The University of Wollongong (UOW), Australia, is ranked in the top 2% of research universities world wide. Keep up to date with the very latest news and happenings of our world-class researchers.
CONNECT: RESEARCH & INNOVATION NEWS SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2012 - ISSUE #5 THINKING GLOBAL, ACTING LOCAL From green jobs to retrofitting the built environment, The Illawarra Futures Symposium will shine a light on the regional development of UOW’s neighbourhood NEW INVENTION FOR CANCER DETECTION Researchers invent new technology to detect cancer as well as radioactive substances to aid border security HUMAN TISSUE ENGINEERING BREAKTHROUGH The tough new hydrogel that can be used to create artificial human tissue and the surgical instruments of the future
Transcript
CONNECT:RESEARCH & INNOVATION NEWS
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2012 - ISSUE #5 THINKING GLOBAL, ACTING LOCAL From green jobs to retrofitting the built environment, The Illawarra Futures Symposium will shine a light on the regional development of UOW’s neighbourhood
NEW INVENTION FOR CANCER DETECTION Researchers invent new technology to detect cancer as well as radioactive substances to aid border security HUMAN TISSUE ENGINEERING BREAKTHROUGH The tough new hydrogel that can be used to create artificial human tissue and the surgical instruments of the future
Research & Innovation News is the research magazine of the University of Wollongong and is published six times per year.
Contact: Research Services Office Building 20, Level 1 University of Wollongong Northfields Ave, Wollongong NSW, Australia, 2522
04 NEWS Hydrogels breakthrough to advance human tissue engineering, researchers invent new technology to detect cancer and taking another look at Chinese traditional medicines
14 FEATURE Thinking global, acting local at the new Illawarra Futures Symposium Series
16 STUDENT PROFILE PhD student Joe Polden talks about developing software to program industrial robots
17 TRAVEL TALE Literature researcher, Dr Debra Dudek, visits one of the world’s most prestigious institutions – the University of Cambridge
18 NEW RESEARCHERS & STAFF Recently retired Supreme Court Judge, The Hon Terry Buddin SC joins UOW’s Faculty of Law
20 GRANTS NEWS Grant outcomes and upcoming funding opportunities
21 INNOVATION & COMMERCIAL RESEARCH NEWS Entrepreneurs pitch their big ideas at Pitching Plate
21 ETHICS NEWS Upcoming meeting dates
22 EVENTS Uni in the Brewery focuses on childhood obesity and UOW hosts international medical bionics conference
09 06
4 | S E P T E M B E R - O C T O B E R 2 0 1 2
NEWS
Public Health expert, Associate Professor Heather Yeatman from the School of Health Sciences, has recently been named the newly elected President of the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA). The PHAA, which is dedicated to improving key Australian health issues such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, alcohol, immunisation, through research, development and training, said Professor Yeatman’s election was a credit to her significant public health contributions and strong recognition of the high professional regard in which she is held.Professor Yeatman said she viewed the presidency of the PHAA as “a privilege, a challenge and an opportunity.”“There are many major public health issues that challenge us including the inequitable and poor health status of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people, environment and climate change impacts on health, chronic illnesses and occupational health risks. “Continued efforts are required to progress the policy changes that will result in a more equitable, health promoting nation where people can live in a sustaining environment,” Professor Yeatman said.In the public health nutrition area, there are already major government initiatives under way such as development of a National Food Plan and a national Nutrition Policy.One of Dr Yeatman’s goals as President of the PHAA will be to work with other national professional associations to strengthen the public health focus of these policies. The PHAA is also liaising with the World Federation of Public Health and like associations in the Asia Pacific region on research and program strategies.
Researchers from the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute will partner with leading Chinese high tech pharmaceutical corporation Di’ao Group to research the effectiveness of natural Chinese medicines for treating a range of medical conditions including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, schizophrenia and obesity.
“We will be investigating natural Chinese medicines and remedies that have been developed over thousands of years,” said UOW’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Health), Professor Don Iverson.“We will be seeking to identify what makes them effective, with a view to modifying those compounds to hopefully increase their effectiveness.”Professor Iverson said the medical research had exciting implications for western and Chinese medicine because it would look at traditional medicines, some dating back 5000 years, with a view to increasing their effectiveness to meet 21st century health challenges in areas like diabetes, cancer and obesity.Professor Iverson signed a Memorandum of Understanding in August at Di’ao’s offices in Chengdu, witnessed by NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell. He said the partnership would also see UOW mining engineering researchers working with Di’ao mining industry division to develop automated underground coal extraction technologies, as well as Di’ao establishing a research and development centre at UOW’s Innovation Campus in Wollongong.Professor Iverson said the Di’ao Group was a highly innovative Chinese corporation with a strong reputation in fields including pharmaceuticals (natural and synthetic medicines), cosmetics, mining technology and real estate. He noted it had earned the National Innovative Enterprise award, the Excellent Enterprise of National Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry award, and been named one of the 100 Strongest Hi-Tech Enterprises in the People’s Republic of China. “Di’ao is a dynamic organisation and we are delighted to be collaborating on such important research,” Professor Iverson said.NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell said the agreement is an example of the opportunities that can emerge from greater engagement with China.“China is already NSW’s largest trading partner, but there are many more opportunities to develop this relationship, especially as China continues to grow.”
“I congratulate the University of Wollongong on its success in gaining another longer-term international research project,” he said. Under the agreement, both organisations are looking at possible academic exchanges and student scholarships, which will help to strengthen the relationship between NSW and China.
Partnership to research traditional Chinese medicines
Phot
os: X
iebi
yun
, Seb
astia
n K
aulit
zki |
Dre
amst
ime.
com
Researcher takes on leading public health advocacy role
UOW has developed a patented radiation detector that promises wide-ranging applications from cancer tissue identification to improved screenings of radioactive material to aid border security personnel. The device, nicknamed ‘Liana’, which was invented by researchers from UOW’s Centre for Medical Radiation Physics (CMRP) to improve the identification of radiopharmaceuticals in the body used to locate cancer, has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.The technology (known as the ‘Dual Radiation Detector’) uses a special dual photo-detector and dual scintillator design to improve the energy range and spatial resolution for the precise localisation of isotopes emitting beta, gamma and X-ray radiation used to pinpoint in the body the presence of cancerous tissue. CMRP Director and co-inventor Professor Anatoly Rozenfeld said the invention had an extensive range of radiation detection applications from medical diagnostic instrumentation in the field of nuclear medicine to the development of improved apparatus used in border security.“One advantage of the Dual Radiation Detector is that a small portable radiation probe can be used for cancer tissue
identification with high spatial resolution – even during the administrating of high energy gamma/beta isotopes used for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning,” Professor Rozenfeld said.
“There is no need for heavy shielding of our device against scattering from the high energy gamma radiation.” He said the technology could also be employed in border security for correctly verifying the presence of radioactive material in cargo. UOW is working with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to explore the potential of the technology for improving the detection of radioactive material in
other applications such as border security.“In the same way this technology could be used to better determine the location of cancer in the body, this technology could also improve our ability to correctly identify radioactive material in border security applications,” according to Dr Mark Reinhard from ANSTO.“Improving the technical means to detect illicit radioactive materials in a border security context is an important challenge recognised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). ANSTO is pleased to bring its expertise in radioisotope identification to further progress the UOW technology,” Dr Reinhard said.“The probe’s compact and inexpensive design makes cost-effective mass deployment of the technology possible,” according to another co-inventor, Dr Michael Lerch.UOW Commercialisation Manager, Holly Zhu, said the invention tackled two of the major challenges in radiation detection– distinguishing between radiation emissions from different sources and being easier to operate. “The granting of a US patent, together with the ongoing evaluation of prototypes, will greatly assist with the commercialisation of this technology,” she said.
