p.10 p.18 p - news and events · has again improved its world ranking, climbing 31 places in 2015...
TRANSCRIPT
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p.10 POWER TO THE PEOPLEImproving lives in remote East Malaysia
TRANSCENDING EXPECTATIONSThe transgender story we’re not getting
p.18 THE NETFLIX REVOLUTION More choice, less piracy, same old legislation
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p.06 PROFESSOR STELARC.
ON THE WAYS. WE’RE CHANGING.
MACHINEMAN &
CITE / CURTIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE / ISSUE #26
ONLINE
GALLERY
ONLINE
VIDEO
ONLINE
AUDIO
ONLINE
ARTICLE
STEVE PACkER
Steve is a freelance journalist who has 30 years’ experience working for newspapers, magazines and corporate publications.
SUE EmmETT
Sue is a freelance writer and photojournalist, with special interests in science, technology, Western Australian business, education and the marine environment.
ANDREA LEwIS
Andrea is a freelance writer and editor. She was formerly publications manager in Curtin’s corporate communications area.
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SUMMER 2015/16 SUMMER 2015/16CITE CITE
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
COVER
Professor Stelarc
Image: Alana Blowfield
EDITORIAL
Editor: Jarrad Long
Sub Editor: Anita Shore
Staff Writers: Yvette Tulloch, Daniel Jauk, Nikky Lee, Carmen Reilly, Frances Thornton
CREATIVE DIRECTION
Luisa Rheinlander
DESIGN
Manifesto Design
PhOTOGRAPhERS Alana Blowfield, Sam Proctor, James Rogers
Scott Print
EDITORIAL ENqUIRIES
Corporate Relations Curtin University GPO Box U1987 Perth WA 6845
Tel: +61 8 9266 1598 Email: [email protected]
Features10 POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Curtin Sarawak and remote Malaysian villages are working together to improve living conditions.
18 TRANSCENDING EXPECTATIONSFor most trans people, life is more difficult than the celebrity columns will have you believe.
24 THE REVOLUTION WILL BE AVAILABLE ON DEMAND
For the ‘YouTube Generation’, traditional media delivery is laughable.
Snapshots22 BOLSTERING SHARK DEFENCE
Mullaloo Surf Lifesaving Club is going hi-tech to prevent shark attacks.
In Pictures13 2015 ON INSTAGRAM The most popular pics of 2015 on our Instagram account.
Alumni09 PLANNING FOR A BETTER FUTURE
Netty Muharni was among only 10 per cent of her village to survive the Banda Aceh tsunami.
16 THE FOOD WHISPERERSCurtin grads are creating a buzz in Hong Kong’s culinary circles.
17 WHY SO EMPTY?Nic Brunsdon’s idea for affordable office space is gaining momentum.
20 QUALITY OVER QUANTITYA Western Australian brewing icon reflects on the state of the industry.
Cite (s∂it) v. To put forward thought-provoking arguments; to offer insightful discussion and new perspectives on topics of social, political, economic or environmental relevance; to report on new thinking. Sight (s∂it) n. A feature or object in a particular place considered especially worth seeing. v. To frame or scrutinise community, research and business initiatives; to present points of view on current issues. Site (s∂it) n. The location of a building or an organisation, esp. as to its environment. v. To place or position in a physical and social context.
Regulars02 VC’S VIEW
03 CAMPUS LIFE
04 IN BRIEF
26 REAR VIEW
27 WHAT’S ON
28 IN PERSPECTIVEDavid Whish-Wilson on his award-winning short story, The Cook.
Professor Stelarc on how. technology is forcing us to re-evaluate. what it means to be human..
CHANGING THE MEANING OF BEING ALIVE
Whenever you see these icons, you can find out more
about the story online.
Contents
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p.06 MEASURES
p.09 PLAYING TOUGHKetut’s kaput
as Mandy McElhinney’s
star rises
THE LOLFATHERVeteran comic and
Curtin graduate,
Harith Iskander
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UNdERSTANdING.
ANd PREVENTING VIOLENT.
RAdICALISM.
EXTREME
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p.10 POWER TO THE PEOPLEImproving lives in remote East Malaysia
TRANSCENDING EXPECTATIONSThe transgender story we’re not getting
p.18 THE NETFLIX REVOLUTION More choice, less piracy, same old legislation
p.24
p.06 PROFESSOR STELARC.
ON THE WAYS. WE’RE CHANGING.
MAN &MACHINE
Jerem
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SUMMER 2015/16CITEVC’S VIEW
s we reach the end of another productive year at Curtin, the University
has again improved its world ranking, climbing 31 places in 2015 to be ranked 271 globally in the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Curtin has enjoyed a positive trajectory in the world rankings over the past few years and is among the fastest rising universities in Australia.
The ARWU is widely recognised as the most objective research-oriented university ranking system worldwide, so it reflects our investment in research over a number of years, and our reputation in a number of areas such as earth sciences, where we boast internationally renowned researchers. It’s great news to end the year.
In May, the Prime Minister of Australia announced the approval of the Curtin Medical School. It is a significant achievement for the University and Western Australia, and recognises our strong reputation for excellence in health education and research.
In the same month, Curtin became a member of edX, a consortium of elite higher education institutions established
by Harvard and MIT, to deliver online courses.
In October, four members of the community received the 2015 John Curtin Medal, which recognises those who have exhibited former prime minister John Curtin’s attributes of vision, leadership and community service.
International humanitarian and Curtin graduate Sian White, founder of the Fibromyalgia Support Network WA Dr Kaye Brand, and Aboriginal Elders Mr Ezzard Flowers and the late Mr Angus Wallam, who played an important role in the return of The Herbert Mayer Collection of Carrolup Artworks to WA, were awarded their medals by acting Vice-Chancellor and Provost Professor John Cordery. Congratulations to them all.
Also in October I attended the official presentation of the Green Star-Communities certification for our Greater Curtin master plan, that was awarded Australia’s first 5 Star Green Star for a university site. Under the plan, 114 hectares of the University’s Bentley Campus will be transformed through urban regeneration over a 20-year period.
This is a bumper edition of Cite. We travel to the mountains of Sarawak, East Malaysia, where our Malaysian colleagues are
helping remote communities bring about sustainability, both environmental and economic (page 10).
Back in Perth, members of Curtin’s Trans Research and Interest Group talk about the need for the media to present a more realistic depiction of trans issues, to widen society’s perceptions of transgender people (page 18). The group is the first in WA and yet another way in which Curtin is fostering a culture of acceptance and diversity.
Speaking of diversity, the thought-provoking Curtin researcher and performance artist Stelarc believes there is an increasing acceptance of ‘alternate anatomies’ that blur the lines between technology and the human body (page 6). We also look at the rapidly-changing media landscape and the failure of anti-piracy legislation to keep up with the ‘YouTube generation’ (page 24).
All the stories you’ll read here capture the extraordinary breadth of Curtin’s activities and our commitment to solving real-world problems.
As we fast approach the summer break, I wish you and your families a happy, festive season and look forward to another incredible year in 2016.
A
SUMMER 2015/16 CITE
PRoFessoRDeBoRAH teRRYVICE-ChANCELLOR CURTIN UNIVERSITY
P.02 P.03
Students can recharge their batteries between classes with new sleep pods installed on level 3 of the Robertson Library. Designed for a 20-minute power nap, there’s a timed waking system built in, so there’s no chance of missing class!
