Congratulations Michelle

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Travis Holland

Dr Michelle Dunbar received a 2014 Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning award.

A researcher based at the SMART Infrastructure Facility is among the recipients of the University of Wollongong’s 2014 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning (OCTAL).

The OCTALs are awarded each year to staff who have made a major contribution to teaching and learning excellence within the University of Wollongong. Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Michelle Dunbar was recognised with an OCTAL Early Career Faculty award for her teaching practice to date, but most specifically in relation to lecturing MATH283 (Advanced Engineering Mathematics) in August 2013.

UOW Vice-Chancellor Paul Wellings said the awards provide “a chance to celebrate a select group of researchers, teachers and professional staff who have helped underlay the success of UOW.”

Dr Dunbar was nominated for the award by a number of her students.

More information about the OCTAL awards can be found at octal.uow.edu.au.

Newman’s cuts will pay off

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Travis Holland

This article was originally published in The Australian by SMART Infrastructure Senior Research Fellow Joe Branigan. See the original here.

IF the promises made in the 2014-15 Queensland budget are realised, Tim Nicholls can be proud of the turnaround in the sunshine state’s financial position compared with the big borrowing and spending Beattie-Bligh era. Continue reading →

Beggar bowl politics blocks Federation’s potential

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Travis Holland

This article was originally published in The Conversation by Garry Bowditch.

Calls to lift the GST rate to placate the states financial challenges will serve to only exacerbate an already severe vertical fiscal imbalance and prolong a deeply unsatisfactory chapter in Australia’s Federation.

Continue reading →

NSW to vet transport projects – AFR

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Travis Holland

NSW Premier Mike Baird has promised projects financed by the sale of the state’s electricity network will have to pass a rigorous cost-benefit analysis.

In this article in the Australian Financial Review, Garry Bowditch says the NSW Government can boost the state’s productivity by selling the electricity network but it should concentrate on projects that would improve connectivity in the CBD.

Changing the World with Social Data

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Travis Holland

SMART Infrastructure’s Dr Tomas Holderness recently spoke at the Big Boulder Conference in Boulder, Colorado about his work on the PetaJakarta project. Continue reading →

Prime Minister pushes for more Canadian investment

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Travis Holland

Garry Bowditch was recently featured in this radio story from the ABC’s The World Today program:

While he is in Canada, Tony Abbott will meet the heads of some of the country’s wealthiest investment funds. Some have already bought into Australian ports and property developments, but infrastructure analysts here say there is an appetite for more.

Listen to the whole episode here. [podcast]http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/audio/twt/201406/20140609-twtfull.mp3[/podcast]

Intuitive Management: The Antidote to Complexity

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Travis Holland

Innovation and change gather pace yielding greater intensity in our working environment. Recognizing when our normal approach has to be complemented as a result of this constantly growing complexity is not easy. Continue reading →

Data and social media: how researchers are creating a positive impact

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Travis Holland

This post was originally published by India Lloyd at the Global Challenges blog.

PetaJakarta, shown on the computer screen, provides real-time mapping of flooding throughout Jakarta. Photo credit: Etienne Turpin

We are inundated with information every day. The ubiquity of social media and the 24-hour news cycle means we are faced with more data than we know what to do with.

But can we harness this data overload in times of disaster? How can we break through the plethora of information to navigate our present and create resilience for the future? How can big data become a force for good, rather than a necessary evil of modern life?

These questions were at the heart of last week’s SMART Data Workshop at Sydney Business School. Continue reading →

SMART Goes to NSW Parliament

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Travis Holland

SMART Infrastructure has partnered with the NSW Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for a high-level forum on infrastructure for the 22nd century.

The forum, conducted at NSW Parliament House last week, attracted key academic, political and industry leaders to consider the challenges and possible solutions for the state’s infrastructure. Continue reading →

The budget will be big on infrastructure, but we need more than just roads

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Travis Holland

By Garry Bowditch.

The Abbott government is preparing to give Sydney’s WestConnex road project a A$2 billion boost in this week’s federal budget, part of a broader $10 billion infrastructure package aimed at boosting productivity and private sector investment.