links
Smooth sailing for
biotech graduates
Contents
volume [7] number[1]
Features
Warning fatigue
Parents are tuning out to violence
warnings on TV.
6
Been in the same job for too long?
Graduates talk about how they changed
their careers – and their lives.
10
Tuning the dial to digital radio A new QUT project is set to revolutionise
radio for rural communities.
12
Charting a new frontier in science Meet QUT’s ‘bioneers’, the first wave of
entrepreneurial biotech graduates.
15
Moving on with retirement What makes people move from the
family home?
16
Rugby’s knock-on effect
QUT scored well with its rugby conference
during last year’s World Cup.
18
Profi les
Healthy approach to men’s issues Singapore alumnus Azreen Noor takes her role as editor of a men’s health magazine
in her stride.
7
Making a marketing splash Meet the face of QUT’s marketing push who is riding a wave of success with surf
giant Billabong.
9
A strong blend of business success Coffee king Dean Merlo proves law
and lattes do mix.
13
Totally wild about television Rising TV star Jasmin Geisel joins QUT’s long line of high-profile media and
communication graduates.
14
Fighting for quality rural education Megan McNicholl’s contribution to education in Australia extends far and wide … literally.
17
2003 Outstanding Alumni Award winners From a world-renowned vision scientist to an award-winning architect, a human resource guru and Queensland’s first federal magistrate, the annual awards continue to recognise
a highly-prestigious array of alumni.
20
Research
Focus on eye research
QUT is at the forefront of exciting new
developments in correcting short-sightedness.
1
The sky’s the limit
FedSat is Australia’s most successful satellite, thanks to input by QUT researchers.
3
Info-stress
The latest phenomenon – too much
information is making us sick.
8
New approach to menopause
Research is proving advantages in adopting a Japanese diet and lifestyle.
12
Regulars
News round-up 2
Legal-ease 7
Alumni News 19
Keep in Touch 22
Ask the Vice-Chancellor
Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake responds to questions on the issue of engagement of industry with QUT students.
See inside back cover for details.
Editor Janne Rayner
Phone: 07 3864 2361
Fax: 07 3864 9155
Email: [email protected] Contributors
Toni Chambers
Greg Davis
Heath Kelly
Carmen Myler
Mechelle Webb
Photography
Tony Phillips
Graphic Design
Mike Kuhn
Our cover
QUT alumnus Belinda Luscombe sailing off Manly after being inundated with job offers on completion of a biotechnology innovation degree.
QUT Links is published by QUT’s Marketing and Communication Department in cooperation with the QUT Alumni Relations Unit. Editorial material is gathered from a range of sources and does not necessarily reflect the
opinions and policies of QUT.
Feature story
$60 million arts showcase
QUT’s new Creative Industries Precinct is an exciting hub of ideas,
innovation and creativity.
4
meno pause QUTlinks February 2004
CRICOS No. 00213J
The millions of people
throughout the world who suffer from being short-sighted can soon focus on enjoying the long- term benefi ts of perfect vision.
Vision correction in the 21st century will be dominated by advanced custom-made lenses and surgical procedures. This new approach will correct all aberrations of the eye and provide better vision than is currently available.
Dr Michael Collins from the Centre for Health Research at QUT’s School of Optometry is an internationally renowned expert in vision science and is at the forefront of exciting new developments in human eye research.
By applying wavefront technology first used to measure optical imperfections in astronomical telescopes, Dr Collins is making major advances in understanding and correcting eye defects such as myopia (short-sightedness).
“It has the potential to help millions,” Dr Collins said.
“Twenty to 25 per cent of people in Australia are short-sighted but in certain countries in Asia the proportion goes way up.
“In countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong and
Singapore the rate of myopia is as high as 70 to 80 per cent of the population and is considered an epidemic.
“The intriguing aspect of this is that the rates of myopia in these populations have increased dramatically in the last one or two generations.
“Myopia is caused by the eye growing too long.
We know that the natural regulation of eye growth is linked to vision and the optics of the eye.
“If we can understand the factors that cause the eye to grow in an excessive and uncoordinated way we can begin to understand how to control those factors.”
He said both genetic and environmental factors are known to be associated with the increased risk of myopia.
However, the new techniques being developed had the potential to dramatically improve the accessibility and affordability of vision correction to people all over the world.
“In the past 100 years visual defect correction has been at a simple level involving only the correction of defocus and astigmatism. However the optics of the human eye are more complex than this and there are other optical defects which can now be measured and corrected,” he said.
Dr Collins said the development of wavefront sensing technology opened the way for these approaches.
“Wavefront sensors have the capacity to measure the total optics of the eye and their use will eventually
become standard practice for optometrists because they provide so much extra information for the clinician.
“Vision correction in the 21st century will be dominated by advanced custom-made lenses and surgical procedures. This new approach will correct all aberrations of the eye and provide better vision than is currently available.”
In his 20 years at QUT, Dr Collins has established an exceptional track record in research and remains at the leading edge of international developments.
Over the past five years, Dr Collins’ Contact Lens and Visual Optics Laboratory has received more than
$3.5 million in research funding from international corporations.
Private philanthropic organisations such as the Singapore-based Lee Foundation have also contributed to Dr Collins’ work on myopia development.
Story by Greg Davis
QUT scientists help stop starvation in the Pacific
Science researchers at QUT have expanded their East Timor work to include projects to help stop poverty and starvation in Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
New projects introduced last year include stock improvement of farmed fish in Fiji and better pest management of crops in East Timor and PNG.
The Faculty of Science’s Pacific research programs have received funding support from science alumni donations as part of the Alumni Annual Appeal.
QUT’s MBA honoured
The Brisbane Graduate School of Business (BGSB) at QUT is one of only two Australian business schools to have received accreditation with the prestigious Association of MBAs.
The independent international body, which assesses the quality of MBA programs worldwide, bestowed the honour on BGSB late 2003.
Sandra Harding heads new international and development drive
QUT’s former Dean of Business, Professor Sandra
Harding, has been appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International and Development).
The distinguished
academic and popular Brisbane business identity took on her new role in January but said she hoped to maintain the strong links she had formed with the business community.
Her DVC position has been created under a senior management restructure and recognises QUT’s growing commitment to internationalisation and continued development.
Chinese minister honoured in QUT ceremony
China’s Vice Minister for Education (Higher Education), Madam Wu Qidi, has been made an honorary Doctor of the University.
News round-up
Madam Wu visited QUT late last year to receive her honorary doctorate, which recognised her support for education relations between China and Australia.
The former president of Tongji University in Shanghai took on her new government role last year.
Affiliate program links IT Faculty with industry
The Faculty of IT has launched a new Industry Affiliate Program to foster innovation in the IT industry.
The first of its kind in Queensland, the program provides organisations with simple, convenient access to QUT’s IT students, staff and facilities, while encouraging peer- to-peer knowledge transfer.
High-profile companies that have already joined the program include Oracle Corporation, Mincom, SAP, DMR Consulting, Microsoft, Rio Tinto Technology, SNAPgear, CITEC, Australia Post–QLD, Coolong Consulting, Queensland Rail, Suncorp, Hatch and Eracom Technologies.
New dean for Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Law will have a new dean from March this year.
A former attorney-general of Australia and QUT law graduate Michael Lavarch joins QUT from his position as secretary-general of the Law Council of Australia.
QUT’s fomer Dean of Law, Professor Malcolm Cope has chosen to return to scholarly areas, as has the Dean of the IT Faculty, Professor John Gough who also completed his deanship at the end of last year.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said both had made very fine contributions in the dean role.
Law lecturer lands top teaching award
Law lecturer Sally Kift was recognised for her outstanding contribution to higher education at the 2003 Australian Awards for University Teaching.
Associate Professor Kift, Assistant Dean (Teaching and Learning), was one
of eight national award winners, who each received a $40,000 Federal Government grant in December.
Professor Kift took the top honour in the economics, business, law and related studies category.
Business research centre opens at QUT
The Australian Centre for Business Research has been formed by QUT in a bid to keep Aussie initiative at home.
The new centre brings together the university’s existing business research arms to create a hub of ideas, knowledge and know-how which aims to promote industry development.
Stephen Caldwell memorial award
A fund has been established in memory of Stephen Caldwell, a PhD candidate and colleague of the School of Natural Resource Sciences, who was tragically killed in an accident last June.
The fund will provide an annual award for a postgraduate research student studying in the field of ecology.
Rural scholarship pushes
‘bush beat’
A $5000 rural journalism scholarship has been created thanks to a new partnership between QUT, the Adrian Scott Rural Journalism Trust and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.
The scholarship will give a graduate research student the means to investigate and analyse issues in rural journalism and explore new forms of public communication for rural communities.
CARRS-Q boss awarded AO
The director of QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in the last Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Professor Mary Sheehan received the award for research into the causes and prevention of road, work and social accidents in Australia, and development of community awareness programs.
2 QUTlinks February 2004
QUT researchers played an integral part in developing two of the five payloads for FedSat, which has now been operating successfully for the past 12 months.
Professor of Electrical Engineering at QUT, Miles Moody, said Australia was perfectly placed to capitalise on FedSat’s achievements after winning one of the five prestigious Australian Engineering Excellence Awards in Canberra late last year.
What this satellite did was broaden Australia’s space expertise knowledge base, and we want to attract more universities and
industries to expand on what we have already learned.
Skyroc k eting success
FedSat is Australia’s most successful satellite, thanks to input by QUT researchers.
But Professor Moody said further investment was needed to ensure the industry maintained its newfound status.
FedSat became the first Australian satellite launched in more than 30 years in December 2002, after five years of development by the Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems (CRCSS) which includes a number of QUT-based researchers.
Professor Moody, also the CRCSS Queensland Node Director, said it was vital to sustain the momentum built over the past few years.
“There are about 30 countries involved in space projects but if there isn’t any further investment to capitalise on the skills and knowledge acquired with FedSat, Australia will fall behind and there may not be a satellite launch for another 30 years,” he said.
Professor Moody said being honoured by Engineers Australia was a just reward for the work that went into the development of FedSat, which can lay claim to being this country’s most successful ever satellite.
“I was very optimistic that we might win an award because I think the team did an absolutely brilliant job,” he said.
QUT researchers developed both the high-performance computing device and the global positioning system (GPS) payload for FedSat that have the potential to help improve regional surveillance, weather forecasting and satellite computer technology.
Professor Moody said QUT had attracted about $1 million in funding for five projects designed to exercise and use data readings from FedSat over the next two years.
“One of our challenges is to gain data for purposes such as meteorological analysis, positioning experiments and proving the computing technology,” he said.
“FedSat is our laboratory in space.”
Professor Miles Moody
Rocket launch pictures are courtesy of NASDA
Story by Heath Kelly
IT’S been $60 million in the making and will house the hopes and dreams of our next generation of creative stars.
And now QUT’s Creative Industries Precinct is ready to take centre stage.
From March, the Kelvin Grove development will be home to budding young actors, designers, dancers, writers, journalists, musicians, multimedia experts, production people, and film-makers.
The university’s Creative Industries Faculty is re-locating to this purpose-built, high-tech hub which will link students with industry more than ever before.
Theatres, performance areas, teaching spaces, computer labs and production studios will be mixed with the “real-world” influence of an enterprise centre for innovative businesses and the new La Boite theatre-in-the-round.
The precinct’s striking buildings were designed by the Hassell/MGT
Brisbane’s hottest new arts spot will open for business in March when the curtain fi nally lifts on QUT’s new Creative Industries Precinct.
architect consortium, built by Abigroup in 2003, and fitted out by Creative Industries technicians over summer.
For the public passing by on Kelvin Grove Road, one of the stand-out features will be Australia’s biggest billboard.
The massive 45m by 9m board will stretch across the precinct’s main building and showcase Australian art.
The project to unite experimentation, education, innovation and business in the one high-tech precinct has already drawn attention from business and political circles, with Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and former prime minister Bob Hawke among those given a sneak preview late last year.
The State Government has a stake in the precinct’s success, having contributed
$15 million in funding.
The Creative Industries Precinct is also part of Brisbane’s newest ‘mini- suburb’ – the Kelvin Grove Urban Village.
QUTlinks February 2004
4
The
factory…
The Premier opened the urban village streets late last year.
This dynamic inner-city area has been created on the old Gona army barracks site and redeveloped by the State Government and QUT.
It will include residential apartments for students and the elderly, a shopping centre and sports facilities.
Mr Beattie opened the network of roads and parks linking the urban village late last year and said he was proud of the partnership between the government and QUT.
“Smart State is about innovation,” he said.
“It’s appropriate that QUT’s new Creative Industries Precinct is here.”
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said the urban village represented a shift in the way universities interacted with the community.
“We are moving away from the old notion of ‘town’ separated from ‘gown’
and will have a mix of new education and innovation facilities integrated with the residential, commercial, retail and community facilities in the village,” he said.
“The first of these will be the new high-tech hub for students, businesses and the public in the
$60 million Creative Industries Precinct.
“QUT will then focus its efforts on the next major facility, the
$50 million Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, scheduled for completion in late 2005.
“The university has designed these buildings to encourage innovative thinking and collaboration between leading- edge researchers and business, leading to new inventions and products.”
Professor Coaldrake said the university would make the facilities open to the public and the village community and that there would be an innovative program of exhibitions and performances for the public to experience.
QUT alumni already making waves in creative fields include AFI and Logie winning actor Deborah Mailman (The Secret Life of Us), Blue Heelers star Paul Bishop, popular Sunday Mail columnist Frances Whiting, Channel Nine head of sport Chris Bombolas, Totally Wild reporter Jasmin Geisel, artist Anne Wallace, Expressions Dance Company dancers Lizzie Chittleborough and Lisa Wilson, and the Nine Network’s national news boss, Jim Rudder.
And the university’s next wave of young actors will this year work with former QUT lecturer and current La Boite artistic director Sean Mee in a QUT theatrical production.
Creative Industries’ director of advancement, Professor Peter Lavery, said students would get their first taste of the precinct when semester one kicked off in March.
“We’ve got about 2500 students in the faculty and all of the students will use it at some stage,” he said.
“It’s a high-tech facility and it’s the leading facility of its type in Australia – it’s of world-standard.
“Students will be crossing paths with people in multimedia companies, production companies … it’s a professional environment with very blurred boundaries.”
Professor Lavery said summer’s biggest fit-out job was relocating the faculty’s TV studio from Peel Street at South Brisbane to Kelvin Grove.
The precinct also houses high- powered computers and “fat pipe”
communication links delivering Australia’s greatest digital media headquarters.
Experienced “business angel”, investment banker and multimedia expert Stephen Copplin has been appointed as the inaugural CEO of CIP Pty Ltd – the QUT subsidiary promoting industry development associated with the Creative Industries Precinct.
The company aims to link the precinct with industry, and drive its commercial and development objectives
… particularly through the operation of an enterprise centre to foster creative businesses.
Story by Mechelle Webb
We are moving away from the old notion of
‘town’ separated from
‘gown’ and will have a mix of new education and innovation facilities integrated with the residential, commercial, retail and community facilities in the village.
Government and business leaders took a preview tour with the V-C.
notice it … what’s graphic is subjective anyway,” she said.
“But if I heard a warning saying ‘The pictures in this story may cause your child psychological damage’ I’d be acting pretty quickly.”
Ms Hetherington said parents who thought their kids didn’t notice the news were wrong.
“Just because they’re not interested does not mean they’re not hearing it or taking it in,” she said.
And she said children’s memories could be long.
“The other day the five-year-old daughter of one woman I know was wanting to confirm that mum still doesn’t work in a tall building,” she said.
Although Ms Hetherington acknowledged parents, as well as TV stations, were responsible for protecting children from violence, she said broadcasters needed to be consistent when it came to news and fiction.
“You can’t show Bruce Willis jumping out of a tall building or killing people at 7am but you can show it on the morning news,” she said.
Ms Hetherington’s masters thesis,
“Little Brother is Watching You”, is due out this year.
The experienced newspaper reporter and chief-of-staff originally graduated from QUT in 1987 but returned to further both her career and her studies.
A QUT study into the effects of September 11 media coverage on preschool children has found some parents are simply tuning out to TV violence warnings.
Working mum and journalism associate lecturer Susan Hetherington said “warning fatigue” was already an issue for anti-smoking campaigners and was shaping up as a similar problem for television violence – both real and fictitious.
Ms Hetherington – who is also a QUT journalism alumnus – said some mothers interviewed as part of her masters research said warnings before violent news images or programs were no longer effective.
“They’re saying that warnings about violence and sex are such an everyday thing that people don’t hear them anymore,” she said.
The children’s entertainment and media expert said possible solutions included changing the voice delivering the message, adding an alarm sound or introducing visual techniques like a temporarily flashing screen.
She said more “in-your-face”
wording would also help parents.
“If you hear a message saying ‘This story contains graphic images which may be upsetting’ you may not even
WARNING to parents…
6 QUTlinks February 2004
Parents who thought their kids didn’t notice the news were wrong.
Susan Hetherington’s
research into how
children cope with
television violence
was heightened by
the September 11
tragedy ... and having
a son old enough to
use a remote.
We asked Frances McGlone about
parents’ legal liability for the acts of their children.
1. If my child injures another child while they are playing together at my house, will I be liable?
In Australia parents are not personally liable for the negligent acts of their children. However, parents may be liable if their inadequate supervision of the children contributed to the accident. Similarly, if they have allowed the children to have access to dangerous objects. Each case will be judged on its own facts and will take into account the ages and experience of the children involved and what is generally regarded by the community as being reasonable child-rearing practice.
For example, courts have held that it is appropriate for children around the ages of 12 and 13 to be allowed to play with a sharpened piece of metal, a wooden sword, or even a toy bow and arrow, especially where the children have been instructed as to their proper use. In contrast, a parent who allowed children around the same age to have access to an airgun, without ensuring that they could use it safely, was found to have been negligent.
2. Can my child be liable if he or she injures another child?
Again it depends upon the age of the child. The younger the child, the less likely the child will be found to have acted negligently. The test in a negligence action brought against a child is: how would a child of the same age and experience have acted in the circumstances surrounding the event in which the other child was injured? Basically the same test will be applied if the injured child is alleged to have acted negligently and so have contributed to his or her own injury.
3. My family is not rich, why would
someone want to sue me or my child?
The most obvious answer to this question is money. Most household insurance policies provide public risk coverage. Several insurance companies report that, especially where the claim is relatively small, it is cheaper and easier to settle many of those claims rather than to go to the expense of defending them.
Recent changes to the law in Queensland should mean that it will be easier and cheaper for insurance companies to defend such claims in the future.
4. Can my child sue me for a failure to protect him or her from harm?
The law does not generally allow a child to sue its parents for a negligent failure to protect him or her. This rule also extends to those who are acting in the place of parents, but does not extend to teachers or professional childcare workers. The reasons for this rule are based upon pragmatic policy considerations. Allowing a child to sue a parent could be used as a tactic in divorce proceedings, for example. There is also the additional consideration that the household insurance public risk policies referred to above usually exclude legal liability coverage to resident members of the insured’s family.
Frances McGlone is a senior lecturer with the Faculty of Law at QUT. Frances conducts seminars, primarily on the tort of negligence, for private and government organisations. She may be contacted on [email protected]
It’s a
(wo)man’s world
While many women may not be too comfortable with the notion of being a woman in
a man’s world, QUT journalism alumnus Azreen Noor relishes it.
Azreen Noor is editor of Men’s Health magazine in her home town of Singapore, a publication that tackles the “most important issues in a man’s life: fitness, health, sex, style, relationships and nutrition” for its 30,000 readers.
The graduate of 1999 says she doesn’t feel incongruous as a woman editing a men’s magazine because she thinks gender gaps are shrinking.
“A whole lot of issues have common points of discussion,” she says. “The magazine has the perfect mix of health and fitness, along with a great many other practical tips, without being sleazy like a lot of other magazines.
“Having said that, there are a lot of things in a man’s psyche, lifestyle, body that I may not be a subject expert on, not being a man myself, but I’d like to think I shed a female perspective on most things.
“I also have a great team to work with – mostly men – and they keep me in check.
“Then again,” she laughs, “I have to also keep them in check so that they don’t splash pictures of near naked women everywhere.”
The inaugural issue of Men’s Health Singapore hit news stands in July 2003 with Azreen at the helm and, six months into the journey, she says the “fun factor” makes the hard work behind establishing a new magazine worthwhile.
“Plus, it gives me a legitimate excuse to ogle men,” she jokes.
The magazine is one of 31 international editions published under licence from the US version. In Singapore, the licence is held by Blu Inc Media, a publishing house Azreen has been with for two-and-a-half years.
Azreen says the things she learned during her time at QUT still resonate.
“My lecturers were fantastic mentors, and they remain my friends. They still call in on me when they’re in town, so the spirit and memory of QUT lives on.”
Story by Carmen Myler
According to IT researcher Dr Neville Meyers information overload has been around for decades, but ‘info-stress’ was a new phenomenon brought about by increased access to information via the Internet.
“More than 50 per cent of Australian managers say they are unable to handle the information they have to deal with, while one third say they are victims of ‘information fatigue’,” he said.
“Info-stress is the stress we feel when there’s too much information, we can’t cope with what’s there, decision making becomes clogged and we can’t move forward – that’s when we can really start getting into a mess – even get sick.”
Dr Meyers, who is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of IT’s School of Information Systems, said many people were, in effect, their own worst enemies, forever seeking more information but then being unable to
process or use it.
“It leads to information paralysis – we can’t get to analysis because we’re bogged down in paralysis, we’ve got all this stuff and it’s literally clogging our neuron pathways,” he said.
He said the effect was a loss of efficiency at work, an inability for managers to undertake strategic planning and at its very worst, information overload has formed the basis for wars and other conflicts such as the recent war in Iraq.
“The US intelligence apparatus convinced the US president that it had tonnes of evidence that Iraq was concealing weapons of mass destruction by oversimplifying vast amounts of information – but where are the weapons?”
he said.
“Somehow we convinced ourselves that a pile of information equates to facts or actual knowledge. When we oversimplify complex situations we face the risk of selecting the wrong alternatives.”
Dr Meyers is embarking on a study with psychologist Paul Baxter to more clearly quantify the problem.
Dr Baxter’s speciality is in correcting ‘bad habit’ thinking ranging from re-training helicopter pilots to avoid risk-taking to helping people think through the best solutions to their problems in a wide variety of work, sport and educational situations.
in a data deluge
The vast amount of information at people’s fi ngertips is causing stress, indecision and in extreme cases, illness, says new QUT research.
Info-stress is the stress we feel when there’s too much information, we can’t cope with what’s there, decision making becomes clogged and we can’t move forward – that’s when we can really start getting into a mess – even get sick.
QUTlinks February 2004
Drowning
8
Story by Toni Chambers
As the star of the latest QUT advertising campaign and the employee of surf giant Billabong, Angela Tottey has been heavily featured on prime-time television commercials, full-colour newspaper advertisements and dozens of prominent bus shelters.
Angela was more than happy to be a part of the campaign and has been delighted with the feedback she has received since it got underway.
However, at a social function for Billabong staff, the exposure all got a little too much.
“We were all watching Australia play New Zealand at a local bar and in one of the ad breaks the QUT ad came up and there I was on the huge screen as well as all the other TV screens around the place,” she said.
“The place was full of Billabong employees who all knew me, so they all turned around and started pointing and yelling at me and then the screen. I nearly died of embarrassment.
“Seriously though, I’m glad I did the ad because it was a great opportunity and I have really enjoyed the whole experience. I don’t get embarrassed any more … I’ve become far more graceful at accepting the recognition and compliments I receive.
“I’m more than happy extolling the virtues of QUT and I’m more than happy extolling the virtues of Billabong too, it’s a great company to work for.”
Angela graduated in 1999 with a business degree in communications and public relations and is currently completing a graduate diploma in marketing also from QUT.
She started at Billabong a year ago, working exclusively for its sunglass brand Von Zipper and its skate brand Element.
