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Make a meaningful impact to the lives of Indigenous Australians by applying your engineering expertise to real-world challenges in remote health care. Join the Purple House Vertically Integrated Project and collaborate with the Indigenous-owned non-profit health organization, Purple House, to co-design innovative, sustainable systems that ensure life-saving dialysis remains accessible, even in Australia's most remote, water- and energy-constrained regions.

As part of our team, you will support life-saving work for communities in Northern Territory, Western Australia, and South Australia by helping develop innovative water solutions, monitoring solutions, and biomedical devices.

This is a unique opportunity to merge engineering excellence with work of deep cultural and social significance. We are seeking the best and brightest to tackle critical challenges across several key areas:

Key Engineering Challenges & Projects

Our VIP tackles a diverse portfolio of projects to improve dialysis services and patient experience in challenging environments:

💧 Sustainable Water Systems & Efficiency

Dialysis requires significant quantities of water, making sustainability a critical challenge in remote, semi-arid, and desert regions. Projects in this area focus on:

  • Rainwater and groundwater harvesting
  • Spent-dialysate reprocessing
  • Compact, water-efficient mobile system design

🌡ï¸� Environmental & Infrastructure Innovation

Addressing challenges caused by environmental heat and lack of robust monitoring:

  • Solid-state chiller design
  • Low-cost water-system telemetry

🩺 Biomedical Devices & Patient Care

Innovating biomedical devices to improve patient experience and clinical efficiency:

  • In-seat weigh-scales for dialysis chairs
  • Robust off-road patient-walker

VIP ChallENG Research Goals

Our overall research goals are to:

  • Develop sustainable, low-cost, low-maintenance solutions that reduce water consumption for dialysis in remote communities.
  • Enhance monitoring and data collection through low-cost telemetry systems.
  • Innovate biomedical devices to improve patient experience and clinical efficiency.

Research Areas & Disciplines

This multidisciplinary VIP welcomes students from a wide range of engineering and computer science backgrounds:

  • Systems and Process Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Computer Science

Join us today! Be part of a mission that directly impacts health equity and merges high-level engineering with social responsibility.

ChallENG Area

Vertically Integrated Projects

Research Areas

Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, Process Engineering

United Nations Development Goals

Good Health and Well-being: 

Credit

✔ 6 UoC per course 

Professional Development

•    Teamwork
•    Leadership
•    Design
•    Communication
•    Integrity
•    Innovation and excellence
•    Diversity
•    Respect
•    Resilience

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  • Chemical Engineering 

  • Environmental Engineering 

  • Environmental Science 

  • Mechanical Engineering

Skills:

  • Analytical skills 

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  • Interest in indigenous issues

Approved Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) completed after 2025 can be used towards your Engineering Professional Practice (EPP) requirements at any point in your degree. The list of approved projects can be found on the . If your VIP is not on the list, contact the Professional Engagement Team (ENG.WIL@unsw.edu.au).

How to claim Professional Development days?

Following the completion of your VIP course (3 terms*) with a passing grade, you will be notified via your student email confirming which approved project you can claim towards your professional development. Refer to the guide below for instructions.

**IMPORTANT**

  • Self-Placement applications via InPlace are NOT required for approved projects and will automatically be rejected. Claim your days after you complete the course.

  • Claimed days are not reversible, please think carefully before claiming.

*Note – if you drop out of the course before completing all 3 terms, then no days can be claimed.

For more information about the claiming process, refer to the .

Team Academic Lead

Dr Helen Rutlidge

School of Chemical Engineering

h.rutlidge@unsw.edu.au

Prof. Pierre Le Clech

School of Chemical Engineering

02 9385 5762

p.le-clech@unsw.edu.au

Prof. Tracie Barber

Sch: Mech & Manufacturing Eng

t.barber@unsw.edu.au

Prof. Bernard Kornfeld

Professor of Practice

b.kornfeld@unsw.edu.au

Prof. Robert Taylor

Sch: Mech & Manufacturing Eng

robert.taylor@unsw.edu.au

Dr Shiva Abdoli

Sch: Mech & Manufacturing Eng

s.abdoli@unsw.edu.au

Prof. Greg Leslie

School of Chemical Engineering

g.leslie@unsw.edu.au