links alumni magazine
Artistic alumni step out September 2007
alumni magazine
contents
4 12
Research
VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2
16
In focus
International engineering leader Pia Francini is QUT’s latest top alumnus.
For her story and news of all 2007 Alumni Award winners see pages 6 to 8.
Regulars
NEWS ROUNDUP 2
EXPERT-EASE 11
RESEARCH UPDATE 16, 17
ALUMNI NEWS 21
KEEP IN TOUCH 22-24 LAST WORD
by Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake
- SEE INSIDE BACK COVER
Our cover
The acclaimed Bangarra Dance Theatre, which fuses Indigenous culture with contempory dance, boasts several QUT alumni including Yolande Brown, pictured far right. See page 9 for her story.Editor Janne Rayner p: 07 3138 2361 e: j2.rayner@qut.edu.au Contributors
Toni Chambers, Sandra Hutchinson, Mechelle McMahon, Carmen Myler, Niki Widdowson
Images Erika Fish Design Richard de Waal
link s
alumni magazine QUT Links is published by QUT’s Marketing andCommunications Department in cooperation with QUT’s Alumni and Development Services. Editorial material is gathered from a range of sources and does not necessarily refl ect the opinions and policies of QUT.
CRICOS No. 00213J
6
1 3 10 11
19
New hope is being pumped into the treatment of heart disease.
QUT is ahead of the curve when it comes to road safety technology.
The heat is on to cool our offi ces effi ciently.
Are ageing, sick buildings worth saving? QUT may have the remedy.
New research reveals a charity boom.
Profi les
9 15 18 20
Indigenous dance alumni take the international spotlight.
A chemistry grad has discovered the formula for a successful business.
Age and gender are no barriers to the rise and rise of accountancy grad Nicole Hollows.
Kristy Vernon’s future is Fulbright.
Features
4 12 13 14
QUT’s Law Faculty celebrates its 30th birthday.
Exciting new facilities continue to transform QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus.
A makeover of Old Government House is safe in the hands of a skilled heritage architecture grad.
Technology is foiling frustrated users.
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
A NEW counter-fl ow heart pump being developed by QUT has the potential to revolutionise future designs of the mechanical heart.
Lead researcher Associate Professor Andy Tan said the heart pump’s innovative design was based on a double- output centrifugal model that pushed the blood in a counter direction to ensure correct fl ow through both sides of the heart, and is the subject of a patent application.
“The counter-fl ow pump is a bi-ventricular assist device, meaning it supports both the left and right sides of the heart simultaneously,” he said.
“But what’s so groundbreaking is that it is the fi rst device to combine the function of two pumps into one unit.”
Professor Tan said current double heart pump technology was too bulky because it required the implant of two pumps that worked independently.
“The problem with two pumps is that it requires different controllers and can potentially lead to an uneven blood fl ow.
“The concept of the counter-fl ow pump is that it has two independent impellers to simulate two pumps to augment the operations of the left and right ventricles but is essentially only one.
“Using independent impellers, the blood is able to fl ow at a higher delivery pressure as required by the left chamber of the heart, and a slower pressure as required by the right chamber of the heart.”
Professor Tan said a shortage of heart donors and high
rates of cardiovascular disease were driving scientists across the globe to develop the technology for a replacement heart.
“Each year in Australia, 44 per cent of all deaths are related to heart disease,” Professor Tan said.
“In fact heart failure, stroke and vascular disease kill more Australians than any other disease group. To reduce the number of deaths, treatment is now focused on medical devices that can assist or replicate the function of the heart.”
He said a heart pump capable of supporting both chambers would seriously increase a patient’s chance of survival.
“Clinical studies around the world have found that patients who received a permanent left heart pump (left ventricular assist device) reduced their risk of dying within one year by 47 per cent,” Professor Tan said.
“Unfortunately 25 per cent of these patients went on to develop right heart failure syndrome, infection and multi- organ failure. We have developed the design, and computer modelling has shown that it works.”
Professor Tan, who has pioneered artifi cial heart research at QUT, is a member QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation. He established the QUT/Prince Charles Hospital research team which utilises the expertise of the hospital’s cardiologists and heart surgeons. The group has produced a number of pump designs.
- Sandra Hutchinson
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07 1
Take Heart
A QUT pump design could give
A QUT pump design could give heart heart patients new hope. patients new hope.
New education dean
Professor Wendy Patton, pictured above, has been appointed as the new Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education. Professor Patton has been head of QUT’s School of Learning and Professional Studies since 2002 and Acting Executive Dean since last October. She is an accomplished and experienced researcher, educator and academic with a national and international reputation in her chosen fi eld of career development.
ARC funding success
QUT achieved outstanding results in the latest round of ARC Linkage grants (for commencement July 2007), having its best ever success rate of 53 per cent and its highest ever total allocation of
$4.36 million, ranking sixth nationally.
In addition, QUT was ranked third in the country in terms of the number of new grants awarded (17). These grants support research conducted in partnership with external agencies.
Cultural award for grad
A QUT special education graduate working in South Carolina has won
an international education award for teaching American students about Australian culture. Pauline Howard has been awarded the Visiting International Faculty Program Cultural Educator of the Year award, ahead of 1700 teachers from across the world.
Honour for IT security expert
QUT information security expert Professor Bill Caelli has been awarded the world’s fi rst fellowship from the International Information Systems Security Certifi cation Consortium (ISC2).
The award recognises Professor Caelli’s outstanding contribution throughout his career to the fi eld of information security.
Former Boeing boss at QUT
Former Boeing Australia managing director David Gray, pictured above, has been appointed to QUT as an adjunct professor with the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering. Professor Gray is the faculty’s new CEO in Residence and provides strategic advice on research and education development, as well as strengthening the university’s links to industry and government.
news roundup…
NEWS OF NEW APPOINTMENTS, UNIVERSITY SUCCESSES, ACHIEVEMENTS OF STAFF AND STUDENTS, AND CORPORATE EVENTS.
Coffee Week raises $$$
Five coffee outlets (Beadles, Merlo, Dusk, Kelvin Grove and Carseldine Guild Bars) participated in QUT Coffee Week in May. A dollar was donated for every coffee or hot chocolate sold. The cafes’ fi nal tally – $6043.75 – was matched by the
university, creating a $12,087 dona- tion to the QUT Learning Potential
Fund which helps disadvan- taged QUT students. www.
giving.qut.edu.au
Telstra support for Indigenous education
The Indigenous Education Leadership Institute has received a $1.23 million funding boost over three years from the Telstra Foundation to support the institute’s Stronger Smarter Realities program. Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo, pictured above, visited QUT in March and met with director Dr Chris Sarra to announce the commitment that will provide intensive training to 240 school principals nationwide.
