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Queensland University of Technology Newspaper Issue 302, April 2010
Philanthropy
AN elderly Brisbane couple who have devoted their lives to working in developing countries and now live across the road from QUT have pledged almost $1 million to the university and its students to help carry on their good work.
Carl Leonard, 86, and Mary Leonard, 99, were thanked at a QUT function where Vice-Chancellor P r o f e s s o r Pe t e r C o a l d r a k e announced the new Mary and Carl Leonard International Relations Award.
The annual award of $10,000 will enable QUT students and
early career researchers to travel overseas to do volunteer work or study and has been funded by initial donations of $275,000 by the American couple. They have also pledged to bequeath their estate to the university in their wills.
“All of our friends come talk about their grandchildren but we don’t have grandchildren - now we have the QUT children,” Mary said. “I think learning would be the theme of our life and we just want to help these young people learn.”
S h e s a i d t h ey m a d e t h e i r donations after picking up a fl yer about giving to the university, while attending a public lecture at
Gardens Point campus.
QUT Alumni and Development director Simone Garske said the couple had watched “the comings and goings” of students since retiring to Brisbane 10 years ago and renting an Alice Street apartment next to QUT.
“Carl was a civil engineer who worked on projects in many developing countries and Mary was a teacher who taught English wherever they went,” Ms Garske said.
“They have spent almost 50 year s living and work ing in developing countries and wanted their donation to QUT to be used to help students and researchers
interested in international relations and world peace.
“We have established the Mary and Carl Leonard Endowment Fund to fi nance an annual scholarship for students who show leadership qualities to enable them to study or work overseas.”
The Leonards, who have never owned a house, lived on a succession of beloved boats during their travels and international work.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said the Leonards’
gift would help shape the next generation of leaders who would have a positive impact on the world.
- Mechelle McMahon Mary and Carl Leonard are helping QUT students
to benefi t the global commuity.
www.news.qut.edu.au George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3138 2361 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778. CRICOS No 00213J
Creative Industries
KIARA Bulley knows what it’s like to be a young, fresh-faced designer trying to crack the fashion industry. And now, the QUT fashion honours student, pictured right, wants to help other emerging fashion designers.
Her goal is a step closer after she won 12 months of support and tenancy in the colourful Fortitude Valley offi ces of the Brisbane City Council Visible Ink “Social Inkubator” project.
“There’s lots of hype when you graduate from a fashion degree,” Kiara said, who graduated from QUT in 2008.
“You spend all year preparing for the graduate shows and then I was involved in the Mercedes Brisbane Fashion Festival Young Designer of the Year competition.
“My collection was stocked in a store in a local boutique, but I was very easily taken advantage of by the retailer. I was shocked, and I didn’t have the confi dence or money to challenge them.”
Following this set back, Kiara went on to work for some small fashion businesses, which was also challenging.
“It’s a bit to do with the nature of the industry,” she said. “I wasn’t always paid for work that I had done.”
Kiara now works for the Queensland Theatre Company and Queensland Ballet wardrobes, which she fi nds fulfi lling and supportive, but her earlier experiences have inspired her to help other young designers trying to get ahead in the industry.
“I want to provide a support network for young designers to fall back on if they face a similar situation,” she said.
“I want to create something that gives young people advice and support.
“This is something you take for granted at university. But after you’ve left, it can be
really hard and lonely.
“Clothing is such a social thing – I want to encourage that.”
During her honours project, Kiara will pilot her idea to assemble a group of three to four fashion graduates and provide them with an opportunity to work together on a fashion design project.
She said tha t wor king as a collective could be of great benefi t to designers.
“It can be more economical for fashion designers to band together when approaching manufacturers with their designs,” she said.
“It costs you a lot more money per garment when you order in small numbers, especially since when you are stocking small boutiques you won’t want to get too many made up.
“ B u t i f a
group of designers get together with 30 garment designs, it could cost a lot less.”
Kiara said the “rent” for her tenancy at Visible Ink was to present workshops or training for other young people.
“The clothing industry has lost a lot of skills because with the boom in off - shore production and loss of the local textile industry, interest in sewing skills has waned,” she said.
“So I will teach some of the basic skills.”
- Rachael Wilson
Student fashions support for
emerging designers
Brisbane couple’s $1 million legacy to QUT ‘family’
COMMENT
THE generosity of Carl and Mary Leonard in endowing a scheme that will provide travel grants for QUT students to undertake community work overseas (see story front page) is part of a burgeoning philanthropic culture at QUT and other Australian universities.
At a time of reducing per capita government funding for higher education, universities are increasingly turning to individual and corporate donors to fund the things that are central to their roles in society – student support, research, infrastructure and equipment, and community engagement.
QUT has been one of a select group of Australian universities and medical research institutes that have benefi tted from the extraordinary generosity of Chuck Feeney and The Atlantic Philanthropies over the past decade.
But the Leonards’ gift shows how ordinary people with limited fi nancial resources can also make a diff erence, in their lifetime and beyond, to the lives of students, the benefi ciaries of research outcomes, and the wider community that the university serves.
