A love of Lego and of flight has earned University of Queensland undergraduate Tas Jouir the Aleks Brumby Summer Research Scholarship at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI).
Mr Jouir said the 10-week scholarship meant he could continue a research project in robotics he started with QBI’s Professor Mandyam Srinivasan and PhD student Reuben Strydom this year.
From vision in bees to UAVs
“I’ll be continuing my work on a project with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which is similar to a drone,” Mr Jouir said.
“I’m developing an alternative vision-based navigation system using bio-inspired cameras that are modelled on the visual system of bees.
“I’ll be writing software for the cameras that shows how the UAV is moving – up or down, left or right.
“Essentially, this software could allow for navigation in GPS-denied areas such as on Mars.”
QBI director Professor Pankaj Sah said the scholarship was awarded annually to a student who showed exceptional academic merit and research potential.
“I am delighted to announce that Tas is the recipient of this year’s summer scholarship,” he said.
“It will be very interesting to watch how he builds on his current research into the motion of UAVs.”
Mr Jouir is a third-year undergraduate student studying a Bachelor of Engineering/Bachelor of Science at UQ.
About the Aleks Brumby Summer Research Scholarship
The Aleks Brumby Summer Research Scholarship was established by Aija and Glen Brumby in 2011 after the death of their son, Aleks.
Aleks had completed a chemistry degree at UQ and his father said they wanted to support others who had the same hopes as their son.
“We thought that if we were to do something [it would be] to help another young person like Aleks, with similar interests to him, and encourage them in their studies,” Mr Brumby said.
“His death has been an unbelievably awful experience so hopefully we can play some small part in encouraging people to undertake brain research and help us understand the mind.”
Previous recipients of the Aleks Brumby Summer Research Scholarship have been Clara Tang (2011/12) Daniel Czech (2012/13), Luke Sartor (2013/14) and Sophie Hudson (2014/15).
MEDIA: QBI media and communications manager Bernadette Condren, b.condren@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3346 6353.
