I am the Discipline Lead for the Bachelor of Arts (Culture and Heritage) at the University of Canberra, teaching in the areas of conservation, cultural heritage management, material culture and sustainability in heritage. I have a background in the conservation of archaeological and historic objects and I am particularly interested in the ways in which people value, preserve and display large machinery.
My other research interests include the preservation of intangible heritage through the facilitation of embodied experiences, and the use of lasers for the analysis and cleaning of heritage artefacts. I am currently researching the impact of laser cleaning on the granite of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.
We explore femtosecond laser cleaning of materials used in the construction of historic monuments... more We explore femtosecond laser cleaning of materials used in the construction of historic monuments, such as stone and steel covered in typical contaminants caused by harsh environments that may be found in urban areas. We address the cleaning of these materials from a conservation perspective, taking as examples the preservation and cleaning of iconic structures such as the steel and the granite of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Hawkesbury sandstone, a popular building material of a variety of monuments in Sydney (Australia), Makrana marble taken from the Soami Bagh Samadh temple of Agra in India, and also graffiti removal. We demonstrate that femtosecond laser pulses can clean a range of different contaminants such as biofilm, environmental soiling, rust, and spray paints, while preserving the integrity of the underlying substrates. Femtosecond laser cleaning is a fast and effective method and a safer alternative to lasers with longer pulse durations for the preservation of historic mon...
We explore the use of femtosecond laser pulses to clean a variety of colors of spray paint from t... more We explore the use of femtosecond laser pulses to clean a variety of colors of spray paint from the Moruya granite, a stone with high heritage value that is widely used for monuments and sculptures in Sydney and New South Wales (Australia). The efficiency of the cleaning treatment and the effects on the stone substrate are evaluated using optical microscopy, optical profilometry, Raman spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and colorimetry. We demonstrate that femtosecond laser cleans granite without damaging it and without discoloration when the laser fluence is set below the damage threshold of the stone.
This paper explores the potential for conservators to use their unique combination of materials a... more This paper explores the potential for conservators to use their unique combination of materials and heritage experience to tackle the challenges of recovery in fire-affected areas, helping to minimise the waste and greenhouse gas emissions associated with traditional processes of post-disaster building remediation by facilitating cleaning and repair rather than replacement and disposal of fire-affected materials. The focus is not on saving ‘special’ items, but on remediating the broader fabric of homes and possessions that embody a sense of place and identity that sustains wellbeing and aids recovery after disaster. The samples used are painted plasterboard affected by smoke from the 2019 bushfires on the south-eastern coast of Australia. The method being trialled is the use of lasers to remove ash (soot) deposited by the smoke, to achieve a reduction in visual reminders of the fire and a surface that is ready for processes such as sanding, plastering or repainting to prepare a home for quick post-disaster re-occupation. Lasers have been extensively used for cleaning buildings. They use light energy to clean, so do not require abrasives or other chemicals, or touching of the surface. Nanosecond and femtosecond pulse lasers are trialled, and the effectiveness of the laser cleaning is analysed using visual assessment, optical microscopy, spectrophotometry and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
Digital photography has a number of advantages over traditional film photography for use in recor... more Digital photography has a number of advantages over traditional film photography for use in recording large technology. However digital photography is a fast changing world and there are some big pitfalls to avoid. This paper outlines some key points to remember to ensure that your digital photographs remain useful and accessible in the long term future.
These are the proceedings of the BigStuff large technology workshop held at the Australian War Me... more These are the proceedings of the BigStuff large technology workshop held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia on the 29-30th September and 1st October 2004.
Engineering heritage is often left to rot in unloved corners of museums, with little or no interp... more Engineering heritage is often left to rot in unloved corners of museums, with little or no interpretation or maintenance. This is influenced partly by the money, space and other resources required to display it more adequately, but even more by the decisions made by museum managers about where to invest scarce resources. To raise the profile and funding of engineering heritage it is necessary to better engage both visitors and museum managers, to help them realise the potential of engineering objects as heritage displays. This article discusses the results of research into visitors' needs and preferences when visiting engineering heritage, with a view to creating displays that are more attractive to a wider range of audiences.
This paper describes the development of a simple circuit for the measurement of electrochemical n... more This paper describes the development of a simple circuit for the measurement of electrochemical noise, which has the potential to be routinely applied in conservation contexts, particularly for the evaluation of coatings on historic metal objects. Measurement of electrochemical noise (both voltage and current) has been performed on a range of coated mild steel samples in chloride solution, demonstrating the ability of the equipment to discern trends in the behaviour of coated metal systems and to rank coating performance. Electrochemical noise results are compared with the results of AC impedance tests performed on the same samples.