O t h e r re c e n t ex a m p l e s o f signifi cant personal philanthropy at QUT include a gift of land by donor Laurie Cowled to support student scholarships within QUT’s Learning Potential Fund, bequests to support paediatric spine research and cancer
research travel scholarships at QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Research, and former staff bequests to build endowments for fi nancially disadvantaged students.
An interesting fact is that much of this recent personal giving has come from people who are not alumni or former staff of QUT or its predecessor institutions.
The Leonards’ connection with QUT, for example, was simply that they have lived nearby the Gardens Point campus for a decade.
People are increasingly realising that a gift to a university is a ‘gift that keeps on giving’ as future gener ations of students and researchers are helped to make their own long-term contributions to society.
QUT is also very fortunate that many of our staff give generously to our major programs, including the Learning Potential Fund, through payroll donations and significant gifts.
As a community of students and staff, we are keen to grow and nurture a culture of giving to support those in need throughout QUT.
Scott Sheppard Deputy Vice-Chancellor International and Development
Scholarships
MORE than 100 new, high-achieving QUT students from across Queensland and interstate have had a fl ying start to their university careers as recipients of the prestigious QUT Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarships awarded last month.
The scholarships recognise students who receive an OP of 1 or 2 and have excelled in leadership, community service and extracurricular activities.
They are also open to high-achieving students who excel in sport and have an OP of 1 to 3.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake awarded 65 full scholarships and five athlete scholarships each worth $24,000 - $6000 for each year of the recipient’s degree – and 50 part scholarships worth $6000 each.
V-C Scholars also have access to programs to enhance their study. They undertake extra modules to develop
their leadership or entrepreneurship skills. In the fi nal year of their degree they can also be matched with an industry mentor who can guide and encourage them in their fi eld.
Professor Coaldrake met the young scholars and presented them with their scholarships during a special function at the university’s Gardens Point campus in Brisbane.
Applications for this year’s V-C Scholars came from most Australian states, while successful scholars came from across Queensland, as well as New South Wales, the ACT and Tasmania.
Several schools produced more than one V-C Scholar, including AB Paterson College, Marist College Ashgrove and St Rita’s College, who all have four.
Applications for the 2011 scholarship close in late November 2010. Year 12 students interested in applying should visit www.scholarships.qut.edu.au later in the year for details.
Students network
FOR a trio of QUT students a trip to Taipei has proven to be a global eye opener with the potential to unite future world leaders.
Jamie Nuich, Erin Gregor and Megan Fowke joined 1800 students from 42 diff erent countries at the 19th Harvard World Model United Nations conference this month, confi dent they have contributed to changing the world for the better.
Jamie who is undertaking a Bachelor of Business/Law degree said the Model United Nations conference was a simulation of the United Nations.
“Students have the opportunity to act as representatives of diff erent countries on UN committees and debate topics of global relevance,” she said.
“It is really inspiring. It feels as though your voice is going to be heard.
Not only are you debating it for your own sense of participation but you are doing it to change the world.”
Erin who is in her second year of a Bachelor of Business/Journalism agreed, saying students felt they could make a real diff erence.
“I think that sometimes people refer to the UN as a bit of a toothless tiger but the fact that 1800 students came together to debate virtually every global issue shows that there are so many people behind it that really believe in what the UN can do for the world,” Erin said.
The trip off ered students the chance to debate global issues of importance covering a myriad of topics including biodiversity and health.
“We came up with resolutions...and there is the potential that these will end up in the hands of people in the UN,” Erin said.
QUT has a United Nations group which meet regularly to debate topics of global importance. For more information on joining email unc@
guildonline.net.
- Sandra Hutchinson
Associate Professor Axel Bruns
AWARDED on March 30, 2010, for playing an active and high-profi le role in the debates surrounding social media in the aftermath of the tragic deaths of two Queensland schoolchildren.
Professor Bruns provided thought leadership and expert commentary to a wide range of print, radio, television and online media around the state and nation.
His knowledge of social networking sites was called upon following the disturbing hijacking of tribute Facebook pages to the schoolchildren to post inappropriate material.
Professor Bruns sounded timely warnings to users of social media about the need to provide greater scrutiny and moderation of content.
He also forecast that there would be a “copycat trend” to people disrupting Facebook pages about sensitive issues.
Professor Bruns has also provided invaluable insights into the use of social media, such as MySpace and Facebook, and how they had become the latest battleground for students to engage in cyber-bullying.
When it was announced Facebook had new technology to potentially allow users to know the location of their friends, Professor Bruns warned social media users of the inherent security risks and cautioned against providing too much private information.
Isabelle de Haviland and Scott Moller with V-C Professor Coaldrake.
Media star of the month Vice-Chancellor’s
Scholarships
Future leaders unite for a global cause
Major work
A portrait of QUT Chancellor Major General Peter Arnison has been offi cially unveiled and will now form part of the university’s private art collection. Currently on display at the QUT Art Museum, the portrait by Archibald Prize fi nalist Paul Newton, is a stunning refl ection of Major General Arnison who has been QUT’s Chancellor since 2004. Major General Arnison, pictured with his wife Barbara, served for 37 years in the Australian Army in a variety of Infantry command appointments, retiring as Land Commander, Australia, in 1996. He was appointed Queensland’s 23rd Governor, serving from 1997 to 2003, prior to election as QUT Chancellor.
