Message from the Vice Chancellor

THE future will offer many significant challenges to us in Australia. There will be the need for our industries to continue to provide new products and services in an increasingly competitive and global market.
Vice Chancellor, Professor Steven Schwartz

Vice Chancellor, Professor Steven Schwartz

Pressures on the use of world resources by a growing population will demand efficiencies in the extraction, manufacture or cultivation of many different materials, as well as their appropriate use and disposal.
Social pressures will govern the application of certain standards of care for land, sea and waterways. The provision of adequate health care, educational services and appropriate housing will pose major challenges to our nation over the next decade or more.
The communication revolution will profoundly alter access to information and services. Creativity will be required to deal with the myriad issues relating to the structure and the function of our society.
Only if these problems are adequately addressed will we have the future we would wish for ourselves, and for our children.
These, and many other challenges, will need high quality research to provide the knowledge and understanding that will be the basis of practical solutions.
New knowledge will be an essential pointer to help us to navigate the future. We will be required to use our research capability as effectively as possible.
The resources of industries, the universities and other research organisations will be needed to address the issues. New strategic partnerships and the synergies resulting from the combination of the best of all sectors will have an important part to play in dealing with the issues facing our society. Synergy will help us to achieve the best returns from our industrial efforts and a high quality of life and culture.
At Murdoch University we have recognised the need to present our capabilities clearly to those in the industrial and commercial sector. We have formulated policies to actively seek partnerships and strategic alliances with industry.
Synergy is our new research publication. It represents one of the steps that we are taking to inform leaders in industry and commerce about key areas of research at this University.
Murdoch is the headquarters of the newly established Australian Co-operative Research Centre for Renewable Energy. It is therefore timely that this first edition focuses on the work of Murdoch researchers and their industrial partners in the area of renewable energy. I hope that you find the material informative and helpful in your operations.

Professor Steven Schwartz
Vice Chancellor