Synergy Vol4 No 3 Spring 2000 Murdoch University

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Leading Edge Research at Murdoch University - Volume 4 No 3: Spring 2000

Marker THE FUTURE OF AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH
Universities in Australia are in a state of great flux as they try to respond to the Federal government’s research white paper and its implications for the sector.
>> more information on the future of Australian research

NEWS IN BRIEF

Order of Australia Honour

EMERITUS Professor John Howell, the Foundation Professor of Pathology at Murdoch, has been appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia for services to veterinary science and medicine - particularly his research into copper overload syndrome and inherited muscle disease.

He was also acclaimed in the education field as a mentor, role model and administrator.

Professor Howell joined Murdoch in 1974 as Professor of Pathology and Head of the Division of Veterinary Biology. He was only the second academic staff member in the School.

His work has had significant implications for veterinary science both in Australia and overseas, particularly in areas where animal models are used in the study of human diseases.

Early research into Wilson’s Disease and Pompe’s Disease in the 1970s and ‘80s was particularly significant, paving the way for a number of important international medical breakthroughs.

Professor Howell is the Head of the Gene Therapy Research Group at the Australian Neuromuscular Research Institute (ANRI) at the QEII Medical Centre in Perth.

This research team and its Canadian collaborators have achieved great success in the preliminary studies of gene therapy regimes for the inherited muscle diseases known as McArdle’s Disease and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

This work is expected to have important applications in the development of treatments for these diseases in humans.


New healthway grant for Murdoch

DR Mark Rapley (School of Psychology) and Dr Alan Petersen (School of Sociology) have been awarded a joint grant of $226,000 from Healthway to carry out research on mental health in culturally and linguistically diverse com-munities in Perth. The three-year project, in association with Royal Perth Hospital and the East Perth Public and Community Health Unit, is expected to get underway in January 2001.

Marker AT THE COAL FACE OF CHINAS ENERGY POLICY
Murdoch researchers at the Asia Research Centre (ARC) recently commenced a landmark joint study with the Energy Research Institute (ERI) in Beijing, examining ways that energy policy in China might be affected by political, social and broader economic developments.
>> more information on China's energy policy

Marker DON'T FENCE ME IN
Can a fence change weather patterns? Professor Tom Lyons from Murdoch’s Environmental Science believes the rabbit fence stretching from Esperance to Geraldton has made quite an impact.
>> more information on don't fence me in

Marker NEW ORGANIC WASTE CENTRE ADDRESSES LANDFILL LIMITATIONS
The limitation on space in some landfill sites has reached acute proportions, according to the Director of Murdoch’s new Centre for Organic Waste Management, Professor Arthur McComb.
>> more information on landfill limitations

Marker KERRY STOKES LAUNCHES NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART MEDIA CENTRE
A NEW $1.7 million state-of-the-art Media Arts Centre was opened at Murdoch recently by media magnate Kerry Stokes. At the ceremony Mr Stokes also received a Fellowship in Digital Media from Murdoch.
>> more information on state-of-the-art media centre

Marker TAKING PROTEIN PRODUCTION TO ANOTHER LEVEL
A miracle antidote in a test tube cannot cure the world if it is too expensive to produce. Too often the cost of producing sufficient quantities of a protein for commercial testing is one of the major sticking points for researchers trying to secure venture capital.
>> more information on protein production
Marker SMART SOFTWARE CUTS MINING PRODUCTION COSTS
DR Peng Lam is taking the guesswork out of mining by building smarter software for processing plants.
>> more information on smart software cuts mining production costs
Marker TRAINING IN AN EQUIPMENT POWERHOUSE
MANY industries, including agriculture, environmental disposal and mining, rely on precise analysis techniques of gases and liquids.
>> more information on training in an equipment powerhouse
Marker TAKING THE ROBOTIC DOG FOR A WALK
JUST like the animators of Jurassic Park, Murdoch robotics engineers are looking towards biological organisms for inspiration.
>> more information on taking the robotic dog for a walk
Marker SEARCHING FOR THE GOOD OIL
DR Robert Trengove has been prospecting for oil from Shark Bay to Narrogin - sandalwood oil, that is.
>> more information on searching for the good oil
Marker AUSTRALIA'S FIRST DEGREE IN RENEWABLE ENERGY
Murdoch’s School of Engineering launched Australia’s first Bachelor’s degree in Renewable Energy in August.
>> more information on Australia's first degree in renewable energy

