CONNECT: RESEARCH & INNOVATION NEWS JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2013 ISSUE SOLVING OUR GREATEST GLOBAL CHALLENGES The new research program set to tackle the biggest issues facing humanity this century – industrial transformation, sustaining our environment and managing an exploding and ageing population
THE CLEANTECH THAT CONVERTS WATER INTO FUEL Researchers launch company to commercialise clean energy technology that could revolutionise industry and cut carbon
WORLD FIRST SCHEME TO COMBAT DISADVANTAGE The unique $44 million Early Start scheme that will halt educational disadvantage in the early stages of life
The University of Wollongong ranks in the top 2% of research universities worldwide Source: QS World University Rankings 2013
Research & Innovation News is the research magazine of the University of Wollongong and is published six times per year. Contact: Research Services Office Building 20, Level 1 University of Wollongong Northfields Ave, Wollongong NSW, Australia, 2522 Publication manager: Sharon Martin Supervisor: Vicky Wallace Editor & designer: Elise Pitt epitt@uow.edu.au | +61 2 4221 3761 Subscriptions: Visit www.uow.edu.au/research to subscribe to electronic versions of Research & Innovation News.
Cover image: “Dominion� by Nathan Streater. flickr.com/inbetweengalaxies nathanstreater@gmail.com
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Contents
06 04 NEWS
World first scheme to combat educational disadvantage, new online tool helps children with diabetes. researchers develop sports bra app
12 FEATURE
Rethinking our past to redesign our future: UOW’s new Global Challenges research program aims to solve some of the biggest issues facing humanity
14 OPINION
Could guns be printed at home using 3D printers? Sociologist Dr Thomas Birtchnell and nano engineer Dr Robert Gorkin weigh in on the debate
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STUDENT PROFILE
PhD student Michelle Linklater talks about studying the seabed habitats of Lord Howe Island
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TRAVEL TALE
PhD student Willo Grosse tells of her recent research trip to South Korea’s capital
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Upcoming funding opportunities for researchers, as well as internal ethics meeting dates
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NEW STAFF
UOW welcomes forensic mental health researcher Professor Stuart Thomas and public health sociologist A/Professor Samantha Thomas
22 EVENTS
Facial anthropologist Dr Susan Hayes to give a free and interactive public lecture at Uni in the Brewery and TEDxUWollongong returns in 2013
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UOW delivers an ERA of world class research
The Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans, announced in December that 90 per cent of UOW’s Fields of Research had been rated as above, or well above world standard in the Excellence in Research for Australia 2012 Initiative (ERA).
Clinical Sciences and Human Geography.
Administered by the Australian Research Council, ERA is an assessment system that evaluates the quality of the research conducted at Australian universities by discipline.
90 per cent of UOW’s Fields of Research have been rated as above or well above world standard in the 2012 Excellence in Research (ERA) initiative.
Using committees of internationally recognised researchers to evaluate disciplinary excellence in Australian universities relative to a world standard, more than 1,000 researchers were involved in the 2012 evaluation nationally. Each research active discipline at each university was awarded a rating on a five-point scale, where three is world standard and five is the highest rating indicating research well above world standards. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Judy Raper said ERA 2012 has confirmed UOW’s research excellence in areas such as Chemical Sciences, Geology, Materials and Interdisciplinary Engineering, 4
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“ERA 2012 confirms that UOW researchers are among the world’s best in their disciplines. UOW has a highly productive
and talented workforce,” she said. “These ERA outcomes recognise the research effort across all UOW faculties and areas of research strength, including for example the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute, the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials and Materials and Manufacturing
Engineering. This collective effort has contributed to an outstanding success,” Professor Raper said. UOW received the highest national rating in the broad discipline area of Chemical Sciences. Areas such as Law, Public Health, Psychology, Mathematical Sciences, Earth Sciences, History and Archaeology and Creative Arts at UOW were also recognised as leaders for their high quality research outputs and contributions to their discipline. “The University has invested wisely over a long period, recruiting and supporting quality staff in the Chemical Sciences. The very strong ERA outcomes are a testament to the great work and high standing our research has nationally and internationally across the range of chemical science sub-disciplines,” according to the Dean of Science, Professor Will Price. “Our UOW ERA 2012 success, the recently announced $31 million grant for the UOW Early Start Program and a fresh strategic plan bring UOW’s aspiration of a position in the top 1% of world universities a step closer,” said Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings.
New online tool helps children with diabetes
UOW Faculty of Education PhD student, Richard Sprod, has won an award for his innovative online tool which links children and families living with diabetes with specialist hospital-based services.
The Learning Together project, which is the basis of Richard’s PhD thesis, provides a secure environment in which children and their parents can meet others living with diabetes, where they are provided
with appropriate and timely psychosocial support, and where children are engaged in real-world problem solving and selfmanagement education under the support and supervision of their parents and a diabetes educator. Richard says the tool also allows clinicians to view the lived experiences of these young people, so that diabetes management issues could be identified and treated early. “The special aspects of this innovation included the fact that the online tool allowed child-centred and child-directed support and learning that was supported and supervised in appropriate ways by parents and by the diabetes educator,” Richard said. “Parents were also involved in the learning activities, thus strengthening their own knowledge and the educator was able to facilitate problem solving of concerns as they were raised, avoiding the need for outpatient visits”, he added. The 2012 Health Minister’s Innovation Award, presented by the South Australian government, was given to Richard at a ceremony in Adelaide in December.
Innovative UOW solar cells to power next generation technologies UOW researchers have developed a new type of solar cell that is being used by world-leading researchers in Ireland to power next generation devices — from innovative technologies that monitor the impact of exercise on health in real time to those that automatically monitor the quality of our environment. Professor David Officer from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) recently spent three months working with researchers at Dublin City University’s Centre for Sensor Web Technologies, CLARITY, to integrate the solar cells into adaptive devices that literally think for themselves. Professor Barry Smyth, Director of CLAIRTY, says that these new sensor technologies aim to help tame the information overload problem currently facing individuals by ensuring that everyone has access to the right information at the right time.
