H I E U I E J E I N I S I L I A I N I D I I N I S I T I I I T I U I T I E
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103 ill T I E J C I H I N I O I L I O I G ! Y N I E I W I S lP I A I P I E I R •
ISSUE No. 25
Queensland Institute of Technology, George Street, Brisbane 4000. Telephone 223 2111.31 MARCH 1987
QIT develops glider
collision warning system
Besser first investor in
QIT Foundation
Research to develop a collision warning system for gliders has begun at QIT.
The project arose from the death of an Institute staff member in the Queensland gliding championships in October, 1984.
Mr Colin Norman, a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, died in a mid-air
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collision and a public appeal run by his department has now raised over
$2000.
The trust fund monies plus a QIT R&D grant of $2800 will allow work to begin in earnest on the project this year, following preliminary investi- gations in 1986.
The aim is to design, build and test a device which would warn the
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RAAF radio engineering officer and QIT postgraduate student, Mr Thorn Kennedy at Amberley with a glider and radar equipment: his aim is to show that electronic image processing will succeed where radar fails.
New logo for QIT
QIT's new logo will be unveiled to coincide with the public launch of the Q IT Foundation fundraising drive on 23 April.
Staff and students will be offered a preview at rehearsal the day before.
Based on the QIT initials, the new logo will replace the molecule symbol on all stationery, brochures, signing, and advertising. It was approved by QIT Council at the December 1986 meeting.
·Design guidelines for its use in various applications such as letter- heads and brochures are being devel- oped under the supervision of senior lecturer in industrial design, Ms Vesna Popovic and lecturer, Mr Ken Stewart who designed the new logo.
By 23 April, faculties will be issued with new letterhead, with compii- ments slips, envelopes, memos, address labels and presentation folders. Entrance signs should be in place by the launch date, and advertis- ing and vehicle signing will immedi- ately take on the new look.
All faculties will be issued with a corporate identity manual showing how the logo is to be used, and in what colours, in common appli- cations. As new applications are developed, new pages will be issued to add to the manual.
The manual aims at consistency and uniformity of presentation of the Institute which is essential to projecting the character of an organisation.
QIT Director, Dr Dennis Gibson, said adoption of the new logo was guided by market research and represented a significant commitment to the Institute's existing name which Council considered appropriate to describe QIT activities.
Major institutes in other states have changed, or are seeking to change their names to 'univers~ty of technology' to enhance their public image.
"Seventy-one percent of Brisbane people know us as QIT and value our practical approach to teaching and applied research. We will be aiming to build on this market positioning," Dr Gibson said.
The soon to be superseded molecule symbol is not being used in a consistent way throughout QIT. It has a relatively low level of association with the Institute among Brisbane people but a strong chemistry association.
QIT's largest faculties are business and engineering. Other faculties are law, built environment, information technology, health science and science.
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pilot of the proximity of another glider.
Research will be done by QIT masters student, Mr Thorn Kennedy, a radio engineering officer with the RAAF at Amberley, and supervised by lecturer in electronic systems engineering, Dr David Hainsworth.
Dr Hainsworth said to his know- ledge no collision avoidance device was in existence and the project would be a world first.
He said conventional radar could not be used for several rejj/)ns includ- ing weight and expense, and the fact that a large number of gliders were non-metallic.
As well, gliders in a single thermal trying to climb were routinely separated by much smaller C11stanccs than would be allowed for powered craft - often as little as 60 metres.
Dr Hainsworth said QIT.research would centre on producing an elec- tronic device which would auto- matically detect another glider that was dangerously close and warn the pilot.
It would investigate the use of signal processing techniques on TV images.
He said there were two main 'blind spots' for the pilot- in front where vision was blocked by the glider nose, and behind the pilot's head.
"Our idea is to have two small, lightweight TV cameras powered by batteries to watch those areas. The images from those cameras would go into a signal processing machine which would electronically recognise the shape of another glider that was dangerously close," he said.
The main thrust of the research would be to find out what was needed for the signal processing package.
Mr Kennedy, the officer in charge of the aircraft maintenance section for Amberley's No.9 Squadron, will be able to get practical advice from the Air Force gliding club, as well as from Institute staff member, Mr Ken Mcivor, a glider pilot.
Dr Hainsworth said Australian gliding clubs had shown great interest in the project.
Leading concrete block and roof tile manufacturer, Besser ( Qld) Limited will be the first major con- tributor to the new QIT Foundation which is expected to raise millions of dollars in the next two months for industrial research resources at QIT.
Besser will invest $50 000 in sponsor- ing a lectureship- the Besser Queens- land lectureship in construction.
General Manager of Besser, Mr Evan White, said that as an industry leader his company saw benefit for the industry, for the company and for Queensland in de·:eloping and passing on new technology.
"Ql'f plays an important economic role educating professionals and help- ing Queensland industry apply modern techniques. Their practical approach deserves a great deal of support," he said.
The new lectureship will ensure that architects and builders have access to the latest research in concrete products which are of great impor- tance to the construction industry.
An example of new building tech- nology is a product about to be
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launched by Besser, which will add a new architectural dimension to com- mercial and residential construction.
Called the' Designer Series', the vari- able profiled concrete blocks will be manufactured to an American design, giving a hand-hewn look.
Mr White said there was no reason this type of creative design could not be originated locally.
"The support from Besser for QIT is designed to encourage modern techniques and innovation in teach- ing, and research and development,"
he satd.
QIT Director, Dr Dennis Gibson, said the Institute welcomed the com- mittment from Besser.
"QIT has a great deal of expertise in business, law and technology but most of our resources are committed to teaching. We need additional funding to help Queensland industry put new technology into practice,"
he said.
The QIT Foundation will be officially launched by the Premier on 23 April - see page 3.
Besser General Manager, Mr Evan White (right) and Dean of QIT's Built Environment Faculty, Mr Tom Heath with a photograph of the new 'Designer Series' blocks.
Computer 'sees' walking disorders in joint study
People with walking difficulties caused by various medical problems will benefit from a joint QIT / Queensland University project being undertaken at the Repatriation General Hospital at Greenslopes.
The aim is to set up a rapid diagnostic evaluation system for use in gait analysis, by having a computer recognise certain patterns.
The computer would be fed infor- mation on normal gait patterns -
the walking patterns of people with no disorders or arthritis.
It would also be programmed to recognise individual patterns associ- ated with localised medical problems like a stiff knee or short leg.
The next step would be to have the computer identify these patterns when presented in another form.
Where a patient presented a complex series of disorders, it would recognise
the various component patterns.
QIT physicists with expertise in what is known as digital image processing are cooperating with the University's Surgery Department to develop the computer program.
The Institute's ima~ng facility uses the latest in high technology equip- ment to enable a computer to 'see' through a video camera.
continued on page 4
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QIT seeking investors, not donors
The QIT Foundation has now commenced corporate visits in the Institute's first major fundraising drive for facilities to support R&D for Queensland industry.
QIT receives no government funding for this purpose but has a track record tor relevant, practical R&D.
In harsh economic times, business and industry are not in a position to make 'donations'. Nor is QIT expecting donations from philanthropists. Our approach will be very much on a business investment basis, stressing the return.
The diversity of QIT in commercial and industrial technology offers many opportunities for investors to negotiate indifiidual packages of mutual benefit. In some cases, industries may find it more beneficial to club together to achieve research objectives which would be too expensive for one company.
Staff have responded well in identifying research focus areas for discussion with potential investors. We are also finding companies who have areas they would like us to be researching.
This intensive fund raising period means a lot of extra work for us all, but the results will be worth it. I am sure we will easily pass our original $1 milion target.
Dr Dennis Gibson
SfUDY IJStS . SEEING Co!1PVTER Gflll (SEE PAGE 1 )
Grant of
$17 500 a.
welcome sight for VDT eyes
Four new school heads
The National Occupational Health and Safety Commission has made a
$17 750 grant to QlT to study visual efficiency in connection with visual display terminals.
The researchers are Mr Michael Collins, Dr Brian Brown and Mr Ken Bowman of QIT's Optometry Department, and Dr Bruce Aber- nethy, a Queensland University lecturer specialising in motor learning and the psychology of sport.
QIT has announced four new head of school appointments follow- ing the academic restructuring of the Institute in January this year.
Under the restructure, five large departments (Civil Engineering, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Accountancy, Com- munication and Management) were upgraded to schools and the Depart- ments of Electrical Engineering and Electronic Systems Engineering were combined to form a School of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering.
Former head of the Department of Civil Engineering, Dr Keith Wallace, was confirmed as head of the new School of Civil Engineering.
Dr Walter Wong was promoted from a principal lecturer in mech- anical engineering to head of the new School of Mechanical and Manu- facturing Engineering.
and Electronic Systems Engineering.
Former Head of Department of Accountancy, Mr Lew Edwards, was confirmed as head of the new , School of Accountancy.
The appointments were effective from 23 March ( 19 February civil).
All positions were advertised over- seas as well as throughout Australia, and the quality of both internal and external applicants was high.
Dr Wallace and Dr Wong are both relatively new members of the academic staff.
Dr Wallace whose special field is geotechnical engineering, joined the Institute last April after three and a half years as senior consulting engineer with Coffey and Partners in Brisbane.
He has been associated with a
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wide range of industrial organisations and teaching institutions since gaining his Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from Melbourne University in 1960 and his PhD from the same institution in 1965.
Dr Wong, with 20 years experience in mechanical engineering, was continued on page 6
Mr Bowman, Optometry Depart- ment head, said the project would involve analysing the relationship between visual problems and symp- toms experienced by VDT operators and the findings of eye examinations.
Former head of Electronic Systems Engineering, Dr Miles Moody, is
now head of the School of Electrical Dr Keith Wallace Dr Walter Wong Dr Miles Moody Mr Lew Edwards
A full ergonomic study will be done to find out how visual problems might relate to particular work environments. Work environments will also be simulated in the laborat- ory to allow controlled experiments.
New appointment for Secretariat
Dr Abernethy will concentrate on a visual search experiment which employs an eye movement recorder to investigate what visual strategies operators adopt to do VDT tasks and whether these strategies differ from other office tasks.
The project which is already under- way, is expected to take about six months.
The grant has allowed the engage- ment of a full-time research assistant, Mr Andrew Carkeet, a recent optometry graduate of QlT.
The new senior administration officer to the QlT Secretariat; Mary- Rose MacColl was once a· cadet journalist, but says it wasn't the right .
niche for her.
With both parents journalists, she worked as a cadet with The Telegraph after leaving school.
Paradoxically though, she now finds herself writing Council News for 'Inside QIT', and her interest in communication resulted in her under- taking a part-time degree in Com- munication at QlT in 1982-85.
With her 'return' to the Institute she has now embarked on a masters program.
Ms MacColl joined QlT earlier this year after six years with the
---Publication Details - - -
Inside stories
If you know of a story which should be told in 'Inside QIT', submit it in writing or phone the Q lT Public
Relations Office:
Barbara Ewart ... 223 2130 Niki Charalambous ... 223 2361
Advertising
External advertising is accepted at the discretion of the editor at a rate of $3.00 per col.cm. (plus art charge if applicable). Classified advertising · is free for staff and students.
Peter Hinton ... 223 2386 Acknowledgements
Letters to the Editor are also Published by the Public Relations welcome (maximum of about 250 Office, QlT, ('U' Block), GPO Box
words). 2434, Brisbane 4001. Production by
Published monthly during Mr Bob Prentice, Phototypesetter semester. Copy deadline is the lOth Demonstrator in QIT's Department of each month for publication at the of Communication. Printed by Time end of the month. Off Publications.
Page 2 INSIDE QIT, 31 March, 1987.
BCAE where she most recently.co- ordinated procedures for course development and review. · ·
Her job entailed preparing sub- missions and reports to College Council, servicing college committees including course assessment commit- tees, and overall management of printing and production of accredi- tation documents.
At QIT she is in charge of the Secretariat which services Council and Council committees, reporting to the Registrar, the Secretary to Council.
Ms MacColl succeeded Arnold Reuther to the position following his retirement.
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Ms Mary-Rqse MacCf!ll .. ~
Media gap filled by QIT postgrad. course
People currently employed in advertising, journalism and· public relations but who have no academic qualifications may be able to gain a postgraduate degree at QlT in the foreseeable future.
