🏆 Winners

Congratulations to all the winners of Illuminate 2025!

School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Best Biomedical Device or SystemsWinner

Awarded to the most impactful biomedical innovation, advancing health and human capability, sponsored by Cochlear.

Exploring a Non-Invasive Method for Simultaneous Measurement of Urinary Uric Acid and Creatinine Using Spectrophotometry

by Seijun Stokes
Supervisor(s): Professor Aleksandar D. Rakic, Dr. Xiao Guo

Gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis in the world. Currently, gout patients have no way to monitor their disease regularly and non-invasively. Uric acid and creatinine are key biomarkers which reflect the state of the disease. This project aimed to develop a portable prototype device to detect uric acid and creatinine in the urine of gout patients as a proof-of-concept.

Best Cyber Security and Data Privacy ProjectWinner

Recognising the project that best protects digital assets and ensures privacy, sponsored by Data #3.

CyberBattles

by Samuel Paynter, Noah Beasley, Thomas McPherson, Liam Asher, Hsiang Cheng, Lachlan O'Connell
Supervisor(s): Ben Schenk, Julia Drugova, Thilina Halloluwa, Mashhuda Glencross, Jason Weigel

CyberBattles is an interactive attack/defence capture the flag platform facilitating learning through hands-on experience. Targeted at educators, students, and cyber-enthusiasts alike, CyberBattles provides a unique CTF experience for all skill levels. With team vs. team functionality and post-match reviewing, CyberBattles stands alone in the landscape of gamified cybersecurity platforms.

Best Hardware SolutionWinner

Awarded to the project demonstrating outstanding innovation and execution in hardware design and integration, proudly sponsored by Rinstrum.

The Uniq Phone: A Stylish, Functional 4G Dumbphone

by Ty Behnke, James Wood, Caiyan Jin
Supervisor(s): Pauline Pounds

When the 3G shutdown killed her beloved Nokia 2730c, Prof Pounds was very sad. She resolved to create a new phone to rival the greatest phone ever made, brought into the 4G world...

Best Innovative Use of Artificial Intelligence or Machine LearningWinner

Awarded to the student project that demonstrates creative and impactful use of AI or ML to solve real-world problems, drive efficiency, or uncover new insights through intelligent systems, sponsored by Cisco

A Receding Horizon Reinforcement Learning Framework for UQ Campus Chiller Energy Management

by Laura Musgrave
Supervisor(s): Doctor Arnab Battacharjee; Professor Tapan Saha

HVAC chillers consume 17.5-24.5% of commercial building energy, making them critical optimization targets. This thesis presents a deep reinforcement learning optimization framework for multi-chiller energy management applied to the University of Queensland's Advanced Engineering Building chiller bank, achieving 28% power reductions compared to existing rule-based control methods.

Best Power and Energy or Electrical Engineering ProjectWinner

Recognising excellence in energy systems, power electronics, and electrical engineering, sponsored by the Electric Energy Society of Australia.

Storage Locker Monitoring

by Jeremy Tatham
Supervisor(s): Matthew D'Souza

Storage lockers are widely used for secure storage in workplaces, universities, and parcel delivery systems, but current monitoring methods are costly and ineffective at detecting unauthorised access or environmental risks. This project develops a wireless, low-power locker monitoring system using sensors for temperature,humidity,CO2,and light to detect access events and track climatic conditions.

Best Project in Avionics and UAVWinner

Honouring cutting-edge work in unmanned aerial vehicles and avionics systems, sponsored by Boeing.

Language-Guided Drone Simulator for Emergency Search and Rescue

by Oliver Hosking, Ian Buchanan, Sahil Singh, Jack Ham, Aryan Kamath
Supervisor(s): Ethan Jones, Julia Drugova, Thilina Halloluwa, Mashhuda Glencross, Jason Weigel

Our project integrated multiple different AI tools to allow humans to easily interact with drones. You can use a text to speech feature to tell the drone what you want it to do, another algorithm will transfer these human instructions into actions for the drone to execute. You can also activate an object detection model to help you find the humans in this search and rescue setting.

Best Project with the Most Commercial PotentialWinner

Awarded to the project with the strongest market viability and entrepreneurial promise, sponsored by .au Domain Administration.

The SMART Sleeper - A Highly-Integrated Rail Condition Monitoring System

by Alan Ravikumar, Enbo Liu, Yichen Zhang, Kobey Lake, Henri Mueller, Thomas Paull
Supervisor(s): Pauline Pounds

The SMART Sleeper project combines a comprehensive array of sensors to determine local parameters of rails, sleeper and ballast and environment at discrete points along a rail line with the ability to upload data to the Cloud continuously throughout the day, so that rail operators can respond in real time to dangerous conditions, thus preventing train derailments.

