unsw.engineers issue 10/sept 2004 10issue 10 / sept 2004 · 2015-09-01 · 2 unsw.engineers issue...

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Going global:The international dimensions of the Faculty of Engineering

Dr Kourosh Kayvani: A career spanning the world

School snapshots

2 UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004 3

NEWS

UNSW Engineers is published by the Faculty of Engineering, UNSW.Phone +61 2 9385 4023Fax + 61 9385 5456Email [email protected]

EditorJulie-Anne O’HaganLayout and ProductionMarjorie FoxPrinted byRodenprint Pty Ltd

ISSN 1442-8849

[cover image] GOING GLOBAL: Associate Dean (International), Faculty of Engineering, Associate Professor Rod Chaplin.

contents 3 News

6 Achievements

8 Going global: The international dimensions of the Faculty of Engineering

12 School snapshots

18 Vale

19 Graduate profile: Dr Kourosh Kayvani

UNSWENGINEERS

THRILLING EVENING: Lloyd and Cheryl Baker at the Faculty of Engineering Alumni Dinner

2 UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004

Sparks fly at reunionTwo hundred engineering graduands enjoyed a thrilling evening at the 2003 Faculty of Engineering Alumni Dinner in November.

Apart from catching up with old friends and chatting about the profession, the excitement was sparked by the dessert – fiery Bombe Alaskas set off a fire alarm and everyone was evacuated from the Roundhouse.

However, the night continued happily and the party carried on in the forecourt, with some graduands having to be coaxed inside once the formal proceedings resumed.

Graduands from 1953 to 1993 attended, with the largest turnout from the surveyors of 1973.

This year’s dinner was held on 10 September at the Roundhouse, celebrating the graduatiing classes of ’54, ’64, ’74, ’84 and ’94.

For further information, please contact Luciano Ferracin, telephone 02 9385 5364, email [email protected]

A lunch date 50 years onGraduands from the class of 1954 can be forgiven for being unfamiliar with UNSW today.

When they were students, Kensington campus was “a howling waste of sand and unfinished buildings”, as Alumni Association President Jessica Milner Davis describes it.

The 1954 graduands studied at UNSW’s predecessor, the former NSW University of Technology, and their graduation was held at the Great Hall at the University of Sydney because the then fledgling UNSW had no suitable venue.

However in March, 2004, 29 graduands from the University’s founding faculties of Engineering and Science enjoyed visiting UNSW’s Kensington’s campus and attending a jubilee lunch co-hosted by the Faculties of Engineering and Science.

Of the 22 engineering graduands, the Schools of Civil Engineering and Mining had the strongest turnout, with 10 of the original 16 Civil graduates and six of the nine Mining graduates present. Five mining engineers attended with their wives who had first met in 1954 when dating the men they eventually married.

The 50th anniversary luncheon for the class of 1955 will be held next April.

Appointment of UNSW Vice-ChancellorProfessor Mark Wainwright AM, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering from 1991–2000 has been appointed UNSW’s new Vice-Chancellor.

“I am happy to confirm this appointment effective 1 July,” the Chancellor of UNSW Dr John Yu said. “Professor Wainwright will provide strong leadership in carrying through UNSW’s goals to full realisation.”

Bill Kearsley to retireHead of the School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems Associate Professor Arthur Harry William (Bill) Kearsley retired on 9 July.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY:‘54 graduates Colin Freeland and Ron Everett

CONGRATULATIONS!: Professor Mark Wainwright is the new Vice-Chancellor of UNSW

From the DeanThis issue of UNSW Engineers focuses on the Faculty’s wide-ranging international activities.

A topical subject, especially given the recent announcement of UNSW Asia in Singapore – a new research-intensive university which will admit its first undergraduates in 2007. The university site, near Changi Airport, will eventually

be home to about 15,000 students from around the world.Engineering will be a major contributor to the campus

programs, both in teaching and research. Initial undergraduate programs will be in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, and we are also considering offering Food Science and Technology and Surveying and Spatial Information Systems in response to local demand. We are very excited about this project and hope to involve many of our international alumni in activities associated with the development.

Many of our international alumni now have sons and daughters planning to pursue tertiary education. We hope they will also choose to study at UNSW. Earlier this year we announced the introduction of scholarships for programs in the Faculty of Engineering for the sons and daughters of UNSW alumni. (The alumni may have studied with any Faculty.) We look forward to welcoming them to the campus in 2005.

But our international focus is not solely on students coming to UNSW. We are encouraging our own students to study abroad for part of their degrees, especially at universities where the language of instruction is not their own. We are also hoping many of our research students will conduct projects in the laboratories of our international collaborators.

The Faculty values its ties with the international engineering community. If you have any suggestions about how to further enhance these relationships, we would appreciate hearing from you. Please feel free to email the Faculty of Engineering at [email protected] with your ideas.

May I also extend my thanks to the alumni who have written to us with regard to this publication. We welcome and appreciate their contribution.

Best wishes,

Professor Brendon ParkerDean, Faculty of Engineering


After gaining his Bachelor of Surveying degree in 1963, Associate Professor Kearsley joined the Faculty staff in July 1968, teaching geodetic computations, geopotential models, geoid evaluations and height datums and professional communications.

His research interests lie in the definition and determination of heights and height datums. He has been involved in heighting from GPS and satellite radar altimetry overland and has investigated the use of airborne gravimetry. He obtained his Master of Surveying Science in 1969 and his PhD in Physical Geodesy in 1976.

Involved in many high-profile projects, Associate Professor Kearsley assisted with AUSGeoid93, the second in a series of national geoid models produced by Geoscience Australia. The values for AUSGeoid were computed for the Australian region using techniques and software developed by him.

Associate Professor Kearsley is an active member in SMIC (Surveying and Mapping Industry Council), has important roles with professional bodies and consults to Australian government bodies, foreign governments and on private projects. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Geomatics Research Australia.

His legacy is evidenced in the generations of surveyors taught by him who each day

benefit from his enthusiasm and passion for the profession.

The Faculty congratulates Associate Professor Kearsley on an exemplary career and wishes him a happy retirement.

Prestigious appointment for former School leaderFormer Head of the School of Computer Science and Engineering, Professor Arun Sharma, has been appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Commercialisation) at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.

Professor Sharma joined the Faculty of Engineering in 1991, and was Head of School from January 1999 to May 2003, when he became Director of the Sydney Laboratory at NICTA (National Information Communications Technology Centre).

Professor Sharma was successful in building the School’s research profile, international reputation and linkages, as well as recruiting outstanding international staff.

The Faculty congratulates him on this prestigious appointment.

Design seminarIn an effort to encourage a more holistic approach to design, the Faculties of Engineering and Built Environment and the College of Fine Arts hosted a design workshop on 3 June.