Marker THE SKY'S THE LIMIT
Don’t look outside if you want to know about sunlight, as tapping into the Internet will be much more accurate.
>> more information on the sky's the limit

Marker CONCENTRATING THE SUN
West Australians will tell you there is no place on Earth quite like Perth. It has more sunny days than any other capital city in Australia. So it’s hardly surprising that Murdoch’s Rockingham Campus was chosen as the demonstration site for a new solar energy project developed at the Australian National University (ANU) in conjunction with the Australian CRC for Renewable Energy (ACRE).
>> more information on concentrating the sun
Marker NEW CENTRE TO FIGHT CROP LOSS
Chinese Veterinary Professor Zhang Xiaofei believes the six months he is spending as a visiting research fellow at Murdoch’s Centre for Production Animal Research will help encourage stronger links between Murdoch and the People’s Republic of China.
>> more information on new centre to fight crop loss
Marker GROWING WITH THE FLOW IN THE BAY OF BENGAL
A small island in the Bay of Bengal may one day be awash with electricity, thanks to Murdoch researchers introducing tidal power to the community.
>> more information on growing with the flow in the Bay of Bengal
Marker GROWING WITH THE FLOW IN THE BAY OF BENGAL
THE ISTP has also been working with environmental science in Embong Brantas, a squatter community in Malang, East Java, where they are finding ways to clean up the river and help the local community with sanitation.
>> more information on success for Indonesian sanitation project
Marker MURDOCH RESEARCHER SEEKS ANSWERS TO CHILDHOOD LEUKAEMIA
MURDOCH University biomedical scientist Dr Wayne Greene hopes to solve one of medical science’s most baffling mysteries - how to combat childhood leukaemia.
>> more information on Murdoch researcher seeks answers to childhood leukaemia
Marker THIS BILBY IS NO BUNNY
DESPITE the Greater Bilby’s ambassadorial role as Australia’s native Easter bunny, it is an endangered species that few people have seen in the wild.
>> more information onthis bilby is no bunny		 Billby

Marker LOOKING BEHIND THE SCIENCE HEADLINES
A science story’s bark is often worse than its bite. So found Dr Alan Petersen from Murdoch Sociology when investigating the portrayal of genetics in the media.
>> more information on looking behind the science headlines
Marker NEW COURSE LOOKS AT WHAT THE INTERNET MEANS TO US
VIRTUAL reality, computer games, web interactivity and the notion of cyberspace - these are just some of the areas being researched in a new unit currently underway in Murdoch University’s School of Media Communication and Culture (MCC) Program.
>> more information on new course looks at what the internet means to us

Marker FIJIAN DIVISIONS RUN DEEP
Through a seminar series in July, Dr Trevor Sofield presented a political and historical analysis of the recent Fijian crisis. Dr Sofield is the former High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands (1982-85) and Deputy Secretary-General of the South Pacific Secretariat based in Fiji during the 1987 coup. He now chairs Murdoch’s tourism programme.
>> more information on Fijian divisions run deep
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Editor Pepi Smyth
Writers Lachlan McCrudden, Michael Peeters, Chris Smyth, Pepi Smyth, Marissa Williams
Design Peter Roots
Photography Grace Banks, Geoff Griffiths, Brian Richards
All material may be used without permission but correct reference to persons quoted and the University is requested.
Enquiries to The Editor, Synergy (editorcr@central.murdoch.edu.au)
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