Page 1 Inside QUT September 19-October 16, 2000

Graduatetakes on TV’s$20 challenge

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QUT Central Administration 2 George Street Brisbane 4000 Telephone (07) 3864 2111 Registered by Australia Post – Publication No. QBF 4778

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Official partyarrivesin style

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Visiting academicsees super-visioncoming

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Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue ... • Month, 1999Queensland University of Technology Newspaper • Issue 207 • September 19-October 16, 2000

Seniors play their own games

More than 550 clients from respite centres throughout Brisbane displayed good cheer at the SeniorsGames, held at Kelvin Grove campus on September 8. Pictured (l-r) Leonie Pretsel, Ivy Diamond,Mena Solomon and Enid Gurowski from Clayfield Respite Centre show their support for team-mateRonnie Blatchford as she tries her hand at coits. For a full report on the games, see page 8.

Visit Inside QUT on-line at http://www.corpcomm.qut.edu.au/insidequt/index.html

Studies callfor kids tobe activeby Toni Chambers & Margaret Lawson

A QUT researcher has foundchildren as young as five yearsof age are at an increased risk of

cardiovascular disease because of reducedactivity levels, sparking renewed calls forchildren to be more active.

Human movement studies PhDstudent Rebecca Abbott delivered thefindings of her research at the 2000 Pre-Olympic International Congress in SportScience, Sport Medicine and PhysicalEducation in Brisbane earlier this month.

Her study of 50 children agedbetween five and 10 looked at thefunctioning of the inner lining ofarteries, called the endothelium, whichis responsible for artery dilation.

This was matched against the normaldaily activity levels of each child.

“Reduced arterial dilation or elasticityis a known marker of cardiovasculardisease. We know, for example, thatadults with cardiovascular disease havelimited or no arterial dilation,” MsAbbott said.

“The children I studied were all inthe healthy range of arterial dilation,but the more active the child, the bettertheir dilation.”

Ms Abbott said the study marked notonly the first time that this techniquehad been performed on such young

healthy children, but the first time therelationship between arterial dilationand normal daily activity levels had beeninvestigated.

Her research also found that, asactivity levels increased, cholesterol levelsand body fatness decreased.

She said that, while this had beenfound in adolescents and adults, the studyof these links in young children was rare.

“These outcomes support the fact thatwe should be concerned about childrenwatching more television, playing oncomputers more and not playing outsideas much as they used to,” she said.

Associate Professor Andrew Hills fromhuman movement studies has also beenresearching childhood inactivity.

Professor Hills, who has just released abook titled Childhood Obesity: preventionand treatment, said there was nowevidence that childhood inactivity was atthe root of many adult health problems.

He said parents needed to set an examplefor children to become more active.

“Up to 60 per cent of Australia’s adultpopulation is overweight or obese andfacing greater risks of health problemsbecause of poor diet and a lack of physicalactivity,” he said.

“Parents should try to go for walks withtheir kids, play games with them, andencourage them to participate in physicalactivities whenever possible.”

Several QUTresearcherspresented theirfindings at the2000 Pre-OlympicInternationalCongress inBrisbane earlierthis month.Among those inattendance werethe InternationalOlympicCommittee’sambassador chiefof protocol,Dr Pal Schmitt, andSchool of HumanMovement Studieshead ProfessorTony Parker.

Page 2 INSIDE QUT September 19-October 16, 2000

From the Inside ... by David Hawke

A word from the Vice-Chancellor

The medical profession is being urged toencourage cancer patients to continuetheir normal daily activities aftertreatment, as a means of facilitating theirrecovery and improving quality of life.

QUT PhD student Sandi Hayes haslooked at the impact of peripheral bloodstem cell transplants (a refined type ofbone marrow transplant) on the physicalfunction and quality of life of peoplewith advanced breast cancer, leukemiaand lymphoma.

She found the treatment caused a rapiddecline in both fitness and quality of lifeto such an extent that an individual’slifestyle was dramatically affected.

Ms Hayes also studied the roleof exercise in facilitating recovery.

“Following treatment, without anexercise intervention, we are starting to seea trend whereby fitness and quality of lifelevels either stabilise at comparably lowlevels or continue to decline,” she said.

“I found that exercise plays a crucial rolein not only returning patients to ‘normal’levels, but in preventing further declines.”

The study also found that fitness levelsin patients engaged in the exercise programafter treatment improved by 40 per cent.

Further, the exercise participants enjoyeda higher quality of life than non-exerciseparticipants – including improved self-confidence, ability to work and concentrate,and ability to engage in social activities.

“Advice to patients from healthprofessionals and family members such as‘take it easy’ or ‘get plenty of rest’ could alsoprevent them from participating in activitieswhich could actually assist in recovery.”

She said more than half of patientsdiagnosed with cancer were survivinglonger than five years, so a huge populationwas trying to return to normal life.

“Unfortunately, the side effects ofcancer and its treatment often have sucha debilitating effect on a patient’s physicalfunction that returning to a normallifestyle is impossible,” she said.

“It’s important to begin by doing as manylittle things as possible, like washing, cookingand making beds, and then introduce agradual and planned exercise program.”

Exercise importantfor cancer recovery

Staff rock on at cocktail party

The official party arrived in style atQUT’s second annual staff

cocktail party held at Kelvin Grovecampus on September 1.

Chancellor Dr Cherrell Hirst, Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibsonand Academy of the Arts head ProfessorPeter Lavery were escorted to thepodium as pillion passengers onmotorbikes.

Their leather-clad escorts includedQUT desktop support services managerGraham Keys and his biker buddies NickLee and Garry Sutton (whose employerTessman Concreting gave him sometime off for the occassion).

Powercycle Triumph donated aTriumph 600 for the day at no charge.

Part of the afternoon’s officialproceedings included the announcement

of the winner of the competition to namethe new area outside A Block at KelvinGrove, where the party was held.

Development’s Sharon Norris won agift hamper supplied by The Critic.

The selected name was Rocks’ Gate,named after James Robinson (aka RocksRobbie), the first principal of predecessorinstitution the Queensland Teachers’College when it moved to A Block in 1942.

Chancellor Dr Cherrell Hirst arrives at the newly-named “Rocks’ Gate” at Kelvin Grove for the staffcocktail party, on a Triumph Sprint driven by Garry Sutton from Tessman Concreting.

always give more than the basics and,as a result, they often suffer.

“We train teachers to be conservativeand careful, while students are quitebored with the average teacher andrespond better to teachers who aresomewhat different, and who challengethese stereotypes.

“Fun teachers push the edges butthey do it in safe ways that are not atthe expense of effective learning.Importantly, they refuse to suffer andcope better with the strain andchanges.”

Dr Pendergast said home economicsteachers defined themselves asprofessional, organised, hardworking,caring and multi-skilled.

