News - Innovation Campus

iC Theatre named in honour of late Leon Kane-Maguire

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -1100

One of the University of Wollongong’s most vibrant personalities was honoured on Friday night (10 February) at the inaugural Leon Kane-Maguire Address.

Professor Kane-Maguire was one of Australia’s leading research scientists with his work leading to many international awards and the development of several new fields of science.

He was made an Emeritus Professor of the University when he retired in 2010, celebrating a lifelong commitment to science and education. Leon sadly died in 2011.

At the evening event held at Innovation Campus, Master of Ceremonies and Dean of Science Professor Will Price said that Leon’s passing was a terrible time for the University.

“It was a dreadful loss to us all but here we are to celebrate his work,” he said.

Attended by 120 guests including Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings, former Vice-Chancellor Emeritus Professor Gerard Sutton, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Judy Raper and members of the Kane-Maguire family.

The event was a happy celebration of Leon’s contribution to research, the building of research teams and the communicating of science.

The inaugural address was fittingly given by Leon’s twin brother, Professor Noel Kane-Maguire.

Director of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute and great friend of Leon, Professor Gordon Wallace, highlighted how Leon had an infectious attitude to science and education.

“He instilled a spirit of adventure of scientific discovery, the excitement of sharing new knowledge with other people, he had unbelievable enthusiasm for communicating a wide variety of people about science,” he said.

The theatre in the new AIIM Processing and Devices Facility at the Innovation Campus was officially named the Leon Kane-Maguire Theatre by Professor Noel Kane-Maguire, as he unveiled a bronze plaque featuring an image of Leon.

During the event the Leon Kane-Maguire Student Prize was awarded to the highest achieving student completing an honours degree in the University of Wollongong School of Chemistry. Donated by Barbara Kane-Maguire and family, the prize was awarded to Geoffrey Pidcock who completed a Bachelor of Nanotechnology Honours Degree in 2011.

UOW and TAFE tackle solar housing competition in China

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -1100

A team of students from UOW and TAFE Illawarra will go head to head with some of the best universities in the world when they compete in the finals of the Solar Decathlon: China in 2013.

The group, known as Team UOW, will be amongst 24 teams from 13 countries fighting it out to build and operate an advanced and appealing solar-powered house to win the competition.

The team, comprised of students from at least six UOW faculties and the University’s Sydney Business School will be joined by TAFE Illawarra staff and students who will play a major role in the design and construction of ‘The Illawarra Flame’ house.

Team UOW is the first group from an Australian University to win a place in the Solar Decathlon finals. In fact, the team won entry to both the US and the China finals, electing to compete in China.

Director of UOW’s Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) and Team Co-ordinator 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.”

Professor Cooper said a well-engineered entry was important but not enough to win the competition. He said the house would have to be technically excellent, cost effective and usable.

To maintain a distinctly Australian flavour, the team has chosen to renovate, remodel and retrofit an existing fibro home rather than building a new one.

Professor Cooper said this would give students an opportunity to showcase their retrofitting skills while minimising the environmental costs associated with building a new home.

“Our team wants to show just how energy efficient you can make any home if you think innovatively,” Professor Cooper said.

“We have already had support promised from agencies such as government departments, the Australian Building Products Innovation Council (BPIC), and from companies such as BlueScope Steel. But this project provides a unique opportunity for many other Australian companies who are designing and producing new and innovative green building products to have them on display and tested against products from around the world in a unique competition in a rapidly growing market”, Professor Cooper said.

For more information on the Solar Decathlon China competition visit www.sdchina.org/en and for the UOW Sustainable Buildings Research Centre sbrc.uow.edu.au

January edition of iC News Available

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -1100

Welcome to the January edition of the Innovation Campus News.

CLICK HERE to receive the January edition of iC News.

If you have any queries please contact our office on +61 2 4221 5115 or visit our website: www.innovationcampus.com.au

Best Regards

The iC Team

UOW rated a five-star performer on international stage

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -1100

The University of Wollongong (UOW) has been rated as a maximum ‘Five Stars’ in its first ever international benchmarking by the same organisation which determines the annual World University Rankings.

The QS Intelligence Unit’s audit said UOW’s impressive performance across its six criteria of employability, teaching, infrastructure, internationalisation, innovation and engagement helped it achieve the top Five Star status.

“This is an outstanding achievement and firmly establishes UOW as one of the leading universities on the global university scene,” the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings said.

Professor Wellings said this first international benchmarking confirmed the ‘Five Star’ findings of UOW’s standing on the domestic (Australian) front by the Good Universities Guide which normally comes out in August each year.

He said the latest rating by QS demonstrated yet again UOW’s strengths in such areas as employability for its graduates, its teaching and research, its strong community engagement and overall commitment to innovation.

