Traveling from the sheltered western world to Asia’s poorest slum, fourth year Griffith Civil Engineering student Giovanni Rapana put down his iPhone, rolled up his sleeves and got to work. With the assistance of the Industry Affiliate Program and a Griffith University Scholarship, Giovanni completed a six week project in the Shivaji Nagar slums of Mumbai, India.
Working with a research based urban development company; Giovanni participated in a project investigating the structure of the slum’s concrete foundations in an attempt to find low-cost alternatives that can better survive the harsh conditions. He gained new knowledge on construction techniques and the subsurface profiles of slum areas. The program offered Giovanni a fantastic opportunity to explore the world and his field.
A photo looking along one of the open drains that run through the slum.
The Industry Affiliate Program (IAP) is a work-integrated learning program that is tailored for placing undergraduate and postgraduate students into relevant industries. It provides students the opportunity to participate in real-world projects and develop the discipline-specific skills through industrial projects. The IAP is different from an internship or a summer job, it usually requires the students to work 2-5 days a week throughout a whole semester.
“The IAP project was definitely beneficial to me. Without this internship experience, I wouldn’t have realised that there is still so much more to learn. I know how to do assignments but applying those skills to the real world can be challenging.” Said Giovanni.
Giovanni not only acquired academic advantages from the internship, but the whole experience of staying in India has added a fruitful page to his life story and was an exceptional experience.
“India was such a different atmosphere, such a different lifestyle… Seeing children who, instead of playing with phones are throwing rocks and sorting trash was challenging for me as I’m also a father… But, overall the whole experience was a blast. I even attended two Indian weddings which was the highlight of the trip and one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.”
The IAP offers different projects to suit the students’ profession, and provides direct benefits and industry insight to the students through the practical placements. Find out more about the Industry Affiliate Programon their website where you can alsoread more placement stories.
Giovanni (right) dressed traditionally to attend a local wedding.
Australia will likely join more than 40 countries signing on to the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), following news it will sign a Memorandum of Understanding to participate in negotiations to set up the bank.
America’s continued effort against the bank has significantly set back diplomacy between the two nations. A flurry of its European allies have expressed interest in becoming founding members of the new development bank, including four of the G7 countries, the UK, France, Germany and Italy.
With interest mounting just days before the formal conclusion of the expressions of interest process on March 31, Washington has been left with little time and space to react.
A decision by Australia to join would bring the bank’s membership to 41, and would include eight of the top ten economies in the world – except the US and Japan.
Washington has every reason to worry that the AIIB will challenge the existing US-dominated international regime of development finance. However Jin Liqun, tasked with establishing the bank, has repeatedly sought to assure the West. He says the bank will be designed “not to compete but to complement” the established institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the IMF and World Bank.
Ultimately the bank serves China’s political and diplomatic purposes; China will contribute up to half of the bank’s capitalisation, host its headquarters, and appoint its top management team. So it’s fair to say China will play a major role in a new institution that would have profound implications for the global political and economic landscape.
However, it is in Australia’s interests and therefore a right decision to join the bank as a founding member. This is despite reasonable concerns within the international community regarding Beijing’s intention and capacity to operate such an institution.
No matter what Beijing’s strategic considerations, Australia and the broader region in Asia stand to benefit from the initiative. Australia has high stakes in the long-term prosperity of the region.
The AIIB could be one of the financial arms of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s ambitious strategy to deepen China’s trade and investment links with Asian and European countries. But in essence, it is more like a Chinese Marshall Plan – a way to utilise China’s excess capacity in response to the decline in external demand. The export of China’s expertise and capacity in infrastructure building, to be partially financed by the bank, could well stabilise and boost the Chinese economy out of deflation.
Infrastructure shortfall
According to an estimate by the ADB in 2010, there is demand for about US$8 trillion of infrastructure investment over the ten years to 2020 in developing Asia, including US$2.5 trillion for roads and railroads, US$4.1 trillion for power plants and transmission, US$1.1 trillion for telecommunications, and US$400 billion for water and sanitation investments.
