Three Griffith students have been named on the Australian squad for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Tameka Butt, Clare Polkinghorne and Elise Kellond-Knight will head into an intense training camp this weekend in the lead up to the showpiece tournament in Canada starting on June 6.
Tameka, studying a Masters of Business/Masters of Marketing, said she had been juggling study and training all year in the hope of making the elite 23-player squad.
“I have been training eight times a week on field and gym sessions and for the last six months I’ve been living at the Australian Institute of Sport doing two sessions a day,” she said.
“We are more than ready to compete as we have had such a large amount of time to prepare.”
The students will take on USA in their first Cup game and will also line up against Sweden and Nigeria for their second and third.
“We have never beaten the USA but we are confident we can pull through,” she said.
“Everyone is really excited and if we can beat the USA why not do it at the World Cup.”
Tameka said while training had been at the forefront of her life, she believed it was very important continue to make time for her studies at Griffith.
“I am hoping my university degrees will help me grow the exposure of women in sport and create a new culture of how the public perceives it,” she said.
Clare Polkinghorne
Elise Kellond-Knight
Clare is currently completing a Bachelor of Psychological Science with Honours and Elise is doing a Masters of Pharmacy.
All three students are members of Brisbane Roar, the Australian soccer team Matildas and the Griffith Sports College.
Sports College Manager Duncan Free said it was fantastic to see the Sports College students achieving well in their chosen sport as well as getting the opportunity to represent their country.
He said it was particularly exciting to see the female athletes gaining deserving recognition for their hard work.
“Just under 50 per cent of Griffith Sports Collegemembers are women and there are a larger number of women than males who represent the country,” he said.
“Female athletes definitely deserve to get more recognition than what they do.”
Boracay, the Philippines, 13 May 2015 — Leading academics and policy makers recommended strategies for APEC to accelerate regional economic integration and inclusive growth in the Asia-Pacific at a two-dayAPEC Study Centers Consortium Conference in Boracay, ahead of the APEC Second Senior Officials’ and Trade Ministers’ meetings. Griffith University sent members from our own APEC Study Centre to join the discussion.
The annual conference offers an opportunity for policy researchers from over 50 APEC Study Centers, universities and think tanks to share their analyses on how APEC can achieve its key 2015 priorities, including increasing services trade in the region and realizing the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), as well as bolstering small and medium enterprises and investing in human capital development.
“The APEC Study Centers and their academic researchers throughout the Asia-Pacific play an important role in analyzing key APEC issues in order to assist APEC officials formulate effective policies,” said Dr Erlinda Medalla, Vice-chair of APEC Study Centers Consortium Conference 2015 and Project Director of the Philippine APEC Study Center Network.
At the conference, researchersshared their recommendations on APEC’s policy priorities in 2015. In order to accelerate economic integration, expertsproposed waysAPEC can play a criticalrole in reducing trade barriers for services andhelp increasethe flow of services across borders.
“One of the main obstacles for governments to liberalize trade in services is the fact that creating more open services trade across borders requires implementing domestic regulatory reforms,” explained Dr Robert Scollay, Associate Professor and Director of the New Zealand APEC Study Center. “Governments are cautious about changes to domestic regulations due to the uncertainty of the impact of such reforms.”
“In order to achieve progress and reduce the uncertainty on the effects of regulatory reforms, APEC can play an important role as incubator in services liberalization through knowledge sharing of best practices and bringing key stakeholders together to address how these regulatory reforms can be implemented with optimal outcomes,” recommended Scollay.
Value-added services such as research and development or brand marketing are increasingly a critical component of manufacturing competitiveness in the regional economy. However, the ability of business services such as accounting or advertising to be offered across borders is affected by local laws that govern labor mobility or foreign ownership.
Policy researchers alsoevaluated possible pathwaysto realizethe Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). Economists providednovel data analyses of the dynamics of exports and global value chains in the Asia-Pacific region that will help inform APEC policymakers moving forward. Strategies to enhance small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was also discussed at the conference including ways to improve SME access to finance and disaster resilience.
Visit the APEC Study Centre for more information.
Knowing what you want from your future career could be the secret to truly successful internship.
Louise Sadler studied the Master of Speech Pathology at Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus and knew she wanted the kind of position where she would see a diverse caseload with some kind of stability.