“This technology could also improve our ability to correctly identify radioactive material in border security applications”
Researchers invent new cancer detection device
Left: cancer cells. Above: Prototype of the ‘Liana’ probe, which has already been made into a workable device that can be used to detect cancer cells as well as radioactive material to aid border security personnel.
A team of UOW researchers has developed a tough new hydrogel that can be used to create artificial human tissue. Associate Professor Marc in het Panhuis from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science and the School of Chemistry explains that hydrogels have long been used in everything from contact lenses to toothpastes, however they did not have the ability to withstand and recover from mechanical stress, limiting their usage. “Our UOW research has overcome this limitation showing that our hydrogels can recover from mechanical damage.” Associate Professor in het Panhuis says that the new class of hydrogels that his team from the Faculty of Science (which includes students from the Soft Materials Group in the School of Chemistry and
UOW visiting Professor Paul Calvert) have designed can be used in the future to create cartilage, soft tissue prosthetics, soft robots and new types of soft devices that were never feasible before.“The concept of a gel that can recover from large strains and absorb impacts without permanent damage is of potential great usage in future medicine applications, not just for tissue mimics or cartiledge, but also for soft materials. [These may] one day may replace surgical instruments used in today’s medicine, which often lead to damage due to mechanical mismatch between the (hard metal) instrument and the (soft) body.”The new hydrogel is based on the biopolymer, gellan gum (common in food products such as yoghurts) and the synthetic polymer poly [acrylamide] (used
in contact lenses). Associate Professor in het Panhuis says his team’s discovery has just been published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal, Soft Matter. “We have almost completed the study of how these materials degrade, which will be followed by more extensive testing related to fatigue behaviour. Simultaneously we have been developing other new hydrogels which can withstand more damage and recover to the same extent. These developments are going hand in hand with advances in fabrication of these materials using printing approaches available at the AIIM Facility on the Innovation Campus.”He says it could be 20 years before the new hydrogels may be considered for human trials, however, for other applications, such as soft robotics and prosthetics, it could be much sooner – less than ten years.
Hydrogel breakthrough for human tissue engineering
This new hydrogel could also replace surgical instruments used in today’s medicine, which often lead to damage due to the mechanical mismatch between the hard metal instrument and the soft body.
Researchers from UOW’s Illawarra Institute for Mental Health along with four industry partners have won a Gold Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Service Achievement Award for their innovative approach for the training of mental health professionals. Professor Frank Deane, Professor Joseph Ciarrochi, Dr Lindsay Oades and Dr Trevor Crowe won the Education, Training and Workforce Development category for their Collaborative Recovery
Model Training for staff within community-managed organisations. Over 200 mental health workers from the partner organisations received training and coaching and random audits revealed that coaching led to improvements in the quality of care plans over a one year period. The four partner mental health providers, Aftercare, Neami Ltd, Richmond Fellowship Queensland and SNAP Gippsland Inc, have now integrated the UOW-developed protocols.
Mental health researchers receive gold achievement award
Examining topics from Australia’s beach culture to the environmental history of the Murray-Darling (pictured left), UOW’s Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research (AUSCCER) launched three books in August.“They are exactly the types of book we envisioned AUSCCER would produce,” said Professor Chris Gibson who was spoke at the launch.Dr Christine Metusela and Professor Gordon Waitt’s book, Tourism and Australian Beach Culture: Revealing Bodies, explores the ever-changing interconnections between bodies, subjectivities, space, beach cultures and tourism.Drawing on feminist scholarship, they explore the reciprocal relationship between bodies and beaches, focusing
on the shifting intersection between age, race, class, sex, gender and national discourses that naturalise particular bodies as belonging on the beach. Dr Emily O’Gorman has studied the complex and contested history of the Murray-Darling region in her book Flood Country: An Environmental History of the Murray-Darling Basin. The book examines the different ways in which floods have been understood and managed and some of their long-term consequences for people, rivers and ecologies. Professor Lesley Head, Dr Jennifer Atchison and Dr Alison Gates also released their book, Ingrained: A Human Bio-geography of Wheat, which contains new insights and a long-term perspective on human-wheat relations.
Triple book launch for Cultural Environmental Research Centre
UOW’s Graduate School of Medicine has won a Federal Government grant to develop a program that will train doctors to carry out video medical consultations with patients (known as Telehealth) using the National Broadband Network (NBN).The revolutionary program will develop Telehealth consulting skills among
current GPs, specialists doctors and the next generation of medical professionals.Professor Andrew Bonney, who is the Roberta Williams Chair of General Practice at the Graduate School of Medicine, will lead the project.“A key skill set for these future doctors will be the ability to engage in and deliver
high quality Telehealth – whether they choose to practise in rural and remote communities or not,” Professor Bonney said. Professor Bonney said the project would have a particular focus on mental health, aged care, dermatology (including skin cancers) and ultrasound Telehealth consultations. It would also survey major stakeholders to assess technology requirements and change requirements to develop a change management strategy.Telehealth consulting is a key feature of the NBN roll-out across Australia, as it will enable people living in regional, rural and remote locations to access specialist medical advice from their general practices with the assistance of their own trusted health professionals.The NBN rollout overcomes a number of the technical constraints to Telehealth by improving the accessibility, connectivity and speed facilitating richer and immersive video consultation experiences across Australia.Peter Garrett, MP, announced in August that UOW would receive $50,000 under the NBN-Enabled Education and Skills Services Program to develop and trial the Telehealth program over the next two years. These funds are expected to rise to a total of around $805,000.
UOW wins trial for NBN-based video medical consulting
Dr O’Gorman’s book looks at the complex and contested history of the Murray-Darling region.
UOW’s Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) is now under construction at the University’s award-winning research and commercial precinct, Innovation Campus (artist’s impression above).As well as targeting a 6 Star Green Star Design rating, the SBRC is on track to be the first Australian building to be certified by the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment.
The Living Building Challenge comprises of seven performance areas– site, water, energy, health, materials, equity and beauty. As part of meeting the Living Building Challenge, the SBRC will be an ultra-low energy building and feature natural ventilation and carefully-selected materials. The 2,600sqm building will produce more energy each year than it consumes via rooftop photovoltaic (solar) panels and a wind turbine. It will also feature a natural waste water system, integrated green IT building management system, and permaculture and native food gardens across the 8,000sqm site.Professor Paul Cooper, Director of the SBRC, said the facility will push the boundaries of sustainable design and lead the way in sustainable building technology and retrofitting research and training. “It is exciting to see our vision for Australia’s most sustainable educational building become a reality. Not only will the building itself be a test bed for sustainable building technologies, we are partnering with the industry to develop and test new sustainable technologies and address the skills gap in technical training. We already have BlueScope Steel, Housing NSW and TAFE NSW on board and invite other industry partners to join us to meet the challenge of improving the energy efficiency of Australian buildings.”
NEWS
Australia’s first ‘living building’ under construction at UOW
Bra shoulder straps have been identified as the biggest deterrent to women not wearing a sports bra when exercising, according to a study conducted by a team at UOW’s Biomechanics Research Laboratory.The results, which were featured in the May 2012 issue of the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, illustrated that despite it being shown that well designed sports bras are effective in limiting excessive breast motion and related breast pain, fewer than half of the survey respondents wore a sports bra during physical activity.