Beijing’s own estimate is that from now to 2020, the annual demand for infrastructure spending in Asia will be US$730 billion, well exceeding the combined capacity of the World Bank, the IMF and the ADB in this region. The new development bank is poised to narrow the structural financing gap for infrastructure in the region, fostering long-term growth.
This type of growth in China and in the wider Asian region would create more sustained demand for Australia’s major export products in mining, resources and agriculture.
China expects to conclude the negotiations on the bank’s governing structure by June and formally launch operations by the end of this year. By joining the bank, Australia, together with other member countries in and outside the region, should help elevate its internal governance structure to the required international standard. Beijing has also demonstrated its willingness to have an “open” and “inclusive” negotiation of the bank’s charter.
In fact, China has relinquished its veto power in the bank’s decision making in exchange for the support of the European countries, which would result in a more consensus-based governance regime. It has also been recruiting former staff from the World Bank in an effort to increase the bank’s credibility in governance and management.
Australia has squandered six months in hesitation as Canberra weighed the membership against the uneasiness in Washington. We could have played a leading role as one of the first members of the bank, but instead will be a last-minute follower. But that’s better than being a bystander when future rules of a game Australia has high stakes in are crafted.
The negotiations on the bank’s charter will be an uphill battle. Apart from the governance issue, Australia’s priority should be to secure its membership as a regional (Asian) one, which will grant Australia a larger share of equity (hence voting rights) within the bank. Under the rules of the AIIB, non-Asian member countries are restricted to 25% of equity in total; the remaining 75% goes to Asian countries, which would be allocated on the basis of their relative weight in GDP.
For Australia, being an Asian member would see it ranked 4th on equity among current planned members (at 5.69%), after China, India and Germany. This is higher than the 5.32% of France (a non-Asian country) despite the latter having a GDP almost twice that of Australia.
Queensland College of Art (QCA) graduates and collaborators, Gabriella Szablewska and Brent Wilson have been awarded the Highly Commended Prize at the inaugural ‘Paramor Prize: Art + Innovation’ 2015.
Their Highly Commended work, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, addresses the complex issue of “Irregular Maritime Arrivals” in Australia, and asks us to consider, or reconsider the question: “who is a boat person?”
The inaugural art award is an annual $20,000 prize with a curated selection of works exhibited at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in Sydney.
It was launched in memory of one of Australia’s most loved and celebrated female modern artists, Wendy Paramor, whose artistic practice was innovative and forward thinking, with 2015 marking the 40th anniversary of Paramor’s death in 1975 at the age of 37.
Gabriella, who is currently undertaking a doctorate at QCA, says both she and Brent work collaboratively as artist-activists to challenge and transform pervasive ideologies.
“We raise awareness of social issues and provoke action in response,” she says.
Previously, both artists have exhibited nationally and internationally and have been awarded Arts Queensland and Australia Council grants, with Brent also winning the Wilson HTM National Art Prize in 2009.
Later this year Brent and Gabriella will be completing a residency at Crane Arts, Philadelphia.
Plaudits continue to come the way of final year Griffith University Architecture student Miyuki Suzuki.
An image arising from Miyuki’s already award-winning gatheRING, a “green bridge” design concept for the City of Gold Coast, has received the Student Award of Distinction from the American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI).
The selected image will now be published in ASAI’s annual Architecture in Perspective catalogue and may be included in a travelling exhibition linked to the catalogue.
Architecture in Perspective is regarded as the preâ€eminent exhibition of architectural illustration in the world and Miyuki’s image is one of 15 selected from a field of 125 international student entries. It is also one of 87 images chosen from an overall field of 506 professional, observational and student entries.
Final year architecture student, Miyuki Suzuki
“This is such a great honour that reflects the support I have received during my studies at Griffith University and it serves as another incentive to continue my journey towards a career as an architect,” says Miyuki.
gatheRING imagines a bridge between Chevron Island and the proposed Gold Coast Cultural Precinct at Evandale. Its standout features include a striking use of Corten Steel latticework and an arch that, when reflected in the water below, gives the appearance of a ring.