For Louise, that meant Mossman in Far North Queensland where she was part of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Stroke Care Team with a caseload that also included non-Aboriginal patients with communication and swallowing difficulties.
“I loved the experience of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients from all over Cape York. I was able to learn a little of their languages and culture, and be able to adapt my communication style in order to provide a culturally safe experience for the patients,” she says.
“The experience was invaluable in informing me about the reality of the difficulty in providing a continuum of care for adult patients in remote places. I also got involved in outreach work, which has its own benefits and unique challenges.”
However it’s one thing knowing your own mind, but another to actually be prepared to take on the work, people and environment. Sadler credits her association with Hope4Health’s student clinical training skills sessions, plus a rigorous academic program for getting her ready.
“With extra-curricular activities such as Hope4Health’s ‘Check it Out,’ clinical skills trips to Cherbourg, and the student-run “Hope After Stroke” support group, I had a clear idea about work expectations and how to meet those challenges,” she says.
So successful was Louise, she was offered a job.
“I am now the sole speech pathologist For Queensland Health for the Cassowary Coast region, based at Innisfail Hospital with outreach to Babinda and Tully. I really enjoy it!”
“What setsGriffithapart from other Masters programs in speech pathology is the rigorous academic focus which is based around problem-based learning, simulated learning experiences and real-world application of knowledge,” Louise adds.
The Griffith MBA features prominently in the latest edition of CEO Magazine, an edition which addresses comprehensively a radically-evolving landscape where education must be delivered in a fashion more flexible than ever before.
The Spring edition of CEO Magazine comes with the tagline: ‘The CEO’s tech survival guide’ and focuses on the Griffith MBA in an article titled: ‘Developing Globally Responsible Leaders for the 21st Century’.
“We recognise a changed education marketplace,” Associate Professor Nick Barter, MBA Director, says. “And it continues to be a market place that will change and evolve over time. There are interesting times ahead.”
Changes to its mode of delivery mean the Griffith MBA is very much an MBA of its time. There are now two MBAs on offer, a fully flexible MBA and an online-only MBA.
The flexible MBA, outlined in CEO Magazine, means students can study their courses online, in face-to-face format or a mixture of both. Students don’t have to specifically be an online or on-campus student, and can alternate between modes of attendance to meet their individual needs.
The launch of a 100% Online MBA in 2015 has also allowed students to fast-track their career by completing an MBA in just two years while they work. With six intakes a year, students are never more than eight weeks from starting their program.
This Griffith initiative has been marked by another notable growth in numbers enrolling for the MBA. More than 40% of online-only enrolments have come from WA, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland, Northern Territory, NSW, ACT, with the remainder from Queensland. This comes on the back of 58% growth in enrolments during the last two years.
“This growth demonstrates students want to learn in a flexible format and also that there is a market for online-only learning,” Associate Professor Barter said.
“Our MBA program, with its core values of responsible leadership, sustainable business practice and a global orientation with an Asia Pacific focus is now recognised by students who are enrolling from all over the country.”
CEO Magazine says there is a growing thirst for MBA programs around the world, with the number of programs on the increase. The ongoing evolvement of a business school’s MBA program is described as crucial.
“We are at the turning point of something important in the delivery of education,” Associate Professor Barter says. “The online offering is a great new departure for Griffith University. We are offering a progressive form of education.”
The CEO Magazine feature on Griffith University also profiles Lyndel Smith(left), a HR and Change Management Specialist, and Alex Mazzoni, a Senior Specialist, Partnerships and Programs IAG, who have studied their MBA degrees at Griffith.
It describes the broad range of industries represented by MBA students, from IT to engineering, from health to aviation and banking.
“The students come from a mix of public and private sector and small, large and medium businesses,” Associate Professor Barter says. “Overall our student base is about 30% female and we are seeing that figure go higher with the advent of our flexible and online only offerings.
“Our MBA age range is typically 28-45 years old with the average age in 2014 being 36 years, and 95 per cent of our students are in full time work.”
By Ross Guest, Professor of Economics, Griffith Business School
Joe Hockey says that this budget shares the pain. But what is the right share for whom? This budget is like all the others — it lacks a compass that tells us the overall effect of government spending and taxation on fairness as indicated by the distribution of national income and wealth. We have no target for fairness in society and no way of assessing the budget against the target.