The Institute's School of Com- munication will seek Board of Advanced Education approval to introduce a Graduate Diploma in Communication, to bridge the gap between undergraduate and masters programs.
The school is considering accepting experience as well as academic qualifi- cations for entry to the two year, part-time course.
Acting Head of the School, Dr Bruce Molloy, said there was high demand from a range of areas for such a course. It came from adver- tising,journalism and public relations staff and from people with other degrees (e.g. arts, social work, environ- mental science) wanting to upgrade or expand their skills. Some teachers, for instance, wanted to undertake a communication course in order to teach media.
Dr Molloy said one requirement for experiential entry to the course would be current employment in the nominated field.
Given BAE approval, the course
would be introduced in the 1988 triennium.
Specialisations envisaged are advertising, audio visual,journalism, public relations and communication management. There would be nine units comprising four general com- munication theory subjects and five professional vocational subjects for each of the special fields.
The four theory subjects will possibly be drawn from the Master of Business (Communication) course, and could count towards a masters degree.
Dr Molloy said the graduate diploma course could also fill the gap left by the phasing out of the graduate diploma in media offered by the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.
"That course, offered in Queens- land since 1979, is being phased out nationally, and our course could offer an alternative to it in the audio visual area," he said.
If introduced, the graduate diploma in professional communi- cation will be the first of its kind offered in Queensland, and one of the first in Australia.
The journalism component would be shared with the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education.
Snacks flaw diet of Vietnamese children
A pilot study of Brisbane Viet- namese children in pre-school age groups has shown their diet to be nutritionally unbalanced possibly due to a mixture of traditional and Australian diets.
The study was undertaken by Dr Carla Patterson, a technologist with QIT's Department of Public Health and Nutrition, with the cooperation of members of the Vietnamese community and pre-
Dr Carla Patterson with Vietnamese children from the West End pre-school.
1450 to graduate
at April ceremontes
More than 1450 graduands will attend April QIT graduation ceremonies in the Queensland Performing Arts Complex, bringing total 1986 graduates to a record :-(A ceremony was held in October for students completing courses mid-year.)
Graduation speakers will include the Minister for Industry and Technology, Mr Peter McKechnie, and Mr Don Fry of North Queens- land Engineers and Agents. Mr Fry's company was recently awarded an Australian Government contract to design and build 14 Navy patrol boats.
The ceremonies will take place on the following evenings, commencing at 5.30 pm:
Monday 6 Engineering Tuesday 7 Science and Health
Science
Wednesday 8 Business Studies and Information Technology Thursday 9 Law and The Built
Environment
A graduation dinner will be held at the Greek Club at South Brisbane after each graduation ceremony.
Tickets costing $25 each will be available from Mr David Hall, QIT Admissions Section, phone 223 2368.
Sir Joh to launch QIT Foundation
school staff in three suburbs - West End, InaJa and Darra.
It looked at nutrition, and attitudes towards dental health in two age groups, six to 24 months, and pre-schoolers from four to six years old.
Dr Patterson said 20-25 percent of the Vietnamese pre-schoolers appeared to be undernourished by Australian standards. However, it had yet to be determined whether their weights were normal for Aust- ralian Vietnamese.
General dental health was poor, and more than 90 percent suffered from gum disease, a problem not usually found in Australian children of the same age.
The cause of the high level of gum disease had still to be investi- gated, but initial research on nutrition revealed high con- sumption of 'junk' foods.
"Pre-school Vietnamese children appear to have picked up many bad snacking habits," Dr Patterson said.
"One of the problems seems to be the transition between Viet- namese and Australian eating habits. The traditional Viet- namese diet usually consists of three large meals a day with little snacking and plenty of fresh fruit, but the pre-schoolers here 'snack' a lot on potato crisps, sweets and the like."
Dr Patterson said Vietnamese parents cooperated readily in the pilot study and were willing to take action on their children's nutrition and dental care.
However, information brochures needed to be in the Vietnamese language and nutritional advice should take the traditional diet into consideration.
The main aim of the study of the 6-24 month old children was to determine whether their lack of weight gain was due to inadequate dietary intake and to see if abnormally poor dental health in primary school children was diet related.
Dr Patterson is starting a study of the diet and dental health of Vietnamese school children in Brisbane and seeking funds for a more detailed study of the infant group.
QIT dietetics students helped analyse results and Vietnamese speaking QIT students did inter- preting and translation for the study.
One thousand five hundred signatures were collected by the QIT Union during the National Free Education Week activities held on campus on 9-12 March.
Activities culminated in a demonstration at the Institute by a total of 1000 students from the Brisbane College of Advanced Education, Griffith University and QIT.
The aim of the demonstration was to make people aware of the consequences of the $250 administration charge.
So far, about 80 percent of QIT students have paid the fee.
QIT accountancy student, Michael Ready has won the first Ansett- Sun Newspapers Club Cricketer of the Year competition.
His prize Includes a holiday for two to South Molle Island with use of the resort's facilities for a week.
He was also the Courier-Mall Club Cricketer of the Year.
Michael bats for the Sandgate-Redcllffe under-19s.
The Australian Institute of Medical Laboratory Scientists has awarded a $3000 postgraduate scholarship to QIT tutor and part-time masters student, Ms Fiona Wylie.
The grant will enable her to attend an international conference on thrombosis and haemostasis to be held in Brussels for a week from 4 July.
For her masters project, Ms Wylie is examining platelet aggregation.
Platelets are cells involved in the arrest of bleeding.
Thrombosis occurs when blood clots form in uninjured blood vessels and Ms Wylie hopes her research will lead to a greater understanding of the way platelets work with consequent benefits for thrombosis therapy.
The QIT promotional video, 'Nursing-Challenge for the Future' will be officially launched shortly.
The video will be made available to schools, colleges and hospitals throughout Queensland to promote QIT nursing courses.
A production of the Department of Nursing Studies, It was filmed last year on campus and In hospital and community settings by Gary Young and Ron Wright from ERDU.
The Invitation-only premiere will be held on Friday, 3 April at 6 pm In the level two theatre at theA. M. Fraser Library.