Erin Gregory, left, and Jamie Nuich.
Urban development
BRISBANE city planners should take note from London, New York and Berlin and look more closely at eco-friendly pedicabs as regular CBD transport for short trip lengths, says a QUT transport planning PhD student.
Velotaxis, cyclos, bicycle taxis, or cycle rickshaws, they have many names but Mamun Rahman, from QUT’s School of Urban Development, said pedicabs – three-wheel, cycle-driven cabs carrying up to two passengers – were picking up speed as an inner-city transport option in major western cities.
“Pedicabs are making the transition from novelty to serious transport because they off er fast, cheap, emission- free transport,” Mr Rahman said.
“CBD congestion will increase in the future. Many cities are introducing higher parking charges and considering the use of road pricing or a ‘congestion tax’, especially for city inbound private vehicles to combat the changing traffi c conditions.
“ E c o - s u s t a i n a bl e m o d e s l i k e pedicabs could have a role in the public transport system of Brisbane and other Australian cities.
“A pedicab service would of course
have to be licensed and regulated like other vehicles for safety and smooth operation. A separate payment system would also probably be the better way rather than integrating with bus/
train/ferry ticketing.”
Mr Rahman’s paper titled Is There a Future for Non-Motorized Public Transport in Asia? won the Outstanding Paper Presentation award last November 2009 at the eighth International Conference of the Easter n Asia Society for Transportation Studies, in Indonesia.
H i s p a p e r h i g h l i g h t e d t h e re-emergence of non-motorised public transport such as pedicabs in the
developed countries of Japan, England, Germany, Holland and parts of North America. The paper also looked at the ongoing role cycle rickshaws have in the transport systems of some developing countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Columbia and Cuba.
“This shift is due to factors such as eco-sustainability and operating fl exibility because pedicabs can go where motor vehicles are discouraged or restricted,” he said.
He said a tourist-oriented pedicab service, Green Cabs, is already operating in the Brisbane CBD on weekends from Friday evening to Sunday night.
“Green Cabs usually run between West End and the Valley and along the Brisbane River, and are proving pretty popular. But in future pedicabs might have the potential to grow and merge with the regular transport system in specifi c parts of the network,” he said.
“Pedicabs are particularly suited for short trips of two to three kilometres around town. They are non-polluting and add a separate dynamic to the urban fabric.”
Mr Rahman is part of a research team which includes Professor Glen D’Este and Dr Jonathan Bunker.
- Niki Widdowson
YuMi maths method
Acting students in stellar performance
Pedal power
QUT’s fi nal-year acting students have been making a name for themselves, appearing in the classic A Streetcar Named Desire, at QUT Gardens Theatre. The elite young actors are following in the footsteps of fellow QUT acting students such as Logie award winner Gyton Grantley (Underbelly), AFI winner Deborah Mailman (Bran Nue Dae), and Michael Dorman who recently appeared in cinemas alongside Ethan Hawke and Sam Neill in Daybreakers. Audiences saw two different casts, depending on the night they attended. The “Louisiana” cast featured, pictured left to right, Hilary Caitens (Blanche), Anna McGahan (Stella) and Nathaniel Middleton (Stanley).
Education
TEACHERS from 29 Queensland state primary schools have been trained in a new maths teaching method developed by QUT.
Professor Tom Cooper said 70 teachers from central and southern schools wishing to improve their maths results were trained last month in TIME – Teaching Inclusive Mathematics Education – a $1.56 million project funded by the Queensland Government.
Professor Cooper said the maths teaching program would be rolled out to interested schools over the next three years.
TIME was developed at QUT’s new YuMi Deadly Centre, within the Faculty of Education, by Professor Cooper and centre director Associate Professor Annette Baturo.
The YuMi Deadly Centre, which offi cially opened last month, has $4.7 million in federal and state grants to undertake research in maths education.
(YuMi means “you and me working together for all”.)
Professor Cooper said the goal was to lift the performance of disadvantaged students, both Indigenous and non- Indigenous, in national maths tests.
- Elizabeth Allen
Left to right, State primary principals Donna Hedges (Dunwich), QUT’s professor Tom Cooper, Michael Sawbridge (Kingston) and Janet Bannah (Zillmere) learn about the new maths teaching program to be trialled in schools.
Mamun Rahman, centre, with pedicab cyclists.
Road safety
QUT researchers will study some of the most dangerous driver behaviours in the most challenging driving conditions, all in the off -road safety of a new $1.5 million driving simulator.
Launched at QUT’s Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) today, Australia’s most advanced driving simulator provides cutting-edge technology to study human behaviour in diff erent driving conditions.
CARRS-Q director Professor Barry Watson said road crashes were, tragically, still a major cause of traumatic death and injury in Australia with an economic and social burden estimated at more than $17 billion a year.
“This state-of-the-art facility will enable road safety researchers to study what would otherwise be logistically, practically and ethically diffi cult to do out on the open road,” Professor Watson said.