Teachers and student teachers shouldbe encouraged to incorporate more funinto their classrooms, PhD graduateDr Donna Pendergast said recently.

Dr Pendergast’s research resultschallenged some teaching and learningassumptions when her study of 300home economics teachers revealed thatthose who had fun and made teachingpleasurable coped better with change.

“Many teachers are suffering fromchange fatigue with the many reformsin the education system, and they arestruggling to get any work satisfaction– let alone fun or pleasure – from theirday-to-day teaching,” she said.

“Teachers are expected to be strongrole models, to be self-sacrificing, to

“Home economic teachers areexpected to wear the right clothes, eatthe right food and not eat junk food,”she said.

“They are expected to be role modelsabove most other teachers.”

Her PhD, entitled Re-thinking homeeconomics: From modern to postmodernaccounts of pedagogical bodies, wasnominated for the AustralianAssociation for Research in Education’s(AARE) best thesis award.

Dr Pendergast, who recently wrotethe home economics syllabus for juniorhigh school students, is the nationalpresident of the Home EconomicsInstitute of Australia.

– Amisha Patel

Teachers should be fun in class

As Microsoft releases its new .NETframework this month, InformationTechnology dean John Gough iswatching with more than his usualprofessional interest.

Professor Gough and School ofComputing Science senior lecturer DrPaul Roe were among the first to try thenew framework, and have been quietlycontributing to the product’sdevelopment over the past year.

“The significance of the .NETframework is that it allows programswritten in any language to run seamlesslyon one computer,” Professor Gough said.

“This will be big news for softwaredevelopers, because it means they can nowcreate new software from componentswritten in different languages, withoutgoing through the complicated process oftranslating each one.

“Microsoft describes it as doing awaywith the ‘Tower of Babel’ effect that exists

with the range of programming languagesnow available.”

Professor Gough said he and Dr Roewere asked to give feedback during theproduct’s development, and were one ofsix research teams then chosen to give ademonstration of the software’s potential.

“Along the way, we gave a lot offeedback to the development team andturned up a couple of problems in theearly versions,” Professor Gough said.

“Now .NET is ready to go, and weshowed an audience of 1,000 softwaredevelopers in Florida how it could work.

“We demonstrated using two commonlanguages and our own Gardens PointComponent Pascal (a language translatordesigned at QUT), which were able towork side by side using .NET.

“It was the first time I had ever given ademonstration like that and got applauseat the end.”

– Margaret Lawson

Researchers in .NET revolution

It was with great sadness that I heard ofthe death of Walter Kerrison, QUT’soldest male graduate, on September 9.

The name of Kerrison has beenassociated with QUT and its predecessorssince 1925, when Walter graduated fromthe Central Technical College.

His son Russell and grandson Paulare also members of QUT’s alumni.

Walter’s greatest passion was forchurch architecture, and one of hisbiggest triumphs occurred when RobinGibson, the project architect for therestoration of St Stephen’s Cathedral,became aware of some sketches thatWalter had done of the Cathedral inhis final year of architecture.

Although the sketches were morethan 70 years old, Gibson referred tothem in his work, describing them as“a beautiful set of drawings”.

Walter did us the honour of openingD Block at Gardens Point just last year,and his speech on this occasion reflectedthe need for a “dreaming place” forarchitects.

At the opening, he said “For mepersonally, my garden was the place tosee visions and dream dreams.”

“Briefly I want to say I believe everyplanner, architect or designer of anykind needs a dreaming time on his/

Graduate rememberedher agenda and, just as importantly, Isuggest that every project, be it large orsmall, deserves a place in the designer’sdreaming program.”

His assertion was that architects needto go through the sometimes painfulprocess of meshing these dreams withthe practicalities of daily living and thatQUT’s School of Architecture, Interiorand Industrial Design aimed to helpthem achieve this goal.

He will be greatly missed by thosewho knew and worked with him.

– Professor Dennis Gibson

See Page 4 for full story.

Page 3 Inside QUT September 19-October 16, 2000

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I f you’re heading tohospital for heart surgery,

how important is it that youknow your chances of anadverse outcome?

Hospital administratorsaround the world nowconsider this type ofinformation an importantpart of their operations.

Thanks to a mathematicalmodel developed by QUTmasters student FionaStephens, Brisbane’s PrinceCharles Hospital is the firstin Queensland to be able topredict a patient’s chance ofsurvival from heart surgeryusing their own patientbase and specialisedmethodology.

Based at the Centre inStatistical Science andIndustrial Mathematics, MsStephens investigated 113factors, including a person’sage and weight, whetherthey had angina or liverdisease, whether they weretaking blood pressure tabletsor had undergone previousheart surgery.

For example, for thosepatients who are older, notoverweight and haveunstable angina (which isactively managed) there isminimal risk.

But for overweightpatients, the risk of death is200 times greater thanaverage.

“They may still operate onthese people, even thoughthey are at a high risk, butthey can monitor them a littlemore closely and be awarethey are in a group of peoplewho may not always getthrough,” Ms Stephens said.

She said this move toevidence-based practice wasincreasing in Australia, andallowed hospitals to betterdetermine their budgets and

Student’s mathsmodel predictsheart surgery risk

improve their service topatients.

“It’s given them a measureof risk, so we know howmuch more at risk peoplewith particular attributes arecompared to everyone elsewho’s having surgery foracquired heart disease,”she said.

“It’s reinforced ideas thedoctors had but it’s also givenmore breakdown of otherpeople who are a littleat risk.”

For example, Ms Stephenssaid, doctors were alwayscareful with female patientswho were older andoverweight, often waiting

until a patient lost weightbefore operating.

Using Ms Stephens’ RiskStratification Model, doctorscan now determine thepredicted risk and howindividual patients comparedto people with similarcharacteristics.

– Toni Chambers

Masters student Fiona Stephens is using maths to assist doctors to predicttheir patients’ chances of survival from heart surgery.

SOSE trial defendedA QUT academic has defended theembattled state school Studies of Societyand Environment (SOSE) syllabus,condemning the “dumbing down” ofdebate surrounding the issue.

School of Humanities lecturer DrewHutton said critics of the trial Year 1 to10 syllabus were putting politics into adebate that “should be about educationand good teaching”.

“Criticism about SOSE is comingfrom people with a conservative agendawho seem to think that teaching historyshould transmit cultural heritage,”Mr Hutton said.

“History is about more than this. It isabout exposing students to relevantmaterial that enhances their ability toinquire purposefully, think critically andinvestigate alternatives.

“You’re not going to develop students’higher-order capabilities with the oldrote-learning, fact-based curriculumthey used when I first taught history.”

Mr Hutton, who teaches history atQUT, is a former member of the State

history syllabus sub-committee and hascontributed to several history textbooks.

