THE AGE OF ABUSE

UniSA and Thoroughbred Racing SA have formed a new partnership that will underpin a program to assess and improve jockeys’ athletic performance and abilities – putting jockey fitness in the spotlight for the first time.

As part of the new partnership, South Australian jockey apprentices will visit UniSA’s City East campus regularly to be assessed by researchers and sport science students at the High Performance Sports Centre.

Key athletic indicators analysed will include aerobic capacity, strength, mechanical efficiency and anthropometric profiling.

The results will aid in tailoring advanced training programs for the jockeys, leading to better performance on the track.

UniSA is now one of Australia’s top universities for income derived from industry partnerships, according to the Times Higher Education 2018-2019 University World Rankings, highlighting UniSA’s commitment to solutions-focused research.

In an increased pool of more than 1300 global universities, UniSA is now placed in the world’s top 250.

UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says the University continues its upward trend, with strong improvements in the number of citations university research receives and the strength and quality of its research, and a consistently strong result for its international outlook.

“These improvements reflect a continued growth in the depth and quality of UniSA research but also our enterprising approach to working with industry to support their development and growth,” Prof Lloyd says.

UniSA is leading the way in creating tertiary education opportunities for Aboriginal peoples after becoming the first university in the State to unveil a Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

With its initial RAP released in 2014, UniSA’s Stretch RAP – which has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia – goes further in its commitment to Aboriginal participation in education and employment.

UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says reconciliation is a core UniSA commitment – a foundation touchstone that links back to the University’s founding act and antecedent institutions.

“The new the Stretch RAP will deepen our connection to Aboriginal culture and community and see new and targeted initiatives across our research, teaching and learning and organisational arrangements,” Prof Lloyd says.

UniSA students will have access to the software used to design a Maserati, SpaceX rockets and the Mars Curiosity Rover through the largest software grant of its kind in Australia.

Technology company Siemens is providing UniSA students with access to some of the most advanced software of its type – which can be used for 3D design, engineering collaboration, predictive engineering simulation and analytics – through a $450m in-kind gift.

The software grant is part of Siemens’ commitment to invest more than $1 billion in advanced Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software to select universities nationally. The aim is to ensure students develop the skills needed to successfully participate in what has been dubbed the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0, a term used to describe the convergence of advanced automation, smart technologies and data in manufacturing.

Monty Python legend Eric Idle was presented with an honorary doctorate by UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd during an event organised by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre.

The award was made at the opening of a special evening with ABC science presenter Robyn Williams in conversation with Eric Idle, at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

“I don’t know what on earth I did to deserve this, it’s very, very kind of you,” Idle told the audience of more than 2000 people.

Photo by Tony Lewis.

Award-winning journalist Stan Grant discussed the missed opportunity represented by the Uluru Statement from the Heart, when he delivered the 21st Annual Hawke Lecture for The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre.

The Uluru Statement was rejected by then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and Grant examined why this was such an important chance spurned.

The Annual Hawke Lecture series was established in 1998 as an opportunity to listen to the views of someone whose experience of human affairs is notable and whose concerns are worthy of consideration.

Photo by Tony Lewis.

Walkley Award-winning ABC journalist Kerry O’Brien reflected on the social and political upheavals he has witnessed and the personalities who have made history during a UniSA event in November.

Presented by The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and Matilda Bookshop, O’Brien launched his new book, Kerry O’Brien, A Memoir, and was interviewed by radio broadcaster and producer Julia Lester at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

UniSA and QantasLink have signed up to a partnership that ensures the University’s brightest and best aviation students have access to special industry-based additional training provided by one of the world’s leading airlines.

As Australia’s longest running aviation degree program, UniSA’s Bachelor of Aviation has been a huge success, graduating both pilots and aviation management professionals now employed across Australia and around the world.

Head of the program, Dr Doug Drury, says the collaboration with Qantas will bring about important benefits for students and the aviation industry.

HRH Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, KG visited UniSA in late November to help judge an entrepreneurship competition he founded and to launch the new exhibition at UniSA’s future-focused museum, MOD..