He says in the future, data will no longer just be generated from the keyboards and scanners of desktop PCs. “Instead, these new sensor technologies will permit the sensing of diverse events in the physical world, from the traffic congestion in our streets to the pollution in our river systems, and from energy consumption in our cities to recycling in the home. Sensors that can be integrated with garments, and worn on the body, will permit the capture of physiological data as we exercise or recuperate. “In short, this unique combination of sensors, software, and the Internet will enable new types of information services across a wide range of sectors from health and the environment to education, retail, and entertainment, “ he said. UOW PhD student, Joseph Giorgio, who also travelled to Ireland to meet with CLARITY researchers, explains that the ACES-developed dye-sensitised solar
cell is light-weight, flexible and made of cheap materials, such as the abrasive in tooth paste (titanium dioxide) and plantlike dyes, and can be integrated into any external surface to generate electricity. Unlike most solar panels (such as the kind that are found on the roofs of people’s homes), Joseph says the ACES dyesensitised solar cell operates efficiently in low light conditions, allowing it to be used in a wide variety of indoor applications, and it can be created in any colour. Joseph and his supervisor, Professor Officer, plan to characterise and optimise each aspect of this new solar cell to increase its power output. “I would love to go back to Dublin in a year or two with some larger and more powerful solar panels tailor-made to the requirements set out by the researchers at Dublin City University and use the devices in real world applications”, says Joseph.
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World first scheme to combat education disadvantage
UOW has received the green light and funding of over $44 million for a strategic teaching, research and community engagement initiative that aims to systemically break the cycle of educational disadvantage. Early Start, which is due to open on UOW’s main campus in 2015, will include specialist teaching and research spaces, a Children’s Discovery Centre and the hub for Early Start Engagement Centres. “This is a really significant project for the University and for Australia,” ViceChancellor Professor Paul Wellings said. “It will be the largest centre in the world for engaging in the process of dealing with social disadvantage.” Dean of Education Professor Paul Chandler, who has driven the project from its outset, said the Centre will be leading Australia in teaching, research and in community engagement in the early stages of life. “It is based on one solid view: that every child in Australia deserves the best early start to life,” he said. “Australia has many successes, but not every child has had the same opportunities.“
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The Children’s Discovery Centre, expected to draw 120,000 children and their families from across Australia each year, will
The $44 million Early Start Facility will be the largest centre in the world for engaging in the process of dealing with social disadvantage in the early stages of life. provide more than 2000 square metres of activity/exhibit space, outdoor exploration courtyards and discovery galleries supported by administrative and technical facilities. The Facility will connect an initial 38 Early Start Engagement Centres across
NSW. Located primarily in areas of disadvantage, the 38 childcare and community centres are active participants that have significantly contributed to the Facility design and provided the critical geographical reach. It will deliver innovative teaching programs, conduct multidisciplinary research and capacity build communities through targeted parental and family engagement, nutrition and health. The Facility will provide increased educational opportunities for tertiary students in regional, rural and remote areas. The infrastructure will use sophisticated technologies to expand access to, and enable delivery of, new and enriched courses that have a strong labour market demand. Early Start has been made possible by grants from the Federal Government’s Education Investment Fund and a generous philanthropic gift of $7 million from Mr Christopher Abbott AM – one of the largest donations ever made to a non-Group of 8 university in Australia and the biggest single donation ever made to UOW.
Photo: Nico Nelson | Flickr
Researcher proves the brain uses blur from fast-moving images
Psychology researcher Dr Deborah Apthorp, who is an Honorary Research Fellow at UOW, has proven that the brain sees fast moving objects by using blurs or streaks, like those seen in photographs.
Dr Apthorp conducted the research, which involved placing people in an MRI scanner and measuring their brain activity as they were shown a number of stimuli, as part of her PhD at the University of Sydney.
The findings, which were published in collaboration with an international team of researchers in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, have implications for computational models and the design of experiments used in the study of visual deficits and robotic vision.
She says that her research is the first piece of direct evidence from the human brain that proves the theory, which was first proposed by a researcher named Wilson Geisler in 1999, that the brain processes fast-moving objects in this way.
Scientists have traditionally believed the brain perceives form (static objects) and motion using two separate neuronal pathways. But Geisler argued that formsensitive neurones can also pick up the angle of a motion streak, and this can help the brain decode the path of the moving object more precisely. Dr Apthorp will continue her research with UOW Professors Rodney Croft and Stephen Palmisano while based at ANU this year.
Marketing researcher wins international accolade Dr Melanie Randle, from UOW’s Institute for Innovation in Business and Social Research, has won an internationally prestigious award for her research into how marketing can help foster-care and volunteer organisations find the best carers and volunteers, and keep them. Dr Randle received the 2012 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy (ANZMAC) award for Emerging Researcher of the Year in December. “It’s great to get recognition for my research. People typically associate marketing with commercial marketing
issues – such as selling products or advertising,” Dr Randle said. “My focus is on the social side of marketing. For instance my research on volunteering is about trying to understand the range of reasons that people volunteer.” Dr Randle’s research has already been put to good use in local organisations such as Bushcare Wollongong, an environmental volunteer organisation run by Wollongong City Council, which recently attracted 300 volunteers with a campaign based around Dr Randle’s research, as well as Illawarra local foster-care providers, CareSouth.
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Scientist reveals what the real Hobbits looked like
“She’s not what you’d call pretty, but she is definitely distinctive”. Dr Susan Hayes, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at UOW’s Centre for Archaeological Science and specialist facial anthropologist, is talking about the Homo floresiensis (popularly known as the ‘Hobbit’), a previously unknown species of tiny hominin, which was discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores (pictured above) by UOW and Indonesian researchers in 2003.
headaches along the way, but I’m pleased with both the methodological development and the final results”, Dr Hayes said. Using a specialist technique based on the approach developed by the Russian anatomist, Mikhail Gerasimov (the film Gorky Park features his work), Dr Hayes has been able to reveal what a female Hobbit would have really looked like (see above, right) when she roamed the islands of Indonesia as little as 18,000 years ago.
Dr Hayes recently unveiled the face of the Homo floresiensis at the 2012 Australian Archaeological (AAA) Conference, which was hosted by UOW in December.
“This approach includes building up the underlying anatomy (muscles, glands, features) as well as using soft tissue depths”, Dr Hayes said.
“She’s taken me a bit longer than I’d anticipated, has caused more than a few
“Once I have examined and measured an individual’s remains, I take orthogonal
photographs and enter the images into a graphics program, where I build up a virtual anatomy within the parameters indicated by the skull”. “In the media it’s often called ‘facial reconstruction’, but because I’m evidencebased and work in archaeological science, we prefer the term ‘facial approximation’,” Dr Hayes said. Dr Hayes, whose background is in forensic science, has also worked at the request of Sydney Homicide on the remains of a young woman found in Belangelo State Forest. She will be give a free and interactive public lecture titled ‘From Homicide to the Hobbit’ as part of the 2013 Uni in the Brewery Series in March (more info: pg 22).
