p
378.9431
103
--rr 'N S T I T
ology George Street, risbane 4000. Telephone 223 2111.
Future uncertain for Elsie, a sensitive and historic robot
One of the world's earliest mobile robots is being kept safe in a locked laboratory at QIT until a decision is made on its future.
The robot was designed in Bristol, England, in 1948 for the charitable Burden Neurological Institute, and according to lecturer in electrical engineering, Mr Paul Wilson, an authority on robots, it is of great historical significance.
"It was a dozen years ahead of its
time," he said. "Industrial robots were not made until the early 1960's, w.••ll¥~· fJTSt computers were only
t:-~g vlJI t wh~·· ~· !• ~ch!'l'"
owa>. im,entcd b) a Mr W. Grey Walter."
The robot has the exterior shape of a tortoise and is known as Elsie, an acronym for Electro Light Sensi- tive Internal External.
It no longer moves because the batteries used originally - the sort inserted in valve radios - are no longer made, and some of the wiring is decayed, along with the natural rubber tyres (1940's model aircraft tyres).
Elsie has quite a history.
The Burden Institute had a total of six 'Elsies' built for exploratory research on phototrophism whereby plants, and animals, tend to move towards the sun.
The Institute thought the neuro- logical instincts of animals might be simply mechanical behaviour, which a light sensitive machine might suc- cessfully imitate.
Elsie has a light-sensitive valve on top which attracted it to light in a darkened room. Two motors, a drive and a steering motor, enabled it to bump around obstacles on the way.
The Institute found it really could not imitate animals, but the six early mobile robots were exhibited at the 1951 Festival of Britain, a world trade exposition.
After the festival, they were auctioned, and three were bought by a Dr F. W. Clutterbuck, a British medical practitioner who subse- quently migrated to Australia, and is now in semi-re •r me•rt 1 ':vnnum.
The group has now bce11 ~plit. one being returned to the Burden Institute in Bristol, and the other going to the Smithsonian Institute in the United States.
Mr Wilson said Dr Clutterbuck favoured displaying the remaining Elsie in a technical museum in Aust- ralia, but no such museum existed.
The Australian Robot Associ- ation's Sydney headquarters referred Dr Clutterbuck to Mr Wilson, who has been their Queensland convener for several years.
Mr Wilson is canvassing opinion on whether to restore Australia's Elsie, which would involve using modern parts, or just to clean the robot so it is fully authentic.
Despite "a desperate desire to make it move", he personally would prefer to leave Elsie in her original state.
"With something so historically important, there are ethical consider-
Elsie minus cover with engineering lecturer, Paul Wilson.
ations- you cannot butcher Elsie,"
Mr Wilson said.
Whether the consensus is to rebuild or to clean, Mr Wilson has the professional background for the job.
He has experience with valve-driven control equipment, and understands exactly how Elsie works.
British himself, he did some early development work for the U.K.
Atomic Energy Authority in 1964-65 on remote-controlled trucks then known as robots.
There is a vast difference between what are described as today ar' ,t;h~sP
"""'"14M:
obvJm.~ly oott:s on 1::. sit:.
So what, in Mr Wilson's view, i~a
robot?
"Something which first appeared in the minds of science fiction writers, and gradually developed in the minds of engineers."
• New microwave aircraft landing system ... 3
• Developments in Ciguatera poisoning research ... 3
• Geologists assess Central Aust. groundwater ... 4
• Master's student curbs power costs ... 4
• First low-dose multi-vitamin OK: dietitian ... 6
Elsie with cover on showing light sensitive beacon. Some resemblance to K-9?
One antivenene possible for all snakebite cases
A single antivenene, effective for any case of snakebite in Australia and some overseas cases, could be available in the foreseeable future, according to a Brisbane researcher.
Q!Tbiochemist, Mr Ernie Bennett, a senior lecturer in the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, said it might also be possible eventually to immunise against snakebite.
Australia's venomous snakes were of the same family as the cobras of Africa and Asia, and the poisonous sea snakes of Australian coastal waters were closely related.
This relationship at present allows the antivenenes to one snake venom to neutralise venoms of certain other snakes.
Mr Bennett is engaged in a project to develop what is known as a 'broad-spectrum' antivenene. One advantage of an antivenene with such a wide application would be making it less necessary to identify a species which in practice can prove impossible for a victim.
Although 60% of Australian snakes are venomous and snakebite is a minor cause of death, the victims are most likely to be children.
Mr Bennett said grazing stock losses from snakebite were also thought to be significantly high.
The venoms of Australian snakes consist of a complex mixture of proteins, only a small number of which produce serious medical problems.
Current QIT research is directed at purifying the active componenb of these proteins, for instance, nerve toxins, which cause physical reactions like muscle paralysis and blood clotting.
Mr Bennett, in conjunction with QIT's Centre for Applied Immu- nology, has now discovered that antibodies to the nerve toxin prepared from tiger snake venom also react with the venoms of another specie' of tiger snake, of the taipan and the red-bellied black snake.
This makes a broad-spectrum anti- venene a real possibility.
"Some of the techni-=al problem~
met during the research also rai~ed
the possibility of immut~isatJon
against snakebite," M r Bennett sau.J.
"There could be benefits for worker' exposed to the risk of repeated snake- bite, and for expensive gra1ing stock."
It is hoped the research will abo produce a safer antivenene.
Mr Bennett said that treatment with present antivenencs was a calcu- lated risk.
To prepare these antivenenC!>, horses are repeatedly injected \\ ith sublethal doses of a snake venom. or Continued on Page 2.
Leadership part of planning process
The process of gathering data and perspectives on which to base OfT's · 1988-90 tnennium funding submission was time consuming but very worthwhtle,_ both for the content of the submission and for me personafly.
(The submtsston ts due m Canberra in July.)
