IQ insideQueensland University of Technology Newspaper Issue 284 May 13 - July 14, 2008
www.news.qut.edu.au George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3138 2361 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778. CRICOS No 00213J Professor Christine Bruce Dr Helen Partridge
Dance
HE may be blue-eyed and fair-skinned, but the heart and blood of QUT dancer Ian Colless is Australian Aboriginal.
The dedicated QUT third-year dance student and choreographer, who is as devoted to his Indigenous heritage as to his art form, said his body symbolised reconciliation.
“My skin is white, and my heart and blood are black,” Ian said.
“I want to be a person to represent my culture through dance. I want to educate people about my culture through the vocabulary of dance.”
Ian discovered dance at an early age and knew it was his calling.
“My grandmother introduced me to dance, watching with me the old MGM movies starring Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers,” he said.
“She also played to me a VHS recording of Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Ochres.
“At seven years old, I knew that this was what I wanted to do. I knew it on a spiritual level.”
Ian said he loved to fuse contemporary and traditional dance forms to create original choreographies.
“My aim is to develop my own understanding of what Aboriginal dance is and what contemporary dance is, and to create a unique dance vocabulary,”
he said.
“My tribe, the Gundugarra Nation, comes from the Blue Mountains, which was hit by white culture very early on after colonisation.
“We lost many of our traditions. My work is trying to reconnect with culture.”
Ian was recently awarded an Indigenous Youth Leadership Programme Tertiary Scholarship from The Foundation for Young Australians to help him
undertake his studies and develop his leadership potential.
His successes include winning a choreography competition at Blue Mountains Art Space this year against a professional fi eld.
He was also invited to undertake a three-month placement with Leigh Warren and Dancers, one of Australia’s premier contemporary dance companies, after dancing at the Adelaide Festival of Arts this year.
Ian plans to undertake his Masters in Fine Arts performance at the London School of Contemporary Dance, and attend lessons at the prestigious Laban dance school, London, as well.
- Rachael Wilson
Celebrate National
Reconciliation Week
NATIONAL Reconciliation Week will take place from May 26 to celebrate the culture and history of Indigenous Australians.
This year’s theme Reconciliation:
it’s all our story follows Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s formal apology to members of the Stolen Generations earlier this year.
Events at QUT will include Sea of Hands activities, cultural performances and workshops.
National Reconciliation Week events at QUT
• Monday May 26, 11am-1pm, GP, V Block podium, information stalls and sign the Close the Gap pledge.
• Tuesday May 27, 11am-1pm, KG, A Block Lawn, Lunch, Sea of Hands, Aboriginal dancing, information stalls and sign the Close the Gap pledge.
• Wednesday May 28, 11am-1pm, CA, Plaza, Lunch, Sea of Hands, Aboriginal dancing, information stalls and sign the Close the Gap pledge.
• Thursday May 29, 11am-1pm, CB, F block courtyard, Lunch, Sea of Hands, Aboriginal dancing, information stalls and sign the Close the Gap pledge.
More details at:
www.equity.qut.edu.au.
You can also take part in the Close the Gap campaign, which highlights the difference in life expectancy between Indigenous and non- Indigenous Australians, by signing the pledge at: www.oxfam.org.au/
campaigns/indigenous-health/.
National Close the Gap Day took place on Tuesday April 22.
A leap for
reconciliation
Teaching and learning
TWO teaching experts from QUT’s Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) have each been recognised for their teaching and learning research, being awarded prestigious associate fellowships by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
QUT FIT senior lecturer Helen Partridge and FIT cluster leader for Information Science Professor Christine Bruce won two of only eight associate fellowships off ered this year, making QUT the only Australian university to win more than one.
The Australian Learning and Teaching Council, formerly known as the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, awards the associate fellowships to support leading educators as they further enhance the quality of tertiary teaching through research projects.
Dr Partridge is embarking on research that will keep information management students up-to-date with the latest web technologies.
“The library and information world has been greatly impacted by Web 2.0 technology,” Dr Partridge said.
“You can’t turn around anywhere without hearing someone talk
about their blog or Myspace page.
“My goal is to produce students who are not only leaders but innovators in Web 2.0.”
Professor Bruce is researching the best strategies for working with PhD students.
“My research project will help IT and engineering PhD candidates make the most of their doctoral experience,” Professor Bruce said.
“Being awarded the associate fellowship is recognition of the importance of teaching and learning research within the sector and nationally.
“It is national recognition of our faculty’s focus on the importance of student learning.”
QUT wins two national teaching fellowships
The educators will be given grants of up to $80,000 to undertake their research.
The wins are the latest in a string of teaching and learning
successes at QUT’s FIT, including an Excellence Award and four citations and involvement in two Council-funded research projects.
Indigenous QUT dance student Ian Colless.
>> All aboard Smart Train - Page 2 >> QUT’s medical research marvels - Pages 4-5 >> Podiatry student run off his feet - Page 8
COMMENT
AS the newly appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development), I am delighted to be part of the QUT community and to be working with you on the university’s engagement agenda.
Being connected to our local, n a t i o n a l a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l communities is at the core of QUT’s mission as a “university for the real world”.
C e n t r a l t o t h i s i s Q U T ’s commitment to engage with its students, staff , alumni, industry and government.
In coming weeks there are a number of QUT activities which demonstrate this character, among the many other national and international activities that QUT is engaged in.
Firstly, the QUT Smart Train was launched last week by the Governor of Queensland, Her Excellency Quentin Bryce in Ipswich.
The train is this year’s biggest engagement activity involving staff from across the university – both academics and professionals. The full details are set out in this issue of Inside QUT.
QUT Coff ee Week (26-30 May) is being held across campuses to raise funds and awareness for the QUT Learning Potential Fund.
This scholarship fund is generously support by alumni, staff and donors to QUT who believe in providing fi nancial support to disadvantaged students.
A number of senior staff , including the Vice-Chancellor, will be serving coff ee at diff erent times during the week. Visit www.giving.qut.edu.au to see who will be serving coff ee at an outlet near you! Last year QUT Coff ee Week raised over $12,000 when matched by QUT.
QUT Coffee Week is just one of a number of activities designed to encourage a culture of giving at QUT.
Last month we also launched a new Staff Giving Committee.
The committee will be chaired by Professor Vi McLean and eight loyal staff donors have volunteered to guide and advise on the direction of staff giving.
Secondly, many of our students are making valuable contributions to the community well before they graduate.
The Student Leadership Awards aim to recognise students of QUT for the quality of their engagement with the university and the wider community. Ten Student Leadership Award Winners have been chosen and the Student Leader of the Year will be announced at a ceremony to be held on Wednesday 9 July.
Finally, we are very proud to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of QUT’s Alumni through the Outstanding Alumni Awards (OAA).
The Awards recognise graduates of QUT and its predecessor institutions fo r exc e p t i o n a l p r o fe s s i o n a l , academic or research achievement and contribution to the community at the local, state, national or international levels.
This year’s breakfast ceremony will be held on Wednesday 23 July at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Bank. I look forward to seeing you there.
Scott Sheppard Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and
Development)
Education
YEAR 12 students in Brisbane’s north now have the opportunity to jump- start education degrees from the comfort of their classroom.
Q U T d e v e l o p e d t h e QUTeach@Redcliff e program, which was launched this month, to teach three fi rst-year university subjects to students undertaking their Queensland Senior Certifi cate.
QUT academic Sue Hudson, who co-developed the program, said 26 students from the Redcliff e, Deception Bay and Clontarf Beach State High Schools would gather two afternoons a week, outside of school hours, at the Redcliff e High School campus to
undertake the study.
Ms Hudson said students who successfully completed the program would automatically gain entry into QUT’s early childhood education, primary education or high school e d u c a t i o n c o u r s e , a n d wo u l d receive accreditation for the subjects completed.
“The course is on par with students studying at QUT,” she said.
“They will watch lectures videoed at the university and will undergo course work with their tutor, while their assessment items will be moderated against the work of tertiary students to ensure academic standards are maintained.”
- Rachael Wilson
Staff
WHEN QUT ombudsman Neville Bof inger star ted work at the Queensland Institute of Technology in January 1968 he drove a Morris 1100 that cost $1 to fi ll.
Dr Bof inger, pictured, makes his reminiscences of his early QUT days sound so long ago that when he mentions “before the fl ood” you think he is getting biblical. But he means the 1974 flood which inundated Brisbane, shortly after which the campus was transformed into something more closely resembling what it is today.
And though he laments the passing of the old B Block which had a curved sandstone portico and cedar staircase echoing the stately lines of Old Government House, watching the growth and development of QUT from his ringside seat has been interesting.
He fronted up as a teacher of physical chemistry for “the princely sum of $3400 a year” and parked that Morris “anywhere you liked on the
campus” which was, in those days,
“a sea of asphalt”.
Dr Bofi nger undertook a PhD in theoretical chemistry by part-time study, and went on to teach and research environmental chemistry and air quality.
Over a period of two years he made weekly presentations about science on a nationally televised children’s program.
He served as Australia/New Zealand President of the air quality professional body, and is currently vice-president of the international union of air quality associations for which he was chair of the organising committee of the World Clean Air Congress held in Brisbane last year.
Stints as a course co-ordinator for 1000 students and participation in the University Management Development program gave him an insight into the way universities and people work.
It set him in good stead for his fi ve years as ombudsman where “a couple of hundred” of the university population contact him each year
for advice or help to deal with a situation.
“I really enjoy the role assisting and advising students who have a grievance about an academic or administrative decision,” Dr Bofi nger said.
“I am not an advocate for students but, rather, investigate and try to resolve a situation without necessarily attaching blame. It’s a role that potentially protects the university as well as the student.”
- Niki Widdowson
Science
THE 2008 QUT Smart Train is taking a green message to regional Queensland during its 10,000 kilometre journey around the State.
It’s expected up to 20,000 school kids will climb on board the train for interactive displays and information over four carriages which will be overseen by researchers and staff from QUT.
Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC, Governor of Queensland, offi cially launched the QUT Smart Train at the historical Workshops Railway Museum at Ipswich last Friday May 9.
The train will embark on a fi ve- week trip to 24 regional centres from Charleville to Cairns from May 9 – June 13.
QUT Executive Dean of Science Professor Margaret Britz said the train would highlight environmental and health issues such as carbon cycles, healthy soil, biofuels and more.
“It’s an opportunity for students
and the public to experience the latest in science, technology and innovation and its application to everyday life,”
she said.
“For example, students will learn how to extract DNA from fruit using a simple recipe, they can take a bone quiz, build a spinal column and participate in a happiness survey,”
she said.
The 2008 train will be the fifth train to travel throughout the State continuing a highly successful program started by QUT in 1997.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said that even though QUT was city-based, the university had a long commitment to rural and regional Queensland.
“We have several thousands of students at QUT who come from the regions,” Professor Coaldrake said.
“The QUT Smart Train gives us an opportunity to reach out to kids from an early age with messages about the value of science and technology and maybe even influence their future careers.”
The train involves faculties including business, built environment and eng ineering, creative industries, education, health, infor mation technology, law and science.
Major suppor ters include the Queensland Government, ABC Local Radio, Queensland Rail and Southern Cross Ten News.
The train will head west from Ipswich to Toowoomba, Roma, Mitchell, Charleville, and Chinchilla.
Then it heads north to Nambour, Gympie, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Emerald, Long reach, Barcaldine, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Cloncurry, Mount Isa, Richmond, Charters Towers, Cairns, Ingham, Ayr, Proserpine and fi nishing at Roma Street, Brisbane.
Th e 2 0 0 8 QU T S m a r t Tr a i n program also includes public forums in Toowoomba, Mackay, Bundaberg, Cairns, Gladstone and Charleville.
All details and dates can be found on www.train.qut.edu.au.
- Amanda Walker
QUT in Year 12
40 years on the job
– and still going strong
QUT Smart Train:
green message on track
Redcliffe High School students from the QUTeach@Redcliffe program (l-r) Ellie McKay, Amy Stuckey, QUT’s Sue Hudson and Chloe Alexander.
Nine-year-old Elliott Craft, left, and his brother William, 7, joined Governor Quentin Bryce as fi rst visitors to board the QUT Smart Train.
Science
PLASTIC bags shouldn’t be on the endangered list just because people don’t use and dispose of them wisely, according to QUT scientist Associate Professor Steven Bottle.
Associate Professor Bottle said the ongoing debate over whether plastic bags should be removed from Australian supermarkets because they were “non-biodegradable” doesn’t mean we should bin the bag.
“A better approach to bagging the bag is to introduce more sustainable plastic bags and consider placing a small levy on them to reduce their consumption,” he said.
“I am not saying a $1 a bag here, but I think most people would be comfortable paying a small fee per bag, and if people pay a little bit of money for something then they tend to respect it more.
“It’s a win-win situation.”
Professor Bottle, who is an expert in polymers from the Australian Research Council-funded Centre of Excellence in Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology, said there were a number of options that Australia should consider in regards to plastic bag consumption – and the answer was not simply making them extinct.
“There is technology available where plastic bags can be made to be either photodegradable or biodegradable,”
he said.
“A photodegradable plastic bag, the cheaper option, uses free radicals to break up the material that makes the plastic bag and this means that the bag will degrade in sunlight.”
“If exposed to sunlight it will lose
its strength and eventually breakdown into small bits, generally down to the size of dust.”
“This is much better for the environment, especially the marine environment, than non-biodegradable bags.”
Professor Bottle said biodegradable bags, while more expensive, were made with plant-based materials and therefore able to be eaten by micro- organisms.
“ O ve r t i m e t h e b a g t o t a l l y disintegrates into the environment,”
he added.
Professor Bottle said for their purpose, plastic bags were hard to beat.
“It’s not about replacing the plastic bag…we’ve got material that has very good properties but some people misuse it.”
- Denise Cullen
Science
A M I N I - P ROT E I N fo u n d i n sunfl ower seeds could be the key to stopping tumours spreading in prostate cancer patients, according to QUT researchers.
Dr Jonathan Harris, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Science, and PhD student Joakim Swedburg, both from the university’s Institute o f H e a l t h a n d B i o m e d i c a l Innovation, are working on the pr otease inhibitor, and have received over $600,000 worth of grants this year to support their research.
T h e g r a n t s c a m e f r o m Queensland Cancer Research, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Dr Harris said the sunfl ower- derived inhibitor was naturally occurring, which meant it was cheap to produce.
“We are interested in customising this sunflower molecule as a component of potential treatment of prostate cancer, in particular for those patients who relapse,” said Dr Harris.
“The best thing to do in those cases is block the disease spreading to other organs, particularly the
spine, which is very debilitating;
it is not the prostate tumour that kills you, it is when the cancer cells escape from the prostate so we want to prevent that.”
A n o t h e r Q U T r e s e a r c h e r, Professor Judith Clements, had previously shown that the action of enzymes called proteases was a key event in tumour spread, and Dr Harris said that the sunfl ower mini-protein was able to block these enzymes in test tube-based trials.
“However, it also inhibits a whole range of proteases, some of which control important processes in the body, so we have re-engineered the molecule so it should just block the proteases produced in prostate cancer and hence stop tumours spreading, whilst leaving other processes intact,” he said.
The National Health and Medical Research Council grant will allow Dr Harris and his team to perform tests on the re-engineered inhibitor in animals over the next months.
“It feels like we have been covered in a shower of gold at the moment, it is very exciting for us because we are a small team but we have been working very hard on this for a long time,” he said.
“We are extremely happy because
Urban planning
QUT urban planning students have again blitzed the fi eld at the national Planning Institute of Austr alia awards.
For the sixth year running, a group of urban planning students have won the Student Project award, beating all other universities.
The icing on the cake was the win of Yen Trinh, a former QUT student, who won the Young Planner of the Year award.
Urban Development Associate Professor Phil Heywood said Ms Trinh graduated from the QUT Graduate Diploma in Urban Regional Planning in 2004.
“Yen has worked for private planning companies and this year began work as an urban planner at the Brisbane City Council,” he said.
“She spent a semester during her studies in 2002 at the American San Jose State University under their Masters of Urban Planning program. Her work there earned her an award from the American Planning Association.”
Professor Heywood said a team of students, who last year completed the Urban Planning Practice and Regional Planning Practice Master and Graduate Diploma courses, had already done exceptionally well to win a Queensland PIA award late last year, and the quality of their work was reconfi rmed with the win at the national awards this week.
“The students under took the regeneration of the Buranda-Stones Corner in the inner south-east area of Brisbane,” he said.
“They combined practical planning steps with an idealistic vision.
“They balanced the regeneration of the Stones Corner shopping precinct with the environmental potential of the Norman Creek Corridor, and the redevelopment of the Boggo Road jail site and Princess Alexandra Hospital, together with the public transport developments of the Schonell Bridge and Busway.”
The project was jointly supervised by Associate Professor Phil Heywood and Dr Tan Yigitcanlar.
- Rachael Wilson
Sunfl ower seeds hold cancer hope
now we can carry out trials in mouse-models of prostate cancer and if we have positive results, it is possible that a pharmaceutical company may wish to collaborate in
the development of the inhibitor.
“Cur rently bluebox, QUT’s commercialisation company, is helping us towards that goal.
“The dream end-product is having
a drug which could be produced in sunfl ower seeds and given as a simple dietary supplement for people with prostate cancer.”
- Sharon Thompson
Don’t bin the bag
Planners win - again
Top, student winners (l-r) Michael Webb, Geneva Vanderzeil, Kelly Parker, Roberta Moberg and Scott Entwistle. Below, PIA Young Planner of the Year Yen Trinh.
Dr Jonathan Harris, left, and PhD student Joakim Swedburg are working on the protease inhibitor.
Nursing
IF you are what you eat, what you eat has a lot to do with how you think about yourself, says a QUT PhD researcher whose study is part of an international research project on the healthy ageing of women.
N u r s i n g r e s e a r c h e r R h o n d a Anderson, pictured, said self-effi cacy had emerged as a strong infl uence on women’s decision to do more exercise or eat more healthily.
She surveyed more than 560 South- East Queensland women aged between 51 and 66 on their exercise and diet habits and found that although women in their 50s were keen to make healthier diet and exercise changes, they had few eff ective strategies to draw upon.
“This is an age when women’s weight tends to peak, and almost two-thirds of the survey group were overweight or obese,” Ms Anderson said.
“Self efficacy is our belief that we can produce the result we want to produce, so a person with high dietary self-effi cacy believes they can eat healthily no matter what - even when bored, upset, tired, on holiday or at a party.
“A person’s level of self-efficacy determines how hard they try and how long they stick at things in the face of diffi culties. People with high self- effi cacy are motivated and optimistic - when the going gets tough, they keep going.
“People with low self-effi cacy avoid diffi cult tasks and when things get tough they are more likely to give up.
We can improve our self-effi cacy by developing skills, having role models and getting encouragement from others.”
Ms Anderson’s study found being overweight or obese was a key infl uence on self-effi cacy.
“Women who carried a lot of excess weight were more likely to have low self-effi cacy and to not believe they could stick to an effective healthy exercise or diet program,” she said.
“Education is also a factor - women with a tertiary education were more likely to have high self-effi cacy for exercise.”
Ms Anderson said her fi ndings were timely given the population was ageing and women lived longer than men.
“We are going to have a lot of older women and if they are obese at age 60 they are not well placed to have a healthy old age. Carrying excess weight has been linked to diseases including diabetes, heart disease and breast cancer,” she said.
Ms Anderson said that most of the women in her study who had made an eff ort to exercise more took up walking and those who had tried to eat more healthily had mainly cut down on fat.
“But going for a stroll and not having butter on your bread won’t have you lose 30kg. Women need specifi c education and support to be successful in improving their health and losing weight,” she said.
“We need to reach the many women juggling work and motherhood who feel guilty if they take time for themselves.
“A lot of women in their 50s are keen to improve their health, and we need to take advantage of that, but if we can support them in taking care of themselves from an earlier age, so much the better.”
- Niki Widdowson
Life sciences
A QUT study pinpointing the genetic diff erences between women with and without womb cancer will help in the early diagnosis of the disease.
PhD student Tracy O’Mara, from the School of Life Sciences, pictured, who is working in collaboration with scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, said there was an acute need for better screening for womb or endometrial cancer, with about 1400 new cases of the disease diagnosed every year.
The disease aff ects the lining of the uterus, and is the most common form of g ynaecolog ical cancer in Australia, and the sixth most common cancer overall.
“Doctors believe early detection can save lives but existing procedures often fail to detect the cancer’s early development,” Ms O’Mara said.
“I’ll be focussing on identifying and understanding the genes that collectively increase the risk of endometrial cancer, particularly the aggressive forms of the disease.
“To do this I’ll be looking at the genetic variation in DNA from a large g roup of women with endometrial cancer, and comparing this to the genetic variation present in a large group of women without cancer.
“ T h e s u b s e t o f g e n e s containing variants that occur more commonly in endometrial cancer patients are those that are likely to be involved in development of the
disease.
“If we can identify these genes we’ll not only be able to diagnose earlier, we’ ll eventually also understand how to develop targeted cancer therapies.”
Ms O’Mara said womb cancer was on the increase due to an ageing population and because risk factors like obesity were also on the rise.
“But it is one of the easiest cancers to diagnose and treat if detected early.”
Ms O’Mara is the recipient of a
$21,000 Smart State PhD Scholarship from the State Government.
The Smart State PhD Scholarships program is part of the Government’s
$200 million Smart State Innovation Funds.
- Sue Gardiner
Womb cancer:
an early warning
Lose weight with high self-belief
Simple test may calculate years of fertility
Mathematics
WOMEN planning to delay motherhood could soon take a blood test to predict their age at menopause to help them estimate how many years of fertility they have left.
QUT statistician Professor Malcolm Faddy, from the School of Mathematical Sciences, is co-author of a study with researchers from the Netherlands that looked at the relationship between a reproductive hormone and menopause.
Professor Faddy said there was a wide variation in the age of menopause which for most women occurred between 40 and 60 years of age.
“But we know from studies of natural populations where the timing of having children is not infl uenced by contraception, that natural fertility drops off some 10 years before menopause,” Professor Faddy said.
“This means that with the variation in menopausal age some women could become infertile as early as their 30s.
“It is then diffi cult to become pregnant without artifi cial intervention.”
He said the study used the fact that anti- Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels in the blood refl ected the number of small follicles present in a woman’s ovaries.
“These follicles are responsible for the supply of eggs for ovulation, and depletion of the stock of follicles leads to menopause.
“The study measured AMH levels in blood samples from a group of healthy fertile women, using the data to determine a model of age-related change in AMH levels.
“We then used this model to predict age at menopause via a critical AMH threshold level.
“Prediction of menopause has been problematic since it is retrospectively defi ned
as the cessation of menstruation for at least 12 consecutive months.
“But with prediction it becomes possible to forecast when natural fertility is in decline.”
Professor Faddy said that after validation of the model, this work could lead to a blood test which assessed the level of AMH being used to estimate the number of years of fertility left.
He said prediction for women younger than 30 remains problematic because AMH levels did not show much of a decline until after this age.
He said the researchers in the Netherlands were following a group of women to test the validity of the predictions.