The budget is full of ad hoc piecemeal changes to the distribution of national income and wealth. Consider the range of arbitrary changes: the 2% tax on earnings over $180,000, the $7 co-payment to the GP, the tighter means-testing of Family Tax Benefits A and B, the effective cuts to pensions through lower rates of indexation, lower benefits to the young unemployed, the subsidy to companies for employing over-50s, paid parental leave of six months at full pay means-tested at $100,000 of income.
And these are just the measures with the most direct effects on income and wealth distribution. Other policies have more indirect redistributive effects, such as the increase in fuel excise, the 1.5% cut in the company tax rate, increase in university fees along with deregulation of fees, cuts to industry subsidies, and the increase in the pension age to 70 by 2035.
Contradictory budget
And there are even more indirect effects on income distribution such as the interest rate implications of the overall effect of the budget on economic activity – a contractionary budget like this one implies that interest rates will be lower than they otherwise would be. Changes in interest rates affect the distribution of income in complicated ways.
Where did all these piecemeal budget policies come from? What was the guiding principle in terms of fairness? I suggest there wasn’t one. It was driven by motives like “it’s time for all of us to contribute”, as Hockey said in his budget speech.
The actual budget numbers were apparently pulled out of the air since no analytical justification was provided — why $180,000 as the income threshold for the 2% tax? Why a $7 co-payment? Why indexation of parental leave at $100,000? And so on. We have no idea whether these changes, in total, will make household income and wealth more unequal, or less?
Government budgets are a hotchpotch of ad hoc tweaks here and there with no rhyme or reason. We need to fix this. First, governments should set a target for the distribution of household income and wealth using a standard measure such as the Gini coefficient. It is a number between zero and one. The higher the number the more unequal is the distribution — and it can be applied to both income and wealth, at the household or individual level, before and after tax, and so on.
According to the ABS, Australia’s GINI coefficient for household after-tax income is 0.32 which is roughly the OECD average, significantly below the United States but significantly above the Scandinavian countries.
Once we’ve set the fairness target, we need an independent organisation like the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) to do a pre-budget assessment for the government, against our fairness target, of proposed budgetary changes.
Then at least we will be able to make an overall assessment of the fairness of the budget, in the same way as we assess the budget against a range of fiscal targets such as the budget deficit, growth of government spending and government debt.
Speaking of the fiscal targets and outcomes, we also need a more rational debate about the appropriate size of government. In this budget, government receipts are projected to increase from 23% of GDP (the amount of goods and services produced by the country in a year) in 2013-14 to 24.9% in 2017-18, while government spending is projected to fall from 25.9% of GDP to 24.8% in 2017-18, implying a return to a small surplus in those four years.
Is this good? The government thinks it is but has not really explained why, except for folksy stories about how we cannot continue to live beyond our means — the sort of thing a parent tells their young adult children.
Social benefits
We deserve a more mature analytical explanation from our national government about the target size of government. Is government spending of 25% of GDP too much, too little or just right on average over the economic cycle? Australia has small-ish government (across all levels combined) by OECD standards, smaller than most European countries but higher than some Asian countries.
Do we want to compare ourselves with Europe or Asia? We need to recognise for example that every dollar of government spending costs about 20 cents in “deadweight losses”through disincentive effects of the ultimate tax collections on working, saving and/or investing.
That needs to be weighed up against the social benefits of government spending, including achieving a “fair” distribution of national income which ultimately comes down to some social value judgements.
This article was originally published in The Conversation.
Information and Communication Technology and multi-media students have created an “addictive” chemistry game aimed at teaching and refreshing students on the basics of chemistry.
Led by School of ICT lecturer Dr Heather Gray, the 90 second online game, titled Element Bonding, involves “blowing up ions with either fire or water, collecting electrons and completing bonds”.
Dr Gray said while this particular game allowed students to engage with a physical workbook on Introduction to Chemistry, the notion of “gamification” was taking over teaching and learning across the world.
“The student as a teacher approach to learning and teaching provides opportunities for academics to facilitate learning and teaching that extends the flipped classroom to an advanced social and cognitive constructivist learning approach using games as the learning and teaching platform,” she said.
“When it comes to gaming I would love to see more opportunities like this arise as it is a great way to enhance teaching and learning.”
Dr Gray presented her research paper titled ‘Chemistry Gamification: Students teaching students through gaming’ along with Leigh-Ellen Potter and Peter Healy at The Higher Education Technology Agenda (THETA) conference, which wrapped up on May 13.