Guests will Include representatives of health agencies, Industry and the armed services who participated In the video.
A QIT journalism student, Pam Fotheringham, has been specially commended in the 1986 Queensland Journalism Awards for her radio documentary, 'Motor cycle for paraplegics'.
The documentary featured the work of final year engineering students at QITwho successfully designed a motortrike for paraplegics.
The Institution of Engineers sponsors the awards to help future journalists become more aware of the critical role engineers play in the community.
Chairman of the Queensland Division of the Institution of Engineers, 1
Mr Erik Finger, presented Pam with an award of $100 at QIT on 10 March.
The QIT Foundation's corporate fundraising drive will be launched on 23 April by the Premier, Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen.
A major business lunchtime function is planned in 'P' Block, the civil engineering testing laboratory.
About 200 business and government leaders are expected to attend.
President of the QIT Foundation, Mr Bill Blair, said a high impact presentation was planned using the creative genius of Communication School staff to highlight QIT's important role in Queensland's economic development.
raising campaign will extend to May, with an initial target of$1 million for advanced research facilities which will be of practical benefit to industry.
QIT receives Commonwealth fund- ing for teaching programs but not for research activities.
Nigerian to be first master communicator
Mobile home growth demands govt study
"Its close working relationship with industry in teaching and applied research puts QIT in a unique position to play a leading role in transferring modern processes and practices into our offices and factories and in developing new ideas to improve the State's export perfor- mance," he said.
"We will be impressing on our audience that their investment in the Foundation is necessary to develop QIT's full potential in servicing the needs of Queensland business and industry in increasingly competitive world and domestic markets."
The Foundation's intensive fund-
A Nigerian journalist is likely to be the first person to graduate from QIT's new Master of Business (Communication) program at the end of this year.
He is Mr Levi Obijiofor who worked for the Nigerian Guardian newspaper in Lagos before enrolling at QIT on a Commonwealth scholar- ship a year ago.
Mr Obijiofor is both the first full- time student and the first overseas student to undertake the masters course now being offered by the School of Communication.
He already has a masters degree in mass communication from Lagos University.
The State Government has been urged to formulate guidelines for operators and developers of mobile home parks in view of the 1980's boom in the mobile home industry.
Around 1000 new mobile homes are built in Queensland each year, and the number is growing.
Research by a final year surveying student at QIT, Mr Peter Carmont, suggests they will become attractive to an increasing number of people if housing interest rates and property levels remain at present high levels.
Mr Carmont said recent interest by developers and buyers had caught most local authorities without any clear policy guidelines. Only two South East Queensland local councils - Caboolture and Albert - had by-laws specifically governing mobile home parks, with other councils
permitting development although they had no firm policies.
Most local authorities were in the process of developing their own policies, but this situation was likely to cause confusion among developers and manufacturers of mobile homes.
Mr Carmont said the industry, through the Caravan Parks Assoc- iation, was also seeking some degree of uniformity of local authority standards for setting up mobile home parks.
"The mobile home park is a relatively new concept for Australia,"
he said. "There has been a virtual revolution in this sector of the housing construction and accommodation industry over the past 15 years but no legislative or regulative action by the Queensland or Federal Govern- ments."
There are no official statistics on
the number of mobile home occu- pants. Up to 300 000 Australians are thought to live on a permanent basis in caravan and mobile home parks.
The Queensland figure could be 40 percent of this.
Surveys indicate that couples under 35 years of age with children, formed the largest group.
More retired people are also opting for mobile homes.
Mr Carmont said mobile homes were attractive to young couples or people who could not afford con- ventional housing, employees subject to transfer and those who simply could not find suitable accom- modation, especially in a rural or resource development area.
Some people simply preferred living in a mobile home because they could move easily when they wanted to.
INSIDE QIT, 31 March, 1987. Page3
Trawling in Moreton aids QIT design corrects
d b , . 1 d poor knee joints
san era pop n • s u y
Medicalequipmenttohelpcorrect blade plate. The blade plate section A QIT researcher says thatMoreton Bay trawlermen and crabbers, frequently in conflict over alleged disturbance of crab pots, have good reason to become friends.
His three-year study has shown that trawling in the bay actually benefits sandcrabs and may keep the crustacean population artificially high.
The research was conducted by part-time masters student, Mr Ted Wassenberg, a biologist with the CSIRO Fisheries Division at Cleveland.
The aim was to determine the fate of the 'by-catch', i.e. unwanted fish and crustaceans discarded at sea by Moreton Bay trawlers whose target species is generally prawns.
The study was the first to examine the fate of the by-catch in Moreton Bay, and is thought to be the first of its kind in the world.
Only about one-sixth of each catch, which averages around 38 kilograms for each trawl, is target species.
About four kilograms of the rest is fish, with around 28 kilograms of the discarded material made up of crabs and other crustaceans.
The study revealed that in the short-term, at least 85 percent of crustaceans survived trawling, com- pared with only 20 percent for fish that were thrown back.
The advantage to sandcrabs, dolphins, and seabirds was the extra food created by trawling.
Most of the fish (60-80 percent) was found to go to dolphins and seabirds.
Mr Wassenberg said trawler dis- cards which sank to the bottom were likely to be found by crabs within 10 minutes of the discards reaching the seabed. The information was gleaned from more than 80 camera drops in Moreton Bay.
~underwater photography showed that sandcrabs were the most common scavengers attracted to the bait on the trawl grounds and that they consumed many of the marine animals thrown over the sides of trawlers," he said.
The discarded animals might have been weakened by the effects of trawling, or might become less com- petitive for food and in these ways alter the predator-prey interactions.
Mr Wassenberg said his study highlighted short-term changes in the marine energy pathways of a prawn fishery.
Prawn trawl nets generally caught bottom fish and all species were not equally 'catchable'.
The different 'catchability' of differ- ent types of fish, coupled with the channelling of high energy food to the higher predator could cause changes in marine populations in a fishery.
Increases in fishery by-catch might be brought about by varying abun- dances, distribution or environmental influences on all species in a fishery, but most often they were due to changes in fishing strategies.
Q SEARCH manager to visit Moscow
Manager of Q SEARCH, Mr Ray Bange, will be a member of a delegation of four Australian engineers to visit Russia next month at the invitation of the USSR's premier technological society.
