links
Market entry
contents
3 10
Research
VOLUME 11 NUMBER 1
12
In focus
Visionary graduate Monica Otto is driving change in her homeland Papua New Guinea.
Page 4.
Regulars
NEWS ROUNDUP 2
EXPERTEASE 6
RESEARCH UPDATE 16, 17
ALUMNI NEWS 21
KEEP IN TOUCH 22-24 LAST WORD
by Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake
- SEE INSIDE BACK COVER
Editor Janne Rayner 07 3138 2361 j2.rayner@qut.edu.au Contributors
Toni Chambers, Sandra Hutchinson, Jeff Morse, Carmen Myler, Niki Widdowson, Rachael Wilson
Images Erika Fish Design Richard de Waal
link s
alumni magazineQUT Links is published by QUT’s Marketing and Communication Department in cooperation with QUT’s Alumni Relations. Editorial material is gathered from a range of sources and does not necessarily refl ect the opinions and policies of QUT.
CRICOS No. 00213J
3 1 14 6
A global deal fuels QUT’s world-leading research.
As the aerotropolis takes off, QUT is on the ground with research.
A new study reveals the health hazards of printers.
QUT pitches funds at a new cricket study.
Profi les
15 18 19
Meet QUT’s fi rst Doctor of Creative Industries.
Science alumnus Bill Taylor has a head for making beer.
A Golden Grad expresses a passion for poetry.
Features
8 7 11 12
QUT has a healthy stake in the Beijing Olympics.
Go-ahead Gen Ys are fast-tracking their careers.
The Holocaust impacts families, decades on.
QUT research and teaching took huge strides in 2007.
Golden Graduates gather together.
20
QUT has joined forces with the world’s largest agribusiness company, Syngenta, to develop technologies that will provide an economical, green fuel alternative for cars.
A multi-million dollar deal was struck late last year between QUT, its commericialisation arm qutbluebox, Syngenta and local biotech start-up Farmacule Bioindustries.
The collaboration, with the support of the Queensland Government, will see the establishment of the Syngenta Centre for Sugarcane Biofuel Development at QUT.
QUT’s world-renowned research scientist, Professor James Dale, has pioneered groundbreaking genetic technology that has the ability to economically convert plant waste into valuable sugars, which can then be used to produce ethanol and all without compromising the sugar potential of the cane.
As part of this project, he will now lead an international team of researchers to develop, to commercial scale, sugarcane that can yield cost-effective bioethanol from cellulose.
“This collaboration has the potential to substantially decrease the cost of bioethanol production and signifi cantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Professor Dale said.
He said cellulosic ethanol could replace 30 per cent of vehicle petroleum globally and provide a massive
80 per cent saving in greenhouse gases compared with conventional petrol.
Syngenta has identifi ed biofuels as a major business opportunity, making the company, which last year reported US$8.1 billion sales, the global partner of choice for QUT in cellulosic ethanol development.
While the research partnership is planned for three years initially, it is expected to lead to an expanded 10-year collaboration.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said the landmark deal, brokered by qutbluebox, was a major step in QUT’s research in sustainable resources.
“It is the next step in the series that commenced with QUT’s investment in Farmacule,” Professor Coaldrake said.
“The collaboration complements QUT’s acquisition of the research arm of Sugar Research Limited in 2005, which in turn was the catalyst for securing State and Federal Government funding of $6.5 million for the Mackay pilot plant.”
As part of the deal, Syngenta will locate a number of its scientists at QUT and bring its intellectual property and expertise to the collaboration.
- Janne Rayner
QUT has a key role in crucial new biofuels research.
Biofuels for the future
New senior appointments
Professor Vi McLean is to take up the newly created position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Teaching Quality) from early this year, while Mr Scott Sheppard will become Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development) also from early 2008. Professor McLean’s new role will draw on her expertise and national standing as an educator in the key area of teaching. Mr Sheppard, who is fl uent in Mandarin, is currently Minister-Counsellor, Education, Science and Training at the Australian Embassy in Beijing. Prior to his current role, he was executive director, QUT International.
Successful stock market fl oat
QUT’s medical device start-up company, ImpediMed Limited, has listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) with one of the most successful technology stock market fl oats of 2007. Established seven years ago to commercialise technology developed by researchers from QUT and The University of Queensland, ImpediMed designs and produces medical devices for diagnosing and monitoring human disorders and diseases.
Smart train rolls out again
The QUT Smart Train will once again take its message of innovation and technology when it travels to 24 regional stops across Queensland from May12 to June 20, 2008. The train aims to inform, demonstrate and stimulate community interest in innovation, science and technology and social issues, by showcasing them in interactive and fun installations and displays. This will be the fi fth QUT Train to travel throughout Queensland in the last decade and is one of the State’s largest community outreach programs, having hosted over 90,000 visitors to date.
Visit www.train.qut.edu.au.
Fashionable win
QUT honours student Nicholas Wilsdon, 21, won the inaugural Australian Fashion Graduate of the Year award at the 2007 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival.
The award is national in scope and involves all the major fashion colleges in Australia. Nicholas follows in the creative footsteps of other successful QUT fashion graduates, including Gail Reid, George Wu and John Prikryl.
news roundup…
NEWS OF APPOINTMENTS, UNIVERSITY SUCCESSES, STAFF AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS, AND CORPORATE EVENTS.Changes at Caboolture
Construction is underway of QUT’s new multi-million dollar, purpose-built nursing building at the Caboolture campus.
The building, which will include clinical nursing laboratories and learning areas, is due to be completed by mid 2008.
A $410,000 outdoor sound shell and a multi-sport facility, funded by a grant from the Federal Government, will also be completed at Caboolture in 2008.
Defence training deal
The Faculty of Business has secured QUT’s largest-ever corporate education deal with the Commonwealth
Government Defence Department. The new training deal includes developing and delivering a specialist executive MBA, a leadership program and the delivery of professional development seminars. The courses will be delivered by QUT staff in Canberra.
Geldof addresses QUT leaders’ forum
SIR Bob Geldof rounded off 10 years of QUT’s Business Leaders’ Forums by speaking to a packed house at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre last November.
Sir Bob outlined how he had become an accidental leader. He maintained his deprived childhood in Dublin and the loss of his mother at age seven were infl uences that formed his outrage and galvanised him to gather the pop world for Live Aid in the ’80s to provide food for 30 million famine-stricken people in Africa.