Held at the University, the workshop involved eminent practitioners including 2000 Olympic Torch designer Mark Armstrong, as well as architects Ken Maher and Philip Cox, and design consultant and engineer Cliff Green.

Citing the example of the Italian Ducati motorcycle, a modern masterpiece of industrial design, Green questioned why Australia wasn’t capable of producing something so technically brilliant and emotionally engaging.

“The answer is, ‘we are’,” Green said. “But it requires a synthesis of disciplines. It’s a case of putting the knowledge together.”

He stressed that for Australia to take a lead role in design, educators need to adopt an integrated approach.

The University is responding to this call by laying foundations for creative and cohesive solutions in design education, with the aim of eventually establishing collaborative graduate and undergraduate programs.

“We also want to see design recognised as a field of scholarship in engineering so we can attract designers into our academic communities,” Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Parker, added.

Helping hand for rural scholarsThe Faculty’s Rural Scholarship Program is now in its fourth year and currently 18 rural scholars from across Australia are studying engineering programs and benefiting from the scheme.

Funded by Schools and the Faculty, as well as by private and industry donors, the scholarships are worth $34,000, that is, $8,500 a year for a four-year engineering degree.

On-campus accommodation is made available for some first-year rural scholars, and mentors from each of the Faculty’s Schools are available to assist with any academic concerns.

Up to 20 scholarships will be offered in 2005.

For information, please contact Daniel Owens, telephone 02 9385 6429, or visit www.eng.unsw.edu.au and www.ruralstudents.unsw.edu.au

Dean’s awards to top studentsThe Faculty of Engineering recently bestowed its prestigious Dean’s Awards on 120 students in recognition of their outstanding academic achievement.

Faculty Dean Professor Brendon Parker and Associate Dean, Associate Professor Tim Hesketh, presented the students with their awards – sponsored by Esso and Mobil – at a presentation ceremony held at the University.

“We are delighted with the quality of young engineers we are producing,” Professor

Parker says. “Their range of interests, from biomedical engineering to developing infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, water and communication, shows the diversity of the profession and its value to society.”

Engineering – ScholarshipsThe Faculty is pleased to announce the establishment of the following scholarships and awards:

The Leighton Holdings Limited Rural Scholarship for high-achieving students from rural and isolated areas in Australia to study Civil and Environmental Engineering.

The GrainCorp Foundation Scholarship for students from regions where GrainCorp operates and who enrol in full-time study in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.

Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd is funding research and education activities in surface mining at the School of Mining Engineering in 2004 including: The Mitsubishi Lecture Series, The Mitsubishi Prize and the Mitsubishi Rural Scholarship in Mining Engineering.

The Bruce Veness Chandler Award in Food Science and Technology for postgraduate research in food science and technology, made possible by the gift from the Estate of the late Bruce Veness Chandler (MSc [Biotech] ’76).

NEWS NEWS

BRAVO!:Associate Professor Bill Kearsley

DISCUSSING DESIGN:Cliff Green is pushing for an integrated approach to design

COUNTRY WISE:Samuel Pearson is a 2004 Faculty Rural Scholar

DEAN’S AWARD:Anjalee Sujanani was one of 120 students recognised for outstanding academic achievement


achievements blast from the past

Queens Birthday and Australia Day honours lists Faculty staff and alumni featured prominently in recent honours lists.

The Faculty congratulates UNSW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mark Wainwright, former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, and Leighton Holdings CEO Wallace King, who serves on the UNSW Foundation board and AGSM Advisory Council, who have both received Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Professor Wainwright was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to chemical engineering as a researcher and academic in tertiary education.

Mr King was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to the Australian construction industry. He was also recognised for his initiatives to develop the export of engineering services and for his support of educational, environmental, welfare and cultural organisations.

The Faculty also congratulates the following UNSW Engineering alumni who received Australia Day honours:

Dr William Roebuck OAM (BE ’60, ME ’69) for service to education through technical industrial training programs and apprenticeships, and to the community.

Ian Stainton AM (BSc [Eng] ’72, Grad Dip ’73) for service to urban development, employment generation, and training and heritage and cultural preservation through the Penrith Lakes Development Corporation.

Elizabeth Taylor AO (BE ’78) for service to engineering education through the design and implementation of innovative academic programs, to professional associations, and to enhancing the status of women in the profession and promoting engineering as a career option.

Top engineers from UNSWA quarter of Australia’s Top 100 most-influential engineers are either UNSW staff or alumni, according to Engineers Australia magazine’s inaugural listing of leading engineering professionals.

Dear EditorI think I recognise people in the Blast from the Past photo from the last issue.

The photo was taken in a year two or three chemistry or physics lab (1982/83), with Donald Hewes, Ross McDonnell and Wayne Roberts on the right. (I don’t recognise the person in the background.)

They went on to graduate with me as chemical engineers at the end of 1984.

Anyway, let’s wait and see if anyone else agrees. But the three guys I knew back then look very much like these guys. I’ve lost touch with them though.

I now work as an IT infrastructure design engineer in the Coles Myer computer centre. Shane Johnson, BE (Chemical, Honours 1) ’84, Ivanhoe VIC

Dear FriendsI have just read with great interest Issue 9 of UNSW Engineers. I enjoy catching up on UNSW news.

I thought you may be interested in the attached photo of a Civil Engineering class of 1975. The group (pictured below), Group C, is my old group. (I am in the third row, first from left). No doubt alumni from Groups A and B will have photos of their groups.

The pity is that I only remember a few names after 28 years! Can others identify who is in the pictures and where they are working now?Tim Austin (BE Civil ’75), Principal Engineer, Maunsell Australia Pty Ltd

Trish MessiterTrish Messiter (BE [Chemical Engineering] ’84) is a partner in a small Melbourne-based start-up, Clarinox Pty Ltd, which provides wireless electronic products and services.

“I am director – business development,” Ms Messiter says. “The company’s focus is on short-range wireless technologies, Bluetooth in particular.”

Since graduation Ms Messiter has worked for academic institutions, small companies, and corporate giants such as BHP, ICI, and IBM. As part of her role with Clarinox, she will be delivering a speech at the Wireless Connectivity Americas conference in San Jose, USA in November this year.

Ms Messiter says she would like to hear from university friends.

“I enjoy attending the Melbourne-based alumni functions when time permits,” she says. “And my work with Aspen software sales kept me in touch with a few people I went to university with but in recent years we have lost touch.”Trish Messiter, BE (Chemical) ‘84, Sandringham VIC

Bill Kearsley

Associate Professor Bill Kearsley, recently retired Head of School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems, attended the South East Asian Surveyors Congress in Hong Kong last November, and had an enjoyable reunion with many Surveying alumni.Back Row: George Leung (‘98), Teresa Hong (‘97), Joe Lee (2001), Mark Tse (‘99), Eric Lok (2000), Ken Ching (‘96), Felix Lam (‘97), Partick Pang (‘98).Front Row: Maggie Ngai (George Leung’s wife), Vicki Lau (‘98), Bill Kearsley (‘73), Helena Chan (‘98).