Without doubt, the most beneficial part of this process for me was the recently completed discusstons with each head of school. This was the culminatton of 'bottom-up' discussions involving each academic staff member wtth the head of department, and each head of department with the head of school.
The nature of these discussions was meant to be two way and certainly m the case of my meetmgs wtth heads of schools, this was the case. They covered the school now and its plans to 1990; what the school, departments and individuals would actuafly do toward achieving OIT Ob}ecttves; my perceptton of the school's performance and leadership;
and the school's perception of OfT's leadership and management.
Overafl, I was greatly encouraged by the way in which OfT responded to our mtsston statement. There are some exciting plans and most are realisttc within our operating constraints. Personal development, for example, looks like going forward in leaps and bounds as a means of achtevmg OIT goals. Even now, more staff are suddenly taking strong mterest m P.F!.P. leave.
In frank personal development discussions with heads of schools, 1 personally learned two things about how staff see my leadership style.
Ftrstly, I stand charged with 'shooting from the hip; although this tendency ts seen to have moderated considerably over my three years as Dtrector. Secondly, while afl agree that OfT's profile has been consider- ably htgher m the period, three separate sources suggested the Director's publtc profile should be higher. My personal action plan for the planning penod wtll certainly address both areas.
Dr Dennis Gibson
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New Civil Engineering Head
QIT's new Head of Civil Engineer- ing, Dr Keith Wallace, 47, was appointed on Aprill4 to succeed Mr Ray Bange, now General Manager ofQ SEARCH.
The position had been vacant for two years.
Dr Wallace, whose special field is geotechnical engineering, joined the Institute after three and a half years as senior consulting engineer with Coffey and Partners in Brisbane.
The company is the largest firm of geotechnical and groundwater engin- eering consultants in Australia, with offices in all major capital cities, and major projects throughout South East Asia.
His fields of specialised Consultancy included problems of constructing road embankments, building foun- dations, and wharves on soft estuarine sediments along the Lower Brisbane River, and slope stability and land- slide stabilisation (e.g. identifying stable areas for residential develop- ment at Buderim Mountain, and work on the Hay Point-Goonyella rail line). He worked on foundation development for major city buildings in Brisbane, including the Central Plaza project.
Dr Wallace has been associated with a wide range of industrial organ- isations and teaching institutions since gaining his Bachelor of Civil Engin- eering degree from Melbourne Uni- versity in 1960. He was awarded his Ph.D. by the same institution in 1965.
He has worked with consulting engineers in Canada and Australia.
His academic experience includes periods on the staff of the University of California at Berkeley, the City University, London, the Papua New Guinea University of Technology, and James Cook University at Townsville.
During his three years at the P.N.G. University of Technology, Dr Wallace was engaged mainly as senior lecturer in civil engineering, a course he helped develop. He also consulted on the problems of road construction in remote areas of P.N.G., and organised the engineer- mg section of the 42nd ANZAAS Congress, held at Port Moresby.
In 1971, Dr Wallace was engaged as a senior research fellow at James Cook Unive~sity, and from 1974-82
Acknowledgements
'Inside QIT'is published by the Public Relations Oflice, QIT ('U' Block}, George Street. Brisbane. phone 223 23g6.
l'm.tal Address: G.P.O. Box 2434, Bn.,bane 400 I.
I ypesetting and layout by Mr Bob Prentice. Phototypesetter Demonstrator
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()II.
Printed by Sunshine Coast Newspaper Co. l'ty Ltd.
Dr Keith Wallace
was senior lecturer in geotechnical engineering. In addition, he was the principal geotechnical consultant for the Collinsville-Newlands coal railway.
With extensive experience in both private practice and teaching, Dr Wallace said one of the attractions of QIT was the high regard in which Engineering School staff were held by the profession.
"They know what engineers do, and have been doing them themselves for a long time," Dr Wallace said.
He said the staff had "a unique combination of teaching effective- ness, plus broad professional experience."
The school itself was tailored to meet a diversity of community needs with a variety of courses, part-time and full-time, from associate diploma level to post graduate diploma and master's degree.
The main problem he sees facing the Civil Engineering Department, along with many QIT departments, is funding.
"The Institute is expected to develop and maintain its position as a leading tertiary institution in competition with universities and other major technological institutes, but individual departments are faced Page 2 INSIDE QIT, May 26, 1986.
with the need to carry staff lecture loadings which are of the order of twice those carried elsewhere," he said.
"We would hope in future for special consideration and funding to enable us to fulfil our responsibility for the development and transfer of high technology."
In the short-term, he said, his department would work to increase direct support from industry for development projects of mutual interest.
Dr Wallace, who lives at lndooroopilly, is married with two children, Fiona, 22, and Anne, 15.
His wife, Patricia, teaches theatre and history at All Hallows Girls School.
One of four elected staff said. "However, with the advent of members on QIT Council, Ms hard times for the sector, colleges are Therese Pearce says she has a changing. They are realising the value deep commitment to education - and the cost - of their human as part of the whole process of resources and looking for ways to society, including its contribution enhance the staff contribution to
· their educational and administrative
to mdustry and to social objectives. business.,
Ms Pearce has been Adminis- Ms Pearce said this had been tration Officer for the School of particularly significant for geneml
Built ear Enviromore than a few pment since hat&
19 7 J 9 ~a~nd~~s;ta~f~f~w~h~o·t~o~d~a~t~h~d-~n~~~--r--~
o Mthtn the Institute and in the WI ercommunity.
A former secondary school teacher, she holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma in Education from Queens- land University, and this year will complete a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration at QIT.
Since 1973 she has been involved in tertiary education administration, first with the Office of the Registrar at Queensland University, then at the School of Engineering at Hatfield Polytechnic in Britain.