China’s top students at QUT
In a major boost to QUT’s international research student profi le, 24 Chinese postgraduate students have been awarded scholarships to study at QUT by the China Scholarships Council (CSC).
This allocation follows a concerted strategy by QUT to build relationships with CSC, including the signing of an agreement during a visit by Vice- Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake to Beijing late last year.
A leader of students
Journalism student Michelle Mills is QUT Alumni’s 2007 Student Leader of the Year. Michelle, 25, has combined her studies with representing QUT at several recent national and international events, including Australia’s Brightest Young Minds Summit in Sydney and the Education Without Borders Conference in Abu Dhabi. She said she moved to Australia from New Zealand to study at QUT after doing research on the best journalism courses she could fi nd.
2 QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
VEHICLES may soon be equipped with technology capable of calculating the likelihood of a crash as a driver rounds a bend in the road, thanks to research by QUT.
Samantha Chen, from QUT’s Centre for Accident Research
& Road Safety - QLD (CARRS-Q), is leading a research project to design an intelligent transport system that seeks to reduce the number of curve-related crashes on our roads.
“With fi gures showing that in Queensland curve-related crashes account for almost 64 per cent of fatalities, it’s essential to fi nd ways of reducing this death toll,” she said.
Ms Chen said the system being developed by CARRS-Q would integrate information sourced from the driver, vehicle and environment to predict the probability of a crash occurring on a road curve.
“We’re developing a computer model that analyses situ- ational driver behaviour and proposes real-time counter- measures to minimise fatalities and casualties,” she said.
“The main innovation of our system is that it integrates information about driver behaviour, vehicle dynamics, environment and crash history from IAG (an insurance company), to assess and monitor crash risk.
“This approach could allow the driver to have time to react promptly, and therefore has the potential to promote safe driving and reduce curve-related injuries and fatalities.”
The system, the Ubiquitous Situation Awareness Risk Prediction Model for Road Safety (UbiSARPS), performs real-time data analysis to detect possible high-risk driving situations.
“UbiSARPS can determine an intervention according to a risk assessment score which will be transferred to the vehicle to warn the driver, or to correct the mistake automatically.
“For example, if a crash occurred on a particular curve in the past and a driver was approaching that same location or a similar location, then the system would be able to determine that the driver was facing a high-risk situation.
“This analysis would happen in real-time, meaning that appropriate driver action could be immediately taken.”
Ms Chen said while authorities had instigated several engineering options such as pavement markings, warning signs and delineations to prevent accidents on road curves, intelligent transport systems could complement these approaches.
“The Australian Transport Safety Bureau reports that intelligent transport systems (such as UbiSARPS) should bring benefi ts worth at least $14.5 billion by 2012. Therefore it makes fi nancial sense to use intelligent transport systems with existing engineering interventions to enhance road safety.”
- Sandra Hutchinson
Curves Killer QUT is helping drivers avoid killer curves.
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QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
4
LAW
2007 marks the 30th anniversary of QUT’s fi rst intake of law students.
IF you’ve studied law at QUT over the past 30 years – happy birthday!
The university’s Faculty of Law is this year celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fi rst intake of students into its Bachelor of Laws degree back in 1977.
The milestone is being marked by events including an anniversary party this month for members of the Queensland legal fraternity and the QUT community, an anniversary seminar next month, and the release of a special publication.
Today, the QUT Faculty of Law comprises a School of Law which teaches the Bachelor of Laws, a School of Justice which focuses on training students in criminology and policing, and a Legal Practice Unit which prepares law graduates for admission as legal practitioners.
The faculty’s School of Law is now the second largest in Australia, with 250 graduates emerging each year.
QUT’s Executive Dean of Law, Professor Michael Lavarch, said the faculty had come a long way since 1977 and its graduates enjoyed a strong reputation.
“We have produced many prominent alumni over the past three decades and have also built a strong research reputation, particularly in recent years,” he said.
“Our graduates – and the university – can take pride in knowing that their skills are valued and sought after by the profession.
“When QUT started teaching law, the university was known as QIT (Queensland Institute of Technology). We had an inaugural staff of six academics (which included the law librarian and head of school), four part-time tutors and 200
students. This year, the faculty has 2992 students and 104 academic staff, supported by 41 professional staff.
“We’ve also seen big changes across the country. In the last 15 years there has been a virtual explosion in the teaching of law in Australia, which now has 30 law schools, including fi ve in Queens- land.
“Most of these new law schools have been established in the last 10 years, which makes QUT one of the oldest schools in Australia.”
The 30th anniversary of the fi rst intake of law students has coincided with two major changes for the faculty in 2007.
The School of Justice relocated from Kelvin Grove campus to Gardens Point campus this year and the new QUT Law and Justice Research Centre was opened to help build on the university’s research strengths. The centre’s researchers focus on the concerns of society and tackle legal issues ranging from cybercrime and digital copyright to bioethics.
People interested in fi nding out more about the Faculty of Law can visit www.
law.qut.edu.au.
- Mechelle McMahon
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
Hall of fame
Professor The Hon.
Michael Lavarch
QUT Executive Dean of Law
& former Federal Attorney-General
Graduated from QIT in 1984 and was elected as the Federal Member for Fisher four years later. Served as Federal Attorney-General of Australia from 1993 to 1996, and then returned to QUT in 2004 to become Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law.
Linda Lavarch
State MP & former Queensland Attorney-General Became the fi rst female lawyer elected to Queensland Parliament in 1997 when she won the seat of Kurwongbah and went on to become the state’s fi rst female Attorney-General in 2005. Holds a Bachelor of Laws (1985) and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (1986).
Michael Bowers
Brisbane Lions CEO Was appointed CEO of the Lions Football Club in 2002, following a career in areas of law including town planning, property development and commerce. Holds a Bachelor of Laws (1986) and a Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning (1993).
Susan Booth
Queensland Anti-Discrimina- tion Commissioner
Completed her law degree at QUT in 1989 and was admitted as a solicitor in 1990. Specialised in industrial relations, employment and discrimination law and joined the Anti- Discrimination Commission in 1997. Was appointed Commissioner in 2003.
