Measuring forces nature - Swinburne Commons

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Issue 14 | December 2011

Engineers solve 21st century problemsOnline clinic boosts mental health

Breakthroughs in perception

Magazine of Swinburne univerSity of technology

Measuring thE forces Of nature

swinburne december 20112

insideIssue 14 | December 2011

cover story

16 Making future buildings safer Inside a glass-walled laboratory, the effects of earthquakes and other forces of nature on tomorrow’s bridges, buildings and other structures can be simulated | BRAd CollIS

Partnerships drive innovationWelcome to Swinburne. This issue provides an insight into how our research and education is driving innovation and contributing to improving lives, the environment and the economy.

You will discover how our researchers are leveraging the opportunities of the internet to improve the quality of life of people with anxiety disorders and residents of remote Indigenous communities.

The strength and diversity of our partnerships feature in many of the articles, highlighting the value we share with our partners in government and industry: access to new knowledge, research expertise and infrastructure.

Swinburne’s knowledge transfer in action is on display in the Home Internet for Remote Indigenous Communities program; and through our collaboration with the global aerospace corporation, Boeing, in the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AusAMRC).

Our partnership with one of the world’s leading innovation research and education centres, Aalto University’s Design Factory in Finland, has enabled Swinburne to establish Australia’s first Design Factory. This initiative provides a unique opportunity to bring together the research and innovation challenges of our business partners with the talent and passion of our design, ICT, and engineering postgraduate students and researchers.

Last month we launched Swinburne Online, a partnership with that quintessentially modern Australian company SEEK, to provide online education opportunities for working Australians. Drawing on leading research and online education expertise, the programs will provide the engaging high-quality education experience for which Swinburne is renowned.

The $140 million Advanced Technologies Centre, to be officially opened this month by the federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, is providing students, researchers and industry partners with access to cutting-edge resources, some of Australia’s most specialised research equipment and facilities, such as the Smart Structures Laboratory, the only one of its kind in Australia. This facility is the focus for a team of world-leading researchers brought together to work with industry and government to advance the sustainability of Australia’s buildings and infrastructure.

Similarly, the $100 million Advanced Manufacturing Centre, now under construction at our Hawthorn campus and due for completion in 2013, will be a focal point for world-class research, innovative education and industry training that will play an important role in shaping the future of Australia’s manufacturing sector.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Swinburne Magazine, and I invite you to take advantage of the opportunities to engage with Swinburne. Best wishes for a safe and happy festive season.

Professor Linda Kristjanson

vice-chancellor and President

04 cultural divide finds digital bridge | melISSA mARIno Research brings home internet access to remote Indigenous communities

06 online clinic offers helping hand | KARIn deRKley The Swinburne National eTherapy Centre helps people with anxiety disorders regain control

08 science of design builds value | Ken FRIedmAn

09 design Factory a creative hub

10 New engineers solve 21st century problems | mAndy Thoo

12 Instant perception a visionary marvel | GIo BRAIdoTTI

13 virtual predictions beat destruction | TIm TReAdGold

14 It tools give maths pizzazz | AlexAndRA RoGInSKI Smart use of new technologies boosts maths skills

18 Job search software engineered for success | lIz PoRTeR

19 talk a trigger for innovation | AlexAndRA RoGInSKI

20 New light shines on dark mystery | julIAn CRIBB An international collaboration reveals gravity as the universe’s weak link

22 swinburne’s gstAr heralds ‘mega science’ | ClARISA CollIS Australian astronomy is tapping into processing technology developed for gaming

SwinburneIssue 14, december 2011Published three times a year by swinburne University of technologyJohn street (Po box 218), Hawthorn, victoria, 3122, AustraliacrIcos provider code 00111dIssN 1835-6516 (Print) IssN 1835-6524 (online)

Written, edited and designed by coretext, www.coretext.com.au Printed by Hannanprint

copyright © swinburne University of technology. All rights reserved

FeAtUres

Enquiriesmagazine manager: Liz tunnecliffetelephone: 1300 275 788 / +61 3 9214 8144email: [email protected] for free access to current and past issues: www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine

the information in this publication was correct at time of going to press, december 2011. views expressed in Swinburne are not necessarily the views of swinburne University of technology.

www.swinburne.edu.au

Issue 14 | December 2011Engineers solve 21st century problemsOnline clinic boosts mental healthBreakthroughs in perception

Magazine of Swinburne univerSity of technology

Measuring thE forces Of nature

Swin_1112_p01.indd 1

17/11/11 11:17 AM

08 2211

The International Association of Business Communicators awarded Swinburne magazine a 2010 Gold Quill Merit Award.

december 2011 swinburne 3

Frequent online shoppersAustralians lead the world when it comes to frequency of internet purchases, according to Swinburne Senior Research Fellow Scott Ewing.

However, online shopping is not the main cause of the current retail trade downturn, says Mr Ewing, who is the lead researcher on the Australian component of the World Internet Project.

“In fact, the Australian spend on the internet has not grown in the past two years. More Australians look for products online and then go and buy them at a store rather than the reverse, which is what many retailers fear,” says Mr Ewing, who provided the findings to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into the retail industry. The data shows:■ 78 per cent of Australians regularly shop on the web

(compared with 88 per cent of Americans)■ 25 per cent buy online at least once a week

(compared with 17 per cent of Americans and less than 10 per cent of Europeans, Israelis and Japanese)

■ almost 60 per cent pay bills via the internet ■ about 50 per cent buy event tickets over the internet■ the value of internet purchases by Australians has

remained stable at $206 a month for the past two years■ online spending in younger age groups has remained

steady or even declined in the past four years; shoppers aged 50 to 64 increased their average spend to $258 a month and those over 65 increased online spend to $135 a month. nn

Understanding motion sicknessIf you are one of the many people who suffer from motion sickness, take heart. Swinburne aviation medicine specialist Dr David Newman says understanding the cause can help people manage and even avoid attacks of nausea during travel. Motion sickness is caused by a conflict between the three primary sensors the body uses to interact with its surroundings:■ the balance organs in the ear that allow movement to

be detected in three dimensions■ the eyes, which are the primary source of information

about motion ■ the proprioceptors, or pressure sensors, found in

muscles, tendons and joints that relay the sense of touch.To beat nausea, Dr Newman suggests travellers:■ keep their eyes on the horizon and head still by using

a travel pillow ■ in a car, choose the front passenger seat; in an

aeroplane, choose a seat near the wing; in a boat, stay towards the centre of the vessel

■ avoid heavy, greasy meals shortly before travel and keep (non-alcoholic) fluid consumption up.

The good news, Dr Newman says, is that the body retains a memory of adaption, so persevere. nn

A closer look at cancerSwinburne researchers are improving our understanding of cancer using a unique combination of biology and physics techniques.

In an article published in the journal Biochemistry, and highlighted as a key scientific article in Global Medical Discovery, Swinburne researchers and collaborators from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have shown why some cancerous cells respond to certain medical interventions. The team used sophisticated optical techniques – generally associated with the world of physics – to examine mutated cells at the molecular level and how they reacted to different combinations of antibody therapies.

“This is the future of medical research – looking at biology through a physics lens,” says Associate Professor Andrew Clayton, head of Swinburne’s Cell Biophysics Research Group.

The team’s next step is to combine multiple dimensions of fluorescent signals to observe more complex interactions in cells. nn

Recycled-glass roads Mountains of waste glass that would otherwise go to landfill can now be recycled in Victoria’s roads and footpaths.

Researchers at Swinburne’s Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure led laboratory and field-testing of various blends of recycled glass in road-making materials for a consortium of government and industry groups including Sustainability Victoria, Visy, VicRoads, the Municipal Association of Victoria and the ARRB Group.

As a result, Victoria is taking the national lead with new specifications for road and pathway sub-base materials that significantly increase the proportion of crushed recycled glass that can be incorporated. nn

in brief

It looks like any other Formula SAE racing car, but in the name

of advancing electric car development Swinburne

engineering students have replaced the standard

petrol motor with a 60kW three-phase

electric motor.Ph

oTo:

PAu

l Jo

nES

Electric buzz hits the roadHard on the heels of beating Asia’s best in the enduro section of the 2011 Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Formula SAE competition, a Swinburne team of engineering students has turned its focus to designing, building and trialling an all-electric racing car.

“The students build a new car each year, so now that we’ve gone all electric, future teams will be able to draw on Swinburne’s electric vehicle research and

the researchers will be able to work with the students to test their ideas,” says academic supervisor Dr Clint Steele, pictured above with student Rodney Jackson at the wheel.