Ms Pearce took up a position at Hatfield Polytechnic after she and her husband,journalist Leon Pearce, decided to extend their working holiday in England.
"I was very interested in the Poly- technic system in the U.K., and when I returned to Queensland, was pleased to get a job at QITwhere the system is similar," she said.
"QIT has far closer community involvement than many other tertiary institutions, with more flexibility in offering the community what is needed in educational and vocational training. And it caters to a broader range of students."
Ms Pearce said she had a particular interest in staff matters and saw her work on the Staff Committee as one of the major contributions she could make to Council business.
A great believer in staff involve- ment in management, she says tertiary institutions have had a poor record in this area.
"Traditionally they are top heavy bureaucratic institutions more akin to 19th Century civil service than modern service organisations," she
across Australia they constituted over half the college personnel and some
40%
at QIT."QIT will soon be developing programs in the general staff area.
This is a significant step towards increasing the skills, morale and commitment, and hence the pro- ductivity, of staff across the board.
However, I firmly believe the degree of success will depend on the extent to which staff are involved in the development of these programs,"
Ms Pearce said.
Besides being a staff representative on Council, Ms Pearce is a member of the Buildings and Grounds Com- mittee and convener of the Working Party on Equal Opportunity.
She belongs to six other edu-. cational organisations including the Association of Women Educators (Queensland) and has professional affiliation with the Australian Institute of Tertiary Educational Administrators and the Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration.
Snakebite antivenene continued from page 1
a mixture of venoms. The animal responds by" producing large amounts of antibodies. Blood is then drawn, and the antibodies concentrated and standardised. This substance is the antivenene.
M r Bennett said such 'antivenenes contained a relatively small number of proteins which offered protection against snakebite. Also, victims could react to horse plasma, and be at risk
from the treatment, rather than from the snakebite.
Once the active components were purified, it should be possible to produce a purer antivenene that targeted only those parts of the venom of medical importance.
Because of the new monoclonal antibody technology involved, this antivenene would be produced rela- tively cheaply and quickly and in
larger quantities than is now possible.
The technology would entail the use of mice, instead of horses, to produce antibodies.
Research so far has formed the basis for a grant application to the National Health and Medical Re- search Council ty Mr Bennett in conjunction with Dr Alan Whitaker, Reader in Medicine at Queensland University.
$1 million sought to develop aircraft
landing system
Safety at small airports could be significantly enhanced in the future by an advance in microwave landing systems.
In a world first, QlT lecturer, Mr George Feige has come up with a microwave system that is far cheaper than lnterscan, the one already under consideration for major international airports in Australia. lnterscan was trialled in Melbourne some time ago.
Unlike lnterscan, the new system allows installation of all equipment at the same site.
While still working on Interscan with the CSIRO, and during his twelve years at the Institute, Mr Feige developed a cheaper distance measuring equipment using micro- waves.
It replaces lnterscan's expensive dish antenna with four dipole antennae fixed on the ground. Air- craft would also need to be fitted with a new, more sophisticated type of receiver.
The new development uses the d1rect-spread spectrum radio wave system which has been known about for over 20 years. However, this is the first time it has been proposed for use in an aircraft landing system.
QIT's industrial liaison agency, Q SEARCH, has applied for a Federal grant of over one million dollars to develop the new system commercially.
Q SEARCH Project Development Officer, Mr Cec Maddox said there had already been talks with officers from the Federal Industry, Technol- ogy and Commerce Department who had encouraged the application made under the Industrial Research and Incentives Act.
If the application is successful, commercial development by QIT in cooperation with Australian industry will take three years.
QIT's Optometry Department have sent a threatening photograph to the Public Relations Officer, showing what would happen If he did not attract more publicity for the department. The clinical photograph showed the P.R.O. with a very black and bloodshot eye.
Actually, the eye was scored In an Indoor cricket match and four
members of the optometry staff were on the same team as the P.R.O.
He calls It 'contingency planning'.
As QIT schools prepare to take on faculty status, future deans of faculties (current heads of schools) are being asked to take on broader non-academic, non-school-specific responsibilities as members of the QIT executive. Examples of these additional responsibilities are Dr Tony Webber (Head of School of Health Science) chairing the working party on Community Building facilities and Dr Dennis Longley (Head of School of Computing Studies) chairing a group on the future needs of the QIT Library.
'Inside QIT' will not be published In June. No, the Public Relations Office will not be on strike. Rather, news sources and Internal readers will be scarce In the exam period (June 5-21) and mid-semester break (June 23-July 22). Publication will resume late July. Thanks to those who returnect the reader questionnaire Included In April issue. While the proportion of returns was relatively small, this feedback will assist us to refine the content of the newspaper for a diverse audience.
Returns are still welcome.
Mr Feige, who worked on lnterscan with CSIRO before joining QJT, said the main advantage of microwave landing systems was the ability to quickly control many aircraft in a widely dispersed approach pattern.
The present fixed system could handle virtually only one aircraft at a time.
"lnterscan is well suited to small airfields like Archerfield, but so expen- sive that it is economically feasible only for international airports," Mr Feige said.
The Feige advance not only measures the aircraft's distance and height above the ground (Glide Path), it can also determine if the aircraft is approaching down the centre of the runway ( Localiser), especially impor- tant during bad weather. The system can then align the aircraft for the safest possible approach.
Promising leads in Ciguatera research
Lecturer recognised at student eng. awards
A senior lecturer in mechanical engineering, retiring in July after 26 years at QJT, received a surprise student award for teaching excellence at the presentation of engineering awards to students on April 30.
Mr Keith Greenham was nomi- nated for the award by 52 of his students.
The awards ceremony at QJT saw engineering students in years 1-3 receive awards from companies and government organisations for out- standing progress in their courses.
