Microprocessor cent

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p 378. 9431

103 ISSUE N0 .3

Queensland Institute of Technology, ·George Street, Brisbane 4000. Telephone 223 2111.

Microp rocessor cen t

be~efit industry

Queensland mdustry and

The MDC uses the flexible Hewlett

students will benefit from estab-

Packard HP64000 hardware and soft-

lishment of a Microprocessor

ware with the capacity to emulate-the

final system before it is constructed, so

Development Centre at QIT'

that the hardware and software design

the first of its kind in Queens-

may be perfected concurrently.

land.

The Microprocessor Development Centre (MDC) was set up in October, with funding assistance from MIM, the Main Roads Department, SEQEB and QEGB, and is now operational, with more equipment arriving shortly.

Lecturer in the Department of Elec- trical Engineering at QIT, Mr Ian Brown, said theM DC would-facilitate application of computers for specific industrial purposes.

Microprocessors are now widely used in industrial, commercial and domestic equipment, Mr Brown said.

"We don't think· of a microwave oven as a computer, but it does contain a small computer for control purposes," he said.

"What we are concerned with is the design and testing of special purpose computers to be used in this type of equipment."

Conventional methods for developing and debugging computer systems can be very. time consuming. In a world where the average industrial product life cycle is three to five years and shrinking, technology which stream- lines this development process must provide a tremendous advantage.

"If a company is having particular problems in developing a computer controlled product, we can establish. what hardware and software modific- ations need to be made," Mr Brown said.

"Our door will be open for commercial consulting to other organisations as well as our sponsors.

"We are not trying to take business from consultants, rather to provide a sophisticated service to them," he said.

While the MDC could provide the support for the design of hardware

ron <i r~ t:-i't .. }•r·s.r;cir.c ~:;.ppli~i;v .. ;.,,

emphasis would be placed on custom- ising 'off the shelr computer modules to be built into the product.

Commercially, this was cost and time effective, Mr Brown said.

Purchase of the MDC equipment was the brainchild of Ian Brown, who recently returned from seven years in the United States, where he worked as a design engineer for computer and telephone companies.

.

"The contrast made me feel that Australian technology in the computer area needed much greater technical support," he said.

Mr fan Brown at the QIT Microprocessor Development Centre.

"Withihis type of facility, Australian engineers should be capable of creating products to be competitive on world

markets." •

Because conventional funding was not available from educational sources, Mr Brown initiated approaches to

industry for financial support for the MDC equipment.

. "We are now teaching our students the best in current technology and we are putting out people into the commercial world who are trained in its applications," Mr Brown said.

Possu m round the b end

The groundsman thought he was hearing things, but it was a possum that ended up in a straight jacket at QIT recently.

Robert Cairns was sure he could hear animal sounds when gardening near a drain pipe on Old Government House. The sounds mysteriously stop- ped when he sought a second opinion from Bob Fryer.

The mystery deepened when pebbles dropped in the top of the drain failed to materialize at the bottom.

After careful use of the tin snips, the source of the sounds and blockage was soon revealed - a possum trapped half way around a bend in the pipe.

Bob Fryer said he had no idea how long the possum had been trapped, but it seemed healthy enough when · released.

"He wouldn't have survived heavy rain in that position though," he said.

..

Bob Fryer and Harry Bremer investigate the source of And discover a straight-jacketed possum.

the mysterious sounds ...

•

---;

'

_ _J - - -~

DECEMBER,1983-

- 9 DEC 1983

"Industry will benefit not only through commercial use of the MDC equipment and expertise, but also through recruiting graduates who regard this ·technology as part of everyday life.

M erry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all readers.

Next issue of Inside QIT will be February 1984. After all, there is no show without punch and no campus with- out students (and no news- paper without students to help put it together!)

A special thanks to those who have contributed to our first three issues in 1983. We look forward to your cont- inued support in 1984.

Notice to College Credit Union Customers.

The Credit Union offic.: ~ 111 h, closed over the Chri,t- mas week. December 26 --30.

Account access will still be availahk through Credit Union 24 Automat.:o

Teller Machines.

(2)

Queensland

does

not currently have the skilled workforce to host

a

major thrust Into high technology Industries,

as a recent

state government report acknowledges. And this situation will not

·change

overnight.

While the expertise exists In

seed

form within tertiary Institutions and the professions, Queensland

needs a

human

resource develop-

ment programme

on a scale

that might compare to the

state's

mineral resource development In

recent years.

A "skilled" hi-tech workforce

means

graduates In the fields of

science, engineering

and computing, with

a

working knowledge of the very latest developments and equipment In their flelda. .

The British have embarked

on

such

a

programme over several

years

with massive Investments

in

educatlon.and Industry Incent- Ives

designed

to put them among the world

leaders

In development of high technology. Even

so;

It Is Interesting to

see

Plessey advertising extensively In each Australian capital city for graduates with at leest two

years experience

to work In the U.K.

There.

Is

a

commitment to hi-tech In the electronics area and the demand for people with relevant skills appears Insatiable.

But

can

Queensland

ever

hope to compete In the world hi-tech

league?

In

some areas, yes. "The

Australian" editorial (28111) makes the point that agriculture and mining

are

Australia's traditional strengths In world markets and

are

likely to be In the future. But to maintain

and

Improve our competitive

edge, new

methods and processes

are essential,

such

es

applications of robotics, computer controlled equipment and

new

biotechnology to

eradicate

plant and animal

disease.

That Is not to

say

other

areas

of Industry should be Ignored . There

are

numerous

arees where

productivity and competitive position

can be

Improved drastically through adoption of

new

technology.