The team will put the car to the test at this month’s Victorian Formula SAE race meet. While they believe the engine’s torque and power should leave petrol cars behind from the start, the challenge will be maintaining the lead to the finish. nn

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/engineering/electric-vehicle/

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/engineering/cmp/research_cbp.php

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/engineering/csi/


is that 60 per cent of people had never even used the internet,” associate Professor rennie says. “they had no idea how to get it and even if they did know, organising a connection is difficult with just one public phone that works some of the time.”

while the communities lack basic infrastructure, the fact that internet uptake rates among non-indigenous households in the same region are at least 25 times higher indicates there are other barriers to home usage.

associate Professor rennie says those barriers are a complex set of interrelated issues, exacerbated by isolation: affordability, english literacy, lack of support, training and maintenance, and concerns over security and billing stemming from cultural issues such as transient households and demand-sharing (when a person is obliged to share their belongings).

therefore, she says, better infrastructure alone will not improve the situation – a conclusion reflected in the project’s recently published phase one report, which recommends a new broadband assistance program providing training and maintenance support. to overcome billing and cost concerns, it recommends wi-fi networks be established and billed to the community, rather than at individual household level.

key poInts�A massive digital divide exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous homes in Australia.�A Swinburne-partnered project that involves a rollout of internet-enabled computers

to remote Indigenous communities seeks to bridge this gap.�training and appropriate access schemes are keys to increasing internet uptake in remote

Indigenous communities.

SOcIAl IncluSIOn

A swinburne-partnered project brings the benefits of home internet access to remote Indigenous communities, in many cases for the first time by meLIssA mArINo

thE IntErnEt is credited with bringing the world closer together, which means those without access are left on the other side of a widening social, technical and knowledge divide. nowhere is this more evident than in australia’s remote indigenous communities.

this was illustrated starkly in the 2006 census. in communities in central australia outside alice Springs, just 2.2 per cent of indigenous homes had an internet connection, compared with 57 per cent of non-indigenous homes.

it was a statistic that resonated with Swinburne associate Professor ellie rennie and provided a catalyst for a research project to find an effective way to address this gap.

“remote indigenous communities need the internet more than anybody in terms of their lack of access to services, banks, shops and even just being able to talk to a family member in the next community,” says the Swinburne institute for Social research deputy director.

“it’s very difficult when you’ve got one public phone that often doesn’t work and rely on word of mouth or driving long distances for information.”

associate Professor rennie embarked on the

home internet for remote indigenous communities project with the central land council (clc) and the centre for appropriate technology (cat) when cat’s andrew crouch came looking for partners in 2009.

working as an engineer with the alice Springs-based cat, where he provides a range of technical services to indigenous communities, Mr crouch has seen plenty of evidence of the digital gulf between indigenous and non-indigenous homes.

he says the joint project provides the opportunity to bridge the digital divide, and a solid research platform from which to launch future studies and policy.

Setting the scenethe team’s first step was to gather baseline data to determine the basic barriers and needs relevant to home internet use. funded by peak consumer communications group the australian communications consumer action network (accan), the researchers interviewed 48 residents from Kwale Kwale, imangara and Mungalawurru – outstations of fewer than 100 people, typical of many communities throughout central australia.

while internet connection is available in remote regions via a subsidised satellite scheme, these indigenous communities had not accessed the scheme.

one of the key reasons for the low uptake was lack of knowledge about the internet. “affordability was a significant factor, but i think the bigger reason

CulturaldividE findsdigital bridge

The connectivity divideResearch into three townships typical of small, remote Indigenous communities in central Australia revealed:■ 6% of residents had a laptop or home computer■ 58% of residents interviewed had used a computer ■ 39% of those who had used a computer had never

used the internet■ 75% of internet users were under the age of 30.In comparison, research shows eight out of 10 people in mainstream Australia access the internet regularly.

Women are most enthusiastic about trying home internet access: Karen goes online

while (from left) Rosita, Esmeralda and Cynthia look on.


top robotsThe world’s fastest two-handed Rubik’s cube-solving robot has been developed by students at Swinburne University of Technology.

The robot, named Ruby, can solve the scrambled puzzle in just over 10 seconds, including the time taken to scan the initial status of the cube.

Ruby was built from scratch by six students as their final-year project in the double degree Bachelor of Engineering (Robotics and Mechatronics)/Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Software Engineering).

“The combined expertise in robotics and software engineering enabled the students to construct a robot

with a fast computer-vision-tracking system capable of very high precision movements and timings,” says Professor Chris Pilgrim, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies.

The achievement attracted worldwide attention, earned the students a win in the Tertiary Student Project category of the 2011 National iAwards and representation of Australia in the Asia Pacific ICT Awards.

■ A separate team of Swinburne engineering students has won the 2011 National Instruments Autonomous Robotics Competition. Their robot successfully completed the predefined object-handling tasks while negotiating the obstacle-ridden course in the fastest time.

activity around art and cattle enterprises by computer, a car has been bought online and family members contacted.

training includes familiarising residents with the benefits of regularly checking online for day-to-day information such as weather or – importantly – road conditions. while they are not habits yet, associate

Professor rennie says these sources of information will become more valuable. “i would imagine life could be quite different out there by the time the project concludes late in 2014,” she says. nn

more InformatIone: [email protected]; t: 1300 275 788

roll up for rolloutthe team’s findings were used to set the parameters of the next phase of the project: delivery of internet-enabled computers to the communities, funded by the aboriginals benefit account (aba). households opted in for this process. wi-fi connections to central satellites and a community-based account are now in place, along with desktop computers equipped with a lockable case for security and to protect against dust.

Mr crouch is overseeing the rollout and provides maintenance and training; for example, in the use of email and Skype. these modes of communicating with contacts – including providers of essential services and family members in hospital or boarding school – are far superior to, and cheaper than, what many residents have ever experienced.

it is satisfying, Mr crouch says, to see the research have an impact on the ground and on people’s lives. “if phase two didn’t exist and people didn’t have the opportunity to be exposed to home internet, the study would be fairly hollow,” he says. “it gives us the opportunity to learn while at the same time giving people some real benefits.”

Going online: the impactwith internet-enabled computers rolled out and baseline data reported, the home internet for remote indigenous communities project’s third phase has begun.

funded by an australian research council (arc) linkage grant, and partnered by the Swinburne institute for Social research, cat, clc and accan, the longitudinal study will measure the impact of the home internet rollout and surrounding issues. this includes whether broadband can help resolve critical social needs through access to services and social connectivity.

it will not only help develop a rigorous framework of research data on the issue, but also provide a blueprint for the best practical broadband implementation strategy for remote indigenous communities.

associate Professor rennie says the project has a good chance of its recommendations finding their way into policy. this is largely because representatives from the federal Department of broadband, communications and the Digital economy and from the indigenous remote communications association are on the reference committee. “what i like about this project more than anything is that it has real potential to make change,” she says.

already, the 2011 rollout is having an impact, Mr crouch says. women have taken up the technology with the most enthusiasm. google earth, itunes and youtube are among the most popular sites. People are asking how they can conduct their business

In brIef

swinburne robotics students won a merit Award with

ruby at the recent Asia Pacific Ict Association Awards.

6

MEntAl hEAlth

Mental health researcher an e-pioneerIt was while studying to be a teacher that Associate Professor Britt Klein realised she was far more concerned with the mental health and wellbeing of the students than she was in teaching them maths or English. Completing her honours degree in psychology, she and her supervisor, the late Professor Jeff Richards, saw the potential of newly emerging online services to help people with panic and anxiety disorders.

Even so, her early presentations in 1998 on the topic were greeted with some scepticism by the academic community. “People found it hard to see past the traditional model of a client meeting a therapist face-to-face.” However, it soon became clear that consumer demand and the positive results of those using online treatment programs supported her hypothesis.

Over the past 14 years Associate Professor Klein has developed and evaluated numerous online mental health and wellbeing programs. The increased speed and pervasiveness of the internet has helped, as has funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. “We’ve been very fortunate to have received the funding that we have over the years and hope to offer all registered healthcare professionals ‘therapist’ access to the infrastructure, enabling them to work with their clients using all the current and upcoming Anxiety Online programs, tools and features.”

Broad dissemination of e-mental health technologies is a very important way of giving people access to timely mental health assistance, Associate Professor Klein says.

Associate Professor Britt Klein: “It’s about giving people as much choice as

possible regarding the way they would like to receive psychological assistance.”

PhoTo: EAMon GAllAGhER



key poInts�Associate Professor Britt Klein has applied her expertise in clinical psychology to develop

online mental health support programs.�Anxiety Online provides open access to information, online psychological assessment and fully

automated self-help or therapist-supported treatment programs via email.�research found those who completed the online programs improved in terms of level of

symptom severity and confidence to manage their mental health care.

the swinburne National etherapy centre is helping people with anxiety disorders to regain control through online support by KArIN derKLey

At A rEcEnt overseas conference genevieve*, a researcher and academic, experienced one of her last anxiety attacks. “i was alone in the hotel room and i started to panic,” she recalls. Previous panic attacks had left her incapacitated with migraine and nausea. but this time genevieve had help. She was 10 weeks into one of the 12-week anxiety online programs devised by the Swinburne national etherapy centre (netc).