“For example driver fatigue is recognised as one of the four killers on our roads. But to determine the impact of sleep loss on driving behaviour is diffi cult because it is unsafe to deprive people of sleep and then put them behind the wheel under real driving conditions.
“The driving simulator will allow us to study drivers in safety critical situations with a high degree of realism, while being in a protected environment.”
Professor Watson said the key features that made the driving simulator unique included being able to replicate real-time traffi c conditions, reproduce sensor and warning systems and allow researchers to manipulate driving environments.
“If we can recreate common yet potentially dangerous driving environments using simulation technology, then we can study how diff erent people respond,” he said.
“This will give us a greater understanding of driver behaviour under diffi cult conditions which allows us to develop improved prevention strategies, thereby making our roads safer.
“Over the past 20 to 30 years we’ve had great success in reducing the nation’s road toll, but
Scoot online:
road safety survey
REGULAR Queensland scooter and moped riders are sought to take part in a new online survey.
The survey will provide road safety researchers with a better understanding of scooter and moped use in Queensland, and contribute to improved rider safety.
The Queensland Scooter and Moped Rider Survey 2010 is available a t w w w. c a r r s q . q u t . e d u . a u / scootersurvey.jsp.
Riders who complete the survey could win a Dri-rider climate control pro jacket valued at $350, drawn on May 7.
Simulator set to drive down road toll
more recently our eff orts have slowed and even plateaued.
“This simulator off ers a breakthrough in better understanding driver behaviour, in order to reduce the death toll on Australian roads.”
Professor Watson said the simulator had already been earmarked for a number of research projects including a study on improving safety at railway crossings and understanding the impact of whiplash on driver performance.
But he said it could also be used
to measure the impairing affect of drugs, alcohol and distraction on driver performance as well as determine triggers which may prompt driver aggression.
“The research oppor tunities are limitless,” he said.
The driving simulator works by utilising eight computers, projectors and a platform capable of moving in three dimensions. It incorporates a real Holden Calais vehicle allowing the simulator to recreate realistic traffi c situations.
The simulator has been funded by the
Australian Research Council, QUT, the University of Queensland, Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, RACQ, the Motor Accident Insurance Commission and General Motors Holden.
It will bring together researchers from fi elds including psychology, road safety, optometry, mathematics and physiology.
CARRS-Q is also a member of QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation.
- Sandra Hutchinson
A QUT road safety researcher wants the 5000 young drivers who graduate with their P-Plates each month to fi ll in a survey on their attitudes to risky driving.
Research shows young novice drivers tend to be risk-takers when they get behind the wheel but a QUT study will also look at who and what is infl uencing them to “push the limits”.
Bridie Scott-Parker, pictured, from QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland, is undertaking a state-wide survey of newly licensed P-Plate drivers to investigate to what extent and why they “bend the rules” on the roads.
“We already know that young drivers (17-24) are two-and-a-half times more likely to be killed in a crash when compared to older more experienced drivers, and that young drivers make up 13 per cent of drivers on our roads but are involved in 30 per cent of fatal crashes,” Mrs Scott- Parker said.
“What we are trying to do is fi nd
out what they are doing when they get behind the wheel, what their experiences have been as learner drivers, and what they think of the graduated driver licensing changes that were introduced in July 2007.”
Mrs Scott-Parker said discovering whether or not drivers were obeying the restrictions of the graduated driver licensing program would help assess the eff ectiveness of the system.
She said graduated driver licensing incorporated driver safety measures, such as 100 hours of supervised driving, a zero alcohol limit and night-time restrictions on passenger numbers, and was implemented to improve young driver behaviour.
“It is normal for young people to take risks, but the problem with being risky when driving is the roads are very unforgiving,” she said.
Mrs Scott-Parker said the infl uence of parents and peers would be one of the areas examined.
She said family and friends who thought it was okay to bend the rules may unknowingly be pushing the
next generation of drivers to “risk-it”.
“What we want to know is, are young drivers copying mum and dad’s bad driving habits? And does seeing your parents ‘bend the road rules’
infl uence you?” she said.
Mrs Scott-Parker said by identifying the triggers that push young drivers to be risk-takers, improved road safety measures could be developed.
She said this could involve modifying advertising campaigns, driver education programs and the graduated driver licensing system.
The survey will be offered by the Department of Transport to all Queensland learner drivers who receive their Provisional licence between April 1 and June 30, accounting for about 15,000 people.
Mrs Scott-Parker said the survey would form part of a longitudinal study which would see the same drivers surveyed in 12 months to explore their experiences as a P-Plate driver.
- Sandra Hutchinson
Study probes why young
people risk it on our roads
Fulbright
stars
Sarah Holland-Batt
is an award-winning poet and QUT lecturer whose debut collection, Aria, was awarded the Australian Capital Territory Judith Wright Prize, the FAW Anne Elder Award, the Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize and the Dorothy Hewett Fellowship.The collection was also shortlisted in both the New South Wales and Queensland Premiers’ Literary Awards.
During her Fulbright, Ms Holland-Batt will write a book- length sequence of lyric poems, Quartet, reworking Dante’s account of Paolo and Francesca in the Inferno into a series of interwoven dramatic monologues.