QUT Faculty of Business Executive Dean Professor Peter Little said Sir Bob had been a fi tting choice for the 10th anniversary of QUT’s Business Leaders’ Forum.
“We brought someone who would challenge us, some- one not driven by markets or short-term considerations,”
Professor Little said.
For information on attending Business Leaders’ Forums, visit http://www.bus.qut.edu.au/community/businesslead/
The idea of an aerotropolis is The idea of an aerotropolis is being given wings by a QUT-led being given wings by a QUT-led research team.
research team.
QUT is taking a lead role in a world-fi rst research project that is exploring the emergence of the “Airport Metropolis’’
phenomenon.
Researchers are studying the relationship between airports and their urban surroundings, across Australia and internationally.
After years of planning by Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) and QUT, as their research and development partner, the $3.8 million project is a unique international collaboration between the community, industry, universities and three levels of government.
BAC is the anticipated home of Australia’s fi rst genuine Airport City, blending core aviation activities such as passenger and cargo movement with a full range of industrial and commercial activity, such as hospitality, entertainment, sport, retail, fresh produce, childcare, health services and recreation.
More than 15,000 workers are now employed at Brisbane Airport with that fi gure expected to increase to more than 40,000 – the size of a regional city – over the coming two decades.
Associate Professor Douglas Baker, from QUT’s Faculty
of Built Environment and Engineering, is leading a national and international team to investigate the airport metropolis phenomenon.
Professor Baker said this would be the fi rst major study to undertake an evaluation of the impact of airports on surrounding regional areas as catalysts for economic and urban development.
“The primary role of this project is to investigate and make an integrated response to four major issues: economic development, land use, infrastructure and governance,”
Professor Baker said.
“The research will develop innovative policy and practice to enhance future airport management and development across Australia and internationally.”
BAC managing director and CEO Koen Rooijmans said the
“reinvention” of major gateway airports around the world was having a signifi cant impact on their local regions in terms of job and economic growth.
“Just as coastal and river ports and railway towns have driven urban growth in previous centuries, the 21st century is emerging as the aviation era,” Mr Rooijmans said.
“For example, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is responsible for more than 400,000 jobs in the LA region and generates US$61 billion in regional activity annually – that’s about US$7million an hour. Airports are no longer simply places where people catch planes and cargo is moved, and their impact on a region’s economy is signifi cant and far-reaching.”
Age of the
Airport city
Image: Brisbane Airport Corporation
Progressing
A business graduate PNG
from Papua New
Guinea is combining
an innate sense
of her people’s
culture with strong
business acumen
to drive inspiring
change.
FEISTY, persistent and visionary are good words to describe Papua New Guinea’s Monica Otto.
But, according to her cultural upbringing in a remote village in the Sepik River fl ood plains of the East Sepik Province, she shouldn’t dare have any of these attributes.
Even her own father has advised Monica’s husband, Australian-born Ray Otto, to “discipline” her for her unwomanly ways. But Ray will have none of it.
Instead he beams with pride as Monica relates how she is helping women in subsistence areas improve their lives with knowledge and empowerment.
When she completed her Bachelor of Business at QUT 10 years ago Monica thought she would return to her home province on PNG’s northern coast and continue working at the Department of East Sepik where she was a provincial primary industry advisor.
Monica soon realised her overseas university qualifi cation was a challenge to her male colleagues and threatened the authority over women they felt was their birthright. She was effectively sidelined and her knowledge and skills were going to waste.
After a stint as a freelance development consultant, Monica set up a small non-government organisation called Foundation of Women in Agriculture Development (FOWIAD) to train women, the primary food growers, to improve the productivity of their home gardens and perhaps produce a cash crop.
In PNG once the land has been cleared by men it is women’s work to plant, care for and harvest crops.
Monica is based in Maprik where the people, like most in rural PNG, use swidden or “slash and burn”
agriculture.
“It’s an ineffi cient system that depletes the already poor soil and produces a limited yield,” Monica says.
“To raise productivity the women need to understand the basics of organic gardening.”
FOWIAD offers a number of courses in agricultural techniques such as composting and crop rotation that can be used to provide more food for the family and increase the yield of cash crops such as coconut and cocoa.
“We teach them downstream processing,” Monica laughs.
“Food and products they can make with their raw materials for the family to eat and to sell at the market.
“They didn’t know anything about pawpaw – it was fed to the pigs – so we teach them to use green pawpaw to tenderise meat and to squeeze the juice from
pawpaw to make soap.”
Monica has also developed low-tech ways for the women to extract coconut oil to make body oil and soap to sell. The famed noni juice is also produced for local use and sale.
“It’s good for everything from asthma to skin problems and childbirth,” Monica says.
Now she is researching adding extra nutrients to the staple food, sago or saksak, such as fi shmeal and pawpaw powder.
FOWIAD has grown to employ six women full-time and six more part-time and has 2700 members.
It is bringing prosperity and greater health to the Maprik area. Its microfi nance services allow many members to bank their money with FOWIAD and some get low-interest loans to build “permanent” homes using corrugated iron on the roofs allowing rain water collection.
To introduce a program aimed at women Monica has had to be something of a cultural strategist.
Knowing men have to be in charge, she has allowed men who won’t let their wives attend FOWIAD’s training courses (business belongs to the men’s world) to do the training themselves on condition that they pass on the information to their wives.
“They know we will test the wives to make sure their husbands have told them what they have learnt,” she said.
To coax men into working in the gardens, Monica encourages the whole family to help formulate their own agriculture plan.
“We say if you do this much labour you get this many more cocoa beans which means this much money – we introduce the idea of labour to the men.”
Her innate understanding of her people’s culture combined with strong business acumen has led Monica to evolve a development process that actually works by giving people ownership of their progress. There are no handouts.
People must pay to do the courses so that they have a vested interest in applying what they have learnt, in stark contrast to some aid projects which Monica says have collapsed as soon as the aid workers returned to their home country.
Two years ago Monica received offi cial recognition of the value of her work from the PNG Government. After 10 years without any government or donor support she is looking for funding to take her model elsewhere.
- Niki Widdowson
“We test the
wives to make
sure their
husbands
have told
them what
they have
learnt.”
THE tiny particles emitted from some home or offi ce laser printers are as dangerous to human health as inhaling cigarette smoke, according to a study by QUT.