As the assistant to the National Brand Manager, Angela said her duties were wide and varied.
“I make sure all the surfers and skaters we sponsor are decked out in our latest gear as well as coordinating advertising and editorial material for magazines and a lot of sales and internal reporting,” she said.
“That’s just to name a few of the things I do.
There’s always something interesting going on and I can’t see myself leaving any time soon … it’s my dream job.
“I love the beach and surf lifestyle so this is perfect for me.”
Angela said her phone has been ringing hot since the campaign started and the feedback had been nothing but positive.
“I get a call almost every time the ad is on TV but it has been great because people I haven’t seen for a long time are calling me and we’re getting back in touch,” she said.
“I’m getting a lot of positive feedback with people saying how great the ad is, how fun it is and well put together it is … people really seem to love it,” she said.
“Our CEO saw the ad for the fi rst time during that football match and started introducing me to everyone as ‘our TV star’ so he’s very happy with the way it turned out.”
QUT alumnus Angela Tottey had no reservations about
telling the world where she went to university and where her business degree is taking her. Well, almost…
Story by Greg Davis QUT is looking for young graduates from the faculties of Education, Health, IT and Science to feature in its 2004 advertising campign. If you are a recent graduate with a great job, or know someone who is, email details to [email protected]
Mark Henry has edged his way into Jamie Oliver’s kitchen and on to Nigella Lawson’s bench.
He’s turned up on the shelves at Macy’s in New York and been spread across the pages of Gourmet magazine.
And he’s been put into swift action behind the scenes at some of the finest restaurants in three continents.
Perhaps he hasn’t been there each time in person, but his brainchild – the F¨uri knife - certainly has.
The engineer has turned common sense and a love of steel into a revolutionary knife design and a multi- million dollar Brisbane business.
Not bad for a guy whose first paying job was at the North Ipswich railway workshops.
The managing director of Furitechnics is one of thousands of Australians who take the plunge each year and throw in their old jobs for a new career challenge.
For some, it’s a natural progression into a related field, but for others it’s a complete leap of faith.
For actor Simon Hapea, studying at QUT was a brave decision to finally follow his dreams.
The former storeman, cook and labourer completed the prestigious Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) last year and was awarded the university’s Ashley Wilkie Prize in recognition of his dedication to the craft and compassion for others.
Career change
makes the cut
In today’s world, you don’t have to sign up to a job for life – as knife entrepreneur Mark Henry and other QUT alumni have found out.
One of only a handful of Indigenous actors to study at QUT, it took a while for him to believe in himself.
“It’s hard for anyone who doesn’t feel they have the face or the talent,” he said.
“And when you come from the other side of the tracks, so to speak, university is surreal.”
Simon enrolled in applied chemistry at QUT after leaving school, but “the artist in him rebelled” and he deferred.
When he did return to QUT it was with the intention of becoming a drama teacher. But he was talked into auditioning for the Creative Industries Faculty’s acting degree instead.
Simon, 27, now hopes to “create a niche” for other Indigenous artists and establish his own multicultural theatre company.
For Allan Brackin, a Bachelor of Applied Science (Surveying) morphed into a hot career in information technology.
Now managing director of the Volante Group, he is responsible for an annual turnover of more than $320 million.
Allan’s route from surveying to IT included working as a salesman and manager at a survey instrument firm, founding Queensland Laser and Survey Supplies, and founding Applied Micro Systems (Australia) Pty Ltd in 1986, then overseeing its growth into a national systems integration company – AAG Technology Services.
QUTlinks February 2004
10
That company is now part of Volante.
Allan’s community work with foster children, the homeless, and graduate employment programs also contributed to QUT naming him the university’s Outstanding Alumnus in 1999.
Many of today’s students are also studying for degrees which will take them in new directions.
Former policeman Lenny Quakawoot will embark on his final year of a QUT law degree this year as part of a bid to serve the community in a new way.
He said he opted for a career change and began studying law after deciding he wanted to do more to help Indigenous young people who came in contact with the legal system.
In Mark Henry’s case, his career change was also a natural development.
His hands-on approach to the cool charms of steel was already instilled when he began his fitter and turner’s apprenticeship with Queensland Rail at 15.
But after completing his apprenticeship and travelling the world for a few years, he knew he wanted to be an engineer so he switched tracks and enrolled at QUT in 1992.
“At that age, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” he said.
“But I believe engineers who haven’t had that practical experience lose something … you can really speed up a process if you can really feel what the materials can do and understand the manufacturing process.”
Mark changed tracks again in 1998 when he launched the F ¨uri knife range while still studying for a double degree in engineering (manufacturing systems) and business (marketing).
He’d been fascinated with knives and their performance – or lack of it – for years, and made his first export sale within 12 months.
His innovative design defied tradition by moulding together handle and blade into a seamless slash of high- carbon stainless steel.
It provided a more comfortable grip for users, zero crevices to trap food and enough strength to withstand the rigours of the toughest commercial kitchen.
“I don’t know whether it’s just sheer hard work or if it is a talent, but I do seem to be able to produce products that people love,” Mark said.
Ironically, the success of the business meant Mark only completed the final subject in his double degree
last November.
But that sort of perseverance is one of the ingredients in his personal recipe for business success.
“It’s been a team effort,” he says, of his West End group.
“But if you think this is a product blitz – well, this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Story by Mechelle Webb
At that age, I didn’t really
know what I wanted to do.
Australian women can dramatically reduce
menopausal symptoms and risk factors for heart disease by living more like their
Japanese counterparts, a QUT study has found.
In conjunction with the Royal Women’s Hospital, QUT School of Nursing investigators Dr Debra Anderson and Vicki Kain ran a trial, drug-free lifestyle intervention program with 120 midlife and older Queensland women.
Dr Anderson said while it was widely acknowledged that Japanese women suffered less from menopausal symptoms than Western women, this was the first study to prove there were advantages to Australian women adopting Japanese diet and lifestyle habits.
She said preliminary results from the Women’s Wellness Program have taken research one step closer to unlocking the secrets of preventing breast cancer, osteoporosis, menopausal symptoms and heart disease in women.