She is one of two winners of the Fulbright Australian
Postgraduate Alumni (WG Walker) Alumni Scholarship, which is g ranted to the highest ranked Australian postgraduate applicant and funded through donations by Fulbright Alumni.
Ms Holland-Batt is currently in Rome on an Australia Council literature residency.
She said she discovered poetry at the age of 15 when she read TS Eliot’s The Waste Land.
“Although at that stage I didn’t understand much of the poem’s meaning, I fell in love with it and have read and written poetry ever since,” she said.
QUT PhD mathematics student Craig Costello will spend 12 months at the University of California undertaking research into maths- based security techniques for computers and other telecommunication devices.
Craig Costello
will use his Fulbright scholarship to research the development of mathematical algorithms as security techniques for computers, banking systems, mobile phones and other telecommunication devices.Mr Costello, who was awarded the 2010 Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship in Technology and Communications sponsored by Telstra, graduated from QUT in 2007 with a Bachelor of Applied Science in mathematics with fi rst-class honours.
Mr Costello will work on using mathematical algorithms, or functions, called “pairings” to improve digital security through encryption.
Mr Costello said encryption was used, for example, when someone connected to an internet bank account.
“Before any of your information such as your bank account details and passwords is sent to the bank over the internet, which is an openly visible insecure channel, the information needs to be scrambled and dispersed in such a way that a hacker who sees the information can’t decipher it,” he said.
“We encrypt the information and then the bank uses its key to decrypt it.”
Mr Costello said “pairings” had previously been considered too slow for practical use in cryptography on even super computers.
“Basically my research is trying to speed up the computation of the complex mathematical functions so that they are practically computable and can be used in the real world,” he said.
Mr Costello said his research would benefi t banks, national security agencies, telecommunication companies or “anyone who needs to keep their digital communications secure”.
In his spare time, he is involved in a personal project on the Gold Coast to provide gifted maths students with the same opportunities he has had – particularly those not exposed to higher order extra-curricular mathematics.
Dr Hilary Hughes, a lecturer with QUT’s Faculty of Education, will spend four months as a scholar- in-residence at the University of Colorado, Denver, developing an inclusive approach to online learning for students from varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Dr Hilary Hughes
, a lecturer in teacher- librarianship with QUT’s Faculty of Education, will use her Fulbright Scholarship to further the academic success of international and disadvantaged students.Dr Hughes said her scholarship had sprung from her PhD research into how international students at QUT and another Queensland university use online information to learn.
She had concluded that rather than the university catering for different cultural groups separately, an inclusive approach would benefi t all students, domestic and international.
She said international students often felt disoriented on arriving at a new university but many domestic students felt exactly the same way.
“We need to recognise all their diff erent needs and provide enough varied responses so that people’s needs will be met, and in a way that people won’t be embarrassed to go and ask for help,” Dr Hughes said.
She said her research at QUT, which boasts 210 nationalities, had found, for example, that some overseas students were reluctant to borrow library books because they thought the sign “loans” meant they had to go into debt to do so.
She said Denver also had a lot of international students, as well as a large Latino population and many disadvantaged students.
“In Denver I will be working with academics and librarians to develop innovative curriculum, teaching methods and learning resources,” Dr Hughes said.
Dr Hughes, who has previous experience as an accredited Spanish-English translator, will also teach in the university’s ethnic studies program.
Sarah Holland-Batt, a poet, critic and QUT lecturer in creative writing and literary studies, will use her two-year scholarship to study for a Master of Fine Arts in poetry at New York University.
QUT has accounted for half of the six Fulbright scholarships awarded to Queenslanders this year.
A total of 25 Australian scholars were named at the Fulbright’s 60th anniversary presentation dinner in Melbourne on March 18.
The Fulbright program is the largest educational scholarship of its kind, created by US Senator J William Fulbright and the US Government in 1946, and is aimed at promoting mutual understanding through educational exchange between the US and 155 countries.
By Elizabeth Allen
in BRIEF...
Engineering award A grant established to remember a high-achieving engineering student has been awarded for the fi rst time. Kelson Lee, pictured, a fi rst-year Bachelor of Engineering student, received the inaugural Monique Cramer Memorial Award last month at a ceremony at QUT.
QUT ePrints tops nation QUT’s electronic repository of academic papers, QUT ePrints, has been ranked 19 out of 400 in the 2010 Webometrics world ranking of institutional repositories – the best result of any Australian repository. QUT ePrints currently has 11,241 open access scholarly articles. These works include peer-reviewed conference papers, journal articles and theses. Visit http://eprints.qut.edu.au.
Nominate an outstanding student leader
Nominations will close on April 12 for this year’s QUT Student Leadership Awards. All undergraduate QUT students are eligible.
For details and nomination forms, visit www.alumni.
qut.edu.au, call 31381833 or email [email protected].
Creative 3
Some of the world’s brightest creative minds will share their expertise at the inaugural creative3 international forum hosted by QUT’s Creative Enterprise Australia, April 14-16. Wotif.
com founder Graeme Wood, the Academy Award-winning
director of Harvie Krumpet, Adam Elliot, and Gruen Transfer panel member and Y&R chairman George Pattersons are among the stellar keynote speakers, while a prize valued at
$100,000 will be awarded to a promising creative business.