After gatheRING won the 2014 French Embassy Award — conducted through Griffith University and City of Gold Coast — Miyuki travelled to France and spent two weeks working alongside Masters students at the renowned Institut National des Sciences Appliquees de Strasbourg.
“It was such a rich and intense experience,” she says. “The Strasbourg students were doing their final year projects and I was able to help them and learn from them.
“I saw different approaches to design, as well as emerging trends and ideas, and this is already having a big influence on my own work.
“The ASAI distinction is an extension of that and has given me more confidence to keep improving and diversifying my skills while in my final year at Griffith and then beyond.”
The role of nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle is well understood by the medical profession but whether this information is easily conveyed to patients is another matter.
How much confidence GPs have in providing nutritional advice to their patients is now the subject of research by Griffith University’s Dr Lauren Ball. She says that approximately two thirds of general practice consultations concern patients with chronic disease issues such as being overweight or having high cholesterol or diabetes.
“We already know that nutrition is the most influential factor affecting how well these conditions are managed, however we know from previous research that the level of nutritional advice provided by GPs is extremely low,” says Dr Ball who is part of Griffith’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MHIQ).
“We believe that even brief mention of the importance of nutrition, or a suggestion to speak with a dietitian, can have an immediate positive impact on the patient to go forward and seek further information about potential health benefits.” As part of National Health and Medical Research Council funding, the research will investigate GPs’ confidence in providing nutritional advice to patients, including the levels of knowledge and skills GPs feel they have in this area, their attitudes regarding how important nutrition is to them and the barriers they face in incorporating nutrition into their care.
Dr Ball will be asking GPs to complete an online survey regarding the issues, which will see them receiving a ‘nutrition confidence’ score.
“This will then inform us in our design of an appropriate intervention and will probably involve a number of activities, including an educational workshop which will help GPs raise the topic with patients in a timely and appropriate manner. We can also use the score to track the progress of GPs, both before and after any interventions that may occur.
“Dietary advice is a pivotal part of any healthy lifestyle but sometimes issues such as time constraints in general practice prevent this from being successfully delivered,” says Dr Cris Beer, a GP registered with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. “Unfortunately, this is not something usually taught atmedical school, but in reality more and more patients are seeking nutritional advice from their GP as their first point of reference. “This research at Griffith will be very valuable in ascertaining how to best support GPs, and hopefully provide them with some new strategies to meet nutrition patients’ needs specific to their particular condition or situation.”
A high school visit to a wind farm was enough to convince Griffith University School of Engineeringstudent Alice Fleetwood about where her professional future lay.
“I grew up in northern NSW and we were off the electricity grid. Renewable energy was a part of daily life,” she recalls.
“I already knew how important renewable energy was, but visiting the Gunning Wind Farm outside Canberra really got me thinking about a career in the sector.
“And when I asked the best way to get a job, I was told the answer was in engineering.”
Now in the second year of a degree specialising in electronic and energy engineering, Alice is the recipient of an Australian Power Institute Bursary (API) that complements her studies by providing paid employment with member companies during three summer vacations.
API represents 35 major Australian power companies in addressing the skills gap in power engineering.
So far, Alice has completed work experience at Powerlink Queensland, which owns and operates the state’s high voltage electricity transmission network.
“It was a great experience and taught me a lot about what can be achieved through engineering in the energy sector,” says Alice.
“There is so much potential for increased energy saving, for better storage and distribution systems.
“When I started I was a little daunted by the electrical and electronic aspects of the degree because these were areas in which I hadn’t received much exposure during high school.
“However, as my Griffith course has progressed I have gained confidence, broadened my interests and capabilities and I’m now excited about continuing to the Honours component of my degree.”
Alice is also keen to encourage more young women to pursue careers in engineering.
“Engineering has always been a male-dominated area, but the field encompasses so much that it is an ideal career for women,” she says.
“In fact, I think it’s a great time to be a woman in engineering.”