The study, which was conducted by Professor Lidia Morawska, pictured, from QUT’s International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, found that out of 62 laser printers tested, 17 were “high particle emitters”.
She said these 17 printers were releasing potentially dangerous levels of tiny toner-like material into the air.
The results of the study, which drew international media interest, were published in the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science and Technology Journal.
“Most of the particles detected in the study were ultrafi ne particles,” Professor Morawska said.
“Ultrafi ne particles are of most concern because they can penetrate deep into the lungs where they can pose a signifi cant health threat.
“The health effects from inhaling ultrafi ne particles depend on particle composition, but the results can range from respiratory irritation to more severe illness such as cardiovascular problems or cancer.”
Professor Morawska said the study, conducted in a large open-plan offi ce, found indoor particle levels in the offi ce air increased fi ve-fold during work hours due to printer use.
“Printers are a common device in both the home and offi ce environment. However, they are a potential source of indoor pollutants producing volatile organic compounds and ozone, as well as particle emissions,” she said.
“This study showed that printers were the most signifi cant source of particle number concentrations in the offi ce building.”
Professor Morawska said in general the study found that printers emitted more particles when the toner cartridge was new, and when printing graphics and images as they required greater quantities of toner.
“It appears that there are large differences in the emission levels between different types of
printers,” she said.
- Sandra Hutchinson
A QUT study found laser printers A QUT study found laser printers may be hazardous to your health.
may be hazardous to your health.
What are the risks of particle emissions in the air?
What are the risks of particle emissions in the air?
Lidia Morawska has some answers.
Lidia Morawska has some answers.
I live near a busy traffi c corridor, what is the risk to my health of vehicle emissions?
V
ehicle emissions comprise of pollutants in both gaseous and particle forms and include many compounds known to have detrimental health and environmental effects.The gaseous emissions include CO2, CO, oxides of nitrogen, SO2, and unburned hydrocarbons, including methane. Particles emitted from vehicles, like those emitted from other combustion sources, are small, with the majority in the ultrafi ne size range.
The size of airborne particles determines in which parts of the respiratory tract the particles are deposited, with the ultrafi ne particles having a high probability of depositing deeper in the respiratory tract and thus a potential to cause more damage.
What are the dangers of particle emissions in my home?
A
large number of sources contribute to particle concentrations encountered indoors. They include outdoorparticles which penetrate from outside (which is of particular signifi cance if buildings are in proximity to busy roads, for example), and also those generated from indoor sources such as combustion appliances, tobacco combustion, consumer products, cooking or maintenance products. While contributions from some of the sources have been identifi ed and actions taken to limit their emissions or remove them (for example bans on cigarette smoking in public places), new sources, as a result of new technologies, continue to be identifi ed. For example it has been recently shown that some laser printers emit large quantities of ultrafi ne particles.
How can I reduce the risks to my health of emissions emitted both inside and outside?
T
o reduce health risk, which may result from emissions from some of the sources mentioned above, several actions could be taken. The best, if possible, is to remove the sources – for example ensure that no one smokes in your house, or that you use no emitting printers in your offi ce. If you cannot prevent source emissions, you can do several things: remove the indoor emission products from indoor air (ensure good ventilation); limit ingress of outdoor pollutants indoors (by for example installing good fi lters which would effi ciently capture outdoor particles coming from vehicles or industrial plants);or move away from the sources (do not buy a house on a busy road).
More information QUT’s air quality research programs:
www.ilaqh.qut.edu.au WHO Air Quality Guidelines:
www.euro.who.int /Document/E87950.pdf Review of health effects of ultrafi ne particles:
www.environment.gov.au/
atmosphere/airquality/publications/
health-impacts/index.html
expertease…
PROFESSOR LIDIA MORAWSKA IS DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABORATORY FOR AIR QUALITY AND HEALTH BASED AT QUT.
Printer pollution
OL YMPICS
QUT has a healthy stake in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
THE health of the hundreds of thousands of Olympic athletes and visitors to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics will be safeguarded by research projects and health worker training conducted by QUT.
QUT has had an agreement with the Beijing Centre for Disease Control to train and develop the research capacity of up to 1000 emergency public health workers who will protect Beijing’s 20 million residents and estimated one million Olympic visitors.
These projects and the related training include identifi cation of public health challenges such as food borne diseases, bird fl u, and threats to water and air quality.
The Beijing Centre for Disease Control is responsible for managing many of the public health threats that could occur in the period leading up to and during the Games.
The training, delivered by QUT in Beijing and in Australia, also covers emergency disasters such as bio-terrorist attacks and natural disasters such as fi re.
WHEN Olympic athletes from 205 countries gather in Beijing with their entourages in August they will number some 20,000 people.
It is QUT Master of Health Science alumnus Zhen Xiaozhen’s task to masterplan and implement the medical service for this large and diverse “Olympic family”.
Xiaozhen, pictured right, was appointed to the Olympic Organising Committee in 2001 soon after China won the bid.
“My role as medical service manager makes me responsible for planning and implementation of the health care plan to cover more than 100 competition venues including in Hong Kong for the athletes, offi cials and coaches,” Xiaozhen said.
“I have been working every day because the plan covers the training of health care workers and also 3000 volunteers in the training and
competition venues, and at all the functions and opening and closing ceremonies.”
She spent fi ve months in Athens observing her Greek counterpart’s work and is in regular contact with colleagues in Athens and Sydney.
Throughout 2007 international athletes competed in pre-Olympic trials in Beijing to acclimatise to the conditions. It gave Xiaozhen the opportunity to test all facets of the plan from dealing with heat stress to updating anti- doping agency guidelines.
Sometime in September 2008 Xiaozhen’s seven-year task will end and it will be her turn to pass the baton of her huge body of knowledge to the medical service manager of London’s 2012 Olympics.
- Niki Widdowson
Relax on a soundwave
YOU can actually “feel the vibe” as you relax onto Jenni Baxter’s Soundscape chair.
The gentle undulations of this sleek chaise lounge please the eye and cradle the body in extreme comfort so that it’s not diffi cult to believe you are resting on a sculpted soundwave.
The chair, constructed from Eco-core multi-ply, along with her Oops rug (featured on the back of Links August 2006) are signature pieces that have helped launch her well on the way to a thriving career as a freelance designer.
She developed the chair during a mentorship in the fi nal year of a Bachelor of Built Environment (Interior Design) with furniture designer Lasse Kinnunen from Deka, funded
by Craft Queensland Mentorship Grant for Emerging Designers.