UniSA hosted Pitch@Palace On Tour Adelaide as part of a global event giving new entrepreneurs and startups (participants pictured right with HRH Prince Andrew (middle) the best connections to develop their ideas and innovations. Eight finalists were selected to compete in the national finals; while HRH also toured the UniSA Cancer Research Institute, Innovation & Collaboration Centre and Business School.

Photo by Catherine Leo.

When it comes to the greats of Australian wine, Penfolds Grange stands above all others. In late September, the acclaimed winemaker behind this iconic wine – Peter Gago AC – was recognised for his commitment and service to the international wine industry when he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from UniSA.

As chief winemaker of Penfolds Winery, Gago is custodian of a rich winemaking tradition that goes back more than 170 years. Joining Penfolds in 1989, he initially crafted sparkling wines before moving to reds as Penfolds’ red wine oenologist.

His natural affinity for winemaking saw him rise to become the fourth ever chief winemaker for Penfolds in 2002.
Now at the helm of Penfolds’ undeniable success, Gago oversees the entire Penfolds collection while also acting as their palate, team leader, brand ambassador, educator and spokesman.

UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says the Honorary Doctorate acknowledges Gago’s enduring commit-ment and significant contribution to Australian winemaking.

Former federal minister Greg Combet AM was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from UniSA in late September, recognising his work in social justice.

Before entering federal parliament Combet worked in the trade union movement, starting as a trades assistant, before rising to the role of secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

Combet studied engineering and economics at universities in NSW before working as a project officer in the NSW Tenants’ Union.

As an advocate for the rights of workers and for worker safety, he was involved in important national campaigns including the Your Rights at Work aimed at maintaining working conditions, compensation for workers affected by asbestosis and protection for workers retrenched from Australia’s iconic Ansett Airlines when the airline folded.

UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says Greg Combet has always worked hard to advocate for the kinds of change that makes societies stronger.

British comedian, filmmaker, musician and member of the Monty Python creative team, Eric Idle, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from UniSA in late November.

The award was presented during a special event, ABC science presenter Robyn Williams In Conversation with Eric Idle, at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

Born in the UK in 1943, Idle attended Pembroke College, Cambridge to study English. He became president of the university’s Footlights Dramatic Club where he met some of the team who would become co-writers and performers in Monty Python’s Flying Circus – Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Terry Gilliam.

Pursuing his career after Monty Python, Idle has appeared in 28 television production in the US and the UK, six stage shows and contributed as a writer, actor and/or voice artist in 37 films.

UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says he is delighted to welcome such an enormous creative talent to the University community.

“There is no greater gift than to be able to make people laugh, and to do that with the wit that Eric does in his music and his comedy, is something special,” Prof Lloyd says.

UniSA has a new Chancellor – business leader Pauline Carr. Carr has built a 30+ year career bringing her executive experience, business improvement, governance, compliance and risk management consultancy services to a range
of companies in the resources, construction and superannuation sectors.

She was invited onto UniSA’s Council in 2010 and was appointed Chancellor in September 2018. During her eight years so far, she says UniSA has remained energetic, youthful and way ahead of where it might be.

“I think that agility, that responsiveness, that openness to the idea that ‘we can always do it better, we have the discipline and the skillsets to implement it better and we can do it sooner than anybody else’ is actually very appealing and is an incredibly important part of what makes UniSA so special,” she says.

Read the full story in the September edition of UniSA News.

Experienced higher education professional, Richard Irons, joined UniSA in November as the new Director of Student and Academic Services.

Irons’ previous role was as Academic Registrar at the UK’s University of Derby. At UniSA he will be responsible for coordinating UniSA’s student administration services – from enrolment to graduation – and maintaining student records, providing campus-wide services to students, as well as managing the University’s academic policies.

“In a higher education landscape which is increasingly competitive and constantly changing, the importance of the student experience has never been greater,” Irons says.

“As the incoming Director of Student and Academic Services I am looking forward to working with colleagues and teams both within SAS and the wider University, and my family is relishing the opportunity to embark on a new life in South Australia and make Adelaide our home.”

Welcoming the appointment, UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says Irons’ career achievements have already been impressive.

“Richard led the Student Services unit at the University of Derby for two years before a rapid promotion to Academic Registrar in 2017, where he was instrumental in driving new structures and processes,” Prof Lloyd says.