The study will be published in the June edition of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
- Niki Widdowson
Health and biomedical innovation
A TOOL with the potential to determine the level of tissue damage in patients with osteo-arthritis, sports injuries and other conditions aff ecting bone and cartilage is being developed by QUT researchers.
This may allow surgeons to make a more precise diagnosis and be better equipped for making accurate decisions during treatment.
The team of researchers is led by Professor Kunle Oloyede,
pictured, at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, and was given a grant of $221,000 by the National Health and Medical Research Council recently.
Professor Oloyede said that the device, which he calls a
“smarthroscope”, may be able to reduce the cost of surgery, eliminate unnecessary surgery, and could be useful in developing countries.
It aims to determine the degree and spread of damage to the tissue surrounding an area affected by illnesses such as osteo-arthritis, and other conditions which result in
cartilage and bone damage.
The instrument would also help in joint research and for evaluating the eff ectiveness of established and new methods of joint treatment, acting as a “decision-maker” for surgeons assessing the damage of tissue surrounding focal cartilage damage, to decide how much cartilage needed to be operated on, and to what extent.
Professor Oloyede said at the m o m e n t s u rg e o n s d e p e n d e d on a subjective assessment of pictorial information obtained using arthroscopes when treating patients,
which was not always accurate.
“What we are trying to do is give an accurate picture of what is going on inside the actual tissues,”
he said.
“We want to accurately assess the area of infl uence of a focal joint defect in a particular condition to determine the optimal amount of tissue to be removed for replacement surgery, and the area to be prepared for other forms of therapy such as those depending on cell-based procedures.
“If we were able to give an exact map of the cartilage and bone in a
degenerating joint, they would then know how bad the condition is, and would be able to treat the right area in the right way.”
He said he thought the instrument could also help in developing countries.
He said he hoped that a mock-up of the “smarthroscope”, which is the subject of a QUT-owned patent, would be ready by mid-2009, and an optimised prototype may be possible in three years.
- Sharon Thompson
Research
THREE QUT researchers from the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) will head to San Diego in June to represent the university at BIO2008, the largest biotechnology event in the world.
The experts were chosen as the successful recipients of the bluebox/IHBI Early Career Researcher 2008 Fellowships based on the innovative research they were undertaking.
Mr Cameron Brown, from the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, Dr Tony Parker, from the Faculties of Science and Health, and Dr Simon Rizzi, from the Faculty of Science, will all attend.
Mr Brown is under tak ing research in orthopaedic surgery decision-making tools focussing mainly on a way of detecting arthritis in its early stages.
He is in the process of developing a surgical tool for detecting and characterising the condition in order to help surgeons choose the appropriate medical treatment.
“At the moment we have the ideas, method
and preliminary designs, but getting it to a commercial stage is quite diffi cult, so one of the things we are looking forward to in Bio2008 is the opportunity to interact with other researchers and medical device companies,” he said.
“Bio2008 is the perfect place to meet these people; it is a place where a lot of established companies come together.
“Getting commercial interest would be ideal, but even getting feedback will be great.”
Dr Parker is looking at injury prevention diagnostics, focussing on musculoskeletal fatigue and injury in heavy industrial workers.
Dr Rizzi, who is working on delivery systems for therapeutic proteins for wound healing, said he was looking forward to getting an overview of what is going on in the biotech business around the world and in particular related to the wound healing market.
“We are so focussed on our work, and often we can lose a sense of what is going on in the biotech industry worldwide, so I am looking forward to seeing what else is going on out there,” he said.
- Sharon Thompson
Researchers are BIO bound
A smart instrument
QUT researchers have won federal funding to develop a smart instrument that may help doctors in the treatment of sports injuries and osteo-arthritis.
Simone Rizzi, Dr Tony Parker and Cameron Brown are bound for Bio2008 in San Diego.
in BRIEF...
Creative industries’
achievers
Two senior staff within the Creative Industries Faculty have been invited to contribute to their industries at a national level. Professor Brad Haseman, Assistant Dean, Research, has been appointed to the Australia Council for a three-year term as community interest representative. Professor Haseman is known internationally for his work in drama education, arts in education, applied theatre and process drama.
Meanwhile, Professor Suzi Vaughan, Portfolio Director, Fashion, Journalism and Media & Communication, has been appointed by the Federal Government to the Textile, Clothing & Footwear (TCF) Review Reference Group, which will be
undertaking a comprehensive review of the Australian textile, clothing and footwear industries by August 2008.
Students, Have Your Say Students have the
opportunity to shape the future of QUT by taking part in the Learning Experience Survey (LEX). All eligible students can now share feedback on their course units and teachers until May 26, and be in the running for one of 20 $200 JB Hi-Fi gift cards. The LEX, which takes less than 10 minutes to complete, is a streamlined feedback instrument that facilitates the gathering of important information about the student experience of teaching and learning at QUT. To complete the LEX, log onto QUT Virtual at:
http://qutvirtual.qut.edu.au and in the messages box, eligible students will see a Learning Experience Survey message: click on ‘Complete the survey’. For more details, email [email protected] or phone 07 3138 4000.
QUT hosts software conference
Expert software developers from around the world will arrive at the Sofi tel Brisbane from May 28 to 30 for the JAOO conference, being hosted by the Faculty of IT in conjunction with Trifork and Bedarra Research Labs.
Started in Denmark 11 years ago, the popular conference is billed as “for developers by developers”.
Poetry prize
Cultural and language studies lecturer Ross Clark has won the Australian Book Review Poetry Prize, worth
$3000, for his poem Danger:
Lantana which was chosen above 450 entries. Ross is the author of seven volumes of poetry and two pocket- sized books.
Staff have designs on their profession
Three staff from the School of Design have become Fellows of the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) in recognition of their ongoing and signifi cant contribution to the design profession in Australia. Mr Sam Bucolo was recognised for his innovation in the integration of research and commercialisation in design particularly through his leadership within ACID.