The chair was also selected for the ARC Biennial Art and
Design Exhibition.
“I am very passionate about experimentation and
work that blurs the line between art and design,”
Jenni said.
“The Soundscape chair was developed with the assistance of sound designer Tim Opie and is the proto- type for what will be a commercially produced Soundscape furniture
collection.”
Jenni’s plan is to open her own studio and bring quality design to the people by producing one- off pieces that are stand alone artworks as well as commercial products accessible to an “everyday consumer audience”.
A fresh idea
SARAH Frith, pictured opposite page, always knew she would have her own business/es. A self- taught entrepreneur, she began in Year 4 by saving up, buying her own chooks and selling eggs in town and on the school bus run.
For her next venture she started a craze in plaited key rings that she designed and made.
“I sold so many at 20 cents a pop that I’d banked $88 before my school banned the key ring trade because students were spending all their lunch money on them,” Sarah said.
She took her talent to QUT and formalised it with a Bachelor of Business in public relations and integrated marketing.
Fast forward through a mosaic of PR and marketing positions including setting up her own marketing consul- tancy and Sarah, 24, is now managing director of Farm Fresh Central.
It’s an online and Bowen Hills bricks and mortar store she established to home deliver ultra fresh food from Queensland farmers to the doorsteps of eager Brisbane consumers.
It harks back to her Roma roots and early egg business, where Sarah discovered people were keen to buy from the producer and know where their food had come from.
Her more than 1400 regular customers can choose from 400 products from 35 suppliers of fruit, vegetables,
cheese, honey, meat, prepared meals and more.
After doubling the business last year, Sarah can confi dently set a 150 per cent growth target.
“In a year we’ll look at bringing in investors and franchising but in the meantime we’ll work on refi ning
systems and procedures.”
QUT graduates are consistently in high demand by
employers, yet for a growing number of Gen Y grads a QUT degree is the entrée into their own world of business.
Make a job, a job, get
She developed the chair during a mentorship in the fi nal year of a Bachelor of Built Environment (Interior Design) with furniture designer Lasse Kinnunen from Deka, funded
by Craft Queensland Mentorship Grant for Emerging Designers.
The chair was also selected for the ARC Biennial Art and
Design Exhibition.
“I am very passionate about experimentation and
work that blurs the line between art and design,”
Jenni said.
“The Soundscape chair was developed with the assistance of sound designer Tim Opie and is the proto- type for what will be a commercially produced Soundscape furniture
collection.”
have taug Year own town
Fo start rings mad
“I pop my s trade spen on th Sh and of B integ
Fa PR a setti tanc direc
It’s mor ultra door It busi keen food He from che c
Business by design
BEN Johnston says he “fell” into establishing a creative design and marketing agency with QUT 2003 graduate Josh Capelin.
It was a happy accident because their agency, Josephmark, fell on its feet at once and, after only three years, employs 13 people with an average age of 24 in an über hip space called Substation No. 4 on Brisbane’s Petrie Terrace.
“Setting up Josephmark was based around freedom, we just wanted to do our own thing,”
24-year-old Ben said.
“I hadn’t enjoyed the work atmosphere of a design fi rm where I’d worked while being at QUT. It’s an ineffi cient way to work if you don’t like the boss or don’t share the same values and ideals.
“We were determined to work in an environment where we had fun, where it was enjoyable, where we got to hang out with our mates and have creative freedom.”
Ben, pictured right, describes Josephmark as an ideas-based design agency that specialises in dreaming up cutting-edge viral and ambient campaigns that have had stunning success.
Make a job, get a job
BARRY Jiggins went to Mongolia for a two-week holiday adventure of a lifetime four years ago but found it would take him a lifetime to complete his adventure there.
As soon as Barry, a Cairns-based radiographer who gained a Bachelor of Applied Science at QUT,
returned from Mongolia in 2003 he set about collecting blankets to donate to the ill-
equipped hospitals he visited as part of the tour.
He had been horrifi ed to fi nd the hospitals had no heating (power ran erratically, but for no more than
four hours a day). Patients often wandered home where it was warmer than the minus 40 at the hospital.
“There are a lot of breathing problems in Mongolia because of the smoke in enclosed tents and with the
extreme cold there is a lot of pneumonia.
“I didn’t see any big international
charities there and I thought ‘it’s up
to me’.”
Barry has found Queenslanders
only too happy to give.
Before long he had collected a container-load and then overcame the gargantuan problem of getting them to Mongolia.
The container was trucked to Brisbane, shipped to China, taken by train to Mongolia and then trucked 2000km across the Gobi Desert, at Barry’s expense, where the blankets were distributed by Gobi Revival Fund, a charity run by Mongol Khan Expeditions.
After the success of that fi rst drive, Barry has refi ned his technique.
He has become more creative with each campaign to collect practical items, rather than money. Since 2003 he has collected and shipped toys, clothes, mattresses (Cairns hospital donated 130), books and other supplies. In 2006 he ran the
“20,000 Feet Above Mongolia” campaign to collect 10,000 pairs of shoes. Barry got schools involved offering a prize for the one that collected the most. The result was that 10,458 pairs of shoes found their way to Mongolia.
His method and message are simple. He writes and sends photos ahead to local schools, organisations and media explaining the plight of the people in Mongolia and practical ways they could help.
His latest effort has been the “Magical Mongolian Blanket Bus” tour which gathered 10,000 blankets. He stopped in towns and cities from Cairns to the Gold Coast to collect their offerings including some “sizeable donations from hotels”.
For his humanitarian efforts, Barry has been awarded the Order of Australia but it is he, he says, who is in the debt of the Mongolians.
“I feel I’ve stumbled across my greater purpose – it’s changed my life. I am so thankful that I have found something that gives me so much satisfaction.”
- Niki Widdowson
A caring grad is on a quest to collect Australian blankets for Mongolian hospitals.
Mongolian hospitals.
only too happy to give.
Before long he had collected a container-load and the
A caring grad is on a quest to A caring grad is on a quest to
ll A li bl k f
ll A li bl k f
Spreading the
warmth
Holocaust’s hold
A study reveals the Holocaust still A study reveals the Holocaust still resonates, 60 years on.
resonates, 60 years on.
THE effects of the Holocaust are still being felt three generations later and more than 60 years after the events, according to QUT PhD research.