We explore femtosecond laser cleaning of materials used in the construction of historic monuments... more We explore femtosecond laser cleaning of materials used in the construction of historic monuments, such as stone and steel covered in typical contaminants caused by harsh environments that may be found in urban areas. We address the cleaning of these materials from a conservation perspective, taking as examples the preservation and cleaning of iconic structures such as the steel and the granite of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Hawkesbury sandstone, a popular building material of a variety of monuments in Sydney (Australia), Makrana marble taken from the Soami Bagh Samadh temple of Agra in India, and also graffiti removal. We demonstrate that femtosecond laser pulses can clean a range of different contaminants such as biofilm, environmental soiling, rust, and spray paints, while preserving the integrity of the underlying substrates. Femtosecond laser cleaning is a fast and effective method and a safer alternative to lasers with longer pulse durations for the preservation of historic mon...
We explore the use of femtosecond laser pulses to clean a variety of colors of spray paint from t... more We explore the use of femtosecond laser pulses to clean a variety of colors of spray paint from the Moruya granite, a stone with high heritage value that is widely used for monuments and sculptures in Sydney and New South Wales (Australia). The efficiency of the cleaning treatment and the effects on the stone substrate are evaluated using optical microscopy, optical profilometry, Raman spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and colorimetry. We demonstrate that femtosecond laser cleans granite without damaging it and without discoloration when the laser fluence is set below the damage threshold of the stone.
This paper explores the potential for conservators to use their unique combination of materials a... more This paper explores the potential for conservators to use their unique combination of materials and heritage experience to tackle the challenges of recovery in fire-affected areas, helping to minimise the waste and greenhouse gas emissions associated with traditional processes of post-disaster building remediation by facilitating cleaning and repair rather than replacement and disposal of fire-affected materials. The focus is not on saving ‘special’ items, but on remediating the broader fabric of homes and possessions that embody a sense of place and identity that sustains wellbeing and aids recovery after disaster. The samples used are painted plasterboard affected by smoke from the 2019 bushfires on the south-eastern coast of Australia. The method being trialled is the use of lasers to remove ash (soot) deposited by the smoke, to achieve a reduction in visual reminders of the fire and a surface that is ready for processes such as sanding, plastering or repainting to prepare a home for quick post-disaster re-occupation. Lasers have been extensively used for cleaning buildings. They use light energy to clean, so do not require abrasives or other chemicals, or touching of the surface. Nanosecond and femtosecond pulse lasers are trialled, and the effectiveness of the laser cleaning is analysed using visual assessment, optical microscopy, spectrophotometry and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
Digital photography has a number of advantages over traditional film photography for use in recor... more Digital photography has a number of advantages over traditional film photography for use in recording large technology. However digital photography is a fast changing world and there are some big pitfalls to avoid. This paper outlines some key points to remember to ensure that your digital photographs remain useful and accessible in the long term future.
These are the proceedings of the BigStuff large technology workshop held at the Australian War Me... more These are the proceedings of the BigStuff large technology workshop held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia on the 29-30th September and 1st October 2004.
Engineering heritage is often left to rot in unloved corners of museums, with little or no interp... more Engineering heritage is often left to rot in unloved corners of museums, with little or no interpretation or maintenance. This is influenced partly by the money, space and other resources required to display it more adequately, but even more by the decisions made by museum managers about where to invest scarce resources. To raise the profile and funding of engineering heritage it is necessary to better engage both visitors and museum managers, to help them realise the potential of engineering objects as heritage displays. This article discusses the results of research into visitors' needs and preferences when visiting engineering heritage, with a view to creating displays that are more attractive to a wider range of audiences.
This paper describes the development of a simple circuit for the measurement of electrochemical n... more This paper describes the development of a simple circuit for the measurement of electrochemical noise, which has the potential to be routinely applied in conservation contexts, particularly for the evaluation of coatings on historic metal objects. Measurement of electrochemical noise (both voltage and current) has been performed on a range of coated mild steel samples in chloride solution, demonstrating the ability of the equipment to discern trends in the behaviour of coated metal systems and to rank coating performance. Electrochemical noise results are compared with the results of AC impedance tests performed on the same samples.
In 2004 I founded the BigStuff series of conferences on the conservation of large technology heri... more In 2004 I founded the BigStuff series of conferences on the conservation of large technology heritage. People from around the world now meet every three years to discuss the challenges and new solutions for looking after this fabulous genre of heritage. The BigStuff website has all the papers from the conferences, plus other resources for people wanting to know more about conserving, restoring and displaying large machinery. The conferences so far are as follows: Canberra, Australia (2004) Bochum, Germany (2007) Duxford, United Kingdom (2010) Ottawa, Canada (2013) Lewarde, France (2015) BigSuff 2018 coming soon!
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Papers by Alison Wain
Canberra, Australia (2004)
Bochum, Germany (2007)
Duxford, United Kingdom (2010)
Ottawa, Canada (2013)
Lewarde, France (2015)
BigSuff 2018 coming soon!