e:Connect February 2007
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THIS MONTH'S SPECIAL OFFERS FOR YOU e-Business with Bettie Page! |
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LIFELONG LEARNING AT UTS |
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SUPPORTING YOUR UNIVERSITY |
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A milestone for women in leadership at UTS |
| ALUMNI BENEFITS |
e-Business Directory
To better connect alumni members and promote networking, UTS:Alumni has launched your NEW online alumni e-Business Directory.
You can now log in and list your professional or business details on the UTS:Alumni e-Business Directory. Listings are FREE and open to all registered UTS alumni.
If you are not yet registered with UTS:Alumni, register now! Membership is FREE and available to all graduates of UTS and its antecedent organisations.
e-Communities
To help alumni meet and network with fellow UTS graduates all over the world, UTS:Alumni is launching your NEW online e-Community forums.
From Thursday 22 February registered UTS:Alumni members will be able to log in and join any online e-Community.
If you are not yet registered with UTS:Alumni, register now! Membership is FREE and available to all graduates of UTS and its antecedent organisations.
You might be a Business graduate looking for technical advice from an IT expert; or a Media graduate searching for background information for an article you're writing about engineering practices and global warming; or just wanting to keep in touch socially and locate 'lost' friends and colleagues from your UTS university days. Whatever your preference, you'll be able to access this FREE benefit from Thursday 22 February.
e-Communities is also a great way to find out about professional career development and employment opportunities.
We'd like to see you make the most of your e-community by getting as many people to join the online forums as possible. The more graduates who use it, the better it will be as a tool for communication and networking.
We look forward to offering you this great NEW service and more benefits in 2007.
For a full list of UTS:Alumni benefits, please visit the Member Benefits section on the UTS:Alumni website.
| ALUMNI NEWS |
Australia Day Honours
UTS:Alumni congratulates the following graduates who received Australia Day Honours Awards in 2007:
- Paul William Adcock AFSM, Australian Fire Service Medal
- Elizabeth Anne Ashburn OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia
- Russell Stephen Balding AO, Officer of the Order of Australia
- Neil Duncan Black PSM, Public Service Medal
- Jill Elizabeth Boehm OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia
- Catherine Judith Burn APM, Australian Police Medal
- Paul Conway OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia
- Robert George Harvey PSM, Public Service Medal
- Gregory Robert Johnson OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia
- Arthur Kopsias APM, Australian Police Medal
- John Francis Maher PSM, Public Service Medal
- Grace Marjorie Matts ESM, Emergency Service Medal
- Maureen Denise McCabe OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia
- Kathleen Vera McCormack OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia
- David Victory Murray AO, Officer of the Order of Australia
- Donald William Owers AM, Member of the Order of Australia
- George Ralph Papallo OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia
- Peter John Smith ESM, Emergency Service Medal
And congratulations to former UTS staff member:
- Emeritus Professor Neville Charles Stephenson OAM, Medal of the Order of Australia
Business duo wins hands down!
UTS Business graduates Keeran Raj and Thiam Song Ng who recently graduated at the top of their class in business management at UTS, became the first ever Malaysians to emerge champions in the recent Management Simulations Inc (MSI) online business simulation challenge. The two young men spent eight straight hours in a computer lab and used their smarts to win the international business competition.
At the end of the competition, Keeran and Thiam's company was worth US$85 million, making them the overall winners. They beat finalists from the United States and Australia, as well as more than 200 other teams in the preliminaries.
For the full article, pleas click here.
UTS graduate puts a new spin on mouse design
Australian innovator and UTS alumnus, Laurence Crew has developed the first working prototype of the award winning Cylo 3style mouse.
What makes this mouse so different? Crew says '3style is an innovative new take on the wireless mouse allowing true 3D control which is a major advantage in the rapidly growing 3D design, imaging, video, audio, gaming and simulation markets.'
'Imagine being able to simply spin your mouse to scroll down large documents or to rotate 3D objects across all axes simultaneously without needing to know tricky commands -- this mouse allows the user extra functionality,' Crew reveals.
Crew is very optimistic about the potential of the invention. 'The world-market for individually sold mice is currently worth US$2 billion a year and up until now is dominated by 2D devices.'
Crew has recently been awarded a US patent for the Cylo 3style mouse.