Jaqui Payne
Magistrate
Graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Laws and became the fi rst Aboriginal person to be admitted as a solicitor in Queensland and the state’s fi rst Indigenous judicial appointment when she became a magistrate in 1999.
Currently with the Brisbane Magistrates’ Court.
Judge Julie Ryrie
District Court Judge
Appointed to the District Court of Queensland in 2005 and serves in Brisbane. Holds a Bachelor of Laws from QIT (1988).
Alen-Igor O’Hran
2005 Young Queenslander of the Year
Graduated from QUT in 2004 with a double degree in law and business and was named Young Queensland of the Year in recognition of his achievements since coming to Australia as a teenager from the strife-torn Balkans.
Paul Howard
Federal Magistrate
Graduated in 1985, completed the Legal Practice Course in 1986, and has been a barrister since 1990 and a specialist in family law and general common law. Took up his appointment as a Brisbane-based Federal Magistrate in July this year.
Greg Koppenol QC
Was appointed president of the Land and Resources Tribunal in December 1999.
Holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (1983) with Honours. He specialised in native title and appeared as counsel in some of the most important cases in Australia’s history – Mabo (No. 2) and Wik.
•
PROFESSOR BRIAN FITZGERALD international expert on digital copyright•
PROFESSOR ROD BROADHURST one of Australia’s leading criminologists•
PROFESSOR CHARLES SAMPFORD ethics and governance specialist•
PROFESSOR SHARON CHRISTENSEN property law, consumer protection expert•
ASSOC PROF BELINDA CARPENTER criminal behaviour researcher•
PROFESSOR DES BUTLERmedia law expert, researcher into the reporting of child sexual abuse
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PROFESSOR DOUG FISHERenvironmental law, water law researcher
•
PROFESSOR STEPHEN CORONES consumer protection researcher and commercial law specialistFor more information on the QUT Law and Justice Research Centre, visit www.ljrc.law.qut.edu.au.
QUT Law & Justice Research Centre
key researchers
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QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
THE OUTSTANDING ALUMNI AWARDS, SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK, RECOGNISE THE
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF GRADUATES OF QUT AND ITS PREDECESSOR INSTITUTIONS.
Alumni
2007 Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus Award winner and Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering winner
Pia-Angela Francini, general manager, Schlumberger Oilfi eld Services Australasia
Pia Francini has risen through the engineering ranks to become an international leader in the oil and gas industry.
As personnel manager for global engineering fi rm Schlumberger’s reservoir production group, she has been responsible for over 20,000 personnel worldwide.
This year, she is returning to Australia to take on the role of general manager of Schlumberger Oilfi eld Services for Australasia.
Ms Francini joined Schlumberger in 1994 after gaining a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from QUT and initially worked as a fi eld engineer and fi eld manager in Australia, North America, and South East Asia.
In 2002, she was appointed global business development manager for well production and was at the forefront of driving a strategy which almost doubled the business, and directed the successful commercialisation and performance of multiple key technologies within the research and development portfolio.
By 2004, she was vice president of well services for North and South America and responsible for more than 6000 staff and 9000 assets. Her work – which included almost doubling turnover to US$3billion – was recognised the same year with the RaderEnergy Key Women in Energy “Visionary” Award.
Ms Francini is also a member of the World Oil Next Generation Committee, which represents the next generation of leaders in the petroleum industry who meet with energy executives to highlight the challenges, issues and opportunities facing future managers and engineers in the industry.
She has overseen the development of new oil and gas technologies and is the holder of several patents. Earlier this year she also graduated from Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management program.
Her community contribution through Schlumberger has included working with local communities in Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia to highlight the importance of science and engineering to students.
2007 Chancellor’s
Outstanding
Alumnus Award
winner and Faculty
of Built Environment
and Engineering
winner
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
Since her appointment as principal in 1996, Lynne Hinton’s gift for education and her dynamic leadership have turned Buranda into an exemplary primary school. This success has been underpinned by the teaching of philosophy to all students, with particular emphasis on critical, creative and caring thinking. Ms Hinton’s innovative approach to primary education has infl uenced educational practice in schools in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East as well as in Australia through presentations, training, and an on-line course on teaching philosophy (with rights also sold to a US university). Her work has been recognised with a National Excellence in Teaching Award, a National Award for Outstanding Contribution to Quality Schooling in the Area of Leadership and, in 2006, a Premier’s Smart State School Leadership Award.
Ms Hinton holds bachelor and master degrees in education from QUT.
Health winner and Special Excellence Award for
Professional Excellence in Health
Dr Peter Keller, CEO, Neuroscience Trials Australia
Dr Peter Keller graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Optometry in 1984 and has contributed to the Australian and international community through his work as an optometry practitioner, academic, research fellow and research manager. As CEO of Neuroscience Trials Australia (NTA), he is now a key fi gure in the building of a national infrastructure to support clinical trials.
Established in 2001, NTA supports clinical research across the neurosciences, including the dementias, epilepsy, migraine, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, neuromuscular disease, neurosurgery, pain and stroke. Dr Keller also holds an MBA, postgraduate qualifi cations in ocular therapeutics, a Master of Health Ethics and a PhD for corneal topography research conducted within the Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the Lions Eye Institute.
Outstanding Young Alumnus Award winner
Alen-Igor O’Hran, supervisor, aviation legislation and initiatives unit, Australian Customs
Education winner and Special Excellence Award for Educational Innovation and Leadership
Lynne Hinton, principal, Buranda State School
At the age of 11, Alen O’Hran fl ed to Poland from war-torn Bosnia. At 15, he was reunited with his mother and they emigrated to Australia. Three years later, he was accepted into QUT through the Faculty of Law Founders’
Scholarship program (an equity bursary for disadvantaged students). Mr O’Hran graduated in 2004 with Distinction in Accountancy and First Class Honours in Law and also received the Faculty of Business Dean’s Award for Excellence. Following his graduation, he was Associate to the Hon. Justice Peter Dutney (Qld Supreme Court) and then practised law at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and lectured and tutored with QUT’s Faculties of Business and Law. An avid plane spotter, the 25-year-old has now combined his passion for law and planes and been appointed supervisor of the Aviation Legislation and Initiatives Unit at the Australian Customs – among the youngest at his level.
His achievements, community work and commitment to human rights have won him honours including the 2005 Young Queenslander of the Year and 2006 Young Australian of the Year for Queensland.