CAMPUS LIFE
SUMMER 2015/16CITEIN BRIEF SUMMER 2015/16 CITEP.04 P.05
04 / JOHN CURTIN MEDAL 2015 RECIPIENTS
The John Curtin Medal has been awarded to the founder of the Fibromyalgia Support Network in Western Australia Dr Kaye Brand, international humanitarian Sian White and influential Aboriginal Elders Ezzard Flowers and the late Angus Wallam.
Since 1988, the John Curtin Medal has been given to members of the Curtin community who have exhibited former prime minister John Curtin’s attributes of vision, leadership and community service.
With a passion for health, education and community awareness, Dr Brand established the non-for-profit Fibromyalgia Support Network WA in 2007, increasing its membership to more than 1,700 over the past eight years.
As an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development in 2009, Ms White worked on the National Tuberculosis Prevention Program in Papua New Guinea. She spent four years undertaking this work, eventually becoming the National TB Program Manager for World Vision.
In a joint award, Mr Flowers and the late Mr Wallam were honoured for the important role they played in the repatriation of the Herbert Mayer Collection of Carrolup Artwork to Australia in 2013, ensuring the artwork’s preservation for future generations.
johncurtin.curtin.edu.au/medallists
01 04
01 / Relay for Life Curtin was recognised at the Heroes of Hope Award Ceremony. 02 / Curtin has partnered with NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. 03 / Artist’s impression of Curtin Medical School. 04 / The 2015 John Curtin Medallists 05 / Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry at the edX signing ceremony.
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05 / CURTIN JOINS THE WORLD’S BEST ON EDX
Curtin University has joined edX, a consortium of elite higher education institutions established by Harvard and MIT universities in 2012, which offers interactive online classes and massive open online courses (MOOCs).
EdX partners include many of the world’s top ranked universities that are recognised for their cutting-edge technologies, innovative pedagogy and have a reputation for offering the best of higher education online.
Curtin is the first Western Australian university and the fourth Australian university to join the edX Consortium. Curtin’s partnership expands the consortium’s range of offerings by offering MOOCs in Mining and Digital Marketing.
Curtin Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the MOOCs provide Curtin with an opportunity to expand its global presence.
“Curtin is transforming its learning experience to become an international leader in education and research. Becoming a member of the edX consortium opens many opportunities for Curtin to collaborate in teaching and learning with leading international universities,” Professor Terry says.
“The partnership will enhance our campus-based teaching and learning and build a global community of online learners who will be actively engaged with Curtin.”
01 / CURTIN AWARDED FOR RELAY FOR LIFE
Curtin received four awards at the annual Relay For Life Heroes of Hope Awards in July. Relay For Life raises funds for the Cancer Council WA’s cancer research, education and support services.
The Curtin-hosted relay event was the winner of four categories: Community Spirit Award; Team Growth Award; Most Improved Event Award; and an individual honour – the Youth Spirit Award – awarded to Jamie Kho.
Mr Kho, Marketing Development Leader for Relay For Life Curtin, said the awards were a commendation for the committee’s work to build the event’s profile in 2014.
“I think it’s great that the entire committee has been recognised for all the effort it has put in to making the event a success. Being involved with a group of young people who care about fighting back against cancer is something that I’m proud of,” Mr Kho says.
Curtin’s 2015 relay was held over the weekend of 17-18 October with teams of 10–15 people taking turns to walk and run around Edinburgh South Oval at the Bentley Campus over the 24-hour period.
02 / CURTIN UNIVERSITY IN NASA’S ORBIT
A new research partnership will see Curtin researchers help NASA achieve its goals for human exploration of the solar system.
In July, Curtin signed an affiliate member statement with NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). The establishment of a SSERVI Australia node will see Curtin and other Australian institutions lend expertise to the global leader in space exploration.
The successful proposal to SSERVI was submitted by Curtin Professor Phil Bland and Australian National University Deputy Director Dr Marc Norman. It included colleagues from a number of institutions across the country and represented a wide breadth of expertise from Australia’s planetary science community.
“We are confident that this partnership will result in great scientific discoveries in planetary science for both parties, as well as furthering the SSERVI goal of advancing basic and applied lunar and planetary science research, and advancing human exploration of the solar system through scientific discovery,” says Professor Bland.
Curtin Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the link with NASA was a fantastic opportunity for Curtin’s staff and students to engage with the global leader for space exploration.
06 / PROGRAM ACCELERATES ENTREPRENEURS’ IDEAS Curtin University has once again launched its annual business concept development program, ‘Accelerate’, to help first time entrepreneurs turn their business ideas into reality.
Four teams, each comprising at least one Curtin staff member, one student and one graduate, will be selected in a competitive process.
Each team will be provided with $5,000 in seed funding, access to co-working space and a 10-week structured mentoring program to help them build and launch their business.
Successful applicants will also be given access to industry contacts and networks including commercialisation experts, investors and potential partners.
Prominent Perth venture capitalist Matt MacFarlane will lead the program and help work with participants.
Mr MacFarlane said he was excited by the opportunity to work with Curtin entrepreneurs on developing business concepts and wants to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs to build successful ‘tech’ business in Western Australia.
The 2016 Accelerate program will run from 18 January to 25 March.
research.curtin.edu.au/commercialisation/curtin-accelerate
03 / MEDICAL SCHOOL GETS GOVERNMENT GREEN LIGHT
The Federal Government has approved the establishment of the Curtin Medical School, which will help cater for Western Australia’s urgent doctor shortage.
The five-year direct-entry medical degree will commence in 2017 with 60 domestic students each year. By 2022, Curtin will increase its intake to 110 domestic students and 10 international students.
Curtin Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the undergraduate medical degree would have a strong emphasis on primary care to position graduates for rural and remote practice, as well as practice in outer suburban locations.
“The program’s proposed commencement date and staged growth will ensure the availability of post-graduation clinical places for students,” Professor Terry said.
“Research has shown that hospitals in the eastern and southern suburbs will welcome medical students and this will be supported by placements in aged-care and mental health facilities as well as general practice and newly created clinical schools.”
The majority of the students’ clinical education will take place at the University’s soon-to-be-established Midland Campus.
When it opens, Curtin’s medical degree will be the only undergraduate entry program in the state, with other Western Australian universities only offering graduate entry level medical courses.
Artist’s impression of Curtin Medical School.
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SUMMER 2015/16CITEFEATURE SUMMER 2015/16 CITEP.06 P.07
Changing the meaning of being alive
IF YOU think you’ve been keeping up with the incredible ways technology is changing people’s lives, have a chat with Professor Stelarc and you’ll probably have to think again.
He may, for example, mention the Italian surgeon who is trying to get ethical approval in the United States to attempt a human head transplant.
Knowledgeable critics say that, with current medical capabilities, the chances of such an operation being successful are virtually nil. But Stelarc takes a different line.
“It may not happen for five or 10 years,” he says, implying that this is a long time in his realm of activity. “And it may not be successful, but no important new surgical procedure usually is at the first attempt.
“It also raises the question of whether you’d have a head transplant or a body transplant. Given the choice, I’d go for both.”