However, the Society for Mature Age Students tagged the surprise presentation to Mr Greenham at the end of the ceremony. It was one of only two such QIT-wide awards in 1986.
S.M.A.S. coordinator, Ms Bet Gaunt, said the nomination described Mr Greenham as an outstanding lecturer who was very approachable and willing to help students at any
time. His coverage of subjects, both in theor and in tutorial , wa excellent.
In a keynote address to the ceremony on behalf of QJT Council, Mrs Betty Byrne-Henderson said Australia needed to train more engineers, and to be receptive to ideas of up and coming engineers in order to improve industry efficiency.
"We need to provide encouragement to young engineers and show them that we are receptive to their ideas,"
she said. "I am impressed that 45 organisations take this seriously and offer 66 awards for excellence to QIT engineering students."
Praising the 'Women in Engineer- ing Participation Program' at QJT, Mrs Byrne-Henderson said engineer- ing ideas had traditionally come from only half of the population.
Women engineers were few and far between, but they could be more creative and sensitive m some· important areas.
There has been an important development in ongoing QIT research into ciguatera poisoning caused by the consumption of tropical fish.
The project involves both the study of ciguatoxin in fish, and the effect the to · on the mammalian 11lc m uman rvous e .
Researcher, Dr Mike Capra, a senior lecturer in the Department of Public Health and Nutrition said it was now proven that the nerves of tropical fish- carriers of ciguatoxin - responded in a similar way to mammalian nerves.
Dr Capra and his research assistant, graduate student Mr Andrew Flowers, established previously that bream and whiting from the Brisbane area, which do not carry ciguatoxin, have similar nerve re- sponses to mammals, when exposed to ciguatoxin.
The significance of the latest find- ings is in why the carrier fish does not poison itself, and the answer could be the key to a cure for ciguatera poisoning.
"If tissues of the carrier fish are just as susceptible as the tissues of mammals, the fish must have some mechanism whereby it partitions the toxin away from target tissues like nerves," Dr Capra said.
"We think the ciguatoxin could be bound to some molecule, possibly protein, which detoxifies it, or it may be stored in some part of the body, for example, the liver, away from target tissues.~ ·
A significant number of Australians experience gastro-intestinal and neurological problems because of ciguatera poisoning. The most severe symptoms are muscle and joint pain, a tingling sensation in the limbs, and short-term memory loss, and these can last as long as 12 months.
The latest discovery on nerve reactions of tropical fish resulted from data obtained in two, fortnight trips to Queensland University's marine research station on Heron Island off Gladstone.
Coral trout and sweetlip were. · used for the experiments in January, 1986 and November, 1985.
Dr Capra said there had been two sets of experiments on isolated nerves.
The first series looked at how ciguatera altered electrical impulses carried by the fish nerves.
The second examined how sodium ions moved across nerve fibres.
"In essence, we looked at how ciguatera alters the normal movement of sodium ions across nerves, and
found the toxin rapidly increased the rate of movement," Dr Capra said.
The experiments both found that nerve reactions of tropical fish with ciguatoxin resembled mammalian nerve responses.
Funding for the ciguatera project has been renewed with a $21 500 Marine Science and Technology grant for this calendar year, and $18 000 from the Fishing Industry Research Committee.
. &
!
Ciguatera researchers, Mr Andrew Flowers (left) and Dr Mike Capra, counting Sodium efflux from samples of fish nerves.
QIT lecturers to
advise Solomon Is.
Two QIT experts, one in town/
regional planning and the other in electronic communications are visit- ing the Solomon Islands in May and June as technical advisors.
Senior lecturer in QIT's Depart- ment of Planning and Landscape Architecture, Mr George Williams, is spending one month until June 9 working with the Chief Physical Planner for the Solomons Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.
In an effort to improve the standard of training of indigenous planning technicians, Mr Williams is helping to conduct a workshop on various aspects of site planning, particularly for administrative centres and resi- dential sub-divisions.
Q SEARCH arranged his $8300 contract with the Solomon Islands Government. The project is being partially funded by Australia's inter- national aid agency, the Australian Development Assistance Bureau.
Mr Williams said before his
departure on May 12, that the Solomons had few trained pla~ner~.
The workshop would involve practical experience as well as lectures and tutorials.
Editors note: The workshop is still going ahead in the wake oft he tJdone.
Senior lecturer in the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Mr Pat Boddington, will spend three weeks in June living with the local people to assist with their technical training.
According to Mr Boddington, the introduction of technology to the islands is posing considerable prob- lems since there are virtually no trained personnel available.
"I will be working mainly on equipment used for communication~
between islands and fishing vesseb.
and with other electronic equipment such as in the hospital," he said.
His trip is being funded by thl' Uniting Church of Papua 1'\c\\
Guinea and the Solomon bland~.
Page 3
Geologists assess Central
Aust. groundwater capacity career Localgovt
research attracts
$25 000
QIT is involved in an international
!.ludy of vital importance to future urban and mining development of Central Australia.
1 he work is part of a Federal Bureau of Mineral Resources investi- gation m the 124 000 square kilo-
m~:tre Amadeus Basin. The basin includes the premier tourist destin- allons ot Alice Springs and Ayers
Rot:k.
(,roundwater is the lifeblood of de\ clopment in Australia's Red Centre. where surface moisture c\aporates at three times the rate of precipitation.
Current B.M.R. research in the Amadeus Basin aims to explain groundv..ater flow patterns and chemistry so the resource can be assessed and properly managed i.e.
to develop a model which will provide a firmer basis for future water resources development and manage- ment in the region.
The basin is also an important petroleum province, and a knowledge of deep groundwater movement is Important in petroleum exploration.
Scientists from a wide range of disciplines collaborating in the inves- tigation include QJT sedimentologist, Dr Aro Arakel, the Australian auth- ority on calcrete (or terrestrial limestone) deposits which act as reservoirs for freshwater in arid environments.