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07 7
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
8
Academy Award nominee Stuart Parkyn is one of a new generation of fi lm professionals raising the profi le of the Australian fi lm industry internationally. He has produced six short fi lms which have screened at 70 national and international fi lm festivals and amassed more than 40 awards. He made headlines internationally when The Saviour was nominated for an Oscar for best short fi lm at the 79th Academy Awards. It was also a fi nalist at the 2006 Clermont- Ferrand Short Film Festival in France, the most prestigious festival of its kind in the world. Mr Parkyn has produced tv commercials and is now developing two feature fi lm projects.
He gained a Bachelor of Business (Communications) majoring in fi lm and television in 1992.
Business winner
Stuart Parkyn, fi lmmaker
Information Technology winner
Campbell Webb, vice president (server technologies IT) Oracle
Alumni
Creative
Industries winner
David Kidd, performer, The Ten Tenors
Law winner
Michael Wadley, founder, Wadley Business Consulting
Humanities and Human Services winner
Caitlin O’Brien, chief compliance and business integrity offi cer, US Veterans Health Administration
Science winner
Rhonda White, managing director, White Retail Group
David Kidd’s acting and singing career began in the early 1990s with Brisbane street theatre and cabaret acts. In 1998, he secured a role in The Ten Tenors – the singing group hailed internationally as an “Australian sensation”.
World tours followed and the international release of seven albums, two of which went gold and platinum in Australia. The Tenors have recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios and performed at the Sydney Opera House and London’s Royal Albert Hall, and been awarded a Mo Award for most outstanding variety group. A prolifi c writer and composer, Mr Kidd has written songs, musicals, children’s theatre and comic opera. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Drama) and Masters of Music from QUT.
Caitlin O’Brien plays an integral role in the health of American war veterans through her work as chief compliance and business integrity (CBI) offi cer for the United States’ Veterans Health Administration. The VHA is the largest integrated health care system in the United States and Ms O’Brien’s responsibilities include advising the US Under Secretary for Health on matters relating to compliance and organisational integrity in the health sector. She also leads an offi ce that oversees around 200 CBI offi cers in the fi eld. Ms O’Brien is also a former senior vice president of the Council of Ethical Organisations. She holds a Master of Arts in Applied Ethics (Research) in Humanities and Human Services from QUT.
Campbell Webb is a rising star of the international information technology industry and an outstanding leader of people, projects and technological change. At under 40 years of age, he is vice president (server technologies IT) at Oracle Corporation in California where he oversees a $50million budget and 180 professionals worldwide.
His career with Oracle began in Brisbane in 1994. In the years since, he has combined management positions with accumulating expertise in IT applications and emerging technologies – and has contributed substantially to Oracle’s growth and success. He holds a Bachelor of Business (Computing) and Bachelor of Business (Accountancy).
Michael Wadley has made an outstanding contribution to his fi eld through his global perspective on providing legal services to business. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1984 and within four years had progressed to the top of the private legal profession as partner at O’Shea Corser Wadley. He then moved to Hong Kong and China where he represented or managed the operations of other law fi rms.
Realising the enormous potential for providing legal advisory services to foreign businesses in China, Mr Wadley established Wadley Business Consulting in Shanghai. The fi rm has been highly successful in meeting the complex challenges created by
Rhonda White qualifi ed with a Diploma of Pharmacy from QIT in 1963 and founded the Terry White Chemists Group with fellow pharmacist Terry White. Within a decade, the business had grown into a national brand of over 110 pharmacies serviced by the franchise company, Terry White Management, which the couple established with their son Anthony. Ms White’s business skills saw her identify an early need to develop innovative retail management practices and recognise social and industry trends. In 2000, she received the Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World’s Star Group International Award in Venice. In 2004, the Pharmacy Guild honoured her with a Distinguished Service Award.
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QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
B ANGARRA BRILLIANCE
Yolande Brown has come a long way since she was an aspiring dancer at QUT.
IT was a lucky day for Indigenous cultural understand- ing, the world of contemporary dance and QUT when the School of Dance’s audition committee took a punt on an applicant who did not have the requisite formal ballet training but who had “something about her”.
Ten years later that young hopeful, Yolande Brown, is a senior dancer with one of Australia’s international performing arts companies, Bangarra Dance Theatre, and a QUT Alumni Award recipient, to boot.
Bangarra was formed in 1991 and melds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island history and dance with con- temporary dance moves that have stunned audiences around the world with visually dynamic storytelling.
“I was told I got into QUT by one vote. I didn’t like the discipline of ballet,” says Yolande, who took it up rather late, in Year 10. “I think I was expelled for being boisterous – and I didn’t like pink things.”
For a girl who “learnt to walk and dance at the same time” and danced her way down supermarket aisles and around the house, classes in tap, jazz and cabaret were more to her liking.
When she describes the inspiration she receives from dance we can get a glimmer of what the auditioners saw in her that day.
“I felt I had this new body that I had to use and I didn’t want people to tell me how to use it. I wanted to experience the various sensations of movement – gravitational force, giddiness and inertia. I need the liberation that comes from moving the body.”
This, and a love of storytelling, saw Yolande send a
video of her dance to Bangarra’s artistic director Stephen Page in her fi nal year. A descendant of the Bidjara clan of the Junja nation in Central Queensland, Yolande was invited to join the company as soon as she graduated.
Bangarra has taken Yolande to many parts of the world - the US, Britain and China, among others - and all over Australia. She enjoys the company’s stints in remote Indigenous communities where they workshop and exchange dances and stories.
This gathered and shared cultural knowledge is then woven by Bangarra into spellbinding performances of dance and music supported by dramatic sets and costumes. Yolande has found audiences everywhere are thirsting to know about Australia’s Indigenous culture.
“There is so much the world can learn from Indigenous culture – it’s the beautiful stories and knowledge that fascinate and move people.
“It’s such a complex and developed culture with a strong sense of spirituality and connection to the land.”
At the same time, she says Indigenous Austral- ian culture is evolving. “Not all the works are
“peaceful”. Some are harmonious but at the same time others are provocative.”
Yolande plans to explore her urge to write her own dance stories with an Australia Council for the Arts grant next year. She will return to Bidjara country to meet the elders and learn her “own history” and share dance workshops with the area’s young people.
Other QUT dance alumni who are members of Bangarra include Tara Gower, Daniel Riley McKinley and Katina Olsen.
