Chiara Cementon

Single-use plastic syringes are typically incinerated or sent to landfill due to the risks associated with handling contaminated sharps. MediLoop is a novel automated machine that safely processes the most common types of plastic syringe used in healthcare. It recovers the recyclable plastic and separates it from the contaminated and sharp parts of the syringe. Read the report here.

My team and I collaborated over a year to explore different ways of addressing injectable waste in healthcare. We used mixed methods like interviewing, mapping and critical prototyping to inform our design directions. MediLoop was the result of this process that we felt would make big impact in a complex space.

Vine robots are being explored for inspecting aging water infrastructure for maintenance and to reduce water loss. By incorporating multiple sensors to the tip of the robot, data from confined spaces can be sent via ethernet to an external computer. I designed, manufactured and programmed a subsystem for the vine robot to reel this ethernet cable in and out neatly, and in sync with vine robot eversion. The subsystem is interfaced with a tele-operated controller using ROS.

pLEV™ is an air-operated cleaning tool used for safe and effective cleaning of electrical cabinets. The system lifts and removes dust particles that fill electrical cabinets and components through the use of smart forced air and extraction technology.

With my colleague, I designed the pLEV™ user interface and wrote libraries for it to update an LCD screen in embedded C. I also reviewed all embedded-C code written by our electrical engineer and updated it to improve efficiency and responsiveness of all pLEV™ devices.

A comprehensive guide to the features of the systems can be found here.

I developed an app for "Portable Local Exhaust Ventilation" (pLEV™) system users to visualise the data collected by their pLEV™ devices. All pLEV™ devices send requests to this web app via 4G. This data (e.g. pressure, temperature and air quality measurements) is saved to our database. The client can then visualise all their data on the easily navigable user interface.

At Synergetics Consulting Engineers, I developed and validated a new app which allows users to understand their indirect carbon footprint for everyday decisions such as choosing which café to get coffee at in the morning. We tested with users the efficacy of expressing personal footprint in savings rather than emissions.

Designed and manufactured a bowl for managing yarn while knitting. Processes used include sandcasting, turning, milling, sandblasting and other finishing.

The lithium-ion capacitor (LIC) is a newly commercialised energy storage device capable of high-energy and high-power performance. The low abundance of lithium (Li) compared to other metals with similar chemistry, such as potassium (K), has driven energy storage research in the direction of more sustainable and less expensive alternatives. Supervised by Dr. Alexey Glushenkov, I explored a novel device design for a K-ion capacitor (KIC) in the pursuit of a more sustainable energy storage device for high-power, high-energy applications.

With this project, I presented at the Combined Australian Materials Society Conference in 2022 and first-authored a perspective piece in the J. of Power Sources published in 2024, discussing the potential misconception in literature that Lithium-ion Capacitor (LICs) have lower power densities that Electric Double-Layer Capacitors (EDLCs). See article at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.233857

Performed synthesis and initial extrudability tests with different levels of gelification of a novel copolymer. Coauthered an article in Material Advances published in 2021 on the synthesis and properties of the copolymer I had been working on. See article at https://doi.org/10.1039/D1MA00223F.

Supervised by Dr. Edie Sevick, I modelled the effect of thermal noise on a microscopic gear system, using statistical models to estimate forces due to random collisions with small particles in solution. Modelling was done in Python and data was communicated via an animation made in PovRay.