Deterrents to wearing a sports bra included shoulder straps cutting in; shoulder straps slipping, fasteners digging in, bra creeping up, bra cost, bra stitching rubbing, the look of the bra, the bra neckline, the bra fabric, the bra colour and the bra brand name.Co-author of the study, Professor Julie Steele said the findings suggest consumers are dissatisfied with current sports bra designs.“Although education plays a large role in improving sports bra usage, the results also imply that consumers believe that current sports bra designs need to be improved if women are to wear them more frequently while they are exercising,” Professor Steele said.To help educate and encourage women to wear a sports bra while undertaking physical activity, Sports Medicine Australia and the Breast Research Australia (BRA) team in the University of Wollongong’s Biomechanics Research Laboratory, have combined to produce a free do-it-yourself guide to bra selection for sport and exercise.Called Exercise & Breast Support, the brochure is a guide to understanding breast support during physical activity and how to determine whether your bra is fitted correctly.“By gaining correct breast support and correct bra fit while exercising, women can exercise more freely, develop optimal health and set a path to a healthy future, avoiding many health problems commonly linked to inactivity,” Professor Steele said.“Through our research, it is hoped that bra designers and manufacturers sit up and gain a better understanding of their client’s needs and how to target sport bra design features to active women, in the hope that more women wear sports bras while exercising,” she said.
Researchers from the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering and Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering have been recognised in the Robert M.Quigley Awards by the Canadian Geotechnical Society.Dr Xueyu Geng, Professor Buddhima Indraratna and Dr Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn, were selected by the Canadian Geotechnical Society to receive the 2012 Robert M. Quigley Honourable Mention Award for their
outstanding contribution to the Canadian Geotechnical Journal. The recognition was for their paper: “The effectiveness of partially penetrating vertical drains under a combined surcharge and vacuum preloading”. Their contribution deals with a new theory for modelling rapidly consolidating soft clay foundations for road and rail embankments using much shorter drains than those typically installed deeper in to the clay foundation–sometimes up to 40m deep.
The outcomes of this research have now been applied extensively in Australia for various real-life projects including the Sandgate rail track, Ballina Bypass and Port of Brisbane reclamation.This is the second time that the Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering has received this coveted recognition having been honoured in 2006 for research conducted in the same area of soft clay stabilisation.
Researchers win Canadian Geotechnical Award
UOW will host the 6th Annual Conference on the Treatment of Personality Disorders, which will bring health professionals from all over the world together to exchange ideas and information on innovative treatment options. The theme of the conference, which will be held from 9-10 November, is “Guidelines-based practice”- quite topical given that by the time the conference is underway, new National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) clinical guidelines for borderline personality disorder will be released.The new guidelines will sit alongside other, recently-developed Australian guidelines, including the Project Air Strategy Treatment Guidelines for Personality Disorders, which was developed by researchers from UOW’s Illawarra Health & Medical Research Institute in 2011.
Led by Professor Brin Grenyer, research staff and a committee made up of eminent psychiatrists and advisors, the Project Air Strategy began late 2010 with funding from NSW Health in partnership with South Eastern and Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health Districts, Justice Health, and Orygen Youth Health, Australia’s largest youth-focused mental health organisation.“The over-arching aim of the Project Air Strategy is to improve the capacity of mainstream mental health services to manage and treat personality disorders,” Professor Grenyer explained. Project Air has already given hundreds of regional hospital staff in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Sutherland a much better understanding of personality disorders (which affect between five and 13 per cent of the adult population and an estimated 40 to 50 per cent of psychiatric patients) and
how to treat them. Professor Grenyer and the Project Air team will present a workshop at the conference on their research, entitled: “Personality disorder and complexity: understanding counter-transference and other relationship dilemmas”.The keynote address of the conference will be delivered by Professor Roger Mulder, Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Otago, New Zealand, editor of Personality and Mental Health and Co-chair of the WHO Committee on Personality Disorders. He is particularly interested in the psychiatric aspects of medical illness, and the history and philosophy of psychiatry, particularly the classification of abnormal behaviour. He and has published over 150 articles and book chapters. His presentation is entitled: “Rethinking personality disorder diagnosis”.personality disorder.”
UOW to host international personality disorders conference
PhD student at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Willo Grosse, has won the 2012 Bill Wheeler Award for her revolutionary work on bio-batteries that are powered from sugars in the body. “The idea behind this research is to power implantable devices like pacemakers and Cochlear ear implants, and replace the Li-ion batteries in use now that need battery replacement surgery every
five years”, says twenty-six year old Willo.“Theoretically, the sugar battery could last the patient’s lifetime, but there are many challenges” – like finding the right materials to use. “The sugar battery uses the work of enzymes to operate and generate power, and enzymes are very difficult to work with”, explains Willo.“Many of my challenges have risen from the materials I was using not being suitable to keep the enzyme active. We are constantly developing new materials to interact with biology like this.”Willo plans to use the funds from her award to travel to Hanyang University in Korea, where researchers have expertise in working with enzymes. She says she is looking forward to working on collaborative experiments that will hook the sugar battery up to a controlled drug delivery device to treat epilepsy. “This is one of the bigger goals of my project
and I am very excited to be doing these experiments”, says Willo.“[At UOW] we have expertise in controlled drug delivery from smart polymers, so we will be joining the two fields of science together in Korea.”The annual Bill Wheeler Award offers $2,000 of community raised funds to a UOW PhD student engaged in a Medical Bionics project of significance to the larger community.
Research student wins Bill Wheeler award for bio-batteries
Above: Willo Grose (second from right) at the presentation of the award in August, with (from left) Professor Peter Choong, double Cochlear ear implant recipient Sue Young, Lexie Wheeler, Professor Mark Cook, and Professor Gordon Wallace.
UOW’s Eureka & Scopus finalists
Congratulations to Professor Shi Xue Dou (below left), Dr Zenobia Jacobs (below, second from left) and Professor Ross Bradstock (below, third from left) who were recently announced as finalists of the 2012 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes– the country’s most comprehensive national science awards.Professor Dou, Director of the Institute for Superconducting & Electronic Materials, was a finalist in the Outstanding Mentor of Young Researchers category. This prize recognises individuals who have helped
develop the next generation of Australia’s scientific researchers. Dr Jacobs, from the Centre for Archeological Science, was a finalist in the Outstanding Young Researcher category. Dr Jacobs has pioneered the dating of archaeological sediments in Africa using single grains of sand to illuminate the prehistory of our early ancestors.Professor Bradstock, Director of the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires, was an Environmental Research finalist. He was nominated for his research
collaboration with ANU, in which the research team identified land management practices that would dramatically reduce the impacts of bushfires. Dr Adam Brumm (below, far right), from the Centre for Archeological Science, was also recently nominated for the 2012 Scopus Young Researcher of the Year Award, which recognises outstanding young scientists and researchers in Australasia who have made significant contributions in their areas of research. Dr Brumm was a finalist in the Humanities and Social Sciences category.
R E S E A R C H & I N N O V A T I O N N E W S | 1 1
The work of UOW researcher Associate Professor Karen Charlton, from the School of Health Sciences, has been instrumental in South Africa becoming the first country in the world to enforce a population-level approach to lower salt intake.In South Africa, where ischaemic heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death after HIV, the Government has set maximum salt levels for common food such as bread, margarine and spreads, savoury snacks, processed meats, soup powders and stock cubes. In a landmark study that led to the change of laws, Associate Professor Charlton gave hypertensive patients from an impoverished South African community, salt-reduced versions of commonly consumed foods. After just 8 weeks, the patients’ blood pressure dropped at a rate only usually seen with drug therapy. “We took a very practical approach to
our research”, says Associate Professor Charlton. “Firstly, we identified the main contributors to salt intake in the diets of South Africans, then we worked with the food industry to develop salt-reduced variants of these foods, and lastly tested them in a community-based randomised controlled trial. It was essential that we were able to demonstrate that the approach was technologically feasible, culturally acceptable, and cost-effective.” It is estimated that reducing the sodium content of bread by 50 per cent, along with other proposed reductions in margarine, soups and gravies, would decrease salt intake by 0.85 grams per day, resulting in 7,000 fewer deaths due to cardiovascular disease and 4,000 less non-fatal strokes in the country per year, saving the country 300 million Rands ($40 million) each year in health-care costs associated with non-fatal strokes alone.