Bush TelegraphUNSW Vice-Chancellor

Professor Mark Wainwright, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Professor Brendon Parker, and award-winning photovoltaics pioneer Professor Martin Green are among 25 engineers named from academia and research.

The list also includes 21 UNSW engineering alumni, now in respected positions in industry, academia and research, consulting and professional associations.

New Faculty Federation FellowProfessor Mark Bradford of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering has been awarded a Federation Fellowship, the highest publicly funded research scholarship offered in Australia.

He will use the scholarship to explore the behaviour and design of steel and steel-concrete composite engineering structures subjected to fire.

After completing his PhD in 1984, Professor Bradford joined UNSW as a lecturer in Civil Engineering in 1986. He was promoted to Professor in 1988, the same year UNSW awarded him a DSc in Engineering for his outstanding research contribution to the structural

stability of steel and steel-concrete composite structures.

He is one of 25 Federation Fellowship recipients, regarded as the best in the world in their chosen fields.

Win for early career researcher Dr Martina Stenzel, a lecturer in the School of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry, has won one of three 2004 Australian Research Council Early Career Researcher Awards.

Dr Stenzel, also a researcher in the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design, received the award for her outstanding body of work, which includes two ARC-funded projects on polymers.

Emeritus Professors

Professor Kerry Byrne School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Professor Eric Hahn School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Professor Somasundaram Valliappan School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

ALUMNUS HONOURED:Leighton Holdings CEO Wallace King AO was appointed officer of the Order of Australia


UNSW recently announced that it will be the first Australian university to open a wholly owned and operated research and teaching campus in Singapore, providing some of the first programs at UNSW Asia – Singapore.

The Faculty of Engineering will offer undergraduate and postgraduate programs, possibly starting as early as mid 2006.

“This is an endorsement of the Faculty’s long-term strategy of engagement with Asia, and the benefits to the Faculty are considerable,” Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Brendon Parker, says.

“In addition to strengthening our ties with Asia, as part of a genuine regional university, we will have full access to significant research funding available on a competitive basis in Singapore.”

The courses conducted in Singapore will allow easy transfer between Kensington and Changi campuses.

“We will expect the same high standards from our Singapore students as our Australian students,” Professor Parker says.

The Faculty’s role in the development of the Singapore campus is an example of its many international partnerships

and collaborative research projects undertaken with overseas institutions.

Lasting links In fact the ‘internationalisation’ of the Faculty started

with its involvement in the Colombo Plan in the 1950s.Under the Plan, hundreds of students from Southeast

Asian countries came to study engineering at UNSW, later returning to Asia to help develop their countries’ economies and infrastructure.

However, the push for the Faculty to ‘internationalise’ began under a former Dean, Professor Chris Fell.

“He had already foreseen the benefits in internationalisation and had initiated a strong focus on international student recruitment,” Professor Parker says.

“Then, in the early 1990s, the next Dean, Professor Mark Wainwright [now UNSW Vice-Chancellor] appointed Dr Tony Robinson as Associate Dean (International), responsible for addressing the needs of international students and for initiating and enhancing the Faculty’s ties with overseas tertiary institutions as well as with international industry figures. His legacy involved establishing a universal presence, initially across Asia.”

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Going global > The international dimensions of the Faculty of Engineering

Under Professor Wainwright’s leadership, the Faculty established important and lasting links with a wide range of diploma-level colleges in Singapore and Malaysia, and with a number of universities in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as government agencies in these countries.

“During this time most of these countries were rapidly expanding their education systems and UNSW was able to provide help in a number of ways including research training of staff, upgrading diplomas to degrees through well-established articulation processes, and assisting with curriculum development,” Professor Parker says.

The Faculty also signed important Memorandums of Understanding with tertiary institutions including Agder College in Norway, Wittayalai Mahanakorn University in Thailand, the Indian Institutes of Technology, Taylors College in Malaysia, INTI College in Malaysia and Tohoku University in Japan.

These MOUs help facilitate collaborative research as well as student and staff exchanges.

Cosmopolitan student body Such collaborations are helping UNSW to attract some

of the world’s top undergraduate, postgraduate and post-doctoral students.

“Our international students come from more than 80 countries and our alumni are making their mark all over the world,” the current Associate Dean – International, Associate Professor Rod Chaplin, says.

“They comprise almost 30% of the Faculty’s student population. We are proud of them and welcome their contribution to life at UNSW.”

Associate Professor Chaplin says international undergraduate student numbers have grown steadily from 1998. In that year the Faculty enrolled about 750 international students and the number has risen to about

1600 this year. Mechanical, computer science and electrical engineering are among the most popular areas of study.

Postgraduate coursework student numbers have remained steady, he says, while postgraduate research numbers have increased slowly from 100 in 1998 to about 200 in 2004.

“We’ve seen a rise in the number of Chinese students,” Associate Professor Chaplin says.

“And we’ve got strong numbers from Singapore and Malaysia and Indonesia.

“Through AUSAid Scholarships we’re starting to welcome some students from Vietnam, and we have students from Korea, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Pakistan. Our first Portuguese students joined us this year.”

The Faculty is also keen for Australian students to study in overseas institutions. Australian students are encouraged to study abroad through Faculty scholarships and students gain full credit for subjects taken overseas. The Faculty also recently introduced new exchange scholarships for students to attend non-English-speaking universities.

“We want Australian students to broaden the scope of their degree,” Associate Professor Chaplin says.

“Living and studying in a non-English-speaking country promotes students’ personal development. It encourages them to develop fluency in the language and provides insights into the culture which you are unlikely to gain in the classroom.”

Associate Professor Chaplin adds that students will also be able to develop an international network of professional contacts which will be useful to their careers in the long term.

International collaboration The Faculty’s researchers are also benefiting from ties with

overseas-based academics.Professor Bob Randall of the School of Mechanical

and Manufacturing Engineering has excellent working relationships with academics in France and Scandinavia.

“Our school is conducting collaborative research with the Université de Technologie de Compiègne, north-east of

Solar attraction

Greg Linder, 22, is in the fourth year of a computer engineering degree at the University of Illinois. He has spent the past year on exchange at UNSW.

“My university cancelled its solar car team the year I got there. So I decided I would still pursue my inter-est in solar cars by going to a friendly, English-speaking country on exchange.