He said that SOSE was a relevantsyllabus that struck a good balancebetween content suggestion and skilldevelopment.

“The SOSE syllabus supports a viewof history where students do more thanrote-learn. That is why it is supportedby the Queensland History Teachers’Association,” Mr Hutton said.

“It stresses conceptual understandingsabout time, continuity and change;culture and identity; place and space;and systems, resources and power. Theseare things you’re going to cover if you’reteaching history well.”

Mr Hutton said comments from trialschools indicated they were happy withthe SOSE syllabus and the degree ofcontent flexibility it gave teachers.

“You have to give them a say becausethey’re the ones who know the kids.

“I think this debate deserves a fairertreatment than the dumbed-downcriticism it has received to date.”

by Amisha Patel

Fewer than half of Australia’s privateorganisations have implementedequal-opportunity strategies designedto increase the number of womenin management, a QUT lecturer andPhD candidate said recently.

Management lecturer Erica Frenchanalysed equity management plansfrom around 2,000 Australianorganisations to evaluate strategies,such as job sharing and parental leave,that companies use to achievemanagement equity.

Her research revealed that, in manyorganisations, strategies designedspecifically for women were notconsidered to be appropriate.

“Women need to be treateddifferently but fairly in the workplace,”Ms French said.

“Assuming people are the same, anddesigning practices and processes thattreat everyone the same limits both theorganisation and the individual.

“Organisations should encourageequal opportunities and outcomesby addressing the specific needs ofboth the staff and organisation itself.”

Ms French said organisations werewary of “identity-conscious” strategies

because of accusations of preferentialtreatment or reverse discrimination.

“Higher numbers of women inmanagement are associated with identity-conscious strategies such as job sharing,parental leave, equal employmentstructures, women’s groups andmentoring schemes.

“Organisations that include theseprograms in their equity programs havesignificantly higher numbers of womenin management.

“However, not many private sectororganisations in Australia are activelyinvolved in such practices.”

According to Ms French, manyorganisations find it difficult toevaluate equity programs.

“Many organisations will not see theresults for a considerable period of time,depending on such things as turnoverrates and organisational growth andmarket demand.”

Ms French said she believed herresearch would help organisations toidentify successful strategies that wouldlead to more women in management.

Other strategies associated withhigher numbers of women inmanagement were child-care assistance,EEO structures and formal mechanismsfor consulting with women.

Private sector hasunequal opportunitiesfor female managers

Governments around Australia shouldreconsider using graphic advertising campaignsin their efforts to reduce drink-driving-relatedroad fatalities, a QUT researcher has suggested.

The Centre for Accident Research and RoadSafety’s (CARRS-Q) Associate ProfessorRichard Tay has looked at the effectiveness of aNew Zealand advertising campaign modelledon the gruesome Victorian strategy which beganin 1989 using emotion and shock to reduce theroad toll.

Fear campaigns don’t deter drink driversMales aged between 18 and 24 were the main

target of the campaign with statistics revealingmen accounted for 84 per cent of alcohol-relatedcrashes – and 18 to 24 year olds were most at risk.

Professor Tay said his research found that thecampaign demonstrated success in reaching allother age groups except the target audience.

Professor Tay said “high-fear” advertisementsfailed to provide the younger male audiencewith a viable alternative course of action toreduce the danger presented to them.

The researcher suggested a more effectivestrategy would be to focus on alternatives likeusing a designated driver or taking a taxi.

“Most advertisements that use fear providesomething the audience thinks it can do to getrid of the problem. If it’s not easy, the mostlikely course of action is to reduce the fear, notreduce the danger,” he said.

Professor Tay suggested that an alternativestrategy for young men would involve usinghumour combined with a course of action.

The Equity Section will co-ordinate QUT’s staffcensus next month to investigate how theuniversity’s workforce reflects the diversity of thewider community.

Acting project officer Chargn Keenan saiddata collection would take place between October2 and 13, and all staff would have the opportunityto be counted.

QUT will collect data on staff’s indigenousstatus, disabilities, and language and culturalbackground. Mr Keenan said data was alreadycollected on staff gender and on students fromequity target groups.

“This latest collection builds on the experienceof Australian workplaces and follows national bestpractice in collecting statistical data,” he said.

Census to assess diversity in QUT’s workforce“The information disclosed by staff will be

treated as strictly confidential and statistics willnot identify individuals.”

Later this month, staff will receive their equitydata collection pack including a questionnaire.

Staff wishing to volunteer as data collectionassistants should contact Mr Keenan via e-mail atc.keenan@qut.edu.au or phone 3864 3653.

Page 4 INSIDE QUT September 19-October 16, 2000

Queensland University of TechnologyGPO Box 2434 Brisbane QLD 4001 Website: qut.com

Alumni Annual General Meeting - 4 October

Invitation to QUT Graduates

A university for the real world

GE

N39

If you are a QUT graduate (including QIT and BCAE graduates) or an activemember of Alumni, you are invited to come and meet with fellow Alumnimembers and QUT staff at the Alumni Annual General Meeting to be held onWednesday, 4 October at 5pm in the Owen J Wordsworth Rooms, Level 12, SBlock Gardens Point Campus.

You can find out how Alumni members are participating in the operation of QUT,identify issues that you want Alumni to address, and participate in the AlumniBoard elections.

To RSVP for the Annual General Meeting, register as an active member of QUTAlumni or if you are interested in nominating for President of QUT Alumni or forone of the five elected Board members, please contact Mr Gary Allen on(07) 3864 2902 or email gx.allen@qut.edu.au

Nominations open on 11 September and nomination forms forelected positions must reach the Registrar by noon onMonday, 2 October 2000.

The QUT community has beensaddened by the recent death of its

oldest male alumnus, Walter Kerrison, 97.Mr Kerrison graduated with a Diploma of

Architecture from QUT predecessorinstitution Central Technical College in 1925.

His son, Russell, followed in his father’sfootsteps by graduating in architecture fromthe college in 1967, while grandson Paulwas awarded a Bachelor of Business(Communication) from QUT in 1993.

Mr Kerrison’s career began with theBrisbane City Council designing publicbuildings including the library at West End,signified by its prominent clock tower.

In an interview with alumni magazineQUT Links in1998, he said the library wasone of the buildings he was most proud of.

Following his time with BCC, Mr Kerrisonstarted a private architectural practice beforeentering into partnership with Harold Cook– a partnership that lasted 40 years.

Mr Kerrison’s side of the practice mostlyconcerned church work and, throughout hiscareer, he designed more than 200 churchesand church buildings in Queensland.

In April last year, Mr Kerrison returnedto QUT to officiate at the opening of therefurbished and extended architecturebuilding, D Block, at Gardens Point.

