In brief
CRC on track
The existing Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Railway Engineering and Technologies will be revamped with total funding of approximately $100 million pledged for rail research over the next seven years.
The new Rail CRC has 12 core participants including the University of South Australia, Australasian Railway Association, Pilbara Iron and BHP Billiton Iron Ore. It begins operation this July.
UniSA will lead Rail CRC research in a number of key program areas. Prof Drew Dawson, Director of the Centre for Sleep Research is leader of the safety and operations program, while Prof Phil Howlett is a key leader in the economic, social and environment program.
The research will be carried out across the University, with Dr Peter Pudney and Prof Howlett leading several key research projects in the Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and Mike Taylor and Rocco Zito leading projects at the Transport Systems Centre.
Pro Vice Chancellor, Research and Innovation, Prof Caroline McMillen, said the success of the new CRC Rail re-bid was testament to the achievement of excellent research outcomes by the existing CRC and congratulates the UniSA researchers who made such a significant contribution to the bid’s success.
International Fellows tap into groundwater expertise
Senior Fellows from India and Pakistan have been finding solutions for critical groundwater issues in their home countries by tapping into UniSA’s expertise.
Dr Falendra Kumar Sudan (University of Jammu), and Debapriya Dutta (Department of Science and Technology Government) from India and Professor Bakshal Khan Lashari (from Pakistan’s Mehran University of Engineering and Technology) compared the groundwater policies and management of Australia and their countries as Fellows of the International Water Management Institute.
They found South Australia’s legal and institutional arrangements under the Natural Resources Management (NRM) Act to be particularly useful, especially the south-east operations of the NRM plan and the NRM Council.
Visits with independent experts and stakeholders including the SA Farmers Federation, government departments of land, water and biodiversity, environment and heritage, and the community also helped the Fellows adapt sustainable water use plans for use in their countries.
The research training program was led by the Director of UniSA’s Centre for Comparative Water Policies and Laws, Professor Jennifer McKay, who will travel to India and Pakistan to review its proposed implementation in March.