Dr Janine Beck, herself the daughter and grandchild of survivors of the World War II atrocity, has investigated how Holocaust survivors adjusted to post-war life and the fl ow-on effect to subsequent generations.
She said that not only survivors, but children and grandchildren of survivors experienced depression and anxiety at a higher rate than the general population. They also usually had more diffi culty trusting others which leads to diffi culties in relationships.
“The traumatic after-effects of the Holocaust fl ow to subsequent generations through the way survivors interact with their children,” she said.
“Survivors were either over-protective or clingy because they were fearful that something would happen to their children or they were dismissive and pushed their children away in an attempt to prevent any future hurt. The way they talked (or didn’t) to their children about their Holocaust experiences was also highly infl uential.
“Parenting patterns are highly likely to be repeated, so the cycle of trauma transmission continues.”
Dr Beck said that another key fi nding was that those most
affected by their experiences had the children who were most affected.
“Higher symptom levels have been recorded amongst survivors who were the sole survivor of their family, and those who had spent some time in a concentration camp as opposed to surviving in hiding,” she said.
“In addition, survivors from Hungary and Eastern European countries appear to have suffered from higher symptom levels than those from Western European countries.”
These three demographic variables of loss of family, type of Holocaust experience and country of origin predicted not only survivor psychological health but also that of their children. These fi ndings highlight the profound infl uence the Holocaust has both on its direct survivors and their descendants.
“If we know this we can translate the fi ndings to different settings such as the former Yugoslavia and Darfur and target those most affected and their children.”
Dr Beck said her research had implications for many war- torn countries around the world such as Iraq where large groups of civilians were being traumatised.
“Undoubtedly, survivors and their descendants have been unable to reach their full potential in life. Civilians and their defendants traumatised because of more recent wars/confl icts such as in Iraq, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Darfur are likely to be affected in similar ways,” she said.
- Toni Chambers
2007 was a good year for QUT.
2007 was a good year for QUT.
In two high-profi le rankings of In two high-profi le rankings of universities worldwide, QUT was universities worldwide, QUT was placed 10th in Australia. The placed 10th in Australia. The 2007 Times Higher Education 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement-QS World University Supplement-QS World University Rankings placed QUT in its top-200 Rankings placed QUT in its top-200 list, while the 2007 Melbourne list, while the 2007 Melbourne
Institute of Applied Economic Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research ranked QUT and Social Research ranked QUT well ahead of all other Australian well ahead of all other Australian Technology Network universities.
Technology Network universities.
This recognition was backed by This recognition was backed by international and national awards international and national awards and grants for QUT’s quality
and grants for QUT’s quality researchers and teachers.
researchers and teachers.
Research reaps rewards
QUT blitzed other technology universities and scored well ahead of several interstate research-intensive Group of Eight universities in the 2007 round of Australian Research Council (ARC) and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants.
QUT secured total funding of more than $15M.
The grants included 24 new ARC Discovery project grants worth $7.2M, which was the largest number
of new projects and highest level of funding ever awarded to QUT under this scheme.
Also announced were 13 new ARC Linkage project grants worth $3.2M, an outcome that cemented QUT’s top-fi ve ranking nationally under this scheme.
QUT also won two new ARC Linkage Infrastructure (Equipment and Facilities) grants worth $950K and six new NHMRC project grants worth $3.85M, which again was the highest level of funding awarded to the university under this NHMRC scheme.
QUT
Researchers recognised
A QUT health researcher has been honoured with a prestigious Smart State Fellowship to develop a genetic test that has the potential to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of people with schizophrenia.
Dr Joanne Voisey, pictured opposite page, was one of three QUT researchers to receive a 2007 Smart State Fellowship worth $300,000 over three years.
The fellowship, which is funded by the Queensland Government and QUT, is awarded to early or mid-career researchers to undertake innovative research in Queensland.
Dr Voisey is part of a research team headed by Professor Ross Young based at QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation.
She said her research would lead to the development of a genetic test for diagnosis of schizophrenia and early detection.
“Schizophrenia affects about one per cent of
Queenslanders, making it 10 times more common than AIDS, cot death and melanoma combined,” Dr Voisey said.
QUT’s Dr Wayde Martens, who is working with Professor Ray Frost, and Dr Timothy Dargaville, who is working with Professor Zee Upton, also received Smart State Fellowships.
Dr Dargaville’s research will develop a new approach to treating burn-related scars using a special polymer bandage.
He said the bandage would be chemically programmed to release a special agent upon contact with human skin that would be able to control the formation of scar tissue and also reduce the effect of existing scars.
Dr Martens’ innovative research will use nanotechnology to purify water.
He said his work aimed to develop photocatalytic water treatment technologies to break down organic chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides and oil in water, rendering it safe to drink and re-use.
Tributes fl ow for teachers
QUT’s outstanding performance in learning and teaching is seen in the number of teaching awards the university received from the national Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in 2007.
Last year, QUT won fi ve prizes at the national university teaching awards, outperforming all but one university across
the nation to win the second-highest number of prizes.
Each prize was worth $25,000.
This outstanding result followed the announcement earlier in 2007 that seven other QUT academic staff members had been awarded Citations for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning by the Carrick Institute.
Each citation carried a $10,000 prize and followed a total of 21 Carrick Institute fellowships and citations for QUT lecturers in the 2006 rounds.
flying high
Dr Julie Hansen (Faculty of Health) Teaching Excellence Award.
Dr Hansen says she uses enthusiasm and humour to explain statistical concepts in ways that everyone can understand.
Dr Jillian Clare (Creative Industries) Teaching Excellence Award.
“My great love is communication, I try to make communicating with students direct, meaningful and alive,” says Dr Clare.
Professor Peter O’Shea (Built Environment and Engineering) Teaching Excellence Award.
“Some students respond well to peer interaction and to having fun,”
says Professor O’Shea.
“I devised a number of different learning initiatives such as
‘Design Idol’ and ‘Who wants to be a digital designer?’”
Professor Sally Kift (Law) Award for a program that enhances learning.
Professor Kift led a program that was developed to assess law students in areas that had proved challenging, such as oral communication, teamwork and ethical values.
Professor Rod Wissler (Dean of Graduate Studies) Award for a program that enhances learning.
Professor Wissler led a joint online project to provide research students with the skills and capabilities necessary to their future employability.
Facts behind the
fast bowl
to identify the keys to creating to identify the keys to creating brilliant fast bowlers.
brilliant fast bowlers.