He is survived by two sons Graham andRussell, their wives Ruth and Penny, andhis grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Read Mr Kerrison’s speech from the DBlock opening at http://www.corpcomm.qut.edu.au/insidequt/index.html.

QUT mournsWalter Kerrison

A group of four students from Aspley StateHigh School has gained a head start to theirtertiary studies with visiting studentscholarships from QUT’s Carseldinecampus.

Each student is studying one subject froma QUT degree course, on top of theirnormal school load, through the visitingstudent scholarship program.

The Year 12 students are among 20students from north Brisbane schools whohave taken advantage of the scholarshipsthis year.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Northern CorridorDevelopment) Associate Professor AdamShoemaker said he hoped to double thenumber of scholarships in 2001.

“As well as making this opportunitywidely available in the region, QUT isembarking on an innovative program inpartnership with Aspley State High School,”Professor Shoemaker said.

“While it’s still under development, it isexpected the Aspley QUT Links Programwill see a new senior studies optionintroduced into the school.

“A select group of students will completea two-year program comprising preparationand career planning in the school, andstudies of a QUT subject in each semesterof Year 12.”

Aspley State High School students(l-r) Shane Ogden, Steven Cahill,Helen Chapple and Gavin Shaw

are completing university subjectsat Carseldine this semester.

School’s in at Carseldine

A lecturer is planning an internationalcampaign to place the coral reefs offNew Caledonia on the WorldHeritage list in a bid to protect themagainst the impact of nickel mining.

Humanities lecturer Drew Huttonrecently visited nickel mining sites onthe island and documented theirimpact on the nearby reef.

His visit formed part of his researchinto the way social movements influencepublic policy and the political process.

New Caledonia mines 30 per centof the world’s nickel and its reefs arethe second largest in the world.

Mr Hutton said there were 15 largeand many small mines in NewCaledonia, including the Thio minewhich is the world’s largest.

“There is minimal environmentalmanagement and the enormous wastegenerated by mines is washed intorivers and finds its way into the lagoonwhich often runs blood-red with themineralised sediment,” he said.

“Only about 1 per cent of the reefshave been studied but it’s clear thatsomething must be done urgently toprotect the reefs or they’ll be in serioustrouble.”

Mr Hutton described the suburbs ofNoumea as a “soupy cocktail of nickel-rich dust and sulphur dioxide” – nickelis a confirmed Group 1 and Grade Ahuman carcinogen, making the humanimpacts of mining a major concern.

But, he said, the politicalenvironment was not conducive to

change – the French Government wastoo focused on mining as a money-earner for New Caledonia.

“There is also resistance from the NewCaledonian Government because themost politically powerful man also ownsmany of the nickel mines,” he said.

Mr Hutton is spearheading thecampaign to mobilise support for theWorld Heritage listing of the reef andto force environmental managementlegislation for nickel mining.

He will at the same time appraisethe campaign for his research.

“I’ll be looking at the way thedifferent elements and groups structuretheir lobbying to change theGovernment’s agenda,” he said.

– Toni Chambers

Lecturer mines for protected reefs

A QUT ethicist told a professional forum this monththat codes of ethics were “overrated” and were not aneffective way to foster ethical conduct.

School of Communication lecturer Dr JohnHarrison made several recommendations to the PublicRelations Institute of Australia (PRIA) forum on crisismanagement about how organisations could “cleanup their acts” by going beyond ethical codes.

“Organisations relying solely on a code of conductor ethics are going to find themselves facing the samecrises again and again,” Dr Harrison said.

“In many cases staff don’t know of theirorganisation’s code and don’t have access to appropriateadvice or ethical decision-making processes.

“The codes often do not have adequate sanctionsfor non-compliance.”

Dr Harrison said organisations and professionalassociations that relied solely on codes to induce goodpractices needed to implement a broader strategy.

“Organisations need to have a strategy that is aboutinternalising values. This can be achieved by providingstaff with ethics training or having an ethics counselloravailable,” Dr Harrison said.

“Best practice is where organisations have set up anethics hotline which staff can call anonymously.”

Dr Harrison said that, in the future, there may bebig incentives for Australian organisations toimplement such ethical strategies.

“In the United States, penalties in sentencing legislationare mitigated if you can show that your organisation hada fraud and corruption prevention system in place.”

Ethicist criticises codes of ethics

Communication lecturer Dr John Harrison

Communication team triumphsA group of communication students has beenpresented with awards from TriumphInternational for market research projects theyconducted about the company’s range of bras.

The work of Megan Luckie, LaurenMcPherson, Katherine Davies andSamantha Champman-Tucker waschosen by the Triumph marketing team

from dozens of communication projectssubmitted by students last semester.

The students worked in pairs in theunit Communication Research Methods toconduct focus groups and surveys aboutTriumph’s range of sports and teenagebras. They then prepared reports for thecompany about their findings.

Walter Kerrison

Admissions manager Bruce McCallum isknown for his ability to answer the trickiestadmissions enquiries. But he met his matchrecently when he fielded a call from a

concerned mother wanting to know whichprimary school she should send herdaughter to in order to guarantee entryinto QUT. My, my it’s getting competitive.

Page 5 INSIDE QUT September 19-October 16, 2000

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by Noel Gentner

Students and staff at QUT havesnapped up the opportunity to be

volunteers at the Sydney 2000 Olympicand Paralympic Games.

The Sydney Organising Committeefor the Olympic Games (SOCOG) isbeing helped by 6,000 TAFE anduniversity students who are providingtheir skills to contribute to the successof the games.

Of the 60 QUT students who areworking at the games, 30 come fromthe School of Media and Journalismincluding some double degree businessstudents.

The students are undertaking a varietyof roles including media assistants tooverseas journalists, press conferenceassistants and supervisors, tribunesupervisors, and contributers to theOlympic news service.

Associate lecturer in journalismSharon Tickle will also attend the gamesas a volunteer, and has been assigned towork as a press assistant to foreignjournalists from the five-event Pavilion’svenue in Sydney.

Prior to her departure, Ms Tickle saidworking at the Olympic Games wouldbe a most rewarding experience for thestudents.

The games begin for students“It’s just going to be bigger than Ben

Hur for them in terms of developingtheir skills rapidly in an intensive timeperiod,” Ms Tickle said.

“They will learn to work within ateam of people, quickly find their placein that team and decide how best toutilise their skills,” she said.

“They will learn on the job how tocommunicate with people from anumber of countries and work alongsideexperienced journalists.”

Ms Tickle said the QUT volunteerteam was not confined to Australianstudents.

“We have several Singaporeanstudents who have been accepted, someof whom have completed their studiesbut are returning for the Olympicexperience.”

Ms Tickle said the school had madesome special arrangements for volunteerstudents to ensure their studies werenot affected.