“One of the standout results was that of ‘engagement’ which achieved a perfect score of 50 out of 50 points – and we surpassed 95 per cent in all the other criteria,” Professor Wellings said.

The QS star rating system is a new way of looking at the strengths of universities. Universities are awarded with a rating of one to five stars with five stars being the highest rating depending on their performance within the evaluation.

A typical ‘Five Star’ university is according to QS “generally world class in a broad range of areas, enjoys a high reputation and has cutting edge facilities and internationally renowned research and teaching faculty”.

New Vice-Chancellor takes the helm

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -1100

The University of Wollongong’s new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings, today (3 January) started day one in the office committed to seeing UOW – which recently celebrated its 60^th anniversary – move into the top 1 per cent of universities in the world.

The former Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University in north-west England, succeeds Professor Gerard Sutton, who was UOW’s longest-serving Vice-Chancellor since 1995.

“Currently UOW is placed in the top 2 per cent of universities world-wide and I want to see us move into the top 1 per cent by having an outstanding research and student focus,” Professor Wellings said.

“I am certainly lucky in that I have inherited a ‘very good ship’ but my challenge now is to carry us further forward.

“We have to maximise our return on the infrastructure we have set up over the past decade including places like the Innovation Campus and the SMART Facility.”

Professor Wellings praised as a “fantastic idea” the University’s plans to build a $300 million health and medical precinct based around a 180-bed private hospital and integrated primary care health centre.

The highly-regarded St Vincent’s and Mater Health Sydney organisation has been assisting the University to develop plans for the precinct, and is the University’s proposed operator for the hospital.

With an ageing population, demands on health care would be going up markedly over the next 20 years putting greater pressure on community care, the Vice-Chancellor said.

Professor Wellings said he would be examining potential new course offerings wherever possible including cross-faculty new initiatives.

“We should not be producing “oven ready chickens” but students who know how to be flexible as they may have to handle a number of jobs over their working lives.”

He said UOW was a key asset for the future development of the Illawarra region and he looked forward to being part of the next stage of the University’s development.

In an email message to staff at UOW today, Professor Wellings highlighted how “globally, higher education is in enormous demand driven by the increasing world population and the growing affluence of segments of economies in the Eastern Hemisphere. We need to continue with our strategy of internationalisation in order to capitalise on this opportunity.”

He went on to say: “Nationally, we are challenged to be more inclusive to disadvantaged sectors of the population and to increase the skills of all Australians. Given the demographic structure of our regional catchment and our underlying approach to engagement, we are in an ideal position to do both.”

Professor Wellings is UOW’s fourth Vice-Chancellor since the University gained its autonomy from the University of NSW in 1975, following Professor Michael Birt (1975-1981), Professor Ken McKinnon (1981-1995) and Professor Gerard Sutton (1995-2011).

An Australian/British citizen, Professor Wellings was born in Nottingham and educated at the universities of London, Durham and East Anglia. He moved to Australia in 1981 as a research ecologist at CSIRO, becoming Chief of the Entomology Division in 1995. From 1997 to 1999, he was Head of the Innovation and Science Division, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Canberra, and in 1999 he became Deputy Chief Executive of CSIRO.

Professor Wellings has previously been a Director of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). In 2006 he was appointed to the board of Universities UK and Chair of its International European Policy Committee. He was also a board member of Higher Education Funding Council for England and Chair of its Research and Innovation Committee.

IPRI celebrates its 21st birthday in style

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -1100

Established in 1990 UOW’s Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI), now based at the Innovation Campus, has grown from a small group of researchers to an internationally recognised research group.

The group pioneered the concept of intelligent polymers demonstrating that the design and synthesis of polymer structures capable of recognising specific stimuli and responding in a way that improved performance was possible.

An example relevant to local industry involves the detection of the onset of corrosion and the release of corrosion inhibitors.

Along the way, IPRI has developed a number of innovative sensing technologies including a unique electrochemical immuno assay wherein they demonstrated that complex biomolecular interactions could be controlled using electrical stimuli. This has been used to develop assays of biological and environmental significance.

In addition, researchers have been working with a range of actuation systems including some of the world’s best artificial muscles that involve polymer structures responding to electrical stimuli to generate significant movement/force.

These advances are finding application in the development of a rehabilitation glove and the lymphoedemia sleeve. Women suffering from painful swelling of the arms as a result of breast cancer could soon feel relief thanks to the innovative sleeve being developed by IPRI and funded by the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

IPRI has acted as the lead node in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science under the leadership of Professor Gordon Wallace. Building on expertise developed during the 1990s IPRI has created strategic national collaborations.

Professor Wallace highlighted new solar cell technologies currently being developed by the CRC polymers and Vicos, new polymeric catalyst systems for water splitting to generate hydrogen and oxygen from water and new electrodes for energy storage being developed in collaboration with CapXX.

