Aerospace australia innovation award won by queensland phd student

Aerospace Australia Innovation Award won by Queensland PhD student

Queensland University of Technology PhD student, Vanessa Lussini, has become the first woman to win a prestigious Aerospace Australia Innovation Award at Avalon 2015.

The $10,000 Young Innovator Scholarship for Defence Industry is awarded for originality and innovation in meeting technical or business challenges in the civil or military aerospace domain.

Ms Lussini has been working on a project for the Defence Materials Technology Centre to improve aircraft safety by maximising maintenance efficiency. Specifically she has developed sensors, through the use of organic compounds, that detect paint deterioration to assist in determining the most optimal time for aircraft repainting.

Ms Lussini said while her research was focussed on the defence and aviation industries, it could be equally applicable to other structures such as bridges.

Read more about Ms Lussini's thesis project in QUT's media release.