Mr Bange, a former head of civil engineering at QIT, has been invited to address a meeting of YSNTO, the All Union Soviet Society of Techno- logical and Scientific Societies.
The Institution of Engineers Aust- ralia, nominated him for the trip which aims to foster technological links and goodwill between the two countries.
The group will be in Moscow for 10 days from 8 April.
mining industries.
One of the issues Mr Bange will raise in Moscow is the effectiveness of technology transfer and the extent to which new developments in research can be translated into practice.
"The sharing of information on Soviet and European practices has the potential to create new business opportunities and increased academic and commercial interaction between Australia and the USSR," he said.
Mr Bange will combine his Russian visit with a mission to major South East Asian centres where he will promote the educational and consultancy resources of QIT.
misaligned knee joints caused by is literally hammered in.
osteoarthritis has been developed by The upper tibia is fractured and QIT's Mechanical and Manufactur- the bone damper draws the two ing Engineering School in con- bones together.
junction with a Brisbane orthopaedic The longer section of the blade surgeon. . plate is then screwed into the lower One procedure used to realign the tibia and fixes the joint while healing joints and relieve the pain is maquet occurs
barrel vault osteotomy. It involves · . . changing the angle of pressure on Mr Engel said orthopaedic the knee joint from the tibia or shin s~:~rgeons no~ had to use a!l array of
bone. ' different eqmpme~t t? decide on the
A drilling jig and a bone clam per corr~c~ angle to drilli~to the top of developed by QIT final year mech- t~e tibia, and personal judgment was anical engineering student, Mr still needed.
Randal Engel in association with Wickham Terrace specialist, Dr Ian Dickinson, simplify the present operation.
Small holes are drilled at a pre- determined angle in the top of the tibia and routered to make a groove for the shorter section of an 'L' shaped piece of metal known as a
But the drillingjig could be pre-set at almost any angle to cover 95 percent of possible cases. As well, until now, no adequate bone com- pression tool had been available.
Mr Engel said Dr Dickinson was enthusiastic about the prototypes of the drilling jig and the bone clam per, but clinical trials still had to be done.
The drilling jig and bone clamper in action.
Virtually none of the discarded by-catch went to prawns which feed on benthic (seabottom) organisms.
However, analyses of the gut con- tents of sand crabs revealed that one- third was by-catch.
Mr Bange said Queensland engin- eers had shown themselves to be leaders in many areas. They led the world in such areas as developments
in port handling facilities and the
Study examines male versus
Expert to investigate female management success
Fijian blind
A QIT senior lecturer and inter- national authority on low vision will visit Fiji in June to investigate the possibility of setting up a rehabili- tation service for partially-sighted people.
In Suva, Ms Kitchin will run a short continuing education course for local practitioners. Low-vision children from a school run by the Fiji Society for the Blind will be used to demonstrate what can be done for partially-sighted people.
A national survey is being con- ducted this year to determine how difficult or easy women find it to become managers in comparison with men.
Researchers are QIT lecturer in public administration, Ms Denise Conroy, and Dr Phyllis Tharenou, formerly of QIT, who now lectures in the Psychology Department at Queensland University.
The Australian National Council of and for the Blind asked Ms Jan Kitchin of the Institute's Optometry Department for an initial evaluation of the situation.
Gait research continued from pg 1
The week-long visit will be partially funded by the Australian Develop- ment Assistance Bureau (ADAB).
Ms Kitchin said that at present, the Fiji Society for the Blind treated all low vision people as blind. In fact, usually only about 15 percent of so- called blind people were totally blind. The rest had some usable vision which in most cases would benefit from magnifying (optical) aids.
She will investigate the feasibility of a rehabilitation service for partially- sighted people and whether they would be best served by a central clinic or community-based private optometrists and ophthalmologists.
New approaches to Communication
The Communication Centre will hold a continuing education course at QIT on 'New Approaches to Communication' on 30 Aprill987.
The cost is $300. The closing date for registration is 27 April.
For further information, contact Mr Rod Miller on phone (07) 223 2479.
In the gait analysis project, the computer'watches'a person walking, tracking a particular point on their back. The point traces out a particular pattern as the walker sways from side to side.
Researcher, Mr Darryl Collins, a lecturer in medical physics, said in a medically normal person the pattern resembled a figure of eight.
"However, if for instance the person limps, there will be a different pattern. Eventually it is hoped to build up a library of different shapes so that patients can be categorised,"
·he said.
Before this could be done, pro- grams which enabled the computer to 'watch' the person and trace out certain patterns, had to be refined.
QIT postgraduate student, Mr Frank Harris, is engaged in that research.
The ongoing gait analysis project is headed by Queensland University Professor George Sikorski of the Orthopaedic Surgery Department.
Orthopaedic clinic patients with diseases of the joints are taking part in the project.
NOTE: Development of QIT's digital image processing facility was initiated by the Physics Department in 1985 when a QIT-wide working Page4 INSIDE QIT, 31 March, 1987.
party chaired by Dr Brian W Thomas was set up to investigate the feasibility of the project.
The working party comprising representatives from Electrical Engineering, Computing Studies, Surveying, and Physics, identified a wide range of applications for image processing.
The facility is capable of storing, enhancing, restoring and interpreting images taken from any standard video signal.
For example, images could be enhanced to increase contrast in an X-ray, or to highlight the edges of a region of interest in a Landsat image.
A photograph which is out of focus or which contains a region affected by motion blur as with a moving vehicle, could be processed to reconstruct or recover the degraded part of the image.
The imaging group is seeking funds of up to $300 000 from various sources to acquire equipment and support staff to expand the facility which is currently a distributed system based on personal computers.
Any queries with respect to the group should be addressed to Mr Len Meara, lecturer in physics on ph. 223 2490.
The Australian Research Grants Scheme Committee has awarded them $15 000 for the project which will enlarge their 1985 study into male/female dynamics of manage- ment in Queensland.
The results of that survey using comprehensive questionnaires were published last year. They indicated, among other things, that female managers, in comparison with their male counterparts, were more likely to be single, but if married, had been so for less time, had fewer dependents, and had spouses who supported their career involvement.
