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www.swinburne.edu.au Contents Issue 6 | June 2009 Diabetes hope P7 Solar energy powers on P12 Post ISSUE 6 | JUNE 2009 modern Designer stamps her cultural identity 06 10 swinburne JUne 2009 Swin_0906_p01-24.indd 1 15/05/09 3:33 PM Upfront 2 Collaboration is the currency in our knowledge-based economy Australia’s economic prosperity rests on the important contributions made by Australian universities – a point highlighted in recent reviews of the Australian Innovation System and higher education. Without creating knowledge and developing innovative minds we will not thrive in the 21st century. Swinburne University of Technology is a hands-on partner in striving for answers to future challenges, by making our graduates knowledgeready and flexible and by creating new knowledge. Our ability to generate and accumulate wisdom through groundbreaking and relevant research is vital. Furthermore, Swinburne’s strategic focus has ensured that this research is recognised as genuinely world-class. As a dual-sector (TAFE to PhD) institution we are central to the ‘knowledge economy’. Through TAFE we develop the next generation of competency-skilled workers, able to adapt to the rapidly changing demands of the modern workplace. Our Higher Education degree students develop their expertise and knowledge in a research-intensive environment. Learning from active, world-class researchers enables our students to further develop their capacity for independent thought and innovation. ‘Question Everything’ is heartfelt at Swinburne and built into every undergraduate’s program and consequent outcomes. Of course, new knowledge is of little value unless it is shared and put to work. Swinburne is the acknowledged home of industry-based learning and this connection to industry flows though to our research and researchers. For example, Swinburne’s participation in the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) program – a government-sponsored scheme that links industry with research providers – is more than double that usually expected for an institution of its size. We understand that development of knowledge in the 21st century relies on genuine effective partnerships between universities and those in the position to put that information to best use. Effective partnerships and collaborations are apparent in many of the articles in this issue of Swinburne magazine. I hope in reading about some of the exciting research and achievements you too can start thinking about how we can work together to lift Australia’s economic and social capacities. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Andrew Flitman cover story 18 Dani’s journey across big art on a small canvas Born in China and raised in Hong Kong, Dani Poon travelled nervously to Melbourne as a 17-year-old to stamp Australian art into her destined way Features Kellie Penfold 03 cloud riders to be the envy of web surfers Richard Constantine 04 from the minds of babes a key to understanding ... us Australia’s first cognitive neuroscience ‘baby laboratory’ is hoping to learn how infantile thoughts and gestures mature into deliberate action; how the human brain develops and sometimes fails rebecca thyer 06 Diabetes hope on the wings of silver cicadas The wings of a familiar noisy insect, the cicada, were the starting point for a device that will be able to continuously monitor blood glucose levels Penny Fannin 09 Alloy research cuts through the fighter cost barrier rebecca thyer 10 All power to the sun and the light team Affordable solar power may soon be just a flick of the switch away robin taylor 12 Companies find a competitive green edge A business environmental mentoring program is showing that ‘going green’ can win customers and profits robin taylor 14 No joke when it’s survival of the funniest Bianca Nogrady & Rebecca Thyer 15 New environment to debug global-scale IT upgrades david adams 16 Dark mysteries lure cosmic surveyors A massive survey of the universe is under way in Australia to detect the faintest of echoes: an acoustic ‘wiggle’ from the Big Bang. A wiggle that may hold the key to understanding a mysterious new force – dark energy – that is causing the universe to fly apart Gio Braidotti 20 Digital dust-off for history’s watchhouses Julian Cribb 21 Will the ferryman come for climate refugees? robin taylor 22 A modern-day oracle on the ocean waves Like gypsies read tea leaves to foresee the future, researchers can read something of our future in the winds and waves. However, this modern soothsaying relies on masses of information – data that Swinburne is collating to build the world’s first complete picture of ocean wave activity Julian Cribb •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• 12 16 Published by Swinburne University of Technology Editor: Dorothy Albrecht, Director, Marketing Services Deputy editor: Julianne Camerotto, Communications Manager (Research and Industry), Marketing Services Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne Written, edited, designed and produced on behalf of Swinburne University of Technology by Coretext, www.coretext.com.au, 03 9670 1168 Enquiries: 1300 MY SWIN (1300 697 946) Website: www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine Email: magazine@swinburne.edu.au Cover photo: Dani Poon photographed by Paul Jones Swinburne University of Technology collects and uses your information in accordance with our Privacy Statement, which can be found at: www.swinburne.edu.au/privacy. If you do not wish to receive communications from us, you can email privacyoptout@swinburne.edu.au, fax (03) 9214 8447, or write to Swinburne University of Technology, Privacy at Swinburne, PO Box 218, Hawthorn VIC 3122. The information contained in this publication was correct at the time of going to press, June 2009. CRICOS provider Code 00111D ISSN 1835-6516 (Print) ISSN 1835-6524 (Online)