WHAT’S the secret behind the devastating blows delivered by fast bowlers Dennis Lillee, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath?
That’s the confi dential, game-winning kind of information that QUT researchers are determined to fi nd out.
QUT’s Dr Ian Renshaw said a team of researchers was working to keep Australia at the top of the cricketing ladder by studying the art and science of fast bowling.
He said a good fast bowler could devastate a batting side, giving the bowler’s side the winning edge.
“Fast bowlers win matches,” Dr Renshaw said.
“If you have two great fast bowlers in a team, you won’t lose many games. West Indies in the ’80s had four fast bowlers and they barely lost a match.”
Dr Renshaw said intensive research to identify the factors that made a top fast bowler had never been done before.
“We currently go by coaches’ intuition to make best guesses as to which fast bowlers will become great and, although this is sometimes successful, there is currently nothing scientifi c about it,” he said.
Dr Renshaw is a member of the research partnership which includes the head of QUT’s School of Human Movement Studies, Professor Keith Davids, Cricket Australia sport scientist Dr Marc Portus, and Australian Institute of Sport performance analyst Dr Keith Lyons.
Professor Davids said researchers would study both professional fast bowlers and young players progressing through the ranks from under-17 upwards.
“We want to see if there are any lessons that can be learnt which would benefi t the developing players who will be Australia’s fast bowlers of the future,” he said.
“Maybe one of those lessons will be that there’s a variety of ways to the top … for example, Glenn McGrath didn’t come into the Cricket Australia system until after he was 17.”
The research partnership also includes New Zealand human movement specialist Elissa Phillips who recently won the coveted PhD Scholarship in Cricket Fast Bowling Expertise.
With experience that includes a sports science internship with the US ski team and work with Nike on cricket shoe design, Ms Phillips beat an international fi eld of candidates to win the scholarship, making Australian cricket’s new key weapon a Kiwi woman.
- Rachael Wilson
Dr Ian Renshaw, left, and Professor Keith Davids.
Silence
is golden
QUT’s fi rst Doctor of Creative Industries found silence speaks volumes in managing a classroom.
CALL it meditation, call it a miracle, but QUT’s fi rst Doctor of Creative Industries, Grace Sarra, knows how to calm school children – in seconds.
“Silent sitting” was among Dr Sarra’s discoveries as she tackled absenteeism and behavioural problems in her Indigenous classroom from 2000 to 2005 at Cherbourg State School, about 250km northwest of Brisbane during her doctoral studies.
“Silent sitting was a by-product of our education and human values program where we’d get the children to close their eyes and take a few deep breaths for creative visualisations,’’ she said.
“In the visualisations we’d get them to take a mind journey through something like manners, imagining they were walking up some steps, seeing someone in their way, asking them to move and thanking them before walking back to their desks.
“We found it really calmed them, so we introduced regular silent sitting after the two breaks and as needed when they started to get ratty. We’d get them to close their eyes, breathe gently four or fi ve times, then tense and release parts of their bodies from toes upwards.’’
At the time, the school was being dramatically transformed under the leadership of her husband, 2004 Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus award winner Dr Chris Sarra, now director of the Institute for Indigenous Leadership in Education and Development at QUT.
Cherbourg improved educational outcomes substantially by targeting attendance levels, academic achievement and human values.
Grace Sarra, pictured, said discipline problems with her Year 2s were extreme at fi rst. She could never have imagined ultimately calming them down with the words “silent sitting”.
Dr Sarra has also used the technique successfully with non-indigenous Year 4s and Year 8s.
“Teaching Indigenous children is essentially no different from teaching non-indigenous children,” she said.
“The big thing is being aware of cultural differences and the cultural baggage students bring with them. That’s our responsibility as teachers. Also as teachers we need to be aware of our own social and cultural baggage we bring to the classroom.’’
- Jeff Morse
Customers behaving badly
IF you have been spat on, yelled at or threatened while at work, then chances are you have faced a disgruntled customer.
According to QUT PhD researcher Dominique Keeffe, pictured left, consumer misbehaviour is fast becoming the norm rather than the exception with customers regularly taking out their frustrations on service employees.
As part of her research, Ms O’Keeffe is seeking to understand what motivates consumers to misbehave so that organisations can be aware of the potential warning signs and take action to prevent it from happening.
She said physical and verbal abuse was, so far in her fi ndings, the most prevalent form of retaliation by a customer.
“This is probably because it is easy for someone to lose their temper and lash out verbally,” she said.
But Ms Keeffe said there were many examples where a customer’s rage had gone beyond an angry rant.
“I have been told by service employees that they have had keys thrown at them, they have been spat on and they have even had death threats,” she said.
update
Mice help understand Chlamydia
GENETICALLY engineered mice may hold the key to helping scientists from QUT and Harvard hasten the development of a vaccine to protect adolescent girls against the most common sexually transmitted disease, Chlamydia.
Dr Michael Starnbach, pictured left, from Harvard Medical School was in Australia late last year to work with QUT on a joint research project using a
“mouse model” to study how the immune system responds to infections such as Chlamydia.
“The mouse model will see mice genetically engineered with cells that were specifi cally directed to protect against the mouse strain of Chlamydia”, Dr Starnbach said.
“In doing this we will be able to learn things about what is involved in protecting mice against Chlamydia infection and then mimic those responses with vaccines,” he said.
Professor Peter Timms, along with Professor Ken Beagley, from QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, are heading the QUT research team working with Dr Starnbach.
What price green offi ce buildings?
QUT researchers are looking to fi nd out how far commercial building owners and tenants are prepared to go to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The study, which is being conducted by Associate Professor Laurie Buys, pictured below, of QUT’s Institute for Sustainable Resources in conjunction with Integra Asset Management, indicates tenants believed occupying “green”
buildings was the way of the future. However, many tenants don’t understand what this means in practical or fi nancial terms.
This study aims to fi nd better ways to engage with tenants and building owners in the process of becoming green.
Car-loving commuters snub the bus
COMMUTERS in booming satellite communities won’t get out of their cars and step onto public transport just because it’s there, a QUT study has found. PhD transport engineering researcher Dr Omer Khan surveyed more than 2000 residents in southern Redland Shire, outside of Brisbane, and found they were highly unlikely to give up their cars to switch to public transport or walking and cycling, even if provided with an improved and effi cient infrastructure. However, Dr Khan said people would be very likely to use public transport if it got them to their destination signifi cantly faster.