Potential new malaria-fighting compound found in plant An Endeavour Award PhD student from UOW’s Centre for Medicinal Chemistry, Phurpa Wangchuk, has won the 2012 Young Scientist’s Best Communication Award at an international congress for his work on Bhutanese traditional medicines and new drug discoveries from medicinal plants from his native country, Bhutan. Phurpa recently discovered a new antimalarial drug lead compound from one 8
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of his plants. He was awarded the prize at the Phytochemical Society of Europe’s congress on Bio-Communications, which was held in Cadiz, Spain, for his seminar entitled, ‘Evaluation of Bhutanese medicinal plants for their alkaloids and biological activities’, which was based four scientific papers he has published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology and Natural Product Communications from 2010-2012.
He said that the conference provided him an opportunity to learn, share and develop networks with the best and brightest international groups of natural product scientists from around the world. Phurpa, a Government employee of Bhutan, completed his Masters at UOW in 2004 and is now completing his PhD at UOW under the supervision of Professor Stephen Pyne and A/Professor Paul Keller.
Research students build solar powered house
UOW research students are part of a team that is designing and building a net-zero energy, solar-powered house, dubbed Illawarra Flame, to compete in the 2013 Solar Decathlon – the world’s most prestigious interdisciplinary student-led green building research and innovation competition. The Decathlon, held in Datong, China, this August, challenges teams to design, build and operate an advanced and appealing solar-powered house that is not only energy efficient, but also cost effective to build. Team UOW Australia, which includes UOW undergraduate and research students, as well as students from TAFE Illawarra Institute, is the first group from an Australian University to win a place in the Solar Decathlon finals. They will be the first team ever to retrofit an existing home, instead of building a new structure. Project Manager Lloyd Niccol says the Illawarra Flame will transform an old Aussie ‘fibro’ house into a sustainable, netzero energy home for the future. “Since only 1-2 per cent of Australia’s housing stock is replaced each year, improving the performance of our existing buildings provides the greatest potential for immediate environmental improvement,” he said. Director of UOW’s Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) and Team
Coordinator Professor Paul Cooper said the Team UOW entry will be built in Wollongong and shipped to Datong, China to compete alongside other houses during a two week display period in August 2013. “The competition is a Decathlon as students will compete in and be judged on ten events covering all aspects of housing design,” he explained. “Our house will be judged not only on its architecture and engineering, but also its market appeal and affordability, comfort, energy usage and liveability,” he said. “The house will have to produce as much energy as it uses and the students will face practical tests such as preparing and hosting a dinner party using only the energy they have collected during the day and drying clothes using as little energy as possible.” Italian international PhD student at UOW’s SBRC and Team UOW member, Massimo Fiorentini, is putting his research to the test as part of the competition. His research is focused on providing an effective solution for existing buildings(both commercial and residential) to minimise energy consumption and improve their utility in the integration of renewable energy sources and interaction with the electricity grid. “Through developing the Building Management System of the Illawarra Flame house, I will try to implement some of these techniques in what will be
a full scale model of a residential house with a complex heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and with onsite electrical and thermal energy generation and thermal energy storage”, says Massimo. “The optimal control of this system will be important for the achievement of our energy efficiency goals.” Yi Guo, another PhD student at SBRC and fellow Team UOW member, is also utilising her research for the build. Yi’s thesis focuses on the development and validation of advanced air-conditioning systems for building retrofits. On the Illawarra Flame, she is in charge of figuring out if heat recovery works in the house design, as well as finding the best vent discharge locations. UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings said at the recent launch of the Illawarra Flame in January, that it was a joy to see students with such diverse skill sets come together to produce something tangible and practical. “This project demonstrates the globally competitive skills we have at UOW. It has me thinking that it would be pretty cool to be a student again and to be a part of something so cutting-edge and exciting,” Professor Wellings said. “I look forward to visiting the team in China and enjoying a solar-powered Pavlova at the dinner party that they will hold in the house as part of the competition.” R E S E A R CH & INN O VAT I O N NE W S
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Researchers develop unique sports bra fitting app Breast Research Australia researchers, Dr Deirdre McGhee and Professor Julie Steele, have just released a unique app, Sport Bra, which is the first in the world to contain evidence-based information to help women choose a well-fitted, supportive sports bra that is comfortable to wear during exercise. Using step-by-step instructions combined with clearly labelled photographs and movies, the app, which is downloadable from iTunes, guides the user in finding the right bra for their exercise needs. Dr McGhee says the team at Breast Research Australia (BRA), based in the Biomechanics Research Laboratory at UOW, has been systematically investigating the biomechanics of breast health for the past 15 years. “One of our recent studies found that 88 per cent of female adolescents wore a bra during sport that didn’t fit properly, while 85 per cent failed a simple knowledge test on bras and bra fit.” She says that poor bra fit and insufficient breast support during physical activity can lead to excessive breast movement, which in turn can cause embarrassment and breast discomfort, and in extreme cases, can contribute to poor posture and musculoskeletal problems such as upper limb neural symptoms and neck and back pain. “A well-fitted and supportive bra can alleviate up to 85% of these symptoms, allowing women to exercise in greater comfort and possibly removing the need for
breast reduction surgery”, she says. To help educate and empower women to participate comfortably in physical activity and enjoy the health benefits associated with an active lifestyle, Dr McGhee and Professor Steele have developed the four-step app that guides women through choosing a supportive sports bra, putting it on correctly, how to tell whether the bra fits correctly and how to determine whether the bra provides sufficient breast support.
“The app is not aligned with any one brand of bra or trying to sell any particular product”, says Dr McGhee, “rather, it is designed to educate and empower women, using visual cues, to purchase the product that is most suitable for them.” Dr McGhee and Professor Steele gratefully acknowledge the support of the UOW Innovation and Technology Transfer Team, the UOW e-Club, and A/Professor Daniel Saffiotti, who have supported the development of the app.