“There were a lot of motivating reasons behind my decision to study at UNSW. It’s got a really good track record of making and developing solar cells. The three definitive books about solar energy were written by UNSW lecturers and are used all over the world. And I knew I would meet experts in the field who I could pester with questions!

“UNSW is the place to be. I now spend all my time worrying about solar cars, making plugs and moulds, arguing about engineering ideas. My work is about helping guide the car. We want to have it ready by March next year. If I have a windfall I’ll come back and see it finished!”

“I’ve really enjoyed my time here. The staff are really friendly – I’m not used to calling lecturers by their first name. And because I’ve worked with small groups, I’ve got to know people well.

“On my return to the US I’ll finish my degree – I’ve another year to go – and then I’d like to work in and improve public perception of renew-able energy. Ideally I’d like to build my own hybrid electric vehicle. But for the moment I’m trying to encourage people to support ‘Adopt-a-Cell’ which helps the UNSW solar racing team raise funds to develop our race-winning car!”

The Faculty of Engineering has an enviable reputation, enhanced by its consistent efforts to engage and collaborate with overseas alumni, academics and industry leaders. With the annnouncement of the launch of UNSW Asia – Singapore, the Faculty considers its impact on and involvement in the international engineering community.

Golden opportunity

Lim Hwei Chern, 25, is a Golden Jubilee Scholarship holder and is completing her final year in mechanical engineering. In 2003/04 she won a Taste of Research Summer Scholarship and a Faculty of Engineering Dean’s Award.

“I am Singaporean and initially did a Diploma in Quality Engineering at Temasek Polytechnic. On gradua-tion I worked for two-and-a-half years for a local electronic company and then for Hitachi Nipon.

“I wanted to continue to degree level to advance my career and broaden my horizons. I knew I had a lot more to learn!

“UNSW was my first choice of overseas university because it is well known in Singapore and comes highly recommended. Most of my contacts recommended the university, particularly its engineering cours-es, and I figured that if I want to go back and work in Singapore, a UNSW qualification would help me.

“On top of that UNSW offered me a generous scholarship for which I am very grateful.“I didn’t expect to do as well at UNSW as I have. I initially planned to go back and get a job in Asia but

now I’m considering a PhD.“Singapore’s economy is knowledge based so we need to consistently introduce new technology and ideas. Thanks to what I’ve learnt at

UNSW, I hope to make a contribution to Singapore’s future.”


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Paris” he says. “Funded through an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant, we are working primarily in machine diagnostics and advanced signal processing.

“There are a lot of benefits emanating from our ties with these French researchers who are considered to be highly advanced in this area.

“We have both staff and students on exchange and produce a lot of joint papers.”

The Australian-French research team has also recently established contact with FAG Bearings in Germany with regard to setting up collaborative research and offering consulting services.

Professor Randall also has close ties with the University of Roanne and Instituts Universitaires de Technologie (IUT), which is affiliated with the University of St Etienne.

“We are also working with the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG), particularly in the area of image and signal processing.”

The School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering also hosts academics from around the world, including a visiting professor from Oman.

“Their input really helps our students and staff develop a broader perspective of our discipline,” Professor Randall says.

Similarly, Associate Professor Albert Avolio of the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering is conducting collaborative research with the University of Cambridge and the University of Cardiff.

“Together, we do experiments on sheep and humans looking at endothelial function [the stentability or thickness of arteries] and how to treat blood pressure,” he says.

“The benefit for us is we have collaborative grants. We have already got Linkage grants from the Australian Research Council and we will be applying for more collaborative work with the British Heart Foundation.”

Associate Professor Avolio is also a co-founder of the NSW branch of the Associazione per la Ricerca tra Italia e Australasia or Australian Italian Research Association (ARIA), which held its first meeting in May.

With the support of the Italian Embassy, ARIA facilitates the exchange of information between researchers and tertiary institutions in Australia and Italy.

“All the major states had a branch of ARIA except NSW so Professor Branko Celler of the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications and I set one up,” Associate Professor Avolio says.

“We’re keen to develop contact with people in Italy, and not just in the areas of engineering and science. We work across all disciplines, including the arts and humanities, and seek to educate and inform people about our two countries.”

Associate Professor Avolio says that the benefits of being involved with ARIA include closer collaboration and direct contact with top academics and researchers in both countries.

“Fostering person-to-person contact rather than institution-to-institution contact often means we can progress more quickly in areas such as collaborative research,” Associate Professor Avolio says.

“It may also open the possibility of Australian researchers applying for collaborative grants within Europe’s new research funding framework.”

Overseas academics In addition to collaborative arrangements with tertiary

institutions around the world, the Faculty has recruited some of its top academics from international sources.

Dr Christopher Barner-Kowollik, a senior lecturer with the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design within the School of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry, relocated from Germany to Australia in 2000 to work as a post-doctoral research fellow, taking up his academic staff position in early 2002.

“My choice to work at UNSW was guided by its excellent reputation in my field of research – polymer science,” he says.

“I joined the polymer group at an exiting time, when Professor Tom Davis founded the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design (CAMD). The research environment was – and still is – highly dynamic and can compete with the best in the US and Europe.

“Building my own research career in parallel to the growth of CAMD and contributing to it over the years was a key experience. CAMD values, such as academic teamwork and a free flow of ideas, inspire my – and my colleagues’ – daily work. I believe CAMD at UNSW is a unique place to do science, with a different philosophy to most institutions, where hierarchies are often steep and stand in the way of scientific achievement.”

Dr Barner-Kowollik has worked in two other universities in Germany and says UNSW compares favourably: “The teaching in some areas is above and beyond what I have experienced before.”

And he’s keen on collaboration with overseas institutions.“I went on a John Yu fellowship to Sweden in late 2002

and have established a strong and on-going collaboration with a group at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm,” he says.

“We have since published high-impact papers together and I have had several KTH research master students under my supervision at CAMD.”

Dr Barner-Kowollik says that because of his German background, CAMD has close bonds with German research groups and it has recently entered into a three-year collaboration with a leading research group at the University of Bayreuth, north-east of Nuremberg, Germany.

Dr Tomonari Furukawa, who has worked at the University of Tokyo and at another Sydney university, chose

to take up the position of senior lecturer in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in order to expand his research into computational mechanics to include outdoor robotics.

“Australia has a world reputation in this field,” he says.UNSW’s high education standards and dynamic work

environment saw him join the Faculty staff in 2002.“Older universities often use their history to attract

students,” Dr Furukawa says. “I could see that UNSW won its good reputation

equivalent to these old universities by providing high-quality education.

“Also, older universities cannot often update their traditional systems to meet immediate need, whereas UNSW’s administration systems are flexible, dynamic and efficient.

“And UNSW is becoming more research intensive and I am looking forward to contributing to this.”