- Niki Widdowson
Pictured above are some of the QUT dance alumni who are members of Bangarra: Tara Gower (far left), Katina Olsen (fourth from left) and Yolande Brown (far right, and also pictured below).
Aircon
ideals
AIRCONDITIONING in offi ces should be reviewed over summer, according to QUT researchers who are leading the way in creating energy-effi cient workplaces.
The director of the Centre for Subtropical Design, Rosemary Kennedy, believes thermostats in many offi ces in warm climates are set too low over summer.
“The energy required to cool offi ce interiors results in increased pressure on the electricity systems and generates extra greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.
“One approach to reducing energy consumption is to lift the internal temperature a couple of degrees and encourage staff to dress appropriately for summer.”
Ms Kennedy is part of a research team that has experimented with slightly raising the interior temperatures of QUT buildings over summer and encouraging cooler dressing to suit the season.
The Same Latitude - New Attitude research project was conducted jointly by the Centre for Subtropical Design and the Queensland Sustainable Energy Industry Development Group.
Ms Kennedy said homeowners were already encouraged to set their airconditioning at 24°C, but now it was businesses’ turn.
“QUT is leading by example and we hope other large organisations, businesses and government departments will follow,” she said.
“Research suggests that even an increase of 1°C results in energy savings of around 10 per cent for airconditioning systems in summer.”
Ms Kennedy said the universal standard of keeping interiors at an average of 21°C resulted in “thermal monotony” which contrasted strongly to natural outdoor conditions.
“Not only do people feel uncomfortably cold in sedentary offi ce jobs, but they become increasingly intolerant of normal seasonal weather,” she said.
The Centre for Subtropical Design is a partnership between QUT, Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government Offi ce of Urban Management.
- Mechelle McMahon
Is your offi ce too hot for the environment to handle?
11
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
THOUSANDS of buildings in central business districts of major Australian cities have reached “a certain age” when decisions must be made about their futures.
Associate Professor Jay Yang, from the School of Urban Development, said these ageing buildings
were products of the ’70s building boom.
“They no longer meet tenants’
changing requirements or reach energy effi ciency standards and the question is: demolish and build new or ‘re-life’ through refurbishment,”
Professor Yang said.
He has addressed the dilemma by developing a tool to help building owners decide on an option, after extensive research with a national team of building industry experts and researchers from three universities at the Co-operative Research Centre for Construction Innovation, based at QUT.
“We have developed a set of guidelines to test the commercial, technical and environmental viability of re-lifi ng projects,”
Professor Yang said.
“As buildings age they become more costly to run, no longer allow the functionality for today’s work styles, and they can potentially make people sick.
“With the growing commitment to sustainability, improving existing building stock is an attractive option and it is estimated up to 50 per cent of annual capital budgets will go to re-lifi ng by the year 2020.”
Professor Yang’s research team studied the “re-lifi ng” of three 30- to 40-year-old government buildings in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney to bring them up to the standards of today’s offi ce operation and environmental performance.
“High construction costs, labour shortages and scarce resources, and the increasing emphasis on sustainability, have all been directing the attention towards ‘re-lifi ng’,” he said.
Professor Yang said different parts of buildings had different life spans.
“Whereas the building structure may last 80 to 100 years, facades date
aesthetically and physically with a shorter life of 30 to 40 years, while
mechanical systems such as lifts, ventilation and airconditioning last only 20 to 30 years,” he
said.
- Niki Widdowson
QUT eases Australia’s ageing CBDs through their mid-life crises.
Sick buildings
How can we reduce our personal carbon emissions to combat climate change?
QUT’s Wendy Miller has some answers.
What is a ‘carbon footprint’?
Y
our carbon footprint is a measure of how much greenhouse gas is emitted into the atmosphere as a direct result of your whole lifestyle. This includes not only your direct use of electricity, gas and petrol, but also emissions resulting from everything you consume, from clothes to food to electronic goods to holidays to houses. Various online calculators such as www.mykyoto.org.au use national averages and statistics to estimate your personal emissions. Australians are the highest greenhouse gas polluters (per capita) in the world and scientists say that we need to reduce our global emissions by at least 60 to 90 per cent to minimise the risk of serious climate change.How can I reduce my carbon footprint?
A
good place to start is with your electricity use. Have a look at the back of your most recent electricity bill and see how many units of electricity (kWh) you use per day. Because the bulk of our electricity comes from the burning of fossil fuels, each kWh consumed results in just over 1kg of carbon dioxide. There are three simple steps to reduce this amount. Firstly, SWITCH OFF: there is no sense lighting rooms that are not occupied, or powering appliances not being used.In addition, many of our modern appliances consume electricity
even if they are not actually ‘on’. This is called standby power and accounts for more than 10 per cent of typical household electricity use. Secondly, make sure that all of your electrical appliances are as EFFICIENT as possible. This means replacing incandescent and quartz halogen lights with more effi cient fl uorescent lights and replacing old appliances with 5-star options. It also means minimising the energy needed for cooling by insulating and shading your home, choosing a high effi ciency airconditioner if you must have one, and adjusting the thermostat up several degrees to reduce its operating costs.
Is renewable energy an option for me?
T
he third step is to maximise use of RENEWABLE ENERGY.The best renewable energy for most homes is solar water heating. Because electric water heating accounts for around 36 per cent of a typical Queensland household bill, it is the most effective reduction strategy you could make. With the savings from switching things off, having
effi cient appliances and installing a solar water heater, you will have a few extra dollars a week to purchase renewable energy from your electricity retailer for the remaining electricity use.
This will reduce your carbon emissions from electricity to zero. You can also generate your own electricity through a solar electric system.
expertease…
WENDY MILLER IS MANAGER OF THE QUEENSLAND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT GROUP BASED AT QUT.
For more information Energy conservation at home www.yourhome.gov.au Appliance star ratings www.energyrating.gov.au Green Power
www.greenelectricitywatch.org.au Fuel effi cient cars
www.greenvehicleguide.gov.au
AUSTRALIA’S Governor General has offi cially opened the latest building in a $250 million se- ries of QUT Kelvin Grove developments – the new Student Learning Support Centre.
Major General Michael Jeffery visited QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus to open the $50 million, seven-level building this year.
The centre is the latest in a string of QUT developments at Kelvin Grove over the past fi ve years, including the university’s $60 million Creative Industries Precinct and $70 million Institute of Heath and Biomedical Innovation.