Long-term intensified development of Australia's arid zones for agri- culture, mining, tourism and abor- iginal development would increase
Trai
demand for groundwater, and accord- ing to Dr Arakel, it is imperative to know as much as possible about the vulnerable limestone reservoirs.
"Excessive water usage would re- sult in a lowering of the water table level. and eventual increase in salinity," he said.
"Increased salinity would affect not only groundwater quality but also the local soil regime and hence native flora."
The B.M.R. investigation involves continuing environmental monitoring and taking core samples from as deep as 35 metres from the Curtin Springs area of the Northern Territory, some 400 kilometres south west of Alice Springs.
In addition, a number of solar panels are being used to measure pan evaporation (the amount of evaporation on the Lake Amadeus surface), and all data is relayed by Landsat satellite to the Bureau in Canberra. To gauge the area's water resources, at QIT, Dr Arakel is using core samples for a detailed sedimen- tological study of the calcrete sediments.
Core analysis will indicate ground- water quality, which way the water is moving, and its geological history, an important factor in locating under- ground deposits elsewhere.
Nuclear magnetic resonance analy- sis of the cores is being done by QIT inorganic chemist, Dr Ray Frost, and Dr Peter Barron from Griffith University, with whom the N.M.R.
facility is shared.
earlier diagnosis from blood than machines
Machines should never replace trained medical technologists in diagnostic blood examination, a visit- ing world expert in haematology has warned.
Ms Jean Shafer, from the Depart- ment of Medicine at Rochester University, said a disturbing trend in the United States was that pathol- ogists were investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in white cell differential counting equipment, run by people who knew only how to operate a machine.
Ms Shafer was in Brisbane to address 250 medical laboratory scien- tists and advanced students at QIT on May 10.
"The best, easiest and fastest way to detect abnormal cells and what the) are is through examination of a blood smear by a well trained person,"
she said.
"Leukaemia and glandular fever, tor example, can be diagnosed Immediately and early, which is crit- ical for treatment in the case of leukaemia."
Subtle changes were observed by the trained eye for early diagnosis.
These changes would not register on machine analysis until the disease was more advanced.
Ms Shafer said the centralised, machine based systems were more economic for pathologists but did not necessarily provide the best service for patients.
Time delays caused by geography and machine hatching requirements could make certain tests meaningless.
For example, a platelet count had to be done within two hours of sampling.
Ms Shafer said the medical rebate system in U.S. hospitals had been modified to apply only where trained people had been involved in the blood analysis and interpretation process.
Ms Shafer was invited to QIT by acquaintance and one time visitor to Rochester University's Haematology Unit, Ms Pam Stallybrass, a senior lecturer in the Department of Medical Laboratory Science at QIT.
Her visit to QIT coincided with the International Conference on Haematology in Sydney from May 12-16.
Ms Jean Shafer (right) with Medical Laboratory Science senior lecturer, Ms Pam Stallybrass.
Page 4 INSIDE QIT, May 26, 1986.
For the sedimentology section of the B.M.R. study which Dr Arakel heads, he has engaged also former Australian National University visit- ing research fellow, Mr Chen Yijian from the Institute of Geology in Beijing.
An authority on carbon dating of carbonate deposits, Mr Yijian is scrutinising Curtin Springs core samples using both the carbon 14 and E.S. R., or electron spin resonance
methods. Mr Yijian has done many similar studies in China.
Also involved in the sedimen- tological study are Dr Berry Lyons of the University of New Hampshire, U.S.A., whose specialist field is inorganic chemistry of calcrete aquifers.
The Amadeus Basin project, an ongoing investigation by the B.M.R., is currently funded up till 1987.
Master's student curbs costs for S.E.Q.E.B.
QIT's Management Department has received a $25 000 grant for a review aimed at improving local government throughout Australia.
Senior lecturer in public adminis- tration, Mr John Forrest, will spend the rest of this year examining the educational requirements for senior administrative careers in local govern- ment, and the consequent in-service training needs.
A QIT master's student employed by the South East Queensland Elec- tricity Board has developed two system protection devices, one of which has the potential to consider- ably cut costs.
A digital protection scheme which the young engineer, Mr Ron Coomer, developed with A.W.A. Ltd, will remove the need for some of the expensive circuit breakers in high voltage networks.
S.E.Q.E.B. says the present in- stalled cost of one of these traditional circuit breakers is about $250 000.
The digital protection device is expected to cost about $20 000 and to help eliminate large numbers of circuit breakers in future major developments.
It is also capable of detecting faults on feeders connecting
is that it allo s
digital radio, or by optical fibre attached to a power line, or put underground.
The second type of protection researched by Mr Coomer is a highly insulated multi-point direct current intertrip device, costing about $500.
Using existing copper pilot cables and being battery-powered, it is ideal for use in major business districts.
When a fault occurs in a local
distribution system, the device is able to send a selective signal to sites and switch off circuit breakers, all in a fraction of a second.
The development of the two systems is the subject of Mr Coomer's master's thesis in QIT's Department of Electrical Engineering.
Bankers attend Titles seminar
More than 120 senior bank, build- ing society and credit union managers attended a seminar on new computer- ised Titles Office procedures at QIT on May 6.
Lecturer in accountancy at QIT, Mr Miles McGregor-Lowndes, said there had been no change to Titles Office forms since 1861 but the finance and legal professions would be confronted with a tota
of Titles, Mr Arthur Byrne, spoke at the seminar.
The seminar was originally arranged for students in the subject 'Financial Institutions Law' intro- duced for the first time this semester at QIT. The subject was being con- ducted for the Australian Institute of Bankers, with students paying $250 to attend.
QIT plans to introduce a degree in finance and banking in 1988.