Going full circleAlmost since the University was founded, international

students and academics have been benefiting from and contributing to the teaching and research efforts of the Faculty of Engineering. And, more recently, UNSW students are creating similar links with universities overseas.

“In a way it’s going full circle,” Associate Professor Chaplin says. “Initially it was just about students coming from overseas to study here. But now, with Australian students going on exchanges to overseas institutions and with academics from around the world working here, not forgetting our collaborative research with our international colleagues, the Faculty is truly operating at an international level.”

Best year of his life

Giuseppe Taroni, 25, is a student at the University of Bologna, Italy, where he is studying computer science and engineering. He has been on exchange at UNSW for the past year.

“I am studying in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW thanks to a scholarship from my university. Studying at UNSW has been a great life experience. The best year of my life.

“I was attracted to Australia because it has good IT courses. The USA does too but I heard many people talking positively about Australia – its lifestyle and the beautiful countryside. Now, nearing the end of my time here, I know I made the right choice.

“UNSW is very different to studying in Italy and at the beginning I found it difficult. In Italy you have to study a lot of theory and you don’t apply your knowledge on practical projects. Australian universities have a practical as well as theoretical emphasis. I often complained to my parents and friends, telling them I had to work twice as hard as other students to get my work done! However, I got used to the UNSW system and I think the way IT is taught here is better than in Italy. After all, how can you just study theory or only apply your knowledge on small applications?

“I am soon going back to Italy to complete my thesis. On graduation I hope to return to work here in Australia. I hope my experience at USNW will help me secure employment!”

Positive exchangeJasmine Hellings, 23, has just completed a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering and a Master of Biomedical Engineering and now works as a management consultant in Sydney. In 2001 she went on exchange to Pennsylvania State University in the United States.

“I chose to study at Penn because it has a strong reputation for engineering and not a lot of US unis offer Biomedical Engineering.

“It was great to experience a new university culture and live in a ‘university town’.“Instead of having lectures with 200-plus people followed by tutorials, they have lots of small-

er lectures, say of about 60 people, with one-on-one consultation with lecturers. “And the facilities are amazing, especially to do with sport. I play hockey and the fact that

Penn had its own field was a contributing factor in my decision to study there.“I made a lot of friends, particularly through my voluntary role helping with new international

students’ orientation.“And I got to travel too. I spent two months travelling down the East Coast, through Texas and out to the Rockies. “Plus I think the experience had a positive impact on my career. I was interviewed for a job and the MD had studied at Penn as

well so we talked about that a lot. I think it might have made a difference.”

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SCHOOLsnapshots12 UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004

The Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering is spearheading new research into hydrogels for biomedical applications by developing novel new methods to measure molecular diffusion and transport by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

Hydrogels are insoluble cross-linked networks of hydrophilic polymers capable of imbibing large quantities of water. They are important to the biomedical industry because they are structurally similar to macromolecular-based components of the body and are therefore potentially biocompatible. They have become important in tissue engineering as matrices for the repair and regeneration of tissues and organs.

Working with the support of a New South Global Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Faculty Research Grant, GSBmE’s Dr David Regan – in collaboration with Professor Bruce Milthorpe’s and Dr Laura Poole-Warren’s research groups, and University of Sydney researchers – is conducting NMR studies on solute transport and interactions in hydrogels.

“We are keen to learn more about the behaviour of entrapped high-molecular-weight solutes such as proteins and drug analogs,” Dr Regan, a biochemist and NMR spectroscopist who has specialised in studies of molecular transport in biological systems, says.

“Our aim is to characterise their transport properties in non-degradable and degradable PVA [poly vinyl alcohol] hydrogel networks and this will entail development of the requisite NMR methodology to facilitate this.

“Ultimately we want to provide a framework for the rational design of biocompatible PVA hydrogels with properties which can be tailored for the controlled release of bioactive agents such as growth factors.”

The collaborative research team has already made significant progress in the synthesis of fluorinated molecular probes for this study and has conducted preliminary diffusion measurements for various solutes in non-crosslinked and crosslinked hydrogels which demonstrate the project’s feasibility.

“By providing the biomedical industry with new knowledge, tools and techniques for the design, specification and development of more advanced biomaterials, this project will make a significant contribution to the National Research Priority area of Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries,” Dr Regan says.

Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering

New ways to measure hydrogels Scientists from the Co-operative Research Centre – Polymers and engineers from Olex Australia have developed a special polymer compound that converts from plastic to ceramic when subjected to fire.

Following extensive research and development that began in 1997, Olex commenced production trials in 2002. The CRC-P team included researchers from the CSIRO, RMIT, Monash University, UNSW and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation.

The School of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry’s Professor Robert Burford was academic project leader, supported by Dr Jaleh Mansouri.

Olex has been granted the sole licence for this technology in cable applications, marketing it under the brand Ceramifiable® polymers.

“This technology provides for the first time a cost-effective means of providing circuit integrity for applications previously not considered viable with conventional fire performance cables,” Olex’s marketing manager Tony Kiernan says.

Warwick Freeland, of CRC-P in Melbourne, says the plastic enhances fire resistance in buildings and structures by creating barriers to the passage of fire, heat and smoke.

“The patented polymer transforms into a protective ceramic barrier which, in the case of cables, ensures continued supply power of essential services throughout an emergency.” he says.

“The material behaves like a conventional plastic in its processed form – being flexible and electrically insulative. It can be moulded, extruded

or foamed. But when burnt, it maintains its structural integrity.”

Freeland says the polymer can withstand temperatures up to about 1000 degrees Celsius. The insulative ceramic layer becomes rigid and can withstand water from fire hoses, allowing cable wires to maintain their electrical performance.

The technology is expected to be widely adopted in public buildings, power stations, substations, control centres and other electricity supply facilities. Olex has already installed Ceramifiable® cables at the Austin Hospital, MCG, National Bank and Westfield shopping centres.

A CRC-P company, Ceram Polymerik Pty Ltd, will commercialise non-cable applications, including window seals, duct protection and building joints.

School of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry

Fire-resistant polymer protects essential services

High feasibility and efficiency in construction management, cost savings and low long-term maintenance are paramount to the success of bridge building projects and steel fibre reinforced Reactive Powder Concrete provides a high-tech alternative to conventional technology.

With compressive strengths of 180 MPa or more – four times that of conventional concrete, a flexural tensile strength greater than eight times and a fracture energy exceeding 300 times that of conventional concrete – the material is ideally suited to prestressed concrete bridges where the need for highly durable structures is paramount.

In 2000–01 Australia spent $17.5 billon on heavy engineering infrastructure development – 3% of its gross domestic product.

“As this infrastructure ages, costs of repairs and maintenance magnifies,” Associate Professor Stephen Foster from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering says. “Conventional structural concrete can significantly deteriorate with time requiring regular and often costly maintenance. The research embodied in this project goes to the development of a class of ‘super’ concretes with very high strengths and with excellent durability properties.”

