Dr Cristian Birzer

Senior Lecturer

School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Dr Cris Birzer GAICD MIEAust CPEng is a Chartered Professional Mechanical Engineer and Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Energy Engineering and Humanitarian Engineering at the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.

Cris is the Director of the Humanitarian and Development Solutions Initiative (HDSI). He is a former consultant engineer and also member of the Australian Defence Force, having worked in East Timor, the Solomon Islands, the 2019/2020 Australian Bushfire Response, and 2021/2022 Flood Response. Cris also deployed to Nepal with the World Food Programme to assist with the 2015 Earthquakes emergency response.

My Research
Career
Publications
Grants and Funding
Teaching
Supervision
Professional Activities
Contact

Dr Cris Birzer’s research focuses on the development of humanitarian technologies for resource-constrained countries and regions. His motivation is to make complex engineering available and affordable to those who need it most, in order to help raise their quality of life, increase life expectancy, and reduce preventable deaths.

Early in his research career, Cris became aware of some key statistics: 3 billion people rely on solid-fuel (wood, dung, coal) burning stoves; and this results in 4 million people dying every year from respiratory-related illnesses. These facts led to the ‘cookstove project’.

Cris’s cookstove research includes using state-of-the-art laboratories to understand the complex nature of solid-fuel combustion in order to design new cookstoves with increased fuel-efficiency and reduced harmful emissions production.

An early prototype cookstove design from the research group reduces carbon monoxide emissions by 90% when compared to traditional cooking procedures. The prototype, which can be made from scrap material at minimal cost, can also produce bio-char (a soil enhancer) as a by-product.

Other projects that Cris and his research team (the Humanitarian and Development Solutions Initiative) have developed include water treatment, sanitation and power generation systems. This research can help save millions of lives every year and improve the quality of life for billions.

Cris aims to provide essential knowledge (open-source where possible) and designs that can be implemented to ensure those who cannot afford high-tech products can still have high-quality lives. He and his team also focus on ensuring the designs they develop can be made locally, so that communities can build and maintain their own products, thus strengthening their economies.

“The ultimate goal of our research is to not be needed. We work with non-government organisations around the world to help implement the designs and products; we share the knowledge with anyone and everyone interested so they can implement the work; and we work towards building economies in regions where people earn less than $2 per day.”

Appointments

Date	Position	Institution name
2015 - ongoing	Senior Lecturer	University of Adelaide
2015 - 2015	ETC Field Team Leader	World Food Programme
2012 - 2015	Lecturer	University of Adelaide
2010 - 2010	Consultant Engineer	Vipac Engineers and Scientists

Awards and Achievements

Date	Type	Title	Institution Name	Country	Amount
2022	Award	Prince of Wales Award (Defence)	Defence	Australia	-
2020	Award	Best Paper Australasian Journal of Engineering Education	Australasian Journal of Engineering Education	Australia	-
2020	Award	Award for Engineering Education Engagement	Australasian Association for Engineering Education	Australia	$2500
2020	Honour	Australian Defence Force Bronze Commendation	Australian Defence Force	Australia	-
2016	Award	ECMS Excellence in Teaching Award	-	-	-
2014	Award	SA Tall Poppy Award	The Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS)	Australia	-
2014	Award	Prince of Wales Award (Defence)	-	Australia	-
2012	Achievement	Young Professional Engineer of the Year (SA)	Engineers Australia	Australia	-
2011	Achievement	Finalist Advantage SA Young South Australian of the Year	-	Australia	-
2010	Achievement	Young Mechanical Engineer of the Year	Engineers Australia	Australia	-
2010	Honour	Defence Long Service Medal	Australian Defence Force	Australia	-
2009	Recognition	PhD thesis commendation from the Dean of Graduate Studies	University of Adelaide	Australia	-
2009	Fellowship	ATSE Symposium Fellowship	Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering	Australia	-
2007	Honour	Australian Service Medal - Solomon Islands II	Australian Defence Force	Australia	-
2006	Honour	Australian Defence Medal	Australian Defence Force	Australia	-
2003	Honour	Australian Active Service Medal - East Timor	Australian Defence Force	Australia	-

Language Competencies

Language Competency
German Can read, write, speak and understand spoken

Language	Competency
German	Can read, write, speak and understand spoken

Education

Institution name	Country	Title
University of Adelaide	Australia	PhD
The University of Adelaide	Australia	Grad. Cert. Environmental Policy and Management
The University of Adelaide	Australia	BE (Mech)