Construction is also underway on the next major project – a $70 million building that will house the Australian Red Cross Blood Service and QUT’s Centre for Physical Activity and Clinical Education. The centre will include the university’s health clinics and a university swimming pool and gymnasium.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said the Student Learning Support Centre includes a student help centre for Kelvin Grove students, a 470-seat lecture theatre and a 24-hour student computer laboratory.
“There’s also an amphitheatre for events and socialising, wireless communication zones and a 500-space undercover carpark. The building also contains other key support areas such as enrolments and admissions.
“Upward of 10,000 of QUT’s 40,000 students study at Kelvin Grove and we want to maximise their university experience by providing the best-possible facilities for them.”
QUT’s Kelvin Grove buildings form part of the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, with students benefi ting from a mix of retail, residential and community developments on their doorstep.
A new shopping centre has opened, with a 450-bed student accommodation building also under construction and due to open in 2008.
- Mechelle McMahon
Kelvin Grove building boom
A new $50 million student centre is the latest QUT development to be unveiled at booming Kelvin Grove.
OLD Government House has closed its doors for 18 months but Queenslanders can rest assured it’s in good hands.
Heritage architect Desley Campbell-Stewart, a director from Allom Lovell Architects, is part of a team of consultants and staff from the university’s facilities management restoring the 145- year-old building sited on QUT’s Gardens Point campus.
The historic sandstone building is of special signifi cance for Desley, who studied and lectured at QUT and whose father, Don Campbell-Stewart, is a former senior lecturer in quantity surveying, a golden graduate and an active member of QUT’s Community of Former Staff alumni group.
“I have a strong connection with the place as a heritage architect involved with the house for the past 20 years. When you have a connection with a place you feel ownership and you want to look after it and help it have a long life,” Desley said.
Old Government House is closed to the public during its $13.5 million renovations, reopening in time for the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the State of Queensland in 2009.
“In terms of its heritage architecture, it really is one of the most interesting buildings you can work on because it’s early, because it’s substantial and because it’s very intact,” Desley said.
“Where parts of the building aren’t in perhaps the best condition at the moment, these things will be gently repaired and conserved.
“Importantly the building will have a certain future.”
Desley, who graduated from QUT with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1988, has gone on to achieve great success in her fi eld, carrying out a number of conservation and architectural projects throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The projects spread from the Birdsville Hotel in south western Queensland to the renovation of the Treasury Casino building in Brisbane city, and range from cottages to industrial sites, government buildings, religious buildings and cultural landscapes.
In 1990 she was awarded the National Trust Waterfront Place Scholarship to study the conservation of buildings in the UK.
She said one of the biggest challenges in restoring buildings like Old Government House was altering a 19th century building to meet the needs of the 21st century.
“For example airconditioning and fi re detection systems will be threaded into the building with minimal impact.”
The Old Government House design team which is being led by Conrad Gargett Architecture and includes engineers and conservation experts will peel back decades of deterioration returning it to its former glory.
QUT precincts director Professor Peter Lavery said Old Government House was a unique surviving example of colonial architecture which had been saved by the National Trust and the State Government.
“When restored the building will boast a William Robinson art gallery, displays of the building’s history, function rooms and a café,” he said.
- Sandra Hutchinson
R REGAL es
12 QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
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R estoration Conservation of Queensland’s historic buildings is close to the heart of a talented architecture grad.
Above, Desley Campbell-Stewart was joined by her father Don at Old Government House before it closed for renovation.
Left, some of the historic Queensland buildings on which Desley has left her design mark.
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
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TECHNOLOGICAL devices are the must-have features of modern life, but new QUT research shows users are often disenchanted within weeks of purchase.
PhD student Rafael Gomez has looked at people’s experiences with portable interactive devices (PIDs) such as mp3 players and hand-held computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) over the course of six months.
He found that people were generally excited with their PIDs in the fi rst few weeks but often became annoyed or frustrated with them as time went on.
“When people fi rst buy their mp3 player for example, they may take it everywhere with them but later, they realise there are some things about the product that annoys them,” Mr Gomez said.
“When they walk into their offi ces, for example, the music remains at the same volume and they can’t hear people talking to them, or they can’t use the scheduler on their PDA while using it as a phone.
“My research shows that people may be happy initially with the way the devices work but they aren’t happy with the way
they interfere with other aspects of their lives.”
Research conducted on mobile phones has found that while people are addicted to the devices (with 900 million mobile phones sold worldwide last year), they still have not adjusted to people’s social and cultural contexts.
For example, in very public spaces such as restaurants, people are often annoyed at having to listen to ringing mobile phones or people’s mobile phone conversations.
“While people should be able to think for themselves by turning their mp3 player off when they reach the offi ce or turning their phones off in restaurants, manufacturers of these devices could use my research to alter how the services are delivered within diverse social and cultural contexts,” he said.
“For example, new software making these devices ‘smart’
could allow them to detect the context and alter volume or switch itself off accordingly.”
Mr Gomez is conducting his research at QUT’s Human- Centred Design Research and Usability Laboratory.
- Toni Chambers
Technology is not all it’s cracked up to be, says a QUT researcher.
TechToys
TECH TOYS
Are we tiring of technology?
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
Oxygen and herbal therapies have proved to
be potent potions for a QUT chemistry graduate.
WHEN Desiree Lyall was looking for career ideas that would mix her passion for science and her love of people, she went back to elemental basics.
The QUT chemistry alumnus has built up a successful business based on the air and plants around her.
As founder of Blue Oxygen Pty Ltd, she runs an oxygen therapy clinic and a herbal dispensary from West End in inner Brisbane.
Step inside the store and it resembles an apothecary of old, with shelves lined with jars containing a huge variety of medicinal herbs. Desiree combines them into client-specifi c nutritional products – such as capsules, tablets, herbal teas, syrups and tinctures (herbal solution mixes) – which are sold locally and overseas.
In addition to its health interests, the growing company also consults to the mining industry on metallurgy matters.
“I started the business because I wanted to be a scientist who was readily accessed by the local community and the world - I really want to help change my local community,” Desiree said. “I love being a chemist, I love science and I loved uni – it was the environment of learning that I had craved for so long.”
After graduating with her Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemistry), Desiree worked in research and development for pharmaceutical companies.
“After a couple of years, I decided to start my own business instead so I could balance having my son, doing research and working autonomously,” she said.