Developed in France in the mid 1990s by Bouygues, Reactive

Powder Concrete is being recognised internationally as a material of enormous potential.

Funded via a Research Council of Australia Strategic Partnership with Industry grant, a team of UNSW researchers in partnership with VSL Prestressing (Australia) has completed an extensive testing program on the structural behaviour of Reactive Powder Concrete prestressed bridge girders culminating in VSL’s construction of the world’s first Reactive Powder Concrete highway traffic bridge at Shepherd’s Gully Greek in NSW.

(Project participants include VSL’s Brian Cavil and Professor Ian Gilbert, Dr Nadarajah Gowripalan, Associate Professor Stephen Foster, Dr Jackie Voo and Robyn Watters from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.)

The project has involved testing to destruction large scale I-girders using the specialist facilities at the UNSW Heavy Structures Laboratory, Randwick, and monitoring the behaviour under load and with time. This research has lead to a fundamental understanding of the mechanics of the behaviour of fibrous reinforced concrete, in general, and Reactive Powder Concrete, in particular, and contributed to significant advancements in non-linear modelling of fibrous reinforced concrete structures.

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

200 MPa is no limit


COLLABORATIVE EFFORT:Dr David Regan conducting cutting-edge NMR studies

INNOVATION:CRC–P’s and Olex Australia’s new polymer compound is set to revolutionise the fire protection industry

UNDER PRESSURE:Reactive Powder Concrete can cope with

compressive strengths of 180 MPa or more

14 UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004 15UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 9/Dec 2003 15


Through the Centre for Interactive Cinema Research (iCinema), School of Computer Science and Engineering and the College of Fine Arts, academics are collaborating with researchers from creative arts and cognitive sciences to develop digitally expanded cinema, using interactive and immersive environments to explore experimental narrative forms.

Funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant, and developed in conjunction with the ZKM Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe Germany, Conversations is a current project designed to culminate in an installation at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum.

In a fresh way to deliver historical information, visitors will experience the story of the last man hanged in Australia, Ronald Ryan. A court found that when Ryan escaped from Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison on 19 December, 1965, he shot and killed a prison officer. But the case hinged on the issue of ‘reasonable doubt’.

A distributed multi-user virtual environment with three virtual reality (VR) stations located in different parts of the museum will allow visitors to decide for themselves whether Ryan did, in fact, fire the fatal shot.

Each VR station comprises a head-mounted display, a head tracker, a navigation device, a headphone and microphone.

These will give three users access to a digitally generated, three-dimensional environment – a recreation of the escape created via a high-band width network and a 360-degree panoramic film, computer graphics, photographic and videographic elements.

The viewer will be virtually in the centre of the panoramic projection and will be able to choose their own points of view on the fateful events. Viewers will be unlikely to see the same things.

Following the ‘evidence gathering experience’, viewers will enter a room where other players and simulated characters will converse with them about what they saw in the panorama in order to come to a conclusion. Did Ryan really fire the gun?

The exhibition is expected to launch this September so to make up your own mind and escape in Conversations, check the Powerhouse Museum web site (www.powerhousemuseum.com) for opening times. For iCinema infomation, visit www.icinema.unsw.edu.au

School of Computer Science and Engineering

Whodunnit? Depends on your point of view If you thought all images on the Internet were the same, look again. You can now view and zoom in on web images without losing any quality connected with the original image. In fact, the image quality will improve!

Associate Professor David Taubman has made numerous contributions to the new still image compression standard, known as JPEG2000, the first example of a highly scalable compression standard. Scalability is the property which allows a compressed image to be progressively downloaded, interactively zoomed, and refined to the point where it losslessly reproduces the original image content within a selected region of interest.

“JPEG2000 has superior compression efficiency to previous compression standards like JPEG – which means a smaller file without sacrificing quality,” Associate Professor Taubman says. “It achieves roughly a 30 per cent reduction in file size for the same image quality and a 50 per cent reduction at lower-quality levels.”

Of greater interest than raw compression efficiency, however, are JPEG2000’s scalability attributes. Scalability means that images can be presented in a number of different ways, which is useful should the image need to be relayed via different media, such as a mobile or PDA.

To assist with implementation of the JPEG2000 standard, Associate Professor Taubman has also developed Kakadu Software tools.

“Kadadu software provides a solid foundation for a range of commercial and non-commercial applications,”

Associate Professor Taubman says. “By making a consistent and efficient implementation of the standard available for academic and commercial applications, we aim to encourage the widespread adoption of JPEG2000.”

The Kadaku Software and JPEG2000 compression standard have a wide range of applications, including images captured by large satellites and air-borne observatories, as well as medical imaging. As an example, a radiologist is able to interact with a remotely stored JPEG2000 compressed patient X-ray, zooming in to selected regions as desired, for closer inspection.

“With JPEG2000/Kadaku Software, the radiologist has complete control of what they see – the region of interest, and the quality of image they use,” Associate Professor Taubman says. This may eliminate the possibility of legal questions arising later over the sufficiency of the compressed image quality.

There is already significant commercial interest in Kakadu and JPEG2000 because of its interactive browsing capability, and users’ ability to interact with images remotely.

“More than 75 major companies have taken out full commercial licences for JPEG2000 products and a number are selling images based on Kakadu,” Associate Professor Taubman says. “As a non-commercial example, the US Library of Congress is considering putting its scanned documents in JPEG2000 format to take advantage of remote borrowing.”

School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications

Zoom in for greater detail and better image quality

The UNSW Redback Racing Team – a self-managed team of 30 students, mainly from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering – has done itself and the university proud in recent international competition.

UNSW was ranked fifth among top teams competing and second of the Australian universities in the 2003 Formula SAE Australasian competition held at the Mitsubishi Proving Grounds near Tailem Bend in South Australia in December.

A total of 21 teams (three from the United States of America, two from Europe and one from Japan) competed in the 2003 competition.

The Formula SAE-Australasian event is one of four Formula SAE competitions held around the world each year.

In these competitions points are scored in three ‘static’ events (cost, presentation and design) as assessed by experienced automotive engineers, and five ‘dynamic’ events (acceleration,

skid pan, autocross, endurance and fuel economy).

The team’s proudest achievement of the 2003 competition was winning first overall in the endurance event and first overall placing in the combined endurance / fuel-economy event.

The number of overseas entries in this year’s Australasian competition shows that the event is now truly international. As a result, the standard of the competitors was significantly higher in 2003 than in previous years.

To put UNSW’s performance in its proper perspective, the team that won the Formula SAE-USA event held in Detroit, Michigan in July 2003, finished one place behind the UNSW Redback Racing Team in the Australasian competition.

