Cheered on by the Prime Minister The Hon Malcolm Turnbull and Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton, more than 1000 students from around the Asia Pacific recently put their skills to the test at Australia’s largest student robotics competition.

Supported by industry leaders, educators, families and fans, and united by a mutual love of science, technology, and engineering, nearly 50 high school student teams from the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, China, India, and Australia converged at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on 17-19 March to launch robots they’d designed, built and programmed themselves over a six week period.

The 2016 ‘Stronghold’ challenge had a medieval theme that required the robots to overcome obstacles and weaken their opponents’ defences by catapulting ‘boulders’  to conquer their castle tower.

Much more than just a game for robots, the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), is part of a much larger FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program aimed at inspiring and educating students in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths), and encouraging them to consider further study or career options in these fields.

Joined on the sidelines by Foreign Minister The Hon Julie Bishop, and the Member for Reid The Hon Craig Laundy MP, Prime Minister Turnbull said they were excited to visit the event and to be so inspired by such brilliant young minds.

“They’re right here at the cutting edge of technology; the technology that delivers jobs, the opportunities of the 21^st century for our children and our grandchildren.”

The winning team alliance will compete at the world championships in St Louis in April; an honour which was collaboratively achieved by Team 3132 Macquarie University, Team 4613 Barker College and Team 6035 Ulladulla.

Team 6035 was supported by Robots in the Outback – a program which Macquarie University proudly partners in. Volunteer mentors drove donated cars to 12 high schools in rural and regional New South Wales to support teams with expertise and guidance in order to help them compete.

Take a look at some of the social media highlights from the event below.

After months of planning and development, the portals are now at an exiting stage, with staff and students having recently participated in prototype testing.

Web Project Director Rich Powell will be updating all staff on project developments at two upcoming presentations. Attend one of these session to learn what will be changing, and when.

Student portal wireframes are also available to view in the windows of the Web Transformation Project office in the courtyard side of the Lincoln Building (C8A).

Student and staff portals update
When: Tuesday 22 March and Tuesday 5 April
Time: 3pm
Where: E7B T2 Theatre

Visit the website for more details and opening hours.

Library
The Library will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but will resume normal opening hours on Saturday and Monday.

Visit the website for full details.

Food outlets on campus
Food and beverage outlets around campus will be closed all long weekend, with the exception of Crunch Café and the Library Café which will be open for limited hours when the Sport and Aquatic Centre and Library are open, respectively.

MUSE
MUSE will be closed all weekend.

Security
The Campus Security Office (C1A) is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. If you’re on campus this weekend and need assistance,  contact the office on 9850 7112, or 9850 9999 (ext 9999) in an emergency.

Aimed at primary school aged children from Year two to six,  the program is designed to help children develop their understanding of science concepts and extend their school science learning in a fun, hands-on way.

The program is supported by Faculty of Science and Engineering academic staff, delivered by final-year University student teachers, and is aligned with the NSW science curriculum.

During the April holidays a new course in Energy is available and also a course for children in year 1 at school.

Children may attend single, multiple or all days of each program, which run from 9.30am to 4.30pm.

Learn more about the Junior Science Academy or explore other April school holiday programs on campus.

“It is such an honour to be part of so many different people’s journeys to better hearing,” said Catherine.

The announcement of Catherine’s success speaks volumes about the importance of the cochlear implantation procedure in Australia – a country that harbours a historic perspective that cochlear implants are only for children, and not so much for adults.

“The cochlear implant is a modern miracle, allowing profoundly deaf children to learn to hear and speak. It is not only for children however, the cochlear implant helps adults throughout their lives to regain hearing and stay actively involved in work and their favourite activities. For the elderly, the implant can also return hearing, helping to minimise social isolation, depression and it may even reduce dementia.”

This milestone is another addition to Catherine’s many achievements, some of which include being the first female ear, nose and throat surgeon in Australia awarded the title of Clinical Associate Professor, for performing a cochlear implantation on the youngest patient in Australia, a three month old child, and for her expertise in many forms of implantable hearing devices.

In the future, Catherine would like to see an even greater enhancement of treatment strategies.

“I hope to see greater improvements in cochlear implant technology in the future, with even better outcomes and more people with hearing loss willing to embrace these wonderful medical inventions,” she concluded.

Learn more about Catherine’s clinical work and research.

As the next step, a team drawn from Governance Services, Human Resources and Student Advocacy and Support has been working on a series of resources, so staff managing complaints have the right sort of training and support to navigate their way through the sometimes complex field of complaint management.

The resources include a short online training video, which features an introduction by the Vice-Chancellor developed in conjunction with Nina Harding. Nina is a professional mediator, facilitator and law lecturer at several universities. Using practical examples, the video demonstrates key steps for responding to complaints. Accompanying the video is a discussion guide for teams to use, and a checklist to remind staff of the steps to consider when dealing with a complaint.

“Effectively managing complaints from our students and community is critical to Macquarie achieving its purpose of being a University of service and engagement,” said Deidre. “These training resources will provide teams and individuals who deal in front line management with the skills to respond to complaints in a timely and professional manner.”

Staff are encouraged to watch the video and use the resources, to learn about how to manage complaints, or to brush up on their existing skills.

Watch the video now.

• Student Disability Support Policy , Procedure and supporting documents
• Recognition of Prior Learning Assessment Procedure
• Student Discipline Procedure and supporting documents
• Student Experience Surveying Policy , Procedure and Schedule
• Learning and Teaching Awards and Grants Policy and Procedure
• Biosafety and Biosecurity Policy.

If you have questions on the interpretation and implementation of any policy document, the Contact Officer listed at the end of each document can assist. Any questions about policy development or review can be directed to staff in the Policy Unit.

And you can check the New/Amended page in Policy Central at any time to see what’s changed in policy.

Save the date: Policy writing workshop Tuesday 26 April
This half-day, hands-on workshop will give participants an understanding of the essentials of good policy writing. Participants will develop skills to enable them to write effective policy and procedures.

If you are a member of staff who writes or implements policy, a manager who works with policy, or just interested in developing your policy skills, this workshop is for you.

To express your interest in attending the workshop, contact Ellen Carlson, Policy Manager ellen.carlson@mq.edu.au or call ext 4791.