One of the displays at the THETA conference
THETA , hosted by Griffith University, attracted more than 900 delegates from Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, United Kingdom and the USA, converging at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The conference aims to explore important issues facing higher education technology and education leaders, drawing international delegates from across the world.
Dr Heather Gray
Dr Gray was one of more than 20 Griffith academics and researchers who shared their innovative projects throughout the three day conference.
Bachelor of Information Technology student David Hatch, who was one of five students who created Element Bonding, said the project was a great creative challenge for him during his studies.
“We needed a simple game for students that was widely acceptable,” he said.
“We tried to implement as many of the different module tasks from the Introduction to Chemistry book as we could to create a single experience.
“Feedback from students is that it becomes very addictive, once you start and get the hang of it you can’t let it go and before you know it you have learnt something.”
Griffith students Jack Siu, Nikolai Trinajstic, David Hatch, Hareendra Irugalratne and Oscar Erazo created the online chemistry game.
Schoolgirls on the Gold Coast gotan exciting insight into life as a professional athlete at a sporty Career Experience Day hosted by Griffith University this morning (Wednesday).
Seoul Olympian Liz Hepple and six-time world champion Melinda McLeod revealed some of the secrets to their success, in and out of the sporting arena, to Year 11 and Year 12 students who are thinking about a career in sport.
The high school students also heard from Griffith University business student Leiston Pickett who swam for Australia at the London Olympics in 2012.
The Career Experience Day tookplace at Griffith’s Gold Campus from 7am to 12.30pm and also incorporated a series of workshops on organising major sporting events like the Olympics, physiology in sport, and how media, athletes, spectators and venues are coordinated in sport management.
“The schoolgirls learned about the life of an elite athlete and the pressures that are involved,” Dr Caroline Riot (above), a lecturer in sport management at Griffith Business School, said.
“They also found out about the business of sport from marketing to management to maintaining the good health of an athletic body.
“They discovered how body mechanics are analysed using 3D technology and gotan insight into how an event like the Commonwealth Games is staged on the Gold Coast.”
The event was hosted by Professor Christopher Auld, Head of Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management.
Cyclist Liz Hepple represented Australia from 1986-1988, and later as a triathlete from 1989-1991. She represented Australia at the Seoul Olympics and was twice named Australian cyclist of the year. She also won the World Cup Triathlon in 1990. Liz has a Bachelor of Sports Science and now works as an Athlete Career and Education Advisor at theQueensland Academy of Sport.
Melinda McLeod is a six-time world champion in professional BMX cycling. She is renowned for her jumping ability and has won multiple gold medals at the Australian National Championships.
A new Australian designed bicycle frame like no other, intended to challenge the traditional model of mass production, has been unveiled in Brussels.
The design and creation of industrial designer, Queensland College of Art lecturer, PhD candidate, and 3D print enthusiast, James Novak, the bicycle has been included in the Making A Difference / A Difference In Making exhibition at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts.
The exhibition, curated by Marta Malé-Alemany, celebrates the 25th anniversary of Materialise, a pioneering Belgian company dedicated to the engineering, development and application of 3D Printing.
James said what he most wanted to achieve, was a design that took full advantage of the benefits of 3D technology, which provided a vision of the very near future.
“More than anything, I’d like my work to be an example of what we should be 3D printing,” he says.
“It opens up the ability to create one-off, customizable pieces that may be lighter-weight and stronger than traditional frames through the use of complex lattice structures.”
James describes his FIX3D bike frame as a one-off, custom-made piece of sports equipment, exceptional in its minimal design and striking absence of material.
“It was designed using lattice structures to make it lighter and stronger than traditional bike frames, and manufactured in one piece using 3D printing,” he explains.
James and his 3D bike on show in Australia before it left for the international exhibition
It was also designed specifically for his individual body proportions, making it a truly custom bike frame with less need for heavy adjustable components like the seat post.
“The bike speaks volumes on the role this technology can play in saving energy and resources in the future of mobility.”
James says he created the first version of his bike for his university Honours project last year, and to now have this revised design on show to an international audience is an opportunity he is absolutely relishing.
“It’s amazing to be featured alongside designers like Iris van Herpen and Patrick Jouin — and to see the incredible response on social media,” he says.
“Within just hours, a photo of the bike featured by Designboom on Facebook, received nearly 6,000 likes and over 1,000 shares!”