He’s joking, of course. Up to a point. After all, this is a man who had the porous
biomaterial scaffold of an ear surgically constructed on the inside of his left forearm nine years ago. It now has tissue ingrowth and its own blood supply. It will never hear in a biological sense like his perfectly good regular ears, but in a few years he’ll insert the electronics that will bring it to life in any wi-fi hotspot, so people all over the world can listen in to whatever he’s hearing.
The Ear On My Arm project started out as a work of performance art, but now that he’s also the director of Curtin University’s recently established Alternate Anatomies Laboratory, it has become an example – less than at arm’s length, as it were – of the ways
technology is tampering with and radically transforming what the human body can do, as well as what we perceive our bodies to be.
Four years ago in Texas, says Stelarc, doctors tested a twin-turbine artificial heart in the chest of a terminally ill patient. “It circulates the blood continuously, without pulsing. So you could be resting your head on your loved-one’s chest, they’re warm to the touch, they’re breathing, they’re speaking, they’re certainly alive – but they have no heartbeat.
“All of a sudden this one bit of technology forces us to totally re-examine how we operate as a body and what it means to be human and alive.”
THE ALTERNATE Anatomies Lab, which is about to complete its first full year of operation, has a broad range of interests encompassing anatomy, prosthetics, robotics, body modification, cognitive science, interactive media, and visual and performance art. It’s part of Curtin’s School of Design and Art, and its interdisciplinary team, comprising Stelarc and research fellows and artists Dr Nina Sellars and Dr Christian Kroos, encourages collaborations with other Curtin departments such as Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Architecture.
“We’re interested in innovative ideas and also in trying to actualise those ideas, to personally experience them and thereby have something meaningful to say after that happens. We also examine the aesthetics and ethics of the devices that are created,” says Stelarc.
story / STEvE PACkER
photography / JAMES ROGERS
In the future we’ll need to add metal, carbon fibre and plastics to the flesh-and-blood concept of the human body. In fact, it’s happening already.
SUMMER 2015/16 SUMMER 2015/16CITE CITEP.8 P.9
The lab has helped fourth-year mechanical engineering students develop a silicon-skinned, smartphone-controlled robotic fish and an actuated hand orthosis. It co-supervises such projects and can provide technology including 3D scanning, a 16-micron resolution 3D printer and 6K video equipment.
“The computer-controlled orthosis is like an exoskeleton,” says Stelarc. “A person with paralysis could wear it to open and close their hand. In addition to medical and remote physiotherapy applications, as an artist I’d find it an interesting device for remote-controlling the bionic ambidextrous arm I’m developing in collaboration with the School of Engineering and Design at Brunel University London.
“It used to be that if you were designing an artificial or prosthetic body part, you would try in a rather creepy way to make it look like a human one, with vinyl cosmetic skin. Nowadays people are much happier to have an artificial hand made of shiny stainless steel, carbon fibre and acrylic plastics. There’s a more accepting attitude to technology and the aesthetic appearance of these attachments.”
In a broader sense, there’s also more acceptance of people who are differently enabled or differently embodied, he says.
“We don’t see them as ‘handicapped’ so much. A person in a wheelchair is really a hybrid human machine system. Like Stephen Hawking, they may have a computer-generated, metallic-sounding voice because
they can’t speak with their own vocal chords anymore. Or they may have an exoskeleton that enables them to walk even though they are paralysed.
“I haven’t used the ‘handicapped’ or ‘disabled’ terminology for many years. People can be differently enabled and we are interested in alternate anatomical architectures.”
The lab makes connections with differently enabled people and has had some of them speak at its monthly lecture series. Likewise, people from the body modification community.
“It’s a small subculture,” says Stelarc. “Tongue splitting, incredibly stretched earlobes, scarification, inserting silicon shapes such as horns under the skin… I have friends in the Perth community who have done some of these things. For me, it’s not something unusual.
“But these things are cosmetic, and the lab generally takes a research approach, critiquing what’s happening in a conceptual way. Having said that, people in the body modification community are effectively experimenting on themselves and exemplify a willingness to reconsider the physicality of their bodies, to modify and even redesign them.”
The lab is interested in the postmodern, post-human condition and exposing the problematics of embodiment and agency, he says. “With fellow researchers and the general public, changing people’s perceptions is part of what happens when we generate outcomes and outputs with our projects. Things that might have been ‘on the edge’ or might have appeared unconventional – I think people are increasingly accepting them.”
With a planned electronic upgrade, Stelarc’s arm will record sound and broadcast it on the web.
Extended Arm has the proportions of a primate with handy extras.
alumna / NETTY MUHARNI
career / HEAD Of PROMOTION
DIvISION, ACEH INvESTMENT
COORDINATING BOARD
curtin degree / MASTER Of
URBAN & REGIONAL PLANNING
Netty Muharni was among the 10 per cent of her seaside village in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, to survive the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but tragically, her two young children were lost in the disaster.
In the post-disaster chaos of uncoordinated relief efforts in the province, Muharni became determined to learn how communities like hers could be better protected in the future.
“After the massive destruction of my city, Banda Aceh, and as a survivor who experienced first-hand the difficulties on the ground, I was eager to understand good planning practices,” she says.
At her sister’s suggestion, Muharni applied for – and won – an Australia Awards Scholarship to study a Master of Urban and Regional Planning at Curtin University.
“My study at Curtin enhanced my knowledge and understanding about planning and
development practices,” she reflects. “I have found it to be very useful in my work.”
Muharni has worked for the government since before the tsunami, holding positions in the industrial and trade offices. She chose to work in government as she felt it was the best place for her to contribute to her country and her people.
“At the beginning of my career, we delivered a training program in fish processing that had 20 participants,” she says. “Years later, one of the participants was given the opportunity to run a fish processing business and was able to employ some poor people in the neighbourhood. It’s a moment that continues to inspire me.”
As Head of the Promotion Division at the Aceh Investment Coordinating Board, Muharni has been using her planning and development skills to help rebuild livelihoods and international trade in Aceh.
“It is important that we promote our investment potentials to attract more investment to Aceh,” says Murhani. “One of our aims is to get private funding flow to Aceh, to provide more job opportunities and to accelerate economics growth in the province.”
“And for me, personally, my new knowledge and skills in planning have made it easier for me to understand development from regional perspectives, making me more confident in
discussing investment plans. Convincing people is an art and I love doing it.”
In 2015, Muharni’s hard work was recognised by the Indonsian Government with her appointment as Assistant Deputy Minister for Regional and Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation in the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs. Her new position will mean a move to the central government offices in Jakarta, enabling her to influence regional change at a broader level.
Though working in government provides the opportunity to contribute to policy formally, Muharni also recognises the importance of informal change in improving quality of life immediately for villagers.
To effect this change, she volunteers for the Aceh Craft Council, which helps thousands of people improve their craft production and marketing. Craft products are a common form of income for many villagers, particularly women, and helping to improve business practices is a simple and direct way to improve economic wellbeing.
For Muharni, whether it be through government work or at a grass roots level, the goal is simple: “to see people’s happy faces in their new employment”.
PlAnning FoR A BetteR FutuRe
ALUMNI PROFILE
web: alternate-anatomies.org
Body On Robot Arm. Autronics, Jangebup, 29 September 2015. Programmers: Hayden Brown, James Boyle.
Jerem
y Twed
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SUMMER 2015/16CITEFEATURE SUMMER 2015/16 CITEP.10 P.11
story / NIkkY LEE
Power to the peopleCurtin University is helping remote communities
in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak to find much-needed environmental and economic stability.