“Japanese women are regarded as the healthiest women in the world,” Dr Anderson said.
“This study was the first to incorporate identifiable lifestyle differences of Japanese women and educate Western women about them, and the results have been very positive.”
“It involves exercise including walking, strength exercises that don’t involve going to a gym – and pelvic floor exercises,” Dr Anderson said.
“In terms of diet, it means drinking plenty of water, increasing calcium intake and in particular including foods high in phytoestrogens in their daily diet. These are found in soy-based products, fresh fruit and vegetables, tofu, and grains such as linseeds and wholegrain breads.”
Dr Anderson said women in the trial had reported a reduction in menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and palpitations as well as in feelings of depression, fatigue and lack of motivation.
The research duo is now seeking further funding to extend the study to follow the cohort of women “along their path to wellness” to gauge the long-term effects of the program.
For more details of the Women’s Wellness Program, visit www.hlth.qut.edu.au/nrs/research/wwps/
‘Turning
Japanese’ to fight menopause
12 QUTlinks February 2004
partner Q-Music, and personal or community digital story telling.
Apart from benefits to the individual and the community in general, Professor Hearn was optimistic the project would also present a number of commercial opportunities.
“We are developing training modules that will teach young people how to become content providers.
“What we want to have at the end of the exercise is a very clear understanding of the way remote communities can participate in the digital content economy,” he said.
Professor Hearn said there had already been interest from UNESCO in the idea of developing content creation tools.
Project leader Jo Tacchi, who has just returned from the Oxford Internet Institute, has also entered into negotiations to develop a similar project in the UK.
The internet radio project is being financed by a $340,000 Australian Research Council grant and involves a partnership between QUT and the Queensland Office of Youth Affairs, Brisbane City Council, Arts Queensland, Q-Music and Queensland Aids Council.
waves
Young Queenslanders fromradio
15 communities throughout the statewill be the driving force behind a cutting-edge internet radio project being developed by QUT’s Creative Industries Faculty.
Urban, regional, remote and Indigenous communities will create and network their own content through the development of an audio-streaming site for the new internet radio station.
In its initial phase, the Youth Internet Radio Network will run for two years and should commence live and archived streaming by the first semester, 2004.
Professor Greg Hearn said the benefits to young people, particularly in regional communities, would be enormous.
“There will be great benefits for individuals living in isolation in terms of connecting them with people around the world, especially those who live in similar conditions,” he said.
“This is not just another radio station going online but is going to be driven by the idea of getting the communities actively involved.”
Although content was yet to be finalised, Professor Hearn said a number of exciting projects were currently being considered.
He said content could take the form of radio plays in conjunction with the Queensland Youth Theatre, original live music in association with project
in
Making
Story by Mechelle Webb Dean Merlo has one eye on the sweet flat white he’s drinking
and the other on the people milling around the service counter at his latest Bar Merlo.
It’s a steady morning breakfast stream rather than a lunch- time rush, so he’s staying seated for now.
But the expressive lawyer-turned-espresso leader is not afraid to get hands-on if need be.
“If I came in here and there were 20 people lined up I’d jump behind the counter … I’ve done it plenty of times before,” he said.
The Merlo name has become synonymous with good coffee in Brisbane over the last 13 years since Dean combined the best of two cultures to create his funky espresso bars.
“When I was living in the United States I came across these great little café bars in the city … I thought if I could mix that quality of service with the quality of coffee in Europe it would work in Australia,” he said.
It wasn’t his first big business idea but it would prove to be the most viable.
The QUT law graduate was toughened up by a variety of entrepreneurial moves before deciding coffee would give him the ultimate business buzz.
He sold Driza-Bones to London stores, targeted five-star
“Party Oz” adventure tours at American MBA students and tried to convince the USA that mobile billboards could be the franchise of the future.
He also practised law for a while in London and worked in finance for the Hong Kong Bank.
While he chose not to specialise in law or finance, he says both experiences – and his QUT qualifications – gave him a good grounding for success in the business world.
“I think law’s an integral part of any business career because law teaches you a way of thinking – it’s a definite business strategy to always cover yourself,” he said.
Dean, 41, graduated from QUT 20 years ago but returned this year to open his fifth Bar Merlo in the CBD – this time at the university’s vibrant Gardens Point campus.
The café is a far cry from the now-extinct student coffee lounge he once haunted on the ground floor of Y Block.
“I spent hours in that coffee shop everyday – I probably drank cappuccinos back then,” he said.
“It was a great place to while away the hours while studying.”
These days, Dean has no desire to see a Bar Merlo on every corner – or campus – in the land.
He said he would prefer to focus on quality and keep the business strong.
“It’s all about enjoyment – it’s a feel-good experience,” the New Farm resident said.
“But you’ve got to produce quality.”
Dean Merlo has been high on caffeine ever since his student days at QUT. Now he’s come
“home” to open a new Bar Merlo – this time at the university’s vibrant Gardens Point campus.
From law to lattes…
merlo’s
waves
the man
such a head start above any other TV journalism students – and that’s noted in the workplace.”
One thing QUT couldn’t prepare her for was the prospect of doing live television, something on which Jasmin has yet to cut her teeth.
“I am honestly daunted but at the same time excited by the thought of live TV … I seem to attract embarrassing moments … I really can be a goose,” she giggled again.
The memory of the man who pioneered using specific music themes for Australian television programs will be remembered following the donation to QUT of the late Brian May’s piano, music scores and equipment as a gift from his estate.
Before Brian May wrote and arranged themes for programs such as Bellbird, Return to Eden and
Countdown, records supplied the background music for Australian television.
May changed all that
during his time at the ABC as conductor of the Melbourne Show Band, the band that launched Countdown for the broadcaster in the 1970s.
After leaving the ABC in 1984, May turned his talents to film scores. The most significant was Mad Max, for which he won the Australian Film Award for Best Original Score.
May died in 1997, aged 62, but for students at QUT’s Creative Industries Faculty his memory will live on through this special gift.
It’s been a whirlwind year for Jasmin
‘Jaz’ Geisel.
In 10 short months of graduating from QUT with a degree in journalism, this 22-year-old dynamo has hosted a national sporting show, done a stint on network news and has now landed a plum reporter’s job on the nation’s most popular children’s program, Totally Wild.