Professor Krisela Steyn, Associate Director of the Chronic Diseases Initiative in Africa at the University of Cape Town, worked with Associate Professor Charlton on the project. “Karen’s body of work really set the ball rolling”, she says. “We had all the data at our fingertips when we met with high level representatives from the Department of Health. We were able to convince them that this was an essential approach in South Africa where severely limited health resources are unable to cope with the increasing burden of chronic disease.”Our hard work over the past few years to disseminate these study findings - not only in the peer-reviewed literature but also through policy briefs and the media – has paid off.”As for Australia, Associate Professor Charlton says we’re pretty far behind South Africa. The National Health and Medical Research Council’s 2012 dietary guidelines recommend consumers not add salt to their foods and to choose lower sodium options of pre-packaged foods. Simple? “Yeah, right,” Charlton sighs, “we have much work still to do in Australia.”She identifies a three-pronged recipe for a successful population-level salt reduction strategy in Australia. Firstly, engage the food industry. “Most salt is in processed foods”, she says. Next, educate consumers to be salt savvy and understand food labels - salt content information is provided as milligrams of sodium, rather than grams of salt. “This needs to be simplified, and signposting [on labels] needs to provide to help for time-poor shoppers.” Lastly, she says we need to encourage state governments to stipulate maximum salt levels for foods served in community institutions such as schools, hospitals, leisure centres and the workplace.
Researcher instrumental in South Africa becoming first country to legislate against high salt foods
UOW’s Institute for Social Transformation Research has hosted the Collaborative Struggle Conference from 24-25 September, which drew eminent Israeli academic Professor Ilan Pappe.The Israeli born author, academic and a long-standing social activist in Israel-Palestine has challenged the accepted
history of Israel’s formation and offered a critical understanding of the origins of the state of Israel as it emerged from the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. He is currently the Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies and Co-Director of the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies at Exeter University, UK. His talk at the
conference focused on the history of collaborative struggle in Palestine.A host of UOW academics, including Indigenous history expert Dr Bronwyn Carlson and non-violence advocate Professor Brian Martin, also spoke about their research at the conference.
A team of researchers, including a Visiting Professorial Fellow at UOW, may have uncovered new evidence of ancient dentistry in the form of a 6,500-year-old human jaw bone with a tooth showing traces of beeswax filling. One of the researchers, Professor Claudio Tuniz, from UOW’s Centre for Archaeological Science, says the beeswax was inserted into the Stone Age person’s tooth around the time of their death, but cannot confirm whether it was shortly before or after.If it was before death, he says it was likely intended to reduce pain and sensitivity from a vertical crack in the enamel and dentin layers of the tooth.According to Professor Tuniz, the severe wear of the tooth is not likely to be caused by eating, but rather, probably due to activities “such as weaving, generally performed by Neolithic females.”Evidence of prehistoric dentistry is sparse, so this new specimen, found in Slovenia, near Trieste, may help provide insight into early dental practices.“This finding is perhaps the most ancient evidence of pre-historic dentistry in Europe and the earliest known direct example of therapeutic-palliative dental filling so far”, according to co-leader of the discovery team, Dr Federico Bernardini. The research, which was recently published in PLoS ONE, was undertaken in co-operation with Sincrotrone Trieste and other institutions including the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, which helped in the dating of the find.
NEWS
Researchers at UOW’s Centre of Medicinal Chemistry (CMC) are developing new antibiotics to combat a new generation of drug-resistant superbugs. Professor Stephen Pyne, the new Director of CMC, said that strains of a least three bacterial species that cause life-threatening diseases, including tuberculosis and Golden Staph have developed resistance to all available antibiotics. He says this due to chronic overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals and noncompliance of the course of treatment by patients – resulting in long-term exposure to low doses of antibiotics allowing more resistant strains to survive. Professor Pyne highlighted CMC’s work on antibiotics at the recent Thai Science Fair in Bangkok.He said that the CMC team, along with the Australian
Pharmaceutical Discovery company, Avexa, have designed and developed new drugs that work on several resistant strains of bacteria, including Golden Staph. These new drugs are believed to bind to the modified glycoprotein cell wall precursors of vancomycin resistant bacteria and therefore prevent the construction of their cell wall which leads to their death. Importantly, these compounds are non-toxic and are slow to develop resistance.In November 2010, Avexa licensed these antibacterial agents to the Swiss drug development company Valevia in a deal worth up to US$65 million. It is hoped that they will soon be in clinical trials for use in topical applications for nasal bacterial infections, wounds (burns) and catheter-related infections.
Fighting the super bugs
Researchers uncover evidence of early human dentistry
From top: Microphotograph of the tooth crown in occlusal view with indication of the surface covered by beeswax (within the yellow dotted line), the 6,500 year old jaw bone discovered in Slovenia .
R E S E A R C H & I N N O V A T I O N N E W S | 1 3
Dr Zhiming Cheng
Economics researcher and recent Global Development Network medal recipient, Dr Zhiming Cheng, talks about his research into China’s disadvantaged.
Dr Zhiming Cheng is a rising research star at UOW. After joining UOW in 2010, and receiving his PhD from Macquarie University in the same year, Dr Cheng has already won a major international award – the Global Development Network’s (GDN) medal for research on development. This competition seeks to unearth new talent and support innovative ideas on development. Out of 800 submissions, Dr Cheng was one of the five finalists under one of the three themes, namely ‘Urban Externalities and Poverty’. He presented his paper, ‘Layoffs and Urban Poverty in the State-owned Enterprises Communities in Shaanxi Province, China’, at the GDN 13th Annual Global Development Conference at the Central European University in Budapest (16-18 June), where more than 350 participants attended and an eminent panel of judges selected the winners. “My research focuses on the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in Chinese cities, such as laid-off state sector workers who suffer from unemployment and poverty, rural-to-urban migrant workers who experience employment discrimination and labour rights violation, and households who are forced to leave their inner-city homes in the process of property-led urban redevelopment”, says Dr Cheng. “My interest in this area stemmed from personal observations
when I studied for a Bachelor in a city in China’s northern region. I found that, almost every week, laid-off workers held unauthorised—thus illegal—petitions and protests to fight for their pension and compensation in front of government buildings. This was not often observed in the more economically advanced coastal region. I began to speak with them and found abundant new information regarding individuals’ perceptions and experiences of the rapid socio-economic changes in China. They devoted themselves to the country in the Mao era, but have not benefited much from the economic growth after the opening-up reform since 1980s. I wanted to know more and to eventually help the disadvantaged. So it was very natural for me to delve into a topic in relation to laid-off workers and poverty when I did my PhD.”Dr Cheng has been fixated on the subject ever since and is currently working on a number of research projects, including one focusing on the new trend of student migration from China to Australian universities and another focusing on the new generation of migrant workers who have been showing significantly different and more aggressive attitudes towards work and life than their parents. “I am examining how these changes are reshaping Chinese economy and society”, he says.