Fighting cancer in substance abusers On average, people with a history of substance abuse problems live between 20 to 27 years less than the general population. Cancer is a leading cause of mortality for this group and it requires prevention strategies that address primary risk factors such as smoking, poor diet, and physical inactivity. To improve cancer prevention strategies for this very vulnerable population, the Cancer Institute (NSW) has awarded funding to Dr Peter Kelly from the School of Psychology of more than $594,000 over 3 years, to trial The Healthy Recovery Program. “Cancer is extremely prevalent for people with a history of alcohol or other substance dependence. It represents the third leading cause of mortality for this clinical group and results in enormous social and 10
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financial costs to the Australian population. It is important that we develop more comprehensive prevention strategies for these high risk population groups” says Dr Kelly. The Healthy Recovery Program is an 8-session group based intervention that aims to prevent cancer for people who are attending substance abuse treatment. As part of the intervention, participants are encouraged to quit smoking, improve their diet and increase their level of physical activity. Dr Kelly has already conducted a successful pilot study of the Healthy Recovery Program that was funded by the Cancer Council. Thanks to the Cancer Institute grant, Dr Kelly will continue his research, leading the evaluation of the Healthy Recovery Program,
in collaboration with researchers at the University of Newcastle and the University of New South Wales. The research will be conducted across The Salvation Army Recovery Service Centres, commencing early next year. “This is a wonderful opportunity to extend our work with The Salvation Army, particularly on a clinical trial that is likely to offer substantial real world benefits to people attending their treatment programs” says Dr Kelly. Dr Kelly and his colleagues at the Illawarra Institute for Mental Health, Professor Frank Deane and Dr Trevor Crowe, were recently awarded a National Drug and Alcohol Award for ‘Excellence in Research’ for their ongoing research programs with The Salvation Army.
The clean energy technology that converts water into fuel of oxygen gas from water under sunlight,” he said. ACES Executive Research Director Professor Gordon Wallace said the investment by True North Venture Partners will help put his team’s innovative technologies to practical use – combatting real life problems as they go, like assisting manufacturing industries to reduce their carbon footprint by switching to clean energy.
Photo: Bruno C | Flickr
“This new investment adds in a material and very substantial way to the investment that the ARC has made in ACES. It holds the future promise of a major technological and social impact, with accompanying benefits to Australia,” Professor Wallace said.
The ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) has secured venture capital investment to form a spin out company called AquaHydrex to commercialise clean energy technologies that will provide an inexpensive, low-carbon footprint to the petroleum, chemical, food and steel industries. The culmination of years of research within the UOW and Monash University nodes of ACES, AquaHydrex technologies convert water into the clean energy fuels, such as hydrogen gas.
According to ACES Energy Program Leader Professor Doug MacFarlane, the research teams have developed new electrochemical systems that are able to spontaneously convert water into hydrogen and oxygen (called water splitting), with and without the use of sunlight. “Broadly, the technologies involve novel catalytic processes that enhance the efficient electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen,” Professor MacFarlane said. “A second set of technologies are inspired by photosynthesis to assist the production
“We aim to build the skills and infrastructure required to translate our research into commercially viable opportunities,” he said. True North Venture Partners leads a $300 million venture capital fund that seeks to identify disruptive innovations and work with management teams to build companies for the long-term in the areas of energy, water, waste, and agriculture. “AquaHydrex is an example of the interesting and globally relevant innovation in Australia and we look forward to partnering with the AquaHydrex team,” said Steve Kloos, Partner at True North Venture Partners.
Endeavour Fellows tackle gender equality through sport and childhood obesity UOW’s Interdisciplinary Educational Research Institute is currently hosting two international researchers, Dr Abi Fisher and Dr Lyndsay Hayhurst, who are recipients of 2012 Endeavour Research Fellowships. Dr Fisher is a physiologist with a PhD in Child Health & Developmental Medicine from the University of Glasgow, UK. Her research background is in childhood physical activity, motor and cognitive development, with a particular focus on prevention of paediatric weight gain. While at UOW, Dr Fisher will be working
with Professor Tony Okely, Dr Rachel Jones and Professor Lori Lockyer on ‘Time2bHealthy’ – a web-based intervention to help parents promote healthy weight-related behaviors in their preschool children. Dr Lyndsay Hayhurst, is a recent PhD graduate from the University of Toronto, Canada. Her interdisciplinary research aims to fuse Indigenous feminist studies, postcolonial feminist theory, and physical cultural studies in order to better understand how to decolonize sport,
gender and development (SGD) programs. Working with UOW’s Professor Jan Wright, Dr Hayhurst will research corporate-funded Aboriginal girl-focused development programs in Australia that use sport and physical activity to promote gender equality, challenge gender norms and improve girls’ health and self-esteem. She will explore how young Aboriginal women and girls in Australia understand and experience their participation as well as the factors that enable and inhibit their involvement in SGD programs. R E S E A R CH & INN O VAT I O N NE W S
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FEATURE
Rethinking our past to redesign our future UOW launches Global Challenges Program to help combat the biggest issues facing humanity this century, including industrial transformation, managing an ageing population and sustaining our coastal environments. By Elise Pitt. In 2012, 9.3 million tons of toxic chemicals were released into the environment (yet 58 million new cars were made), there were 126 million births (but a disproportionate 54 million deaths) and we lost 6.6 million hectares to erosion (and continue to take in excess of 80 million tons of fish from the ocean). Without being alarmist, these are some confronting stats. To help build a more sustainable world, UOW has launched a visionary new
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research program that will help solve some of the biggest challenges of the 21st century – starting in our very own backyard. Our Global Challenges Program will bring together researchers from a host of different disciplines to work on three of Australia’s greatest problems – coping with industrial transformation, managing a growing and ageing population, and sustaining our coastal environments. Because we know that tackling challenges in our own backyard is the first step
towards solving the greater, global issues of the 21st century, like slowing climate change and creating a greener global economy. Deputy-Vice Chancellor (Research) Professor Judy Raper says Global Challenges will harness the expertise of UOW researchers, which has proven to be world-class by the recent release of the Australian Research Council’s Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2012 results (more info: pg 4). This initiative,
which evaluates the quality of the research conducted at Australian universities by discipline, showed that 90% of the University’s fields of research were “above, or well above, world standard”. “ERA 2012 confirms that UOW researchers are among the world’s best in their disciplines,” Professor Raper said. “Global Challenges will bring our worldclass disciplinary experts together so that
they can come up with creative and holistic solutions to complex global issues. “It will truly be research with impact. We hope to transform the lives of people of all over the world with this research,” she said. The Program will initially be focused on three Global Challenges — Manufacturing Innovation, Living Well, Longer and Sustaining Coastal and Marine Zones. However, as the Program evolves,
Professor Raper says there will undoubtedly be growth, both in the number of challenges and their research scope. For more information on the program, visit uow.edu.au/research/globalchallenges or contact Director of UOW’s Research Services Office, Sharon Martin at sharonma@uow.edu.au.