Journals

Year	Citation
2024	Bowes, P., Daria, V., & Birzer, C. (2024). Human resource potential for a sovereign aviation enterprise in the South Pacific. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 23, 14 pages. DOI
2024	Brandon-Toole, M., Birzer, C., & Kelso, R. (2024). An improved prediction model for in-stream water wheel performance. Renewable Energy, 230, 9 pages. DOI
2023	Collins, B., Birzer, C., Harris, P., Kidd, S., McCabe, B., & Medwell, P. (2023). Two-phase anaerobic digestion in leach bed reactors coupled to anaerobic filters: A review and the potential of biochar filters. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 175, 113187-1-113187-19. DOI Scopus12 WoS2
2023	Collins, B. A., Birzer, C. H., Kidd, S. P., Hall, T., & Medwell, P. R. (2023). Coupling a biochar filter to a leach bed reactor for anaerobic digestion of chicken litter. Bioresource Technology Reports, 21, 101362-1-101362-12. DOI Scopus6
2023	Collins, B. A., Birzer, C. H., Kidd, S. P., Hall, T., & Medwell, P. R. (2023). The influence of biochar position in a leach bed system anaerobically digesting chicken litter. Journal of Environmental Management, 344, 118404-1-118404-13. DOI Scopus1
2023	Brandon-Toole, M., Birzer, C., & Kelso, R. (2023). The effect of blade depth ratio on the performance of in-stream water wheels. Energy for Sustainable Development, 77, 101346-1-101346-10. DOI Scopus1
2022	Wang, H., Eyk, P. J., Medwell, P. R., Birzer, C. H., Tian, Z. F., Possell, M., & Huang, X. (2022). Smouldering fire and emission characteristics of Eucalyptus litter fuel. Fire and Materials, 46(3), 576-586. DOI Scopus5 WoS11
2021	Birzer, C. H., Kalt, P. A. M., Lau, T. C. W., & Nathan, G. J. (2021). Renormalisation of particle distributions in an initially-biased turbulent jet by swirl and radial injection. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 135, 103509-1-103509-11. DOI Scopus2
2021	Indren, M., Birzer, C. H., Kidd, S. P., Hall, T., & Medwell, P. R. (2021). Effect of wood biochar dosage and re-use on high-solids anaerobic digestion of chicken litter. Biomass and Bioenergy, 144, 105872. DOI Scopus19 WoS14
2020	Indren, M., Birzer, C. H., Kidd, S. P., Hall, T., & Medwell, P. R. (2020). Effects of biochar parent material and microbial pre-loading in biochar-amended high-solids anaerobic digestion. Bioresource Technology, 298, 122457-1-122457-10. DOI Scopus58 WoS45 Europe PMC2
2020	Kirch, T., Medwell, P. R., Birzer, C. H., & van Eyk, P. J. (2020). Feedstock dependence of emissions from a reverse-downdraft gasifier cookstove. Energy for Sustainable Development, 56, 42-50. DOI Scopus9 WoS8
2020	Indren, M., Birzer, C. H., Kidd, S. P., & Medwell, P. R. (2020). Effect of total solids content on anaerobic digestion of poultry litter with biochar. Journal of Environmental Management, 255, 109744-1-109744-9. DOI Scopus53 WoS39 Europe PMC4
2020	Kirch, T., Medwell, P. R., Birzer, C. H., & van Eyk, P. J. (2020). Small-scale autothermal thermochemical conversion of multiple solid biomass feedstock. Renewable Energy, 149, 1261-1270. DOI Scopus17 WoS15
2019	Wang, H., van Eyk, P. J., Medwell, P. R., Birzer, C. H., Tian, Z., Possell, M., & Huang, X. (2019). Air permeability of the litter layer in broadleaf forests. Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering, 5, 53-1-53-15. DOI Scopus5 WoS5
2019	Nursey-Bray, M., Palmer, R., Meyer-Mclean, B., Wanner, T., & Birzer, C. (2019). The fear of not flying: Achieving sustainable academic plane travel in higher education based on insights from South Australia. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(9), 22 pages. DOI Scopus41 WoS24
2019	Birzer, C., & Hamilton, J. (2019). Humanitarian engineering education fieldwork and the risk of doing more harm than good. Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, 24(2), 51-60. DOI Scopus24
2019	Leknys, R. R., Arjomandi, M., Kelso, R. M., & Birzer, C. H. (2019). Dynamic stall flow structure and forces on symmetrical airfoils at high angles of attack and rotation rates. Journal of Fluids Engineering, 141(5), 051104-1-051104-15. DOI Scopus5 WoS4
2018	Leknys, R., Arjomandi, M., Kelso, R., & Birzer, C. (2018). Leading-edge vortex development on a pitching flat plate with multiple leading edge geometries. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 96, 406-418. DOI Scopus10 WoS9
2018	Leknys, R., Arjomandi, M., Kelso, R., & Birzer, C. (2018). Thin airfoil load control during post-stall and large pitch angles using leading-edge trips. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 179, 80-91. DOI Scopus12 WoS7
2018	Kirch, T., Medwell, P., Birzer, C., & Van Eyk, P. (2018). Influences of fuel bed depth and air supply on small-scale batch-fed reverse downdraft biomass conversion. Energy and Fuels, 32(8), 8507-8518. DOI Scopus16 WoS10
2018	Thong, C., Dally, B., Medwell, P., & Birzer, C. (2018). Effect of Multilateral Jet Mixing on Stability and Structure of Turbulent Partially-Premixed Flames. Flow, Turbulence and Combustion, 100(1), 225-247. DOI Scopus3 WoS3