The bike is now on show in the Making A Difference / A Difference In Making exhibition at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels until 7 June.
James will also be speaking about this project in detail at the upcoming RAPID 3D printing conference in Los Angeles, running fromMay 18-21.
A version of the bike is also on display at the Griffith University visitors centre on the Gold Coast campus.
Follow James and his latest work on his Edditive blog.
The bike frame was manufactured in its entirety in just one print.
American astronaut Dr Sandra Magnus, whose five missions for NASA included the last space shuttle flight in 2011, will be the guest speaker at a free public event at Griffith University’s Nathan campus on Monday, May 18.
Hosted by Griffith and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Dr Magnus’s Perspectives from Space encompasses stories, experiences and views acquired over her many years with NASA.
Now the Executive Director of the AIAA, the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession, Dr Magnus’s time at NASA also included a four-and-a-half-month stint aboard the International Space Station.
Born and raised in Belleville, Illinois, Dr Magnus attended the Missouri University of Science and Technology, graduating in1986 with a degree in physics and in 1990 with a Masters in electrical engineering. She holds a PhD from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech.
Selected to the NASA Astronaut Corps in April 1996, Dr Magnus first went into space in 2002 with the STS-112 shuttle mission. Nine years later she was part of the crew of the final shuttle flight: STS-135.
In November 2008, Dr Magnus boarded the International Space Station as a member of the Expedition 18 crew. She served as flight engineer and science officer, eventually returning home on STS-119 after logging 133 days in orbit.
Dr Magnus then served at NASA Headquarters in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Her final duty at NASA before joining the AIAA was as deputy chief of the Astronaut Office.
Such rare and remarkable experience has informed Dr Magnus’s perspective and philosophy, as exemplified by the following excerpt from her journal written during her time aboard the International Space Station:
“As we fly over the various continents, we can easily see the imprint of man on the landscape … it isn’t necessarily a question of Mother Nature’s natural disorder versus man’s determined march toward order, but the geometry associated with habitation tends to be a bit more defined than that found in the more remote areas.
“The contrast is interesting to note — both have their beauty; both can blend well together or fight each other and that can occasionally be seen. Like it or dislike it, we are definitely leaving our mark on the surface of the planet.”
Unsurprisingly, Dr Magnus is an avid supporter of young people pursuing study and careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.
“I think it is really importantfor all young people, and not only girls, to have opportunities to expand their horizons so that they can see the possibilities for their future,” she says.
“It is hard to imagine a future as a young person without some exposure to the possibilities. They don’t know what they don’t know. Also they need to be encouraged to believe in themselves and dream.”
WHAT: Perspectives from Space, with Dr Sandra Magnus
WHERE: Building N22, Theatre 1, Off East Creek Road, Griffith University, Nathan
WHEN: 6.30pm on Monday, May 18, 2015.
Registration for Monday’s event is essential. Go to: http://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/perspectives-from-space-brisbane-tickets-16655264344
Griffith APEC Study Centre fellow Dr Alex Robson, today presented at the 2015 APEC Study Centre conference, addressing over 100 researchers, government and APEC officials on disaster financing in the Australian context.
Dr Robson’s presentation focused on fiscal risks and contingent budgetary liabilities that arise as a result commitments from government providing relief in response to natural disasters.
APEC member-countries alone suffered around $70 billion natural disasters over the last decade. The Philippines, as host economy of APEC 2015 has made disaster resilience in ensuring sustained economic gains, as one of its priorities for this year’s APEC Leaders’ meeting.
APEC’s 21 member-economies, which account for about 58 percent of the world’s economic output, 59 percent of the world’s population, experience over 70 percent of global natural disasters.
Dr Robson shared Australia’s experience in responding to natural disasters in terms of government coordination and funding responsibilities. His research drew upon a recent enquiry undertaken by Australia’s Productivity Commission in which policy frameworks can be adapted so that disaster-related contingent liabilities can be best managed, often taking advantage of possibilities offered by insurance.
Hosted by the Philippine Study Centre Network, the ASCC Conference serves as an avenue for researchers and scholars to discuss and exchange ideas on the APEC themes and to identify areas for regional collaboration among APEC Study Centers. The conference was organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and the Philippine APEC Study Center Network (PASCN) in cooperation with the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). It was part of the Second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) and Related Meetings of APEC held in Boracay on 12-13 May.