Designing for climate A new publication, Subtropical Design in South East Queensland:
A handbook for Planners, Developers and Decision Makers, which will help urban planners and developers to create neighbourhoods and buildings that take advantage of this region’s breeze, topography and vegetation, has been launched. QUT Centre for Subtropical Design director Rosemary Kennedy, pictured, who wrote the handbook, said “we must act now to green our cities if we are to avoid a hot and miserable future.”
Sustainability from birth You’re never too young to start being sustainable, according to QUT early childhood education
academic Dr Julie Davis who says educating children to be environmentally aware from birth can impact on environmental issues such as climate change. Dr Davis is the editor and co-author of a new book entitled Young Children and the Environment, tackling one of the biggest contemporary issues of our time - living sustainably.
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Student leadership
THE “invisible disability” of dyslexia did not stop Bachelor of Social Work student Penelope Mee Lee from helping her peers at QUT.
The award-winning student was behind the creation of a support group for students with disabilities at QUT called Diff Ability Inclusive.
Ms Lee, pictured, hoped the group would lead to positive changes and address some of the stereotypes and barriers encountered by her fellow students.
“After talking to my peers, lecturers, tutors and other university staff, I realised there was a need to inform, educate and advocate with and for students with disabilities,” Ms Lee said.
“Diff Ability Inclusive off ers support and advocacy for students when the need arises. Students will ask for advice on some issues they may encounter and the group gets together on a needs basis.”
The last outcome Ms Lee ever expected was to win a 2009 QUT Student Leadership Excellence Award in recognition of her contribution to the university and wider community,
as well as becoming a recipient of the year’s Learning Potential Fund.
Ms Lee said the fund was essential in helping her with printing costs.
“As a result of having dyslexia, I sometimes have diffi culty reading off the computer screen and editing my assignments requires me to print them off so I have a hard copy,” she said.
“The Student Leadership Excellence Award coupled with the Learning Potential Fund has g iven me the motivation to continue to support
people with disabilities and speak about the challenges they encounter and acknowledge the positive contributions they make to our society.”
While maintaining a high dedication to her studies with a GPA of 6.6, Ms Lee has also made an important contribution to the QUT community, acting as a peer mentor and peer advisor in Academic Learning to assist fellow students develop the skills and confi dence to embrace their university studies.
Drama
DRAMA students had the opportunity to meet and learn from one of the greats of contemporary theatre when New York playwright Will Eno was a special guest of Creative Industries Faculty last month.
The three-day visit was co-ordinated by drama discipline leader Dr Christine Comans as part of QUT’s ongoing partnership with Queensland Theatre Company (QTC) to bring a world class artist to Brisbane each year.
Mr Eno was in Brisbane to visit QUT and oversee the QTC production
of Thom Pain (based on nothing), his one-man play starring QUT drama graduate Jason Klarwein.
Drama lecturer Sean Mee said Mr Eno was an extremely well- credentialed playwright.
“Will Eno is one of the guns of American theatre,” Mr Mee said.
“He’s a global superstar – one of the leading contemporary playwrights.
“His play Thom Pain is extremely radical for an American play. It re-envisages the relationship between audience and actor.
“Will has very idiosyncratic ideas of theatre and rattles the cage.”
Mr Eno gave a guest lecture to fi rst-
year drama students, who are studying two of his plays, and shared his ideas on theatre and playwriting.
He conducted an informal session with technical production students on theatre technology and spoke with third year directors on what the contemporary world means to him and why he writes the plays he does.
Another highlight was an open forum In Conversation with Mr Eno.
“Sharing his writing processes and experience was exciting for our students. They lapped it up,” said Dr Comans.
- Rachael Wilson
Master class
Eradicating stereotypes
Law
MORE than a third of fi rst-year university students do not feel ready to choose a course when they enrol, according to QUT law professor Sally Kift.
Professor Kift, pictured, who researched fi rst-year issues nationwide as an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Fellow, said universities had to work harder to help students make the transition to university.
She said universities had to be welcoming and “less strange” places for fi rst-year students if fi rst-year drop- out rates – double those of other years – were to be reduced.
She said her research had revealed
between 30 and 40 per cent of students did not feel they were ready to make their decision about which course to study when they enrolled.
“In Year 12 they have made the best decision they can on the information available; they have struggled for their OP and have other priorities; they have got so far but it may not be the right course for them or they may not feel ready to go to university,” she said.
Professor Kift said universities should discuss with students very early on about the careers available from their courses and what it is to be a professional in their discipline.
-Elizabeth Allen
Helping students settle in
Jason Klarwein, left, and Will Eno.
Air quality
PEOPLE who regularly commute by bicycle into inner-city Brisbane will have the opportunity to fi nd out if their exercise is aff ecting their health and how much pollution they are inhaling in a QUT study.
Thomas Cole-Hunter, pictured, is seeking cyclists who commute into Brisbane’s centre to participate in a PhD study which will assess the air that they breathe and the related health eff ects.