2018	Leknys, R., Arjomandi, M., Kelso, R., & Birzer, C. (2018). Dynamic- and post-stall characteristics of pitching airfoils at extreme conditions. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G, 232(6), 1171-1185. DOI Scopus8 WoS6
2018	Kirch, T., Birzer, C., van Eyk, P., & Medwell, P. (2018). Influence of primary and secondary air supply on gaseous emissions from a small-scale staged solid biomass fuel combustor. Energy and Fuels, 32(4), 4212-4220. DOI Scopus27 WoS22
2018	Kirch, T., Birzer, C. H., Medwell, P. R., & Holden, L. (2018). The role of primary and secondary air on wood combustion in cookstoves. International Journal of Sustainable Energy, 37(3), 268-277. DOI Scopus23 WoS15
2017	Thong, C., Dally, B., Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Hassan, E. (2017). An experimental study on the near flow field of a round jet affected by upstream multi-lateral side-jet. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 82, 198-211. DOI Scopus13 WoS9
2017	Wang, H., van Eyk, P., Medwell, P., Birzer, C., Tian, Z., & Possell, M. (2017). Effects of oxygen concentration on radiation-aided and self-sustained smoldering combustion of radiata pine. Energy and Fuels, 31(8), 8619-8630. DOI Scopus20 WoS17
2016	Kirch, T., Birzer, C., & Medwell, P. (2016). Natural draft and forced primary air combustion properties of a top-lit up-draft research furnace. Biomass and Bioenergy, 91, 108-115. DOI Scopus32 WoS26
2016	Wang, H., Van Eyk, P., Medwell, P., Birzer, C., Tian, Z., & Possell, M. (2016). Identification and quantitative analysis of smoldering and flaming combustion of radiata pine. Energy and Fuels, 30(9), 7666-7677. DOI Scopus15 WoS12
2016	Rodrigues, R., Piper, J., Bhattacharya, S., Wilson, S., & Birzer, C. (2016). Development of guidelines for the construction of wind turbines using scrap material. Procedia Engineering, 159, 292-299. DOI Scopus5 WoS4
2016	Birzer, C. H. (2016). Journal of Humanitarian Engineering - Vol 4, Iss 2. Journal of Humanitarian Engineering, Vol 4(No 2).
2016	Birzer, C. H. (2016). Journal of Humanitarian Engineering - Vol 4, Iss 2. Journal of Humanitarian Engineering, Vol 4(No 2).
2016	Birzer, C. H. (2016). Journal of Humanitarian Engineering - Vol 4, Iss 2. Journal of Humanitarian Engineering, Vol 4(No 2).
2016	Cheong, M., Birzer, C., & Lau, T. (2016). Laser attenuation correction for planar nephelometry concentration measurements. Experimental Techniques, 40(3), 1075-1083. DOI Scopus3 WoS3
2014	Thong, C., Kalt, P., Dally, B., & Birzer, C. (2014). Flow dynamics of multi-lateral jets injection into a round pipe flow. Experiments in Fluids, 56(1), 15-1-15-16. DOI Scopus12 WoS12
2014	Birzer, C., Medwell, P., MacFarlane, G., Read, M., Wilkey, J., Higgins, M., & West, T. (2014). A biochar-producing, dung-burning cookstove for humanitarian purposes. Procedia Engineering, 78, 243-249. DOI Scopus25 WoS21
2013	Birzer, C., Medwell, P., Wilkey, J., West, T., Higgins, M., MacFarlane, G., & Read, M. (2013). An analysis of combustion from a top-lit up-draft (TLUD) cookstove. Journal of Humanitarian Engineering, 2(1), 1-7.
2013	Greig, A., Birzer, C., & Arjomandi, M. (2013). Atmospheric plasma thruster: Theory and concept. AIAA Journal, 51(2), 362-371. DOI Scopus19 WoS9
2012	Birzer, C. (2012). Correlative analysis of organised structures in turbulent jets. Experiments in Fluids, 53(6), 1681-1691. DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2012	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2012). The influences of particle mass loading on mean and instantaneous particle distributions in precessing jet flows. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 41, 13-22. DOI Scopus18 WoS15
2011	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2011). A method to provide statistical measures of large-scale instantaneous particle clusters from planar images. Experiments in Fluids, 51(3), 641-656. DOI Scopus13 WoS11
2011	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2011). The influences of jet precession on large-scale instantaneous turbulent particle clusters. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 37(4), 394-402. DOI Scopus10 WoS9
2009	Birzer, C., & Doolan, C. (2009). Quasi-one-dimensional model of hydrogen-fueled scramjet combustors. Journal of Propulsion and Power, 25(6), 1220-1225. DOI Scopus80 WoS43
2009	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2009). The influences of jet precession on near field particle distributions. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 35(3), 288-296. DOI Scopus7 WoS7
2007	Kalt, P., Birzer, C., & Nathan, G. (2007). Corrections to facilitate planar imaging of particle concentration in particle-laden flows using Mie scattering, Part 1: Collimated laser sheets. Applied Optics, 46(23), 5823-5834. DOI Scopus36 WoS28