FIVE MINUTES WITH
Dr Anthony Morrison from UOW’s Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) examines the serious problem of ships in distress being refused access to places of refuge – which can result in the loss of ships and massive oil pollution – in his new book Places of Refuge for Ships in Distress: Problems and Methods of Resolution. Since 1999, there have been a number of cases where distressed ships laden with crude oil and other hazardous cargoes were refused access to places of refuge. In two catastrophic cases, the ships Erika and Prestige subsequently sank and caused severe pollution damage. “There is no easy answer to the problem”, Dr Morrison said. “Coastal States jealously guard their sovereignty. Convincing them to risk a potential threat to their environment is a difficult task”.“Shipping companies and salvors must convince them to do so by ensuring that any request for refuge is due to genuine problems and not merely because dangerous cargoes are being carried in ‘rust bucket’ ships. Compelling coastal States by international law to
admit any ship in need of refuge simply will not work.”The book investigates the way in which the International Maritime Organisation and countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States as well as the European Union currently deal with the problem.“While Australia has been relatively free of places of refuge incidents, world experience has shown that such incidents can occur without warning. It only needs one major incident in somewhere like the Great Barrier Reef or Jervis Bay for massive stretches of coast to be polluted with serious effects on the local economy, tourism, fisheries and the marine environment. Methods of dealing with the problem must be in place before such an eventuality occurs” Dr Morrison said.Dr Morrison hopes that his book will be an important reference for policy makers and legislators, at both Commonwealth and State level, in dealing with the problem and how best to prevent or minimise the effects of places of refuge incidents should they occur.
Who are we and who do we want to be? The new Illawarra Futures Symposium Series will spark a passionate discussion on the regional development of UOW’s neighbourhood.
FEATURE
Wollongong is the third largest city in New South Wales behind Sydney and Newcastle. But what will the city, and the larger Illawarra region, look like in 2050? Will our regional economy make a smooth transition away from its mining and high-carbon manufacturing roots? What local strategies will we adopt to combat global issues like climate change? The inaugural Illawarra Futures Symposium will shine a light on these questions and more when it kicks off at the University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus in November. “Illawarra Futures will start a dialogue about the region with the people who live and work in the region. It will present facts about the present state of the Illawarra and it will offer and seek ideas for the future”, says Natalie Burroughs, CEO of Regional Development Australia Illawarra (RDAI), who will be partnering with the University of Wollongong to present the first ever Illawarra Futures Symposium from November 8-9. The event will feature prominent leaders, such as the Premier of New South Wales, Barry O’Farrell and Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, as well as renowned researchers like UOW tourism expert Professor Chris Gibson and social transformation scholar Associate Professor
Cheryl Kernot from the University of NSW. They will cover a range of topics – from retrofitting the Illawarra’s built environment with clean-tech innovations and creating green jobs to the digital future of the region.
CREATING A GREEN ECONOMYThe economy of the Illawarra region has relied on coal mining and steel making for over 100 years. In fact, a 2011 UOW study found that Basic Ferrous Metal Manufacturing was 12 times more important to the region than to the national economy as a whole. But as Australia and the rest of the world move away from carbon-heavy industry (over the next decade, Australia is required to generate 20 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources), the Illawarra will adapt its economy with sustainability in mind–generating a number of new green jobs in the process. RDAI has a number of projects currently in the works that will bring green jobs to the Illawarra, such as the already underway ‘Green Street’ – construction of up to 10 display homes that utilise experimental green technology for power generation and water harvesting. This project aims to encourage local residents to adopt green technologies in their own houses and equip apprentices in
R E S E A R C H & I N N O V A T I O N N E W S | 1 5
the building trades with green skills. There are also plans to retrofit the region’s iconic public buildings, such as the Southern Gateway Centre, with renewable energy lighting technologies. To aid the transformation process, UOW researchers are working on a number of projects that will benefit the local community. These include developing carbon footprint software for local businesses, inventing new versions of micro wind turbines for local wind farmers, creating novel membrane technologies to treat and recycle local household grey water, and improving the energy storage efficiencies of solar cells, which can be made into roofing materials or windows for the local gas power stations at Tallawarra or for local households. Illawarra Futures will host a Green Jobs Illawarra breakfast on the second day of the Symposium, which will see UOW Chancellor and Chair of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Jillian Broadbent AO, give a keynote address on “A Clean Energy Future - the Illawarra region”.
THE REGION’S DIGITAL FUTUREiAccelerate, a 3500m² purpose-built, high-tech, National Broadband Network-enabled building proposed for UOW’s Innovation Campus, will be the essential cog of the Illawarra Innovation Ecosystem. The project’s leader and UOW Commercial Research Director, Elizabeth Eastland, says iAccelerate, which was based on world’s best practice of regional transformation –Waterloo, Canada– will transform the Illawarra region’s manufacturing-based economy into a high tech industry cluster.“[Waterloo] has a regional economic history and geography strikingly similar to Wollongong”, Ms Eastland said. “And over the past decade [it] has transformed itself from a manufacturing economy into an $18 billion high tech economy”. Ms Eastland said Waterloo had grown from 50 to 750 tech firms, developed more than 250 tech start-ups, created 28,000 new high tech jobs and currently had 2,000 tech jobs available.She highlighted how Waterloo was now the home to household names such as Research in Motion, inventors of the Blackberry and says that iAccelerate will start off with the aim to house 25 fast growth high-tech companies. Ms Eastland will chair a panel session at the Symposium that will discuss the multitude of initiatives, including iAccelerate, currently underway in the Illawarra that will harness new digital technologies to create innovative new services that reach global markets.
Another such example is the revolutionary program by UOW’s Graduate School of Medicine that will train the next generation of medical professionals. Utilising the National Broadband Network, the program will train doctors to carry out medical consultations via high-resolution video, enabling people living in regional, rural and remote locations to access specialist medical advice from their general practices with the assistance of their own trusted health professionals (more info: page 7).
RETROFITTING THE BUILT ENVIRONMENTIn a few decades from now, Professor Paul Cooper, Director of UOW’s Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC), and speaker at Illawarra Futures, believes the Illawarra should be leading the way, nationally and internationally, in manufacturing of products and provision of services that will help meet the worldwide demand for environmentally sustainable development.“Ideally the Illawarra Built Environment (our homes, schools, businesses and so on) should have moved not only towards sustainability, but towards a ‘restorative future’. That is, a future whereby our buildings make a positive contribution to the environment”, he says. Professor Cooper and his team at SBRC envision all buildings in the Illawarra being made from “environmentally benign materials”, producing more clean, renewable energy and water than they consume from the centralised electrical and water supply grids and having the capacity to produce some food or other products that will offset our reliance of non-renewable resources. “SBRC researchers will carry out fundamental and applied research on the ways we can make our existing and new buildings radically more sustainable”, Professor Cooper says. “This will involve not only development and demonstration of new sustainable technologies, but also
research into the social and behavioural aspects of how and why people choose to adopt and use these technologies.” A key aspect of the SBRC’s work will be in assisting businesses in the Illawarra Region, and elsewhere, to develop new and improved sustainable building products and systems so as to enhance our capability in the emerging ‘green’ industries of the future.
