QUT News & Events Wrap - October 4 edition

NEWS

Robo reef protector to save Great Barrier Reef: The world’s first robot built to control the devastating crown-of-thorns starfish could be transformed into a versatile robo reef protector thanks to the Google Impact Challenge Australia.

Breast density raises breast cancer risk: women need to know: All women should learn the mammographic density of their breast tissue to make informed decisions on their breast cancer risk, says a national breast cancer research group that includes QUT researchers Professor Rik Thompson (pictured) and Dr Honor Hugo.

 

UAVs rise to the Challenge: A mock medical emergency in Dalby has given Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or drone experts and enthusiasts from five countries a chance to compete in the CSIRO-QUT jointly run UAV Challenge.

Young aerial roboticists take up the Challenge: Teams from Calamvale Community College and John Paul College have taken out second and third places in the UAV Airborne Delivery Challenge near Ipswich.

Baden-Clay murder post mortem at QUT’s Crime Book Club launch: Gerard Baden-Clay did some things well and made mistakes in the staging of the crime scene after murdering his wife Allison, QUT criminologist Dr Claire Ferguson said.

Queensland's brightest teens go on quests for bionic ear, robot surgeons & invisibility cloaks: High-tech quests for the bionic ear, robot surgeons and invisibility cloaks are among the challenges that attracted 160 of Queensland's brightest teenagers to Brisbane last week for the annual QUT Vice-Chancellor's STEM Camp.

'Upskilling' Qld teens & teachers: Education Minister visits QUT for Vice-Chancellor's STEM Camp: 'Upskilling' Queensland's teenagers and teachers in STEM areas (science, technology, education and maths) is crucial for the state's future success, according to Queensland Education Minister Kate Jones (pictured above) who visited QUT for the annual Vice-Chancellor's STEM Camp.

QUT wins global Intranet and Digital Workplace awards: QUT’s intranet service has been recognised as one of Australia’s best by an international panel of judges.

Tracey Spicer named 2016 Alumni Service Award winner: QUT alumnus, journalist, public speaker and long-standing Learning Potential Fund supporter Tracey Spicer named the university's 2016 Alumni Service Award winner.

EVENTS

Oct 4: QUT Crime Book Club launch (free) @ Gardens Point
Oct 4-8: The Merchant of Venice (featuring QUT acting students) @ Gardens Theatre
Oct 7: Regulating Robots Symposium: Law, Ethics and Public Policy (free) @ Gardens Point
Oct 10: QUT Business Leaders' Forum with Andrew Thorburn @ Sofitel Brisbane
Oct 13: qutbluebox Innovation Challenge Finalist Pitch Event @ Room Three Sixty
Oct 13: LPF Friends & Alumni Chapter Launch @ Santos Place
Oct 19: The Legalisation of Medical Assistance in Dying - Lessons from Canada @ Gardens Point
Oct 20: Free Seminar: A competitive CRC bid – what does it take? @ Gardens Point
Oct 20-21: WorkSmart Conference @ Royal Pines Resort
Oct 21: Bright Ideas: Smart Lighting for Smart Cities forum @ Gardens Point
Oct 24: MBA and Postgraduate Business Information Evening (free) @ Gardens Point
Oct 29: Brisbane climate change action event (free) @ Gardens Point
Nov 1-5: Dance 16 (featuring QUT dance students) @ Gardens Theatre
Nov 8: An Evening with Groucho @ Gardens Theatre
Nov 20-24: Healthy Housing: ICEERB 2016 @ Gardens Point
Now - Nov 13: 'the churchie' National Emerging Art Prize Exhibition (free) @ QUT Art Museum
Now - early 2017: Physics Observatory (free) @ The Cube
Now - June 18, 2017: William Robinson: Genesis (free) @ William Robinson Gallery
April 5-7: 2017 Times Higher Education (THE) Young Universities Summit @ Gardens Point

MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

- Dr Honor Hugo discussed new research into breast density and breast cancer on ABC North West, following a Conversation article she co-authored with Professor Rik Thompson and other researchers from the Information Forum on Mammographic Density. The story was also covered by news.com.au and The Courier Mail, Adelaide Advertiser, Cairns Post, The West Australian and AAP.
- ABC Radio National’s The World Today interviewed Associate Professor Molly Dragiewicz about possible links between domestic violence and child pornography, with the resulting story also picked up by MamaMia.
 - Associate Professor Gary Mortimer (pictured) talked about the imminent possibility of supermarket giant Lidl entering the Australian market on A Current Affair, spoke to the Herald Sun about how Kmart revived its flagging fortunes, was interviewed by 9 News for a national story about Woolworths considering selling its petrol stations and talked to 7 News for stories on fast food battles and Aldi rivalling Costco in price wars. Smart Company also quoted him in a story about loyalty programs.



- Associate Professor Mark Lauchs was on ABC News and 666 ABC Canberra talking about tow truck legalities, and in ABC national radio story on an unintended impact of new organised crime laws on remote Indigenous communities.
- Dr Angela Daly was on 7 News talking about telemarketing calls, and talked to the ABC about the public service accessing people’s metadata via the Australian Federal Police.
- Professor Axel Bruns told the Australian Financial Review millennials are fed up with Australia’s two-party political system and prefer issues-based voting.
- ABC News and Radio Australia reported Professor Kerrie Mengersen’s research into poor cancer survival rates in the bush. The Queensland Times and the Central Queensland News also reported on a new study from QUT and the Cancer Council.
- The Australian newspaper reported on the UAV challenge, organised by Professor Jonathan Roberts in conjunction with CSIRO.
- Professor Tristan Perez was feature in a 7 News report on the possibility of drones being used to help in policing. His research on bird strategies for avoiding mid-air collision with UQ researchers was reported in China.org.cn and other Chinese online sites and myscience.org.
- CARRS-Q researcher Lauren Shaw was Channel Ten’s The Project (at 13mins 30secs) to talk about driver aggression.
- The Cairns Post, Rockhampton Morning Bulletin and 4BC ran school holiday science stories on the QUT Vice-Chancellor’s STEM Camp (pictured).



- QUT economist Mark McGovern told The Guardian the refusal by the Commonwealth Bank to grant a bridging loan using a property with four CSG wells as security could signal a wider economic impact on the gas industry.
- QUT CEA’s Creative3 conference and its guest speakers attracted media interest from The Courier-Mail, 612 ABC Breakfast, Business News Australia, Australian Anthill and news.com.au.
- Startup Smart also profiled the Creative3 pitch winner Storyboard, which aims to disrupt the youth travel market.
- Australian Anthill spoke to QUT CEA’s Anna Rooke about growth in Australia’s $90B creative industries sector.
- Professor Greg Kyle told the Sydney Morning Herald and Fairfax it wasn’t feasible for consumers to  expect a warning on the packaging of an asthma medication.
- The Australian reported that QUT was one of six Australian Universities benefiting from the free Splunk software licenses for critical research programs.
- Professor Matthew Rimmer commented on a Perth man’s design patent for a combination hot dog and hamburger bun in a story across New Corp papers.
- Nutrition graduate and Miss Bliss founder Jacqui Toumbas talked about food and hormones with The Courier-Mail.
- The Courier-Mail also mentioned QUT’s artificial intelligence-based research into Amazon jaguar habitats, led by Professor Kerrie Mengersen, in a City Beat story on tech firm Gruntify.
 - Professor Larry Neale’s comments to the ABC on why customers found it easier to steal using self-service checkout were carried by The Courier Mail and other News Corp titles. He was also featured in The New Zealand Herald, The Daily Mail and interviewed by Ross Greenwood for his Money Matters program on 4BC and 2GB.
- The New Daily spoke to Professor Narelle Haworth about what technologies the public wants in their autonomous cars.
- Australian Regional Newspapers named Professor Anita Lee Hong as a finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards.
- ABC Brisbane Breakfast spoke to QUT Big Lift organisers about their volunteer work around regional Queensland while ABC Capricornia gave kudos to QUT students working in Mackay as part of the volunteer help program.
- Australian Personal Computer ran a story on the QUT students who designed a Census website alternative during a 54-hour hack-a-thon.
- Peter Black discussed podcasting, Facebook at Work, and iPals with Spencer Howson during his 612 ABC technology segment, while Susan Hetherington discussed theatre in her segment.
- Associate Professor Janet Davies talked about grass pollen allergies on 2GB and discussed hay fever with News Corp papers.
- ABC Gold Coast Drive interviewed Australia’s vending machine king and QUT alumnus Kapil Sheth who credits his IT degree with getting him started.
- ABC Gold Coast also talked with Al Mucci from Dreamworld about a koala conservation project involving QUT.
- Creative advertising lecturer Michael Klaehn discussed Snapchat, Allo and video blogging with 612 ABC Evenings.
- Brisbane Family Explorers raved about The Cube’s Physics Observatory installation.
- Associate Professor Linda Graham’s research on high number of school suspensions was mentioned in an article on weSRCH.
 - Professor Paula McDonald, Adjunct Professor Paul Thompson and Dr Peter O'Connor research on the increased use of online profiling of potential employees was run in HC Online.
- Time Out Brisbane featured QUT’s 48-hour game-making challenge.
- Dr Anne Lane and Dr Kim Johnston’s analysis of how Skittles scuttled Donald Trump Jr’s tweet about refugees was published on Smart Company.
- Optometry alumnus Julia Lovell’s great work with the local public made the Toowoomba Chronicle.
- The South Burnett Times ran a story on QUT’s successful PEACH healthy lifestyle program.
- Telecom Asia reported on PhD student David Poxon’s business helping people sell their unused data.
- Respawn Ninja and MCV Pacific reported on QUT making the Unigames League of Legends grand final.
- MCV Pacific also talked up the 10^th anniversary of the 48 Hour Game Making Challenging at QUT.

Release date: Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Media contact: media@qut.edu.au

QUT is part of a national collaborative group of five major Australian universities that form the ATN (Australian Technology Network of Universities).