“And there are new materials for an advanced cochlear implant electrode and for nerve/muscle regeneration for controlled drug delivery into the brain for epilepsy.”

He said IPRI’s enduring success has been made possible by the assembly of a highly talented group of individuals over a sustained period.

”Leaders in their own fields of research who have come together under a common vision.This group has developed a highly effective collaborative research culture that is based on a trust that inspires confidence,” Professor Wallace said.

A number of highly talented PhD students ( more than 60) has passed though the ranks of IPRI and gone on to make significant contributions to science, business, teaching and science communication.

“We have established a scientific platform, facilities and a research culture that will enable us to continue to push back the scientific boundaries for the next 21 years,” Professor Wallace said.

Click here for the events photo album available on the ACES - ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science Facebook page.

Another leap forward for nerve cell regeneration

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -1100

Researchers at the University of Wollongong’s have developed a new ink formulation that can be used to print surfaces that enable nerve cell regeneration.

These findings are featured as the latest core article in the prestigious scientific journal, SMALL.

The research team behind the findings are with UOW’s Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) which is the lead partner in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES). ACES has established a world leading facility in biofabrication at UOW’s Innovation Campus.

IPRI Director and Executive Research Director of ACES, Professor Gordon Wallace, said these sorts of bionic devices enable researchers to interface the world of biology with the world of electronics.

“Developments in this area to date have resulted in the cochlear implant (the bionic ear), nerve stimulators for control of Parkinson’s disease and deep brain stimulators for epilepsy.

“Ongoing advances in materials (especially in the area of organic conductors) and fabrication methods are bringing the pursuit of regenerative bionic devices for nerve and muscle repair closer to realisation.

“In terms of fabrication the development of 2D and 3D printing technologies is a revolutionary new approach to the development of bionic devices,” Professor Wallace said.

It is in light of this that SMALL is reporting for the first time development of an ink formulation, amenable to ink jet printing and capable of providing pattered surfaces (with micron resolution) capable of supporting nerve cell growth and controlling the direction of growth through electrical stimulation.

iC Holiday Period Operating Hours

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -1100

Innovation Campus Holiday Period Operating Hours

INNOVATION CAMPUS BUILDING CLOSURE

iC Central will close its entrance doors from 9pm on Friday 23 December 2011 and will re-open at 6am Tuesday 3 January 2012.

All other campus buildings (AIIM, Mike Codd, ITAMS, E1) will close on Friday 23 December 2011 and

re-open on Tuesday 3 January 2012 (at their normal scheduled times).

The Pedestrian Access Gates through to Montague Street will be closed between 25 December and 2 January. The schedule will return to normal on 3 January 2012.

Access cards will be required to enter all buildings throughout the closure period.

iC SERVICES CLOSURE

iC Management Office

Will be closed from 1pm Friday 23 December 2011 and will re-open at 9am Tuesday 3 January 2012.

All general enquiries during this time can be emailed to info@innovationcampus.com.au

iC Kiosk

Will be closed from 1pm Friday 23 December 2011 and will re-open at 8am Tuesday 3 January 2012.

Lacuna Cafe

Will open from 5pm on Wednesday 28, Thursday 29 and Friday 30 December 2011 and be closed on all public holidays.

iC Health

Will be closed from 4pm Friday 23 December 2011 and will re-open at 6am Tuesday 3 January 2012.

EMERGENCY CONTACT DETAILS

For life threatening emergencies please call 000.

For emergency building repairs and maintenance call ResolveFM 24hour hotline on 1300 705 254 or email: hub@resolvefm.com.au

For emergency access control or security incidents please contact 4221 4900

Sydney Business School’s triumph on global score card

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -1100

The 2011/2012 QS Global 200 Business School Report officially announced this week gives a resounding tick to the University of Wollongong’s Sydney Business School (SBS) climbing the rating table better than any of its Australian counterparts.

In last year’s rating the SBS was positioned 18^th in the Asia Pacific region and this year has soared to 13^th while other business schools have fallen against their placements last year. The SBS is now positioned as 3rd in Australia in the ratings having been 5th in 2010.