“the module i had been working on was about learning to sit with fear for 45 minutes. i went with that process in the hotel room and i got through it, and i can tell you that was a major achievement for me.”

the condition of extreme anxiety hit genevieve five years ago, when she experienced a series of life changes that shattered her sense of security. “i got to the point where i didn’t know how to live,” she says. over the next few years she spent thousands of dollars on counsellors and therapists, but none provided an escape from the dread engulfing her.

when a friend directed genevieve towards anxiety online, she recognised for the first time that she had typical anxiety disorder symptoms – and that there were strategies for managing them.

anxiety online uses the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (cbt) to guide users towards a way of understanding and managing their responses. after an initial online assessment, users can either work through one of the programs on their own for free, or pay $10 a week to be supported via email through the program by a trained therapist – as genevieve did.

associate Professor britt Klein, director of Swinburne’s netc, says cbt is the most evidence-based psychological treatment available for anxiety disorders. with deputy director David austin, she developed the anxiety online virtual psychology clinic.

associate Professor Klein says that online psychological treatment gives immediate access to treatment to those who would normally not be able or willing to see a therapist in person. it can also empower people to take greater control of the process.

Online clinic offers helping hand

Canada adopts Swinburne programSaskatchewan is a large, sparsely populated province in central Canada where, as in Australia, people with mental health disorders can find themselves isolated from professional help. But since early 2010, people there have had access to several Swinburne Anxiety Online programs.

Professor Heather Hadjistavropoulos, of the Online Therapy Unit for Service, Education and Research at the University of Regina, says the unit decided to license the Anxiety Online programs after reviewing research supporting the value of internet cognitive behavioural therapy.

Apart from some slight modifications to Australian colloquial sayings, the Saskatchewan group has been able to use the original program in its entirety, Professor Hadjistavropoulos says. “The (Swinburne) group was incredibly helpful in terms of assisting us in setting up our web application and developing policies and procedures related to operating an online therapy unit.”

She hopes the Saskatchewan unit can continue its partnership with Anxiety Online. “They are leading the field and we are very fortunate to be able to partner with them and learn from their work in this area.”

for genevieve, anxiety online has restored her life. having completed the course a few months ago, she says she now has the tools to deal with whatever life throws at her. “for the first time i feel i know what i need to do to deal with it all.”

tailored therapy for anxiety disordersfigures from the anxiety online virtual clinic service seem to support this. Since going live in october 2009 more than 3500 people have started one of the 12-week anxiety disorder programs for treatment of generalised anxiety, panic, obsessive compulsive, post-traumatic stress or social anxiety disorder. the results for those who have completed the programs have been positive, associate Professor Klein says. clinical severity levels for the various anxiety disorders have dropped, as have the total number of mental health disorders present, by the end of the programs. Programs are also offered for depression and bulimia nervosa.

now netc is developing integrated multiple-disorder programs, tailored to each person’s unique set of mental health symptoms, gender and age. “these programs will be able to treat several disorders at one time and also contextualise their treatment according to their individual characteristics,” associate Professor Klein says. further changes to the anxiety online platform will extend therapist support from email to also include instant messaging, audio chat, video chat and virtual reality environments. the expected release date of these upgrades is July 2012.

the virtual clinic does not seek to replace face-to-face therapy, associate Professor Klein says, but to provide an added option. “it’s about giving people as much choice as possible regarding the way they would like to receive psychological assistance.” nn

* Not her real name.

more InformatIonwww.anxietyonline.org.au

The Anxiety online website is helping people manage and improve their mental health.

http://www.anxietyonline.org.au/


OPInIOn

science of design builds value by Ken friedman

tOdAy the word ‘design’ means many things. the common link is service: designers work in a service profession and the results of their work affect every aspect of our daily lives.

economist and nobel laureate herbert a Simon described design as devising courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones. Simon was an advocate of what he labelled the ‘design science’ approach, recognising that the way things look and feel, while vital to design, is no longer enough.

to drive the creative innovation necessary to solve the problems society faces today, and the anticipated challenges of tomorrow, design requires high-quality research that advances knowledge and practice, just as research serves professional practice in medicine and engineering.

Medicine made the shift to research-based practice in the early 1900s. engineering made the shift soon after. Design is making that shift in australia today. in the same way that research drives advances in science, design research will drive a cycle of knowledge generation and sharing to build the skills and capability that are crucial to value creation and international competitiveness for all major industry sectors.

Design research is already contributing to significant advances, informing improvements in design methods, new materials, computational analysis and user-driven design, and triggering other developments that lead to truly innovative solutions.

Just as basic research – the search and discovery, the development of methods and systems for the advancement of knowledge – is critical for advances in science, it is essential to providing the foundations for future practical applications in the development of innovative design solutions.

an example is the study of how the brain responds to stimuli (neuroaffective design). this work at Swinburne – related to psychology, with streams of enquiry that touch on behavioural economics and human/computer interaction – grew out of a collaboration with the Delft university of technology in the netherlands. cambridge university and the university of vienna are now also collaborating on this work.

as with medicine and engineering, systems must also be in place to support the timely translation of new knowledge into practice that brings benefits to society.

at Swinburne, we achieve this by drawing on the expertise and knowledge within the university in collaboration with australian industry and business and our international partners. nn

Ken Friedman is University Distinguished Professor and Dean, Faculty of Design, Swinburne University of Technology.

Professor Ken Friedman: design requires high-quality research to advance knowledge and practice.

PhoTo: PAul JonES


dESIGn

design factory a creative hub

thE PAcE of change today and the complex challenges faced by business and society require an equally complex and dynamic process that accelerates creative solutions.

this view underpins the Design factory approach to driving research and innovation learning, an approach pioneered at finland’s aalto university and now adopted at Swinburne university of technology.

“the Design factory creates a uniquely flexible environment for business, engineers, designers, end-users and researchers to come together to experiment, develop and test concepts,” says Professor Ken friedman, Swinburne’s Dean of the faculty of Design.

“it is a process that has been proven by aalto to lead to breakthrough innovations for the business partners.

“for australian students who aspire to a leading role in the global design business, it means access to academic support, technology and leading design research to develop their skills in creative innovation while delivering tangible benefits to business partners.”

dividends for students and business partnerscommunications design lecturer Simone taffe heads the Swinburne Design factory, where teams of students from communication, industrial and digital media design work on research-led collaborations with external partners. from 2012, participation will extend to engineering, business, marketing and information technology graduates.

Ms taffe says the australian Design factory and its teamwork approach is already paying dividends for students and industry partners. “Students have added new dimensions that business partners hadn’t originally considered, as well as proactively identifying opportunities to reduce costs.”

She says working with student teams requires some extra commitment from the partners because they are part of an education process rather than clients simply wanting a brief fulfilled. “but so far they’ve been thrilled.”

inaugural partners include the Melbourne Metropolitan fire brigade (Mfb), Stonnington city council and the victorian Department of Sustainability and environment. Students working on the Mfb project are developing online resources for a primary school fire education program.

“it is a prime example of the crucial link between research, idea generation and sharing the lessons learned,” Ms taffe says. “Students are applying Swinburne research on participatory design – going way beyond market research – to engage children, teachers and firefighters in the development of the creative solution.”

australian andrew clutterbuck, development coordinator and coach at aalto Design factory, says students improve their communication, negotiation, cultural awareness and proactivity.

“Different disciplines draw students with different traits. Developing relationships within teams is an essential part of the process,” Mr clutterbuck says. “we ask people to leave their assumptions at the door, to take the initiative if they see something that can be improved and to use their common sense.”

key poInts�Swinburne has adopted finland’s acclaimed

design factory model to develop the creative collaboration capability of top students.

�the model focuses teams of business, design, engineering and It students on hard questions posed by business and industry.

aalto’s Professor Kalevi ekman, an adjunct professor at Swinburne, is advising on the australian initiative. he was crucial in the 30-year evolution of the interdisciplinary co-creation concept that led to the opening of the Design factory three years ago.

today, aalto Design factory partners with major corporations and start-ups, collaborates with leading researchers worldwide, and attracts more than 10,000 visitors a year – all eager to experience the creative use of space and understand the collaborative processes, design-led research and innovation that so inspired Swinburne. nn

more InformatIonsimone taffe: [email protected], www.swinburne.edu.au/design

Swinburne industrial design students Katie Bednarz, Andrew Fanning and Tom hurd are participating in Aalto university

product development projects in helsinki.

Swinburne postgraduate design student Katie Bednarz describes Aalto Design Factory as possessing a wonderful sense of community. She recently returned from a placement at the Finnish university with fellow postgraduate student Thomas Hurd and honours student Andrew Fanning. The trio were on Swinburne scholarships to work with international teams on product-development projects.

“Walking through the doors of Design Factory means leaving your assumptions behind, meaning that you often find yourself chatting with someone, only to later find out they are the CEO of a major company. We are also given the opportunity to meet amazing people from the design world,” Ms Bednarz says.

“I have been working with Biolan, Finland’s largest organic fertiliser producer, to create urban gardening solutions for various global conditions. Officially known

as ‘Beyond Basil’, our team is multidisciplinary, consisting of industrial designers, product engineers, chemical engineers and marketing students. We are also from many different cultural backgrounds, with myself working on the remainder of the project in Australia and two students working from Tongji University in Shanghai.”

Mr Hurd is working on a product-development project sponsored by UNICEF that aims to improve water quality, hygiene and sanitation in Uganda through innovation and technology.