Conference Papers

Year	Citation
2023	Brown, N., Smith, J., Daniel, S., & Birzer, C. (2023). Exploring the Position of Humanitarian Engineering in Australia. In Proceedings of the 33rd Australasian Association of Engineering Education (AAEE, 2022) (pp. 10 pages). Australia: Association for Engineering Education.
2021	Brown, N., Smith, J., Daniel, S., Rosenqvist, T., & Birzer, C. (2021). Teaching engineering for complex contexts. In 9th Research in Engineering Education Symposium and 32nd Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference, REES AAEE 2021: Engineering Education Research Capability Development Vol. 2 (pp. 1144). Research in Enineering Education Network (REEN). DOI
2019	Berry, J., Anstey, N., Spillane, D., & Birzer, C. (2019). Design for mass production and dissemination of clean cookstoves in developing countries. In World Engineering Convention 2019 (pp. 628-646). online: Engineers Australia.
2019	Kirch, T., Birzer, C. H., van Eyk, P. J., Hall, P. A., & Medwell, P. R. (2019). Air staging and in-bed quenching for autothermal generation of char and low-tar producer gas. In European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings (pp. 876-880). Italy: ETA.
2018	Toole, M., Birzer, C., & Kelso, R. (2018). Analysis of the Chord Overlap and Separation Distance of a 2-Bladed Savonius Wind Turbine. In 21 Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (pp. 1-4). online: Australian Fluid Mechanics Society.
2018	Toole, M., Kelso, R., & Birzer, C. (2018). Investigating the flow effects of slots and perforations on a flat blade. In Proceedings of the 21st Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (AFMC 2018) (pp. 1-4). Adelaide, Australia: Australian Fluid Mechanics Society.
2018	Kirch, T., Evans, M., Medwell, P., Rapp, V., Birzer, C., & Gadgil, A. (2018). Mixing uniformity of emissions for point-wise measurements in exhaust ducts. In Proceedings of the 21st Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (AFMC 2018) (pp. 1-4). Adelaide, Australia: Australian Fluid Mechanics Society. Scopus1
2018	Indren, M., Birzer, C., Medwell, P., & Kidd, S. (2018). Biochar Addition in High-Solids Anaerobic Digestion of Poultry Litter. In 2018 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) (pp. 8 pages). San Jose, USA: IEEE. DOI Scopus3 WoS1
2018	Wang, H., Tian, Z., Medwell, P., Birzer, C., van Eyk, P., & Possell, M. (2018). Air permeability of the litter layer in temperate forests of south-east Australia. In Proceedings of the 21st Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (AFMC 2018) (pp. 1-4). Adelaide, Australia: Australian Fluid Mechanics Society.
2017	Cheruvu, N., Indren, M., Birzer, C. H., & Medwell, P. (2017). Biochar production and characterisation - a field study. In Proceedings of the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC 2017) Vol. 2017-January (pp. 1-5). San Jose, CA: IEEE. DOI Scopus7 WoS3
2016	Leknys., Arjomandi, M., Kelso, R., & Birzer, C. (2016). Dynamic stall on airfoils exposed to constant pitch-rate motion. In Proceedings of the 20th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (pp. 1-4). Perth, Australia: AFMS. Scopus1
2015	Wang, H., Medwell, P., Birzer, C., Van Eyk, P., & Tian, Z. (2015). Investigation of smouldering combustion of biomass fuel. In Y. Yang, & N. Smith (Eds.), Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium (pp. 100-103). online: The Combustion Institute.
2015	Lask, K., Medwell, P., Birzer, C., & Gadgil, A. (2015). Soot reduction in cookstoves due to turbulent mixing. In Proceedings of Australian Combustion Symposium (pp. 4 pages). online: The Combustion Institute.
2015	Kirch, T., Medwell, P., & Birzer, C. (2015). Assessment of natural draft combustion properties of a top-lit up-draft research furnace. In Proceedings of Australian Combustion Symposium (pp. 384-387). online: The Combustion Institute.
2015	Thong, C., Birzer, C., & Dally, B. (2015). Mixing field characteristics of asymmetrical multi-lateral jets injected into a round pipe flow. In Proceedings of 7th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (pp. 137-140). Online: Monash University.
2015	Thong, C., Dally, B., Birzer, C., & Kalt, P. (2015). Effect of multi-lateral fuel jet injection on the flow field of Methane-Air turbulent flame. In Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium (pp. 284-287). Online: The Combustion Institute.
2015	Rodrigues, R., Piper, J., Bhattacharya, S., Wilson, S., & Birzer, C. (2015). Renewable power from scrap - Guidelines for the construction of wind turbines using scrap material. In Proceedings of the National Conference of the Sustainable Engineering Society (SENG 2015) (pp. 10 pages). Adelaide, Australia: The Sustainable Engineering Society.
2014	Thong, C., Kalt, P., Dally, B., & Birzer, C. (2014). Mixing field characteristics of multi-lateral jets injected into a round pipe flow. In Proceedings of the Ninteenth Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (pp. 1-4). Melbourne, Vic.: AFMS.
2014	Kalt, P., Birzer, C., Evans, H., Liew, A., Padovan, M., & Watchman, M. (2014). A solar disinfection water treatment system for remote communities. In A. Vidan, & D. Shoag (Eds.), Procedia Engineering Vol. 78 (pp. 250-258). Netherlands: Elsevier. DOI Scopus21 WoS15
2014	Birzer, C., Medwell, P., & Kalt, P. (2014). Humanitarian technology research group: Developments at the University of Adelaide. In Proceedings of the 4th IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference, GHTC 2014 (pp. 486-490). San Jose, CA: IEEE. DOI
2013	Naidu, M., Tian, Z., Medwell, P., & Birzer, C. (2013). An investigation of cool roofing on urban street canyon air quality. In Proceedings of the 20th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation, MODSIM 2013 (pp. 434-440). Australia: The Modelling and Simulation Society of Aust & NZ. Scopus1
2013	Lask, K., Medwell, P., Birzer, C., & Gadgil, A. (2013). Particulate emissions from a wood-fired improved biomass stove. In Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium (pp. 174-177). Online: The Combustion Institute.