What

is needed is

along Iarin plan which /dent/flea 1/Je

arees

for . future hi-tech

ventures

In

Queensland

an~ starts now to develop the relevant skills In the workforce. This requires

close

liaison between government and tertiary lnslltullons.

Meet the Deputy Chairman

Deputy Chairman of QIT Council is Mr Warwick Parer.

Mr Parer, Managing Director 'Of Queensland Energy Pty. Ltd., is Chair- man of the Staff Committee of Council and a member of the Finance Committee. He was first appointed to Council more than six years ago.

"My high profile in the coal industry at the time and the fact that I had been a guest lecturer in the Department of Management probably led to the approach for me to join Council," Mr

Parer said.

Mr Parer comes from a family of aviation pioneers, although hi~ commercial interests are more below than libove the ground. His uncle completed the first single engine flight from England to Australia in 1920 and joined forces with his father to establish the first air service in Papua New Guinea.

And New Guinea is where Warwick Parer was· born and lived until his family was evacuated to Queensland to escape the war.

He attended Nudgee College and later studied part-time at Melbourne University for his Bachelor of Com- merce degree while managing his own x-ray and medical equipment company.

In 1970, Mr Parer moved back to Queensland to take up a senior appointment as Commercial Manager for Utah Development Company, a position he held for 10 years before

Birthday for

Q Search

By Rodney Gibson, Q Search Manager

Q Search is two years old this month. At this age

b~bies

are walking with confidence, talk- .ing with flair and no· one listen- ing, getting in the way of adults and generally making their presence felt without domin- ating the world they live in. In most cases, important character traits have bee · n or are being formed which will typify that child in the .future.

How apt is this analogy on Q Search's second birthday?

As the second part time manager of Q Search, I have enjoyed the frust- rations and traumas of this 'baby.' But the one adjective which always acc- ompanies a new .concept is 'exciting.' Association with Q Search is exciting because the potential is bubbling below the surface, positively straining to get out.

1983 has seen changes on the Q Search committee, following Council changes in July. There are only two persons now involved with Q Search ho were there at its begnnings. Despite this, I believe there have been no agonising reappraisals, no change in direction, no difference in focus. The principles that brought Q Search into existence remain.

What are they?

ln essence-

(a) Consultancy or applied research is of benefit to the Institute, to society at large and to individual staff members through the build up of comercial and professional links with the community.

(b) A central body provides consist- ency of approach, assistance in the commercial requirements of consulting assignments and a link, where necessary, between schools and departments.

Does this work?

During the past year there have been many satisfactions. Let me des- cribe one, very recent, which exemp- lifies the way that Q Search can work.

I. Client company approaches expert on staff for comments on the claims made by a competitor in a national advertisement which 'rubbishes' generic product made by client company.

2. Staff member makes scientific comparison of three products, provides report to Q Search.

3. Q Search passes on report to Law School where appropriate expert provides opinion relating to breach- es of Trade Practices Act.

4. Q Search reports to client, with bill.

5. Client pays. Staff members get paid.

How long did all this take? Two weeks!

No surprises

from CTEC

establishing his own company in a

1---=---

related field.

/

There were no surprises for QIT in the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commiss- ion report for the . J98,7-ll4 triennium, released late October.

Mr Parer is a past chairman of the Coal Exporters Division of the Aust- ralian Coal Association, a trustee of the Committee for Economic Develop-

"Institutional student/staff ratios ment of Australia and an executive will simply increase," Dr Gibson said. member of the Institute of Public

"This will be evident in increased Affairs (Qid Division).

~_cia~~ sizc;s aq.d ~ reduc_tion in mo~:y ._ He Jili,.,A..family <_?f seven. childr_sp, avatlable for-part-ttme feachtng

r

one o{lillom attended Qli:Three are support." ' still at Secondary school.

The report is consistent with the Commonwealth Government's priorit- ies of increased participation and equality of opportunity in tertiary education. It provideS for an additional student intake of four percent, or more than 200 EFT students, but with a lower marginal increase in funding.

No funds are available for major building projects at QIT and the total equipment grant for Queensland's CAE's will remain at the 1983 level.

QIT Director, Dr Dennis Gibson, said the approved one percent increase in the recurrent grant would not cover costs for the additional student load and only minimal savings from 1982 and 1983 grants would be carried forward to 1984.

Any increase in funds for equipment over 1983 would depend on receiving a greater share of the Queensland CAE cake, he said.

"The quality of individual submissions from schools and departments will, in the end, determine the QIT 1984 equipment grant."

QITs bid for the major law/science

·building project with design and construction to commence in 1984 was unsuccessful.

"This building remains our highest capital project priority for the 1985-87 triennium," Dr Gibson said.

"Without this additional building, the increased enrolments will result in a chronic shortage of teaching space by the end of the triennium," he said.

"Ho Ho Ho - I just know he's going to love these."

·Competition

full-time Communications course exceed the quota of 75 by five times.

Competition for places in QIT under- There are four B. Architecture first graduate courses is strongest in Com- preference applications for every place munication, Architecture, Accounting and full-time Accountancy and Op- and Optometry. tometry first p~eferences exceed three

First preference applications for the times the quota.

---~---~~---

Page2 INSIDE QIT, December 1983.

Mr Parer

Advertising seminar

An Advertising Institute seminar was held at QIT on November 23 for the benefit of school leavers contem- plating a career in advertising.

The seminar was attended by 32 students, many of whom brought par- ents along also. Eighty percent of the

stud~nts were female.

The agenda covered radio, press and television production, agency procedure and job classification, tertiary entrance and the role ?f the Advertising Institute of Austraha.

Speakers included representatives of agencies, the media, business and academics.

