices, with a stateof-the-art research building to be completed in 2013. Building capacity provides for significant research training activities, and access to industrial scale facilities ensures students graduate with industry-relevant experience. The collaborations between energy and resources researchers from the University with industry partners allows cross-fertilisation of ideas and approaches aligned to government and industry research agendas, and has the potential to make a substantial contribution to sustainable energy research nationally and internationally. Partnerships exist with Ausgrid, CSIRO, Ampcontrol, TUNRA Bulk Solids, BHP Billiton, Xstrata, NuCoal and Hunter Water with many others in development. Key international partnerships have been established with the University of Witswatersrand, North China Electric Power University and the State Grid Power Research Institute of China with additional collaborations planned in Africa and China. The Priority Research Centres within NIER include: • Centre for Advanced Particle Processing and Transport (page 10) • Centre for Energy (page 13) • Centre for Organic Electronics (page 14) www.newcastle.edu.au/research/nier
Pictured left: Professor Kevin Galvin Pictured on opposite page: Laureate Professor John Aitken (left) and Laureate Professor Scott Sloan
www.newcastle.edu.au | 03