Women managers were also more likely to be paid substantially less than male counterparts, tended to work in small organisations with a greater proportion of female employ- ees, and had fewer subordinates.
The Queensland survey sampled 1355 managers and non-managers, targeting professional people through their membership of professional bodies.
The national survey, for which up to 6000 questionnaires are expected to be used, will be widened to include samples drawn from membership of various organisations in both the private and public sectors.
According to Ms Conroy, one factor being explored is the 'dual demand' perspective.
"Three quarters of all female employment in Australia is con- centrated in four areas - clerical, services, sport and recreation, profes- sional and technical jobs, and sales.
The opportunities for women to become managers are limited by occupational segregation, which has been increasing since the 1970s," she said.
"Females are also disproportion- ately represented in the part-time workforce."
Ms Conroy said women made up almost 80 percent of the part-time workforce in Queensland. Fifty one percent of female part-time workers were responsible for the care of children up to the age of 14, compared with only 18 percent of male part- time workers.
Men dominated seven of the 12 industry groups in Queensland, and represented 75 percent of the work- force in those groups.
And the 'dual demand' perspective?
"According to dual career theory, the actual or anticipated family responsibilities affect the kinds of jobs women take," Ms Conroy explained.
"We'll test this theory by question- ing the occupational distribution and attainment of men and women who have never married."
Major influences on managerial role attainment to be looked at will cover the person's psychology and social experience, work, home and early socialisation, and present social interaction, education, and work experience.
For instance, the Queensland survey revealed that female managers were more likely than males to have had employed mothers, and had closer relationships with their fathers.
Some questionnaires have already been sent out with others soon to follow. Data analysis will start mid-year.
The researchers believe the survey is the first comprehensive Australian study of both person and situation with regard to career development.
Corridor logging may save birds
The logging of tropical rainforest may cause the Joss of up to one- quarter of the resident bird species, threatening the long-term viability of the forest itself, according to a QIT biologist.
Dr Peter Driscoll, an expert on tropical birds, will recommend to the UNESCO 'Man and Biosphere' program that if logging is unavoid- able, it be done in corridors.
He said even leaving patches of rainforest, or individual, tall trees intact could help preserve birdlife.
Survival of certain species could mean the difference between long- term life and death of the forest.
With logging, many large frugi- vores (fruit-eating birds) were eliminated.
The irony was that many sought- after tree species had very large fruit whose seeds could only be eaten by, and therefore dispersed by, the larger birds like the hombill and cassowary.
· Dr Driscoll's findings are based on an intensive study of the Gogo!
Valley and Naru timber areas neat Madang in Papua New Guinea.
He said that some 40 to 50 of the original I 50 bird species in the Trans- Gogo! timber area had been adversely affected by logging and the situation
had not improved despite 17 years of forest regrowth.
The biologist first visited the area in 1977-79, starting his fieldwork about four years after the commence- ment of logging.
By working at 15 different locations and comparing similar nearby areas with logged ones, he found substantial changes to the bird life in those places which had been used for timber getting.
A recent follow-up study indicated that the regrowth bird communities had not changed appreciably in the past five to six years.
Dr Driscoll said very few studies had considered the regenerative changes in tropical forest ecosystems and it was very important to docu- ment these changes as they occurred over a long period of time.
Although botanists previously have recommended corridor logging of rainforest as the best way to facilitate flora regeneration, the Driscoll study is thought to be the first demonstrat- ing the importance of this to bird life.
According to the researcher, the Catch-22 situation is that the local variant of forest type most intensively logged is the one which contains the
greatest concentration of birds and species.
"If certain birds, and the forest itself is to regenerate, foresters must leave some of the well-drained terrace forest which has the highest density of timber," he said.
Dr Driscoll's fieldwork involved mist netting of understorey rainforest species, observations and counts of canopy species and recapture of birds banded during his initial study.
The banding program, he said, stressed the importance of careful management of rainforests.
Banding kept track of the distance birds moved and revealed their ages.
Some of the recaptured insect- ivorous birds were known to be nine and a half years old, but were living in exactly the same place as they had been when first discovered.
Dr Driscoll said these species were highly vulnerable to destruction of their habitat. They could not move long distances so could not easily colonise other suitable areas after logging, and their reproductive rates were not high in any case.
Data from the bird population study is now being collated for publi- cation and recommendations to several funding bodies including UNESCO, the private Christensen Research Institute based just north of Madang, and the Papua New Guinea University of Technology at La e.
The UNESCO 'Man and the Biosphere' program has a long term interest in monitoring changes occur- ring in the Trans-Gogo! area, while the Christensen Institute was set up to encourage various forms of research to benefit the Madang region.
FOOTNOTE:
Dr Driscoll used a novel approach to monitor canopy species of PNG rainforest birds. He did actual counts of canopy birds from platforms in the tree tops reached by ladders up to 36 metres long.
Worms risk for
Asian travellers
Many young Australian travel- lers are putting their health in serious jeopardy by living village- style in South East Asia, according to a leading medical parasitologist.
Dr John Welch, Head of Depart- ment of Medical Laboratory Science at QIT, said these travellers, when they returned to Australia, also subjected the rest of the population to increased risk of infection.
He said a growing number of young people seemed to favour living in the local manner in places like Indonesia and Malaysia. They ate local food, and walked barefoot.
This put them at an extremely high risk of infection from a wide range of organisms including viruses, bacteria and parasites.
One potential danger is from the parasite hookworm which in its juvenile form can burrow through the skin of the feet.
ln its most severe form, hookworm infection is potentially fatal, causing gross anaemia.
A survey conducted by Dr Welch last year showed that in Australia an average of one person a day was diagnosed as having hookworm.
And he says there has been a rise over the past few years in the incidence of cases of hookworm,
roundworm, and other such infec- tions recorded locally in Australian travellers and in migrant groups arriving from areas where such para- sites are endemic.
Roundworms, which grow up to 25 centremetres long, live in the gut.
The result of inadequate hygiene which allows food to be contaminated with roundworm eggs, the infection causes diarrhoea and vomiting, mainly in children.
Dr Welch, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, believes that while not common, parasitic worm infections in Australia could be far more prevalent than previously thought.