QIT lecturer in advertising, Stan Fitzpatrick, discussed courses ~nd

career opportunities while. part-ttme lecturer, Vince Henderson examined

"What is advertising?"

Useful contacts provided by ^trip

by

Kate Woods

QIT's Department of Man-

agement gained some valuable South East Asian management perspectives from the recent conference of the Asian Assoc- iation . of Management Organizations.

The Penang conference was attended by Head of the Management Depart- ment, Dr Jim Kable, who presented a conference paper entitled "Manage- ment Education to the End of the Century."

This paper examined the rec;ults of an investigation by the Australian Institute of Management into management education.

Dr Kable also chaired a session on this topic involving presentations from Indonesian, Malaysian and Indian management institutes, as well as the Australian contribution.

~It was clearly an applicable .area of discussion to QIT," Dr Kable said.

"We'll be training management graduates to the end of the century and beyond."

"My major reason for goingwas to discover other viewpoints on management education and to see where we

could be involved in the future," he said.

One of the most important highlights of the conference was the obvious need for Australian management students to become more aware of the ways in which Japanese industry operates.

The recently introduced Business .Japanese subject in the Management Department is an initial step in this direction.

Dr Kable also made a number of significant overseas contacts, including arrangements for QIT to gain access to resources located in management institutes throughout the region.

Professor Ryo Hirono of the Tokyo University will be maintaining communications between QIT and his university, which will be valuable in providing access to literature on Japanese industry and management.

A number of papers presented at the conference also provided information which Dr Kable feels will be of use in management education at QIT.

"The conference was a great succeSs,"

Dr Kable said.

"It provided much valuable information and was obviously held in very high regard."

Acknowledgements

'Inside QIT' is published by the .Public Relations Office, QIT ('U' Block), George Street, Brisbane, Phone 223 2386. Postal address:

G.P.O. Bc;>x 2434, Brisbane, 4001.

Typesetting and layout is hand- led by students from QIT's Commun- ication Department, Linda Caroli, Kate Woods, Dianne Spencer and Denise Raward. Assistance is given by the Department's Phototype-

setter Demonstrator, Bob Prentice.

'

A number of the stories are also written by students from the Depart- ment, as the by-lines indicate.

Photography by Phil Keefe- Jackson from QIT's Educational

Research and Development Unit.. Cartoon on this page designed by Industrial Design student, Scott Cox.

Printed by Sunshine Coast News- paper Co. Pty Ltd.

(3)

Prizes for Business Studies students

by Caryn Cavanagh

Carlton United Breweries awarded prizes to seven QIT students recently for their work on a promotional case study carried out for the company.

" The case study was undertaken by class groups as part of the Business Studies subject Promotional Strategy.

The aim of the assignment was to indicate and recommend various promotional strategies which could be employed by Carlton in their marketing and promotion of beer, class lecturer, Mr Su Mon Wong said.

Background information for the case study was provided at a class visit by Carlton's Marketing Research Man- ager, Mr John Taylor. Mr Taylor and his associates judged the final submissions by the class.

Two group proposals by Commun- ication and Management students were 'judged to be the best by Carlton's

management.

"The submissions were of _high calibre and consistent with the standard

Rod Sco.tt, Caryn Cavanagh, Kathy MacDermott, Mr Jr;>hn Taylor Colleen Henderson, Cathy Evans, Jenny Mcivor and Gary Fooks.

we have come to expect from QIT students and graduates," Mr Taylor said.

The first proposal, submitted by Communications students Caryn Cavanagh, Cathy Evans, Colleen Hend- erson and Kathy MacDermott, out- lined various ways of promoting beer to women.

The second proposal looked at seg- menting hotels to cater for a wide range of consumer types. This was submitted by Management students Gary Fooks, Rod Scott and Jenny

Mcivor.

The seven students were awarded Carlton tankards in a small presentation at Carlton United Breweries.

Students program election count

Two QIT students were given the opportunity to participate in the outcome of the Moreton by-election in early November.

by Elizabeth Williams

Barry Nash and Michad Bach,nnal year full-time computing studies students, programmed and operated a microcomputer to assist compiling of vote counting for the Australian

QIT Computing students, Barry Nash (left) and Michael Bach (right).

Grade 12 students from Bris- bane Grammar School showed how computers could be applied to teaching secondary school economics recently.

Guided by Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management, Mr Chad Perry, the students used QIT computer models to predict impact on the ec-. onomy of changes in the government, business, household and monetary sectors.

Arbitration commission rulings and international trade were also taken into consideration in coming up with

Electoral Office.

The QIT assistance was invited by Assistant Australian Electoral Officer for Queensland,Mr Terry. ~.aerson.

following a student experimental project by Barry Nash to automate the complex and time consuming compiling of Senate counting.

"The by-election was small com- pared to a full House of Represent- atives and Senate election," Mr Emerson said. "But the microcomputer system showed it could save a good deal of time and effort and produce quicker and more detailed results progressively."

Actual counting of votes was still done manually. It was the counts telephoned in from polling booths that became computer input.

The results were processed progres- . sively, broken down by subdivision,

polling booths and totals.

"It goes without saying the results were carefully checked and confirmed,"

Mr Emerson said.

Apart from obvious benefits for the Electoral Office, the system has the potential to give journalists, particularly in the electronic media, quick and detailed reports progressively to their audiences.

An Australian Electoral Office rep- resentative from Canberra showed a good deal of interest in the programme format and took details with him on his return to the Australian Capital.

the best managed and most profitable country.

BGS master, and Executive member of the Economic Teachers Association, Mr Wayne Cochrane • said the QIT exercise aimed to see how well tertiary education methods could be utilized in teachi ngsecondary 1evel economics.