LIVES are changing in the highlands of northern Sarawak. Curtin Sarawak, in partnership with the Malaysian government and local communities, is working to bring power, water and new business enterprises to some of the most remote villages in the Malaysian state. The Rural Development Plan will not only improve living conditions, but empower communities to become self-sustaining, bringing economic stability to the region.
Heading the project from Curtin Sarawak is Professor Clem Kuek. After working and living in Australia for 35 years, Kuek returned to Malaysia looking for ways to give back to his homeland.
Villages such as Long Tanid, Long Muboi and Long Rusu, located in the mountainous regions of northern Sarawak, have no access to grid electricity. Individual households install diesel generators and their fuel is transported from distant urban centers, often via road networks that are little more than logging tracks.
Now, through the introduction of green technologies, such as micro-hydro and solar power, these villages will soon have access to clean, green power 24 hours a day. Unlike large hydro schemes that require large dams, a micro-hydro system diverts water away from the main stream and filters it through a small powerhouse before returning it to the waterway further
downstream. Micro-hydros are green, reliable, cost-effective and low maintenance. As such, they are seen as one of the most suitable ways to bring electricity to rural communities. Micro-hydro systems can also provide potable water, another essential utility that rural communities are often lacking.
The hydro and solar power systems are the heart of Curtin Sarawak’s overarching Rural Development Scheme. Following the installation, community-owned enterprises will be introduced, or further developed, to build upon the availability of electricity and clean water.
“We will not be satisfied with just bringing in two utilities to a community,” Kuek says. “We say, if you have access to electricity and clean water, what can you do with it in terms of an enterprise?”
The new power and water systems will aid the region’s salt production and indigenous fish-farming schemes, as well as open up new opportunities for the local production of bottled water and the region’s rice trade.
“Rock salt has been produced in the highlands for generations,” says Kuek. As a niche product, similar to rock salt from the Himalayas, it is highly valued. But, to produce a 60 kilogram batch of salt from the naturally occurring brine, workers must chop and burn wood from the local jungle to boil the brine continuously over three days.
SUMMER 2015/16 CITE IN PICTURESP.13SUMMER 2015/16CITE P.12
As part of the region’s development scheme, Professor Kuek and his colleagues are planning to power the kettles and evaporators with electricity from micro-hydro generators.
“We’ll save an enormous amount of firewood and it will be less polluting. The end product will also be much cleaner,” Kuek says.
As for indigenous fishing, the Malaysian government has set up a number of fishing conservation reserves or ‘tagangs’, where high-value fish are sustainably farmed to prevent overfishing. Professor Kuek and his team intend to help set up additional tagangs and develop regional processing facilities to clean, pack and chill the harvested fish for transport.
“This will not only increase the value of the product, but also create jobs,” says Professor Kuek.
A wATER bottling plant is also planned under the scheme. Costing two million Malaysian Ringgit (around AUD$700,000), the project will comprise two stages. First and foremost is to provide the communities in close proximity to the plant with cheaper, more accessible bottled water. The second stage will involve marketing the bottled water to the wider region, including urban centres, leveraging the fact that the water has originated from the largely pristine environment of the highlands.
“A bottled water enterprise would develop entrepreneurship and bookkeeping skills within the community, strengthening it as a whole,” Kuek says.
A reliable power supply will also aid highland rice farmers. ‘Adan’ rice, commonly known as Bario, Ba’kelalan or ‘highland rice’, is a popular, premium rice grown the highlands region, often used to make dessert dishes.
For generations the Kelabit and Lun Bawang people have grown this unique rice using traditional farming methods, most notably without the use of fertilisers and pesticides. Because of this, the rice is very close to organic standards – a desirable quality given the growing demand for organic produce around the world.
Access to electricity will represent a big step towards establishing an organic certification program for the region. Their first priority is to install drying kilns.
“At the moment highland farmers dry their rice out in the sun on mats,” Kuek explains. “It is totally dependent on the sun, so if it is not out for a couple days the product can get mouldy. You can also get variable drying, so that when you mill the rice there’s a lot of broken grain because some of the grains are not as hard as they should be.”
With drying kilns the rice can be dried more consistently, making the milling process easier and more predictable, which is crucial to developing a premium rice product. Following the installation of the kilns there are plans to introduce a geographical certification. This would allow farmers to place a logo on each rice package that guarantees the origin of the product, allowing consumers to trace the origins of each package all the way back to the farm that produced it.
Each one of Kuek’s projects is community driven. From initial planning and consultation, to building facilities and growing each enterprise, the communities are crucial to every step. Kuek’s end goal is to equip locals with the skills and ability to run these projects on their own, from bookkeeping and management to running and servicing the facilities and equipment central to each project.
And while there is still the anxious wait to get the final approval for some of these projects, for now we know that the lights are on and the future is looking brighter.
Pictured is just one tenth of the amount of firewood needed to produce a single, 60 kilogram batch of salt.
Brine boiling in kettles at Bang Main.
Logging roads in northern Sarawak can be treacherous.
Photo sharing app Instagram provides followers with a daily journal of what’s happening on campus.Here’s a selection of the most popular photos from Curtin’s Instagram account for 2015.
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curtinuniversityCurtin University Curtin students, staff and graduates strive to make tomorrow
better. #curtinlife CRICOS Provider Code: 00301J bit.ly/discovercurtin
561 posts 7,465 followers 172 following
FOLLOWING
Online video: youtube.com/ user/CurtinUniSarawak
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Curtin University (@curtinuniversity) • Instagram photos and videos
SUMMER 2015/16 CITEP.15SUMMER 2015/16CITE P.14
FOLLOWINGcurtinuniversityCurtin University
122 likes
curtinuniversity colormerad5kau comes to #Curtin on 28 March! Get your tickets from colormerad.com.au now!
hanno_vdm Looks good!
#curtinlife #rad #perth #perthlife #parkd @parkd_at_curtin #curtincolour #radau
FOLLOWINGcurtinuniversityCurtin University
142 likes
curtinuniversity ”I study molecular genetics. I think that manipulating genetics is going to be a staple for agriculture in the future. If Australia is going to be the food bowl of Asia, as some people put it, it’s going to be necessary to grow crops quickly and efficiently.”
katchae_s Oh he’s in my Biochemistry class :) cool!
#curtin #curtinlife #humansofcurtin #agriculture #genetics
FOLLOWINGcurtinuniversityCurtin University
84 likes
curtinuniversity “I am doing research to publish a book that will teach children about HIV, which is a big health problem in Malawi.”
#curtin #curtinlife #humansofcurtin #quote
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curtinuniversity Officially welcoming this year’s new students under The Pines at #curtinoweek. #curtinlife #curtin
tamarahudson__@krystinahudson this is why you should go to Curtin
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sweet_adornments Brings back memories of my O day
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curtinuniversity ”I chose psychology because I watched loved ones go through depression, self-harm and attempted suicide. So because of how personal it has been in my life, I’ve decided it’s what I want to do. I just want to help people out and I guess if I can save just one life it will make a difference.”
claudiaolivier omg you are amazing
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curtinuniversity t’s Semester 2 time! Welcome to all our new and returning students. Who’s ready for an awesome semester?