The main problem is lack of reli- able, up-to-date information for scientists or medical practitioners:
the last national survey of nematode infections was made in 1919-24.
Dr Welch is now trying to bridge the 60-year information gap with a three-year national survey of worm parasites in human populations.
He hopes to pinpoint any geo- graphical areas where one or both the worms are endemic, determine the proportion of infections acquired locally and the proportion introduced from overseas, and to identify groups of people at risk. Details of the history and nature of infections will be recorded where possible.
Library survey
reveals good use
Surveys conducted to determine the degree of use of facilities in the Institute library found a higher rate of use by QIT students than expected.
Full-time users accounted for 53 percent of total catalogue use; 20.7 percent came from non-QIT users.
Furthermore, health science students were found to be the heaviest users of catalogues followed by business studies and engineering.
The surveys also looked at the use of serials.
Business studies students were found to be the heaviest users of the
serials collection closely followed by the health sciences.
Chief Librarian, Mr Tom Cochrane, said these results would assist the library to identify suitable target groups for a catalogue enrich- ment trial.
Such a trial would mean inclusion of chapters in books and article~
from conference proceedings and periodicals in the online catalogue.
The surveys were conducted last semester and will be repeated later this year to enable a comparison of results.
Dr Peter Driscoll inspects
a
rainforest bird near Madang, Papua NewGuinea.
Accountancy textbooks
launched at QIT
By Barbara Ewart If you run into someone and they smile, saying"Gedday, how's things?", don't think that person is pulling your leg. You can, of course reply that you're feeling crook, sick as a dog even, or if things are really bad, you've got one foot in the grave.
However, most people, whether feeling off or not, usually reply, "No worries, she11 be right, mate."
Savvy?
Well most Australians, whether 'cultured', 'general' or 'broad' speakers of what is still described here as the English language, will understand.
Not so with migrant and overseas students says Q IT careers and welfare counsellor, Mr Denis Arthy.
The Aussie lingo can be a blank wall for ESL (English as a Second Language) students.
To clear muddy waters, Mr Arthy recently conducted a workshop in 'Survival English'.
Topics ranged from oral and idiomatic expressions in Australian English, and Australian culture and humour, to social custom and how to cope with things new and unfamiliar.
"There is a real need for this sort
of workshop," he said. "It is not just a matter of easing day-to-day living;
for some students it's vital for success in a course."
Mr Arthy said that the Counselling Centre was open throughout the year to advise students on any course or personal difficulties and ESL students should not hesitate to contact counsellors.
"Some students do have to struggle to understand the idiom," he said.
"Yet if they sought help early it could mean the difference between aca- demic success and failure."
Mr Arthy said students facing many problems should remember to take one step at a time. They had to learn to walk before they could run.
Naturally they would all want to work hard and always try to put their best foot forward.
But if they did not seek advice early and failed a course, it was a case of closing the gate after the horse had bolted.
He said there was enough general Australian idiom to deal with at the workshop without resorting to 'okker'.
He had no time to come the raw prawn with students when giving them some Survival English rules- of-thumb.
Two accountancy text books already adopted by tertiary insti- tutions in all Australian states and overseas were launched at QlT last month.
The text books, Financial Account- ing in Australia, and Accounting in Australia were written by Head of QIT's School of Accountancy, Mr Lew Edwards and senior lecturer in accounting, Mr John Hoggett.
According to Mr Edwards, the textbooks differ from others in a number of areas.
"The contents are strictly based on Australian Accounting Standards and Approved Accounting Stand- ards. These standards are included in the text which is a first for books targeted at first year accountancy students," he said.
"The Accounting in Australia text has the most complete coverage of introductory managerial accounting topics yet published for the Australian market."
Mr Edwards said the books intro- duced new approaches to account- ancy not previously used and they reflected the co-authors joint 48 years in accountancy practice and teaching.
Designed for first year tertiary accountancy students, they are being used in New Zealand, Hong Kong,
Malaysia, Singapore and other South East Asian countries. They have also been adopted by the Australian Graduate School of Management in Sydney.
Every institution which adopts
the texts gets a solution manual printed in transparency master form to enable production of overheads for lectures.
Both textbooks were published by John Wiley & Sons.
Accountancy textbook authors, Head of the School of Accountancy, Mr Lew Edwards (left) and senior lecturer in accountancy at QIT, Mr John Haggett (right) with Managing Director of John Wiley and Sons, Mr Brennan.
INSIDE QIT, 31 March, 1987. PageS
'Wraparound' sport solves ERDU co slips soo
campus space problems disks in one hit
available
to save thousands
By Barbara Ewart Queensland's most crowded tertiary campus is using lateral think- ing to overcome its recreational space dilemma.
There is dearth of 'room to move' at QIT's inner city campus which now serves about ten thousand students plus about a thousand staff.
But like plants squeezing through asphalt, creative thinking has brought a blossoming of unusual recreational activities and unusual ways of running regular sports.
Take for instance, the use of the grassed Domain area.
Late last year it was the scene of a 'wraparound', or round-the corner soccer match. The reason: part of the oblong area was sectioned off for netball.
And although it may have looked odd, according to Mr Paul Brooks, the Student Union recreation officer, it worked.
Netball is also played on the show- piece kidney lawn, by marking out a netball court with sand to avoid any permanent damage.
Then there is the new mobile stand for basketball. Designed and built with the assistance of civil engineering staff, the three metre stand can be positioned wherever there happens to be space on the day.
The Union gym isjustas versatile, with the aid of tight scheduling and cooperation among different groups.
Times are juggled to accommodate aerobics and workouts, karate, boxing and self-defence, and it is not unusual to see aerobics in full swing in one part of the gym with the karate group claiming their own small space.
Another answer to the space problem is to hire outside sports grounds and to organise unusual activities like ballooning, parachuting and scuba diving.
consider establishing a multi-purpose building for use as a boatshed and for general recreation.
The QIT rowing club is now based at a high school boat shed.
In the absence of a boat shed, however, students may be able to get into the water soon at the proposed swimming pool/ squash court complex.
Tenders for the 25 metre pool and three squash courts have closed but
quoted costs are above funds.
Although the project is being reviewed, it is still hoped to start construction in the near future.