The s~udents coped particularly well and Mr Cochrane was keen tQ see greater application of computers in secondary education, he said.

The students were chosen on the basis that they are keen to study in a related field at Qlr" or Queensland University next year.

Thirty children from the Glen morgan Primary School near Roma visited QIT recently as part of an exposure to "the big smoke".

Public Relations Officer, Peter Hinton, led the group on a brief campus tour including the Computer Centre.

"There was some confusion between engineers and diesel mechanics, and it took us a little while to work out that there were 160 times more students at QIT than Glen morgan," he said.

"I felt a little self-conscious as pied piper, but the s·tudent thank-

you speech made it all worthwhile."

* * *

Lecturer In the Department of Planning and Landscape Arch- Itecture, Dr John Mlnnery, wea recently awerded his Ph.D. from the Unlveralty of Queensland. Dr Mlnnery's research

aree wes

concerned with the reaolutlon of conflict In local authorities.

This Involved conflict

between departmenta

^within

a

^local authority,

between

different local authorltlea and

between

local authorltlea

and

higher levels of government.

* * *

'QIT Chemistry lecturer, Mr Rowley Noakes, is to receive a commendation from the Commonwealth Association of Science and Mathematics Educators for his work on sugar technology. The award for science and mathematics teachers acknowledges teaching of social aspects of science and mathematics, with partic1,1lar reference to developing countries of the Commonwealth.

* * *

Mr Kel

Cameron, a

lecturer In Qlrs Department of Optometry Is preaentlng

a

technical paper

at

the Annual Congreas of the American Academy of Optometry In Houston,

Texas,

this month.

He willa/so be visiting schools of Optometry In the U.S.A.

The congreas Is the most preatlglous worldwide optometric annual

eventand

will

be attended

by

more

than 1,000 optometrists and vision reaeerchera from all parta of the globe.

Peter

Swann, Senior

Lecturer In The Department of Optometry, has

been elected

to

serve a

further term

as

Prealdent of the Illuminating Engineering Society, Queenslend Division.

* * *

Head of the Department of Civil Engineering, Mr Ray Bange, spent November overseas.

Mr Bange represented the Austrahn Association of Testing Authorities at the International Laboratory Accreditation Counc;/

conference in Prague. ·

He returned via Hong Kong and the Philippines to review progress as a rMult of the """ustra/ian Development A$slstance Bureau course run at QIT last April on Concrete Product Engineering.

Grant for civi I

• •

eng1neenng

Civil engineering staff from QIT will receive a 510,000 Marine Science and Technology grant for 1984 to develop a mathematical model of beach erosion and replenishment.

Part-time lecturer, Sam Smith, who is using the project to complete his Masters degree by thesis and Terry Piggot, a senior lecturer, will carry o.ut 'he research in the Department's Water Engineering Section. ,

Mr Smith said QIT was extremely well-geared for the study.

"We have about three thousand beach sediment samples on hand, taken from the top of the beach out to thirty metres sea depth and extending three metres below the sea bed," he said.

"These samples will be analysed and sediment properties measured."

The sediment contains evidence of

· ho,w it was deposited and what had since happened to it.. -

"What we are seeking to establish is a definite relationship between sediment properties and wave energy and beach slope," Mr Smith said.

"This will enable us to predict storm and cyclone erosion and what the 'impact of a further storm might be."

The model could assist local authorities in judging the degree of safety with beach erosion and in accurately assessing sand replenishment pumping time.

The model will be relevant for beaches from Moreton Island to Cape Byron, with relatively small variations in beach slope~

INSIDE QIT, December 1983. . Page 3

(4)

FEATURES

NMR Centre needs more QIT .use

The Brisbane Nuclear Mag,. . netic Resonance Centre, set up jointly by QIT and Queensland and Griffith Universities two · years ago-, is one of the most sophisticated of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

The equipment and techniques in use at the Centre have wide applications in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, medicine· and the bio- logical sciences, yet according to QITs Chief Operator at the Centre, Dr Ray Frost, QITs usage of the equipment does not extend outside the Chemistry and Geology Departments.

"Maybe that's because I haven't done enough work to promote the uses of the equipment to other depart-

ments.~ Dr Frost said candidly. "But the uses are there.~

The Centre is located at Griffith University and operates around the clock, doing analyses for the Uni- versities and QIT, as well as for industry. Yet Dr Frost says there is still room for other QIT departments to use the Centre's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) equipment.

NMR spectroscopy IS one of the most powerful analytical techniques available for rapidly determining the molecular structure of chemical com- pounds. It can be used to analyse solids, liquids and solutions and requires only very small amounts of sample to {io so.

The technique is based on the prin- ciple that the nuclei of some isotopes of certain elements, such as hydrogen, carbon or sodium, absorb radio waves when in a magnetic field.

Thus, when a sample of material being analysed is placed in the core of a powerful magnet with specific fwld strength, and irradiated with radio waves of different frequencies, certain frequencies will be absorbed by elements in the sample, allowing ident- ification of those elements and the determination of the sample's composition.

"You name it, we can work out its structure," Dr Frost said, adding that

· the applications of the technique were virtually limitless.

"If I was given a soil sample, I could use NMR to determine the composition of the soil and from that I could tell how fertile it was. I would also be able to determine the amount and type of chemicals needed to improve the

soil. ·

Australian Institute of Landscape· Architects President, Miss Catherin Bull, has been appointed a senior lecturer in QIT's Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture.

Head of Department, Mr Phil Heywood, said Miss Bull was one of Australia's most distinguished young landscape architects.

by Dianne Spencer

"I could analyse coal samples to determine how readily they oxidised once they were brought to the mine's surface, and from that, I could work out whether it would be economical to mine the coal, or whether it would degrade too much too quickly."