Crew said 'The Cylo 3style mouse has benefits for the professional creative and home media markets, for users of general applications with ergonomic and productivity benefits and for early adopters or buyers attracted by the appeal of the product.'
When asked about the inspiration for creating this product Crew said 'A couple of years back I was researching virtual online environments and found it very frustrating having to control these 3D environments with a 2D input device. I was completing a Bachelor of Industrial Design at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and conceived of the 3D capable mouse.' Crew continues, 'as the invention progressed through prototype stages it became clear that the mouse has many other useful applications. I've had interest from fields as diverse as medical imaging and music DJ's.'
To find out more visit www.cylo.com.au.
Taken from Business Wire, article: "Australia Unveils Mouse with New Spin at CES 2007"
Invitation to Participate in International MBA Research
Do you consider yourself to be a senior decision maker in international projects? Then UTS Business graduate David G.V. Ray, invites you to complete an online questionnaire to assist him with his International MBA research.
David is finalising his International MBA thesis at the Georg-Simon-Ohm Management Institute in Nuremberg, Germany, and specialising in Project Management and IT. His activities are purely academic and results are confidential.
David's research to date has uncovered that over 47% of international project success rests on the personality type of the 'senior decision makers' and not on the project management 'systems' in place.
Each participant can access their individual summary survey results including information on how they can better understand their own personality type.
If you would like to participate in David's International MBA research project, please click here.
| ALUMNI EVENTS |
Blackfriars Talks: 'How they treat their women: the politics of women's rights'
The Institute for International Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney and the NSW Branch of Amnesty International Australia present: the inaugural Blackfriars Talks.
'How they treat their women: the politics of women's rights'
Featuring: Professor Louise Edwards, Dr Christina Ho and Ms Kiran Grewal Introduced and interviewed by Ms Alice Brennan.
Date: Thursday 22 February
Time: Welcome refreshments at 5.45pm. The event will finish by 8pm.
Venue: UTS Union Function Centre, Level 6, Tower Building 1, UTS Broadway
RSVP: Essential by 16 February to damien.spry@uts.edu.au
For more details on the event, please download the invitation.
Advancing your career in Communication Management
The UTS:Alumni Public Communication Network presents its first event for 2007.
Would you like learn how to advance your career in communication management and work with recruiters to stay ahead?
UTS:Alumni presents leading recruitment expert Josh Shein, a principal of a top recruitment firm specialising in the recruitment of communication professionals Salt & Shein. Josh will share his special insights and provide invaluable information about working with recruiters, career development and employment trends in this exciting field.
Join Josh and other communication professionals for an informative talk and an opportunity to network with other UTS Communication graduates.
Date: Wednesday 28 February
Time: 6pm for a 6.25pm start
Venue: Chancellery, Level 4, Tower Building 1, UTS Broadway Cost: $20.00
RSVP: RSVP and payment essential by February 21st to
E. alumni@uts.edu.au or F. 9514 8033
Click here to download your invitation to this event.
Please email this invitation to other UTS Communication graduates you know who might like to attend and who might like to join the UTS:Alumni Public Communication Network.
UTS Australian Centre for Independent Journalism FREE Public Talk
Leading Beirut writer, journalist and editor Bilal Khbeiz, will be speaking at UTS Thursday 15 March.
Bilal Khbeiz, journalist and editor of the cultural section of Lebanon's largest newspaper An-Nahar, is at the forefront of a group of cutting edge Beirut writers and artists. He has published several books on post-war Lebanon including the recent Globalisation and the Manufacture of Transient Events and The Enduring Image and the Vanishing World and has participated in numerous international festivals.
Time: 6pm
Date: Thursday 15 March
Location: UTS Broadway Campus - venue TBC
Presented by: UTS Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ).
More details will be posted at www.acij.uts.edu.au as they become available.
Bilal's visit to Australia has been organised through the Writing & Society Research Group at the University of Western Sydney and the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, with the support of Marrickville Council.
Drinks with 'Sam and the City'
Join Sam Brett, author of the hugely popular Sydney Morning Herald dating blog, 'Sam and the City' for drinks at UTS!
Come and listen to author and UTS alumnus, Sam Brett's story of determination to follow her dream from school girl to TV reporter for Fox News in New York, to Sydney Morning Herald columnist.
Sam is in her early 20's, and this accomplished author, journalist, TV and radio presenter has only just begun!