2013	Lask, K. M., Medwell, P. R., Birzer, C. H., & Gadgil, A. J. (2013). In-situ measurements of soot production in the Berkeley-Darfur stove using laser extinction. In Fall Technical Meeting of the Western States Section of the Combustion Institute, WSS/CI 2013 Fall Meeting (pp. 72-80). Scopus1
2012	Cheong, M., Birzer, C., & Lau, T. (2012). Single-image attenuation corrections to facilitate instantaneous planar imaging of densely seeded particle-laden flows. In Proceedings of the 7th Australasian Congress on Applied Mechanics, ACAM 7 (pp. 808-816). CDROM / DVDROM: Engineers Australia. Scopus2
2012	Greig, A., Cheong, M., Arjomandi, M., & Birzer, C. (2012). Investigation into the effect of electrode angle on force production of a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator. In Proceedings of the 50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition (pp. 1-7). USA: AIAA. DOI Scopus3
2012	Cheong, M., Birzer, C., & Lau, T. (2012). Single image corrections to facilitate planar imaging of particle concentration in particle-laden fluids. In Proceedings of the 18th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (pp. 1-4). Australia: Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society. Scopus1
2012	Kalt, P., & Birzer, C. (2012). Normalising particle-distribution biases using jet injection. In Proceedings of the 18th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (pp. 1-4). Australia: Australasian Fluid Mechanics Society.
2011	Dally, B., Birzer, C., & Medwell, P. (2011). Turbulent jet flames under hot coflow conditions. In Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium 2011 (pp. 1-8). Australia: The Combustion Institute.
2011	Birzer, C., Kelso, R., & Dally, B. (2011). Flame structure of jets in confined crossflows. In Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium 2011 (pp. 1-4). Australia: The Combustion Institute.
2011	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2011). The effect of radial injection on the particle distribution of an initially biased turbulent jet. In Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium 2011 (pp. 1-4). Australia: The Combustion Institute.
2011	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2011). The effect of swirl injection on the particle distributions of an initially biased turbulent jet. In Proceedings of the 6th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (pp. 1-4). Canberra, Australia: University of NSW.
2011	Greig, A., Birzer, C., & Arjomandi, M. (2011). Investigation into the response force of a dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator with varying electrode angle using particle image velocimetry. In Proceedings of the 6th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (pp. 1-4). Australia: University of NSW.
2011	Birzer, C., Dally, B., & Kelso, R. (2011). Scaling trajectories for jets in confined cross-flows. In Proceedings of the 6th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (pp. 1-4). Australia: University of NSW.
2010	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2010). A method to characterise jets using correlations of large-scale features in instantaneous planar images. In Proceedings of 17th Australasian fluid mechanics conference (pp. 1-4). www: University of Auckland. Scopus2
2009	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2009). Toward optimising instantaneous particle clusters in pulverised fuel combustion systems. In Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium 2009 (pp. 1-4). CD: University of Queensland.
2009	Birzer, C., & Birzer, C. (2009). How the Australian Army does it: Development of training packages in the Defence Force School of Signals. In Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference for the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (pp. 1101-1105). Adelaide: University of Adelaide.
2009	Birzer, C., & Jones, R. (2009). A modular training programme for technical trades in the Australian Defence Force. In Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference for the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (pp. 1106-1111). Adelaide: University of Adelaide.
2008	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2008). A methodology for measuring particle clustering from planar images. In Proceedings of the 11th International conference multiphase flow in industrial plant (pp. 89-96). Milan: Animp Servizi SRL.
2008	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., & Nathan, G. (2008). A statistical analysis of a technique to measure large-scale particle cluster. In Proceedings of the Fifth Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (pp. 1-4). Australia: UWA.
2007	Birzer, C., & Doolan, C. (2007). Quasi-one-dimensional modeling of hydrogen fuelled scramjet combustors. In Proceedings of the 18th AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference Vol. 2 (pp. 1325-1337). USA: AIAA. DOI Scopus7
2005	Kalt, P., & Birzer, C. (2005). Calibrations for planar laser nephelometry in densely seeded two-phase flows. In Z. Alwahabi, B. Dally, P. Kalt, G. Nathan, & C. Wong (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th Australian conference on laser diagnostics in fluid mechanics and combustion (pp. 73-76). CD ROM: The University of Adelaide.
2005	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., Smith, N., & Nathan, G. (2005). Particle image velocimetry in the near field of a particle-laden precessing jet flow. In Z. Alwahabi, B. Dally, P. Kalt, G. Nathan, & C. Wong (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (pp. 21-24). Adelaide, South Australia: The University of Adelaide.
2005	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., Nathan, G., & Smith, N. (2005). Planar measurements of the distribution of particles in a two-phase precessing jet flow. In K. King (Ed.), Proceedings of the 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion (pp. 105-108). Adelaide: TEC Adelaide. Scopus1
2004	Birzer, C., Kalt, P., Nathan, G., & Smith, N. (2004). The influence of mass loading on particle distribution in the near field of a co-annular jet. In M. Behnia, W. Lin, & G. McBain (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fifteenth Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (pp. CD-ROM 1-CD-ROM 4). CD-ROM: The University of Sydney.