At the moment, Dr Frost is involved in two research projects at the NMR Centre.

"We've been using the equipment

· for research into sedimental deposits at the Brisbane Airport,~ he said. "The runway is not stable, and by doing soil analyses we've been able to determine that part of the reason is that the soil contains colloidal organic matter, which mean's the soil tends to shift

·around a lot, especially if it gets wet.~

N M R allows far more sophisticated investigation of the body and its work- ings than do current methods, such as X-rays.

The other project concerns the pres- ervation of Queensland timbers.

"By exposing sapwood timber samples to degrading organisms, such as fungi, and by then analysing the samples with N M R, we can determine what the organisms are feeding on; whether it be starch, lignin or cellulose," Dr Frost explained.

"Once we've worked that out, we can begin to work out what chemicals we can use to prevent the organisms degrading-the timber."

This sort of research, known as solid state research, forms the bulk of QITs use of the NMR Centre and the emphasis is very much on the applied uses of NMR.

However, the Centre has other uses.

Queensland University uses the equipment for pure, rather than applied chemistry research, investigating fund- amental chemical composition and molecular structure, while Griffith uses the Centre for biochemical purposes, investigating such things as mammal- arjan tumours and the effects of various drugs on the heart.

It is this medical application of NMR tha~ Dr Frost would like to see QIT become more involved in.

"I see the physiological and medical implications of the techniques we are developing as something that will blossom i~ the future, and I believe. it is

.important for QIT to become invol-

ved,~ he said.

"The NMR technique works for both. hard and soft tissue, whereas X-rays only work on hard tissue, like bone,"

Dr Frost explained. "Additionally, a three dimensional representation of the area being scanned is di~played on the computer screen, which gives you a f~tr better idea of what is going on, than do two dimensional pictures.

"In the long term, we will be able to trace chemical flow through the body,"

he added. ·

Entire body scans will also be possible, and far safer than current methods, because NMR uses low frequency radio waves rather than the high frequency waves used for X-rays. ·

Exteqsion of the NMR Centre's medical facilities is already being planned and approval has been gained for 80 percent of the one million dollar project.

As Dr Frost said, NMR is an expanding area, and the full potential of the technique has by no means been fully realised.

Indeed, Director of the Centre, Dr David Doddrell, has confined himself solely to investigating new ways of operating the equipment and to determining new techniques of analysis.

And even after two years of using the machine, Dr Frost still considers himself to be an apprentice.

"Using the equipment is like flying a jumbo jet," he said. "There are ~o

many controls and things to learn

about.~

The fact that N M R is such a complex area is one of the factors Dr Frost said might be deterring other departments from usinfthe Centre's resources.

"It's such a new thing that I think many of my colleagues in other departments don't realise what the equipment is capable of doing," he said.

"We've had Open Days at the Centre to explain a bit more about how it all works, but we still need more people from QIT using it. The staff and students need to be involved much more."

Footnote: People wanting to learn more about the Brisbane NMR Centre and its uses can contact Dr Frost at QIT on extension 407, or leave a message with the Chemistry Depart-· ment Secretary, on extension 291.

A former Sydney consultant, she·

~esigned major housing projects in, Sydney and Singapore and undertook

work for the National Capital Devel- On a· pre-Christmas'visit to QIT's Department of Surveying, Minister for opment Commission. She is also a Environment and Administrative Services, Mr Tenni (left) met QIT . consultant to the Melbourne Port Director, Dr Dennis Gibson (right) a.nd new Head of Department of

Authority. Surveying at QIT, Dr Enrico Clerici.

--~---~---

Page4 INSIDE QIT, December 1983.

Dr Ray Frost at the Brisbane Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Centre.

1\(lore promotion for

?t;Jrvey1ng •

The newly appointed Head of QIT's Surveying Depart- ment, Dr Enrico Clerici, says he sees his major task in promot- ing the Department to both iadustry and government.

"It will mean going out and convinc- ing people in industry of the worth of the Department," Dr Clerici said.

"I would also like to promote closer contact with industry through applied research."

It was in this area that Dr Clerici was involved before his QIT appointment. .

For the past two and-a-halfyears he worked in West Germany with the highly respected photograrilmetry inst- rument development firm, Carl Zeiss.

Prior to that, he spent six years as senior lecturer in Surveying at the Queensland University.

Dr Clerici says he decided to come back to Queensland for both career and personal reasons.

"I was attracted by the challenge of heading a department at the QIT," he said. "And both my family and myself were keen to come back to

Queensland.~

Forty-five year old Dr Clerici brings with him a wealth of experience in both Australian and international surveying.

by Dianne Spencer

He began his career in Holland, where he studied surveying and developed an interest in mathematics and photogrammetry.

He went on to gain his doctorate in West Germany.

Since then, Dr C\erici bas wgd\.t.e.i- -llilll a variety of positions and gained, as he modestly puts it, ~a number of degrees."

Dr Clerici is still settling in at QIT, having only arrived from West Germany on November 6.

"It is too early for me to be saying yet what sort of-changes are needed,"

he said. "Certainly the students seem to be very well accepted by the

industry.~

But it seems unlikely that being a 'new boy' will hold Dr Clerici back. He has already been involved in a seminar held at QIT, presenting a paper on the implications of technological developments on cartographers and their products, and it seems he has some definite plans in mind.

"I hope to upgrade the students' academic skills,~ he said, adding that . "upgrade" was perhaps too strong a

word.

"I would like to attract experts from overseas in the various fields of surveying," he explained.