THINKING OUTSIDE THE TOURISM BOXProfessor of Human Geography at UOW and speaker at Illawarra Futures, Chris Gibson, says the Illawarra needs to think outside the box when it comes to tourism. He says “affluent baby-boomers are not the only ideal [tourist] market”, but that we should also be focusing on the ethnically diverse southwest suburbs of Sydney, as well as the gay and lesbian tourism market, given that Sydney, only an hour away, is one of the world’s major gay and lesbian tourism destinations.Professor Gibson says there are other niche markets that are often overlooked. “Wollongong has one of Australia’s largest surfboard-making industries, rivalling the Gold Coast, and yet there is very poor integration between this local manufacturing industry and beach-tourism promotion.” “The region also has a thriving custom car scene – hot rods, car customising workshops etc – that is the basis for a national circuit of events and festivals. Yet councils, police and other authorities have tended to demonise custom car culture by associating it with ‘hoons’. It could be another missed opportunity.”He says the region could also do more to leverage the benefit of festivals. “Our research on the contributions of festivals to regional development demonstrates that festivals catalyse qualitative improvements in the economy, by ‘gluing’ together relationships between local small business, the charity sector, volunteer organisations, and local communities. They also generate lucrative visitor spending patterns – especially if a sequence of community-run events is scheduled over a complete calendar (rather than one off events).”
Politicians Barry O’Farrell and Stephen Conroy will come together with prominent researchers to discuss a sustainable future for the Illawarra.
What are you studying? A PhD in Mechatronics, with the Welding Engineering Research Group (WERG).
What does your research focus on? My research project focuses predominantly on the development of an Automated Offline Programming System; a piece of software that utilises computer simulation to reduce the amount of time required to program industrial robots.
How did you come to study at UOW? I started studying at UOW as an undergraduate engineer. Upon graduation, there were a lot of options I could take career wise. I chose to stay at UOW and further my studies and was able to secure a scholarship through the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC), to work with the team in the Welding Engineering Research Group (WERG).
Have you always had an interest in robotics and building things? Without doubt. Some of my earliest childhood memories revolve around machinery and the desire to understand the method of their function. My interest in robotics, however, did not come about until the final years of my undergraduate study. I studied mechanical engineering as an undergraduate, but I took a couple of classes in machine control and robotics in my final year. The relationships fostered in these classes led me down the path to eventually studying in the field of robotics as a postgraduate.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? I never imagined the complete process of planning, developing, testing and finally utilising a piece of technology would be such a long and drawn out exercise. To be involved from the outset of the development of our project and to witness it go from a conceptual idea to a functioning, useful piece of technology is something I have drawn a great deal of satisfaction from.
What do you think are the key issues relating to your industry today? It’s no secret that manufacturing industries are under increasing pressure due to current global economic climates. To remain competitive with international markets it is very important that Australian industry embraces the use of robotic automation, finding new and resourceful ways in which it can be incorporated to reduce the overall costs of manufacturing and developing new products. Research is a key component of this, and hopefully in the future will be recognised and funded as such.
What do you plan on doing after the completion of your study? It would be great to take some time of to travel again before recommitting to future work; however it really depends on what opportunities are available at the time I finish.
What do you hope to achieve in your research/field in the future? Branching out further into the field of robotics and automation. As a researcher, increasing my portfolio of skills is something I am very motivated to explore in future postings. As a young engineer, there are so many great career opportunities not only in Australia, but internationally as well. Personally, I would love to stay in research, so I will be looking out for post-doctoral opportunities. However at this stage, I am far more concerned with putting all of my efforts into publishing my research findings and finishing my thesis.
Joe Polden
STUDENT PROFILE
Engineering PhD student Joe Polden talks about his research into programming industrial robots.
R E S E A R C H & I N N O V A T I O N N E W S | 1 7
Canvassing literature in Cambridge
Literature researcher and Director of UOW’s Centre for Canadian-Australian Studies, Dr Debra Dudek, tells of her recent trip to the University of Cambridge.
I travelled to Cambridge, UK, recently to attend two conferences: the 4th Annual Child and the Book Conference on Children’s Literature and philosophy; and the British Association for Canadian Studies (BACS) 37th Annual Conference. The trip itself started off rather shakily when my flight from Sydney to London was delayed in Singapore by four hours, which made me miss the first keynote of the Child and the Book Conference. I arrived just in time for the Opening Night Wine Reception. During the 45-minute walk back to my apartment after the reception, I noticed how beautiful Cambridge is. I walked past old vine-covered houses and pubs, residential streets lined with trees dripping with pink flowers, and people punting on the River Cam.The next day, I presented my paper on the four-part graphic novel 7 Generations by Swampy Cree writer David Alexander Robertson and illustrated by Scott B. Henderson. Although I have been working in the field of Children’s Literature for the past seven years, and have been especially interested in picture books because of the complex ways that the visual and written components inform a book’s meaning, I recently started doing more research into graphic novels and so was eager to share my ideas. The study of graphic novels is a somewhat new area of research in literary studies, so I was slightly nervous to present my paper, especially at a university that shaped a literary canon and therefore, in my mind, stands for a particular attitude about what constitutes capital “L” Literature. The tradition that may underpin some of the attitudes at Cambridge can also be a source of awe, as was the case at the conference
dinner: walking into the Great Hall at Homerton College was like entering the dining room at Hogwarts, and although I could not be sure, I may have been sitting with some Slytherins.The BACS conference, which was themed around the topic of Sustaining Canada: Past, Present, and Future Environments, had a very different atmosphere. It was held at one of the newer colleges (I did not realise that the University of Cambridge is not one university campus, but rather is a federation of thirty-one Colleges), which made me aware that there is not just one way of characterising Cambridge. This conference brought together Canadian Studies academics working in Britain and Canada primarily, so there was not a critical mass of people for whom Cambridge was their home institution. Instead, there was a sense that this group of researchers were strongly committed to Canadian Studies and to supporting its vital interdisciplinarity, including creative writers and artists. One such artist is Heather Spears, who annually attends the BACS conference and sketches academics while they are presenting their papers or responding to questions. After each presentation, she would hang her sketches in the entranceway of the main hall, which resulted in a unique art exhibition in process. At both conferences, I met some fascinating people, people with whom I still have contact as we continue to pursue our research into the social justice possibilities that graphic novels invite. And every once in a while, a new graphic novel appears in my mailbox or another Call for Papers arrives in my inbox, which reminds me that I am part of an exceedingly generous and supportive group of scholars.
Phot
o: R
olan
d N
agy
| Dre
amst
ime.
com
TRAVEL TALE
Left: Trinity College, Cambridge– one of the many campuses of the University of Cambridge. Above: Portrait of Dr Dudek sketched by Canadian artist Heather Spears while she was giving her presentation at the BACS conference.
Heidi Jarman recently joined UOW as the Clinical Psychologist (Registrar) working on the Project Air Strategy for Personality Disorders in the Illawarra Health & Medical Research Institute (IHMRI). Prior to this appointment Heidi worked on the project as a Senior Research Officer and was involved in the development of the Project Air Guidelines for Treatment of Personality Disorders, resources for consumers and carers, and training materials for mental health staff within NSW Health. Heidi has held other positions in data analytic roles within the market research industry and the NSW Cancer Council. She also currently works in private practice as a psychologist and psychotherapist. Heidi completed her undergraduate studies at Macquarie University before relocating to Wollongong and completing a Masters in Clinical Psychology. She is currently enrolled in a PhD at UOW and is in the final stages of completing a Masters of Gestalt Psychotherapy. Her research interests focus on personality disorders, with a specific interest in early life experiences implicated in the development of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, and how this compares with borderline personality disorder. Heidi is looking forward to working on the research phase of the Project Air Strategy investigating personality disorder patients’ trajectory, experiences and outcomes of treatment delivered in the public mental health system, and staff experiences of the provision of such treatment. More information about the project can be found at www.projectairstrategy.org
Dr Michelle Dunbar has taken up a Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellowship with the SMART Infrastructure Facility. Michelle recently completed her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Michelle’s Ph.D. thesis explored the area of Robust Airline Schedule Planning, for which she developed a number of mathematical optimisation techniques to assist in the integration of key operational decisions and in providing robust scheduling solutions under operational uncertainty. She also has experience in applying non-linear optimisation tools to a variety of medical datasets to allow for improved disease (eg. Cancer and HIV) detection and diagnosis; one of these tools has subsequently been taken up by a health care company. Michelle hopes to utilise her experience in applying mathematical tools to real-world transportation networks to collaborate with the Rail Logistics and Integrated Infrastructure Planning research teams at SMART. She also looks forward to collaborating and liaising with the School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics, in the areas of both research and teaching.