Best Software ProjectWinner

Honouring the most technically impressive and well-engineered software solution, sponsored by GridQube.

Mushroom Pet Pet

by Grace Hsieh, Tsz Fai Wong, Anthony Tang, Neil Chang, Carman Chan, Yuteng Niu
Supervisor(s): Janet Wiles, Agnieszka Nowak

The goal of this project is to turn homegrown mushrooms into pets. Just like animals, mushrooms generate imperceptible electrical signals akin to neural activity. We aim to sonify these signals to improve homegrowers' understanding of mushrooms and incentivise interaction, which will help bring mushrooms closer to being a household pet.

Best Systems and Software Engineering ProjectWinner

Recognising excellence in software architecture, systems thinking, and engineering rigour, sponsored by Reapit.

Robot Embodiment via Virtual Reality

by Joshua Noble
Supervisor(s): Jen Jen Chung, Brendan Tidd

Humans are inherently able to safely navigate in dynamic, populated environments in ways that robots are not. Designing a way to map these traits from a person onto the robot would create pathways for collecting training data for automating robots in dynamic environments.

Best User Experience Design ProjectWinner

Celebrating the most intuitive, accessible, and beautifully crafted user experience, sponsored by Shorthand.

Fiducial Frontiers - Hybrid Board Game with Vision-Based Object Tracking

by Cameron Miller, Kunwar Singh, Swastik Lohchab, Kate Lockyer, Harrison Martin, Thomas Dickson
Supervisor(s): Julia Drugova

Fiducial Frontiers merges the tactile and social nature of board games with the automated rule enforcement of computer games, leaving players free to strategise without having to also keep score. Using fiducial markers tracked by a camera, the game detects 3D positions of cubes which the players use to form polygons and capture area on the board while working around obstacles and player attacks.

Most Innovative Use of XRWinner

Awarded for the most creative and transformative application of extended reality technologies, sponsored by .au Domain Administration.

ApparentlyAR

by Christophe Weng, Najla Putri, Benjamin Ghahramani, Yugansh Pancholi, Faraihan Adityawarman, Pascal Tauran
Supervisor(s): Nathan Nunes, Julia Drugova, Thilina Halloluwa, Mashhuda Glencross, Jason Weigel

Data Visualisation tool in the Augmented Reality space that allows grade 8-10 students under the Australian curriculum to improve data literacy and analysis.

Smart Tech AwardWinner

Celebrating innovative technologies that harness smart solutions to improve efficiencies, connectivity and solutions to industry and communities, sponsored by Optiver.

Rava

by Ethan Laskowski, Lundaasuren Munkhbat, Adithya Mathradikkal, Travis Graham, Reuben Richardson, Claudia McPherson
Supervisor(s): Yanzhuo Yang, Julia Drugova, Thilina Halloluwa, Mashhuda Glencross, Jason Weigel

Rava is a one-of-a-kind telepresence device, which transports remote users into the room with immersive stereoscopic vision, crisp spatial audio and seamless device control from an intuitive web application.

School of Architecture, Design and Planning

Advanced Technology AwardWinner

Awarded to an architecture, design or planning student who integrates digital tools, parametric design, or emerging tech most effectively.

Laidley Equestrian Centre

by Hal Chandler

This scheme approaches the site as a scare resource and proposes no changes to its western half to preserve a community asset and strengthen Laidley’s last ecological hub. The proposal is a multistorey equestrian centre on the cleared eastern half that uses layers to maximize its program and reduce its footprint, thus allowing for the regrowth and regeneration of the native landscape.

Cultural Commitment AwardWinner

Honours an architecture, design or planning student that demonstrates strong commitment to First Nations perspectives, cultural history and heritage.

Kindling: Igniting Reconciliation Across Industry

by Lauren Jauncey

Kindling is a professional toolkit that empowers Australian businesses to engage meaningfully with reconciliation initiatives. Developed as a multi-touchpoint intervention, Kindling guides leaders and their teams through structured processes of education, reflection, and action, facilitating inclusive and informed decision-making, with the potential to shape a more equal and equitable Australia.

Design Innovation AwardWinner

For an architecture, design or planning project that demonstrates the most forward-thinking design concept.

MINIMAL INTERVENTION

by Isabella Casarolli Valery

A unique approach to the ARCH3200 Graduation Hall design brief. Instead of proposing a new building, Isabella designed an adaptive reuse of the existing UQ Art Museum (formerly Mayne Hall). In the spirit of “Minimal Intervention”, the Forgan Smith forecourt site was preserved, the neighbouring Mod West building is to be disassembled, with the sum of its parts to be used to construct the new hall.