"I think it is good to have people of world standard contributing."

Chemistry grants

Reseachers from QITs Department of Chemistry will receive 1984 grants worth $37,000 from the Australian Research Grants Scheme.

-·

They are Dr Graeme George, who will examine "Stress induced chemi- lluminescence from polymers~ and Dr Stan Dyke, who will study palladium assisted organic reactions.

ARGS awarded 1313 grants nation- ally, totalling $22.4 million. Of this amount, Queensland Colleges of Ad- vanced Education received only

$55,000.

QIT Director, Dr Denn.is Gibson, said the Institute had demonstrated its

research capability with a number of world firsts.

~QIT undertakes many research projects of significant importance to Aust- ralia and the wodd," Dr Gibson said.

"Yet the Australian government will not recognize this in its research funding arrangements.~

"ARGS is not the only source of government research funding, but it is one of the few schemes which acknowledge CAEs at all,~ he said.

Research and -development at QIT is almost entirely funded by monies generated through commercial consulting, testing and applied research services to industry.

(5)

Community Relations students give PR help

Several community groups in Brisbane received free public relations assistance from QIT students through last semester.

Organisations such as the Autistic Children's Association of Queensland, the Ethnic Community Council, the Sunshine Foundation and the 139 Club benefited from practical requirements of Community Relations, a new subject in the Communications course.

The requirements included production of a thirty -second television commercial and a brochure within a community relations programme.

Each class group found its own client and designed programmes according to the client's specific needs.

Audio-visual workshops were con- ducted to equip the students with the necessary technical skills for their tasks

"The subject is designed-to increase the students' depth of understanding as well as practical knowledge of this significant and growing area of public relations." lecturer, Ms Julie Aganoff said.

Student groups were required to formally present their programmes to the class and visitors from the organiz- atio'ns involved at a special session last month.

The presentations were judged by AMP's Public Relations Officer, Mr

by Caryn Cavanagh

Royce Perkins and QIT lecturers. The work was judged according to each group's active and useful involvement with their organization, the quality of the materials produced and the mode of presentation.

AMP provided a $150 prize for the best presentation, which was won by Caryn Cava~agh, Cathy Evans and

· Kathy MacDermott, who worked with the Autistic Children's Association of Queensland.

The students' aim was to promote awareness of the autisti~child and of the Autistic Children's Association of Queensland. They also hoped to stimulate fund-raising plans for the

Association. '

The students chose a 12 year old autistic child, Tommy Woodall, as the focus of their productions.

"Tommy was the perfect choice for our programme," Cathy Evans said.

"He illustrated one of the major problems of autism - it is a hidden

handi~ap.

"Because he is a good-looking, appealing child, people don't under- stand the severity of his handicap."

In addition to subject requirements, the students wrote and produced a ten

minute slide-tape production for use in schools and service clubs.

The production was designed to complement the Association's guest speaker when she visits these places. It provides simple, visual background information about the condition of autism and should assist in recruiting volunteers.

Acting Deputy Director of The Austistic Children's Association, Mr . Nick Evans, said he was very happy with -the student's ~ork.

"I have asked them to formally present their programme to the Assoc- iation after examination," he said.

Other client organizations for the students were the Children by Choice Association, the Queensland Conserv- ation Council and the Warana Wine a:nd Food Festival.

The Children By Choice Association is using -student material during a lecture tour of northern Queensland and the recent Warana Food and Wine Festival also used some student material.

"This is the first time we have run Community Relations and it has been a major success," Ms Aganoff said.·

"The students gained invaluable . practical experience in this field and 'the organizations· dealt with gained a lot of potentially useful ideas and material."

Kathy MacDermott, Mr Royce Perkins from AMP, Cathy Evans and Caryn Cavanagh.

Graduate out in the cold

Home and work station on an Antarctic traverse.

FEATURES

by Elizabeth Williams

-- ---

THEATRE-•.

Plans for part of the proposed face-tift for the Brisbane Arts Theatre.

Brisbane Arts Theatre is to have a $20,000 external face-lift using the signing and entrance designs oftwo QIT architecture students.

The facade design project was given to a class of 25 second year part-time students as one of their five second semester assignments. This followed an approach from Arts Theatre management to Architecture lecturer, David Lane.

"The students had four weeks to produce designs for this project," Mr Lane said.

Lecturers chose seven designs to forward to the-BAT management and the seven students were required to present their work formally.

Mr Lane said he thought the theatre only had a paint job in mind originally.

"They were delighted with the quality of the student designs,"he said.

Two designs were chosen by BAT to win award of$100each. Aspects of the two will be combined in the representation of the theatre.

Winners were Desley Campbell- Stewart who created an entrance foyer . area using lattice and a gable structure surrounded by greenery, and Frances Petrie who used the tragedy

I

comedy faces to dress up ~he front of the theatre.

Two other students also received recognition. Ian Dimmond received a

$50 prize and Bradley Williamson was asked if his photo montage of Petrie Terrace could be hung in the theatre's gallery.

Recent surveying graduate, Tim Medhurst, has been working in Antarctica with . the Department of Science and Technology, as a glaciologist. He is keeping Sam Pearse and the QIT Surveying Department in touch with a rather different area of practice:

Dear Sam (and others at QIT).

Just a short note to say Hi before I head out on the final four month Spring Traverse. You once said to me Sam, go and do something completely different now that you've got your-degree. Well, reading a theodolite at minus 45 degrees celcius is,definitely different! The year has certainly been a worthwhile, rewarding and enjoyable one. So far, I've co-ordinated and led all four glaciological traverses out of Casey for 1983;

in fact,out of any Australian base this year. I've spent a bit over four months in the paddock now, and as Dave Bruce said to me, it's 30 percent work and 70 percent getting on with people. Even now, after eight months, I can still say we've got a top bunch of people here and that makes all the difference. So I'm definitely looking forward to our last four months out on the ice (2, 100 km round trip, marking out 750 km of new route) before that little red boat appears on the horizon to take us home.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and best wishes to all for '84.