The Commonwealth Office ot Local Government and Adminis- trative Affairs made the grant under its Local Government Development Program.
M r Forrest said his review followed an investigation by 3ritish local government expert, Professor Henry Maddick, into training and career development for local government administrators.
Professor Maddick's work led to some relaxing of fairly rigid state rules that virtually prevented town and shire clerks moving interstate.
Mr f-orrest said the project would entail visits to every state capital in the second hall ol thi~ year.
state local government departments, senior local government administrators, local government associations, and institutes of municipal management.
Local government associations represent elected members, and the institutes the senior administrative staff.
Mr Forrest has had a particular interest in local government since the 1970's.
Solar energy device on trial at Noosa national park
An alternative energy source, a solar concentrator designed and built in QIT's Physics Department, has been installed at the National Parks and Wildlife Service (N.P.W.S.) display at Lake Cootharaba, Noosa to power a water pump.
The concentrator is the result of three years research into a new design of non-tracking solar collectors using oil as a refracting medium by QIT lecturers in physics, Dr Ian Edmonds and Dr Ian Cowling.
The 12 Volt, 30 watt solar concen- trator uses photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity which is then stored in a battery. A control unit automatically switches the pump on and off as required.
The pump supplies water for the public toilets in the display centre. A petrol engine was previously used. .
Dr Edmonds said N.P.W.S. is interested in alternative energy sources to replace current dependence on diesel and petrol engine generator systems.
"Many of the areas serviced by the N. P. W .S. are remote and transport of fuel is expensive, time consuming and sometimes hazardous," he said.
The collector and pumping system which was tested for six months at QIT before installation at the display centre last August has been operating successfully and without maintenance since then.
wBecause several thousand visitors
pass through the centre each year, the location is ideal to test the durability of the materials and design of the concentrator," Dr Edmonds said.
Further development of the system is still taking place and Dr Cowling hopes to build a 75 watt module this year based on the design used at Lake Cootharaba.
Ql T physics lecturers, Dr /an Edmonds (left) and Dr /an Cowling with their solar energy device.
amp gives students camera 'feel'
Sixteen students from the Communication Department are now applying practical skills learnt on location at the biannual audio-visual camp at Dayboro.
The camp, the 21st of its kind, is conducted for advertising, journalism, and public relations students with a special interest in film and television.
In a concentrated weekend program, the second and third year students covered the whole aspect of making a film from setting up and lighting a scene, to various types of camera work.
Senior lecturer in the department, Mr Ridley Williams, said the problem in teaching film and video production was finding enough time for practical experience.
"By taking an entire weekend we greatly extend the
time available for experimenting with equipment," he said. "Students are then far more competent to produce the videos required for assessment."
Another advantage of the Dayboro camp, owned by Marist Brothers, is that students get to know each other and team up naturally for their semester's film or video project.
Mr Williams said the camp was not all work.
Between experimenting with focus-pulling, slow motion and macro and micro photography, and learning to film from moving vehicles, the students managed to take a swim in the North Pine River, and have dinner on Saturday night at the Dayboro pub.
Former A.B.C. TV News director, Mr Bernie Murchison, who now lectures in public relations and audio visual, was also on hand to give students an insight into the real world of moving pictures.
Advertising, journalism, and public relations students 'on location' at the film camp. The tent-/ike hut is the result of a design project by Institute built environment students in the mid-1970's. Radiating rafters and a sleeping platform hang from a central pole. Second-year students designed and partly built five huts each with accommodation for ten people.
Qld could benefit
fro
technology
• •
From the year 170 I to Park A v.::nue in modern-day New York -- that broadly describes the P.E.P. leave experience of Mr John de Groot, principal lecturer in Legal Practice in QIT's Law School.
During six months overseas experi-
ence, Mr de Groot divided his time
equally between working for two top law firms- one in London and one in New York.
He had expected differences in style and approach in the two legal scenes, and was not disappointed.
In Britain, his employer was the Queen's solicitor, Farrer and Co., a tirm practising in the centre of the London legal district of Lincoln's Inn Fields. But Mr de Groot would not say whether he had worked on any cases involving the Royal Family.
"The traditions of the law were very much m evidence," Mr de Groot said. "The firm was established in 170 I and has occupied the same premises since 1789."
The charter setting up the Bank of England was signed in the room which is now the senior partner's office.
The 'glass and brass' of New York City came as quite a contrast to the London work environment.
M r Groot said New York Ia wyers seemed to use modern technology to a level of sophistication unrivalled anywhere else in the world, and much ahead of Australia.
"The competitiveness of the legal scene there, and the generally more aggressive litigation attitude in the United States have resulted in full advantage being taken of modern technology," he said.
"Video presentations of part of a
client's case, and the use of computer- generated simulations of accidents are commonplace in American courtrooms."
Mr de Groot said that in one recent case, the judge allowed a direct video link via satellite between
a ·tness and the court room. The
witness appeared on a screen in the courtroom befure t · ury and judge,
and was examined and cross- examined by counsel.
"The attitude was that anything could be used in the courtroom environment provided it did not constitute a threat to a fair trial for all parties concerned," Mr de Groot explained.
He said despite big differences in the way law was practised in London and New York, the professional qualities and legal skills required were very much the same.
He believed the Queensland legal system 'held up extremely well' by comparison, but the state could learn par1icularly from some of the tech- nological advances in the United States.
Mrde Groot, who has served on a number of committees of the Queensland Law Society, said his P.E.P.leave had helped further liaison between the Brisbane fraternity and senior legal professionals in the United States.
One direct result was the visit to Brisbane of a senior partner in the New York legal firm where M r de Groot worked. At the Law Society's invitation, the American, Mr Marc Moller, addressed a well- attended Brisbane seminar earlier in the month.