June 2009 swinburne Cloud riders to be the envy of web surfers essay by Richard Constantine* A quick scan of the daily newspaper shows just how much data-driven information is being produced these days and how everyone, from decision-makers in business and government to scientists and researchers, is drawing on ever-increasing volumes of data to try to solve problems. However, good decision-making requires more than just great volumes of data, no matter how accurate and up-to-date it is. Data has to be carefully mined for the right information, for the gold to be sifted from the gravel. Nowhere is data volume more a quality assurance (QA) issue than at universities, where researchers, by the very nature of their job, are confronted with vast quantities of data from electronic sensors, all manner of measuring tools, analytical equipment and myriad other information streams. The data that is stored and processed then forms part of a network of ‘information banks’, increasingly accessible to researchers and other users via the internet. While proximity to an information bank is no longer an issue, the ability to access and process information from any location is still a problem. The new era that is emerging is ‘cloud computing’, which allows people to access software applications and their own files using any internet-connected computer, anywhere, at any time. An analogy is the provision of essential services such as electricity, water and gas. The generation and distribution of these services occurs off-site and the consumer simply needs to ‘plug in’ to the services concerned to have them delivered down the line. All of the major IT organisations, such as IBM, Cisco Systems, Dell, Symantec, Sun Microsystems, HP and Facebook, as well as many small organisations, have already developed their own dedicated cloud computing divisions to organise the development, marketing and sales of hardware, software and services in this burgeoning area. Microsoft, Google and others have developed a range of web-based applications and, importantly, web-based storage. At universities like Swinburne University of Technology, students and staff are now expecting a more flexible and dynamic IT environment that will cater for them in moving between campuses, including photo: paul Jones offshore campuses, and other locations. Telecommuting, for part of the week at least, is now a more viable option for many university staff. Applications such as learning management systems, student administration systems, human resources and finance systems, to name a few, need to be available anywhere at anytime. Cloud computing or delivery via the internet is shaping as the answer to this increasing need for mobility. A number of the basic requirements for effective cloud computing are already in place, such as sufficient bandwidth with reliable, high-speed connectivity and a range of software applications already available via the web. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 67 per cent of Australian households have home internet access and, of these, more than 43 per cent are highspeed broadband users. It is likely that the Australian online experience would be similar to that in America, where research undertaken through the Pew Research Center’s ‘Internet & American Life’ project has shown that 69 per cent of Americans online now use cloud computing activities. While the fog is starting to lift to reveal the true form of the cloud, there are still blurred patches. The most critical element that is yet to be resolved relates to the remote storage of corporate data. It raises obvious questions about security, privacy, intellectual property and reliability of access. Who has jurisdiction over data stored in remote locations? Do we know what is happening behind the service boundary? Who is in control? What processes are in place to guarantee access to critical data or files as and when needed? It behoves us all to ensure that governance arrangements and contract terms relating to service delivery, including how the services are accessed, are fully researched and resolved. A recent detailed study of cloud computing by the University of California, Berkeley, has worked through these issues and identified a number of potential solutions, such as having multiple cloud-computing providers to ensure the availability of service and access to critical data. While the authors recognise the lack of clarity at the present time they are still optimistic for the future of cloud computing. Despite the issues to be resolved, most indications suggest that it will not be too long before we won’t just be surfing the web, we’ll be riding the cloud. •• * Associate Professor Richard Constantine is Swinburne University of Technology’s Chief Information Officer. Contact. . Swinburne University of Technology 1300 MY SWIN (1300 697 946) magazine@swinburne.edu.au www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine Associate Professor Richard Constantine Cloud computing ‘Cloud computing’ allows people to access software applications and their own files using any internetconnected computer, anywhere, at any time. Commentary 3
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