“I came in on a steam train and I keep pushing through,” Jasmin laughed.
Jasmin’s easy charm, which makes her a natural for television, belies her astuteness in dealing with her new career.
By her own admission her first job out of uni as the national presenter of Totally Footy, which aired on the Ten Network before the weekly AFL game, gave her an early taste of the harsh reality behind the scenes.
“When Totally Footy was launched, we excitedly moved into our new offices only to realise we were sitting at desks occupied by the In the Box team, who’s show had been cancelled only the week before.
“You learn a lot at university but nothing really prepares you on how to survive in this industry,” she said soberly.
Even so, the former Australian swim team member, is nothing but positive about her future.
“I’ve had three major career shifts at Ten in such a short time, but I love change and being busy,” she said.
“With Totally Footy, I was travelling interstate nearly every week, hosting the
TV
While Jasmin Geisel has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the heady world of television, the feet of this QUT alumnus remain fi rmly planted on the ground
show alongside footballers and using a lively, spontaneous style to appeal to an audience of 11- to 14-year-olds.
“One of my most embarrassing moments came when one of ‘the boys’
kicked a ball to me on camera, breaking my finger. I fell about laughing with embarrassment but it was so painful and I had to finish the shoot.”
It was no wonder Jasmin described a brief shift as a serious reporter in the newsroom as “mind-boggling” as she exchanged her “tracky daks for business suits”.
Within weeks opportunity knocked again as she headed back into the world of children’s television for a permanent role on Totally Wild.
“I’ve gone from footballers breaking my fingers into what could be the jaws of a crocodile,” she laughed.
Jasmin puts her fast- track success down to luck, determination and taking advantage of every opportunity.
She also described QUT students as the luckiest in the nation.
“We had the best setup a student could ask for, with the opportunity to work with ex-television network staff which gave us
–and all that Jaz
14 QUTlinks February 2004
Story by Janne Rayner
TV music maestro’s legacy lives on
You can make a real difference
Every day QUT is making a real difference to people’s lives through its teaching programs, applied research and community service activities.
Imagine how much more we at QUT could achieve with your help.
When you have done all you can for your family, turn to us and think of what we do. Writing a gift in your will can make a real difference.
Contact the Bequest Officer
At QUT Development Office on (07) 3864 2950 Or visit www.giving.qut.edu.au
QUT’s Bachelor of Biotechnology Innovation, the only one of its kind in the nation, started in 2001 with 30 students, and was backed by $1.6million in State and Federal Government funding.
One of the first eight graduating students, or
“bioneers”, — who recently completed the four-year degree in three years via an accelerated program
— received eight offers before she had completed her final exams.
Belinda Luscombe was offered business development positions in four companies in Brisbane, Sydney and Singapore; three internships including one in Germany; and one PhD scholarship position at a Queensland university.
“It was really hard to choose between them as they all had advantages and disadvantages, but in the end I took a position with Brisbane-based company Tissue Therapies,” Ms Luscombe said.
“The biotech industry isn’t huge in Brisbane but there are a lot of small companies growing and expanding so quickly that this is a really exciting place to be at the moment.”
Ms Luscombe said her new role, commencing in April 2004, would involve product development, patent management and regulatory affairs.
A keen sailor, she said she chose QUT’s biotechnology innovation degree after toying with the idea of studying marine biology at another university because “it seemed like it would offer broader job prospects”.
“The real beauty about innovation and these new courses that aren’t traditional is that they are really about making your own luck, getting out there and making your own path,” she said.
“Throughout the course we got so many opportunities to network with industry and I took every one of those opportunities.”
Course coordinator Dr Chris Collet said industry interest in the course was testimony to the important
‘Bioneering ’
Story by Carmen Myler
The degree designed to produce Australia’s fi rst generation of business-
focused biotechnologists has made good on its promise, with job offers pouring in for its fi rst group of graduates.
role new degrees would play in filling “jobs of the future” in the burgeoning biotechnology industry and beyond.
“My expectations of this course when we started out were that we would turn out business-savvy scientists,” Dr Collet said.
“In reality, the outcomes have been varied with interest in our students coming equally from business (eg venture capitalists) and science (commercialisation of technologies).”
Dr Collet said five of the other graduating students were completing internships with the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), and one was undertaking her PhD.
He said the course’s Student BioEnterprise Scheme – where the students operate in an environment of a start-up biotech company for real clients – made students highly flexible and adaptable.
“A Malaysian venture capitalist approached me in Kuala Lumpur recently and said: ‘Your students know how to talk the talk I need’. I think that sums it up.”
new territory
unreliable tradespeople or having to negotiate a large shopping centre.”
Mr Thornton established that all the residents he interviewed moved through the following five stages of transition before feeling secure in a retirement village: realisation, investigation, negotiation, facilitation and assimilation.
He said the realisation stage of the transition was often triggered by an acute situation – something as minor as not being able to change a light bulb.
Mr Thornton said that his study also found that older people appeared to have misconceptions about what services were available in retirement villages.
“The perception that they will have 24-hour maintenance and health care services on-hand is very appealing,”
he said.
“Some of the residents interviewed thought the retirement village had doctors on call, and regular security patrols, but this wasn’t necessarily the case.
“One of my recommendations is for retirement village management and staff to develop strategies to make sure residents do understand the services offered, to avoid misinterpretation.
“I would also encourage an increase in the availability of a comprehensive and integrated range of support services that assist older persons to live in their own homes.”
Concerns about security, community support and health are enough to prompt many older people to make the transition into a retirement village, a QUT study has found.
PhD student and senior lecturer in nursing Robert Thornton has found that older people often feel insecure in their own homes due to a perceived decline in community standards.
Mr Thornton conducted in-depth interviews with residents who had lived in retirement villages for less than six months, in an effort to determine the experiences of older people undertaking the transition into a retirement village.
“I found that people started thinking about making the transition because they felt insecure,” he said.
“In terms of this insecurity, there were four main areas identified: declining community standards, concerns about community services, health-related issues, and personal and social concerns such as safety.