Hope to stop in and say hello.

Cheers, Tim.

INSIDE QIT, December 1983 . PageS

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(6)

Ideas produced by overseas visit

Head ofQITs Public Healt h and Nutrition Department,Dr Conor Reilly, returned recently from a wirlwind tour of four countries, exhausted, but full of new ideas.

· "It was a very stimulating programme," Dr Reilly said of his two months PEP leave. "It gave me plenty of new ideas and encouraged me to look afresh at old problems''

The tour began in the Philippines, where Dr Reilly spent two weeks as a guest of the Ministry of Health's Nutrition Division, a body he has had contact with in the past through the Australian Development Assistance Bureau, which enables students from A SEAN countries to study health and nutrition in Australia.

During the two weeks, Dr Reilly investigated the Philippino Govern- ment's National Nutrition Programme, a scheme which has been set up as part of the country's national development plan.

The Progra~me integrates the activities of all bodies concerned with food and health, such as the Ministries of Health, Education. and Agriculture, as well as private organisations. And according to Dr Reilly, the Programme appears to be working.

"What really impressed me was that the Programme was being implement- ed right down to the Baranguay or village level of organisation," he said.

"It is based on ideas picked up from the Russians and Chinese, and gets back to the primary health care work- ers, like China's wandering barefoot doctors."

Dr Reilly found that most of the health problems in the Philippines are·

due to dietary deficiencies.

Dr Reilly did not go to Rochester to investigate America's health problems, however. The main purpose of his visit was to enlist the help of the University's Toxicology Department for a project he is currently involved in.

by Dianne Spencer

"People are starving because they're not getting sufficient protein in their diets; they're developing eye problems through Vitamin A deficiency, goitre through lack of iodine, and anaemia through lack of iron," Dr Reilly explained.

"The deficiencies are nard to under- stand, because the Philippines is such a fertile country. Through the Green Revolution, the people are now produc- ing excess rice for the·first time and fruit and vegetables seem plentif~l. yet there is serious malnutrition."

"I think the main problem is poverty, along with the obvious political difficulties."

The health problems Dr Reilly wit- nessed on the second stage of his tour, at Rochester University in New York contrasted ·sharply with those he had seen in the Philippines.

"There is clearly a nutritional problem in the United States," he said. "I have never seen so many grossly obese people as I did during my stay at Rochester."

"The problem in America, however, is malnutrition through abuse of food, not lack of food as it is in tlie Philippines."

"The Toxicology Department of Rochester University has already done research into the effects of abuse of solvents such as petrol," Dr Reilly said. "So we want to collaborate with them on this project."

Collaboration

The project, being carried out in conjunction with QIT's Physics De- partment and the Queensland Uni- versity's Medical Research Depart- ment, deals with the effects of petrol sniffing on the aborigines of the North- ern Territory.

Although not a widespread problem. petrol sniffing is highly dangerous

because it results in hydrocarbon and lead poisoning.

"While I was there I managed to get the beginnings of cooperation with them, and also learned a great deal about analytical and monitering methods, especially in relation to metal contaminants in fbod and the environment."

During the two weeks Dr Reilly spent in New York, he also visited the Rochester Institute of Technology (which he says is much like QIT) to investigate their Environmental Health Programme for ideas on upgrading QIT's Health Surveying course.

After New York it was on to Ireland, where Dr Reilly had been invited to present a paper on metal contamin- ation 0f food at the Sixth International Symposium of Food Science and Technology held in Dublin.

His final week was spent in England, where he spent most of his time investigating Environmental Health Programmes.

"I met with a senior Environmental Health Officer from the Oxford City Council and was put in the picture with regard to the training and re- sponsibilities of UK environmental health officers, and visited the Thames Polytechnic in London, where I found out about the education of health surveyors and discussed the possibility of future staff exchange between them and us," Dr Reilly said.

"I also managed to spend a day at the Government Chemist Laboratory, learning analytical techniques which I hope can be used next year when our Master's student begins research into the effect of chromium on the diet."

All in all, Dr Reilly said his PEP leave was most successful.

"The ideas I have picked up will have spin-offs in all areas of the Public Health and Nutrition Department," he said. "And there is the side benefit in that I have established some overseas contacts which can be developed by other staff members in the future."

Dieticians

up-to-date;, ·_

by Dianne Spencer Australian dieticians and nutrition-

ists are up to date on the latest developments in weight control, according to QIT lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics, Yvonne Webb.

Ms Webb, who recently attended the Fourth International Congress on Obesity, in New York, found, with some experimental exceptions, that techniques used in Australia were much the same as those being used overseas.

Seminar topics ranged from what Ms Webb described as "dubious experimental techniques,"such as placing inflatible balloons in patients' stomachs to simulate the feeling of being full, to a case study of Anorexia Nervosa, a problem which, according to Ms Webb, .is on the increase in Australia.

The Anorexia case study involved presentations from a 16 year old patient, her physician, dietician and psychoanalyst.

"The girl's doctors all considered her to be cured, yet when one of the

lnaugura _ l lecture

The inaugural Peter McAnally Memorial Lecture in Geomechanics was delivered at QIT by visiting professor of civil engineering at Purdue, U.S.A., Milton E. Harron November II.

Prof. Harr's address, entitled "The Time is Ripe," covered international applications of probability and stat- istics in geotechnical engineering. He is the author of numerous research papers and several books.