“On balance it is more importantfor them to gain this experience,”Ms Tickle said.

Inside QUT journalist NoelGentner has been working withSOCOG as chief-of-staff of the mediateam reporting on Olympic soccerbeing held in Brisbane.

Journalism students (l-r) Gary Sim,John Malony, Sharon Tickle (lecturer), Elaine Ford, Kylie Gillespieand Dane Svenson are working at the Olympics assisting overseas media representatives.

Although he didn’t win the recent televisionchallenge set before him, 1998 civilengineering graduate Chad Carey partly gotwhat he’d hoped for – by escaping hiscomputer for a few days.

Twenty-three-year-old Mr Carey wasone of just four young Australians chosento spend three days in London for theTen Network’s $20 Challenge program.

The catch was that, to stay in thecompetition, challengers had to survive onUS$20 (over three days) and perform aspecific set of tasks each day.

And the rules were tough – they were notallowed to seek help from people they knew,stay in one place for more than one night,break the law or beg.

A seasoned traveller, Mr Carey has beento New Zealand, the Solomon Islands,F i j i , Mex i co , Canada and theUnited States.

He thought the trip was a good wayof “tiding him over” until he could afforda trip to his next destination – theUnited Kingdom.

He said one of the most memorablemoments came early in the morning on thefinal day – it was 2am and he still did nothave a bed for the night when he came acrossfirefighters selling plastic fire hats as afundraiser.

They saved him from being thrown outof the competition by letting him sleep atthe fire station.

“On the same night, I was walkingdown an alleyway in desperate need ofaccommodation and I walked past ahomeless person who asked me for money– ironic really isn’t it?” he asked.

Mr Carey said his aim was not to spendany money at all, but on the last day it gottoo much for him and he splurged onMcDonalds which left him with justfive pounds.

The graduate was up against twowomen and another man.

In the final hour, 20-year-old RhiannonKelly-Pearce from Melbourne won thechallenge by audience ballot.

– Toni Chambers

Graduate takes onTV’s $20 challenge

A gutsy QUT graduate has helped twofriends take on the mighty MississippiRiver to raise money for people withcancer – and she succeeded.

Education graduate Jo Mackey waspart of the “Mississippi Challenge” teamthat recently broke the world record forthe fastest water-ski dash down America’slongest, most treacherous river.

Ms Mackey, a full-time Englishteacher at Emmanuel College on theGold Coast, helped co-ordinate therecord effort and photographedfriends Brenton and Sean McGrathas the pair skied for six days and3,042km in terrible conditions.

She watched her two friends – oneof whom is in remission fromleukemia – suffer bruises, fatigue andchemical burns from polluted wateras they skied into the record books.

“The challenge was about ordinarypeople achieving the extraordinary,”Ms Mackey said.

“It was more than challenging attimes, but I think achieving a worldrecord would be very hollow if therewas no purpose to your success.”

The team, which has set up theChallenge Charity Trust, aims to raiseenough money to establish a respitecentre at the Gold Coast for peoplewith cancer and leukemia.

“It was a very personal mission forall of us,” Ms Mackey said.

“There were originally going to bethree skiers but Neville Wilson, whowas a driving force behind the idea,had stomach cancer and passed awaysix months before the challenge.

“We carried out his last wish onthe trip, which was to scatter his ashesin the Mississippi.”

After she returned from theemotional, record-breaking trip, MsMackey was honoured with a $10,000Queen’s Trust award to publish arecord of the Mississippi Challenge.

She plans to write a coffee-tablebook featuring photographs she tookduring the challenge.

Photos and informationon the Mississippi Challenge areon the Web at www.mississippichallenge.better.net.au.

Jo makes successful cancer quest

Two QUT physiotherapists have beenchosen to work with the internationalgymnastic teams during the Sydney2000 Olympic Games.

Jan Smith and Mardi Watson willwork alongside 200 other physiotherapyvolunteers for almost three weeks.

Chad Carey spent three days in London on a $20 budget.

Physios headfor Olympics

QUT has found itself with anunexpected “slush fund”, in the wake ofCourse and Careers Day, that will beused to help needy students.

Student Administration director RayMorley said Rainbow Smash – whichsupplied crushed ice drinks on the day –presented the university with $270 as partof its standard profit-sharing arrangement.

“Because the event is organised by theuniversity’s Recruitment Unit, which hasa strong student focus, it seems appropriateto donate the money to QUT’s EquityEndowment which provides $500bursaries to needy students.”

Careers dayprofits equity

Jo Mackey

Page 6 INSIDE QUT September 19-October 16, 2000

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Scientists work out tree carbon contentby Toni Chambers

Researchers at QUT are working to establishaccurate and quick methods to help determine

the effect of Queensland’s forest management onAustralia’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Australia is committed to reducing greenhousegas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

The changes in the carbon content ofQueensland’s forests may be a large contributorto Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions but thereis a lack of scientific knowledge informing policyon the issue.

School of Mathematical Sciences mastersstudent Norm Good and senior research assistantRobert Denham have spent three weeks mappingtrees in a 2,400 square kilometre area near Injunein southern Queensland.

The pair – from the Centre in Statistical Scienceand Industrial Mathematics –␣ has been working withthe Department of Natural Resources, the Universityof New South Wales, the Bureau of ResourceSciences and the Department of Primary IndustriesTropical Beef Centre to determine carbon contentof woodlands based on 34 sites in the region.

To do this, the researchers used a NASA aircraftto capture radar imagery allowing them to establisha relationship with ground-based estimates offorest biomass.

Senior research assistant from the Centre in Statistical Science and IndustrialMathematics Robert Denham has been working on developing the world’s firstsoftware for forestry inventory using laser-scanning data.

“The resulting relationship can be used overtime and for other similar parts of Australia, totrack the amount of carbon that is being gainedor lost in woodlands,” Mr Good said.

“Current ground-based methods for estimatingforest biomass of a tree are time consuming andrequire a large amount of resources.

“We are trying to (find) more efficient methodsfor estimating the biomass of trees.”

The information obtained from radar and otherremotely sensed data, will also be used to track thechanges in forest structure such as species diversity.

Mr Denham, in conjunction with the DNRand AAM Surveys, is hoping to develop theworld’s first software for forest inventory usinglaser-scanning data.

He has developed a set of mathematicalroutines to assess and monitor the height andfoliage density of vegetation, but aims to finetunethe process into a software package to be soldaround the world.

Mr Denham said that, until now, laser-scanninginformation relating to forests had largely beenignored, but it was now becoming a growth area.

“Laser scanning is something that has thepotential to reduce the amount of time spent inthe field, so you can quickly get information ona forest which you would normally have to goout and measure,” he said.