Time: 6pm
Date: Tuesday 20 March
Location: UTS Gallery, Level 4, Building 6, 702 Harris Street, Ultimo
Cost: $10.00
RSVP: RSVP and payment essential by March 13 to
E. alumni@uts.edu.au or F. 9514 8033
To register for this event, please download the invitation here.
This event is open to UTS Alumni and their guests. Please email this invitation to other UTS Alumni you know who might like to attend.
Seven Steps needed to build your Social Capital
Do you want to build your social capital to help you gain extraordinary personal and career leverage?
Mr Paul Vorbach, Executive Director, Academy Global will take you through the 'Seven Steps needed to build your social capital' including:
- What is social capital
- Why it matters
- How can it be measured
- How you can build it
Date: Thursday 22 March
Time: 6pm for 6.25pm start
Cost: $20 with refreshments included
Venue: Gallery Function Centre, Level 6, Tower Building 1, Broadway
RSVP: RSVP and payment essential by Thursday 15 March
E. alumni@uts.edu.au T. 9514 8036 or F. 9514 8033
To register for this professional development seminar, please click here.
Please forward this email to any UTS Alumni who maybe interested in this event.
Alumni Wine & Cheese Tasting Night
Put Wednesday 23 May in your diaries, because it's the date set for the first Alumni Wine and Cheese Tasting Night for 2007!
Hosted by UTS alumnus Toni Paterson, Winner of the "Madame Lily Bollinger Medal" for excellence in wine tasting; author of the consumer wine guide Wine: What to drink in 2006; and Australia's youngest and only resident female Master of Wine.
Toni will take guests through a series of red and white wines from Australia's premium wine growing regions with cheese to compliment each wine tasted.
A fun evening not to be missed!
Time: 6pm
Date: Wednesday 23 May
Venue: Sky Room, The Blackett Hotel, Level 9, 70 Kings Street, Sydney
Cost: $35.00
RSVP: RSVP and Payment essential by 16 May to
E. alumni@uts.edu.au T. 9514 0836 or F. 9514 8033
To register for this event, please download the invitation here.
2007 UTS Alumni Awards Reception
The 2007 UTS Alumni Awards Reception is being held on Wednesday 18 April to celebrate alumni whose achievements and services to the community have brought credit to the university.
As graduates of the University, we call on you to nominate your fellow alumni or yourself for a prestigious UTS Alumni Award.
Nominations for the 2007 Alumni Awards are due on Thursday March 1st.
The categories are:
- Chancellor's Medallion of Excellence
- Alumni Leadership Award
- Professional Achievement Award
- Young Alumni Award
Please click here to download a nomination form, or visit the Alumni website for more information on each category. You can nominate in more than one category. One nomination per flyer please.
For further information or enquiries, please contact Lella Gardner, Promotions Coordinator on 9514 8035 or by email: Back to top.
| ALUMNI CAREERS |
Online job vacancies for alumni
UTS:Alumni members can now search for job vacancies online via the UTS Careers Service website: http://scmapp.itd.uts.edu.au/scm/jobw.
If you have not yet registered with UTS:Alumni, click here.
You will need to log on to the online vacancies site using your alumni email account details. To activate your alumni 20mb storage account visit https://email.itd.uts.edu.au/webapps/myaccount.
Click on the 'Activate your account!' link and follow the prompts to set up your UTS:Alumni email account. You will then be able to access your email account via UTS Webmail: www.uts.edu.au/email
If you have any further queries please contact UTS:Alumni.
E. alumni@uts.edu.au or T. 9514 8036.
WANTED: IT Graduates
Over 50 positions exist within the Australian branches of a high profile global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.
With approximately 95,000 people in 48 countries, this consulting company is committed to delivering innovation whilst collaborating with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.
To find out more about the positions on offer, please click here.
For further information, contact:
Anna Tarrant
Recruitment Consultant, Diversiti
E. anna.tarrant@diversiti.com.au or T. 02 9911 7973
Volunteer positions with Renvasun Water Treatment Systems
Renvasun Water Treatment Systems is looking for two graduates to fill two voluntary positions working on a sustainable water treatment project in Australia.
The Project Manager and Production Engineer positions would suit an MBA, MSc or MEng graduate preferably with work experience in relevant fields. The positions are currently voluntary, but may potentially become paid positions in the future.
For more information on these volunteer opportunities and how to apply, click here.