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iyan_tan@curtinuniversity means get ready for assignments, oral presentations and examsss hihihi, good luck all students... I had the time of my life at curtin never forget it... love Curtin...
mdperth I agree with @iyan_tan.
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alumna / NYSREEN EL-MAHMOUD
career / RESTAURATEUR
curtin degree / BACHELOR Of
MULTIMEDIA DESIGN
alumnus / PASCAL kELLY
career / ENTREPRENEUR
curtin degree / BACHELOR Of
PHYCHOLOGY
Curtin graduates Nysreen El-Mahmoud and Pascal Kelly are giving Hong Kong foodies something new to rave about. After El-Mahmoud reopened her family’s restaurant, Zahra, Kelly was inspired to create a unique social booking system for culinary tourists.
With restaurateurs as parents, El-Mahmoud grew up in the kitchens of Zahra, one of Hong Kong’s beloved Lebanese restaurants in the 1990s.
“I grew up learning all the family recipes that made Zahra so unique, and obtained incredible first-hand experience of the ins and outs of running a restaurant from a very young age,” she reminisces.
When her parents decided to close Zahra ten years ago and retire, both El-Mahmoud
and Hong Kong lamented the loss of Zahra’s authentic Middle-Eastern dishes.
“There was always something inside of me that wanted to bring Zahra back to life and share our family recipes once again with Hong Kong,” El-Mahmoud says.
In 2013, El-Mahmoud and her sister Nadia decided to fulfil this wish and together they opened the second generation of Zahra, the Zahrabel Dining Club, in Hong Kong.
While running a restaurant might seem a digression from El-Mahmoud’s bachelor degree in multimedia design, what she learned has been indispensible for her out-of-the-kitchen responsibilities: the restaurant’s design and marketing.
“My Curtin degree has been very important in teaching me the relevant and necessary technical skills to be able to do this,” she says.
“I initially designed our corporate identity and I oversee all our branding, promotional material and in-house printed material. I also manage our social media.”
“Every day brings its unique challenges and events, whether it’s hosting an event at the restaurant, doing a restaurant photo shoot for a magazine feature, meeting new diners, creating new dishes or discussing new opportunities.”
And new opportunities are on the rise at Zahrabel’s. Pascal Kelly, El-Mahmoud’s partner and fellow Curtin alumnus, has been
working to develop and pilot a novel restaurant booking system called Ookus.
Ookus began as a means to help manage Zahrabel’s bookings. “Spreadsheets helped, but didn’t offer as much flexibility,” Kelly says. He turned to learning programming skills and how the ‘cloud’ worked, to create his own solution.
The system was an instant success at Zahrabel Dining Club. But he didn’t stop there. “I saw the opportunity to offer other establishments the same benefits,” he says.
Ookus has now expanded beyond Zahrabel Dining Club, to be the world’s first social booking network. The principle is simple: members can search for, and make bookings with, restaurants based on recommendations (dubbed ‘whispers’) from friends or fellow food lovers with similar taste.
“It’s all about creating a buzz,” says Kelly, who graduated from Curtin in 2007 with a degree in psychology. “Establishments are also able to manage their online bookings and will soon be able to sell their goods and merchandise via Ookus. Our aim is to develop further features, which will enhance the diners’ experience and also offer an out-of-the-box solution for award-winning establishments.”
Currently only available in Hong Kong, there are plans to expand Ookus to Macau and Australia, and later the world.
alumnus / NIC BRUNSDON
career / ENTREPRENEUR
curtin degree / BACHELOR Of APPLIED
SCIENCE (ARCHITECTURAL SCIENCE)
After eight years away from home, Curtin architecture graduate Nic Brunsdon returned to Perth to start a new business. He began searching Perth’s CBD for office space that was central, had some character and was affordable.
During his search, he made a passing observation: many of the first floors of commercial spaces were empty.
It was a timely observation. The City of Perth had just released a report highlighting that the upper floors of Perth’s heritage buildings, which were once leased by the likes of tailors and jewellers, had been largely vacated – a symptom of the modern shift to shopping in large suburban retail centres.
Brunsdon saw an opportunity and pitched the idea of ‘Spacemarket’, a service that would be a platform to bring disused spaces back to the public market and make them available for people to use.
“They [the City of Perth] loved the idea, and off we went!” Brunsdon says, and in the space of six weeks, over Christmas no less, his idea became a reality.
“Spacemarket sits in this gap between people who want space and people who have space,” Brundson explained in his 2011 TEDx talk.
“We identified there was a great void between these two [types of] people. They don’t talk to each other. What we wanted to do was create a platform that brought them together.”
‘Space’ could be anything from a desk, an upper floor or a basement.
Today, one of Brunsdon’s biggest successes with Spacemarket is MANY 6160. Revamped from the skeleton of the old Myer building in Newman Court Fremantle, MANY 6160 is a temporary-space activation project that houses local retail brands and production spaces for the creative community. The old rooftop space, previously used for staff parking, has been transformed into an area for events, community gardens, music, cinema and parties.
MANY 6160’s production level in particular is redefining how we look at empty space. With flexible sized spaces for rent, it gives small businesses and emerging creatives the space to set up and grow.
“It is an opportunity for somewhat discordant, but ultimately complementary businesses to co-exist and skill share,” Brunsdon explains.
“We see it as a big soupy mess, and that is a good thing.
“We have businesses that previously would have been suburbs apart, now no more than 50 steps from each other. Retailers work with our makers. Makers work with our retailers. Creatives work with the artists. Artists work with the tech crew, and the people of Fremantle are weaving their way through the whole thing.”
At 20,000 square metres, MANY 6160 is the largest temporary ‘space occupation’ in Australia and a buzzing hive of activity. From here, Brunsdon hopes the tenants of MANY 6160 will ‘graduate’, moving out into the spaces of Fremantle as their businesses grow.
“We’ve found ourselves positioned in an extremely auspicious time for this city,” he says.
“Perth is getting its skates on and there’s a joyous momentum that’s running.”
wHY so emPtY?
tHe FooD wHisPeReRs
ALUMNI PROFILE ALUMNI PROFILE
SUMMER 2015/16CITE P.16 SUMMER 2015/16 CITEP.17
Restauranteur
SUMMER 2015/16 CITEP.19SUMMER 2015/16CITEFEATURE P.18 P.19
High profile trans women such as reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner and Australian military official Cate McGregor have propelled issues around trans rights and wellbeing into the zeitgeist. But look behind the famous faces and you’ll find a complex, diverse, and too-often vulnerable population.
incidents. Self-censorship is a survival mechanism, and a photoshopped Vanity Fair cover is cold comfort when the real world prefers you stay out of sight.
Public Health PhD student Lee Yoresh came out as a trans woman this year. Her thesis is exploring how the outside world deals with different expressions of queer identity. While Lee considers herself lucky to have a supportive family and healthcare team behind her, she hasn’t escaped the ramifications of
making small changes to her appearance, such as wearing skirts and touches of makeup.
“I’ve been whistled at, I’ve been yelled at, I’ve been threatened,” Lee says. As a musician, she’s even been booed on stage for wearing female clothing.
“The world restricts how you navigate if you’re too open and visible.” In spite of the hazards, Lee feels more comfortable expressing her
identity than hiding it. She likens being mistaken for the wrong gender to having strangers tell you that your skin is blue.
“In your mind it doesn’t make any sense. When people refer to me as a man, I feel like it doesn’t apply to me at all.”