It was only recently that Griffith University research showed that it’s possible to improve the hydrating effects of beer without killing off its taste.
Associate Professor Ben Desbrow from Griffith’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland has now extended his study of beer to see how it can be further manipulated to improve its rehydration potential.
Taking 12 males into the lab, tests entailed them drinking beers of varying strengths following a controlled exercise-induced weight loss activity.
His study, ‘Manipulations to the alcohol and sodium content of beer for post exercise rehydration’ published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, found that a large concentration of electrolytes added to beer further enhances an individual’s fluid retention following low alcohol beer consumption.
Additionally, the study found that the rehydration potential of mid strength beer is also affected by electrolyte enrichment. Specifically, that the concentration of electrolytes appears to have more significant impact on post exercise fluid retention than small changes in the alcohol content of beer.
Understanding beer drinkers’ motivations
Based on this latest research, Associate Professor Desbrow and his team are now seeking to further understand beer consumers’ motivations using an online questionnaire.
“Now that we know that beer can be manipulated in a variety of ways to enhance its health giving potential, the next step is to find out the attitudes of the beer drinking population,” he says. “We want to know their attitudes to beer drinking and what influences their behaviour. What are the financial and lifestyle factors that affect their beer choices and which factors make it more appealing to them?
“We know that a large number of people enjoy beer and given that it is a plant- based beverage, there is definitely room to improve beer’s health profile.”
Participants need to be Australian residents or citizens and must drink beer at least once a fortnight.
ENDS
Seven of Australia’s best typographers, type designers, calligraphers and logo designers will come together on the Gold Coast this April to talk about their work at a creative conference to focus purely on the craft of typography.
Typismis the brainchild ofartist, author, speaker and educatorDominique Falla — who also heads up the Bachelor of Digital Media at the Queensland College of Art and recently completed a Doctorate herself inTactile Typography.
According to Dominique, it’s an event to celebrate and discuss the art and technique of making written language readable and beautiful.
“Typography is everywhere and part of so much around us yet itisn’tuntil we start to look closely that we recognise it for its true value,” she says.
Typographer Dominique Falla will lead the upcoming Typism conference at the Gold Coast
The self-confessed “type snob” says it was being left handed that made her first consider the art form.
“Writing my own name as a small child was a little more laborious than for most!” she explains.
“As a lefty with nine letters in my name, I had to give it a lot of attention and thought as to how I could best write it.
“This focus has continued throughout my design practice over the last 20 years, and I’ll admit that it was a passion which slowly crept into an obsession!”
“Now as an educator, I see so many students coming through in a digital age and they need to understand the importance of typography, so it plays significant part of my teaching practice.”
“It is important to explore ways in which the digital world can inhabit the real one using typography,” she says.
It’s a skill that she says is in hot demand, with typographers called upon for advertising, packaging and branding.
Dominique herself continues to produce tactile typography works for commission,with Google and Woolworths just some of the big names that have called on her expertise for large-scale installations.
“Typefaces have personalities — so success is down to choosing the appropriate one for the environment you’re in.
“But in the end so much comes down to the individual designer, as it’s not the typeface you use but how you use it!” she says.
The appointments are in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the advancement of world scientific knowledge.
Both Professors von Itzstein and Good are global leaders in infectious disease research.
Professor von Itzstein is world-renowned for his anti-viral drug discovery programs and his discovery of Relenza, the world’s first designer anti-influenza virus drug.
Professor Mark von Itzstein
Professor Good has two promising vaccine candidates in human clinical trials; one that would protect against malaria infection and the other against Group A Streptococcal infection.
Professor Michael Good
The newly created Academy was officially launched by Minister for Health, the Hon Sussan Ley MP in Canberra on March 25, 2015.
Director Professor von Itzstein, who leads a membership of 165 researchers at the Institute for Glycomics, said he was honoured by the announcement.
“Both Michael and I feel very privileged to be elected as Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health & Medical Sciences, and look forward to working within the Academy to advance medical research.”
The Academy includes many eminent scientists, including Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty and is led by President Professor Ian Frazer.