“Some people worried that the neighbours might sell up and rowdy young people would move in, or became concerned about uncontrolled dogs,
State’s first aged care chair joins QUT
Queensland’s first Chair in Aged Care Nursing, Professor Jenny Abbey, joined QUT in 2003.
Her appointment is made possible with funding of $150,000 per year from the Kedron-Wavell Services Club, The Prince Charles Hospital and QUT.
Professor Abbey has had extensive clinical and consultancy experience, and has also been involved in nursing education, most recently as Assistant Dean (Research) at Flinders University in South Australia.
In her new position, she will work to improve quality of life for older people by encouraging nurses to undertake further study and research in the area, and to bring a multidisciplinary approach to aged care.
Selling the family home is a major step.
How older people cope has been the subject of new research at QUT.
Story by Carmen Myler
16 QUTlinks February 2004
retirement Securing a worry-free
Story by Carmen Myler
Crossing the divide
The new PhD scholarship will develop and trial an intervention to challenge the increasing rural road toll and “fatal five” causes – speed, fatigue, alcohol, no seat belt and the common belief that rural crashes are an “inevitable part of life”.
NRMA Insurance has committed $120,000 over three years to fund the study.
QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS–
Q) Director Professor Mary Sheehan said statistics show the chances of being killed are four to six times greater on rural and remote roads than motorways.
“The proposed intervention could take the form of an educational package, video or booklet and will be developed and trialled with 350 hospitalised crash patients in North Queensland,” Professor Sheehan said.
NRMA Insurance Queensland State Manager Daniel Musson said Australia’s leading insurer recognised it had a role to play in reducing risk and helping to create safer communities.
Fighting the fatal five on rural roads
Saving lives on North Queensland roads is the focus of a new research scholarship recently launched at QUT in partnership with NRMA Insurance.
Megan McNicholl is determined to inspire the next generation of teaching talent to discover the joys of working and living in a country town.
An outstanding QUT alumni award winner in 2003, Ms McNicholl is adamant that by giving teaching undergraduates a taste of country air, many will return once they graduate.
And she should know, after spending the majority of the past three decades dedicated to ensuring rural and remote families obtain high-quality education.
Having finished a four-year term as federal president of the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA Aust) last August, Ms McNicholl is now focusing on her role as chair of the Rural Education Forum of Australia (REFA).
REFA’s members range from teachers’ associations and universities to the National Farmers Federation, Country Women’s Association and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission with 18 peak bodies in total making up the lobby group.
Ms McNicholl said REFA was about putting in place long-term solutions for sustainable rural education.
She said forming a national approach to attract teaching undergraduates to travel
“west of the divide” to regional and isolated communities was one of REFA’s main aims.
“We believe if we get pre-service teachers into the rural communities before they graduate so they get a taste of what it is like to live and work in these areas, then we have a good chance of attracting them back once they finish their degree,”
Ms McNicholl said.
“Teaching in rural communities is broader and deeper than what you find in the cities because the school is at the centre of the community.”
Ms McNicholl said universities throughout Australia, including QUT, that
implemented programs to give students rural experience proved to be a great success, but added such initiatives needed to be funded on a national scale.
“We know where universities and communities work together there is an increase in the number of teachers who apply to work in those areas, but there has to be a commitment to fund these types of initiatives,” she said.
“We could increase the number of students gaining rural experience if travel and living costs were not such an issue.”
Ms McNicholl said REFA would be stepping up the pressure for funding to ensure education in regional and isolated areas remained on a par with Australia’s major cities.
Providing equal opportunities for children in rural communities is a task Ms McNicholl has remained committed to since graduating from Brisbane Kindergarten Teachers’ College in 1970.
Last year she was recognised for her outstanding work and was the recipient of QUT’s Excellence in Contribution to the Community award.
“We see rural Australia as a place of opportunity and I want to promote the many and varied opportunities that rural Australia offers to all professionals,” she said.
Story by Heath Kelly
Kicking goals
As Australia basks in the glow of hosting the most successful Rugby World Cup ever staged, QUT can also be proud of its contribution to a memorable sporting event.
Last year’s thrilling Rugby World Cup produced plenty of magic moments, from England’s famous victory in the dying seconds of the final against Australia to the face-painted supporters who embraced minnow nations such as Georgia and Namibia.
But for QUT, the highlight of the tournament was without doubt the success of the International Conference on the Science and Practice of Rugby.
The three-day conference marked a seminal moment in the brief history of QUT’s Centre for Rugby Studies, which organised and hosted the event in partnership with Queensland Rugby.
Attended by more than 250 delegates from 15 countries the conference was the culmination of many months of exhaustive planning since the concept of staging such an event during the World Cup was first floated in 2001.
Centre for Rugby Studies director David Keating hailed the conference a resounding success and the hard work that went into organising the event well worth the effort.
“It was a fantastic meeting of rugby minds and was a conference with a great feeling to it,” Mr Keating said.
“We have received a great deal of positive feedback from many of the delegates who attended the event,” he said.
Speakers at the conference, staged at the Brisbane Sheraton from November 5 to 7, included Australia’s 1999 World Cup winning coach Rod Macqueen, celebrated former Wallabies John Eales and Tim Horan, and former Australian Rugby Union CEO John O’Neill.
Backed by the International Rugby Board (IRB), it attracted a great deal of mainstream media attention from throughout the rugby world and even made an appearance on Swedish television and in Germany’s print media.
The conference, which focused on sports science, sports medicine, coaching and contemporary issues also significantly raised the profile of QUT’s Centre for Rugby Studies.
“It certainly has given us a better profile in the rugby world and what the centre has to offer,” Mr Keating said.
“It has led to a great deal of inquiries about our courses with many of those who attended the conference either keen to do research here at QUT or in collaboration with QUT.
“We were one of the only universities to play a significant role in the World Cup and senior Australian Rugby Union and International Rugby Board officials acknowledged the value of the conference,” he said.
Not one to rest on its laurels, the Centre for Rugby Studies has another conference in the pipeline to coincide with a major international rugby match in Brisbane.
The centre is also planning several major programs in 2004, including training camps, coaching courses and a rugby carnival.