Mr de Groot
Journalism student scouts
A QIT journalism student who took part in a unique Bangladesh self-help project, also used the experi- ence to put together two programs for A.B.C. Radio in Brisb~ne.
Third-year student, Mr Peter Greste, 20, spent a month in the first team for the Bangladesh-Australia Child Health project, started this year by the scouting movement.
The project involves Australians working with Bengali scouts to help villagers to improve their conditions mostly using their own resources.
At an international conference in Geneva in 1984, it was suggested that Rover scouts of western nations might work through their developing nation counterparts to improve third world conditions.
Twenty-six Australian Rovers, including Peter Greste, who has been a scout since he was eight, took up the challenge this year in three Bengali villages.
Mr Greste was one of a team stationed at Bahadurpur, about 40 kilometres north of the capital, Dacca.
He said one prerequisite for the B.A.C.H. project was that the village had at least one scout troop.
The Scout Association in Bangladesh was organised through education institutions, and was respected by villagers.
In addition, most villages had no formal hierarchy like elders, and the association provided a formal structure suitable for making arrange- ments to benefit the whole community.
Mr Greste said the idea was to cooperate with Bengali scout troops to make practical improvements like mending village pumps, and to introduce new concepts such as health care and hygiene. ·
At Bahadurpur, population around 2000, local scouts had set up a social club, and built a clubhouse.
The club then established a village development committee, and this was where the Australians came in.
Mr Greste said village improve- ment was often just a matter of organisation and acquiring simple skills.
For example, village water pumps had been known to remain idle for years when as little as a new washer was needed to fix them.
The problem could be that no-one officially owned the pump, so no- one arranged for its repair, or that no-one knew how to repair it.
Another self-help scheme involved persuading farmers who worked small -plots of land individually to grow rice, to combine their fields to grow cash crops. All that was needed was village cooperation, and the Bengalis, among the poorest people in developing nations, increased their incomes seven-fold.
The project was also useful in promoting better nutrition: with higher incomes, the villagers were able to vary their diets.
Mr Greste sees the B.A.C.H.
project as especially important because it fosters independence.
"Westerners tend to go into devel- oping countries with financial aid and to impose their ideas and technol- ogy. The 'give' concept develops a 'take' mentality in the villages," he said.
Two teams of Australian Rover scouts will make two visits a year to Bangladesh for the next five years.
The long-term aim is to have the project run completely by local people.
Before his departure, Mr Greste was contracted by the A.B. C. to put together two radio packages on his visit. The two, ten-minute segments have already gone to air on Newsday programs on 4QR.
Peter will also be credited for these for his journalism studies.
Bengali scouts sink a well under the direction of Australian scouts.
Peter Greste was the photographer.
---
INSIDE QIT, May 26, 1986. PageS
r
Low dose multi-vitamin launched by dietitian
Interaction key to
·adult learning
A Brisbane academic says that most organised learning in the foresee- able future will be done by adults, rather than by school children.
error, had more going for it than the static classroom approach using mechanical, one-way communication rather than organic, people-to-people interaction.
QIT dietitian and nutritionist, Dr Fiona Cumming, a critic of vitamin pill-popping, has com- mended the release in Australia of the first low-dosage multi- vitamin tablets.
The multi-national pharmaceutical company which manufactures the new product invited her to speak at the April24 national launch in Sydney because of her knowledge of nutrition for pregnant and lactating women.
Dr Cumming, a lecturer in the Department of Public Health and Nutrition, was awarded her doctorate this month for her research into breast-feeding and factors that affect breast milk composition.
One low dosage multi-vitamin now available was formulated for pregnant women.
Dr Cumming said at least one in five Australians took vitamins regu- larly whether they needed them or not, and there·were definite hazards.
However, if vitamin supplements were needed, they should be used only at the level recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council, i.e. the Recom- mended Dietary Intake (RDI).
"Most multi-vitamins are not only
high-dosage, but individual vitamins. are grossly out of proportion, some up to 100 times the Recommended Dietary Intake," she said.
Dr Cumming said excessive vitamin usage by pregnant women presented definite hazards.
For example, animal tests had shown that high dosages of Vitamin A could result in a vety high incidence of birth abnormalities and, in humans, babies whose mothers had taken high doses of Vitamin C during pregnancy could become dependent on the vitamin.
The condition is known as rebound scurvy.
Some pregnant women may,how- ever,need a vitamin supplement.
For instance, vegans- vegetarians who use no animal products - can become deficient in Vitamin Bl2, for which there is no other source.
Although B 12 can be stored in the body for five to seven years, preg- nancy can deplete nutritional re- sources and a deficiency can cause brain damage in children.
Dr Cumming, the Queensland chairman of the Australian Nutrition Foundation advised people who were
Ambitious plans for Tertiary Studies Expo.
The Q IT stand at Tertiary Studies Expo. will be more professional this year if ideas put forward by industrial design students are implemented.
Tertiary Studies Expo. will be held from June 24-26 at the Brisbane City Hall.
The expo. allows high school and mature age students to see all higher education institutions in Queensland and Northern New South Wales under one roof, to assist in career and course choice. Course appli- cations must be made with the Queens-
land Tertiary Admissions Centre by October 8.
Students in the built environment degree were asked to draw~
display stand as an industrial design class assignment. The chosen design was by James Campbell.
A spokesman for Admissions and Administrative Services Section, who manage the QIT stand, said budget would not allow full construction of the design this year. However, the basic floor plan could be used to assist student flow.
Coopers & Lybrand donates software to Accountancy
A national firm of chartered accountants has donated micro- computer software valued at $5000 to QIT's Department of Accountancy.
The donation is part of a $250 000 program by Coopers and Lybrand to provide software to up to 50 Australian universities and colleges of advanced education for instruc- tional purposes in classrooms.