The Executive Dean of the SBS, Professor John Glynn, puts the latest success of the school down to:

• Designing programs to meet the needs of employers and students. The approach to curriculum development includes detailed discussions with industry partners, graduates and fellow students as well as international benchmarking to ensure programs reflect state of the art knowledge and leading edge application. Innovative programs include the Executive MBA, the Master of Business Coaching and the Graduate Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Encouraging permanent and adjunct faculty to constantly seek to improve the quality of their teaching from induction through regular workshops. Through individual reflection and collaborative partnerships such as staff observing each other teach, SBS staff are inspired to adopt new approaches in the classroom which help students make the most of the face-to-face session, supported by its eLearning platform. SBS staff are regularly recognised through faculty and university teaching awards, nominated by students and colleagues for their innovative and dedicated approaches to teaching in all its campuses. SBS surveys its students in every subject every time to ensure it gets on-going feedback with which to improve. The school also asks its alumni for feedback after they have completed their degrees as they may have different suggestions to make with the benefit of hindsight

• As a graduate business school, SBS recognises that many of its students are senior business people, with relevant experience and expertise. Diversity in the classroom is seen as a rich resource to facilitate an exploration of how to work together in a multicultural environment, whether in a large multi-national or an Australian small-to-medium enterprise with a diverse workforce. SBS’s approach in the classroom is to respect this experience and to encourage its students to challenge theory from a sound basis, and not to listen passively to a lecturer. Assignments are not generic summaries of the literature but require students to consider the application of theory in specific real-world contexts. In addition to increasing their understanding of relevant topics, students develop skills such as how to select and use information efficiently and effectively, rather than for example go to Google and be confronted with millions of references to often dubious sources

• SBS staff have industry experience as well as current theoretical knowledge, a combination which allows the school to explore the application of theory with credibility, rather than teach from a textbook or purely theoretical approach. SBS staff are also active researchers and students benefit from their latest research insights

• SBS includes high calibre external speakers in its classes so that students have the opportunity to engage with the latest thinking in government, industry, commerce and the not-for-profit sector

• In addition to its standard classes, students attend master classes in current topics such as sustainability and managing in times of crisis, as well as professional development classes including public speaking, writing resumés and how to perform well at interviews

• SBS has recently been recognised by the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia with the 2011 Australian Training, Education and Development Award for its MSc Logistics program

Gilchrist leads scientific team on Indian tour

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -1100

Champion Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist is leading a team of Australians to India this month – this time to talk science and technology rather than cricket.

Gilchrist is Ambassador to India for the University of Wollongong (UOW), one of Australia’s leading research and higher education institutions ranked in the top two percent of universities worldwide.

The former international wicketkeeper-batsman has been on the UOW team since 2008, helping the University develop stronger ties with Indian companies. The 2011 ‘tour’ is Gilchrist’s fourth to India with UOW, and since 2008 he has helped the University build its relationships with Indian corporations and potential students.

On this trip Gilchrist’s ‘team-mates’ will include UOW’s international medical bionics and nanotechnology expert Professor Gordon Wallace and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Judy Raper, who is also the Executive Director of the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials (AIIM). The Institute is at the University’s Innovation Campus – a research and development precinct where UOW’s key research institutes are located alongside innovative corporations.

They will be talking to Indian corporations and research institutions about opportunities for collaboration in a range of high-tech research areas ranging from medical bionics including nanobionics and artificial muscle development to batteries for electric vehicles and clean energy technologies.

Their itinerary includes Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, where they will be meeting with key Indian business leaders and technology experts. Professor Wallace will also deliver a keynote address at Bangalore Nano (9 December).

UOW already has strong links with India, with the Gilchrist-led visits of recent years reinforcing decades-old ties.

In November 2011 UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton visited India to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Mr Arun Kumar Jagatramka, Chairman and Managing Director of Indian company Gujarat NRE to investigate developing a campus in the city of Ahmedabad to offer a range of courses. Gujarat NRE has coal mining operations in Wollongong, and the company has a close association with UOW.

UOW has successfully operated the University of Wollongong in Dubai since 1993. It is the most successful western university in the United Arab Emirates, and Indian students are its largest foreign student body.

And in 2010 Indian global IT services company MphasiS, an HP company, established a presence in Australia when it opened an integrated development and delivery centre at the University of Wollongong.

Building upon this recent success, UOW is now forging links with India in the exciting area of Future Materials. Professor Raper said UOW had world-class researchers who already have global collaborations, and they were looking to establish partnerships with Indian companies and institutions

“The Australian Institute for Innovative Materials is home to two of UOW’s flagship research institutes – the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute led by Professor Gordon Wallace and the Institute for Superconductivity and Electronic Materials led by Professor Shi Xue Dou,” Professor Raper said.

“Chemists, engineers, physicists, biologists and materials scientists are under the one roof at the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials working together to develop solutions to some of society’s greatest challenges, and helping transform their laboratory-based successes into commercial realities.”

Adam Gilchrist said he was excited by the scientific successes at the University of Wollongong, and he enjoyed helping UOW build relationships with Indian companies and institutions

“The relationship between the University of Wollongong and India is very much a two-way street,” Gilchrist said. “There are so many opportunities for Indian companies in Australia by linking with UOW, while the University itself is looking to develop a real presence in India.

“The future is limitless.”