Ms Natalie Wright was acknowledged for her contribution to interior design practice and leadership in the DIA. Dr Dianne Smith was also recognised for her leadership in the DIA but also for her leadership in design education at both a state and national level.
Students Flying High Australian Aerospace has signed an agreement with QUT and CEED Program Qld, to provide industry- training opportunities for fi nal-year undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Australian Aerospace is the only helicopter producer in Australia and New Zealand. To kick off the partnership, the organisation has sponsored two CEED projects for Semester One 2008 with QUT students, Adam Paton (fi nal year Mechanical Engineering) and Srivinas Ammula (Master of IT ). For more information about CEED Program Qld – visit www.corptech.com.au
Road safety
Road safety researchers at QUT are ramping up a drink driving prevention program that has
slashed repeat offences by convicted drink drivers by up to 55 per cent. More
than 5000 Queenslanders on drink driving charges have completed the Under the Limit rehabilitation program developed by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) since it was introduced in 1993. CARRS-Q program development offi cer Roger Wheller, pictured, said best practice research had been incorporated into the revised program, which consists of 11 weekly sessions of 1.5 hours each.
Nursing
A TRIAL of “quiet time” in a Brisbane hospital has seen noise levels cut by a half and found patients are more than twice as likely to sleep, according to QUT researcher Professor Glenn Gardner.
The study, conducted by a team from the School of Nursing and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH), examined the effect on patients of a daily period of “lights out and no visitors” in the hospital ward.
Professor Gardner said hospitals were busy places, with visitors, nurses, doctors and students coming and going constantly.
“ Th e re i s a lway s s o m e t h i n g happening, alarms going off, and machines beeping. A hospital can be a very noisy environment, which isn’t a good thing when you’re sick,”
she said.
As part of the study, the team implemented a mandatory quiet time in the orthopaedic ward of the RBWH and compared this with existing
practices in a matched orthopaedic ward at a similar hospital.
For 1.5 hours every day in the RBWH ward, lights were turned off , no visitors were allowed, residents listened to TVs and radios via earpieces, staff movement was restricted and only urgent and immediately necessary clinical treatment was administered.
“We also checked that all patients were comfortable and free from pain,”
Professor Gardner said.
These measures reduced noise levels dramatically and, as a consequence, patients slept.
“We found it was half as noisy in the RBWH ward and patients were more than twice as likely to be asleep during this time,” Professor Gardner said.
Every day during the study, noise levels and the sleeping patterns of patients in the two wards were monitored.
In the RBWH orthopaedic ward the study surveyed patients’ and visitors’
satisfaction with the quite time and the opinion of hospital clinical staff .
“Every day nurses went around the wards in both hospitals with a sound
monitor measuring and recording ambient sound levels,” Professor Gardner said.
I l l n e s s, t r a u m a a n d s u rg e r y place increased demands on sleep requirements for patients, she said.
For sick people, sleep positively influences blood pressure, pain experiences and emotional wellbeing, suggesting that sleep is good for patient health outcomes.
“Patients can often leave hospital worse than when they arrive because of lack of rest,” she said. “Constant noise and activity is not very conducive to getting better.”
The majority of patients in the quiet time ward reported that they’d had enough time with visitors and liked the “quiet time” intervention.
Visitors also agreed they’d had enough time with their sick relatives although many wanted unlimited visiting access.
The study was funded by a research grant from the Queensland Nursing Council.
- Denise Cullen
Fitness
WITH at least one in four Australian children either overweight or obese, QUT researchers are aiming to fi nd out what eff ect excess weight is having on our kids.
Masa Kagawa and Rachel Wood, pictured, Post-Doctoral Research Fellows in the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, and Professor Andrew Hills, will be look ing at physiological and musculoskeletal diff erences in overweight children in a new study.
The researchers are looking for volunteers aged between 10 and 13 to participate in the study, and would like to work with children of all sizes.
The project is part of an interstate collabor ative research project, involving member universities of Austr alian Technolog y Network Centre for Metabolic Fitness.
Volunteers will have their body composition, strength, balance, and fi tness measured, and learn how they can improve their physical well-being.
Dr Kagawa said the chance to obtain such comprehensive information on physical fi tness and functional abilities in children was rare.
“We want to deter mine how overweight or obese children diff er in terms of strength, balance, and a range of other motor skills, basically whether
Effect of obesity on kids
Time for quiet
being overweight might aff ect their general quality of life,” he said.
“There have been studies which have sug gested that overweight children do have poorer motor skills, musculoskeletal function, and cardiorespiratory fi tness than leaner children, but we are not sure of the signifi cance of such diff erences.
“There could be reduced physical function and ability to participate in physical activities, as well as physiological function, balance and motor skills.
“We will then discuss how this can be modif ied, for example,
recommending activities to improve muscle function.”
The physical activity of the study’s participants will also be assessed over a period of seven days.
“Sedentary lifestyles and certain dietary behaviours contribute to obesity so we will also be looking at children’s lifestyle, behaviours and how these may contribute to the risk of becoming overweight or obese,”
said Dr Kagawa.
He said the volunteers would need to visit the Kelvin Grove campus twice for the study.
- Sharon Thompson
Tight housing hits refugees
Studies seek anxious people
Culture and language
BROWN and green fairies. Tall red crosses surrounded by squiggles and dots. “Good big monsters” that make people laugh.
Children render their spirituality in surprising and refreshing ways – yet a PhD graduate from QUT says today’s over-scheduled kids lack the time and space to contemplate their relationship with the divine.
“Well-balanced teaching programs consider all aspects of a child’s development, including spirituality,”
says Dr Anna Giesenberg, a preschool teacher and grandmother, pictured, who has just completed her research through the School of Cultural and Language Studies.
“Contrary to popular belief, children are just as capable as adults when it comes to considering life’s big questions.
“Yet we timetable children way too much because we’re so focussed on providing them with educationally- sound experiences every second of the day.