© 2006-2007 Renvasun™ Water Treatment Systems
| ALUMNI NETWORKS |
JOIN a UTS:Alumni Network today!
Interested in opportunities for social and professional networking with alumni from your faculty, or who live in the same region, or work in the same field as you? Then join your UTS:Alumni Networks and keep in touch and add to the friends and colleagues you made in your university days!
Alumni members are closely involved in running networks, with support from the UTS:Alumni & Development Office. Graduates are welcome to join an existing alumni network, or can set up a new alumni network with assistance from the UTS:Alumni & Development Office.
For a full list of active UTS:Alumni Networks click here.
If your preferred Network is not up and running yet, why not contact the Alumni Office to set it up?
P. 9514 8036 or E. alumni@uts.edu.au
Your Public Communication Network is back!
The UTS:Alumni Public Communication Network is back and more active than ever! Your first event: Advancing your career in Communication Management, is happening on Wednesday 28 February, so RSVP for it now!
The Public Communication Network has been set up by the Public Communication Program Area within the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences to provide a Network for communication graduates to keep abreast of current developments in their area, through seminars and events, as well as providing career and continuing professional education opportunities.
To join the Public Communication Network please contact the Alumni Office.
P. 9514 8036 or E. alumni@uts.edu.au
NEW UTS:Alumni Shanghai Network
The newly formed UTS Alumni Shanghai Network held their first drinks night on Wednesday 13 December 2006, at Citizens Cafe. It was a very successful evening with a crowd of enthusiastic UTS graduates living and working in Shanghai keen to reunite with fellow alumni.
The UTS Alumni Chapter, Shanghai and the UTS Alumni Association Malaysia Chapter joined forces on Wednesday 17th January for the first combined Networking Dinner in Shanghai.
Held at Bao Luo, a popular Shanganise restaurant, the dinner attracted a strong crowd of alumni keen to reconnect with their university friends.
Special thanks to Kimberly Ashton & Steve Pratley, Shanghai Network Coordinators, and David Tann, UTSMAAC President.
To join the Shanghai Network please contact the Alumni Office.
P. 9514 8036 or E. alumni@uts.edu.au
| GRADUATE PROFILE |
Mr Anthony Williams
Bachelor of Applied Science in Biomedical Science & Master of Science
Vice President
Head of Global Strategic Marketing and Sales
Marketing and Sales Europe and ROW
Intendis GmbH
www.intendis.com
Anthony completed his General Nursing Training at Westmead Hospital in Sydney in 1982. He continued to work as a Registered Nurse in the Intensive Care unit at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, until he left full time employment to pursue a B.Sc (Biomedical Science) at UTS's Gore Hill Campus.
Following a successful three years of study from which Anthony graduated (1988) with a Credit, he began his career in the Pharmaceutical Industry with Sandoz Pharma in Clinical Research (1990). In the early years of Anthony's time in the Pharma industry, he completed a Masters of Science (Thesis) from the UTS.
Over the last 16 years Anthony has held several roles (Clinical Research, Development, Marketing & Sales, Business Management) and functions within the Novartis Pharma Company - a Swiss based company, formed in 1997 from the merger of Ciba Geigy & Sandoz. His roles within Novartis Pharma have seen Anthony working nationally, based in Sydney; globally - in Basel, Switzerland; and regionally (Asia-Pacific) in Singapore.
For the last two years, Anthony has held the Global Strategic Marketing and Sales function within Intendis GmbH, a stand-alone daughter company of Schering AG. One of his biggest achievements to date is establishing Intendis GmbH, and developing a competitive Global Marketing and Sales Team, focussed on performance objectives. The first year sales grew 11%, to total €223 million.
Please keep us updated with your career news, or any achievements and awards you may have received. We are preparing our next e:Connect and would love to hear from you.
Email your career news to alumni@uts.edu.au
| THIS MONTHS SPECIAL OFFERS FOR YOU |
Register your professional details on the UTS:Alumni e-Business Directory and you will automatically go in the draw to win an in-season double pass to see The Notorious Bettie Page, thanks to Dendy Films. There are 10 double passes to be won, so register with the e-Business Directory now!
Offer closes 1 March 2007
THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGEDirector Mary Harron's first feature film since 2000's American Psycho, is a provocative film exploring the multilayered character of iconic 1950s pin-up girl Bettie Page, whose deep religious beliefs and cheerful naivety contrasted sharply with her public image. The product of a conservative religious family in Tennessee, Bettie Page left home and became a photo model sensation in New York City. Her legendary bondage photographs made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography - and turned her into one of America's first sex icons. Gretchen Mol plays Bettie Page in a career-making performance.
-In cinemas March 8-
e-Communities can earn you Dymocks Dollars!
UTS:Alumni is launching NEW online e-Community forums for alumni networks on Thursday 22 February. And to celebrate we're giving you the chance to earn some Dymocks Dollars, so get ready to join and make the most of your e-Community!
The e-Communities are online forums open to all registered UTS Alumni. All you have to do is log in and sign up to an e-Community and you will automatically be in the draw to win one of fifteen $50 Dymocks voucher.
e-Communities is a great way to keep in touch socially and locate 'lost' friends and colleagues from university days.
You can also use it to:
- Ask and solve questions about professional issues
- Promote and search for employment opportunities
- Network with UTS graduates in your field
- Receive information about and publicise events
- Investigate continued learning with UTS short courses
- Locate friends and colleagues from your student days at UTS
We'd like to see you make the most of your e-community by getting as many people to join the online forums as possible. The more people who use it, the better it will be as a tool for communication and networking.
So, make sure you're not left behind, and join your UTS:Alumni e-Community on Thursday 22 February!
20% off Musica Viva Artemis Quartet
Artemis Quartet presented by Musica Viva
'the most vivid, boldest, clearest constructions in sound ever imagined."
Sydney Morning Herald
A hit with Australian audiences in 2004, the Artemis Quartet returns to our shores after two years of performing around the world in all the major chamber music venues, confirming its status as one of the leading string quartets of our time. This Berlin- based quartet will play two magical programs of music by Beethoven, Brahms, Schoenberg and Webern. Renowned for its impeccable technique and sensitive interpretation, the Artemis Quartet promises unforgettable concerts of great beauty.
Musica Viva would like to offer UTS alumni a special 20% discount offer on full priced tickets.
To take advantage of this offer, please call 02 82562222 and quote the UTS:ALUMNI 20% OFFER.
Where: City Recital Hall, Angel Place
When: Monday 12 March 7pm & Saturday 17 March 8pm
For further information about this performance or Musica Viva, please visit www.musicaviva.com.au
| LIFELONG LEARNING AT UTS |
The Faculty of Information Technology at UTS is a leader in providing quality, up-to-date courses for the wider community. Our courses are relevant to industry's needs. We offer a 10% discount on all IT short courses to UTS:Alumni.
New for 2007 - IP Telephony and Voice over IP (VoIP)
The first IP Telephony and VoIP course for 3 February was filled two weeks before it was due to start, so get in quick for the next course.
Many in the industry are seriously considering a move to IP telephony and Voice over IP (VoIP). This course provides essential background knowledge about telephony and the integration of the telephony system with the Internet Protocol (IP) and the use of VoIP. Voice enabled Cisco Routers with Cisco Call Manager Express, Cisco IP phones, standard analog phones and an ADTRAN WAN emulator for the analog and digital PSTN are the basis of the practical work for students to develop relevant skills in IP telephony.
Course commences Saturday 17 March. For more details about the IP VoIP course, please click here.
For other IT short courses, please visit: http://it.uts.edu.au/course/shortcourse/
UTS Short Courses
Registered members of UTS:Alumni are entitled to a 10% discount on selected short course programs.
For a comprehensive list of all current UTS short courses, please visit: http://www.shortcourses.uts.edu.au/
| SUPPORTING YOUR UNIVERSITY |
Get more involved through your support
UTS has a fine reputation as a leading university and seeks the involvement of alumni and others committed to excellence in higher education to consider giving to UTS. Through your support, you will be helping to make UTS an even better university.
Your tax deductible donation would be used carefully to help meet urgent needs including: scholarships for disadvantaged students; library collections; improved facilities like the new state of the art Science Building; the planned Alumni Green; research into infectious diseases and other important topics as well as funding for additional academic leaders.
For a full list of current funding appeals please click here.
The important thing is your support will ensure UTS can continue to provide its students with world-class education. And you will be part of it.
| WHAT'S HAPPENING AT UTS |
A milestone for women in leadership at UTS
With the appointment of two new senior executives, UTS has achieved what is still a rarity in both the public and private sectors: an equal representation of men and women in top level roles.
Dr Rosalind Dubs has joined the executive as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (External Relations) and Registrar, while Professor Shirley Alexander has moved from Dean of Education to Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Teaching, Learning and Equity).
Ros Dubs comes to UTS with wide-ranging commercial and international experience in both the private and public sectors. She was previously Director, Electronic Systems with ADI Limited, and is a former Vice President Operations, Thales ATM SA (Paris) and Managing Director, Thales Navigation GmbH (Stuttgart). Ros also held senior management positions with Airservices Australia and CSIRO, and was Registrar of the Australian National University during the 1980s.
Shirley Alexander is an international expert on the use of information and communication technologies in education.
Four of eight executive positions, along with that of the UTS Chancellor, are now held by women. This reflects UTS's long history of being an employer of choice for women.
UTS has earned an Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency citation every year since the Employer of Choice for Women award was launched in 2001 and has been rated as a best practice organisation by EOWA for more than ten years.
NSW school students get a taste of a scientific mind
Eighty year ten students from across New South Wales may be a step closer to a career in science after taking part in a three-day Siemens' Science Experience hosted by UTS.
The students toured UTS science laboratories, lecture theatres, performed experiments, met and listened to lecturers and were given a taste of what uni social life in the big smoke is all about. The three-day event also included excursions and a barbecue on campus.
UTS Dean of Science Professor John Rice said Australia needed a new generation of budding scientists. "Industry, universities and schools are feeling the shortage of people trained in science," Professor Rice said. "Programs like this make a significant contribution towards showing young people what the opportunities are."
"Siemens is a great example of schools, universities and industry collaborating to give students a taste of real science, to show them the exciting stuff, to show them where the careers are, and how science can be a positive force in the world."
The Siemens' Science Experience is coordinated by the Science Schools Foundation based in Victoria and first began in 1990. The Foundation is a voluntary, non-profit organisation that includes representatives of Rotary, Young Scientists of Australia, Siemens, industrialists and educationalists.
The program also provides information about further studies in science, technology and engineering. It highlights the wide range of careers that allow students to pursue their interest and abilities in the sciences.
More than 40,000 secondary students have taken part in visits to university science faculties across Australia since the program commenced.
UTS Business Faculty earns international AACSB accreditation
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business has announced that UTS has earned international accreditation for its Business Faculty.
Founded in 1916, AACSB International is the premier global accrediting body for schools that offer undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in business and accounting.
"AACSB warmly congratulates the University of Technology, Sydney and Dean Rob Lynch for earning the highest achievement in business school accreditation," said John J. Fernandes, President and CEO of AACSB International.
"We also commend the Faculty's staff for their dedication and commitment to continuous improvement that played an important role in helping their institution earn initial accreditation."
The newest accreditations raise to 540 the number of institutions that have earned specialised AACSB accreditation for their business schools. They become part of an elite group that makes up less than 10 per cent of the world's business schools that have achieved business and/or accounting accreditation from AACSB International.
To earn AACSB accreditation, a business school must undergo meticulous internal review, evaluation, and adjustment - a process that can take from three to seven years. During this period, schools develop and implement a plan to help meet the 21 AACSB standards that require a highly qualified faculty, as well as a commitment to continuous improvement and keeping curricula responsive to the needs of business.
Accounting accreditation further requires the satisfaction of an additional set of 15 standards that are specific to the discipline and profession of accounting.
"It takes a great deal of self evaluation and determination to earn AACSB accreditation," said Jerry Trapnell, chief accreditation officer of AACSB International.
"Schools not only must meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans and staff make a commitment to ongoing improvement that ensures that they will deliver a high-quality education to students."
UTS Dean of Business Professor Rob Lynch said staff of the UTS Business Faculty were to be commended and should enjoy the achievement, knowing that their high-quality work in teaching, research, administration and community service had allowed the Faculty to achieve this success.
"In 2007 we will be doing further work to embed the 21 AACSB standards into the everyday practice of the Faculty to ensure we maintain accreditation and this important new status for the faculty," Professor Lynch said.
"This successful accreditation outcome follows on from recent outstanding success in gaining ARC grants (2006), in being ranked in the top six business/economics faculties for the DEST Learning and Teaching Performance Fund (2007) and being ranked number eight among Australian Business and Law disciplines in the recent Melbourne University Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Rankings (2006)."
