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.

27 diverse student societies were also present, and more than $1400 was raised to support the work of the UN Women International Committee Australia to end violence against women and girls in the Pacific region.

As of today, visitors to mgsm.edu.au will encounter a brand new website for the Macquarie Graduate School of Management. A key component of the Shared Identity project, the new site aligns MGSM with the University’s new identity while still maintaining a distinct brand look for the leading business school. Other major improvements include responsive mobile-friendly design and a new site structure that better meets audience needs.

[Front row, left] Emeritus Professor Jim Piper from the Department of Physics and Astronomy. [Back row, centre] Dr Lee Spitler from the Department of Physics and Astronomy. [Back row, far right] Dr Alfonso Garcia-Bennett from the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences.

‘Science Meets Parliament 2016’ Science & Technology Australia President, Emeritus Professor Jim Piper and delegates Dr Lee Spitler from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Dr Alfonso Garcia-Bennett from the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in his office at Parliament House earlier this month.

The 16th annual Science meets Parliament brought 200 working scientists to Canberra for a two-day program of professional development and networking aimed at helping them better communicate their science to the media, policymakers and parliamentarians.

[Left] The newly refurbished Department of Linguistics. [Right] Unveiling of the ‘We Are Ubuntu’ artwork by the Head of the Department of Linguistics, Associate Professor Jan-Louis Kruger (pictured right), and Macquarie University Visual Voices Art Group artist, Olegario Gonzalez.

The long awaited refurbishment of The Linguistics Department C5A building has been completed, in the record time of five months, by the company Inaphase. The new interior has proven to be a hit among staff, showcasing crisp modern features in neutral tones, complemented with splashes of turquoise and copper.

To celebrate, the Department of Linguistics held an opening last Friday afternoon in the elegant space, during which they unveiled the newly installed artwork created by members of the Macquarie University Visual Voices Art Group. The group was established in August 2014 by speech pathologist Christine Sheard in the Macquarie University Speech and Hearing Clinic. The group encourages people with some physical paralysis and language communication difficulties (aphasia) following stroke, to use art as a medium to practise friendship, social participation, renewed self-identity and autonomy.

The unveiled piece pictured is called “We are Ubuntu” from three artists from the group, John Giliberti, Olegario Gonzalez, Alasdair MacLennan and their artistic facilitators Viviene Mewing, Romny Vandoros and Karlene Wilcox; who named the piece after the African term ‘ubuntu’ which means “l am what I am because of who we are”. The artwork rejoices in the fact that communication can occur in more ways than just via speech and that its ultimate success resides also in the attitudes and engagement of people in all our social contexts.

Congratulations to the Macquarie University Catering team on receiving the New South Wales Banquet and Catering Award at the Meetings and Events Australia (MEA) industry awards for the second consecutive year.

The Award recognises organisations that provide catering services for business events either as a stand-alone catering business or as a banquet department providing food and beverage services for conferences and events.

This adds to the long list of awards the team have received throughout the years for their outstanding effort.  Learn more about their achievements.

Late last month more than 800 mathematics teachers from across New South Wales, including many from regional and remote areas came to campus to take part in the Higher School Certificate (HSC) Mathematics Review day.

Run by the Mathematic Department in partnership with the Mathematical Association of New South Wales, and with the assistance of the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards New South Wales, the day included a number of sessions reviewing each of the mathematics papers from the 2015 HSC. It was an opportunity to highlight areas of concern and provide information and insight to help classroom teachers better prepare their students.

With the majority of the noisy E7A demolition work due to end this month, the construction of the new home for four departments within the Faculty of Science and Engineering is now well and truly under way.

While the demolition of external pavements, the internal courtyard façade, and the lift core is still in action, these ground works are due to come to a wrap in the next few weeks. The University scheduled these noisier works to be carried out between December and March to minimise the impact to staff and students on campus.

Since the project’s main contractor, Buildcorp Interiors, commenced on site in late November of last year, they have been working on demolishing old structures, laying foundation piers, and reinforcing existing columns and ceilings. In the future they will install a tower crane to help with the work on the structural plans for the building, including lifting the core, and working on the atrium.

With the project set to be completed in early 2017, there is still a way to go. However, these works are being completed as quickly as possible to minimise disruption to the University community.

Visit the Property website for more information or contact e7a.project@mq.edu.au.

Brian will examine mechanisms of choice and decision in the honeybee brain to enable the computer modelling of the insect brain.

“Being awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Macquarie is a unique opportunity to establish strong international collaborations while achieving great advances in our understanding of the insect brain,” said Brian.

“Understanding how the brain works, processes thought, and how both thought and decisions emerge from brain circuitry are the last grand challenges of modern neuroscience. Working with Dr Barron, I am examining mechanisms of choice and decision in the honeybee brain to enable computer modelling of insect brain function.”

The Scholarships are awarded by the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, which promotes education and cultural exchange between Australia and the United States in order to enhance mutual understanding and strengthen relations between the two countries.

The event will see 35 student teams unleash their robots (which they’ve designed, built, and programmed themselves) onto a medieval-themed playing field which challenges their robots to catapult boulders and scale obstacles to ‘conquer’ an opponent’s tower.

The day is an exciting demonstration of what the students have been able to achieve – but their skills extend much further than the robots they’ve produced.

At a time when three out of four jobs in the fastest growing industries require science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills, FIRST Australia encourages young people’s curiosity,  develops these fundamental STEM skills and knowledge, and builds on their leadership, self-confidence and teamwork abilities.