Lee believes the media could do more to widen society’s perceptions of who trans people are by shifting the emphasis from ‘final products’ to the less-glamorous ‘process’ of gender transition.
“We don’t get to see Caitlyn Jenner with cuts on her face and bandages and a broken nose. We only see the big reveal,” says Lee. “There’s no reason to deprive people of the whole picture.”
Cultural studies honours student Kirsty Herbert believes greater diversity on our screens can help to reduce prejudice against people whose gender clashes with prevailing social ideals.
“The more you’re able to recognise and understand different kinds of people, the more you can empathise with them,” says Kirsty, who identifies as non-binary gendered.
“Reproducing the same old gender stereotypes only further obscures anyone who has a different experience, whether that person is straight, gay, trans or cisgender1.”
Fortunately, if the success of initiatives like TRIG is anything to go by, there is a growing desire to finally meet and get to know the trans community, a group that has many voices, and as many faces.
“Nature loves diversity,” says Sam. “It’s just a matter of society becoming more comfortable with difference, and accepting that people’s bodies and identities are their own affair.”
1 Cisgender (often abbreviated to ‘cis’) describes those whose sense of gender matches their sex at birth.
“A LOT of trans people try to be invisible for their own safety,” says Associate Professor Sam Winter from the School of Public Health. Sam and his colleague Dr Catriona Davis-McCabe recently set up the Curtin Trans Research and Interest Group (TRIG), the first of its kind in WA.
“They don’t make a noise. So you have a group that is stigmatised, but has kept a low profile.”
Sam and Catriona expected just five or six attendees at TRIG’s inaugural meeting in August. Instead, roughly 40 community, health, government and research representatives crammed into the sunlit boardroom.
TRIG’s enthusiastic turnout is perhaps not surprising. In the last year, trans luminaries like Jenner and actress Laverne Cox have successfully cast a once reticent population into the public eye. In response, communities and policy makers have slowly begun to address the disproportionately high rates of unemployment, homelessness, mental illness and poor physical health among trans people. However, the mainstreaming of trans issues via celebrity means raises its own concerns.
“It can be problematic when people are only hearing those quite glamorous stories about high achievers,” says Sam.
“It makes invisible all those other trans people in the world for whom life is far more difficult.”
Unlike wealthy celebrities, most trans people who wish to change their physical sex (not all do), struggle to afford gender-affirming procedures such as hormone therapy and surgery. A recent Curtin-led study found the lack of access to these procedures is a major contributing factor to anxiety and depression among trans people in Australia.
If a trans person chooses to change their appearance they run the risk of encountering verbal and physical abuse. Between 2008 and 2014, more than 1,700 trans people were murdered worldwide, and that figure only accounts for reported
Transcending expectations
story / CARMEN REILLY
whAT DOES ‘TRANS’ mEAN?
Trans people identify as having an internal sense of gender that differs from their gender assigned at birth. Trans is an umbrella term that can include people who identify as transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, non-binary gendered, sistergirl, brotherboy, crossdressers and other identities.
web: life.curtin.edu.au/health-and-wellbeing/trans_group.htm
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alumnus / kEN ARROwSMITH
career / MASTER BREwER
curtin degree / BACHELOR Of
APPLIED SCIENCE (wAIT)
Master brewer, chemistry graduate and Western Australian icon Ken Arrowsmith has returned from an extended hiatus to quench the thirst of Perthians once again. Now, the man on the Emu Bitter can is lending his artistry to Perth’s newest microbrewery, the Northbridge Brewing Company. And though he may have trimmed the beard, Arrowsmith is still serving it up in true hipster fashion with a range of sessionable beers and one-off special brews delivered straight from the tank.
“The WA brewing scene is on a massive roll at the moment with new breweries opening on a regular basis and new craft beer venues popping up all over the place,” Arrowsmith says.
“Whilst the Northbridge Brewing Company is a far cry from the mega volume breweries I have worked in. I love the variety of styles we can produce and the hands-on nature of brewing in a small plant.”
Those mega-volume breweries include Tooheys Ltd, South Australian Brewing Co.
and The Swan Brewery, where Arrowsmith first entered the profession during his student days at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), now Curtin University.
“A year or two into my applied science degree, The Swan Brewery advertised for an assistant chemist, and I was fortunate enough to be given the role,” Arrowsmith says.
The next few years were spent working in a variety of technical and operational roles while he finished off his degree part-time – the latter of which he credits as being an “important driver” of his early career.
“Obviously, the basics of chemistry are very relevant to brewing science,” he acknowledges, “but the extensive laboratory sessions also gave me practical skills and techniques to take straight into the workplace. Moreover, the analytical approach to both technical and business problem-solving that has stood me in good stead throughout my career is for the greater part a result of my studies at WAIT.”
In due course, and under the guidance of strong professional mentors, Arrowsmith went from assistant chemist to brewing manager (where he took on custodianship of the Emu Bitter brand) and finally operations director. Along the way he studied international brewing at the Technical University (VLB) in Berlin, which saw him indulge in extensive tours of German brewing plants; and in 1998, he was awarded the honour of chairing the
Asia-Pacific Institute of Brewing and Distilling Convention in Perth. In 2004 he was awarded a prestigious Institute of Brewing and Distilling Fellowship.
Today, however, Arrowsmith’s new fans are more likely to appreciate him for his Beerland range at the Northbridge Brewing Company than the classic Emu Bitter.
“The national beer market has faced massive changes over the past ten years, with consumers consistently moving to quality over quantity and diversity over brand loyalty in their beer choices,” Arrowsmith says of the recent research putting Australia’s beer consumption at a 65-year low. “The craft beer movement has flourished in this environment and I believe it will continue to grow strongly.”
“Ultimately it will be authentic, high-quality craft beers, whether in keg or package, that will ensure the success of the industry.”
QuAlitY oveR QuAntitY
ALUMNI PROFILE
SUMMER 2015/16 CITEP.23SUMMER 2015/16CITEFEATURE P.22 P.23
THE jOINT collaboration, known as BeachLAB, is developing and testing acoustic technologies for shark detection. Having been awarded funding by the WA State Government, Curtin University has made significant advances in understanding how sonar can help protect beach-goers.
The group has deployed a system comprising a number of acoustic detection receivers, including two sponsored by RPS MetOcean, that cover around a kilometre of swimming beach area at Mullaloo’s main beach, in front of the Surf Life Saving Club.
Curtin University’s CMST Research Fellow Dr Miles Parsons, explained the alert system works by recognising marine animals previously tfitted with an acoustic tag travelling in the monitored area.
“When a shark or other tagged animal passes through the monitored area at Mullaloo Beach, a signal that is regularly
emitted from their tag is then picked up by the strategically placed receivers in the water,” Dr Parsons says.
“Once the signal is picked up, the receivers then transmit a signal directly to the beach management system that sets off the audible alarm and flashing lights stationed on the beach, alerting swimmers to the potential danger and prompting them to take immediate action.”
BeachLAB will be testing the application and performance of a number of beach safety related technologies, using the array and its moorings as a real-world platform. Planned BeachLAB projects include the detection of rip currents along the beach and the detection of sharks using sonar systems.
The main focus of BeachLAB will be relaying detection of any potential hazard back to the central alarm system in real-time. Warning siren sounds during daylight hours
when beachgoers generally swim. During night and off-peak hours, the system will only activate the red light warning.