UTS putting Sydney back on track
Sydney's existing transport system is not sustainable - hobbled by a long history of short-term and car-centred thinking according to a new report prepared for the Rail, Tram and Bus Union by the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF).
The report, Moving On, was commissioned by the Union as a spur to put public transport on the agenda for this year's State election. It argues that the city's transport system is in crisis and the public can only see the tip of the iceberg.
Prepared by the ISF's Alison Atherton, Chris Riedy, Institute Director Stuart White, and intern May Samali, Moving On makes ten recommendations for fundamental structural changes that are needed to develop a sustainable public transport system for Sydney.
The recommendations include the need for a long-term legislated transport plan, continuous, annual and substantial State and Commonwealth funding and the establishment of an independent NSW transport coordination authority.
"Without significant change, New South Wales' and Sydney's continued economic growth will be threatened and the negative impact on our community and the environment will be exacerbated by the growth of transport modes that are neither fuel-efficient nor socially equitable," the report says.
"A sustainable transport system is possible in Sydney. Volumes of reports and studies tell us how this can be achieved.
"There can be no argument that this is needed urgently, for the sake of the community, the health and well being of residents, the environment and the economic base of this great city.
"Transport shapes a city, and is the single largest influence on the city's amenity for its residents. A more sustainable transport system would transform Sydney in many ways.
"Fast, reliable and safe public transport options would reduce reliance on motor vehicles and the damage they inflict. It would reduce the isolation and dependence of the many transport-disadvantaged in our community.
"It would result in a fitter, healthier community in more liveable streets and neighbourhoods. Fewer accidents, reduced noise and air pollution and a reduction of our contribution to global climate change would be amongst the benefits.
"Governments would benefit from the increased trust of citizens as they become involved in the decision-making process and see decisions being made on the basis of sound and transparent planning, adequate funding and good monitoring.
"The economy would benefit as the massive costs of our current misallocation of funds are removed and congestion and travel times are reduced.
"All of this is possible. It is not a lack of solutions or of technology that prevents it. It is merely a lack of vision and the lack of will to take the steps that are needed.
"The community will get behind the government that has the courage to take these steps," the report says.
Moving On is available for download from the ISF website.
UTS ingenuity makes cutting grass greener
An icon of Australian design, the Victa lawnmower, now has a more environmentally-friendly engine thanks to research undertaken by the UTS Faculty of Engineering.
Associate Professor Guang Hong of the Faculty's Mechatronics and Intelligent Systems group has led a four-year project that has made Victa's two-stroke engine cleaner and greener, while at the same time improving its performance.
The new Eco Torque engine, officially launched at the Powerhouse Museum on 24 January, reduces harmful emissions (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen) by 30 per cent and fuel consumption by 20 per cent, while increasing torque by five per cent.
Victa CEO Andrew King said the all-Australian collaboration between Victa's technical department and UTS to reduce the environmental impact of the rotary lawnmower engine had exceeded expectations.
"The challenge was to create a two-stroke engine with lower emissions without sacrificing torque or the inherent simplicity of the two-stroke engine design," Mr King said.
"Changes to the carburettor, muffler, and cast iron block have resulted in a greener two-stroke engine with lower fuel consumption, substantially lower emissions, and slightly improved torque, which was an unexpected bonus.
"The Eco Torque engine has already been recognised by industry magazine PEA (Power Equipment Australasia) as its Product of the Year 2006," he said.
Associate Professor Hong, who was the first female fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers Australasia, said the relationship with Victa had not only advanced Australian research in engine emission reduction but also contributed to the education of the next generation of automotive engineers.
"A vital component of engineering education at UTS is an understanding of and ability to meet the needs of industry," she said. "This project involved both undergraduate and postgraduate students in collaborative work that would have a real-world outcome."
UTS Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (External Relations) and Registrar Dr Rosalind Dubs, who spoke at the Powerhouse launch, said collaboration like that with Victa was a model the university sought to emulate across its many disciplines.
"At UTS we have numerous experts in many fields who can contribute to solving industrial problems with industry partners or customers - I call it practical innovation," Dr Dubs said.
"Like most of UTS, our Engineering Faculty is very much practice-oriented, with students working with industry during their undergraduate degrees in operational environments on current issues.
"This makes our students more employment ready, but also has the spin-off of building the research expertise in the Faculty, in this case on emission reduction technologies."