ALISON WAIN
Materials Conservator and Big Stuff buff, lecturer in heritage at the University of Canberra
Heritage is my passion and I love sharing it, especially the big stuff. Bringing people together through large technology heritage is like sharing a bottle of wine, but with bigger glasses and more rust...
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
Laser cleaning of heritage
Are lasers the conservation tool of choice for the future? Ever cheaper and more portable, they use electricity rather than harmful chemicals and the new ultrafast pulse lasers provide "cold ablation" with no heat effects. We are researching the use of lasers to clean Moruya granite (shown here on the Sydney Harbour Bridge) and heritage affected by bushfires.
Mind the Gap: Heritage and the Law
Keeping heritage machinery and industrial facilities operating preserves their intangible heritage, but comes up against laws and regulations designed for modern machinery, and differing perceptions of risk and value. This project brings together heritage, legal and game theory skills to chart new paths through legal and professional thickets.
Bushfire clean-up for heritage
Cleaning up heritage places covered in greasy sooty dirt is slow, hard, upsetting and not always successful. Could lasers help? This project will investigate the potential of lasers to use the power of light to get rid of the dirt and smell, and reduce the need to replace damaged heritage materials.
See this article on our first trials:
