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Brett Lee heads Deakin’s unique push into India
Australian fast bowler Brett Lee will be the face of Deakin University’s activities in India.
He will assist with the promotion of the Deakin India Research Institute (DIRI), which will develop research opportunities in India and Australia, for the benefit of people in both countries.
The strike bowler who has played in 59 Tests for Australia will also have a key role in shaping a new charitable fund that is part of the Institute. The fund will support work on projects such as setting up water filtration plans and creating better sanitation programs, which will make a difference to the lives of million of Indians.
Deakin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sally Walker said she was thrilled that Brett Lee had agreed to assist in the promotion.
“Brett is a highly talented young Australian who, through great dedication and hard work, has achieved an enormous amount in Test cricket,’ she said.
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”Like Deakin, Brett is highly respected both in Australia and India. What we are doing in India is unique. Deakin is the first Australian university to establish its own research institute in India.
"As Brett said to me when we first met to talk about this partnership, there are similarities between what he has done and what Deakin University is trying to do as we strive to succeed in a highly competitive higher education sector. At Deakin we are absolutely dedicated to working hard to achieve quality outcomes in our research and our teaching. This is not dissimilar to the single-minded determination that he has had so as to achieve as a cricketer."
Brett Lee said he was excited by the partnership because, as well as being able to assist people in India to improve their education and living standards, many of the research projects would be relevant and advantageous to Australia.
“There is already a great relationship between Australia and India in cricket and in business,’ the champion fast bowler said.
“What has attracted me to this relationship with Deakin University is that I am convinced that Deakin is committed to a genuine and equal partnership with India. To be able to exchange research ideas, to have Australian students working in India, and Indian students studying in Australia, is going to help people in both countries.”
Deakin University is also cementing its relationships in India by announcing its support for the iCONGO awareness-building initiative, the RIGHT every WRONG movement.
Do not covet thy neighbour’s water!
It wasn’t quite parched Mt Sinai, but with Biblical references etched and coloured into glass all around, St Michael’s Church in Collins Street, Melbourne, was still a highly appropriate place for Professor Peter Cullen to deliver his three commandments to ensure there is enough water to go around in the future.
Professor
Cullen was one of three speakers at the forum organised by Deakin University
last month called: YES IT IS UNSUSTAINABLE BUT IT IS NOT MY FAULT.
Professor Geoff Wescott from Deakin’s Burwood campus and an expert in coastal ecology, urged the audience in St Michael’s and the millions listening on Radio National’s Life Matters program to use their vote wisely at the next election if they wanted to live in better harmony with the island continent and the waters around it.
Dr Anne Wallis, who specialises in creating grass-roots solutions to a lot of the problems facing modern rural communities, expressed her disappointment in a society where shopping is now a recreational activity and in which want and need have become disastrously confused.
Dr Wallis, from the Deakin campus at Warrnambool, said that future generations will look back in dismay at an early 21st Century society that squandered not just huge amounts of oil, but food as well.
Professor Cullen, a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, was invited by Deakin University’s Professor Gerry Quinn to complete the panel.
The pre-eminent water scientist in Australia, he was his usual forceful and insightful self, suggesting ways for Australians to be led, or to lead themselves, out of an increasingly arid wilderness.
Professor Cullen noted dryly Australians had convinced themselves rare wet seasons were the norm for this country and felt indignant every time a drought came along.
And then came the commandments: Do unto others, upstream and downstream, as you would do unto yourself;
Do not covet thy neighbour’s water, and ;
Maintain the health of our aquatic ecosystems for all other uses are dependent on this health.
The forum was the second in what is becoming a regular series of events organised by Deakin University aimed at seeking out fresh ideas to help solve some of Australia’s major problems like obesity and a lack of water.
A transcript of Peter Cullen’s
talk can be found below.
The whole Life Matters program can be heard by clicking on to:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2007/2062104.htm
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Email: dvc-research@deakin.edu.au
www.deakin.edu.au/research
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Honorary doctorate for Professor Pip Hamilton
Deakin University has acknowledged the
distinguished career of its former Deputy Vice-
Chancellor (Research) Professor Phillip (Pip) Hamilton AM with an honorary
degree.
The awarding of the honorary Doctor of Science degree
to Professor Hamilton recognises his outstanding contribution to Deakin
University, to radio astronomy and to the wider
higher education sector.
The degree was presented at Deakin University’s Geelong Waterfront Campus on Friday, October 5.
Professor Hamilton also delivered the occasional address which featured one of his favourite subjects, paradoxes.
Professor Hamilton said it was a great honour to receive the honorary doctorate from Deakin.
“This is a terrific university to be part of,” he said. “What’s going on in research at Deakin is very exciting indeed, but generally, the university is enjoying rapid growth.
“All these recent successes have lifted the university to the situation where it is among the best universities in Australia. Further proof of that is Deakin’s acquisition of a medical school.”
The Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University, Professor Sally Walker, said: “I would like to pay tribute to Professor Hamilton for his major contribution to Deakin University, in particular to the advancement of Deakin’s research performance.
“Under Professor Hamilton’s leadership, Deakin’s research performance and research profile improved greatly. The awarding of the honorary doctorate recognises that he was responsible for the development of a research culture at Deakin University and it also recognises his support for our researchers.”
Professor Hamilton joined Deakin from the University of Tasmania on July 1, 1997 as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research). He became Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) on January 1, 2002.
Professor Hamilton also has an international reputation for research in astrophysics and radio astronomy.
“This was acknowledged when the University of Tasmania made him Professor of Experimental Physics, appointing him to the first Personal Chair awarded at the University of Tasmania,” Professor Walker said.
“Professor Hamilton received another honour in June 2006 when he was awarded an AM in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to science and to research.”
Paul Francis honoured for decade of excellence in research
Dr Paul Francis from Deakin University’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences has been awarded the inaugural Robert Cattrall Early Career Medal by the Analytical Chemistry Division of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.
The medal is awarded for excellence in pure or applied scientific work over a10-year period that involves a substantial analytical chemistry research effort.
Congratulating Dr Francis, Professor Frank Stagnitti, the Chair of Academic Board, said: “Paul's undergraduate campaign at Deakin was exemplary and it afforded him all three prizes that the School had to offer.
More successes for young researchers!