She said running the Blue Oxygen clinic had enabled her to fund her own research into nutritional chemistry and biochemistry and related product development.
And she said helping people was a way of giving back to the community – a community that had helped her when she was in need back in her uni days.
Desiree began her degree as a single mother and found herself supporting her son alone after her
ex-husband was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Money was tight but she was able to continue her studies thanks to fi nancial
support from QUT’s Learning Potential Fund – a fund supported by QUT
alumni, uni staff and the general community, which provides
scholarships and bursaries to students in need (www.giving.qut.
edu.au).
“When you give somebody the opportunity to empower
themselves through education, they develop
the self-belief to positively change their
life, their community, and their
environment,”
she said.
Natural mix QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07 15
Spreading viruses as we breathe
Keeping at arm’s length won’t protect you from catching an infectious disease, according to new QUT research.
Professor Lidia Morawska, director of QUT’s International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, said scientists have been studying the way droplets carrying viruses are dispersed in the air when people speak, cough, sneeze and breathe. “We’ve found that rather than the droplet falling directly to the ground after leaving the mouth, the liquid component of the droplet dries in the air and the dry residue travels large distances,” she said.
Parents are children’s fi rst maths teachers
Parents lay the groundwork for future mathematical learning and understanding in everyday conversations with their children. QUT early childhood mathematics researcher Bronwyn Ewing said early mathematics understanding came though language and social interaction. “An understanding of common words of comparison such as big, small, tall, short, slow, fast, near and far gives children the tools for thinking about, investigating and communicating mathematical ideas,” she said. “These words form the foundation for understanding of mathematical concepts and are more effective than trying to teach a young child 1 + 1=2.”
Climate change reduces state’s bat numbers
A central eastern Queensland mine has turned up bat fossils which show climate change has had a negative impact on the state’s bat population. QUT PhD student Sandrine Martinez is sifting through fossil records of the state’s southern-most bat population from the late Pleistocene Epoch (beginning two million years ago and ending approximately 10,000 years ago) at Mt Etna, near Rockhampton. “What I’ve found so far is a decrease from at least eight species to fi ve,” Ms Martinez said. The study hopes looking at the past will prevent further loss of diversity.
update Research
QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
16
Fish oil may help kidney disease sufferers
Fish oil - it’s been touted as an answer to Alzheimers, arthritis and even weight-loss - but now a QUT researcher will test its health benefi ts in people with chronic kidney disease. Dietitian Rachel Zabel said daily doses of fi sh oil had been shown to decrease infl ammation. “Research shows that patients with kidney disease on dialysis experience a range of complications thought to relate to chronic infl ammation including poor nutritional status, disturbed appetite and a lower quality of life,” she said.
Funding boost for QUT world-class research
A research project aimed at improving the health of East Africans has been given a $3.6 million funding boost.
The latest funding will focus on controlling the spread of diseased banana planting material from East Africa.
QUT’s Professor James Dale said Ugandans were the largest consumers of bananas in the world, with banana diseases threatening the basis of their food
supply. “Our aim is to micropropagate varieties of bananas that are both high in micronutrient content and disease-free,” he said.
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QUTLINKS SEPTEMBER ’07
Seachangers run aground
OVERPOPULATION by seachangers of the choicest, out-of-the-city locations is posing employment problems for more recent urban escapees searching for a simple life, a QUT researcher has found.
Nick Osbaldiston said many seachangers, in their quest for a better life, seldom weighed up the risks before selling up everything and moving to their idyll by the sea or creek.
In a study of the risk perception of 10 middle to low-income seachangers, all of whom had sold up and moved to Tasmania, Victoria or New South Wales, he found most were concerned about their fi nancial position.
“Employment is an issue for them,” Mr Osbaldiston said. “They thought they could walk into a regional area and start their own business and everything would fall into place. But unfortunately these areas are already over-serviced with cafes and bed and breakfasts by earlier seachangers.”
Fuel system to save trucking
A SIMPLE, dual fuel device that can be retrofi tted to trucks to combine the use of biofuel and diesel and potentially halve air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions will save the road transport industry millions of dollars.
The device is being refi ned at QUT before release to the market.
Dr Richard Brown, from the School of Engineering Systems, said the cost of installing the dual fuel – ethanol and diesel – device to road vehicles would be between $10,000 and $22,000 but would be returned within nine to 15 months depending upon its application.
“The fuel savings will pay back the cost of this device,” Richard said.
“At the same time greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and toxic emissions are reduced by half.”
The dual fuel device can be fi tted to diesel powered 4WDs and diesel motorhomes as well as stationary engines with no loss of performance. The QUT research team is using a $1million Australian Research Council grant to work with the device’s inventor Mr Uli Kruger of Alternative Engine Technologies.
Young battle after cancer
YOUNG women diagnosed with breast cancer have a harder time recovering emotionally from the disease than their older counterparts, according to results from a new QUT study.
Postgraduate research student and National Breast Cancer Foundation scholar Tracey Di Sipio looked at the quality of life of almost 300 women in south-east Queensland at six, 12 and 18 months post-diagnosis compared to women without breast cancer.
She found that most women adjusted well on all aspects related to quality of life. However, for one aspect, women under 50 reported diffi culties.
“We found the younger breast cancer survivors had more diffi culty adjusting to their diagnosis with a low emotional wellbeing even 18 months after diagnosis,” Ms Di Sipio said.
“It’s probably harder for a younger woman to be confronted by a direct threat to her life.
“Some other issues for them could include concerns over fertility if they haven’t yet had children, or sexuality and body image.”
A leader
When it came to appointing the new chief of a coal mining giant, the best man for the job was a woman – with QUT qualifi cations.
THE trappings of an ASX-listed, mining company’s CBD address are all there – the offi ce on the umpteenth fl oor, the marble foyer and a monumental fl oral sculpture.
Our interview target, the fi rm’s commander-in-chief, arrives clad in a black business suit and crisp shirt, greets us exuberantly and ushers us towards the boardroom.
At 36, and a mum to three-year-old Madeleine, Nicole Hollows was not quite what we were expecting as the new head of Queensland miner Macarthur Coal.
A QUT Bachelor of Business (Accounting) graduate, Nicole is a member of the School of Accounting’s advisory committee and is now a keen employer of QUT graduates.
She was an accidental accountant: “I liked numbers but not the idea of being a mathematician. A balanced balance sheet felt like achievement. I enjoyed it and it was easy.”