MAKE
DEFINE
NEW
MANUFACTURING INNOVATION
LIVING WELL, LONGER
SUSTAINING COASTAL & MARINE ZONES
As Australia, and the rest of the world, moves away from carbon-heavy economies, we must find clean and innovative solutions. The Manufacturing Innovation Challenge aims to remake our current industrial processes. It encompasses both traditional research and development in materials and devices, as well as broader economic issues relating to rethinking models and processes of innovation and manufacturing. Researchers will attempt to reposition the Illawarra, UOW’s own industrially transforming backyard, as a region of intense creativity and experimentation, known globally for its innovative, qualitative and taxonomic approaches to sustainable regional development. They will also look at the social and cultural aspects of the impacts of changing technologies on individuals and communities.
By 2050, the number of Australians aged 50 and over will have increased by over 80%--that’s 6.4 million people. The Living Well, Longer Challenge will look into solutions for the wide-ranging challenges resulting from this drastic demographic shift, which is being seen in developed nations all over the world. This Challenge has a strong health element, but its focus is broad; encompassing the potential for mature age citizens in our region, Australia and beyond to play a greater social, economic and cultural role in society, as well as encouraging the productive uptake of technology, and designing built environments to be usable by all age groups. We want to redefine what it means to be an older Australian, and global citizen.
Half of the world’s population, including 66% of Australians, live on the coast. Oceans are our life source. They cover 72% of the earth’s surface and hold 95% of global biodiversity, but sustaining them, and our coastal environments, require multidisciplinary effort. The Sustaining Coastal and Marine Environments Challenge recognises the social and environmental importance of coastal and marine environments to Australia, our region and the world, as well as our increasing economic reliance on ocean resources and activities. Researchers within this Challenge will look at renewing these zones by managing resources through planning for sustainable use, understanding the effects of climate change and developing policies and processes on how best to manage them.
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OPINION
Photo: Pete Prodoehl | Flickr
A violent debate: could guns be made at home by 3D printers?
Sociologist Dr Thomas Birtchnell and Nano Engineer Dr Robert Gorkin weigh in on the controversial debate in light of the recent Sandy Hook shootings in America.
Gun laws have been back in the media recently due, largely, to the horrific events at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults. In response President Obama has just unveiled gun control proposals. In light of this growing focus on gun legislation, some have expressed concern about the possibility of guns being manufactured in the home using 3D-printing technology (also known as “additive manufacturing” or AM). If this were the case, the ability of almost anyone to ‘print’ a gun at home brings about the question of monitoring and oversight. This is particularly significant in places where guns are difficult to get
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locally, including Australia. So is it possible to manufacture a readyto-fire gun using a 3D printer? And would this be possible at home? Before we can answer these questions, it’s important to understand how and why we even got here. SUPPLY AND DEMAND Over the past couple years the growth of 3D printing has represented an unprecedented shift in how objects are made. It’s just one very visible part of a transition from mass manufacturing dependent on factories and global freight systems, to innovative manufacturing done locally and on-demand. With 3D printing, bits of information digitised in a computer design appear out
of thin air in the atoms of a finished object. This happens in front of the eyes and at the press of a button. As The Conversation has previously reported, there are many uses for 3D printing in the home, office and beyond that are driving the development of this technology. A key problem in commentaries about the 3D printing of guns is that there has been a gross over-simplification of what constitutes 3D printing, particularly what can be done with a home desktop printer. To accurately look at printing a firearm it is critical to understand the capabilities in the range of equipment.
APPLES AND ORANGES 3D printing isn’t just one technology but a whole ecosystem of machinery with a common theme: taking designs created using 3D computer-aided design (CAD) data and fabricating structures in a layer-by-layer fashion. These machines can be used to print a wide variety of materials, from plastics and metals to even food and living tissue, all in arrangements that are impossible with traditional methods. The equipment also varies greatly in terms of size, ease-of-use, and cost. At the entry level (which gets the most attention), 3D printers are compact units, some only a few hundred dollars, targeted to the home/ school/community hobbyist. These typically work by extruding coils of pre-formed thermo-plastics onto a platform, guided by a computer. Some 3D printers can be assembled open source, such as the Rep Rap, others can be bought pre-assembled, such as the Makerbot. At the high end of 3D printing are lasersintering units, electron-beam melting systems and specialised polyjet printers. These printers can stand as tall as a person and require custom software and specialist technicians. High-end systems are completely different from domestic-use 3D printers, relying on high-power sources to repeatedly fuse layers of plastic, ceramic or metal powders, or the activation of thermal and UV cured resins in a layer-by-layer fashion. These techniques are capable of printing a wider range of stronger materials such as steel alloys or titanium and require special handling and lots of energy to process. THE REALITY So, with this in mind, is it possible to “print” a gun at home? The simple answer is that with current personal 3D printer technology, you cannot simply download a file and build an assembled ready-to-fire gun like those available on the market today. With inexpensive desktop 3D printers, a host of difficulties are apparent in replicating a complete commercial firearm. A chief problem is the fact that the plastics are generally too weak to withstand the stresses of repeated firing without destroying the printed structure. It is possible to print individual components
on more advanced machines, but these parts still require “finishing”, using traditional fabrication equipment, and often require assembly with additional components produced elsewhere. Even the highest-end polymer and metal printers would have difficulty printing a market-replicate firearm without further equipment development. The printers could again provide individual parts for a gun but prints would still require post-processing with specialist equipment. Metal printing in particular demands special handling procedures as certain materials,
“Is it possible to ‘print’ a gun at home? The simple answer is that with current technology, you cannot simply download a file and build an assembled ready-to-fire gun like those available on the market today” such as titanium powders, can be very reactive with air and can ignite and explode. As such, all handling is done in inert or vacuum environments. And even more finishing and complexity would be required to 3D print ammunition, which combines a number of different materials, including some sensitive to heat processes such as gunpowder or cordite. THE POWDER AND THE FINGER So even at the high-end of 3D printing it is not currently possible to download a design and print an operational firearm with the press of a button. In some ways it would be far easier to make a weapon using traditional methods and it is possible to find aspirational gunsmiths making firearms at home. 3D printing could certainly play a role in prototyping for the multi-billion-dollar global
