Cristian Birzer

Research Interests

Humanitarian engineering Renewable energy Sustainable design

APrf Cristian Birzer

Senior Lecturer

School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering

College of Engineering and Information Technology

Available For Media Comment.

Dr Cris Birzer GAICD MIEAust CPEng is a Chartered Professional Mechanical Engineer and Associate Professor 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.

 

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.”

Date Position Institution name
2026 - ongoing Associate Professor Adelaide University
2024 - 2025 Adjutant, Adelaide Universities Regiment The Australian Army
2015 - 2025 Senior Lecturer The 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

Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
2024 Honour National Emergency Medal - Bushfires 2019/20 Australian Defence Force Australia -
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 Competency
German Can read, write, speak and understand spoken

Date 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)

Year Citation
2025 Collins, B. A., Birzer, C. H., Kidd, S. P., Hall, T., & Medwell, P. R. (2025). The influence of biochar pyrolysis temperature on anaerobic digestion of chicken litter in a leach bed coupled to a biochar filter. Bioresource Technology Reports, 31, 102219-1-102219-13.
DOI
2025 Foreman, R. J., Birzer, C., & Cañadillas, B. (2025). Measuring and Simulating Wind Farm Wakes in the North Sea for Use in Assessing Other Regions. Energies, 18(20), 5538.
DOI
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, 101023.
DOI
2024 Brandon-Toole, M., Birzer, C., & Kelso, R. (2024). An improved prediction model for in-stream water wheel performance. Renewable Energy, 230, 120803.
DOI Scopus1 WoS2
2024 Brandon-Toole, M., Birzer, C., & Kelso, R. (2024). An exploration of the wake of an in-stream water wheel. Renewable Energy, 237, 1-13.
DOI WoS1
2024 Birzer, C., Bowes, P., Carroll, J., & Daria, V. (2024). South Pacific Nations’ Absorptive Capacity for Air-advising Missions. Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs, 7(6).
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 Scopus9 WoS8
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 Scopus5 WoS5
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 Scopus3 WoS3
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 Scopus20 WoS22
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 Scopus8 WoS14
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), 103509-1-103509-11.
DOI Scopus2 WoS1
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 Scopus22 WoS20
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 Scopus77 WoS72 Europe PMC29
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 Scopus15 WoS13
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 Scopus66 WoS55 Europe PMC24
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 Scopus25 WoS21
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 Scopus62 WoS47
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 Scopus35
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 Scopus16 WoS16
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 WoS13
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 Scopus9 WoS7
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 Scopus34 WoS30
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 Scopus25 WoS23
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 Scopus14 WoS13
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 Scopus26 WoS24
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 Scopus34 WoS30
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 WoS15
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 WoS23
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 Scopus24 WoS16
2012 Birzer, C. (2012). Correlative analysis of organised structures in turbulent jets. Experiments in Fluids, 53(6), 1681-1691.
DOI Scopus3 WoS2
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 WoS16
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 WoS12
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 Scopus93 WoS69
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 Scopus38 WoS31 Europe PMC1

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. M., & Birzer, C. H. (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. J., Medwell, P. R., Rapp, V. H., Birzer, C. H., & Gadgil, A. J. (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). 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. F., Medwell, P. R., Birzer, C. H., van Eyk, P. J., & 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 Scopus8 WoS4
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.
Scopus2
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 Scopus26 WoS18
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.

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.

 

$132,000 Design Summit Program (Cambodia) (EWB)
S. Bertei, A. Gartrell, J. McBride, J. Smith, S. Daniel, C.H. Birzer, J. Hodges, S. Rayburg, S. Jeon, E. Tan, E. Cheng, F. Johnson, A. Kruger, E. Gumm. 
New Colombo Plan (2026)
$132,000 Design Summit Program (Timor-Leste) (EWB)
S. Bertei, A. Gartrell, J. McBride, J. Smith, S. Daniel, C.H. Birzer, J. Hodges, S. Rayburg, S. Jeon, E. Tan, E. Cheng, F. Johnson, A. Kruger, E. Gumm. 
New Colombo Plan (2026)
$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

From 2026

  • Essentials of Humanitarian Engineering (Engineering Level 4)
  • Engineering Design and Prototyping (All Engineering Level 1)

Past

  • Essentials of Humanitarian Engineering (Engineering Level 4): 2022-2025
  • Systems Engineering and Industrial Practice (Mech Eng Level 3): 2021-2025
  • Renewable Power Technologies (Mech Eng Level 4, Mech Eng Masters): 2022-2025
  • Business Management Systems (EEE Level 4, Master Eng): 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
Courses (re)Developed

For Adelaide University (ready for 2026)

  • Engineering Design and Prototyping
  • Engineering Project Management
  • Energy and Society
  • Defence Leadership
  • Essentials of Humanitarian Engineering

For the University of Adelaide

  • Essentials of Humanitarian Engineering (2022)
  • Renewable Power Technologies (2022)
  • Systems Engineering and Industrial Practice (2021)
  • Renewable Fluid Power Technology (2014)
  • Sustainability and the Environment (2014)

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
2024 Principal Supervisor Coal Power Plant Sustainability in Climate Mitigation Scenarios Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Alvin Mizrawan Tarmizi

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2020 - 2024 Principal Supervisor Anaerobic Digestion of Chicken Litter in a Leach Bed System With Biochar Application Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Ben Ashleigh Collins
2018 - 2024 Principal Supervisor Improving the Accessibility of In-Stream Water Wheels Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Matthew Lawrence Brandon-Toole
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

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

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

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 Editorial Board Name Institution Country
2022 - 2023 Board Member Development Engineering Elsevier United Kingdom
2014 - 2023 Associate Editor Journal of Humanitarian Engineering Engineers Without Borders Australia Australia

Connect With Me

External Profiles

Other Links