The longest journey begins with the first step

Professor David Stokes reflects on a trip to Aachen University in Cologne 10 years ago and the sweet smell of Deakin’s success in the Ford Global Challenge in 2008

For Professor David Stokes, the announcement of the winners of the Ford Global Challenge is a great milestone a long journey.

“It was 10 years ago that Noel Miller and I went to Aachen University in Cologne in Germany,” said Professor Stokes, Deakin’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research). “We went with about 100 other Deans of Engineering as part of the ‘Ford Global Deans' Conference’.

“I remember that we spent most of our time with Ford in Germany at their huge factory in Cologne. One of the keynote speakers at the Conference was Professor Peter Senge who spoke about his famous work on ‘the learning organisation’.

“Back then, I had already been to a global Deans' Conference in London with Ford and before that I had been to a global Deans' Conference in Detroit with Ford. Noel was working with Ford, and I was Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at Deakin.

“I had also been to a number of other universities in England, Italy and Germany when I was travelling with a Victorian Government group to see what sort of research and development model we should have in Victoria in the textiles industry.

“On all these trips I was looking at ways in which a university could work closely with industry and something that was very impressive about Aachen was the way they collaborated not only with Ford but a wide range of other German car makers and with the advanced materials industry.

“So you can imagine my delight that our Ford Global Challenge team - which included Noel all these years on as an adviser - not only won, but did so alongside Aachen.

“To me it was serious recognition of just how far Deakin had come in the last 10 years, particularly in the research work we do in conjunction with industry.

“I think it is also worth noting that there were other universities in America involved in this challenge which Deakin finished in front of, including the University of Michigan in Detroit.

“We also take great pride at Deakin in being the only Australian university invited by Ford to take part in this challenge.

“I really want to congratulate all the people involved, Project Leader Bernard Rolfe, Noel Miller, Tim de Souza, Stuart Hanafin and Greg Pitts, and their whole team whom I got to meet the day before they left for America with our entry.

“I can remember then the great buzz of excitement in the room.

“I know they had had a lot of sleepless nights to meet the deadline, but there was a real confidence that they had done the best possible job they could.

“The Ford Global Challenge shows just what sort of opportunities we can offer young researchers these days.

“If you come to Deakin to do your research, you can rest assured you will be involved in some pretty exciting stuff. With new initiatives like ITRI, our new Institute for Technology Research Innovation, I can see us getting better and better.

“The young people, and some of the not so young people, involved in the Ford Global Challenge, have shown us all what great opportunities Deakin has in the future.”

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