A pair of QUT education lecturers hasreceived well-earned recognition from theUnited States Government, for a mathsprogram they have been developing overthe past 20 years.

Dr Calvin Irons and Rosemary Irons– both lecturers in the School of Maths,Science and Technology Education –are the authors of the Growing withMaths program which uses languageand concep t s ch i l d r en a l r e adyunde r s t and t o t e a ch th em abou tmathematics.

“We also try to get them involved inusing mathematics which makes them doproblem solving so, in other words, applyingmathematics,” Ms Irons said.

“We also want children to be betterreasoners and, from problem solving andthe variety of our approach with language,we want them to become better thinkers,because we’re always trying to challengetheir ideas.”

Growing with Mathematics evolved fromthe Irons’ work that began in 1977 and ledto the development of two maths programsin Australia.

The ideas from these programs were usedas the basis for the resources used in theUnited States – the materials are currentlybeing redeveloped for the United Kingdomand Australia.

The program has just undergoneextensive investigation by the USGovernment’s Expert Panel on

US Government recognises school maths program

School of Maths, Science and Technology Educationlecturers Rosemary and Dr Calvin Irons surrounded byresources from their Growing with Mathematicsprogram which they have been developing since 1977.

Two QUT staff and seven dance students were involvedin the International Dance Academy’s World Dance 2000festival in Seoul, Korea in late July.

The students performed Tip of the Iceberg, a dance piecechoreographed by QUT lecturer John Utans.

Associate Professor Cheryl Stock, who led the tour, saidthe program offered insight into the cultural and technicalaspects of Korean dance.

“What we all gained from exposure to such a diverse andlarge range of Korean dance was the beginning of anunderstanding into the rich traditions underlying and drivingdance developments in Korea,” she said.

Although they have performed many times, the Academyof the Arts students gained an appreciation of the demandsof professional and international tours.

“The students learnt how tiring an international tourcould be and how to cope with a different environment,and balance performances with classes and sightseeing.

“Apart from performances, students attended a range ofmaster classes in Korean traditional dance, ballet andcontemporary dance. They were also able to watchrenowned dancers in training as well as in performances.”

– Amisha Patel

Students get dancing at Seoul festival

(l-r) Julieanne Bergmann, Ryan Funnell, Jason Northam, Anthonydivito, I-Fen Tung, Monica Wensing, Cheryl Stock (dance head), SueLeclerq (lecturer) and Amber Moelter

Researchersput trust in webMathematics and Science, which was

established to find promising and exemplaryprograms in those fields.

The aim of highlighting specific programsis to improve the country’s internationalrecord in these two areas.

The Growing with Mathematics programwas found to have resulted in improvementsin students’ performances and, as such, wasrated as “promising” – one of only threeprograms used in the US to receive therecognition.

The Irons’ admit their philosophy isn’tnew, but say what is novel about theirprogram is that the emphasis is on helpingthe teacher support the child’s learning.

“Most teachers have as a goal inmathematics, encouraging children tobecome better problem solvers andreasoners, but they need resources and ideason how to achieve the goal and what isappropriate at certain levels,” Dr Irons said.

“Many teachers when they see theclassroom materials don’t know what to dowith them, because they still seemathematics as something that’s got to bewritten numbers on a page.

“They need the teacher references to helpthem implement the program, so the key toa good program is a well-written teacherreference.”

The Irons’ hope the recognition willresult in more schools using the resources,but also that it will endorses the conceptof maths development.

QUT-based researchers are translating consumerviews of trust into on-line security systems aspart of an 18-month project that has alreadysparked interest from Telstra, and the Defence,Science and Technology Organisation.

According to Dr Matt Davey, senior researchscientist at the Distributed Systems TechnologyCentre (DSTC), most people worry about doingbusiness on the web and exposing their details.

“This project aims to help companies andconsumers decide if an e-commerce transactionis safe,” Dr Davey said.

The first part of the project involved thedevelopment of a trust inference engine, whichassessed and applied trust as a decision-makingtool for consumers and businesses.

“A simple explanation is if you were in a newcity and wanted to visit a good restaurant thenyou would seek reviews from various critics andbased on their collective advice, make a decision.”

The system operating behind the views ofthose critics and how you would judge theiradvice could be a trust inference engine, whichwould normally be hidden but still accessibleto the consumer.

An example of the trust inference engine canbe found at security.dstc.qut.edu.au/spectrum/.

“Currently, companies usually only providea digital certificate, which is essentially only aguarantee of the firm’s identity certified by atrusted third party. We want to go broader inscope and add trust assessments of on-linecompanies to the digital certificates.”

Page 7 INSIDE QUT September 19-October 16, 2000

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by Toni Chambers

A visiting research fellow atQUT’s Centre for Eye

Research has predicted super-normalvision could be only a quarter of acentury away.

Professor Pablo Artal from theUniversity of Murica in Spainworked with the School ofOptometry’s Associate ProfessorDavid Atchison for five weeks.

Professor Artal has spent the past15 years looking at how the opticsof the eye work in normal eyes andin eyes with defects.

He said it was now possible withnew technology to correct defectslike myopia and astigmatismwithout using traditional methods,and also to measure small opticaldefects.

The next phase was developingtechnologies to correct smallerdefects, taking people down the roadto super-vision.

“For the last two centuries, if youhad a problem with your eyes,optometrists would fit you withconventional lenses,” ProfessorArtal said.

“From this research, we are ina posit ion to go beyond theconventional correction methods– if we can correct a little bit morethere i s a prospect that , inprinciple, people can see betterthan normal.”

Professor Artal said even peopleconsidered to have normal vision haddefects, and others had defects whichcould not be corrected withconventional technology.

“In the future, like science fiction,you can imagine people wearingglasses that every 30 or 40 secondsmeasure your aberrations and correctthem in real time, so you can have asuper-normal vision,” he said.

“We’ll have to wait for moretechnology (before that’s possible)– maybe 25 years or so.”

Professor Artal and ProfessorAtchison have been also involved inthe first major investigation into thebenefits of the Stiles Crawford Effect.

“When light goes through theperiphery of the pupil of the eye itdoesn’t appear to be as bright as lightgoing through the centre – this is know

Visitor looks at super-vision

Learning from each other … Professor Pablo Artal (left) from the Universityof Murica in Spain, who has dedicated his life’s work to investigating waysof developing super-normal vision, with QUT’s Associate Professor DavidAtchison from the School of Optometry.

as the Styles Crawford Effect,”Professor Atchison said.

“It has been thought to havean important effect on howwell we see by counteractingthe effects of optical defects,however, the QUT studyfound the effect does notappear to improve visionsignificantly.”

QUT’s Dean of Science, ProfessorGraeme George, has proposed arevamp of appointment andpromotion criteria to boost the statusof teaching in the university.