“I want to fi nd out if the pollution cyclists breathe in is potentially harmful to their health,” Mr Cole-Hunter said.
“I also want to compare pollution exposure experienced off -road on bike paths to that of on-road lanes shared with buses, cars and trucks, and if wearing a respirator reduces the eff ects of exposure.”
Mr Cole-Hunter is looking for people to participate in a survey on their perceptions and symptoms of commuter cycling. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete and the participants will be given the opportunity to participate further and ride with pollution monitors on their bicycles.
He said the news may not be all bad for cyclists, because on their bikes they sat above heavy gases emitted in car exhaust, like nitrogen oxides, which settled close to the ground where it could be drawn into car ventilation systems.
“I’m particularly interested in ultra-fi ne particles,” Mr Cole-Hunter said.
“As small as one billionth of a metre in size, ultra-fi ne particles can be the most abundant component of bus, car and truck exhaust, yet relatively little research has been done in this area.
“They can be inhaled deep into the lungs, lodging where the task of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange occurs between air and blood.
“Ultra-fi ne particles can cause infl ammation in the airway and lung tissue, which reduces breathing ability. Also, carcinogenic substances could be attached to these particles.”
Survey participants will receive a thank-you gift of a cafe voucher. To participate or fi nd out more information, contact Mr Cole-Hunter on email [email protected].
Mr Cole-Hunter is undertaking the research in conjunction with QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation and International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health.
- Rachael Wilson
Want to be a researcher?
Research
EVEN first-year students can have research ambitions.
That ’s the message from the organisers of this year’s QUT Focus on Research event which aims to encourage undergraduate students to think about pursuing postgraduate research.
The event will be held on May 5 and 6 and is open to all students.
Each faculty will present a one-hour session consisting of short talks that provide snapshots of the types of research work done at QUT, ranging from how smart science can help save the koala to how accounting can help alleviate poverty in India.
There will also be information on the university’s Vacation Research Experience Scholarship program.
The Gardens Point sessions will be held in the Gibson Room, Level 10, Z Block, on May 5 and include the Faculty of Business (10am-11am), Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering (1pm-2pm), the Faculty of Science and Technology (2.30pm-3.30pm) and the Faculty of Law (11.30am-12.30pm).
The Kelvin Grove sessions will be on Level 4 of the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (Q Block) on Musk Avenue, and include the Faculty of Health (11.30am-12.30pm), the Faculty of Education (10am-11am)and the Creative Industries Faculty (1pm-2pm).
For details, visit www.qut.edu.au/
research/rhd/ug, email exploreevents@
qut.edu.au or call 3138 8501.
Something in the air
Engineering
COLUMBIAN-bor n eng ineering student Juan Granados flew into a place at QUT this year after studying aerospace at high school.
Juan, pictured below, was given direct entry to the four-year Bachelor of Engineering course with a view to specialising in aerospace avionics.
Juan is among more than 600 fi rst -year QUT engineering students - specialities are chosen in second year.
Juan said he developed a love for aeroplanes after emigrating from Colombia seven years ago. He has fl own to and from his home country to visit relatives and friends, and to other parts of the world.
“I would like to produce better engineering for planes, making them more eco-friendly with less emissions,’’
Juan said.
Juan attended Springwood State High School, one of 17 Queensland high schools identifi ed by the State
Government as aerospace “gateway schools” with the aim of directing interested students to the state’s growing aerospace industry.
Principals of the gateway schools are able to nominate a limited number of students for direct entry to university.
Juan gained direct entry to QUT after completing a Year 11 and 12 aerospace skills subject. A strong maths student, he also studied Maths B and Maths C.
Q U T ’ s a e r o s p a c e a v i o n i c s engineering course deals with the design, development, manufacture and maintenance of electronics systems in military and civilian planes, helicopters, spacecraft, satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
QUT is also home to the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation.
Aerospace avionics graduates may be employed by government defence and aviation bodies or by private aerospace companies.
-Elizabeth Allen
Flying start for student
Economics
QUT behavioural economists have used two famous twentieth century maritime disasters, the sinking of the Titanic and the Lusitania, to challenge traditional views of human survival instincts.
In the new study, the economists concluded that the social norm of protecting women and
children came into play only when there was time to organise for survival, but when time was critical it was a case of “survival of the fi ttest.”
In the second of a series of studies on how people react and which ones survive maritime disasters, Professor Benn Torgler of QUT’s School of Finance and Economics and his research team ( D av i d S av a g e a n d Professor Bruno Frey) compared the survival demographics of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, where 1517 people died, with the 1915 torpedoing of the passenger ship the Lusitania in which more than 1198 people died.
The research attracted enormous media interest
around the world, with prestigious publications such as the New York Times and the New Scientist reporting on the study.
“Time is the key,” Professor Torgler, pictured, said. “It seems the innate fi ght or fl ight mechanism comes into play when time is of the essence because the Lusitania sank in just 18 minutes and most survivors were young, fi t
people aged 16 to 35.
“In contrast, males in their prime had a lower chance of surviving the Titanic. We found that on the Titanic children had a 14.8 per cent higher probability of surviving than a man and a person accompanying a child had a 19.6 per cent higher chance while a woman had a 50 per cent higher chance.