Dr Silvia Mendolia has joined the School of Economics as a lecturer. Silvia holds a PhD in Economics from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) (Thesis title: “An economic analysis of the impact of the labour market on family well-being”, completed in May 2011) and a Master of Science (Distinction) in Economics from the University College of London (UCL). Before joining the University of Wollongong, Silvia worked as a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Aberdeen (Department of Economics and Health Economics Research Unit) and as a part-time Research Associate at the Social Policy Research centre (SPRC).Silvia’s research interests are: Labour Economics, Health Economics, and Applied Microeconometrics and she published two chapters of her PhD thesis in the Journal of Population Economics and on the Review of Economics of the Household.Silvia is a member of the Centre for Human and Social Capital Research and is looking forward to expand her research in Labour and Health Economics while at UoW. She is currently working on two papers on the impact of maternal employment and childcare on children outcomes at various stages in life.
NEW STAFF
NEW RESEARCHERS & STAFF
R E S E A R C H & I N N O V A T I O N N E W S | 1 9
The Hon Terry Buddin SC, a recently retired Supreme Court Judge, has taken up the position of Professor of Law and Director of the LLM Prosecutions Program. Prior to his elevation to the Supreme Court bench, Professor Buddin practised extensively in criminal law and related areas. He also held the following statutory appointments: Director of Public Prosecutions (ACT), Senior Public Defender (NSW) and Crown Advocate (NSW). He has a particular interest in jury trials, and whilst a judge served as chair person of the NSW Jury Taskforce. Professor Buddin has also had considerable teaching experience having commenced with the Faculty of Law, UNSW in 1975. Whilst there he co-authored a student textbook on criminal law. He has also taught at the Australian Advocacy Institute and from 2004 has been a presenter with the National Judicial Orientation Program (for new judges). Since 1999 he has served as a Code of Conduct Commissioner for Cricket Australia and prior to that was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee for Cricket NSW. The program for which Professor Buddin assumes responsibility, is a Masters course with a distinctly practical orientation. Professor Buddin expressed his delight at taking over the reins from Professor Dan Howard. He is particularly looking forward to being able to teach and mentor a new generation of criminal lawyers. He hopes to play a part in helping to develop practitioners who are not only extremely competent but who also exhibit the highest ethical values. A very significant object of the program is to enable them to play their part in avoiding future miscarriages of justice.
Dr Collin Webster has joined the Faculty of Education as a Senior Lecturer in Physical and Health Education. He is also a member of the Interdisciplinary Educational Research Institute. Previously, Dr Webster held the position of Associate Professor in Physical Education Pedagogy at the University of South Carolina. At UOW, he will lecture with a focus on both primary and secondary physical education, as well as teacher communication. Dr Webster’s research focuses on promoting physical activity in school and community settings with specific emphases on the roles of primary classroom teachers and physical education programs in cultivating youth physical activity. In August, he was awarded a grant for $US717, 550 from the National Institutes of Health as a Co-Principal Investigator for an intervention study focusing on physical activity and nutrition in South Carolina after-school programs. The project, titled ‘Physical activity and nutrition intervention in afterschool programs’, is intended to help after-school providers maximise physical activity participation and improve dietary consumption of children attending the programs.
Jarene Colless has joined the Research and Innovation Division as Grants Assistant. Jarene originally started with UOW in 2010 with the Research Services Office working on the first ERA Project. Since then Jarene has worked with the Faculty of Health & Behaviour Sciences on both the Wollongong and Shoalhaven Campus as a Simulation Assistant and Administrator. Jarene has also spent time with the Faculty of Creative Arts as Recruitment and Admissions Administrator. Prior to joining UOW, Jarene worked at the University of Western Sydney for 8 years in a variety of administrative roles, as well as in private enterprise covering roles including office management, financial auditing, marketing, events management and hospitality. Jarene is currently studying a Bachelor of Business Studies on a part time basis via distance education through Charles Sturt University.
2 0 | S E P T E M B E R - O C T O B E R 2 0 1 2
GRANTS NEWS
2013 URC PARTNERSHIP GRANTS ROUND 2The URC Partnership Grants support the establishment of co-operative projects with existing or new industry partners. For more informationon see the UOW Intranet or contact Tansie Jarrett, x4522, [email protected].
ARC LINKAGE PROJECTS 2013 Applications for the ARC Linkage Projects Scheme for funding in 2013 close on 14 November, 2011. For more information contact: [email protected]
2013 VICE-CHANCELLOR’S POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP SCHEME This scheme was established to support outstanding early career researchers to undertake full-time research. Successful applicants will have a highly competitive track record relative to opportunity, and will propose an innovative program of research with the potential to make a significant contribution to the University’s research profile. Contact: Eve Steinke, x4728, [email protected].
Due Date Funding Opportunity
16 October Vice Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
26 October URC Partnership Grants
14 November ARC Linkage Projects - applications due to the ARC
More info: www.uow.edu.au/research/rso/grants
Research grant outcomes
ARC & NHMRC OUTCOMESThe NHMRC have advised that outcomes for Project Grants are expected to be announced in late October with the results for other schemes to follow. It is also anticipated that ARC will announce major grant outcomes (Discovery Projects, Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards (DECRA), Discovery Outstanding Research Award (DORA) and Linkage Infrastructure Equipment & Facilities (LIEF) in early November.
2012 FUTURE FELLOWSHIPSFour UOW researchers were awarded Future Fellowships in 2012 totalling $3.09 million.A/Prof Louise D’Arcens (Arts): awarded $661,051 for her project entitled “Comic medievalism and the modern world.”Prof Zhengyi Jiang (Engineering): awarded $982,218 for his project entitled “Mechanics of innovative high precision rolling technology in micro-manufacturing”.
Prof Sandra Jones (Health & Behavioural Sciences): awarded $931,010 for her project entitled “A community-based approach to the problem of underage drinking”.Dr Julia Martinez (Arts): awarded $575,581 for her project entitled “Traffic in women and girls in the Asia Pacific region, 1865-1940”.
2012 /2013 UIC INTERNATIONAL LINKS GRANT OUTCOMESOf the 33 applications received, 22 were successful. A total of $109,000 in funding was awarded. Four grants were awarded for collaborative efforts with institutions in India, and four grants were awarded for collaborative efforts with institutions in Brazil, which were the countries of focus for this round.
2103 URC SMALL GRANTSURC Small Grants have been awarded to 50 applicants. A total of $548,040 was awarded with 5 of the successful applications being for interdisciplinary research.