In the most recent presentationin the Scholarship of Teaching series,Professor George said the currentappointment and promotioncriteria – research and scholarship,academic leadership, professionalleadership, and teachingperformance and leadership – didnot provide good teachers who werealso scholars of teaching with thebest opportunity to demonstratetheir achievements.

He said that condensing theexisting criteria into three areas –research and teaching scholarship,teaching and professional practice,and academic and communityleadership – would make it easier foracademic staff to make a contributionin the areas in which they excelled,and still be recognised for theirachievements.

“This (proposed) system givespeople the chance to be rewarded forexcellence in research or teachingscholarship, teaching or professionalpractice (such as consultancy), andservice to the university…or thebroader community,” ProfessorGeorge said.

“The debate of research versusteaching would no longer have anycurrency since they would be in thesame category of scholarlyachievement.

“Teaching is embedded in all threeareas of activity, providing clearrecognition of our role as an academicinstitution.”

Changes neededto criteria - Dean

Professor George said his modelwould improve the current systemwhere staff who conducted scholarlyactivity in teaching and learningcounted their achievements under“teaching performance andleadership”, and were under pressureto conduct research as well.

“For a scholar of teaching andlearning to also make originalcontribution to the knowledge baseof a discipline is a very tall ask andone which may well jeopardise theircontributions (in the research area),”he said.

Professor George said a rethink ofthe current appointment andpromotion criteria that rewardedteaching equally with other forms ofscholarly work could contribute to aQUT “culture that values goodteaching”.

The presentation was one ofseveral recent fora that have putteaching high on the agenda at QUT.

In August, Teaching and LearningSupport Services ran the“Recognising good teachingshowcase” featuring a presentationby School of Maths, Science andTechnology Education seniorlecturer Dr Jim Watters aboutgeneric attributes.

Teaching generic attributes alsofeatured in a Teaching and LearningDevelopment Unit forum onSeptember 12 run by Professor GailHart.

The next presentation in theScholarship of Teaching series will be“Making judgments about thescholarship of teaching”, presentedby Deputy Vice-Chancellor ProfessorPeter Coaldrake on October 4.

A new course in advertising on theInternet being offered by QUT is afirst for the advertising industry inQueensland.

More than 25 advertisingprofessionals are involved in the“internet@university” course that isQueensland’s first formal professionaldevelopment course in advertising.

Co-ordinator and QUT lecturerGayle Kerr said the ExecutiveCertificate in Internet Advertisingbenefited students, the university andthe advertising industry in Queensland.

“The course helps QUT retain ourposition as the number one place foradvertising education in Queenslandamong the industry,” she said.

“There’s a real need forprofessional development programsand because it’s driven by the AFA –advertising’s professional body – andheld at university, it makes the coursemore credible.

“If the demand is there for goodquality education programs thenQUT is happy to provide them.”

Ms Kerr said the Internet was theway of the future for advertising.

“Advertising was always shaped bytechnology. It responded to televisionand radio, and the Internet will nodoubt be important because ofaccountability to clients, and precisetargeting and relationship buildingwith customers.”

The executive cert i f icateinvolved two subjects: Internetadvertising principles which istaught mainly by industryprofessional Simon Moore; andInternet advertising practice, whichis conducted on-line.

The course was designed by theAdvertising Federation of Australia(AFA) and University of TechnologySydney.

–Amisha Patel

Execs learn Internetadvertising at university

Learning about Internet advertising … ad executives DickGrantley, Mark Grey, Simon Moore (lecturer) and Chris Gilbert

QUT’s Where are you going?television commercial has won aprestigious industry award forcinematography.

The advertisement, which wascreated by agency BCM Partnershipand is appearing on television untillate September, was announced asa winner at the Brisbane ArtDirectors’ Club 26th Annual Awardsfor Advertising.

QUT’s undergraduate advertisingprogram recently receivedinternational accreditation by theInternational AdvertisingAssociation (IAA).

The accreditation process tookless than three months with nochanges required to the advertisingcourse.

School of Communicationlecturer Gayle Kerr said theaccreditation benefits both studentsand staff in terms of internationaljobs and competitions.

“It is important to haveinternational connections,” MsKerr said.

“Our ad campaigns’ studentsentered the IAA internationalstudent competition and onegroup was a regional finalist.

“There are also opportunitiesfor international internshipsand staff exchanges.”

Universities in New SouthWales, the Australian CapitalTerritory and Western Australiaare also IAA accredited.

Course earns globalaccreditation from IAA

Ad gets gongAcademic staff now have theopportunity to voteelectronically on the QUTEnterprise BargainingAgreement (Academic Staff)2000-2003.

Polling closes on Monday,September 25.

The agreement is available athttp://www.qut.edu.au/admin/hrd/eba2000_acad.htm.

EB voting

Page 8 INSIDE QUT September 19-October 16, 2000

Check out What’s On and post your entries at

http://www.whatson.qut.edu.au/

STUDENT GUILD

Oct 1 Aquathon. A 750m swim, followed by a 5km run in the City BotanicGardens. Free breakfast, prizes, all welcome, volunteers needed,parking available. $2 from every entry will assist the AsthmaFoundation of Queensland. E-mail l.springall@sg.qut.edu.au or call3864 1688.

ARTS EVENTSSept 14- Picture This. This is a photographic exhibition exploringOct 15 contemporary art practice in various photomedia. The exhibition is

from South Australia and contains work from Di Barrett, Ian North,Deborah Paauwe and Les Walkling. QUT Art Museum, QUT CulturalPrecinct, Gardens Point campus. Open 10am-4pm (Tues-Fri), Noon-4pm (Sat-Sun), closed Mon. Free entry. Call 3864 5370.

Oct 2-28 Fountains Beyond. Queensland dramatist and social crusaderGeorge Landen Dann wrote this play in 1942. It was well ahead of itstime by putting Aboriginal people centre stage when the closestmany Aborigines had come previously was the boxing tent. The playwill be presented by an all-black cast which is touring regionalQueensland in the lead up to Federation. The Gardens Theatre, QUTCultural Precinct, Gardens Point campus. E-mailgardenstheatre@qut.edu.au or call 3864 4213.

SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES

Sept 28- Writing and Self Publishing workshops. Evening and weekendOct 28 workshops are available on story writing, writing family history, writing

short stories, writing your life and hyper text writing. E-mailn.kyle@qut.edu.au or k.mallan@qut.edu.au or call 3864 3726.

Oct 24-27 Radiation Protection course. These courses are designed to ensurepeople using radiation sources have an understanding of the potentialhazards of ionising radiation and the necessary safety precautions.It provides a major part and in some cases, all of the required trainingfor a Queensland Department of Health radiation safety officer’slicense. Runs Tues-Fri. E-mail g.michael@qut.edu.au ore.stein@qut.edu.au or call 3864 1581.