Websites link with community
QUT has launched a series of websites to link the public with QUT experts and help people learn about sustainability. The portal, www.sustainableseq.org.au, provides links to other sites and provides the latest news on sustainability topics.
Another site, http://iwater.sci.qut.edu.au, provides a directory of QUT’s water researchers and outlines the university’s water-related research. In addition, www.yourbuilding.org is a new, interactive, QUT-developed website containing all the tools to profi t from sustainability in the commercial building industry.
Eyes, the portal to a person’s health
A BREAKTHROUGH technique that uses a simple eye test to save the lives and limbs of diabetics is being advanced in Australia by QUT’s Professor Nathan Efron.
Professor Efron, pictured above, has come to the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation from the UK, to develop the use of an optical instrument capable of looking at the cornea – the clear window at the front of the eye – under high magnifi cation to assess a painful condition known as diabetic neuropathy.
QUT purchased a $90,000 corneal confocal microscope, one of only a handful in the country, to further research and validate
the diagnostic technique.
“Diabetic neuropathy is a nerve disorder caused by diabetes,”
Professor Efron said. “It is a signifi cant clinical problem that affects up to 50 per cent of diabetic patients and which currently has no effective therapy.”
He said current tests for directly assessing the state of the nerves in diabetic neuropathy involved taking a skin biopsy from the patient’s foot and running tests which could take up to three days.
“Using a corneal confocal microscope diabetic neuropathy can now be diagnosed in a couple of minutes,” he said.
Mapping fathers’ grief
DADS who have a strong nurturing instinct suffer less grief from family breakdown than those who don’t, says a QUT study.
Researcher Helen McKeering, pictured right, studied the levels of grief in fathers who were separated from their children.
She said people may be surprised to learn that fathers who had well-developed nurturing instincts suffered less and recovered faster after the family unit broke apart.
“The more nurturing a father is, the more he can cope with separation because he has the child’s best interests at heart,” she said.
Bill Taylor’s career has been Bill Taylor’s career has been bubbling along since leaving bubbling along since leaving QUT 30 years ago.
QUT 30 years ago.
BILL Taylor, pictured above, wasn’t even old enough to drink when he started at Castlemaine Perkins 35 years ago, but today the chief brewer of Lion Nathan admits he won’t turn down a pot of the liquid gold.
In what most Aussies would see as the “best job in the world”, Bill is responsible for brewing some of the country’s favourite beers including Tooheys, Swan, James Squire and his personal favourite XXXX Gold.
“I was studying chemistry and always had visions of being a scientist,” the QUT alumnus recalls.
“In those days Castlemaine Brewery ran a scholarship program for second-year science students to do an internship.
I won that scholarship and that’s where it all started.”
Fresh out of uni and armed with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree and a few weeks on-the-job experience at the brewery, Bill was employed as a lab assistant.
“I was a teenager at the time and I thought a job in a brewery was too good an opportunity to pass up,” he laughs.
“In fact when I started I was below the legal drinking age, which at the time was 21.”
But now more than three decades on, Bill’s thirst for the amber ale still hasn’t been quenched.
In fact he has chased the brew across the globe working in breweries in the US, UK and Europe.
“There is no doubt there have been a lot of changes in beer over the years,” he said.
“The late 1970s was the peak beer consumption per person in Australia. Today our beer consumption is less but we are enjoying a wider selection of styles and tastes.
“There is far more choice in brands with premium, imported and craft beers offering more choice than ever.”
According to Bill, beer is a drink for everyone, although there are some golden rules.
“I discourage beer swilling, drinkers should take time to appreciate beer’s fi ne qualities and characteristics – the fl avour, colour, and the sight of a creamy head cascading down a frosty glass”.
In the mid ’80s Bill returned to QUT to complete postgraduate studies in business administration.
As the 2005 Science Faculty Outstanding Alumni Award winner, Bill has enjoyed a stellar career which includes serving as president of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, a worldwide organisation recognised as a leader in the promotion of brewing excellence.
- Sandra Hutchinson
Brewing up a storm
THE poet sits at his tidy desk and takes a small, red book from the shelf. It’s The A.B.C. of English Usage and written in the corner of the title page is 1945.
Further down, a stamp in a swirly serif font declares the name of the book’s owner: Raymond J. Kelley.
For Ray, pictured below, a Golden Graduate from Kelvin Grove Teachers’ College in 1948, the book marks the beginning of a 65-year passion for poetry.
It contained a ballade, a traditional French poem with a demanding rhyme scheme, and intrigued Ray enough to encourage him to write one of his own.
“The pleasure you get in writing a ballade is the same as you get from solving a cryptic crossword; you pat yourself on the back for getting to the end,” he said.
“But of course that only applies if, in writing your ballade, it sounds natural. If you’ve dragged in some rhyme by the scruff of its neck just because you needed it, to that extent you’ve failed.”
Failure is not a word to use when describing this 79-year-old who has published two collections of light verse and had more than 80 poems published in the UK magazine, The Spectator, as well as in The Courier-Mail and readings on national radio.
Ray’s day job was in education where he had a 40-year career as a teacher and principal. Poetry was a constant and his parodies often lent a satirical edge to teachers’ socials and college reunions.
“Poetry was a way of satirising educational trends and fads and cocking a snoot at offi cialdom, at inspectors, at regional directors, at those in higher authority, and a way of extracting humour from such incidents as a school bomb threat,” he said.
Checkout Cheer
by Ray Kelley
“How’s your day been so far?” the checkout chick Asks with her practised but off-target smile.
“Just rotten, thanks,” I say. “My husband’s sick In bed. He started vomiting up bile
This morning, and he can’t go in to work.
He’s got no sick leave left, and our GP Doesn’t bulk-bill… Then our mutt went berserk And bit a neighbour’s toddler on the knee.
On my way here, as I backed through the gate, One of the doors fl ew open: it’s a mess.
This trolley, of all to choose from, won’t steer straight.
My morning hasn’t been a huge success.”
I wince on learning what I have to pay And hear as I depart, “Have a nice day.”
Ray, who retired in 1987, now spends his days writing, tutoring overseas visitors in conversational English and running book readings at the University of the Third Age.
His inspiration for poems comes from everyday encounters and – a favourite source – from the mispronunciation, Americanisation and modernisation of the English language.
The little red book, however, is never far from reach.