“To be an individual creative and spiritual person, you need to have the time to think and work out things for yourself without being given the answers.”
In order to study spirituality in young children, an area in which there has been very little research, Dr Giesenberg undertook a 12-month fi eld study.
She followed 56 children, aged 3-7 years and from four different early childhood settings, on a fortnightly basis.
The children expressed aspects of spirituality in their play, personal interactions, discussions and artworks, such as paintings and drawings.
“They were asked to paint and draw
their experiences of selected pieces of chamber music, of a beautiful day, of love and of dreams,” Dr Giesenberg said.
The main fi ndings were that young children “live in” their spirituality, she said.
“They are ver y aware of their surroundings and are able to express abstract concepts such as love, beauty, wonder and compassion.”
Dr Giesenberg said it was the responsibility of signifi cant adults in children’s lives to provide space, time and opportunity for play, contemplation and refl ection.
“As parents and teachers we need to allow children the time to meditate, think or just ‘to be’ – to play with pets, study rainbows, or watch a bug crawling on the ground.”
- Denise Cullen
Study probes
children’s spirituality
Geography
AFRICAN refugees are among some of the hardest hit by the housing and rental aff ordability crisis gripping Australia, a QUT
researcher says.
PHD geog r aphy researcher in the Humanities Prog r am Wendy Har te, pictured, said the tight housing market was very diffi cult for African refugees to
negotiate.
“Imagine the situation these people are in – to fi nd appropriate and aff ordable accommodation they have to compete in the private rental market with people who have English as their fi rst language and who themselves fi nd the situation challenging,” Ms Harte said.
She said the housing aff ordability crisis was leading to overcrowded households
for some African refugees.
“Some move to suburbs further away from the Brisbane CBD, where housing and rental prices are more aff ordable but where public transport and service
options may be more restricted.”
Ms Harte’s study is the f irst to map the distribution of nine African refugee communities in South-east Queensland. It is being supported by a
Queensland Government’s Growing the Smart State PhD Funding Program Grant to investigate, among other items, the role that housing-related issues infl u- ence secondary migration in African
refugee communities.
“Previous research suggests that refugees move more often than the general population and there is no clear understanding of what is driving these moves in South East Queensland but it appears that housing aff ordability is a key factor,” she said.
Ms Harte said African refugees sometimes faced discrimination from real estate agents and landlords.
“New arrivals also fi nd it diffi cult to meet the points-based system used by real estate agents because, for example, they may not have adequate Australian identity. They also need testimonials from previous rental agents but don’t have a rental history in Australia.”
“All refugee groups tend to have a higher rate of under-employment and unemployment in the labour force, which also severely limits their options,” she said.
Ms Harte said another issue compounding African refugees’ problems in particular is the diffi culty fi nding appropriate accommodation because the number of people in the household is sometimes larger than the average Australian household size.
“So fi nding accommodation that is big enough and that is aff ordable is often very diffi cult,” she said.
The communities Ms Harte is studying include people from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Sudan.
- Niki Widdowson
Psychology
WITH anxiety aff ecting more than one in ten Australian women, anxious people are being sought to volunteer for two new QUT studies designed to ease their minds.
Dr Esben Strodl, director of the QUT Psychology Clinic, said Australians were suff ering from many forms of anxiety which prevented them from living their lives to the full.
“Everyone experiences anxiety, but anxiety becomes a disorder when it interferes with your life, work and social relationships,” Dr Strodl said.
“An anxiety disorder may cause thoughts of danger and belief that you can’t cope. It may
cause you to avoid places that make you feel worried. You may check things over and over or suff er physical symptoms like hot and cold fl ushes, trembling, dizziness, shortness of breath or a racing heart.”
Dr Strodl said the two studies will off er free group therapy for 18- to 65-year-olds who are coping with any form of anxiety.
“The fi rst study, which continues on from previous research, will offer people with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) free group sessions of either psycho-dynamic therapy or cognitive behaviour therapy,” he said.
“Treatment provided through the clinic over the past three years has indicated that those who undergo these two forms of group therapy
experience quite a signifi cant reduction in their symptoms.
“For the second study, we are off ering group cognitive behaviour therapy to people who are suff ering other kinds of anxiety. We want to fi nd out whether additional motivational counselling sessions improve their therapy sessions.”
Dr Strodl said the therapies had been useful in treating anxiety but more research was needed to see which factors contributed to the eff ectiveness of treatment.
To participate in the study, please phone 07 3138 4921.
Participants must be able to attend sessions at QUT’s Carseldine campus.
- Rachael Wilson
Symposium
MAY 31
QUT Master of Information Managements students will present papers on managing web content in organisations with the theme:
Controlling anarchy. The keynote speaker will be Scott Kiel-Chisholm, project manager of QUT’s OAK Law Project. For details see www.
wcmsymposium.fi t.qut.edu.au.
Symposium will be held at Z Block, GP.
Competition
CLOSES JUNE 25
Game enthusiasts are invited to visualise and present a game-world landscape in the medium of their choice for Game on goes virtual:
landscape concept art competition.
Entries will be critiqued by a panel of judges, with the fi nalist awarded on August 6. For details, email [email protected].
Conference
JUNE 25 - 27
The ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) at QUT will host the international conference Creating value: between commerce and commons. The conference will be held at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Bank. For details, see www.cci.edu.au/events.
php.
Performance
MAY 13 - 17
The Cherry Orchard, a play about an ageing aristocrat who refuses to face the loss of her cherry orchard estate, will be performed by second- year QUT actors at QUT Gardens Theatre, Gardens Point at 7.30pm.
Tickets $10-$18. For details, see www.
gardenstheatre.
qut.com.
JUNE 17 – 21 QUT dance showcase Essentially Dance 08 will feature QUT Creative Industries Dance students performing bite-sized, original works of contemporary dance. This will be held at QUT Gardens Theatre, Gardens Point at 7.30pm, plus a June 19 11.30am matinee. Tickets $10-$18.