The project will complement existing shark detection strategies at Mullaloo Beach including Department of Fisheries satellite-linked acoustic receivers that send an automated alert to SurfCom, as well as Twitter and SharkSmart, if a tagged shark is detected.
President of Mullaloo Surf Life Saving Club Mr Carlo Tenaglia believes that real-time, beach-based alarm systems are an effective way to alert swimmers.
“Other existing warning systems in place transmit information to an app or mobile phone, however, beachgoers generally wouldn’t have these devices with them in the water, or even necessarily take them onto the sand,” Mr Tenaglia says.
“A siren and red light are universal warning signs for danger and prompt swimmers to take immediate action to exit the water.”
Mr Tenaglia also explained that the club hopes to extend the detection buoys along the Mullaloo coast in the future.
“The monitored area can be expanded by placing additional detection buoys at spaced intervals, forming a detection line for as long as required, creating a larger monitored area, and hopefully safer area, for local swimmers,” Mr Tenaglia says.
In an exceptionally close encounter in 2012, Mullaloo Surf Lifesaving Club member Martin Kane was rammed by a three-metre shark and knocked into the water. He escaped unharmed, but the incident sent a shockwave through the club and broader community. Three years on, the club, in collaboration with Curtin University researchers, are going hi-tech in an effort to prevent future attacks.
Bolstering shark defence
story / fRANCES THORNTON
photography / ALANA BLOwfIELD
SUMMER 2015/16 CITEP.25SUMMER 2015/16CITEFEATURE P.24 P.25
However, say critics, it has been largely ineffectual in curbing piracy, with consumers blatantly ignoring the draconian legislation that they see as imposing unnecessary controls on the media market in Australia.
Enter Netflix, the US-based video-on-demand service that is fast rivalling paid content stalwart Foxtel and a handful of other smaller players in the Australian market. At a price point of $8.99 for basic service per month, Netflix scooped up almost 2 million subscribers in its first six months of operation.
That, says Head of Curtin’s Department of Internet Studies Tama Leaver, is evidence that Australian consumers are willing to pay for current, good-quality content.
“It seems very backward looking to treat high-paying consumers as criminals
and shut them down rather than provide better legal avenues,” says Leaver. “In my work, I refer to this as the ‘tyranny of digital distance’ – that phenomenon where Australia’s physical geographical location has somehow been translated into arbitrary marketing zones.
“This has meant delayed release dates, inflated prices and unreliable service provision – all of which have played into our high rate of unauthorised downloading.
“And it just doesn’t make economic sense. We know that internet piracy is estimated to be costing the Australian economy millions every year. There is an unstoppable appetite for immediate online content and, rather than harness this lost revenue, the government has opted to ratchet up its legislative hold that shuts the door on consumer demand and choice, and on huge economic opportunity.”
Largely, says Leaver, we still live in a world where existing providers are trying to hold on to dying models. Anachronistic broadcast formats – with 16 to 18 minutes of advertising per hour, or paid subscriptions with ads – now seem laughable to a YouTube generation that grew up with on-demand content.
“There is no evidence that the YouTube generation has a problem with paying,” adds Leaver. “But they do have a problem with unreasonably priced content – as we saw with Game of Thrones, where content was unreliable and expensive. The show was available for a while as a digital download on the US day of release, but that option was then removed.“The solution, ultimately, must be market-
based, with content being released in Australia at the same time as it is in the US, for a competitive price. This has to result in reduced piracy – in fact, it has already, since the arrival of Netflix.” wHILE the YouTube generation are huge consumers of online content on demand, they have also grown up in a world where revolutionary digital technologies have made producing content anyone’s game. Participatory media platforms have broken down the rigid boundaries between consumers, creators and producers.
Active engagement in producing content and the rise of YouTube stars who are merely their high school or university peers
means that today’s younger generations are fearless, with the potential to shape media with the mobile phone in their hand.
They are also a growing cohort of students who forcing a fast-changing curriculum to prepare themselves for careers in the online world. Curtin’s Department of Internet Studies, for example, has had to remain agile, responding to the changing interests and skills of undergraduate applicants, as well as to market need.
The Internet Communications major trains students in understanding the human dimension of the internet: how people network, collaborate and share information through online communications, media and design. As such, it provides them with an analytical understanding of current issues, policies and business models.
The popular Web Media unit typically has an annual enrolment of 250 students. The unit introduces students to how traditional content is being re-shaped in light of participatory digital media, emerging indigenous online media – those rising YouTube stars, for example. Students then put these insights into practice by creating their own web-based media content.
“Each semester, we have some real stand-out projects,” says Leaver. “They show how innovative and bold students can be. For example, one student took a satirical look at copyright using Super Mario videogame characters and has had more than 240,000 views on YouTube.
“Another student’s project explained how convergence culture is changing the media industries using a stop-motion animation that was seen and endorsed on Twitter by Henry Jenkins, the US scholar who literally wrote the book on the topic.”
As more and more online media companies not only stream content but also produce it, Curtin is ensuring its students are prepared to work ethically and effectively in that environment.
“Production is a radically changing environment,” says Leaver. “Our students graduate with a good sense of this and skills that will allow them not just to ‘work’ in the industry, but to actually shape it themselves at a relatively early stage in their careers.
“And that’s an exciting place for a new graduate to be.”
The Netflix phenomenon has taken Australia by storm, evidence that – when given the choice – we are willing to pay for current, good-quality content. So why do media providers and the government continue to resist a more open media market – and at what cost?
AUSTRALIA’S relatively high rate of internet piracy – enabled by an increasingly sophisticated game of cat-and-mouse between consumers and regulatory agencies – has highlighted the determination of consumers to obtain current, good-quality video and music content.
Unauthorised downloading recently entered new territory with the Dallas Buyers Club copyright court case that threatened huge fines and the coercion of internet service providers to reveal illegal downloaders.
The case led the Australian Government to introduce new legislation, with the Senate quickly passing the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015. The bill aims to curb the online piracy of music, television and film across Australia.
The revolution will be available on demand
story / ANDREA LEwIS
photography / ALANA BLOwfIELD
SUMMER 2015/16CITEREAR VIEW SUMMER 2015/16 CITEP.26 P.27
urtin’s Department of Mechanical Engineering Professor Gwidon Stachowiak has been awarded the
prestigious UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers Tribology Gold Medal. The award was presented in July by the British High Commissioner to Australia, Her Excellency Menna Rawlings CMG.
Tribology is the study of friction, wear and lubrication, or, more precisely, the science of interacting surfaces in relative motion. Despite not being a household name, the study contributes to almost every aspect of our daily lives, from the movement of our joints, to engine lubrication, to the functioning of computer hard disks.
Professor Stachowiak is the first Australian to receive the annual accolade, and the first from the southern hemisphere in the award’s 43-year history. His current research is focused on the development of methods for the description of multiscale 3D surface topographies, optimisation of 3D surface textures for hydrodynamic contacts and prediction of osteoarthritis in knee and hand joints based on X-rays and tribocorrosion.
“This is a prestigious and important award to Curtin University as it endorses its position
in world-forefront research in tribology,” Professor Stachowiak says.
Her Excellency Menna Rawlings CMG said she was delighted to present Professor Stachowiak with the 2014 Tribology Gold Medal on behalf of the Tribology Trust.
