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The energy transition to wind and solar opens up opportunities for green hydrogen as wind and solar generation tend to bring electricity prices down to very low levels. We evaluate whether green hydrogen can integrate well with wind and solar PVs to improve the South Australian electricity grid. Green hydrogen can use membrane electrolysis plants during periods of surplus renewable energy. This hydrogen can then be electrified or used in industry. The green hydrogen system was analysed to understand the financial viability and technical impact of integrating green hydrogen. We also used system engineering techniques to understand the system holistically, including the technical, social, environmental, and economic impacts. The results show opportunities for the system to provide seasonal storage, grid firming, and reliability services. Financially, it would need changes to electricity rules to be viable, so at present, it would not be viable without subsidy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development of an Australian roadmap for the acquisition of nuclear propulsion for submarines and selected other vessels. This paper reports on the goals of the working group and an outline of the projected roadmap. Australia first operated naval submarines in 1914 and has maintained amodern fleet continuously since 1967. Now embarking on the third generation of conventionally powered boats, attention is shifting to nuclear propulsion for future generations. Nuclear propulsion confers two significant advantages on anaval submarine: increased speed for sustained periods and removal of the requirement for periodic recharging of batteries using air-breathing diesel generators. Development of the nuclear propulsion roadmap is being undertaken by avoluntary working group of nuclear scientists, submarine designers, builders, operators and maintainers, and multidisciplinary engineering and project management professionals, following asystems engineering, disciplined approach to consider all possible options for essential infrastructure, safety assurance, workforce training and development, economic and geopolitical constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contribution: An evaluation of the effectiveness of systems engineering (SE) courses in developing students’ systems thinking (ST) capacity in both the cognitive and affective domains. A combined cognitive ST performance and affective engagement with ST assessment is proposed as an approach to assess students’ ST in both domains. The results can support course change decisions and guide learning experience development. Background: SE education aims to produce graduates with strong knowledge and skills in SE and a strong appreciation of the practical value of ST, which addresses the cognitive and affective domains in education. Consequently, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of SE courses in developing students’ ST in these domains, an area that studies do not consider. Intended Outcomes: An understanding of the ST ability of undergraduate students in an SE course in a domain specific engineering program in both the cognitive and affective domains. Application Design: A study evaluated the effectiveness of two SE classes in developing students’ ST capacity using a combined cognitive and affective assessment tool developed and validated in previous studies. ST assessment is determined by combining ST performance and affective engagement. To observe the transformation of students’ ST capacity, a longitudinal design collected data at two times in each of two offerings of an SE course offered by the same university in two locations—Australia and Singapore. Findings: The course developed students in most dimensions of cognitive ST, but did not appear to improve students’ affective engagement with ST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jens Rasmussen's seminal risk management framework and accompanying Accimap method have become highly popular in safety science circles. Despite this, widespread adoption of the model and method in practice has not yet been achieved. This paper describes a project involving the development and implementation of an incident reporting and learning system underpinned by Rasmussen's risk management framework and Accimap method. The system was developed for the led outdoor activity sector in Australia to enable reporting and analysis of injuries and near miss incidents, with the aim of supporting the development of more effective countermeasures. An analysis of the data derived from the first 3 months use of the system by 43 organisations is presented. The outputs provide an in-depth Accimap-based analysis of all incidents reported by participating organisations over the 3 month period. In closing, the importance of developing usable domain specific tools to support translation of Ergonomics theory and methods in practice is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The national electricity market (NEM) of Australia is reforming via the rapid uptake of variable renewable energy (VRE) integration concurrent with the retirement of conventional synchronous generation. System strength has emerged as a prominent challenge and constraint to power system stability and ongoing grid connection of VRE such as solar and wind. In order to facilitate decarbonization pathways, Australia is the first country to evolve system strength and inertia frameworks and assessment methods to accommodate energy transition barriers, and other parts of the world are now beginning to follow the same approach. With the evolvement of the system strength framework as a new trending strategy to break the transition barriers raised by renewable energy project development and grid connection studies, this paper provides a high-level overview of system strength, covering such fundamental principles as its definition, attributes, and manifestations, as well as industry commentary, cutting-edge technologies and works currently underway for the delivery of a secure and reliable electricity system with the rapid integration of inverter-based resources (IBRs) in the NEM grid. The intent of this study is to provide a comprehensive reference on the engineering practices of the system strength challenge along with complementary technical, regulatory, and industry perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political process perspective has done much to enhance our understanding of the organizational effects of technological change as a negotiated outcome reflecting the political and power dynamics of the adopting context. In so doing, we suggest, technology has been marginalized as an analytical category and the problem of change agency, although better understood, remains largely unresolved. This article addresses these issues through the articulation of the concepts of socio-technical configurations and technological frames and explores their utility in understanding change agency through an action research project. The project sought a novel form of 'socio-technology' transfer, taking ideas and concepts of 'human-centered' manufacturing embodied in team-based cellular manufacture from a European context into three firms in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid advance of computer-based technology has led to social policy vacuums. Most information systems development tools concentrate upon technical issues, and offer few if any guidelines that address the moral issues inherent in new application possibilities. It is argued that extension of such tools to include ethical and moral, human and environmental issues is possible. A good starting point is provided by mapping relevant clauses of professional codes of ethics upon each stage of the development methodology. We use as examples the Australian Computer Society Code of Ethics and the structured systems analysis and design method (SSADM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]