“Design for social good is an area I am extremely passionate about, having lived and travelled in many developing countries, so this opportunity is really amazing,” Mr Hurd says.

They continue to work with their Helsinki project teams via the internet.

Quest for social good at heart of Finnish foray


tOdAy’S wOrld has no shortage of challenges for manufacturers and society: increasing global competition, rising costs, depletion of natural resources and other overarching economic, environmental and social issues.

recognising the need for skills to help manufacturers respond to these challenges, Swinburne university of technology is training a new style of engineer.

graduates of the university’s Product Design engineering (PDe) program combine engineering science and industrial design to approach projects from a manufacturing perspective with a humanitarian,

focusing on just the mechanical aspects, design solutions have to be sustainable, user-centred, responsible and appropriate.”

the Swinburne approach is to instil sustainable and user-focused design as a philosophy among aspiring product design engineers.

each year, students are required to apply their creative skills to develop products that address social needs, alternative technologies, energy consumption, waste minimisation and improve the lives of those who are socio-economically disadvantaged.

Mr de vere says a typical challenge may require students to assist people living in remote areas of a developing country who must transport water from a distant source. “real-world problems have no preset solution. Design responses could range from a simple hand-propelled roller product to infrastructure, but we expect original, innovative solutions.”

with access to the latest technology, including rapid prototyping machines, a 3D projection system, robotic laser scanning and laser cutting, as well as a traditional workshop, students develop diverse creative product solutions. these include new medical equipment, agricultural tools, assistive technologies for people with disabilities and vehicles or facilities that run on renewable fuels.

Bridging the divide between culturesthe program also aims to equip aspiring design engineers to be valuable contributors in today’s multidisciplinary product development teams, says associate Professor Soullis tavrou, the program’s leader.

“two critical aspects of creating a product are functionality and design, which means that the two fields should be interdependent,” associate Professor tavrou says. “however, engineers or designers sometimes lack knowledge about what is involved in each other’s work, and it creates a gap.

“this can result in lengthy back-and-forth discussions in the product development process which, at the competitive pace of today’s market, is not ideal.”

by delivering the core knowledge of both mechanical engineering and design, the Swinburne PDe program equips graduates with a more holistic approach.

Students are trained to apply engineering science in the context of a design problem, which puts their engineering and manufacturing skills to the test.

“it means, for example, they can choose the most appropriate materials and design for existing or more efficient manufacturing and assembly processes,” associate Professor tavrou says.

“they learn to build and test throughout their degree, which follows the scientific process of experimentation, where rigorous trials are essential.”

Mr de vere says that, while unique in australia, the concept of this program is widespread and well received in the uK and western europe.

“in spite of diminishing natural resources, there will always be the need for newer and improved product solutions,” he says. “the key is for design engineers to have sustainability, human sensitivity and social responsibility as their agendas.” nn

society-centred focus on the environment and user needs. ian de vere, education researcher and Swinburne’s

program coordinator for both industrial design and product design engineering, says many of today’s challenges do not have pre-existing solutions. “research has shown that these often ill-defined problems cannot be solved by solely applying the techniques of science and engineering, but require a completely new approach.

“the 21st century product design engineer has to adopt creativity, problem-solving and independent critical-thinking skills to their work. instead of

PrOduct dESIGn

new engineers solve 21st century problemsstory by Mandy thoo

Peter Vojtech designed the Mobix hybrid mobility shopping aid for the elderly integrates walking frame safety, locking brakes, a seat and modular storage compartments.

Wind power generators designed by Tim Ryan and Chris hart.

Ed Taylor designed this portable water filter for World Vision to improve the quality of water for people living in remote villages in new Guinea. The water is filtered through layers of readily available bamboo pulp as it is transported from the water source to village.

Carla Zampaglione designed narq, a handheld roadside drug testing device for Axxin, a biomedical company.

key poInts�Increasing competition for consumer markets and society’s need for sustainable,

socially responsible products require a new breed of engineer.�An innovative course at Swinburne is producing product design engineers to answer

these needs for Australian industry.

Final-year PDE student projects

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/engineering/study-areas/engineering/product-design/


Stella Knörr was at a crossroads when she found the product design engineering (PDE) course.

“I loved physics and maths, but also had a passion for art and graphics. Seeing these as two traditionally separate fields, I thought I would have to give up one for the other. That was before I discovered that Swinburne was offering the PDE degree,” Ms Knörr says.

After completing a year of industry-based learning at Invetech – a multinational product development and manufacturing company – during her degree, Ms Knörr joined the company in 2008 after graduation.

As a product design engineer in the Mechanical Design and Development group, she has been involved in developing products such as fast-moving consumer goods, point-of-care medical devices and medical consumables. The Micronics PanNAT, a portable medical device is a highlight; it allows on-the-ground access to diagnosis of diseases such as malaria in the developing world.

“I feel lucky because I got the best of both worlds. What I learned allows me to combine creative with practical. With my skills I am able to work across the mechanical design and development, computer-aided design and the industrial design groups,” she says.

“I have been involved in designing a product from the beginning, when all we have been given is an idea, right through to structured innovation and idea generation, developing concepts, prototyping, and detailing components for manufacture and assembly.”

Stella says another attraction to her career

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path is her interest in the environment. She completed a Swinburne Diploma of Sustainability in the final year of her degree. “We have the ability to influence the amount of energy it takes to manufacture a product, the energy efficiency of a product, and the amount of material that ends up as waste in landfills.”

Andrew Uhe, the Mechanical Design and Development group manager at Invetech, says the PDE graduates are well-trained to bridge the gaps between mechanical engineering and industrial design: “They come with a mix of industrial design skills and a good knowledge of manufacturing processes, so they can get to work very quickly.

“Their skills are a good complement to the mechanical engineers, and because they can break the boundaries between the two disciplines, they work more smoothly across different departments.”

Matthew Reeves is one of several Swinburne PDE graduates employed by Melbourne-based product design and development group CobaltNiche. Now a senior engineer with the company, he led the development of the LEX slimline LED exit sign, which won the 2010 Australian International Design Award.

Steve Martinuzzo, CobaltNiche’s managing director, says that two key traits consistently demonstrated by graduates are a hands-on approach and good knowledge of manufacturing processes such as moulding, tooling and assembling. His company works closely with the university, mentoring and hiring graduates from the course. nn

Creative engineers find market niche

Product design engineer Stella Knörr found she didn’t have to choose between physics, maths, art and graphics in her chosen field.

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/engineering/study-areas/engineering/product-design/

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dEvElOPEd in the 1960s, the ‘subliminal effect’ is the idea that rapidly flashed images may influence behaviour, despite the images not being consciously perceived. in its day the hypothesis, with its undertones of mind control, fuelled cold war paranoia and today continues to pique public imagination through the way it could be used by advertisers.

however, a Swinburne university of technology study has upturned previous research on visual perception. its new findings show that human brains can consciously process visual information so fast as to stretch the limits of modern measuring instruments.

the unexpected result has far-reaching implications in psychology, including evolutionary explanations for uniquely human vision attributes, and spells the end for ideas of mind control via the subliminal effect.

new devices, deeper perceptionthe visual perception project is the brainchild of Professor allan whitfield, director of Swinburne’s national institute for Design research. he says that early in the project a technical flaw was discovered in instruments previously used for subliminal research, sidetracking the project into the invention of a new way to display images rapidly.

the task fell to the institute’s Dr clementine thurgood and associate Professor John Patterson of Swinburne’s biomedical group.

associate Professor Patterson explains that past technical problems were due to limitations in display hardware. while it is relatively simple to produce an extremely rapid flash of light, presenting a complex visual image rapidly is much more difficult.

“for our study, we loaded a digital image onto a dark liquid crystal display (lcD),” he says. “when the image was fully loaded we backlit the screen with a single flash from an array of light-emitting diodes (leDs) that reach full luminance almost instantly. that is what allowed us to control the visible duration of the image.”

called an leD-tachistoscope, and now patented by Swinburne, the instrument can display images as briefly as a millisecond (ms), 1/1000 of a second. for comparison, 3/1000 is the duration of a housefly’s wing flap. Such rapid exposure times were confirmed using a photodiode – a transistor

that only conducts electricity when exposed to light.“we did not seriously expect people to recognise an

image when exposure was less than 10 milliseconds,” Dr thurgood says. “So we were stunned when John – the first person tested – clearly recognised the image of a dog, including the breed, after a one millisecond exposure.”

rapid minds respond fasterDuring the subsequent study, humans proved 90 per cent accurate at recognising images of animals displayed at one and 10 milliseconds. “all reported consciously seeing the images,” Dr thurgood says.

associate Professor Patterson recalls being “flummoxed” by the outcome. “as a physiologist, i did not believe humans were that fast. for me, the result has precipitated a reappraisal of visual perception theory.”

Professor whitfield now doubts that there is any such thing as a subliminal effect. instead, he is using leD-tachistoscope technology to study attributes of visual perception more broadly.

with no speed limit yet detected, the Swinburne team has built a second-generation leD-tachistoscope to further reduce exposure times to less than 1/1000 of a second. Preparations are also underway to measure electrical brain activity during rapid perceptions using electroencephalography (eeg).