After graduating, she spent six years as a chartered accountant. She has been quoted as saying that her goal was to make partner by age 30 but, within reach of that, she decided on a career change.
She was offered a position as chief fi nancial offi cer in a fl edging company called Macarthur Coal (C&M) Management Pty Ltd, the managing company for a mine being developed by seven joint venture participants of which Macarthur Coal eventually owned 73.3 per cent.
Her road to Macarthur managing director and CEO began when she was “thrown in the deep end”. In the process of helping steer the company as it grew and listed on the ASX she dealt with the challenges and constant change on which she thrives.
“It was a fantastic grounding - because as chief fi nancial offi cer I was intricately involved in all facets of the company from marketing (sales contracts), customer and joint venture participant relationships, corporate governance, production statistics, fi nancing, oh and photocopying – we have all rolled up our sleeves and helped at various times when required.
“It’s a very fl at organisation which has grown substantially in the past few years.”
This period of intense activity was rewarded with a nine-week residential course at Harvard Business School in 2001which Nicole describes as “life changing” even though it was a boot camp for business brains, from 23 countries.
Nicole’s ability to speak up for herself had set her in good stead for her corporate climb. While Nicole feels she’s never had to take out a pick and chip away at the glass ceiling, she acknowledges times when it was assumed she was at a boardroom table only to run the Powerpoint.
After all, in the top ASX200 companies, women hold only 12 per cent of executive management positions and are just three per cent of CEOs while in the resource sector less than 10 per cent of executives are women.
“At times you need to roll with the punches. You are there to do a job. If you perform well, take advantage of opportunities and provide leadership and support, then you will be supported in that process,” Nicole says.
“I got here through hard work, being involved and taking initiative. I just happen to be a woman.”
On her appointment, Macarthur Coal chairman Keith De Lacy said he expected Nicole to make signifi cant contributions to the company’s strategic management.
“With her background in fi nance and experience in the sector, Nicole will provide an additional level of expertise to the board,” Mr De Lacy said.
Her appointment will be put to shareholders for confi rmation at the annual general meeting in November.
- Niki Widdowson
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18
Wave of generosity
MORE Australians are donating more money to charities and nonprofi t organisations than ever before, and opening their wallets even wider when major disasters such as the Boxing Day tsunami strike.
The latest Tax Deductible Giving report by QUT’s Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofi t Studies shows the average tax-deductible donations claimed by Australian taxpayers in 2005 were $341, up 26.39 per cent on the previous year.
Centre director Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes said that after the massive outpouring of donations to tsunami relief, many organisations feared individual donors would suffer
“fatigue” and donations would drop.
“In fact, the opposite was true - the Tax Deductible Giving report’s fi gures
show individual Australians expanded their giving as the need arose and did not cut back on their overall level of support for charities,” Professor McGregor-Lowndes said.
“Some individual charities may have suffered a drop in giving, but in total the fi gures are up.
“Overall, giving actually increased during 2005 due to the public focus on giving and philanthropy.”
Professor McGregor-Lowndes said more Australians were becoming donors with 4.3 million taxpayers making tax-deductible donations, up 5 per cent on a decade ago.
“The rich give a greater proportion of their income - those earning more than $1 million in 2005 on average gave $59,000 or 1.98 per cent of their taxable income which is actually down from 2.43 per cent in the previous year.
Professor McGregor-Lowndes said, however, that more people in the
$1million-plus bracket were making and claiming tax-deductible donations.
“A question average and wealthy Australians are starting to ask themselves is: ‘Can I live on 98.5 per cent of my income and give the rest to a good cause?’ It’s an interesting thought and life-changing for many.”
- Niki Widdowson
among men
“Overall, giving actually increased during 2005 due to the public focus on giving and philanthropy.”
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Kristy’s Fulbright future
QUT’s newest Fulbright scholar Kristy Vernon is at the forefront of the next phase of technology aimed at improving airport security and computer speed.
Kristy took out the 2007 Postgraduate Award in Technology and Communication, giving her the opportunity for further study at the University of California Berkley in San Francisco.
As part of her PhD with the applied optics program in the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, she aims to build a nano-optical circuit and nano-sensors.
This work will focus on the practical applications of the pioneering developments in nano-optics and nano- sensor technology developed at QUT – currently a world leader in this area of research.
“If we are to sustain internet growth we have to look at a faster replacement – we are looking at replacing the current electrical circuits with light,” Kristy said.
“Nano-optical circuits are around 100,000 times faster than current electrical circuits and what takes our computers 1000 hours to do would take less than an hour using optical computers.”
The 21-year-old will also look at developing nano- sensors that are expected to be able to detect and identify single molecules.
“The University of California Berkley is one of the top fi ve universities in the world with excellent experimental facilities for this type of research whereas Australia is just starting in this fi eld – I hope that I can develop some skills to bring back to Australia.”
Kristy left for the US in July to spend eight months in San Francisco.
The prestigious Fulbright program is the largest educational scholarship of its kind and was created in 1946.
- Toni Chambers
New online service
degrees ahead for graduates
MORE than 180,000 academic records of students dating back to 1966 are now available instantly thanks to a new simple to use online search facility offered by QUT.
Qualifi cations of graduates of QUT or its predecessor institutions Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT) or Brisbane College of Advanced Education (BCAE) can now be accessed by simply logging on to a website and using the graduate’s surname and date of birth.
A successful search will confi rm a graduate’s qualifi cation and the date of conferral.
QUT currently receives a signifi cant number of inquiries to verify graduate qualifi cations, often from employers seeking to confi rm the legitimacy of applicant information.
To access this new service log on to:
www.studentservices.qut.edu.au/grad/quals/online/
Happy return to QUT
MIKI Hiroe has lived and worked
in many different countries, from her native Japan to Sweden and Guatemala, but it is her time in Australia that still brings a smile to her face.
A QUT Master of Business graduate, Miki is currently program coordinator for international students at the prestigious National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.
Her work recently brought Miki
back to visit Australia – and her alma mater. Miki said her time studying at QUT was essential for her career.
“Even though I had completed a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) in Japan, I felt like I had never worked harder than I did at QUT, but that is where I really learnt how to research – skills I still use today,”
she said.
Prior to her current role, Miki lived in Guatemala working as a business translator, but she said her most challenging role was with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Stockholm Sweden.
- Toni Chambers
