From space exploration (yes, really!) to pioneering more nutritious and drought-resilient crops, there’s a massive range of major projects underway across Queensland, reaching literally from the ground to the sky.
With big investment from government, big business and education institutions, the opportunity to get involved in future-shaping projects is available right now in Queensland.
Here are just a few of the big projects happening in Queensland:
Shared Skies Partnership
Mt Kent Observatory at University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is Queensland’s only professional astronomical research facility and is located at a dark-sky site outside Toowoomba in South East Queensland.
The Shared Skies Partnership between USQ and the University of Louisville in the US enables access to northern skies via Moore Observatory in Kentucky for all-sky observing. This collaboration provides live remote-access observation using telescopes and a wide-field camera for research, training, education and outreach. The Shared Skies Partnership also supports USQ’s current research into stellar magnetic activity and an exoplanet survey called KELT-South.
Drought & Climate Adaptation Program
An advanced agriculture project of global significance, the Drought & Climate Adaptation Program (DCAP) is a 5-year, $175 million project to improve drought resilience and preparedness, drought management and adaptation to climate change. The Queensland Drought Mitigation Centre combines Australian and international climate modelling expertise for DCAP’s research and development projects in collaboration with government departments and the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba.
Queensland is a big place with a wide range of climates. It experiences some of the highest rainfall variability in the world. It also experiences long periods of drought, making Queensland ideally placed to undertake seasonal forecasting and research to develop tools and systems to aid drought preparedness globally.
Cross River Rail
Brisbane’s Cross River Rail is a new 10.2km rail line that includes 5.9km of twin tunnels beneath the Brisbane River and CBD. The project is due for completion in 2025 and will deliver a second river crossing to allow improved public transport options through Queensland’s capital city.
This major advanced manufacturing project is a collaborative effort between Queensland Government and domestic and international contractors, including CIMIC Group, Hitachi and Ghella, across 3 main infrastructure works.
Redlands Renewable Hydrogen Plant
The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Hydrogen Process Research & Development is an $8.5 million multi-party project to determine the viability of renewable energy hybrid systems to create hydrogen from sustainable resources.
Led by QUT’s Institute for Future Environments, the project will establish a renewable hydrogen plant at the Redlands Research Facility located east of Brisbane. The innovative ‘green hydrogen’ plant will use locally produced solar energy (electricity generated from renewable sources) to extract hydrogen from seawater for re-use or export opportunities.
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