Spotlight on the discerning eyeSeveral new research projects relying on the new technology are now underway. of interest to Dr thurgood are processing rates for emotions associated with visual perceptions. She is working with Professor gitte lindgaard of carleton university in ottawa, canada (soon to join the team at Swinburne), to examine the minimal stimulus input needed to evaluate the visual appeal of web pages.

then there is work on the ‘mere-exposure effect’, in which repeated exposure to an image is found to increase its appeal. “it sounds unbelievable, but it works,” Professor whitfield says. “My interest in these effects is that they involve an area of psychology to do with understanding aesthetics.”

while not immediately obvious, aesthetics actually link with human visual perceptions to an extraordinary extent. Professor whitfield points to the billions of dollars spent on beauty products and fashion, through to the use of decorative design and colours even of utilitarian objects such as bicycles, garden tools and water bottles.

“we control the appearance of more and more things, especially as we get richer,” he says. “yet despite its incredible influence, aesthetics is taken for granted and is poorly understood. that is what i want to reverse.” nn

Beginnings of an experimental career Originally aiming for a career in clinical psychology, Dr Clementine Thurgood studied psychology and psychophysiology at Swinburne, only to opt for research at the last hurdle.

The turning point came in 2005 after she completed honours at Swinburne’s Brain Sciences Institute and realised the vastly greater learning opportunities associated with research.

Recruited to do a PhD in the Faculty of Design by Professor Allan Whitfield, Dr Thurgood undertook a series of exceptional experiments that proved humans are able to consciously process visual stimuli at exposure durations far faster than previously measurable by equipment.

Her doctoral studies hinged on resolving the technical issues of presenting complex images at very short time intervals and in the process she joined in the invention of the LED-tachistoscope.

“It is letting us do new things and I am quite happy to be involved, exploring different research areas and seeing where the data takes us,” she says.

Her curiosity-driven journey will include a year in the Netherlands working with collaborators at the Delft University of Technology as part of an international collaboration to, once again, attempt the unprecedented. In this case, it will be to help model the psychology that underlies the quintessentially human perception of aesthetics.

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instant perception a visionary marvelstory by gio braidotti

key poInts�research at Swinburne has found that people

are able to consciously perceive images even if displayed for as briefly as 1/1000 of a second.

�the research has cast new light on so-called subliminal vision.

Dr Clementine Thurgood's research is shedding new light on how the human brain processes fleeting visual information.


key poInts�new computer modelling capabilities

at Swinburne will help Australian manufacturers design and test new materials and components.

�the virtual method saves time and money in the later physical testing process.

BEfOrE computer modelling there was only one way to discover the limits of a metal alloy, or any other material – test it to destruction.

the problems with this approach are obvious: it’s expensive, wastes resources and takes time.

therefore it’s not surprising that ‘virtual manufacturing’ at the Swinburne-based australian advanced Manufacturing research centre (ausaMrc) is attracting the attention of major industrial companies looking for solutions to complex technical issues.

headed by Professor Jeong yoon, the Swinburne virtual manufacturing team offers australian manufacturers access to cutting-edge engineering and technology capabilities.

“what we do is simulate the manufacturing process using computer-aided engineering to predict outcomes in the physical process,” Professor yoon says. “our

PhoTo: PAul JonES

AdvAncEd MAnufActurInG

virtual predictions beat destructionstory by tim treadgold

Professor Jeong Yoon brings virtual manufacturing capability to Swinburne and Australian industry.

work helps a manufacturer design components and achieve the best results from the materials being used.”

companies using the computer simulation skills of Professor yoon include boeing – where the focus is on composite materials such as those used in the 787 Dreamliner ordered by Qantas – and aviation suppliers such as Sandvik australia.

Expertise grounded in industryKorean-born Professor yoon is a uS citizen with an international reputation. he joined Swinburne in 2010 as Professor of advanced Manufacturing after a career that included research and development roles at the world’s largest aluminium company, alcoa, at MSc Software corporation and at Korean electronics firm lg. he retains a part-time position as invited professor at the university of aveiro in Portugal.

“what we bring to a manufacturer is a combination of cost and time saving. if the behaviour of a material is not well known, it can take a long time to accurately assess its properties and the point at which it fails,” Professor yoon says.

“for example, in automotive design, a manufacturer must know how materials will perform in a crash. we can do most of the essential early

analysis using our computer-modelling techniques.”Professor yoon predicts that many manufacturers

will adopt early stage modelling as part of their design process. “we can recommend a design to a manufacturer and they can then conduct trials, and very often there is an accurate correlation between the computer model and the final product,” he says.

Global research network ausaMrc, which opened in november 2009, is modelled on a successful research centre established with boeing at the university of Sheffield in the uK. it is part of a network of collaborating boeing-engaged research centres around the world.

Professor John beynon, Dean of the faculty of engineering and industrial Sciences and principal investigator of ausaMrc, led mechanical engineering at Sheffield before relocating to Swinburne in 2005, bringing with him the template that led to the australian research centre’s creation.

boeing research & technology-australia coordinates the work of ausaMrc, with the primary aim of helping suppliers to boeing improve their capabilities and deliver globally competitive products.

research projects are funded by membership fees, and through partnerships with other research organisations and state and federal government.

Membership is not restricted to boeing suppliers, although participation is intended to assist companies preparing to join the company’s global supply chain.

companies leverage process predictions ausaMrc industrial liaison Miro Miletic says the work of Professor yoon is attracting widespread interest in the manufacturing sector.

“companies are beginning to appreciate what early stage computer-aided modelling can do for the predictability of their products, not just in terms of saving time and money, but in achieving a better finished product,” Mr Miletic says.

Swedish-based Sandvik is working with ausaMrc at Swinburne on drilling and trimming of carbon composite materials, seeking ways to improve surface finish and extend cutting-tool life in aerospace applications.

Melbourne-based lovitt technologies, a manufacturer of complex machined components for the global aerospace industry and member of ausaMrc, is working to improve machining times of hard-metal components used in new-generation commercial and military aircraft. nn

more InformatIonGo to www.swinburne.edu.au/ausamrc or email miro miletic:

[email protected]


tEAchInG & lEArnInG

key poInts�Interactive teaching gadgets are improving student experiences of mathematics courses.�Students can access maths help online, anywhere and anytime, under an international,

Swinburne-led initiative.�An investment of $140,000 in 2011 is providing lecturers and students with

access to new technologies and training.

research shows smart use of new technologies is boosting maths skills by ALexANdrA roGINsKI

I.t. tOOlS GIvE MAthS PIZZAZZ

whEn seeking evidence of how new technologies enrich the learning experience, look no further than the gratitude of richard grzebieta, a first-year mechatronics and robotics student at Swinburne university of technology.

Mr grzebieta began his university course this year after a decade working in the electronics industry. “in

Mathematician Dr Birgit loch says teaching with new technologies is a whole lot of fun. PhoTo: PAul JonES

the first unit of maths i got completely lost,” he says. “Most people had a year 12 background, whereas i did that 10 years ago and couldn’t remember a single thing.”

in the second week of first semester, Mr grzebieta found himself in the Swinburne Maths and Stats help (MaSh) centre, a drop-in support unit for students in the faculty of engineering and industrial Sciences.

led by Dr birgit loch, senior lecturer in maths education, the MaSh centre is staffed by a roster of five tutors. MaSh also has an online facility with tools for students to access anywhere, anytime.

among Dr loch’s teaching innovations are Mathscasts, short video screen grabs of a mathematical problem being solved by a lecturer as he or she narrates each step. annotations, scribbled with a stylus onto a tablet Pc screen, appear around the problem. it is like displaying the sound, vision and notes from a lecture all at once. Mathscasts is a research collaboration led by Swinburne, with the university of limerick in ireland, and loughborough university in the uK. thanks to the Mathscast online portal, launched this year, students can see particularly difficult topics, such as differential equations, tackled from multiple angles.

Mr grzebieta has found Mathscasts a perfect complement to the minimum of four hours he spends in


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the MaSh centre each week. “every time i get stuck on something, i’ll go back to a Mathscast, and it makes it a bit easier to go through questions out of a book,” he says. this semester, not only does he find maths easier to grasp, but he has even started enjoying it.

A timely end to ‘death by slideshow’in addition to leading MaSh and working to integrate technology into education, Dr loch teaches the first-year maths foundation subjects for Swinburne’s bachelor of engineering degrees.

Swinburne is supporting Dr loch’s direction with $140,000 to source new equipment and train interested staff from across the faculty of engineering and industrial Sciences in how they can boost their teaching with new technologies.

She is continually testing and evaluating new ways to engage students and improve maths skills with new technologies.

by passing her wireless tablet to students and asking them to solve the problem, the answer appears on the lecture theatre’s main screen.

“it’s more dynamic because the students are contributing. it’s not one person who knows it all. you actually have a discussion,” Dr loch says. “you might go off on a tangent, but maybe that’s exactly what’s needed. if you’ve got PowerPoint slides only, then you can’t adjust. this, instead, gives you flexibility.”