arms industry, particularly in the aerospace sector, although it is debatable whether 3D printing can offer any real economic advantages in firearm development on top of current techniques. BETTER USED ELSEWHERE Although 3D printing guns illegally for malicious uses is a contentious issue, those not familiar with 3D printing should understand that additive manufacturing offers many obvious benefits across a range of areas including robotics, infrastructure and medicine. This is taking place in innovations at home, in industry and at research centres around the world. In the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) at the University of Wollongong some of the most sophisticated 3D printers are being used for projects ranging from bioprinting to advanced energy applications. Additive manufacturing in biofabrication is already revolutionising medicine by creating patient specific implants. Part of IPRI’s work focuses on developing new materials, methods and AM equipment in the hopes of producing regenerative tissues. In the future such technology could help enable sciencefiction-like concepts such as replacement organs or printable skin. No doubt people will keep trying to print firearms and other weapons. But discussions on the topic would benefit from a clear understanding of the range and capabilities of personal versus non-domestic 3D printing. While the future legality and availability of 3D printed weapons is uncertain, guns will be far from the most innovative object to emerge from the build tray of 3D printers in the foreseeable future. Further reading: • I’m not afraid of 3D printed guns – John Biggs, Techcrunch • First successful firing of a 3D-printed gun – Jacob Aron, New Scientist •Download, print, fire: gun rights initiative harnesses 3D technology – Alexander Hotz, The Guardian • Bad engineering journalism: reporting on “3D printing of guns” – Scott Locklin Originally published on theconversation.edu.au
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STUDENT PROFILE
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Michelle Linklater Winner of the three minute thesis competition at the 2012 NSW Australian Marine Sciences Association Conference, UOW environmental science PhD student Michelle Linklater, talks about studying the seabed habitats of Lord Howe Island. What are you studying? PhD in Environmental Science What does your research focus on? My research investigates the role of subtropical environments as potential refuge and expansion sites for coral reefs. At Lord Howe Island, the southernmost reef in the Pacific, there is an extensive reef structure submerged on the shelf surrounding the island, indicating significant past reef growth. I will be looking at whether a similar structure developed on Balls Pyramid, a pinnacle further south, and the extent to which these shelves support modern coral communities. This research will help identify the suitability of these deep, high latitude environments as potential regions for coral growth under changing climatic conditions. How did you come to study at UOW? I originally came to UOW for my undergraduate Environmental Science degree and was attracted by the course content and the reputation of the Uni. For environmental science, the escarpment and coastline around the Illawarra region is a perfect setting for getting out in the field and connecting with what you are studying. I had always thought about continuing study, and once I knew this research project was going ahead there was no question on coming back.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far? In my career so far, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have met many inspiring people and have had some amazing experiences. Each step of the way, I’ve found so much support and encouragement which has led to opportunities that I would not have imagined when I started. A major highlight has definitely been living and working on Lord Howe Island for a few months with the Marine Parks Authority. After looking at images of the island for over a year, it felt surreal to actually be there! That experience really opened my eyes to the practical application of research, and made me even more passionate about the region – it truly is a captivating place. I’m lucky enough to be heading there again in February on board the R.V. Southern Surveyor to collect data around Lord Howe and Balls Pyramid – I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time and I’m sure it will be an incredible experience! Have you always had an interest in the environment? I’ve always loved nature and the outdoors, and as soon as I started studying it sparked a real passion that has only intensified over time. I love the multidisciplinary nature of environmental science and I find that it’s an endlessly interesting field. Particularly with
marine science - there is so much unknown and yet to be discovered. What do you think are the key issues relating to your industry today? There are many serious issues facing the marine environment. Climate change impacts compounded by existing human pressures place a great stress on these ecosystems. Although these issues receive a lot of attention, they need to receive more action. Since we cannot directly see the impacts on a daily basis like we can on land, their urgency can sometimes be lost. What do you plan on doing after the completion of your study? In the year or so after finishing I’d love to get some research experience overseas and do some further travelling. Ultimately, I really love the day-to-day habitat mapping work I’m currently involved in and would love to continue to work in this field. What do you hope to achieve in your research/field in the future? The field of habitat mapping is exciting to be apart of as it’s expanding and progressing so rapidly. In my career, I’d like to create representative seafloor habitat maps that are useful and practical for longer term monitoring and planning. Ultimately, working towards building a more complete picture of the marine environment.
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TRAVEL TALE
Feasts, weddings and research in Seoul Nanotechnology PhD student Willo Grosse talks her recent research trip to South Korea to develop an implantable device that will stop seizures before they happen.
The aim of my research is to design a drug delivery device that will be implanted in the brain of epilepsy sufferers and will switch on and off in response to seizure activity. When it detects a seizure it will release a small amount of anticonvulsant drug to suppress it and is powered by a battery that works off glucose (or sugar) in your blood. This type of device could dramatically change the quality of life of many epilepsy patients. We actively work with neurosurgeons, ethics research groups, animal studies researchers and our own researchers including engineers, materials scientists, biologists and chemists to tackle this problem together. Thanks to the Bill Wheeler Award [a community award presented to a UOW bionics research student], which I received in 2012, I had the opportunity to visit Hanyang University in South Korea where they have been developing an incredibly efficient glucose battery. The problem with the glucose battery is that it does not have enough power to run a high-power consumption device like a pacemaker but we have discovered that it has plenty of power to supply enough charge to a small film loaded with our anticonvulsant drug.