It aims to provide independent advice to Government on health and medical research issues, mentor the next generation of health and medical science researchers and provide a forum for discussion on progress on medical research with an emphasis on translation of research into practice.
Griffith University Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ned Pankhurst is delighted by the announcement.
“I congratulate the University’s two new Fellows on their election to the Academy.
“They join an elite group and continue Griffith’s strong tradition of our distinguished researchers being recognised by the leading academies.”
Established in 2014, the Academy brings together individuals who are members of Australia’s diverse specialist colleges and associations along with researchers and medical educators with a clinical and translational focus. The Academy plans to engage with all professional colleges and academies, as well as the NHMRC and government.
Candidates are judged primarily on the evidence of their published scientific work, and by peer review of scientists, both overseas and in Australia, who are eminent in the candidate’s field of expertise.
For a full list of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Council Members visit: www.aahms.org
For over 20 years, Professor Paula Brough’s research has focussed on evaluating and enhancing the psychological health of workers. She is the leader of the Behavioural Basis of Health (research centre’s) Social and Organisational Psychology Research Unit, and WOW’s newest academic member. We spent five minutes with (a very busy) Paulato learn a little more about her research…
In what area/s do your current research interests lie?
My research has focused on two primary aspects of psychological health: (1) reducing experiences of occupational stress within the high-risk industries, and (2) enhancing employee health and organisational performance.I have conducted collaborative research in this field specifically with police agencies since 1993 (my Honours, Masters and PhD theses all investigated police occupational stress), and since 2000, this research has been co-funded by various police services. I’ve conducted research with numerous UK Police Services and with both New Zealand and Queensland Police Services. This research has also been applied to other high-risk industries such as Ambulance, Fire, Corrections, Education and Customs services, as well as to private organisations.
Are there ongoing or emerging trends in your field/s of research?
The swing to assess the impacts of positive, as well as negative, workplace experiences has recently gained welcome momentum. Thus a focus on the provision of workplace support, balance andsatisfaction in the assessmentsof employee wellbeing, work engagementand development has provided improved estimates of employee health, as compared to a focus on stress, conflict, strain and burnout, for example. We also recently reviewed the impact of technology on employee health and performance levels (‘techno-stress’), and technology continues to be both a blessing and a curse for many workers. How newtechnologywill change the workingenvironmentover the next decade or so is certainly an issue worthy of increased attention.
Have there been major developments in the field/s or key findings that have directed the trajectory of your research?
The recognition and refinement ofexplanationsof how psychosocial work characteristics impact on employeehealth and performance has been important (e.g. Job Demands-Resources Model; Psychosocial Safety Climate assessments). The recentemphasisplaced upon leaders – how they can have such a strong impact upon all sorts oforganisationalpractices and employee performance, regardless of formal policies, is also topical. This has of course been known for a while, but recent empirical studies havere-emphasisedthis impact via multi-level modellinganalyses in particular. The research we’re undertaking assessing the impact of ‘toxic leaders’ and training supervisors ‘in supportive people management skills’ is exciting and is producing some nice empirical evidence of thisimpact ofleadership.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m in the final stages of completing a co-authored book entitled,Improving criminal justice workplaces: Translating theory and research into evidenced-based practice(Routledge).I’m halfway through an Australian Research Council Linkage grant undertaking a controlled trial of an innovative stress management intervention which focusses on leadership development in the Queensland Police Service. I have some small (seed funding) projects running in 2015 with Queensland Fire & Rescue Service (assessing gender culture), and with Queensland Teachers Unions (assessing engagement over the teaching life span). Then there’s the usual backlog of papers from past projects to write up, or awaiting revision and journal resubmission!
Finally, are there challenges in your field/s in trying to bridge the gap between research, practice and policy?
I’m a passionate advocate of high qualityappliedresearch – it has to be useful, it has to work, and we need to be able to empiricallyprove that it does. Most of my research is distilled into key recommendations for organisations with the intention of informing their policies. The uptake of recommendations into actual organisational policy change is of course varied, but does occur.