“This is the world’s highest honour in tribology and a tribute to Professor Stachowiak’s outstanding achievements in the field”, she says.
AWARD .
BIG WIN FOR TRIBOLOGY PROFESSOR
CAMPUS & COMMUNITY .
ONLINE PARTICIPATION UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
nline education has made it easier for thousands of additional students to access university courses.
However, while this mode of education has broadened entry to courses and encouraged
participation in higher education, results show many students are not completing their studies.
In a bid to find ways to improve online study success rates, 1,000 online students studying through UniReady and ITEC, Open University Australia, Curtin Online and MOOCs recently took part in a survey run jointly by Curtin Teaching and Learning and the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE).
NCSEHE Research Fellow Dr Cathy Cupitt said many students responding to the survey listed isolation as their biggest challenge and there was a need to help them build up a university support network and “grit” to stay with their study.
The survey results are already being used at Curtin and Dr Cupitt hopes it will influence future online courses and other universities that offer online courses.
“We want students to feel as good about their online studies as they do about their face-to-face studies,” Dr Cupitt says.
RECOGNITION.
VC HONOURED
AWARD .
CHINA-AUSTRALIA JOINT WRITING CENTRE OPENS
he China-Australia Writing Centre has been established at Curtin University following the signing of
a joint collaborative agreement between Curtin and Fudan University in Shanghai, one of China’s top universities.
The centre will bring together expertise from both institutions, including skills in creative writing, literature studies, historical writing and journalism.
Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor, Associate Professor Steve Mickler, said the partnership would have implications across many industries as the centre would study and develop all types of writing including new forms and multiple formats in the digital revolution.
“This agreement is international recognition of the strength of Curtin’s writing program which has produced high-calibre writers such as Tim Winton, Brooke Davis and Yvette Walker,” he said.
“We will focus on studying new writing in China and Australia with the specific aim of using cultural exchange and translation to advance the production and development of creative and innovative writing practices.”
Activities between the two universities have already begun with exchange of visiting writing fellows and a two-day writing symposium, held in Margaret River in August.
AWARD .
THE SKY’S NO LIMIT FOR RADIO ASTRONOMER
utstanding postgraduate astronomy student, Dr Thomas Russell, has been named ExxonMobil Student
Scientist of the Year at the Premier’s Science awards 2015.
Dr Russell was honoured for demonstrating a dedicated commitment to science at an early age and the promise he shows in reaching the highest levels of excellence in his profession.
Accepting his prize at the Perkins Institute for Medical research, Dr Russell says he feels privileged to have won.
“I really enjoy the research and outreach work that I do, so to be recognised for it is an added bonus, especially when there are so many other students doing great work in science in WA,” he says.
At the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy, Dr Russell researches black
holes and how they extract and recycle energy from in-falling matter; an efficient source of power that shapes star formation and the distribution of matter in the universe.
Curtin Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said Dr Russell was a very deserving recipient of the award as it recognised his passion and commitment to undertaking the highest quality research towards understanding the universe.
wHAt’s on
NOVEMBER - MARCH
— 2015/16 —
JOHN CURTIN GALLERY – SODA15 27 November – 13 December 2015
The John Curtin Gallery, in partnership with Curtin’s School of design and Art (SodA), is proud to present the work of graduates from the school’s postgraduate program.
FRINGE WORLD 22 January – 21 February 2016
After last year’s success, Curtin is once again partnering with Perth’s annual arts festival, FrinGe wOrld. A diverse and exciting array of performers will fill the Perth Cultural Centre every day and night for four weeks.
SANDITECTURE 29 February – 11 March 2016
Teams of first-year interior architecture students will each build a 3d abstraction of a famous architectural building from sand. Sand sculpture artist Tim darby will mentor the students and create a unique sculpture of his own.
T
O
O
C
Professor Stachowiak receiving his medal from the British High Commissioner to Australia, Her Excellency Menna Rawlings CMG.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and made an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO).
Professor Terry received the honour for distinguished service to tertiary education through senior administrative roles and as an academic and researcher in the field of psychology.
The dedicated educator is currently President of the Academy of Social Sciences Australia and former Chair of the Australian Council of Learned academies, the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts in the Social Behavioural and Economic Sciences and the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre.
She is also currently on the Board of Universities Australia and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
Professor Terry’s leadership career began in 2000 when she was appointed Head of School of Psychology at the University of Queensland. She then moved to other distinguished positions including Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Queensland in October 2012.
Professor Terry was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Curtin University in February 2014.
Professor Terry said, “The news was quite a shock and very humbling, particularly given how much support I have been fortunate to have received throughout my career.”
Curtin Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry
Dr Thomas Russell
Vice President of Fudan University Professor Lin Shangli and Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor International of Curtin University Associate Professor Simon Leunig.
SUMMER 2015/16CITEIN PERSPECTIVE P.28
Author and academic Dr David Whish-Wilson discusses his award-winning short story The Cook, the evolution of crime writing, and Australia’s surprising, felonious link to colonial California.
wHAT I like about writing is the fun of not knowing where a story is going. I’ll usually start with a character or a setting and let things unfold naturally. For The Cook, it started with a setting. My family and I go camping at a place called Walga Rock in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is not widely depicted in fiction. I was pleased with the chance to capture in words the unique names and geology and quality of light of this lesser-known landscape.
The father and son in the story have strong family ties to Walga Rock and when one commits a violent crime, the pair instinctively flee to its shelter. This ancient landform is a stoic figure: it’s a protector and a holder of tradition for the characters, like it is for the local Wadjarri people. However, the solid earth is balanced out by the ever-changing natural environment. Out here the bush can nourish life, but it can also conceal and obliterate it.
I believe the Australian bush truly lends itself to crime fiction. In the bush, danger is easily hidden: you may be centimetres from a poisonous snake and never realise it. It acts as its own disguise. To a genre preoccupied with the unseen and the elusive, this camouflaging environment is near irresistible. The bush particularly suits characters who are interested in not being known, like the father and son in The Cook. Places and characters that are more than they appear on the surface can be great devices for exploring what’s really happening behind closed doors.
Human deviance has always fascinated people. Stories about crime, violence and corruption appeal to wide audiences and often stand the test of time (think about the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Truman Capote). In the past, however, critics broadly consigned the popular genre – with its unsavoury subject matter – to the cultural ghetto. Crime fiction has only gained traction as a valid form of literature in the last fifteen to twenty years, thanks to the gradual crumbling of what constitutes ‘high culture’ and ’low culture’. Excellent writers like Richard Price and television series like Breaking Bad and The Wire simply tell compelling stories about life. Their narratives just happen to centre on unlawful activity.
Currently I’m researching for a novel on the rather dubious activities of Australian ex-convicts during the Californian gold rush. Those who tried and failed to strike it rich ended up forming some of San Francisco’s earliest criminal gangs. Australia’s convict diaspora seemed to flourish in a country that reinforced individualism and mistrust of government. By contrast, Britain’s colonial penal system valued surveillance and harsh punishment, which helped form a very different culture. I’m interested in this idea of how environments act upon us, how we change our behaviour under authority and adapt to survive.
The rhetoric of crime DR DAVID whISh-wILSON SENIOR LECTURER,
DEPARTMENT Of COMMUNICATION & CULTURAL STUDIES
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