Oct 25 Postgraduate Information Evening. The evening will showcaseopportunities in a wide range of disciplines. All faculties will berepresented. Z Block foyer, QUT Gardens Point campus, 4pm-8pm.Call 3864 2000.

Inside QUT is published by QUT’s Corporate Communication Department.Readership includes staff, students and members of the QUT community.

It is also circulated to business, industry, government and the media. Each storyhas been checked with the source prior to publication.

Letters to the editor are welcome via mail or email c.myler@qut.edu.au. TheCorporate Communication address: Level 3, G Block, Room 318, Gardens Point orGPO Box 2434 Brisbane 4001.

Opinions expressed in Inside QUT do not necessarily represent those of theuniversity or the editorial team.Carmen Myler (editor) 3864 1150Noel Gentner/Amisha Patel (part-time) 3864 1841Margaret Lawson 3864 2130Toni Chambers 3864 4494Fax 3210 0474Photography: Tony Phillips, Suzie PrestwidgeAdvertising: Rachel Murray 3864 4408 or 3864 1840

Our web address: http://www.corpcomm.qut.edu.au/releases/

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Seniors games a successWhile the rest of the nation’s focus was on “those games” inSydney, some equally deserving medal winners wererecognised in their own games held at QUT earlier thismonth.

The sixth successful Seniors Games were held at KelvinGrove campus on Friday, September 8, attracting morethan 550 clients and staff from 22 respite centres in Brisbaneand the Sunshine Coast.

A key organiser of the games, nursing senior lecturerRob Thornton, said the annual event proved to be anenormously popular day out with people in respite care –who enjoyed watching and participating in events such ashigh jump, coits, a people’s steeplechase and tug-of-war.

Mr Thornton said the Seniors Games were an importantcommunity service activity involving QUT’s School ofNursing, School of Human Movement Studies, St Vincent’sCommunity Services, and Home and Community Care(HACC).

He said students and staff volunteered their time to bea part of the event.

“We had 30 students from the human movement studiesand 50 nursing students helping out on the day,” he said.

“QUT grounds and security staff from Kelvin Grovecampus – as well as staff from TALSS’ graphic design

and photography section – also gave us a lot ofsupport. We really couldn’t host these games everyyear without their help.”

Like participants in the Sydney 2000 Olympic andParalympic Games, winners receive medals and trophiesto acknowledge their success at the Seniors Games.

“It means a lot to people to get medals and trophies atsomething like this,” Mr Thornton said.

“In fact, people have been known to incorporate medalsinto their wills because to win a medal at 93 years of age,for example, is really something.

“Over the years, a total of around 4,000 people fromthe community have enjoyed these games.”

Mr Thornton said that a similar event was now hostedin Japan, by Osaka Hospital, after he showed a video ofthe Kelvin Grove event to hospital staff during astudy tour.

The Seniors Games are funded by Home andCommunity Care, and the Brisbane City Council,and receive in-kind support from QUT and StVincent’s Community Services.

For more photos visit Inside QUT on-line http://www.corpcomm.qut.edu.au/insidequt/index.html.

–Carmen Myler

Mini robots insoccer battle

student from IT, mechanicalengineering and electronicengineering workingtogether to design, build andoperate a set of three mini-robots capable of playing agame of soccer againstanother team.”

Dr Sitte said the task washarder than it sounded, withstudents having to writeprograms to teach theirrobots the strategies and rulesof the scaled-down game.

“Robots have to beprogrammed to recogniseand co-operate with theirteam mates to win thegame, and must be able toavoid collisions andintercept the ball oropponents,” he said.

“A television cameraoverhead is the eyes of eachrobot, filming andtransmitting what is goingon below to a computer.

“A computer signaltravels via radiolink back tothe robot, which interpretswhat’s happening and reactsaccording to the programthe students have written.”

Dr Sitte said the project wasa challenge for students, butthat QUT was close to fieldinga competitive robot team.

by Margaret Lawson

You won’t see themplaying against

Manchester United anytime soon, but QUT’srobot soccer team is set totake on the IT world.

The tiny robot players,each smaller than a coffeecup and containing apowerful microprocessor,are being programmed byteams of students to reactto stimuli and play ascaled-down game ofsoccer all by themselves.

Project co-ordinatorand senior computingscience lecturer DrJoaquin Sitte said theproject, which harnessesthe latest in roboticstechnology, was designedto give students from ITand engineering thechance to work togetheron a complex project.

“Traditionally, studentsin information technologyand engineering disciplinesdon’t team up at university,though professionals in thefield often need tocollaborate,” Dr Sitte said.

“In this project eachteam has at least one

“We will (soon) see robotsprogrammed to deliver mail inoffices or distribute medicationto hospital patients,” he said.

“Some of our studentsmay end up using theirexpertise in robotics todevelop this technology.”

“This project is at the frontierof research in robotics andartificial intelligence because thecomputing equipment has to befast, cheap and very small.”

Dr Sitte said the robotsoccer game also had a numberof serious applications.

(l-r) Engineering student Timothy Chua and IT/engineering student Dylan Muir create miniaturerobots that can play soccer without human help.

Close to 30 theatre studies students fromQUT’s Academy of the Arts will take tothe Powerhouse stage as part of theENERGEX Brisbane Festival in Octoberwith Mirthless: A Suburban Seduction.

According to lecturer Paul Makeham,the group-devised work was a big challengefor the group, working with UK director,actor and comedian Peta Lily.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to put intopractice the skills that they had learnedduring the course,” Mr Makeham said.

“Working with an internationallyrenowned artist such as Peta Lily is aunique and invaluable experience for thestudents.

“They are getting direct, hands-onexperience of creating theatre in aprofessional context.”

Dr Makeham said Mirthless started witha series of fax messages between Ms Lilyin London, and himself and the students.

“The students suggested possiblethemes, and some of their early ideas werekind of heavy, reminding Peta of thespeech from Hamlet: ‘I have of late – butwherefore I know not – lost all my mirth’”,he said.

“At the same time, Peta had beenthinking about the movie The Graduate,and began to imagine a situation based onHamlet, but set in an Australian version ofThe Graduate’s claustrophobic, suburbanworld. The show has grown from there.”

“Peta is getting extraordinary results,and we think audiences will be impressedwith the originality, quality andexuberance of the show,” Dr Makehamsaid.

Mirthless: A Suburban Seduction willshow from October 4 to 7 at the BrisbanePowerhouse.

Tickets are $10 each and available byphoning (07) 3254 4000.

Suburban seduction full of mirth

For results and photos from the QUT FunRun, see Inside QUT on-line.

Photo supplied by QUT Teaching and Learning Support Services