The lecture was attended by more than 100 members of the profession and academics from local and inter- state tertiary institutions.

The memorial lecture was instituted to perpetuate the memory of one of Australia's great practitioners and teachers in the field of geomechanics.

Peter McAnally was a QIT lecturer until his death this September.

seminar participants asked her whether she was grateful to her doctors for making her put on weight, she said she wasn't, Ms Webb said.

"She still considered herself to be fat, even though she was painfully thin."

As well as finding out about techniques being used in the United States and other countries, Ms Webb had the . opportunity to observe the U.S. health system.

"The U.S. health system does not seem to acknowledge the value of preventative medicine," Ms Webb said.·

"Instead, there is an emphasis on therapeutic medicine."

"In other words, you don't go to a doctor to prevent something happen- ing because you can't claim it on your health insurance. ·

"Obviously with problems such as obesity, preventative treatment in the early stages is more successful than waiting until excess weight causes other problems, and then trying to treat it."

The Australian sugar industry is sponsoring a QIT post-graduate schol- arship to research chromium in the Australian diet and its possible relationship to diabetes.

A $10,000 allocation by the Sugar

Board and CSR will enable a student at the Department of Health and Nutrition to undertake a Master's degree in nutrition in 1984.

The sponsorship is for one year, with extension to two years, subject to progress.

The sky's the limit

by Kate Woods

Dedicated late night students

NeW Union has a

An artificial sky is soon to be erected in the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design.

But, as department lectUJer, Mr Jim Hutchinson, explained, it doesn't have stars and a moon or a sun painted on it.

QIT keeps its computer sys- tem up and terminal room open 24 hours, but do students really make use of it in the early hours?

If so, what sort of students are so devoted that they1are still here while the rest of us are sleeping soundly? ·

Robert Hill, a programmer at the Computer Centre, decided to find out through a ·clandestine after hours visit

·to his place of work.

The sto(y was submitted on computer stationery in high speed print, prefaced by sign on data showing 2.49 am and "Welcome to the QIT's Dec- system 10."

/left home at about 2.30 am. The first thing that I noticed when entering the QIT carpark was that there were two or three other cars there. Then the man in the sentry box waved me in.

On entering the 24 hour terminal room, someone looked up, and gave me a funny look. So I said nothing, sat down, and logged in.

There are three other people working, besides myself. Two are busy and their terminals are chattering away. The other one looks half asleep.

No, he has just been looking at a screen and is now typing on another keyboard.

The next thing is to break the silence and find out which departments these students are in.

Well, the student in front of me is doing a graduate diploma in commercial computing, as is the student in the c_orner. The other is doing engineflrlng. The first student is a part-timer, and said that last weekend he couldn't get on the system unti/11.00 pm. The security man has just walked in to check things out. The second student is doing a data-base subject, and finds that during the day he can't get

a

compile done in a . decent time due to the load on the system. The third student said he works better at night- works casually during the day, has a short nap, is refreshed and then works on the computer for 10 hours.

Well, it's now 3.35 am on Sunday morning, so I think I wifl go home again.

PageS INSIDE QIT, December 1983.

lot going for it

by Kate Woods

Final year. Maths student, Ken Fussell, is the new Pres- ) dent of the QIT Student Union.

Other candidates elected to the Union are: David Williams, Director of Administration/ Finance; Jane Folliot, Director of Student Activities;

Susan Sheppard, Director of Edu- cation: ·Michael Powell, Director of Activities, Stephan Pyman, Director of Sport.

As President, Mr Fussell is already planning his actions for 1984, which will be fully developed at the early meetings of the new union.

"We've got ·lots going for us,". Mr · Fussell said.

"We plan to promote and improve areas where more facilities are needed by the students."

· An initial step in this direction has , been the introduction of a photo- copying machine outside the Union Office.

"It was well used during its trial month," Mr Fussell said. "We received very favourable comments from the

students. / ·

"Its cheapness and hig~ quality appealed to them."

Mr Fussell says he would also like to promote a system where the students can bring grievances about staff or their course to the Union, which will assist them with the problem.

"This is already established, but it's : not promoted nearly enough," he said.

Space utilisation is another important area for Mr Fussell.

The Union will be looking at areas not being used to the.ir full extent and try to remedy this.

One such area is the courtyard between the Conservatorium and the Community-Building.

"We'll even be looking at rooftops!"

Mr Fussell said with a laugh. "With limited space we have to consider everything."

The new Union members took office as from I December, their first task being to organise activities and facilities for the 1984 Orientation Week.

"We've ·got a lot to do in the next few weeks," Mr Fussell said. "We'll certainly be busy."

It is actually an illuminated dome, approximately six metres in diameter and three metres in height.

The dome provides equal lighting distribution, equal in intensity to that of an overcast sky.

"It's as near natural daylight conditions as possible," Mr Hutchinson said.

The dome's greatest benefit is that it allows lighting conditions to be tested before a building is co!tstructed.

"You can put a model of a building or a room inside the dome to measure lighting conditions," Mr Hutchinson said.

This will be of obvious benefit to the department.

"Using the dome, we can closely estimate the natural lighting and the amount of additional lighting required," Mr Hutchinson said.

This cannot be performed with great accuracy in an outside environment because of constantly changing weath- er conditions.

The concept is particularly applicable in the construction of art galleries and other buildings where lighting is of primary i(nportance.

"The sky is in bits and pieces at the moment," Mr Hutchinson said.

""We only just got it from the Depart- ment of Architectural Science at Sydney University."

The artificial sky will be erected in the Architecture and Industrial Design Department early in the new_ year.