But the Titanic took two hours and 40 minutes to f inally disappear beneath the sea.”
Professor Torgler said that understanding human behaviour under extreme conditions could provide insight into variations in human behaviour according to diff ering conditions.
“The results of our analysis are fascinating,” he said.
“Even though the two vessels
and the composition of the passengers were quite similar, the behaviour of the individuals on board was dramatically diff erent.
“Despite a large number of studies on pro-social behavior, there is hardly any evidence that social preferences (an economic term meaning a willingness to reduce one’s own well-being to improve that of others) matter in extreme situations such as life-and- death scenarios. “
Professor Torgler said retrospective analysis of well-documented disasters gave economists an opportunity to control external factors within a natural fi eld experiment-like setting.
“On the Lusitania, selfi sh behaviour prevailed which corresponds to the economic tenet that maximising self-interest is the key motivator of behaviour,” he said.
“By contrast, on the Titanic, more time meant there was time for social norms and social class to kick in.
“In both disasters, the captains issued orders to offi cers and crew to follow the social norm of ‘women and children fi rst’. These orders were successfully carried out on the Titanic, but not on the Lusitania, due to time constraints and problems launching the lifeboats.”
-Niki Widdowson
… fi ght or fl ight mechanism comes into play when time is of the essence
Human survival instincts
Image courtesy of Images of History.
Carbon talk
- Faculty of Law free public lecture Senator Penny Wong, the Minister for Climate Change, Energy Effi ciency and Water, will visit QUT for a free public lecture at the Gardens Theatre (X Block, Gardens Point campus), April 12, 11am-12pm to discuss the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and other environmental policies.
Prior registration is essential. Email [email protected].
Music
APRIL 15
Support QUT students at the Learning Potential Fund benefi t concert featuring local band Flatline at the Gardens Point Student Guild Bar, 6pm. Entry is by gold coin donation.
The event includes a sausage sizzle, free pool and raffl es. For details, email [email protected].
au or call 3138 6447.
APRIL 24
Music acts Cascadeer and Vlada and Brianna, which include QUT music students perform at the free regular event Popalicious, 5pm at the Brisbane Powerhouse.
Details at www.
brisbanepowerhouse.
org.
Exhibition
APRIL 30 - JUNE 27 Adventurous tales of
heroes, ghosts and spider spirits feature in a show of Japanese woodblock prints at the QUT Art Museum, 2 George Street, Brisbane. For details, email artmuseum@
qut.edu.au or call 3138 5370.
Seminars
APRIL 21 The Return to Study seminar is on from 6pm to 7pm at Kelvin Grove campus (Z2, Creative industries Precinct) to provide info on entry pathways, fi nancial assistance, and fl exible learning.
Call 3138 8567 or email [email protected].
au.
APRIL 21 The Parent
Information Seminar is aimed at high schoolers and their parents and provides
practical advice on how mums and dads can help their children get into - and survive - uni.
It’s on at the Creative Industries Precinct, Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove from 6pm to 7pm. Call 3138 8567 or email exploreevents@
qut.edu.au.
Information
MAY 5-6 QUT’s Focus on Research event will be staged across two campuses to encourage students to make a diff erence to the world through postgraduate research. See story on Page 7. Theatre. Book with GardensTix on 3864 4455.
Visit www.whatson.
qut.edu.au for more event listings and to submit your upcoming event.
WHAT’S on...
Ian Eckersley (Editor) 07 3138 2361 Elizabeth Allen 07 3138 4494 Niki Widdowson 07 3138 1841 Rachael Wilson 07 3138 1150 Mechelle McMahon (Mo-Tu) 07 3138 2130 Sandra Hutchinson (Tu-Wed) 07 3138 2999 Erika Fish (Photography) 07 3138 5003 Marissa Hills (Advertising) 07 3138 5921 Richard de Waal (Design)
about IQ
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Formerly The Jamfest Formerly The Jamfest
A bricklayer. I want to be a project manager for construction.
Wade Rodwell Bachelor of Engineering A checkout chick. I
want to work in an advertising agency.
Kelly Leverton Bachelor of Business I was a lifeguard.
I hope to get a job as a high school PE teacher.
Carl Podlich Bachelor of Education
(Secondary) I worked in a cafe. I
want to be an interior designer.
Julia Wilken Bachelor of (Urban Development) Urban Regional Planning
VOX POP What was you fi rst job and what do you hope your next job will be?
Around campus
Clockwise from top left: Danelle Dobinson and Mary Kelly from QUT Equity with International Women’s Day lunch speaker Kate Marsh from Children by Choice; Chinese performers; PhD researcher Ronny Schroeter in front of his
“Discussions in Space” screen produced for a travelling Brisbane City Council display, currently visiting QUT; a Chinese performer.
The US Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey L Bleich with QUT law students Megan Fowke and Ashley Dahms and Deputy-Vice Chancellor Professor Ken Bowman.
A troupe of 40 Chinese artists performed to mark the end of Chinese New Year celebrations at Kelvin Grove campus for the QUT Confucius Institute.
PEFC/21-31-25
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