Internet Publications

Year	Citation
2018	Birzer, C. H. (2018). Service Learning or Voluntourism?. Engineering for Change LLC.
2016	Birzer, C. H. (2016). We need to be efficient: Constructive criticism from the Humanitarian Technology conference. Engineering for Change LLC.
2015	Birzer, C. H. (2015). Where engineering can take you - Being a small part of a big machine. LinkedIn.

$30,000	Environment, Social and Governance educational packages C. Birzer & K. Harvey HILT CRC Coursework Grant Program (2023)
$19,362	Bringing a Human Dimension to Engineering: Delivery, Outcomes and Recognition of Humanitarian Engineering Education J. Smith, N. Brown, C. Birzer, S. Daniel, G. Goddard AAEE Engineering Education ACED Aligned Grant (2022)
$90,000	Pacific Islands energy, infrastructure, education and capacity building initiative C.H. Birzer DFAT - International Climate Change Engagement Grants (2021)
$16,000	Freeze drying related research for Asparagopsis armata C.H. Birzer Contract Research with CH4 South Australia Pty Ltd (2020)
$40,000	Pacific Islands energy, infrastructure, education and capacity building initiative C.H. Birzer, M. Solis, M. Young, C. Matthews, R. Hill, R. West Internal Funding (2019)
$20,000	Bio-fertilisers and biologically-produced methane from anaerobic digesters P.R. Medwell, C.H. Birzer, S. Kidd, T. Cavagnaro, M. Indren Waite Research Institute Funding (2019)
$99,000	Collaborative Humanitarian Engineering Practicum (Cambodia) (EWB) C.H. Birzer, J. Smith, R. Wilkinson, E. Cheng New Colombo Plan (2019-2022)
$353,100	Nepal: Community Building and Designing Disaster Resilient Futures (EWB) E. Cheng, C.H. Birzer, J. Smith and R. Wilkinson New Colombo Plan (2019-2022)
$247,500	Vietnam UN Sustainable Development Goal Study Tour (Unbound) R. Wilkinson, C.H. Birzer and E. Cheng New Colombo Plan (2019-2022)
$80,000	Investigation into the suitability of polymer meat conveyor belt materials for carbon dioxide pellet repeated cleaning with the respect to material properties and fatigue of materials used for conveyor belts P.R. Medwell, C.H. Birzer Contract Research Australian Meat Processor Corporation Ltd (via Cold Logic Pty Ltd) (2018)
$3,500	Investigation of energy efficiency increase using an oil treatment in NH3 refrigeration systems C.H. Birzer Contract Research Cold Logic Pty Ltd) (2018)
$32,284	Water Filtration System for Rajasthan: a crowdfunding campaign C.H. Birzer, G. Drew, and S. Kidd Crowdfunding Campaign (2017)
$60,000	Biodigesters: converting waste productions from industry and rural communities, into byproducts for profit and quality of life C.H. Birzer, T. Cavagnaro, G. Drew, M. Hutchinson, S. Kidd, P.R. Medwell, V. Moore, P.J. van Eyk, W. Umberger University of Adelaide, Interdisciplinary Fund (2017)
$30,000	Humanitarian Emergencies in a Digital World: big data, human networks and the role of situational awareness A. Skuse, C.H. Birzer, H. Brown, M. Nursey-Bray, C. Szabo University of Adelaide, Interdisciplinary Fund (2017)