As home to FIRST Australia, Macquarie is a proud sponsor of the program, which also places a special interest in engaging people who would not ordinarily have access to this level of mentoring in STEM: females, remotely located students or students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Katherine Allen, a member of Macquarie-based Team 3132 (Thunder Down Under) says she loves that FIRST shows young people from a variety of backgrounds what engineering is, has them work alongside professionals, and allows them to see a future for themselves in the field.

“An exciting thing I have been able to be a part of through FIRST are the programs that we run to encourage more women to be involved in engineering, such as the morning teas that we run at events,” said Katherine.

“As one of the few girls on a team full of boys, it can be really challenging. To be able to support these girls, and provide role models at all stages of their careers is something I am proud to be a part of.”

FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a not-for-profit organisation that runs a suite of robotics programs for school students year round.

The FRC event is free for the public to attend – families and supporters are welcome to come check out the action!

Take a look at some of the high school students involved with the FIRST Team 3132 Thunder Down Under.

Event details
When: 17 – 19 March
Where: Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre, Olympic Boulevard, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW 2127
Cost: Free

Find out more from the FIRST Australia website.

Student sporting excellence celebrated
Olympic diver Melissa Wu was named Macquarie’s female athlete of the year at the recent Blues Awards ceremony. Melissa also won the Chancellor’s Award on the night, and is pictured above with Elizabeth Crouch, Deputy Chancellor, at the awards.

In total, 11 elite athletes were recognised at the event for their outstanding sporting achievements representing Macquarie University, their state, or the nation in 2015. A full list of winners can be viewed online.

Black holes make gravitational waves across the science community
Macquarie physicists, astronomers and others from the campus science community gathered last Friday to celebrate and discuss the announcement of the first direct detection of gravitational waves through the Advanced LIGO project. The detected waves were a result of two massive black holes merging around 1.3 billion years ago. They are a long-awaited vindication of the predictions made by Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.

“The discovery represents the beginning of a completely new form of astronomy,” explains Associate Professor Michael Steel, Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Photo caption (clockwise from top):  Associate Professor Michael Steel speaks to the gathering; (Left to right) Professor Mark Wardle, Associate Professor Michael Steel, Associate Professor Daniel Zucker and Professor Orsola De Marco of the Department of Physics and Astronomy; Associate Professor David Coutts demonstrating how an interferometer works; Associate Professor Daniel Terno explains the use of squeezed light in LIGO to some students.

Build a bot – students scramble to complete their robot as Australia’s largest robotics competition approaches
If you walk past F9C this week, you might hear the sounds of drills, electric saws and general tinkering. No, it’s not just coming from the construction work in the area – groups of school students, Macquarie students and engineering mentors are now meeting daily to complete the design, construction and programming of their robots in time for day one of the Australia Regional FIRST Robotics Competition at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on 17 March. Learn more about FIRST and this exciting competition.

Bondi classroom: The Biggest English lesson
Last Friday, 12 February, around 3000 English language students met at Bondi Beach to take part in a four-hour event to break a Guinness World Record: the biggest English lesson ever undertaken. More than 100 Macquarie students participated and Trish Behan, a senior teacher at the English Language Centre, conducted part of the lesson on stage. The lesson also featured in SBS coverage.

Volunteers play a key role at FIRST competitions, and there are many roles to be filled, both technical and non-technical – all are welcome and appreciated.

What: FIRST Robotics Competition Australia Regional
Where: Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre
When: 17,18, 19 March 2016

Visit the FIRST Australia Volunteer Opportunities webpage to read more about volunteer information, role descriptions, or to sign up as a volunteer for this year’s competition.

Academic promotions are an opportunity to recognise and reward the staff who have demonstrated and sustained excellence in the three elements of academic endeavour – teaching, research and community engagement.

To be considered for academic promotion, candidates must demonstrate that they meet the criteria of the level they seek promotion to and demonstrate that their all-round performance exceeds the expectations and criteria of their current level.

Congratulations to the following staff, in no particular order:

Lecturer

• Milena Gandy
• Vince Polito
• Wei Deng
• Robert Pfeifer
• Stephanie Russo
• Bingyang Shi
• Murray Taylor
• Daniel Ghezelbash

Senior Lecturer

• Michael Proctor
• Leanne Carter
• Lurion De Mello
• Meiting Lu
• Ying (Candy) Lu
• Sophia Su
• Dalbir Ahlawat
• Paul Formosa
• Saskia Kohnen
• Helen Little
• Justine Lloyd
• Lee Spitler
• Dale Tweedie
• Gregory Walkerden

Associate Professor

• Michael Batanin
• Ross Gordon
• Ayse Bilgin
• Matthew Bower
• Trevor Evans
• Diane Hughes
• Annabelle Lukin
• Kristian Ruming
• Paul Sheehan

Professor

• Dorrit Jacob
• Genevieve McArthur
• Nickolai Titov
• Shawkat Alam
• Brian Atwell
• Gillian Heller
• Phillip Taylor

Learn more about academic promotions.

“Becoming an IEEE fellow is the dream of all top-performing professors in electronic and electrical engineering,” said Karu, who received the news last Tuesday evening.

After a rigorous evaluation by the IEEE (formerly the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Fellow Committee, Karu was part of a select group to receive the honour. The announcement came after his election for the 2016 Chair of IEEE in New South Wales – the first time a Macquarie engineering academic has been elected to lead the association at the state level.

Presently leading a IEEE group that promotes professional engineering activities in remote areas, his new roles are sure to extend opportunities in providing leadership in the engineering field.

“As a Fellow and the new Chair of the IEEE in New South Wales, Professor Esselle will be able to practice his outstanding leadership on a wider scale, encouraging future engineers at Macquarie and other institutions to follow in his stead,” said Professor Barbara Messerle, Executive Dean of Science and Engineering.

Learn more about Karu’s research.