In Brief
Work/Life Balance report launched
The findings of the study show that work/life balance remains
elusive for most workers, with one in five Australians working more
than 40 hours per week, and most wanting to work less.
More than 150 people attended the launch of Professor Barbara Pocock and Dr Natalie Skinner’s second Australian Work and Life Index report, detailing the state of work and life balance for Australian workers.
Prof Pocock was joined by the Hon Cheryl Davenport, Chair of the Western Australian State Health Advisory Council on Work Life Balance, and SA Minister Gail Gago in addressing attendees.
Prof Pocock said the data behind the report is an important step toward a solid case for policy change for a more equitable work/life agenda.
Export award for train driver advice system
The market success of Freightmiser® in India has been recognised with an Australian Rail Industry Corporation (ARIC) Export Award for Excellence for the manufacturer and supplier of the technology, TTG Transportation Technology Pty Ltd, led by Managing Director, Dale Coleman.
UniSA’s Professor of Industrial and Applied Mathematics Phil Howlett and Senior Research Fellow Dr Peter Pudney are the inventors of the Freightmiser® technology, a computer system that displays an energy-efficient speed profile to enable by freight train drivers minimise energy consumption but still arrive on time at their destination.
"Pacific National installed these devices on freight trains in Australia and following successful trials, interest in the technology was received from the Indian government. Initial trials in India have revealed good prospects for rolling out the technology there, and possibly later in China," Prof Howlett said.
The ARIC Export Award was for TTG’s work in setting up the trials and creating the potential for sales of Australian technology overseas.
Dr Pudney has been the driving force behind all of the trials, supervising them and making sure that they work effectively. Both he and Prof Howlett have been retained in an ongoing capacity as consultants for these projects. UniSA graduate Dr Xuan Vu is also employed on the Freightmiser® project.
Maths maps build better crops
UniSA’s School of Mathematics and Statistics is set to play a key role in building SA’s growing expertise in phenomics and bioinformatics.
Together with the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) the School will form will a new Phonemics and Bioinformatics Research Centre (PBRC) at UniSA’s Mawson Lakes Campus and will provide expert analysis to support research in plant genomics to be undertaken at Adelaide University’s new super greenhouse.
UniSA Mathematics and Statistics Head of School, Professor Stan Miklavcic, says the new centre will bring the power of applied mathematics and statistics to complex genome research on essential world crops like wheat and barley.
"ACPFG’s new facility has state of the art data collection capacity," Prof Miklavcic says.
"Our role through the new PBRC will be to make sense of that data. We’ll be working with plant scientists and molecular biologists from ACPFG to help map plant genomes and better understand how crops can cope in our challenging climate."
Prof Miklavcic said in a world increasingly impacted by climate change and in a country facing more consistent drought conditions, the research will be vital for food security.
Engineering peers honour David Klingberg
Former UniSA Chancellor David Klingberg AM was named South Australian Professional Engineer of the Year at the 2008 Engineering Excellence Awards dinner at the Hilton Adelaide on Saturday night.
Presented by Engineers Australia (SA Division), this prestigious award acknowledges the highest level of individual achievement in the engineering field and is peer recognition of David Klingberg’s outstanding contribution to the profession.
PR – changing behaviours on climate change
In the first Donald Dyer Address run jointly by UniSA and the Public Relations Institute of Australia in August, Alan Beaton from Advertiser Newspapers Limited spoke about how News Limited aims to reach its carbon neutral goal two years earlier than Rupert Murdoch’s challenge for NewsCorp to be carbon neutral by 2012.
In his presentation Changing behaviours one degree at a time: The climate change challenge of our times, Beaton explained how the "One Degree" brand was an effective internal communications strategy designed to motivate 11,000 employees to reduce their own carbon footprints and inspire other Australians to reduce their impact on climate change.
The lecture was dedicated to the memory of Donald Dyer, one of the founding members of the PRIA in South Australia and nationally. UniSA runs a scholarship in his name, which encourages postgraduate and other advanced research leading to the advancement of knowledge in public relations and communication.
Five stars for UniSA MBA
UniSA’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) program is now the highest ranked in the State and among the country’s top ten with a five-star rating in the 2009 Good Universities Guide released this week. The rankings are determined by the Graduate Management Association of Australia based on its assessment of the standard and value of a program, and are considered one of the nation’s most highly regarded guides to MBA selection. The Good Universities Guide announcement follows the Australian Financial Review’s BOSS magazine’s latest ranking of MBA programs which rated the UniSA program seventh nationally.
Justice Kirby makes an impression
Michael Kirby, Justice of the High Court of Australia, Honorary
Doctor of UniSA and national patron of the Bob Hawke Prime
Ministerial Centre, recently delighted the first cohort of UniSA law
students and a lucky group of secondary school students with some
insights into his twelve years on the High Court.
The judge spoke of the changes he had witnessed during his tenure, and some of the changes he anticipates to come including an increasing number of women in the law, the use of television in court, and the move to electronic submissions.
Law student Cassandra Baines described Justice Kirby’s talk as "inspirational".
"It was an amazing experience to hear a man of his calibre: a man of such wisdom, experience and history in the law grace our university. And as a first year student to see and meet such a highly respected public figure was an experience that will stick with me for the rest of my life."
Education partnership supports reconstruction in Iraq
The first of 80 hopeful students from Iraq has received a visa to Australia and will be looking forward to attending UniSA in the next few months. UniSA has signed an MOU with Bagdad’s Al-Nahrain University to help facilitate closer collaboration over education and research in Iraq’s reconstruction phase. As part of an organised plan to improve opportunities for Iraqi students and to rebuild and strengthen the war-torn nation’s universities, the Iraqi government appointed a cultural attaché at the Iraqi Embassy in Australia. Dr Hisham Tawfiq is working to coordinate the placement of 200 students from Iraq in Australian Universities. The focus will be on higher degree research for Iraqi academics and post graduates. UniSA is the first Australian university to sign an agreement with Al-Nahrain University since the attaché was appointed.
UniSA links to State’s peak skills advisory board
Former UniSA Vice Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Denise Bradley AC has been appointed as the new Chair of the South Australian Government’s Training and Skills Commission.
Joining her as a new Commission member is Professor Roger Harris, a key researcher in the Centre for Research Education, Equity and Work within UniSA’s Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies.
The Commission provides the State Government with high level strategic advice on the top priorities and actions required to increase the skills base of the State’s workforce.