For details, see www.gardenstheatre.
qut.com.
Exhibition
UNTIL JUNE 29
Ian Friend: Thirty Years of Works on Paper 1977-2007, is a timely survey exhibition showcasing Queensland artist Ian Friend’s meditative, abstract work. QUT Art Museum, Gardens Point. For details, see www.
artmuseum.qut.com.
Visit www.whatson.qut.edu.au for more event listings and to submit
WHAT’S on...
Janne Rayner (Editor) 07 3138 2361 Niki Widdowson 07 3138 1841 Rachael Wilson 07 3138 1150 Denise Cullen (M,Tu,Th,Fr) 07 3138 2130 Sharon Thompson 07 3138 4494 Erika Fish (Photography) 07 3138 5003 Marissa Hills (Advertising) 07 3138 2999 Richard de Waal (Design)
about IQ
Inside QUT is published by QUT’s Marketing and Communication Department.
Our readership includes staff, students and members of the QUT community. The paper is also circulated to business, industry, government and media. Opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of the university or the editorial team.
Media & communication
INVESTIGATING a real world problem for two leading organisations in their fi eld has helped two creative industries students step seamlessly from study into work.
Bethaney Lawler and Dominique Chorazyczewsk i were two of six media and communication students who undertook an audience research project with radio network Austereo and media research company Xtra Research last year.
Their project captured a snapshot of Generation Y by surveying 1220 18- to 24-year-olds and is the fi rst in a three- part study which covers Generation X this year and Baby Boomers next year.
The latter two research studies are also being carried out by QUT students.
Creative industries lecturer Dr Jason Sternberg said the project with Austereo and Xtra, two of QUT’s research and teaching industry partners, aimed to give students a chance to do commercially viable research.
“The media industries are changing and fragmenting in different ways that media organisations don’t fully understand yet,” Dr Sternberg said.
“Media org anisations such as Austereo and Xtra are interested in the long-term future of their industries and
Real world research to real world jobs
so they help work with, mentor and develop the skills of our students,”
Dr Sternberg said.
“They know they need future employees who can gather, interpret and communicate appropriate data for them to anticipate these changes and maintain their relevance.”
“The students who conducted the research were members of the Gen Y demographic, so this gave them excellent insight into the types of questions that needed to be asked in the survey.”
Bethaney, who completed a Bachelor of Creative Industries ( M e d i a a n d C o m mu n i c a t i o n ) Honours, virtually handed in her
fi nal honours project and walked into a full-time research assistant job with Xtra Research.
“I hit the ground running and I am learning every day,” Bethaney said.
“My role is a jack-of-all-trades - I assist with music testing, help with writing press releases and liaise with clients.
“I’ve travelled interstate and am going to Malaysia in May to test television programs for a cable television network.”
At the same time Dominique is working part-time with Austereo where she is involved in researching audience profi les for the organisation’s stable of radio stations including
Triple M and B105.
Dominique is studying for a double degree - a Bachelor of Creative Industries majoring in Media and Communication and a Bachelor of Business majoring in Public Relations and Integrated Marketing. For her, working with Austereo is the perfect entrée into her chosen career in media.
“I love work ing there. I was really lucky because last year I got an internship with Austereo and at the same time I had a mentor from the marketing and sales department which really helped me,” she said.
- Niki Widdowson
Sport
HE ran his fi rst marathon at 18, and now, at just 21, QUT podiatry student Aidan Hobbs, pictured, has won the Brisbane Marathon.
After deciding he wanted to place in the event, the dedicated runner set about training, and fi nished the gruelling 42-kilometre race in two hours, 43 minutes and 38 seconds.
“I set out with a goal, and luckily it all came together on the day - I thought wanting to win was pretty unrealistic, but it gave me something to aim for,” he said.
“After the marathon, all I could do was sit in my chair and drink Endura. I don’t think anything really sank in until the next day.
“It is an amazing feeling though.”
After the event, an exhausted Aidan made his way to his fellow podiatry students in the QUT Podiatry Treatment and Massage tent, where students from all years off ered post- race recovery massage and injury treatment to athletes under the direction of the School of Public Health lecturer Stephen Urry and the Queensland Sports Podiatry Group (QSPG).
“As the student representative for the QSPG I co-ordinated the podiatry students in the massage tent, so I spent a lot of the day in there,” he said.
He said his knowledge of podiatry had helped him during his intensive training regime, which saw him run around 140 km a week, mixing speed training, long runs and shorter recovery runs.
“I have a lot of issues with my feet, and most runners get pain and problems there, so it really helps to know how to treat the problems and especially to prevent it,” he said.
“From the knowledge I have from my uni course, I have probably saved a fortune on treatment.”
Aidan also works at Intraining Running Centre as part of his studies, and the owner Steve Manning, doubles as his coach.
He said he went into his podiatry studies with the intention of going into palliative care, but as he went on, something in him “clicked”, and he focussed on sports-based podiatry.
“As I became more caught up in running, it became clear that I wanted to work in the sporting area too,” he said.
While he has been involved in many sports, he said running is his fi rst love.
“It is something about the nature of running, it is the basis of all sport, everyone can do it – it is sport in its purest form,” he said.
“The other thing that has me hooked is the social aspect – at the marathon I would have known at least 200 people in the crowd, because there are so many races you get to know all the familiar faces.
“So instead of going to the pub on a Friday afternoon, you organise to go for a run with your mates.”
While he said at the moment he is happy to rest on his laurels, Aidan hopes to take some state titles in cross country later this year.
“Long term, you need to set goals that may seem unrealistic but give you something to work towards, and I wouldn’t mind looking at the 2010 Commonwealth Games selection,”
he said.
And, as “unrealistic” is how Aidan initially described his bid to win the Brisbane Marathon, the Commonwealth Games certainly seems well within his reach.
- Sharon Thompson
QUT’s marathon man still running
Bethaney Lawler, left, and Dominique Chorazyczewski have landed jobs through their studies.