Dr loch and colleagues adopting her techniques upload annotated slides onto the web after class, enabling students to focus on the mathematical process rather than frantically scribbling down every detail in the lecture.

“we are also trialling pen screens installed in lecture theatres. they allow electronic writing on the existing lecture room computer,” Dr loch says.

a simple but effective way to check if students are following a topic is with audience response systems, or ‘clickers’. as in a game show, each student is given a small handset into which they enter a response to a multiple-choice question. “if they’re not getting the right answer, you can hardly ignore it – you have to explain the topic again. and if they’re all understanding it, why not just move on?”

at the end of the day, Dr loch stresses that anything is better than a static lecture. “if a lecturer experiments with a tablet Pc and ends up using clickers then great, they’ve

done something different, hopefully improved engagement of students, and made their classes more active.” nn

more InformatIon mathscasts: www.swinburne.edu.au/mathscasts

swinburne offers the Graduate certificate in educational

technologies for primary and secondary teachers wanting

to incorporate educational technologies into their teaching.

For details call 1300 275 794

the teaching tech-scapeMathsCasts: ‘Screen casts’ of lecturers solving mathematical problems, available to students and the general public through the Swinburne website and iTunesU. “We want students to be able to get help immediately without necessarily coming to us. They can get it wherever they are,” Dr Birgit Loch says. Tablet PC room: A facility in Swinburne’s new Advanced Technology Centre equipped with 20 tablet PCs. Students answer a problem on their tablet, with all responses displayed anonymously on the main screen for the class to discuss. Clickers: Audience response systems. Students enter their response to a multiple-choice question into a handheld device, informing the lecturer how many grasp the topic.Pen screens: Fixed tablet screens on which lecturers can annotate slides without turning their backs to students.

number whizDr Loch jokes that overhead projectors are the perfect stand on which to rest her tablet computer when she teaches. In her eyes, these projectors are in the same league of soporific teaching tools as electronic slides being narrated in a monotone.

Although she began her career with a PhD in mathematics, Dr Loch – who joined Swinburne in 2010 – has shifted her research focus to how new technologies enhance maths education.

She was an early adopter of tablet PC technology, first using one in class when she joined the University of Southern Queensland in 2005. One of the tablet’s strongest advantages, she says, is that tutors and lecturers can jot down notes and annotate slides without turning their backs to students, as they would if writing on a whiteboard.

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ict/courses/postgrad/certificate-educational-technologies.html

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MAKInG futurE BuIldInGS SAfErSuStAInABlE InfrAStructurE

thE cAPAcIty to more realistically test the integrity of new materials and structures such as buildings, bridges and even airframes has been boosted with the recently commissioned Smart Structures laboratory at Swinburne university of technology.

the laboratory houses australia’s first hybrid testing facility (htf). this state-of-the-art technology integrates what is happening to a physical model being stress-tested with a virtual model of the whole structure in which it would be a component. for example, in the case of support columns in a building

key poInts�A new laboratory will drive the next generation of high-rise construction.�hybrid technology in the laboratory lowers material testing costs.�the facility will also help to build smarter housing.

Inside a glass-walled laboratory, the effects of earthquakes and other forces of nature can be simulated on tomorrow’s structures by brAd coLLIs

or bridge, a real column is subjected to physical tests, while the cause-and-effect relationships with the rest of the structure are computer-simulated.

the technology elevates the rigorous testing required in many fields of manufacturing and construction to a new level, because stresses such as earthquakes can be taken to extremes.

the new laboratory’s director, Professor riadh al-Mahaidi, explains that not all components of a structure are critical to its stability. the htf lets researchers isolate and test the critical components

physically. in an earthquake simulation, for example, the effects on the key structural components of a building under stress are fed into the physical test, and the impact is simultaneously fed back into the simulated building. this builds a realistic, real-time profile of the complex structural relationships that determine a building’s capacity to withstand extreme forces.

Professor al-Mahaidi adds that because a digitised structure replaces the need to build a physical-scale model, the cost of testing is reduced considerably.

“it also minimises error because we are able to test the full-scale component, like a support column, which is far more realistic than a small-scale model.”

the idea is not new, but what is new is the computer processing power able to analyse what is happening in a test in milliseconds.

“of course this system is not just about earthquakes, but wind loads on buildings, heavy traffic on a bridge, blasts, impacts, ocean waves, materials fatigue … any source of pressure or stress on a structure.”


Crucial to the laboratory’s contribution to the future of Australia’s infrastructure are (from left) Professor Jay Sanjayan, Professor John Wilson, senior technical officer Michael Culton,

Professor Riadh Al-Mahaidi and Professor Emad Gad. Passersby on the street can glimpse the experiments inside.

december 2011 swinburne

the team members assembled to run the facility have been drawn from key fields of expertise: Professor John wilson, earthquake engineering, Professor emad gad, structural engineering, and Professor Jay Sanjayan, geopolymers. Professor al-Mahaidi is an international leader in the field of bridge engineering, structural systems and structural retrofitting using fibre-reinforced polymer composites.

the facility is jointly funded by Swinburne and the australian research council with contributions from 11 collaborating universities.

tests strengthen case for new materialsthe facility opens the way for the next generation of construction materials to be thoroughly tested and to provide industry and consumers with the necessary level of confidence in performance and safety.

for example, Professor Sanjayan will be using the htf to demonstrate to industry the advances in geopolymers and their potential as an alternative to cement. geopolymers are manufactured from industrial wastes such as fly ash, slag and waste glass.

“conventional cement has been around for over 100 years, so there is a natural hesitation to use something new,” he says. “this facility will help us demonstrate geopolymers are not only better environmentally, but also have improved structural properties.”

Professor Sanjayan explains that conventional cement is a heavy contributor to the carbon cycle and it loses its strength (can explode) when subjected to the heat of an intense fire. “geopolymers have high fire resistance and can be a superior product overall.”

Professor Sanjayan expects the new facility to be able to steer geopolymers into commercial use within five years.

Earthquake securityProfessor wilson intends to use the laboratory to push the boundaries of knowledge on ‘building drift’ in an earthquake.

“we know a lot about gravity load, which ultimately causes a building to collapse,

and about the lateral strength needed to accommodate wind pressure and ground shake; but an area needing more research is ‘building drift’,” he says. “if a building drifts too far (through earth movement), gravity load takes over … but how far is too far?”

Professor wilson is keen to explore this issue of ‘drift’ in building systems, especially integral systems such as lift shafts. “a lift shaft is not just for vertical people transport. it forms the spine for the building’s lateral construction. So knowing how far lift shafts can drift before they cause the building to collapse is a key question.”

Professor wilson says this is where the new hybrid facility’s advanced simulation capabilities will come into their own. already the integration of digital and physical models has lifted the accuracy of testing beyond what was previously achieved with physical models alone.

Affordable housing closer to homethe research closer to home is that of Professor emad gad, whose area of speciality is residential structures. through his research the htf will play a crucial role in the evolution of new housing materials and building systems needed to develop more affordable and more environmentally attuned dwellings.

“the tests we undertake will help establish new approaches to housing by testing and calibrating the new materials and construction methods that will influence design, functionality and affordability.”

Professor gad says the new facility will allow researchers to test full-scale structures such as entire wall and floor systems, new construction methods such as factory-built houses and new ‘assembly’ technologies. “even the humble screw is continuing to develop … So as community pressure grows for more affordable and more environmental housing, the htf will speed up the r&D needed to achieve these goals,” he says. nn

more InformatIone: [email protected]; t: 1300 275 788

National benefitThe Hybrid Testing Facility is a key capability of Swinburne’s $15 million Smart Structures Laboratory. It is available to other Australian universities and to government and industry bodies collaborating with universities.

This is expected to lead to the development of more efficient infrastructure systems and safer buildings, bridges, offshore structures and mining structures. Economic and social benefits should come

from more resilient, robust and efficient infrastructure constructed with innovative materials designed to lower costs, improve energy efficiency, and reduce environmental impacts generally.

All this has the potential to lift the international competitiveness of Australian construction and manufacturing industries. Australia spends about $100 billion annually on building and infrastructure.

OnlInE EducAtIOn

Working the online space

Denice Pitt chIef executIve offIcer, swInburne onlInedrawing on her background in building successful start-ups in the corporate service industry, denice leads Swinburne’s new joint venture with jobs website SEEK providing degree programs online.

what attracted you to this role?I am a firm believer in the value of education. I have seen the potential that degree qualifications can unlock. SEEK and Swinburne partnered to combine their respective online smarts and academic knowledge – I get to take the best from both.

what is revolutionary about Swinburne Online?‘Revolutionise’ is a strong word but it does capture our approach. We want to ensure we meet the needs of working adults, so we don’t want to modify; we are transforming the on-campus university degree model so it meets their needs in a totally online environment.

why target working adults? We believe working Australians are not as well serviced as other groups. We are focused on providing a whole-of-degree experience, rather than offering individual units. Everything we are creating is aimed at meeting the needs of busy, working adults who are looking for new qualifications to achieve their career goals.

how is research influencing the company?Research shows working, studying adults need both flexibility and regular interaction, which is reflected in our approach. We won’t invest in technology just because it is leading-edge – it must enhance the student experience and be accessible on all devices. There have been spectacular successes and failures in the online education space internationally, providing valuable experiences for us to learn from.