$198,000	Working Towards Responsible Consumption and Production: Study of sustainable waste management in Timor-Leste (Project Everest) C.H. Birzer New Colombo Plan (2018-2020)
$148,500	Cambodian Humanitarian Design Summit (EWB) C.H. Birzer New Colombo Plan (2018-2020)
$198,000	Integrated Humanitarian Engineering Practicum (Nepal) (EWB) J. Smith and C.H. Birzer New Colombo Plan (2018-2020)
$13,550	The Green Academic: towards sustainable academic travel and the University of Adelaide M. Nursey-Bray, C.H. Birzer, T. Wanner, R. Palmer, S. Roder University of Adelaide, Ecoversity Green Project Fund
$66,000	Malaysian Humanitarian Design Summit (EWB) C.H. Birzer New Colombo Plan (2017)
$66,000	Indian Humanitarian Design Summit (EWB) G. Jackman, C.H. Birzer and K. Pope New Colombo Plan (2017)
$55,000	New Solutions for Air Quality and Old Development Challenges: Biochar Technology C.H. Birzer, T. Cavagnaro, S. Kidd, P. Kwong, P.R. Medwell, P.J. van Eyk, W. Umberger University of Adelaide, Interdisciplinary Fund (2016)
$33,000	Nepal Humanitarian Design Summit (EWB) C.H. Birzer New Colombo Plan (2016)
$158,100	Gas Pipeline blowdown: Characteristics of natural gas pipeline blowdown in remote areas N.L. Smith, A. Mimani, A.C. Zander, P.J. Ashman, C.H. Birzer, P.R. Medwell, T. Lau, B.S. Cazzolato Energy Pipelines Cooperative Research Centre (2015)
$45,000	Indian Humanitarian Design Summit (EWB) C.H. Birzer New Colombo Plan (2015)
$21,500	Cambodian Humanitarian Design Summit (EWB) C.H. Birzer Asia-Bound Short Term Engineering and Related Technology n.e.c.12692 (2015)
$30,000	Establishment of a Humanitarian Technology Research Group Research Facility C.H. Birzer, P.R. Medwell, P.J. Ashman, K. Davey, C. Thomas University of Adelaide, Research Support Scheme (2015)
$5,500	A Detailed Analysis of Crop Waste Ignition Temperatures C.H. Birzer, R.E. Jones Contract Research, Grain Produces SA (2014)
$10,000	Analysis of Lighting Systems P.R. Medwell, C.H. Birzer Contract Research, Fisher Jeffries (2013)
$1,000	Wind Loading Assessment of Blinds P.R. Medwell, C.H. Birzer Contract Research, ZipTrack (2012)
$30,000	Reuse Residual Heat & Energy Harvesting P.R. Medwell; C.H. Birzer Contract Research Electrolux Australia (2012)

Courses Delivered

Current

Essentials of Humanitarian Engineering (Engineering Level 4): from 2022

Past

Business Management Systems (EEE Level 4, Master Eng): 2023
Systems Engineering and Industrial Practice (Mech Eng Level 3): 2021-2023
Renewable Power Technologies (Mech Eng Level 4, Mech Eng Masters): 2022-2023
Introduction to Engineering (Engineering Level 1): 2020-2021
Renewable Fluid Power Technology (Mech Eng Level 4, Mech Eng Masters): 2013-2020
Sustainability and the Environment (Mech Eng Level 3, Mech Eng Masters): 2013-2020

Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Date	Role	Research Topic	Program	Degree Type	Student Load	Student Name
2024	Principal Supervisor	Coal Power Plant Sustainability in Climate Mitigation Scenarios	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Mr Alvin Mizrawan Tarmizi
2020	Principal Supervisor	Understanding the effect of biochar on the reduction of hydrogen sulphide in biogas from a biodigester	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Part Time	Mr Ben Ashleigh Collins
2018	Principal Supervisor	Pico-Scale to Small-Scale Hydropower Implementation in Nepal	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Part Time	Mr Matthew Lawrence Brandon-Toole
2016	Principal Supervisor	Characterisation of Biochar for Environmental Mitigations	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Part Time	Mr Benjamin Morton

Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

Date	Role	Research Topic	Program	Degree Type	Student Load	Student Name
2017 - 2020	Co-Supervisor	The Use of Biochar in High-Solids Anaerobic Digestion	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Mr Mathu Indren
2016 - 2019	Co-Supervisor	Small-Scale Batch-Fed Biomass Gasification and Combustion	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Mr Thomas Kirch
2014 - 2018	Co-Supervisor	Initiation of smouldering combustion in biomass	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Houzhi Wang
2013 - 2018	Co-Supervisor	Unsteady Loads and Associated Flow Fields on Wings Exposed to High Rotation-Rate Dynamic Stall	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Part Time	Mr Ryan Ross Leknys
2013 - 2017	Co-Supervisor	Application of Multilateral Jet for Partial Pre-mixing	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Dr Thomas Xiong Thong
2011 - 2021	Co-Supervisor	Targeted Unmixing of Particles in Suspension	Doctor of Philosophy	Doctorate	Full Time	Miss Mei Chiin Cheong

Board Memberships

Date	Role	Board name	Institution name	Country
2023 - 2024	Board Member	WEA-SA	WEA-SA	Australia
2019 - 2021	Board Member	Project Everest Ventures	Project Everest Ventures	Australia
2017 - 2018	Board Member	Mechanical College Board	Engineers Australia	-
2014 - 2018	Member	Journal of Humanitarian Engineering	Engineers Without Borders Australia	Australia
2012 - 2012	Treasurer	International Young Professional Foundation	International Young Professional Foundation	Australia
2011 - 2012	Board Member	International Young Professional Foundation	International Young Professional Foundation	Australia
2011 - 2011	Chair	International Young Professional Foundation	International Young Professional Foundation	Australia

Committee Memberships

Date	Role	Committee	Institution	Country
2019 - ongoing	Member	Humanitarian Engineering College of Practice	Engineers Australia	Australia
2016 - ongoing	Member	ISO/PC 305 National Mirror Committee: WS-040 Sustainable non-sewered sanitation systems	Standards Australia	Australia
2015 - 2017	Member	SA Government Aboriginal Employment Infrastructure Cluster	SA Government Aboriginal Employment Infrastructure Cluster	Australia
2015 - 2016	Representative	Congress Representative	Engineers Australia	Australia
2015 - ongoing	Member	ISO/TC 285 National Mirror Committee: EE-003 Clean Cookstoves	Standards Australia	Australia
2014 - 2019	Member	College of Leadership and Management - SA Division	Engineers Australia	Australia
2014 - 2015	President	South Australian Division Committee	Engineers Australia	Australia
2013 - 2013	Vice-President	South Australian Division Committee	Engineers Australia	Australia
2011 - 2017	Member	South Australian Division Committee	-	-
2011 - 2012	Chair	Young Engineers Australia - SA Division	Young Engineers Australia - SA Division	Australia
2009 - 2010	Vice-Chair	Young Engineers Australia - SA Division	Young Engineers Australia - SA Division	Australia
2002 - 2003	Chair	Young Engineers Australia - SA Division	Young Engineers Australia - SA Division	Australia
2002 - 2002	Member	South Australian Division Committee	Engineers Australia	Australia

Memberships

Date Role Membership Country
2022 - ongoing Member AICD Australia
2008 - ongoing Member Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief -
1999 - ongoing Member Engineers Australia Australia

Date	Role	Membership	Country
2022 - ongoing	Member	AICD	Australia
2008 - ongoing	Member	Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief	-
1999 - ongoing	Member	Engineers Australia	Australia

Editorial Boards

Date	Role	Editorial Board Name	Institution	Country
2022 - ongoing	Board Member	Development Engineering	Elsevier	United Kingdom
2014 - ongoing	Associate Editor	Journal of Humanitarian Engineering	Engineers Without Borders Australia	Australia

Position: Senior Lecturer
Phone: 83133148
Email: cristian.birzer@adelaide.edu.au
Fax: 83134367
Campus: North Terrace
Building: Engineering South, floor 3
Org Unit: Mechanical Engineering