The microcomputer package, PREAUDIT, is the same software used by the firm for audit working paper presentation.
Partner in charge of Coopers and Lybrand Queensland, Mr Richard
Anderson, said the donation was in response to changes computer tech- nology brought to the profession of accountancy, which in turn required changes in academic preparation.
"We regularly employ business studies graduates from QIT and it is very important to us that these students are trained within an academic environment that is relevant to the actual practice of accounting in the field," he said.
Sufficient copies of the software have been provided so that students can gain hands-on experience with the package.
Mr. Richard Anderson (Coopers & Lybrand) presents the PREAUDIT software to senior lecturer in accountancy, Mr John Polychronis (centre). C& L's computer services partner, Mr Richard Dunston looks on.
Page 6 INSIDE QIT, May 26, 1986.
Dr Cumming
not sure their diet was satisfactory, to consult a qualified dietitian. In addition, the National Health and Medical Research Council publishes a booklet on Recommended Dietary Intake levels, and the Australian Nutrition Foundation has produced several information sheets about how to achieve the Recommended Dietary
Intakes.
FOOTNOTE: Dr Cumming is now an old hand at media Interviews. In one day in Sydney between 7.00 a.m.
and 6.00 p.m., she did more than a dozen interviews ·for newspapers, radio and television.
A highlight, which 'terrified' her until she warmed to her subject, was a segment on the A.B.C. program 'Morning Extra', when she answered questions from nursing mothers and pregnant women throughout Australia.
Mr Tony Stevenson, principal lecturer in QIT's Communication Department, says computers could be useful, but on-the-job trainers should resist pressures to let com- puters take over entirely. Computers were merely a tool to enhance learn- ing, not a substitute for people-to- people involvement.
In a paper delivered in Hobart last month during the national conference of the Australian Institution of Training and Development, Mr Stevenson warned of pitfalls in computer-based training.
He said rapid technological ad- vances meant that much. of what was learnt at school no longer applied mid-<:areer, and the need for continu- ing training was recognised in Australia.
Australians should ensure they were up to date with how best to train people.
Mr Stevenson said computers were having a stronger and stronger impact in the world of human resource development. An estimated 27% of all organisations in the United States were using computers in training last year.
Pressures to train more people quickly, and a· consequent shortage of trainers could lead to the trap of using computers to do the whole job.
"Technology can put barriers up between people which they won't accept, and trainers should recognise this," Mr Stevenson said.
Modern research into how people learn had supported the Japanese . .
used in their environment. A hands- on approach, learning by trial and
Karen Howitt, who graduated from QlT last month, was tragically killed in an automobile crash on the South-East Freeway on May 13.
Karen, 21, was an outstanding student in the communication degree.
She majored in public relations and won several academic awards. She did her work experience with Burson Marsteller, the largest international public relations Consultancy, which gave her the highest praise for the quality of her work.
Karen was currently operating her own consultancy on the Gold Coast, Share and Care Enterprises.
which she started while still a student.
First grants awarded in
QIT/CSIRO research scheme
The first grants for the CSIRO/
QIT Collaborative Research Funding Scheme have been offered for 1986/87, following a meeting of the joint Grants Committee on May 7.
The scheme was recently estab- lished to strengthen CSlRO and Institute research activities by en- couraginggreater interaction between research groups, particularly where complementary strengths could be brought together.
Chairman of the Grants Com- mittee, Dr Miles Moody (Head of· QIT's Department of Electronic Systems Engineering), advised that nine grant applications were received by the committee seeking total funds of $109 382. All applications were of high standard.
Funds allocated for 1986(87 totalled $60 000.
The following eight projects were supported for 1986/87:
CSIROJQIT Grants Committee members, from left: Dr Brian Brown (QIT Optometry Dept), Dr John Lowke (CSIRO Chief of Div. of Applied Physics), Dr Miles Moody (QIT Head of Electronic Systems Engineering Dept) and Dr Barry Brady (CSIRO Chief of Div. of· Geomechanics ).
Prujec/ 1itle
Development of? validated simulation model of the thermal processes in electrical switchgear and controlgear assemblies
The concentration and bioavailability of Selenium in mothers milk
Feasibility of a low-cost glide-path subsystem of a Correlation Microwave Landing System (MLS) for domestic airports
Studies of novel stabilizer systems for polymers
Igneous intrusions in Bowen Basin coal measures
Iron supplementation during pregnancy and zinc-related birth defects
VLSI implementation of a novel block Boating point processor for digital filtering applications·
The development of a system for the
quantitative analysis of Colour Ocular Fundus Images
Value Researchers
$ QJT
8500
6500 5800
9800
Mr D Birtwhistle
Dept Electrical Engineering Dr F J Cumming
Dept Public Health and Nutrition Mr G Feige
Dept Electronic Systems Engineering
Dr G A George Dept Chemistry 12 300 Dr L Hamilton
Dept Applied Geology 4800 Dr C Reilly & Dr C Patterson
Dept Public Health & Nutrition 10 llOO Dr S Sridhamn
Dept Electronic Systems Engineering
1500 Dr M Moody & Mr G Winstanley Dept Electronic Systems
Engineering
Dr B Brown Dept Optometry
CSIRO
Dr J Van Leersum Div. of Energy Technology Dr T M Florence Div. of Energy Chemistry Dr G Poulton
Div. of Radiophysics Dr D H Solomon Div. of Applied Organic Chemistry
Dr C W Mallett Div. of Geomechanics Dr I Dreosti
Div. of Human Nutrition Dr J O'Sullivan
Signal Processing Group - Div. of Radiophysics Dr J O'Callaghan Div. of Information Technology
Enquiries about grant applications for 1987/8&, which will be called for in January 1987, should be directed to QIT's Office of Research and Development.