Isn’t the online education market saturated?Our success will be in the high quality of our programs and teaching and student support. We are using a high-touch approach, which means lower student-to-tutor ratios. Our e-moderators will focus on mentoring and coaching students, rather than disseminating content. Our aim is to create Swinburne’s five-star student experience in a virtual campus for working adults.

more InformatIonwww.swinburne.edu.au/online

17


AluMnI

Job search software engineered for successstory by liz Porter

If yOu’vE APPlIEd for a job with the australian tax office, australia Post or any one of 200 government or corporate entities, you will have used one of Mike giuffrida’s human resources software programs, such as erecruit.

the program helps applicants build their cvs online and allows them to apply for advertised positions. conversely, employers use the system to manage everything from job vacancy listings, applications and interview evaluations, to appointments and inductions.

a Swinburne mechanical engineering graduate, Mr giuffrida, now 42, could never have foreseen his future career of running a web-based hr

software-development company. he graduated from Swinburne in 1994, when the internet was solely the playground of technophiles.

“but the beautiful thing about the engineering course is that it gives you a great foundation for just about anything,” he says.

A computer program is bornlooking back, Mr giuffrida realises that several years of working on-site in the oil and gas industry (at Mobil’s altona refinery and at woodside’s north west Shelf Project) had also provided him with skills in project methodology and coordination.

these were invaluable in 1997 when he and fellow Swinburne engineering graduate, the late will Spensley, decided to set up an online résumé builder and searchable résumé database to help connect engineering graduates with the far-flung companies who needed them. at the time, engineering companies found employees by going to careers fairs, advertising in papers and working through thousands of paper résumés.

Mr giuffrida recalls software companies telling the two would-be entrepreneurs that it wasn’t possible to build a résumé using an internet-based software program.

“when we found a company prepared to help, our engineering background meant we were able to write the specifications for the software, manage the tender process and contain the budget,” he says

the duo first set up business in Perth, where will Spensley was working. in March 1998, Mr giuffrida flew back east to set up a Melbourne office for their product, which they had already adapted for use by companies wanting to do their own résumé searching online.

by mid-to-late 1999, they had 50 per cent of all graduates in australia on their database and several dozen government agencies and corporations had signed up. in 2001, when the company had 25 staff, Mr Spensley left to pursue other opportunities. he died in 2003.

worldwide connectiontoday the company, nga.net – winner of the 2011 The Age business award in the it and business services category – has more than 60 staff in its South Melbourne office and another 10 in the Sydney cbD. with sales of over $13 million, the company made corporate headlines last year when it opened an office in washington Dc to target the lucrative uS federal government hr market. a pilot program is now underway with one uS federal agency and negotiations have started with another.

nga.net’s erecruit software is used by corporate clients ranging from major retailers such as David Jones to the giant mining company Xstrata, with its chain of international outposts. the company also has other tools: ‘ePerform’, a performance-management tool used by nearly 30 organisations; ‘360’, used to survey staff and management views of each other; and ‘talent’, which measures staff engagement.

as Mr giuffrida proudly explains, the company’s internet-based software can also be managed from mobile devices such iPhones. this was illustrated recently when one of his on-call staff was out on a friday night and took a call from an Xstrata staffer in london who urgently needed another user account to be set up before walking into a meeting.

“he stepped away from the party he was at and was able to set up the account then and there.”

as with most successful innovations, client convenience is a powerful drawcard. nn

more InformatIonGraduates are invited to join swinburne Alumni and enjoy the benefits

offered through networking, events and access to resources. For

details call 03 9214 4768 or visit www.swinburne.edu.au/alumni.

Swinburne engineering alumnus Mike Giuffrida saw in the world wide web an opportunity most recruiters now take for granted.


december 2011 swinburne

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swinburne.edu.au/online

Bachelor degrees going online from March 2012.Bachelor of Business Accounting, Marketing, Management Public Relations and Business Administration

Bachelor of Social Science Psychology, Media Studies or Public Relations

Bachelor of Communication Public Relations or Media Studies

Bachelor of Technology Information Systems

For more information on Swinburne Online, call 1300 275 794 or visit our website. Apply now.

Swinburne Online.

SUT 0036 ResearchMag Online Portrait_p19 300x119_FA_V3.indd 1 11/11/11 10:36 AM

dr BrucE whAn has been cultivating industry research partnerships at Swinburne university of technology for 12 years. his expertise has been crucial to the development of 22 start-up companies, which have attracted $17 million of investment. Prior to joining Swinburne, he spent two decades in industry. with experience on both sides of the fence, his advice for how universities and industry can partner to drive innovative research is simple: get talking.

once a conversation has started, seemingly insurmountable hurdles can easily be cleared.

“things like ownership of intellectual property and cost can be seen as stumbling blocks. but they don’t need to be. we have some fairly straightforward procedures where we can work out a mutually satisfactory solution to those sorts of issues,” Dr whan says.

“it really does hinge on the relationship between the researcher and the people in the company. you have to understand each other’s priorities and needs and work towards addressing them,” says Dr whan, Director of Swinburne Knowledge (the university’s commercialisation team). that connection can begin with something as simple as chatting

with someone from industry at a conference and keeping in touch.

“a researcher is more driven by the intellectual challenge, the reputation and success, and generating some income. whereas the business is more about getting outcomes that will add value to their business, and getting that in a timely and well-managed fashion.”

the focus on building the relationship from the outset of a research project, even while shaping the research model, is a big shift from the more established process of commercialising a university’s intellectual property when it is an end-product of research funded by a government body such as the australian research council.

there are many examples of industry drawing on Swinburne’s research expertise and knowledge ranging from the partnership with boeing and australian aviation suppliers in a major Swinburne-based research and training facility to consultancies such as that provided by microbiologist associate Professor enzo Palombo to Dairy food Safety victoria.

Dr whan stresses that while australia fares reasonably when it comes to commercialisation of research, with average outcomes similar to those of the uS, there is room for improvement, particularly in the area of industry-focused research, where there is significant potential for universities to add value.

in the uK, the government is taking steps to stimulate industry interest in university knowledge. after some years of pilot activity, the government now provides a stream of funding to support a broad range of knowledge transfer activities, aimed to create economic and social benefits in the uK.

“teaching and research are the primary missions. but the extra uK funding stream recognises that economic development, engagement with industry, and transfer of knowledge into the community are key parts of what universities do,” Dr whan says. nn

more InformatIondr bruce Whan: [email protected]; t: 03 9214 5979

InduStry PArtnErShIPS

talk a trigger for innovationstory by alexandra roginski

key poInt�the significant potential of universities to add value to the economy

and society remains relatively untapped in Australia

Dr Bruce Whan

PhoTo: PAul JonES

http://www.online.swinburne.edu.au/?utm_source=magazine-online&utm_medium=magazine-online&utm_content=swinburne-online&utm_campaign=swinburne-online


AStrOnOMy

nEw lIGht ShInES On dArK MyStEry

Dr Chris Blake (left) and Professor Warrick Couch are part of a 26-researcher collaborative effort that has produced new results supporting the existence of dark energy.

PhoTo: PAul JonES


key poInts�researchers have measured the cosmological distances to 200,000 galaxies. �their findings support the theory that a force stronger than gravity is at work.�In the process, they have produced results in agreement with the nobel-prize-winning discovery that

something vast and unknown appears to be rapidly driving the universe apart.

Gravity emerges as the universe’s weak link in work by an international collaboration with a star cast by JULIAN crIbb

thE ScIEncE wOrld’S highest international honour was awarded in october to the leaders of two research teams that identified a mysterious and potentially profound phenomenon known as dark energy, an unseen force driving the universe apart at an ever-increasing rate.

the nobel Prize in Physics 2011 was divided, with one half awarded to Saul Perlmutter and the other half jointly to brian P Schmidt and adam g riess, for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae.

the force driving this acceleration was dubbed ‘dark energy’ because it sheds no visible light that can be seen by telescopes, and was only able to be inferred from its influence on galaxies and galactic clusters. its discovery, in 1998, ended the previously accepted principle that the universe was slowing in its expansion due to the mutual gravitational attraction of the matter within it, as might be the case if it was driven by a single explosive event (the big bang) and restrained by gravity.

Dr chris blake, of Swinburne’s centre for astrophysics and Supercomputing (caS), is part of an international team that has produced new results in agreement with the nobel-prize-winning theory.

“the discovery of dark energy was a shock, because it clearly said we didn’t understand as much about the universe and physics as we had thought,” Dr blake says.

A galaxy of scientistsJust as the original breakthrough called upon multiple minds, the latest dark energy work is a rich international collaboration, involving 26 researchers from australia and overseas led by Dr chris blake, Professor warrick couch and Professor Karl glazebrook, from Swinburne, and Professor Michael Drinkwater from the university of Queensland.

four years ago the team embarked on the wiggle z Dark energy Survey using a powerful spectrograph attached to the anglo–australian observatory (aao) at Siding Spring, nSw. with this they captured light from 392 distant galaxies every hour – a total of 200,000 across seven billion light years, stretching halfway to the limits of the known universe.

for Professor couch, director of caS, the survey was a continuation of work he began in australia in

Explore Mars in 3d

networking lab opensA new laboratory is set to boost research and training opportunities in telecommunications networking at Swinburne University of Technology.