Emerging Professional Award (Undergraduate &#x2F; Postgraduate)Winner

Given to a graduating architecture, design or planning student who demonstrates leadership, initiative, and readiness to contribute to their respective profession.

The effects of urban densification and climate change on residential urban water

by Sophie Barrett

This research shows how Brisbane’s medium-density infill development increases stormwater runoff and reduces infiltration, with climate change worsening these effects. Using SUWMBA modelling, it finds that strategies like permeable pavements and added greenery help but weaken under future climates, highlighting the need for more water-sensitive planning.

Excellence in Architecture Award – Bachelor of Architectural DesignWinner

The Excellence in Architecture Award celebrates a student graduating from the Bachelor of Architecture who demonstrates outstanding creativity, innovation, and technical skill in their final year, setting a benchmark for quality and originality in their field.

Ep. II Oemah: Bhanuteja

by Bonar Yeshurn Situmorang

The project defined in two words.Bhanuteja in Javanese means sunlight, which is filtered through the leaves of the trees acts as it metaphorical word. While its philosophical value embodied through the word 'Ma' the space between elements, the time between the beginning and the end. Its the gap, the space and the pause but its not simply an absence but an active presence that shape experience.

Excellence in Architecture Award – Master of ArchitectureWinner

The Excellence in Architecture Award celebrates a student graduating from the Master of Architecture who demonstrates outstanding creativity, innovation, and technical skill in their final year, setting a benchmark for quality and originality in their field.

Breezeway Housing

by Cameron Changuion

Breezeway Housing fosters social cohesion through medium-density living at Kangaroo Point. Three buildings frame a central courtyard, linking gardens, parklands, and communal facilities. Adaptive reuse, co-working spaces, and learning programs create a flexible, inclusive environment where residents connect, engage, and grow together, redefining sustainable, people-centred housing in Brisbane.

Excellence in Planning Award – Bachelor of Urban PlanningWinner

The Excellence in Planning Award celebrates a student graduating from the Bachelor of Urban Planning who demonstrates outstanding creativity, innovation, and technical skill in their final year, setting a benchmark for quality and originality in their field.

Informal Housing in South East Queensland

by Lauren Hall

My poster summarises my honours thesis conducted for PLAN4009, on the topic of informal housing in SEQ. There has not yet been any research on informality conducted in this region, and only four other studies in Australia (all in Sydney). My aim for this thesis was therefore to gain insight into this underdiscussed field and provide recommendations for future policy.

Excellence in Planning Award – Master of Urban PlanningWinner

The Excellence in Planning Award celebrates a student graduating from the Master of Urban Planning who demonstrates outstanding creativity, innovation, and technical skill in their final year, setting a benchmark for quality and originality in their field.

Biophilic Urbanism- A Living Infrastructure solution for SEQ

by Reshma Gopal

SEQ is growing rapidly—3.3 million people today, rising to 6 million by 2046—while facing intensifying heat, floods, and ecological decline. These pressures demand climate-resilient, nature-led planning. Biophilic Urbanism treats nature as infrastructure, cooling places, reducing risk, improving health, and shifting SEQ toward a resilient, inclusive future.

Head of School CommendationWinner

A discretionary award from the Head of School for a project, team or individual student that embodies the School’s values of innovation, resilience, and leadership.

The Forum of Coexistence: Urban Ecological Interpretation Center, Leisure Valley

by Lisa Sabu

A visionary landscape–architecture project that reimagines Chandigarh’s Leisure Valley as a civic–ecological spine. By weaving water infrastructure, public life, and habitat systems, the Urban Ecological Interpretation Center transforms an underused valley into a living framework of memory, culture, and ecological resilience.

Research Excellence AwardWinner

Awarded for outstanding research achievement by a Bachelor or Master student, demonstrating innovation, academic rigour, and meaningful contribution to the built environment.

Womens Safety Experiences in the James Street Precinct

by Alexandra Rooney

The aim of this research is to understand how the built form and time of day shape the perceptions of safety of the women working in the precincts' perceptions of safety whilst commuting at night. The research indicates that usage of the precinct by women is greater reliant on activation of the built form than time of day.

Sustainable Futures AwardWinner

Recognises excellence in sustainability principles, including material reuse, waste minimisation, social benefit and environmental impact.

Kangaroo Point Library

by Natasha Paliwoda

Kangaroo Point Library is a proposal for social housing on Main Street. The project aims to set a precedent by creating a safe pedestrian environment, ‘third spaces’ for the community, adaptively reusing the existing buildings on site, and recycling materials where adaptive reuse is not possible. This should become the first response for new development to ensure a more resilient future.