The team is on the way to improving upon its 2003 success with its 2004 car well into the design phase, with a lighter and stiffer chassis and an improved suspension design.

School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Redback races ahead of the pack


FRESH ANGLES:Conversations looks at a crime from other people’s perspectives

QUALITY WORK:Associate Professor David Taubman’s JPEG2000/Kakadu products are attracting commercial interests

ENDURING SPIRIT:The Redback Racing Team took first place in the endurance event and endurance/fuel-economy event

16 UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004 17UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 9/Dec 2003 17


When UNSW graduates make up one-third of Australia’s mining professionals, it’s no wonder the School of Mining Engineering endeavours to meet their continuing education needs through a variety of postgraduate offerings, including short courses – some unique in the world.

The latest offering, a week-long short course in Minerals Industry Risk Management, was launched in May.

Run in conjunction with the University of Queensland and endorsed by the Minerals Council of Australia through its Minerals Tertiary Education Council, the three-module program is aimed at senior mining personnel who need risk management competencies for statutory reasons, as well as others working in the industry keen to upgrade their skills in this essential area.

The School’s Director of Postgraduate Studies and International Development Associate Professor David Laurence says the curriculum includes a variety of case studies and students are asked to apply their own real-life scenarios to the Minerals Industry Risk Management framework. The face to face learning, the networking opportunities and the ‘Sydney’ experience are all attractions for the students, many of whom work in remote parts of Australia.

Professor Laurence says the course is an example of the University’s efforts to meet industry demand.

“We have close ties to the Minerals Council of Australia, we ask them what they are looking for and act on those needs. We have demonstrated to the industry that we can develop and deliver world-class, cost-effective and relevant continuing professional development education programs. The industry is keen for us to continue to deliver the best possible educational opportunities for its personnel, particularly through sharing resource materials and academic staff.”

Yet despite industry demand, Professor Laurence says fewer universities are offering postgraduate courses, meanwhile UNSW is strengthening its offerings.

“For example, our Graduate Diplomas in Mine Ventilation and Coal Mine Strata Control are the only programs of their kind in the world. Students from as far afield as Sweden and Canada are participating in these courses,” he says.

The School also recently delivered a specialised Fundamentals of Mining short course to bankers and stockbrokers who want to understand more about the industry. It also hosted 40 senior Indian mine managers and government personnel in a two-week workshop on Best Practice Environmental Management for the Mining Industry.

School of Mining Engineering

Unique offerings attract worldwide interest

Engineering is an intrinsically creative discipline so it’s no surprise that Professor Chris Rizos of the School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems and Dr Daniel Woo of the School of Computer Science and Engineering are collaborating with Sydney sound artist Dr Nigel Helyer on an audio experience like none other.

Called ‘Audio Nomad’, the idea is that, wearing headphones and carrying a mobile device – much smaller than a laptop – people can take themselves on basically self-directed tours of an area such as a university campus. If they choose to face a particular landmark they will hear a multidimensional and interactive audio experience based on their surroundings as charted in a software map, and gain a sense of the space, terrain and history of the area.

“We use mapping tools to locate objects but the project is primarily driven by audio and the experience is directed by the user,” Professor Rizos says.

“My role has been to work on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for the device, and the database technology which allows sound files and information to be downloaded.”

The project recently won significant grants jointly funded by the Australia

Council and the Australian Research Council.

Professor Rizos says the technology will have broad application in tourism, and the team is currently designing an educational form of Audio Nomad for museum applications.

“Audio Nomad could also be useful for the visually impaired, by people with disabilities and even in a GPS-linked warning system for the small boat market,” Professor Rizos says.

The team has just presented their first demonstrator at the 2004 International Symposium on Electronic Art in August. It was shown on board a ship on the Baltic Sea between Helsinki, Stockholm and Tallinn. The Syren phase of Audio Nomad featured a multi-speaker array instead of headphones and was stationed on the forward upper deck of a ship with a soundscape design specifically for the Baltic journey.

“We couldn’t have had a better response to Syren from the electronic art community,” Dr Woo says. This is our first prototype and we seem to have delivered some significant new ideas.”

For information about the Symposium, please visit www.isea2004.net. For information on Audio Nomad see www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~nomad

School of Surveying & Spatial Information Systems

Interacting with sights and sounds

Second-year photovoltaics students are planning to re-visit a remote village in Nepal in February 2005 to install solar systems and thereby improve the lives of people who have limited access to electricity and its ensuing advantages.

The project, called Horizons, will be conducted by 11 UNSW students at Shanke Bazaar in the Himalayan foothills.

“Most Nepalese live in rural areas, often remote villages, and the difficult terrain and poor electricity grid means it is not often possible to supply grid power to these villages,” project co-ordinator Dr Alistair Sproul says.

“In 1989, only 9.1 per cent of the country had electricity, with villagers relying on wood and Kerosene fires which are not only expensive but present health and environmental concerns.

“By installing solar power panels and introducing water purification projects, we’re trying to make a long-term, positive impact on the Nepalese people’s lives.”

Working with non-government organisation, the Himalayan Light Foundation, the students will install

a solar-powered refrigerator to store vaccines at the village health clinic. The clinic serves about 30,000 people a year and its patients will greatly benefit from ready access to vaccines for diseases such as tuberculosis and measles.

(The clinic is already benefiting from electric light, installed in 2004 by UNSW students.)

The students will also examine ways to purify the village’s water supply as well as check the feasibility of installing a Micro Hydro System to provide a large, steady power source.

“And the students do not wish to install this infrastructure only for it to fall into disrepair,” Dr Sproul says. “Educating those using the systems about proper care and maintenance will be a large component of the project.”

For information on the project or to sponsor or make a donation, please visit www.students.pv.unsw.edu.au/renewableenergy/Project.htm

Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering

Students seek new horizons in Nepal


NEVER STOP LEARNING:Mining engineers enjoy continuing their education

Syren demonstrator on the Baltic Sea, showing the placement of eight (of 12) speakers covered following heavy rain

POWER UP:The Nepalese village of Shanke Bazaar will benefit from solar systems and water purification projects


Graduate profile >Dr Kourosh Kayvani

UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004 19

Dr Ewan Masters (1954 -2004)Dr Ewan Masters, BSurv ‘76, PhD ‘84 and Senior Lecturer in the School of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems, has died after a long illness, aged 50. Appointed to the then School of Surveying in January 1987, Dr Masters was principally involved in the School’s undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing and was responsible for the School’s overall strategic information technology initiatives. Dr Masters developed education and training programs for both UNSW and external organisations and was also active in Institution of Surveyors and other professional bodies, including AURISA (NSW)

(Australasian Urban and Regional Information Systems Association, NSW Div) which made him a Fellow in 2001 in recognition of his distinguished service. His research and consulting interests included quality issues in GIS, the integration of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology with GIS, and the application of GIS technology to transport planning processes. He also supervised many PhD and Masters students. Dr Masters is survived by his wife, Julie, and his children, Rhonda, Tim and Daniel.