UniSA Associate Professor of Maths, Lesley Ward, has been recognised by the US Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), which made her  the first Australian Fellow of the AWM, citing “a sustained commitment to the support and advancement of women in the mathematical sciences”.

Assoc Prof Ward not only teaches and researches maths, she has also been working on gender equity in her discipline of choice since she was an undergraduate at the Australian National University in Canberra and PhD student at Yale University.

“This gender equity work has been a big part of my professional life for decades and I feel really honoured to have it recognised with this award,” Assoc Prof Ward says.

“I was at the annual maths conference in the US last year when the inaugural AWM Fellows were being honoured – it was inspiring to be in the same room as a whole lot of people who have contributed so much to helping women in maths advance.”

Professor Cheri Ostroff, a research professor from UniSA’s School of Management who is internationally renowned in the field of organisational behaviour, has been elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Already an elected fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Prof Ostroff was elected to the academy along with 35 other Australian social scientists.

All fellows of the academy are elected by their peers based on a distinguished contribution – recognised internationally – to one or more of the social sciences.

Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney from UniSA’s School of Education, has been awarded the 2018 Hedley Beare Award for Educational Writing from the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL).

The annual award is ACEL’s highest honour for an outstanding piece of educational writing that has provided new and significant knowledge about educational leadership.

Prof Rigney was awarded the honour for his writing in the field of Aboriginal education, leadership and policy development.

He says it was an honour to be among distinguished predecessors.

World-leading analytical chemist and director of UniSA’s Future Industries Institute, Professor Emily Hilder, has been made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.

A pioneer of disruptive approaches to chromatography, microsampling, blood analysis, explosives detection and biopharmaceutical analysis, Prof Hilder’s technological advances have been adopted commercially around the globe, including for the determination of contaminants in heparin, used by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Prof Hilder has worked closely with industry and end-users throughout her career, including SMEs and large multinational companies such as Trajan Scientific and Medical, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Agilent Technologies and Pfizer.

She was the inaugural director of the ARC Training Centre for Portable Analytical Separation Technologies (ASTech) and is currently deputy director of the ARC Research Hub for Integrated Device for End-user Analysis at Low-levels (IDEAL).

UniSA Emeritus Professor Lloyd Sansom has been awarded one of pharmacy’s highest international honours – the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s (FIP) André Bédat Award.

Prof Sansom, one of Australia’s most distinguished pharmacists, received the award at the opening of the 78th World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Glasgow, UK.

The André Bédat Award is the International Pharmaceutical Federation’s highest pharmaceutical practice award and is given every two years. It’s awarded to a pharmacist who is an outstanding practitioner and who has made significant contributions to pharmacy at the international level.

The director of UniSA’s Australian Centre for Business Growth, Professor Jana Matthews, has been named as one Australia’s 100 women of influence by a leading business and finance publication.

Prof Matthews, who is also ANZ Chair in Business Growth, has been named in the 2018 Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence.

The list features women working across a spectrum of industries demonstrating a strong sense of commitment to a cause. This year’s list was chosen from a record 850 entries.

UniSA researchers dominated the Women in Innovation Awards in October, taking out six of the 10 categories in an outstanding result for the University.

In an extraordinary night, the quality of research and innovation among UniSA’s female academics was rewarded with the following results:

ARTS: Anika Johnstone for MOD., the University’s new museum driven by a desire to engage a younger audience in science, technology; engineering and maths;
ENGINEERING: Professor Yan Zhuge (School of Natural and Built Environments) for her work recycling tyres into high-value building materials for structural engineering applications;
MATHS and DATA: Dr Tina Du (Information Technology and Mathematical Sciences) for her work using data-driven approaches to develop innovative guidelines for international tourism;
SCIENCE: Dr Chia-Chi Chien (Future Industries Institute) for her innovative, microfluidic 3D tumour-on-a-chip research;
SOCIAL IMPACT: Professors Fiona Arney and Leah Bromfield (Australian Centre for Child Protection) for their work aimed and preventing and responding to child abuse and neglect;
OPEN: Dr Renly Lim (School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences) for her unique science-art program, Village Drama Against Malaria, to fight the world’s deadliest mosquito in Cambodia.