The laboratory is a dedicated facility for students to learn and research networking technologies and undertake Cisco-certified training programs.

The Dean of Swinburne's Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies, Professor Leon Sterling, said the laboratory gave students and researchers access to “the best networking facilities in Australia”.

“This is the latest initiative in the multi-faceted association between the university and Cisco to advance education and stimulate innovation in networking technologies and their applications," Professor Sterling said.

The facility supports emulation of large-scale broadband networks and allows students to dynamically connect various computers within the laboratory to different physical networking devices through the use of virtual networks.

Students have individual access to a kit of equipment during each session, as well as remote access to enable self-paced learning.

1987 as a member of Professor Perlmutter’s team, searching for distant supernovae.

the resulting accelerating universe discovery was made using supernovae as ‘standard candles’ (objects of known absolute brightness) to measure distances within the universe.

“it was important to check the supernova results for two reasons: first, because the conclusion was so surprising, and second, because we wanted to confirm that supernovae are truly standard candles across cosmic time – perhaps their nature is changing with

time, or we are being confounded by cosmic dust,” Dr blake says.

while its presence is confirmed, dark energy remains a fundamental mystery.

“it appears to be the dominant force on our universe – yet we have absolutely no idea what causes it. it appears to be evenly

distributed, everywhere,” Dr blake says. “our survey shows this dark energy acting in two

distinct ways. first, we observed how dark energy opposes gravity by speeding up the overall rate of expansion of the universe. Second, we observed how dark energy opposes gravity by slowing down the growth of clusters and super-clusters of galaxies with time.”

Getting the universe’s measureto assess the distances between galaxies as they move further apart, the team took advantage of the known ‘preference’ of galaxies to operate in pairs about 490 million light years distant from one another. this provides a useful ruler for comparing other cosmic distances.

to measure all this required the creation of a vast three-dimensional map of the universe out to seven billion light years – more than halfway to its known edge and twice the scale of any previous map.

“there are only two ways to explain the accelerating expansion of the universe,” Professor Karl glazebrook says. “one involves a fundamental rethink of the theory of relativity and the second is that there is a new, smooth material unlike any other we know, pushing it apart. our observations strongly support the latter view.” nn

more InformatIonswinburne’s popular astronomy public lecture series will recommence

in February 2012. the program and registration are available at

www.swinburne.edu.au/astronomy/outreach

In brIef

The current major exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) celebrates the history and future of space exploration through the moving image.

The exhibition, ‘Star Voyager: Exploring Space on Screen’, includes the world premiere of an exciting new work by Swinburne’s Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing. Created for the exhibition, with new data from space probes orbiting Mars, On Mars 3D provides viewers with breathtaking detail of the planet’s surface. The exhibition, at Federation Square in Melbourne, features scientific and documentary footage, films and video artwork, NASA artefacts and production materials. It is open daily from 10am to 6pm until 29 January 2012.

Stills from on Mars 3D by Swinburne 3D Productions now showing at ACMI.

“ the discovery of dark energy was a shock, because it clearly said we didn’t understand as much about the universe and physics as we had thought.” – DR ChRIS BlAKE


Associate Professor Jarrod hurley sees an exciting future for science with Swinburne’s new supercomputer, gSTAR. It can process more than

100 trillion computations per second.

thE SEArch that culminated in the discovery of a diamond planet in our Milky way galaxy earlier this year came after researchers sifted through more than a thousand billion bytes of coded data. it took three

Swinburne’s gStAr heralds

‘mega science’


SuPErcOMPutInG

key poInts�A new supercomputer is helping to rapidly process huge amounts of astronomical data.�It draws on the computer gaming industry’s development of GPus for rapid graphics display.�gStAr is the first large-scale GPu supercomputer available to Australia’s astronomy

community, and is set to broaden the scope of scientific exploration.

the Australian astronomy community is tapping into the superpowers of processing technology developed for gaming by cLArIsA coLLIs

years of data processing using Swinburne university of technology’s 12-teraflop supercomputer, the green Machine.

now, a new 120-teraflop supercomputer driven by

graphic processing units (gPus) is set to accelerate the rate of science and knowledge discovery at Swinburne, crunching data 10 times faster than the green Machine. it means the equivalent of the


diamond planet search could potentially be done in a week.

the massive jump in capability has involved the investment of more than $1.5 million by Swinburne and $1 million from the australian government’s education investment fund.

Swinburne Pro-vice-chancellor for research Matthew bailes says the new gPu Supercomputer for theoretical astrophysics research (gStar) is among the top six supercomputers in australia, and will probably rank in the world’s top 200 machines.

Professor bailes says the surge in processing power since Swinburne invested $1 million in the green Machine in 2007 shows how quickly the power balance shifts between supercomputers.“gStar can perform more operations in a few seconds than the earliest supercomputers could conduct over their lifetime,” he says.

Professor bailes anticipates gStar’s computing power and its data-throughput capacity will continue to increase through further technical developments in the next two years, with upgrades to the system potentially doubling the current one petabyte or 1.8 million gigabytes of disk space.

the system is supported by a quad data rate (QDr) infiniband network that transfers data to gPus and large memory nodes, each with 512 gigabytes of memory, at 1000 times the speed of wireless internet connection.

Game power builds cosmic picturecontained in 11 cabinets on the sixth floor of the advanced technologies centre, the machine will meet the supercomputing needs of three Swinburne faculties: information and communication technologies, engineering and industrial Sciences, and life and Social Sciences.

Swinburne Supercomputer Manager associate Professor Jarrod hurley says that gPus – developed to capture the enormous visual and simulation processes in computer gaming – add another dimension to astronomy.

in contrast to the traditional architecture of supercomputers, which rely on central processing units (cPus) to process information in sequence with an emphasis on control logic and fast memory, gPus perform

numerous high-speed tasks simultaneously. aside from immense processing power, they also add exciting new visual or graphical details to endless strings of numeric figures.

Professor warrick couch, Director of the Swinburne centre for astrophysics and Supercomputing, says gStar allows researchers to create better maps of the universe.

“gStar will show all the galaxies are clumped, and in doing so will reveal a new microscopic context that provides a detailed perspective on objects within it, such as individual stars,” Professor couch says.

as astronomers double the amount of information needing to be processed every few years, gStar is geared to keep pace with this increasing demand by facilitating more than 100 trillion computations per second, while using less hardware or nodes.

On the cusp of a new generationSuited to “mega-science projects”, gStar is poised to receive a “deluge of data” from an emerging generation of telescopes equipped to generate a million billion bytes of information in a single night, Professor couch says.

“gPus will make a major contribution to processing data from new optical and radio telescopes, like SkyMapper in nSw and the australian Square Kilometre array Pathfinder in western australia, that are designed to image huge amounts of the sky,” he says.

Professor couch speculates the step up in supercomputing could also help resolve a mystery that defies the laws and theories of physics: the nature of dark energy – a force that is inexplicably causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate. (read more about dark energy on page 20.)

a second phase of the new supercomputer that centres on cPu-based hardware will free up Swinburne’s superseded green Machine for other tasks, such as three-dimensional animations, including plans for a high-resolution astronomy movie for iMaX. this second phase is due for completion in mid 2012.

Meanwhile, Professor bailes says although Swinburne tends to renew its supercomputer every two to four years, the onsite facility may one day be replaced with a ‘supercomputing cloud’ to provide a massive globally shared resource. nn

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Postgraduate studies start in 2012.

Make your big career move with postgraduate studies at Swinburne. Our industry-based courses are taught by leaders in your chosen field and recognised internationally by employers. And with the flexibility to balance full-time work and study, our programs ensure no matter what direction you choose, you’ll only go up.

Study programs include Accounting and Finance, Arts, Business and Management, Design and Multimedia, Engineering and Aviation, Film and TV, Health and Community Services, Hospitality and Tourism, Information Technology, Media and Communication, Psychology, Social Science and Science.

Begin your postgraduate course in 2012 by calling 1300 275 794 or visit our website.

swinburne.edu.au/postgraduate

Advance with career-focused courses.

SUT 0037 ResearchMag_pg23_PG_300x119_FA.indd 1 2/11/11 5:49 PM

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Call 1300 275 794 swinburne.edu.au/2012

Change of Preference Expo, Tuesday 20 December, 3 – 7pm at Hawthorn and Lilydale campuses.Swinburne is the right university for you, offering career-focused courses, innovative facilities and lecturers from industry. So, come along to our Expo or arrange a course adviser appointment at Swinburne on 17, 18 or 19 December.

Swinburne. The right choice for you.

SUT 0033 ResearchMag_COP_BackPage_FP_300x265_FA.indd 1 2/11/11 1:29 PM

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Documents

Measuring forces nature - Swinburne Commons