- Carmen Myler
A poetic passion
Golden Graduates going strong
NO less than 529 QUT Golden Graduates attended the annual morning tea in their honour on November 17.
It was a double celebration in 2007 because as well as the traditional Saturday morning tea, the 50-year reunion of 1957 Teachers’
Training College Golden Graduates was held in the evening.
Golden Graduates are those who have graduated at least 50 years ago from one of QUT’s predecessor institutions: the Queensland Teachers’ Training College, the Brisbane Kindergarten Training College and the Central Technical College. QUT stays in touch with more than 2600 of them.
Mentor’s career is the ride of his life
THE whoosh of a rollercoaster is all part of the job for a QUT alumnus who is now helping a young graduate fast-track his career.
Bob Tan, pictured above right, has overseen the construction of 16 new rides and attractions in his role at Gold Coast’s Dreamworld.
With a degree in mechanical engineering and a graduate diploma in project management from QUT, Mr Tan said personal experience motivated him to join QUT’s career mentor scheme and help recent engineering graduate Brad Lewis, pictured above left.
“When I graduated myself, I didn’t have a mentor and I did feel I was missing some good advice,” Mr Tan said.
QUT needs mentors to start March/April 2008. Phone 07 3138 2687.
Top: Ellen Kroll (Joyce), pictured far left, with Ada Brauer (Jackson), pictured far right, at their graduation. Middle: Ellen and Ada reunited at the Golden Graduates morning tea. Above: Malcolm and Julie McKinnon.
at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
From left, Nathalie Dudson (Stuart) caught up with old friend Judith Coppen (Beston).
AUIA C 2008
Connect with alumni in Singapore
Visit Singapore and attend the Australian Universities International Alumni Convention (AUIAC) being held there
from June 10 to13, 2008.
The bi-annual convention will bring together illustrious alumni of Australian universities, tertiary and professional institutions, as well as global partners of these alumni, to deliberate on relevant issues impacting the world today.
AUIAC 2008, themed Futuropolis: The Way Ahead Thru Alumni Connections, will also generate tremendous opportunities for knowledge sharing and business networking.
Visit www.auiac2008.org for more information.
JULIE MANNION, ALUMNI RELATIONS MANAGER
alumni NEW S
Chapt e r and Gr oup ne ws
Australian alumni events – 2007
Brisbane Executive Club has continued to hold successful monthly networking nights. The chapter has also held the Entrepreneurs Forum in May; Quest for Talent in September; and fi nished off the year with a fun Final Fling for 2007 event.
The Brisbane Kindergarten Teachers’ College Graduate and Friends Association, a chapter of the BKTC (QUT Alumni Chapter), held their annual memorial afternoon tea in October.
The Built Environment and Engineering Dean’s Scholars Alumni Group held their fi rst professional development seminar with David Heydon, President &
CEO, Nautilus Minerals Inc. in August.
The Community of Former Staff organised a tour to the Port of Brisbane, combined with their AGM.
The Fostering Executive Women Group invited Quentin Bryce AC, Governor of Queensland, to attend a dinner in October for the announcement of the inaugural Cheryl Macnaught International Scholarship, which was awarded to Helen Brodie, State Commercial Manager (Qld) of Australia Post.
The Information Professionals Alumni Chapter held a planning session in September, and their fi rst 2007 event was a screening of the ABC TV series The Librarians.
The Philanthropy and Nonprofi t Studies Alumni Chapter held their anniversary lunch in December, Lunch in the Boardroom – A Chair in a Pickle, with seven guest speakers.
The Young Alumni Group continued to hold their book club events; also a wine tasting; and a Leadership Forum at which four key industry leaders participated.
A Christmas function was also held in December.
The Law Alumni Chapter recently combined with the Law Faculty and Law Founders Scholarship Committee to hold the annual debate.
Melbourne Alumni Group held a Leadership Series reception in October with guest speaker David Moffatt, and hosted by Business executive dean Professor Peter Little.
The Vice-Chancellor hosted a function for the Sydney Alumni Group at which Mr Paul Kenny of IBM Industry Solutions, Asia Pacifi c, and 2004 IT Outstanding Alumni award winner, spoke on leadership. A Christmas function at the Opera Bar was also held.
International Alumni Events
The Hong Kong Alumni Chapter held a Dancing Lessons Class event and participated in the FAAA Splash Party.
QUT alumni in Jakarta are planning for 2008.
Alumni gathered in Sabah, Malaysia for a tea reception in December.
A Norway alumni reception was held in Oslo in September attended by some visiting QUT staff.
Seventeen QUT alumni in Sweden attended an Australian Embassy event in September.
QUT Alumni Singapore Chapter are planning for AUIAC 2008 being held there this June.
A China alumni group is being developed, with Michael Wadley taking a lead role. Liaison with contacts from the Australia-China Alumni Association has led to QUT’s membership of this group.
For more information on activities and other QUT Alumni Chapters and Groups, click on the Chapters link at: www.alumni.qut.edu.au
Join Our Alumni E-Newsletter
for special offers, alumni events and activities, QUT and alumni news.How to contact the alumni offi ce: Web www.alumni.qut.edu.au E alumni@qut.edu.au P +61 7 3138 1843 Fax +61 7 3138 1514 Mail QUT Alumni GPO Box 2434, Brisbane Q 4001, Australia
20 Year Anniversary
QUT’s International College is calling all graduates who completed the Brisbane C.A.E. Business Year Foundation program, or any subsequent QUT Foundation, QUT International College Foundation, diploma, bridging or pathway program to get in touch with them to help celebrate the college’s 20th anniversary. A reunion will be held in November 2008. Contact Josie Healy at jf.healy@qut.edu.au or Ian Godsell at i.godsell@qut.edu.au for more details.
New India contact
DR Sheel Nuna has been appointed as director South Asia for QUT and is keen to develop a network of QUT alumni in India. Dr Nuna would be very pleased to hear from Indian alumni, and can be contacted at sheel.nuna@qut.edu.au or by phone on +91 124 414 4491.
Big wine savings
QUT alumni continue to gain big savings on premium Australian
wines through a partnership with Premium Wines Direct.
Ordering is easy and wine is delivered to your home or offi ce across Australia.
Details of wines and other exclusive benefi ts for alumni, including the NAB@work program, QUT bookshops discounts, library membership and QUT Gardens Theatre shows are listed in the fl ysheet.