Siting the complex has been another space squeeze job which required some creative thinking. The building will be fitted tightly into the area bounded by the Community Building, the Kindler Theatre, 'P' Block and the Child Care Centre.
Project managers get Institute boost
Two of the staff of the Department of Building and Quantity Surveying at QIT were appointed to the recently formed Queensland chapter of the Project Managers' Forum.
Head of the department, Mr Gary Thomas, is responsible for the further education portfolio while lecturer in the department, Mr Len Coyte, assumes responsibility for public relations.
The forum has a number of objectives:
• to advance the discipline of project management as distinct from general management;
• to encourage the study of project management; and
• to promote professionalism in the field.
The Project Managers' Forum is the only body which specifically provides a forum for the regular exchange and dissemination of views and news on projects, management problems, solutions, applications and developments.
Intern at ional
sta ff wi ll bolster
Q SEARCH push
Q SEARCH, now actively in- volved in marketing QIT abroad, is becoming more international 'at home' with the appointment of two new staff members.
friends accuse her of being an un- relenting organiser.
QIT's Educational Research and Development Unit has installed a state-of-the-art compact disk player capable of storing 500 diskettes.
The Sony CD-ROM (Read Only Memory) connects to a standard microcomputer and according to ERDU head, Mr Derick Unwin, will save QJT thousands of dollars through mass storage.
Mr Unwin said as the name implied, CD-ROMS stored only specific sets of information for retrieval. They therefore would not replace floppy disks on which a person could store their own infor-
mation. However, the vast store of information on the CD-ROMs could be downloaded onto the diskettes, each diskette being filled in Jess than a minute.
ERDU now holds two CD-ROMS:
the PC-SIG library disk holds the entire inventory of that major share- ware organisation. The other compact disk contains the Grolier Encyclo- paedia and a massive index.
Mr Unwin said an important ad- vantage of the CD-ROMs was the fact they were virtually indestructible - their contents were not corrupted by fingerprints, coffee, or. heat.
--
The cost of hiring other sports grounds is met by Q IT administration which recognises the Union diffi- culties.
For instance, in order to host the annual colleges' rugby union com- petition last year, QIT held it at BCAE's Kedron Park campus.
They are conference producer, Mr Kieran O'Brien from Waterford in the south-east of the Irish Republic, and conference organiser, Ms Palmira Coimbra Sanderson, whose back- ground is Portuguese.
An arts graduate of Griffith University, she spent one and a half years as production coordinator for Telescan Video Productions, a local company which makes corporate documentaries and TV commercials.
Before that she did a short stint as a personnel consultant with Drake Personnel.
Head of ERDU, Mr Derick Unwin with one of the CO-Roms, the PC-Sig Library.
The only sporting fields controlled by QIT are for cricket- three home wickets at Victoria Park.
Various sports are also held at Queensland University campus.
Mr Brooks says that student interest in union-organised activities is snowballing after some rather dormant years.
The total number of participants trebled between 1985 and 1986, with gym attendances alone, doubling, and on current trends he forecasts even greater student support this year.
Although there is no immediate solution to the recreational space problem, one source of untapped potential, according to the Student Union, is the Brisbane River.
The Union's executive officer, Mr Bruce Dickson, would like QIT to
Mr O'Brien's position is a new one, while Ms Coimbra Sanderson succeeds Ms Debbie Russo.
As conference producer, Mr O'Brien will generate activities in such areas as short courses and seminars for QIT and for outside organisations.
An arts graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, he has a post-graduate diploma in adult education from Edinburgh University, and was previously education training co- ordinator for the Waterford local authority. He \\-as also a consultant with the European Commission, mainly coordinating and establishing seminars on labour market needs as they affect unemployed people. This entailed bringing people from EEC countries together to discuss issues relevant to those needs.
Ms Coimbra Sanderson is also interested in bringing people together and believes she has found the perfect job for a person whose family and
New school heads continued from pg 2
Professor and Head of Mechanical Engineering at the PNG University of Technology before joining QIT in January 1986.
A graduating fellow of RMIT, he completed his masters at the Univers- ity of Aston, and his PhD at the University of Birmingham in England.
Dr Moody, whose PhD is in signal processing, gained his Univers- ity of Queensland Master of Engineer- ing Science degree in broadcasting technology after completing a B E ( Hons) degree in electronics and communication.
In 1985 he was promoted to head of QIT's Department of Electronic
Systems after five years as senior lecturer, and a previous period of 10 years as lecturer.
The new Accountancy School head, Mr Lew Edwards, joined QJT in 1973 as a lecturer in accountancy and was promoted to senior lecturer the following year. He had been head of the former Department of Accountancy since 1977.
A University of Queensland MBA graduate, he recently has co-authored two tertiary-level textbooks now being widely adopted throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.
Two head of school positions- Communication and Management - are not yet finalised.
Page 6 INSIDE QIT, 31 March, 1987.
I rene breaks study cycle to eye Q IT
Dutch medical student, Irene Ottenhof is spending two months at QJT during a year's break from her University of Amsterdam course.
Irene, who conducted a number of vision experiments as part of her medical studies, is working as a research assistant for an Optometry Department project. The project is researching aspects of intraocular pressure i.e. varying pressure in the eye, and could lead to more effective
treatment for the eye disease, glaucoma.
Being Dutch, Irene quickly dis- covered the bikeway between her accommodation at Toowong and QIT, and cycles to the Institute each day.
Later in the year she intends to spend three months seeing more of Australia, then visiting Singapore and Malaysia before returning to Amsterdam.
\f ·~
Irene uses the non-contact Tonometer to study varying eye pressures.
Willie makes his mark at nurse camp
QIT Nurses Club president, Mark Thompson, in the role of 'Little Willie' at the annual get-together for nursing students at Maranatha, the Seventh Day Adventist camp near Nambour.
The sketch was one of the high- lights of this year's February camp attended by more than 60 first, second and third year Nursing Studies students.
The idea of the camp is to foster friendships between new and 'old' students in a social environment.
This is thought to assist first year students to adjust quickly to their nursing studies.
On the agenda were sport, indoor and outdoor games, a concert, a walk, and a campfire
'Little Willie', described as the smallest man in the world, had a little help from his friends, especially with the legwork.