VALE18 UNSW.ENGINEERS Issue 10/Sept 2004

Dr Kourosh Kayvani (Master of Engineering ‘91, PhD ‘96) is a Senior Associate with Connell Wagner in Sydney.

He leads an ‘advanced analysis’ group which considers unusual structural engineering issues and employs numerical modelling to

design structures, usually one-off projects.An expert in long-span steel structures, Dr Kayvani’s

portfolio is extensive. He leads the technical team that has been working on the structural engineering of London’s new Wembley Stadium’s 133m-tall arch and roof (the arch will support 5000 tonnes of roof structure, replacing the need for pillars and ensuring unrestricted views of the pitch), was involved with the new research reactor at Sydney’s Lucas Heights, worke d on the design of the NSW State Hockey Centre (formerly the Sydney 2000 Hockey Stadium), and has been involved with other sporting projects including Melbourne’s Telstra Stadium, Adelaide Oval, and the Melbourne Cricket Ground’s new northern stand.

Dr Kayvani also works on tall buildings, including the World Tower and Civic Tower in Sydney’s CBD, addressing the structures’ lateral loads (ie, their capacity to cope with strong winds or natural disasters such as earthquakes).

“My latest project is the counter-terrorism facility at Holsworthy [NSW],” he says. “This defence project sees me designing a structure where bullets used in training do not ricochet back at whoever is shooting the gun, where the bullets are basically ‘caught’ by the walls.

“We’ve designed a hard surface so that the whole bullet drops to the foot of the wall. It’s a safer training facility and it also helps with cleaning the area.”

Dr Kayvani, 38, did his bachelors degree at Iran’s Tehran University before coming to UNSW in 1990.

“I applied to do my masters at UNSW based on a university catalogue,” he recalls. “It was partly because of the academics. I knew of them in terms of their technical standing.

“And going to Australia was an interesting, attractive concept. I was originally thinking of going to north America but when I settled on Australia I was sure I’d never look back.”

Dr Kayvani arrived on campus a week after semester started.

“I had to settle into a motel on Alison Road in Kensington, and showed up at class still jetlagged,” he says.

“And while people said my English was good, I found the Australian accent a challenge for quite a while!”

Dr Kayvani fondly remembers Dr Ray Lawther.

“Ray was very intellectual and had a strong impact on me,” he says. “He was the type of guy whose door was always open to students. He was a good human being as well as being an excellent teacher. He was keen to share knowledge and inspire people.

“There were many other faculty members who made a positive impression on me. I want to particularly mention Professor Ian Gilbert, Head of the School of Civil Engineering, and my advisers Professor Max Irvine and Dr Fari Barzegar. They were all very supportive of me during my studies at UNSW.”

Dr Kayvani says that in addition to working hard at his studies, he had lots of fun at university, particularly enjoying Friday night film club – “back-to-back new releases for just $2 with free coffee!” – and bushwalking.

“I basically lived on campus!” he says. “When I started it was back in the days when they gave offices to masters students. I had quite a sizeable office with expansive views onto Sydney south. At one stage I had it all to myself. Quite a luxury!”

In addition to tutoring and casual lecturing roles, Dr Kayvani was also an active member of the School of Civil Engineering’s international student committee.

Today, in between flying to London to work on the Wembley project (due for completion by the end of 2005), giving keynote conference addresses, and enjoying the company of his wife and four-year-old twin boys, Dr Kayvani occasionally thinks about his student days.

“I remember beautiful autumns and winter sunsets,” he reminisces. “Kensington is a beautiful campus and with the School of Civil Engineering right on the hill you’d see the horizon, red sunsets and walking back from the library I’d often hear the beautiful music of magpies. That’s a really happy, vivid memory of a wonderful time in my life.”

For information on the new Wembley Stadium, please visit www.wembleystadium.com

Neville Whiffen (1912 – 2004)Pioneering alumnus Neville Whiffen has died, aged 91. Mr Whiffen graduated with a diploma in industrial chemistry and chemical engineering and a master of science in chemical engineering from UNSW parent institutions, Sydney Technical College and the NSW University of Technology. He was foundation convenor of the Pioneers group on the UNSW Alumni Association and its first representative Governor on the Alumni Board of Governors. In 2000 he received the UNSW Alumni Award for Achievement and in 2002 was awarded the Centenary Medal for service to the community. Mr Whiffen also attracted other honours such as the USA Medal of Freedom which

recognised his efforts during World War II. He is credited with pioneering work for the CSIRO, senior roles with Abbott Laboratories and the establishment of Abbott Australia Hospital Products, Abbott Diagnostics and Tasmanian Alkaloids. He also held senior positions with the Australian Group of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, Chemeca, the Canberra Development Board, the RACI Chemical Engineers Group and its NSW Branch, and the Australian National Committee of the Institute of Chemical Engineers. He was a fellow of the RACI, the Institute of Engineers Australia and the Australian Institute of Management, and won the RACI’s Leighton Medal and RK Murphy Medal, acknowledging his significant achievements as a chemical engineer and lifelong contribution to his profession.

Emeritus Professor Ross Blunden (1917-2004)Emeritus Professor Ross Blunden, the Foundation Professor of Traffic Engineering at the University of NSW (1956–81) has died, aged 87. Dux of Sydney’s Fort Street Boys High School, Professor Blunden graduated with Honours in Science and Engineering from the University of Sydney. After working with the NSW Department of Main Roads, he enlisted in the AIF. During this time he developed radar equipment, studied at the British Royal Military College of Science and worked at the Admiralty Research Laboratory at Teddington. Later, as a senior research officer in charge of the CSIRO’s Mathematical Instruments Section, he built Australia’s first large-scale automatic

computing machine. Professor Blunden went on to become scientific advisor to the Australian Military Board, and while attached to the War Office in London, worked with the Road Research Laboratory within the British Department of Scientific & Industrial Research. As the University of NSW Foundation Professor of Traffic Engineering Professor Blunden published Introduction to Traffic Science in 1967, and The Land Use/Transport System: Analysis & Synthesis in 1971. Translated into Japanese and Polish, it was extensively revised and republished in 1984. Professor Blunden was also the first recipient of the Institution of Engineers, Australia Transport Panel Medal, and received the Outstanding Service Award at the 2003 Australian Institute of Transport Planning and Management conference.

AIMING HIGH:The new arch and roof at Wembley Stadium will be 133m tall and support 5000 tonnes of roof structure


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