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I stayed at Hanyang University for two weeks and we worked tirelessly on putting our two areas of research together to make a prototype of the device. My Korean hosts usually work through all hours of the night and it was lucky because that’s what it took to get the experiments done, our only saving grace was the midnight feast we had of traditional Korean food – which for the record tastes incredible and always “good for health”. The researchers and staff at the Centre for Bio-Artificial Muscle went out of their way on a regular basis to make me feel welcome and most importantly well fed. They took me to some great local restaurants and I loved every bite – except for the raw crab in chilli sauce that was still in its shell, and yes, you’re supposed to eat the shell as well! Crunchy and not so satisfying, but when in Rome, right? I was kindly invited to a Korean wedding during my stay and what an experience it was. After the white wedding ceremony all the guests go to a dining hall while only the immediate family get to witness the traditional ceremony, except for me! I was generously invited into the ceremony by the bride and groom who insisted that I
get in there with my camera, I even got a playful photo with the happy couple who I only met for the first time on their wedding day. I was politely trying to thank everyone profusely for having me at their special day but they weren’t done with me yet, I got whisked off to the groom’s dad’s house with all the extended family for the afterwedding dinner and I had the best time. I even got to try on some of the traditional wedding ceremony gowns and in true Korean style we ate lots of food with the groom’s mum trying to feed me more than I could eat. I was also invited to present my research at the 2012 Korean Electrochemical Society Conference on Jeju Island which was an incredible opportunity to network with leaders in the field of electrochemistry and to understand the critical role Australia can play in developing high-tech materials and devices in collaboration with our Korean partners. My time in South Korea was productive, rewarding, taste-bud pleasing and culturally eye opening and I am extremely grateful for the experience. The Bill Wheeler Award was an absolute honour to receive, not only because I was flattered that my research was worthy of it but also because my hometown of Kiama is where Bill and his wife Lexie first started generously devoting their time to community based organisations. This award is granted purely from communityraised funds to allow a student in the area of bionics research to visit a collaborative research university and present at a conference. It is humbling to know that the research we do may actually help someone in that community someday.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Grants - funding opportunities DUE DATE
GRANT
6 March
ARC Discovery Project applications due to the ARC
6 March
NHMRC Career Development Fellowship applications due to the NHMRC
19 March
NHMRC Project Grant applications due to the NHMRC
27 March
ARC Discovery Early Career Researchers Award (DECRA) applications due to the ARC
More information: www.uow.edu.au/research/researchgrants
Ethics - meeting dates UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS
AGENDA DEADLINE
MEETING DATE
Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) - Health and Medical
13 February 13 March
5 March 2 April
Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) - Social Sciences
27 February 27 March
14 March 11 April
Animal Ethics Committee
14 March 9 May
4 April 30 May
Gene Technology Review Committee
13 February 8 May
27 February 22 May
More information: www.uow.edu.au/research/ethics
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NEW STAFF
A/Professor Samantha Thomas has joined the Centre for Health Initiatives as a Principal Research Fellow. Samantha is a Public Health Sociologist who specialises in risk behaviour and has an interest in social and critical marketing. Samantha is working on a number of research studies related to obesity, and problem gambling. She is currently the lead Chief Investigator on her second ARC Discovery Grant with Prof Tim Olds at the University of South Australia and Prof Jim Hyde at Deakin University, which aims to explore how parents and children respond to advertising about weight, weight loss, and physical activity. Samantha is also conducting a number of studies into harmful patterns of gambling, and the marketing strategies of the gambling industry. She is one of Australia’s leading experts in sports betting, and has looked in detail at how wagering is marketed during Australian sporting events, and the impact of this marketing on, in particular, young men and children. Her research also explored the impact of Electronic Gaming Machines on problem gambling behaviour. Samantha has given invited testimony on several occasions to the Australian Parliamentary Senate Inquiry on Gambling Reform, and is regularly invited to present her research both nationally and internationally. Samantha is looking forward to building an interdisciplinary team of researchers in both her specialist areas and is particularly looking forward to working with PhD students and the community to address these major health and social issues. Follow A/Professor Thomas on Twitter: @Doc_Samantha
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Professor Stuart Thomas has joined UOW as Professor of Forensic Mental Health, a new appointment for the School of Psychology; his primary research affiliation is with the Legal Intersections Research Centre. Stuart is a mental health epidemiologist and has specific research expertise in police encounters with vulnerable populations, police use of force and outcome measurement. He received his PhD in Health Services Research at the Institute of Psychiatry in the United Kingdom. He also holds a Master of Laws (LLM) qualification in Criminal Justice, awarded with Distinction from the University of Kent at Canterbury, and a Masters of Science (MSc) in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. While at UOW, Stuart is keen to develop educational pathways for students interested in forensic mental health and to bring together interdisciplinary teams of researchers to provide unique training environments for Honours and HDR students to help explore, understand and address the many complexities of the health and criminal justice interface.
Dr Gabriele Caccamo is an Associate Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires at UOW with over 7 years experience in the field of GIS, remote sensing and spatial data analysis for environmental research both in Europe and Australia. Gabriele earned his Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Natural Sciences from the University of Palermo (2003) and Master of Science in Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing from the University of Bologna (2005) in Italy. He has extensively collaborated (2004 – 2008) with the public sector in Italy developing spatially explicit tools for monitoring risks associated with natural hazards such as flood and desertification. His Doctor of Philosophy was awarded by UOW in 2012 for his research on the application of remote sensing techniques to analyse the influence of spatio-temporal patterns of live fuel moisture on fire activity in south-eastern Australia. His current research interests focus on the use of GIS technologies and satellite data applications to monitor fire danger in south-eastern Australia, to investigate temporal patterns of post-fire vegetation recovery in eucalypt forests and to develop remotely sensed methods to quantify the moisture content of live vegetation and litter in forested areas.
Qiang Zhu recently joined the Faculty of Engineering as a research fellow, working on the Baosteel-Australia Joint Research project (BAJC R&D). Qiang obtained his Bachelor of Metallurgical Science and Engineering in 2002 and Master of Ferrous Metallurgical Engineering from the Northeastern University, China. During 2005-2008, he worked as a research associate at Northeastern University in School of Materials and Metallurgy. In 2008, he received the full scholarship (UPA & HDR) from UOW and started his PhD study under Prof. Kiet Tieu’s supervision in the School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronics. Qiang’s research interests focus on high temperature oxidation and wear of metals and alloys, characterisation of nano mechanical properties of materials by means of nano-indentation. His role at UOW is to investigate the mechanism of surface deterioration and wear mechanism of high-speed steel (HSS) rolls in hot strip rolling through a comprehensive program of experimental work and modelling. The research will provide a fundamental understanding and quantitative prediction of abrasive wear technology which will improve the international competitiveness of the Baosteel from significant reduction in the cost of production, and improve the strip quality.
Dr Iwan Cornelius is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics (CMRP). Dr. Cornelius completed both a Bachelor of Medical Radiation Physics and a PhD, under the supervision of Prof Anatoly Rosenfeld, at UOW. He also worked with CMRP on the ARC Discovery Project entitled “Radiation protection for space, aviation, and terrestrial applications: the development of novel radiation detectors and computational techniques”. As a Research Fellow. Dr. Cornelius will be supporting the development of instrumentation and scientific computing tools for quality assurance in Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT). MRT is a relatively new radiation oncology modality, currently in a pre-clinical stage, that utilises microscopic beams of synchrotron generated x-rays to treat tumours. The project is funded by NHMRC and driven by CMRP’s Dr. Michael Lerch. It represents a close collaboration between the CMRPUoW, the Australian Synchrotron, and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (France) where Iwan is currently embedded as a visiting scientist. After Dr. Cornelius’ PhD with CMRP, he worked as a researcher in Italy, developing treatment planning software for carbon ion radiotherapy (whilst learning Italian and developing a love for Italian cuisine), at the Queensland University of Technology, creating virtual and augmented reality tools for the education and training of healthcare professionals in radiation oncology and medical imaging, and as a software developer for Sydney based digital agency, Pixolut.