R E S E A R C H & I N N O V A T I O N N E W S | 2 1
INNOVATION & COMMERCIAL RESEARCH NEWS
ETHICS NEWS
Upcoming Committee meetings Agenda deadline Meeting date
Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) - Health and Medical 24 October21 November
13 November11 December
Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) - Social Sciences 7 November28 November
22 November 13 December
Animal Ethics Committee 14 October15 November
25 October (Policy meeting)6 December
Gene Technology Review Committee 7 November 21 November
More information at: www.uow.edu.au/research/ethics
The University of Wollongong’s iAccelerate initiative reached another milestone on the 14th August when it hosted the regions first investor-matching program The Pitching Plate.iAccelerate (artist’s impression of proposed iAccererlate building above) is a vision for the Illawarra to leverage the region’s industry base from one heavily reliant upon manufacturing to the development and growth of a technology led economy. iAccelerate consists of multiple programs designed to accelerate the growth of innovative technology based companies. These programs (UOW E-Club, StartPad, specialist workshops, mentorship, pitching plate) work synergistically and open to UOW and the broader Illawarra community.The Pitching Plate is about matching innovative homegrown businesses to investors. It provides opportunity for local investors to invest in the Illawarra and the businesses that are being grown out of the ingenuity of the UoW student base and fast growth locals SME’s and StartUpsPitching Plate consisted of two lead up workshops and a final event on August 14. Over the two workshops we had 14 companies pitch, with six being selected by the judging panels to proceed to the final event.
The event was a huge success with over 100 investors and local business people in attendance to see the pitches. iAccelerate’s Pitching Plate attracted sophisticated and experienced panelists including Topaz Conway and Patrick Mooney (Case Manager, Commercialisation Australia) Craig Peden (Director of Corporate Relations, UoW) Viki Forrest (CEO, ANZA Technology Network), Mark Johnson (Mentor, ANZA Technology Network), Niki Scevak (Founder, StartMate, Member of Sydney Angels) Stuart Fox, (Founder, Fox Property ) and Hamish Hawthorn (CEO, ATP Innovations, Member of Sydney Angels and StartMate).
On the night, a range of investment opportunities were pitched:Fluid Workforce - An effective skills-based staff recruitment and HR management system
Just Show Me – Online product demonstration that uses video to get customers up and running with new products quickly and simply.Clausematch - a matching and negotiation hub for trading master agreementsFibre Optics and Design - a fibre optic telephone system with the potential to transform communications in mines and large infrastructure projects.Klassifi - a web-based real-time activity classification system for everyday activities.Selera - DataIgnition a disruptive new SaaS offering for cross checking and identifying duplicate invoices in Enterprise Resource Planning systems
Based on the success of this initial event, UOW iAccelerate will be hosting future Pitching Plate events, for more information please see or contact Melissa Ryan on [email protected] or Joanna Halios-Lewis on [email protected].
Get involved with iAccelerate at www.iaccelerate.com.au
Entrepreneurs pitch their big ideas at Pitching Plate
Child obesity has been described as one of the most pressing public health problems of the 21st Century. Traditional ways of treating this problem have been costly, hard to access, and not highly successful, as evidenced by the high and increasing prevalence
of child obesity over the past 15 years. New interdisciplinary approaches are needed that intervene on multiple levels, in multiple environments, and are multifaceted. In this presentation, Professor Tony Okely (top, right), Director of the Interdisciplinary Educational Research Institute, will summarise what approaches have been successful and why they have succeeded, and suggest new and innovative ways that need to be considered if we are to impact on reducing the current rates of child obesity. Uni in the Brewery is a free public lecture series that sees prominent researchers from the University of Wollongong explain their ideas and research in a relaxed and participatory environment over a few foaming ales. Visit uow.edu.au/research/unibrewery for info and to watch videos of past presentations.
Uni in the Brewery focuses on child obesity
CHILD OBESITY: THE SKINNY OF WHAT REALLY WORKS IN PREVENTING UNHEALTHY WEIGHT GAIN IN KIDS
Wednesday 17 October 2012 - 5.30-6.30pm Five Islands Brewery, WIN Entertainment Centre, Corner of Harbour & Crown streets, Wollongong RSVP - [email protected] FREE EVENT
Radical beer
What’s in your favourite brew? What chemicals make it so delicious? With tastings, presentations and experiments, Radical Beer gives you the chance to become an instant chemistry expert and impress your mates down the pub.Avid home brewer and free radical
chemist, Dr Philip Barker, Technology Leader at BlueScope Steel Research and Partner Investigator of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry, will present a fun evening where you can:• Learn about the chemicals that make beer good for you• Discover the chemicals that make beer taste and smell delicious or not so delicious• Try your hand at beer science experiments, and importantly• Test out your new found knowledge with beer tastings.Radical Beer is a community event presented by The ARC Centre for Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry
and Biotechnology and the University of Wollongong. Keep an eye on www.uow.edu.au/research/news or email [email protected] for more details.
SAVE THE DATE
Thursday 29 November 5:30pm–7:30pm Five Islands Brewery, WIN Entertainment Centre, Corner of Harbour & Crown streets, Wollongong INFO - [email protected], www.uow.edu.au/research/news
R E S E A R C H & I N N O V A T I O N N E W S | 2 3
From advanced limb reconstruction to implantable seizure detection devices, the exciting new field of medical bionics will change the future of medicine. UOW’s ARC Centre For Excellence In Electromaterials Science (ACES), where leading researchers are currently developing the next generation of medical bionics, will host Additive Fabrication Bio Medical Conference (AdBioFab), with their research partners, St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne. AdBioFab will bring together clinicians, medical device manufacturers, materials science researchers, policy makers, and investors and enable collaborative discussions that will lead to a successful engagement with this emerging global industry. The combination of nanomaterials science, high speed data communications, and additive manufacturing will together represent a potentially highly disruptive transformation of medical treatments. This transformation will bring a number of challenges. It will also lead to new jobs in the businesses that are able to anticipate, understand and be adaptable to change. Most importantly, this will only take place if the overarching strategy for industrial engagement is supported by policy and regulatory structures that make investment into research in this field attractive, and for entrepreneurial activity to be rewarded.This conference is an opportunity for anyone interested in the future evolution of medical treatment and technologies to learn about how this industrial transformation is going to take place. It will also show how the Aikenhead Centre For Medical Discovery, where an Additive Fabrication research facility has recently been built thanks to the research partnership between ACES and St Vincent’s Hospital, can become the hub for innovative medical research in Victoria in the future. Learn more about the brave new future of medical bionics at www.tedxuwollongong.com
Got a skill worth sharing? Maybe you’re looking for a co-founder to help bring your big idea to life. Perhaps you want to join a start up, or you already have a startup, but need some talent. The UOW Entrepreneur Club is holding a free, open to the public event for those keen to kick start their ideas into action. Interested? Register your
interest, skills and what skills you are looking for with Jo Halios-Lewis- [email protected]. On the night, they will be able to meet all relevant individuals in the room to see if there is a viable match. There will be free antipasto, pizza, wine and beer on the night.
Skills Speed Dating with UOW eClub
26 October 2012St Vincent’s Hospital, MelbourneRegistrations now openwww.additivefabrication.org
The power of medical bionics
Above: Executive Research Director at UOW’s ARC Centre For Excellence In Electromaterials Science (ACES), Professor Gordon Wallace, will be giving a talk at the Conference titled ‘Pulling together the threads and setting the course for the future’.
Tuesday 30 October 2012, 5-8pmUniBar, University of WollongongRSVP- [email protected] EVENT
Upcoming masterclasses
SMART INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITYProject evaluation in the presence of market distortionsThursday, 25 October 2012Canberra Facilitators: Professor Henry Ergas and Dr Mark Harrisonwww.smartmasterclass.com
SYDNEY BUSINESS SCHOOLMindfulness-based emotional intelligence training: A practical approach to maximising your potential at workOctober 13 2012, 9am - 4:30pmUOW’s Sydney CBD campusFacilitator: Dr Joseph Ciarrochi www.uow.edu.au/sbs/sbscourses/masterCourses