Erin McGinn has recently accepted the position of Student Administration Officer, in the Research Student Centre. In 2009 Erin completed a two week placement in the HR and Finance Division for her Y12 high school work experience. After this placement, Erin realised that this was the vocation she wanted to pursue. In January 2010, two months after completing her HSC, Erin accepted the trainee position of Administration Assistant in the HR and Finance Division. During this period Erin completed her Certificate III and IV in Business. In November 2012, Erin applied for and was accepted as Student Management Officer in the Research Student Centre. As Student Management Officer, Erin performs similar and new duties such as: providing completion letters; statement of status and scholarship letters to students; being a student advocate; and organising events (such as dinners, seminars and orientation). Erin is excited by her new role and is looking forward to learning additional tasks to assist the students and staff and help maintain UOW’s stance as one of the leading universities in Australia.
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EVENTS
From Homicide to the Hobbit
UNI IN THE BREWERY Wednesday 20 March, 5.30-6.30pm Five Islands Brewery, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong. INFO: uow.edu.au/research/unibrewery RSVP: research@uow.edu.au FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Dr Susan Hayes, Facial Anthropologist and Research Fellow at UOW’s Centre for Archaeological Science, will give a free and interactive public lecture as part of the 2013 UOW Uni in the Brewery series. Dr Hayes is a facial anthropologist specialising in facial approximation, or the likely facial appearance of the deceased based on what is known about the skull and its soft tissues. In the media it’s often called ‘facial reconstruction’, but Dr Hayes says that because her work is evidencebased and she works in archaeological science, the more accurate term is ‘facial approximation’. “My forensic training began with using clay to build up the face over the skull, and then moved to manual drafting,” Dr Hayes said. “I now work virtually using CT scans and computer graphics, and mostly with archaeological remains. Last year, however, I worked at the request of Sydney Homicide on the remains of a young woman found in Belangelo State Forest (pictured right).” “In the very rare circumstance that someone’s remains are unidentified, they will bring in someone like me to
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approximate the facial appearance not as an evidentiary move but as a way of stimulating leads to possibly identify the remains because everything else hasn’t worked,” she told ABC Radio recently. “My job is to reinvigorate a case.” Her most recent work has been putting a face to the Hobbit (more on page 8), the holotype for Homo floresiensis, a small-
brained, small bodied hominid unearthed by Thomas Sutikna, Mike Morwood (UOW) and the Liang Bua archaeological team in Flores, Indonesia in 2003.
Both of these women form the ‘book ends’ to what was has been an interesting year in 2012, starting with the Belanglo remains and finishing with Homo floresiensis. ‘Angel’, as the Belanglo case is affectionately called in the media, is the most recently deceased person Dr Hayes has worked with so far (the forensic anthropologist estimates time since death as up to ten years since she was discovered by trail bike riders in 2010), and the ‘Hobbit’ is the oldest – “though at possibly 18,000 years she’s not that old in archaeological terms,” Dr Hayes said. “This talk will briefly cover what my main methods are, illustrated with examples from the last decade, including the Lapita people (3,000 year old remains of a seafaring people who were the first to populate the South Pacific), the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) Greig Collection of subadults (primarily cretins), an Amerindian Huarpe from San Juan (Argentina), very early Maori settlers unearthed on Wairau Bar – and, of course, the European and Asian men I currently use for teaching”, she said. Dr Hayes will then introduce, in hands-on fashion, some of the unique ways each skull varies and answer both simple and complex questions about her work. “My area intersects with a wide range of different occupations and research disciplines, and including the popular media, so if there’s something you’d like to know that concerns the face, bring this question with you”, she said.
Photo: TEDXManhattan | Flickr
TEDxUWollongong back for another year
TEDXUWOLLONGONG 2013 – SAVE THE DATE Tuesday 1 October INFO: tedxuwollongong.com FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC (LIMITED TO CAPACITY OF 100) The international phenomenon of TEDx is once again headed to the University of Wollongong. A brilliant mix of world leading
experts and inspiring speakers will descend on UOW as TEDxUWollongong kicks off on Tuesday 1 October. Speakers will give the talk of their lives, condensing their life’s work and passion into 18 minutes of inspiring prose on the theme of “Livability”. The event is limited to 100 people, so be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to be the first to know when tickets are available. TED is a nonprofit organisation devoted to
Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a fourday conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those worldchanging ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world’s leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TEDlike experience. TEDxUWollongong 2012 featured prominent UOW researchers and international medical experts talking about their ground-breaking work on developing the medical bionics of the future. Double Cochlear implant recipient, Sue Young, also shared her amazing story. Watch the video recordings at tedxuwollongong.com/videos
Research students’ guide to the galaxy HIGHER DEGREE RESEARCH STUDENTS’ INAUGURAL CAREER READINESS CONFERENCE 2013 Wednesday 20 February, 9am – 5:45pm McKinnon Building (67), UOW INFO: uow.edu.au/careers FREE TO ALL UOW RESEARCH STUDENTS What makes a good researcher? When does emotional intelligence at work matter more than IQ? How easy is it to switch between private and public research sectors? UOW is hosting its inaugural conference themed around career readiness for students studying towards a Higher Degree
Research (HDR) qualification. Complete with keynote speakers, plenary sessions and workshops, the conference aims to inspire and enlighten research students as to the many career options that lie ahead. Keynote speakers include Emeritus Professor Alan Johnson AM, Managing Director of Research Management Services International, Dr Bronwyn Evans, Senior Vice President of Cochlear and Professor Paul Wellings, UOW Vice-Chancellor. Workshops such as The Pitch Perfect (how to make an impact through presentations and networking), Are You LinkedIn? (online profiling and professional branding) and Careers and the Entrepreneur (business
basics and opportunities in the Illawarra) aim to give students a complete guide to the researcher’s galaxy. Academic and business professionals (all PhD qualified) will share their expertise in the job market for PhDs and researchers in more than 35 panel based discussions. Panellists will talk about their personal experiences of recruitment processes, applications and interviews as well as provide insights into their daily work routine and what it takes to do what they do, and what makes them tick. There will also be an end of conference function for delegates, presenters, panel members and conference organisers.
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Research Services Office, Building 20, Level 1, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, NSW, Australia, 2522 research@uow.edu.au | +61 2 4221 3386 | www.uow.edu.au/research
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