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Imagine applying the rapid advancement of drone technology to guide the future of aviation.
That’s the opportunity for graduates of Griffith University’s new cutting-edge Electronic and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Engineering (UAV) major, according to Associate Professor Steven O’Keefe.
The head of electronic engineering at Griffith’s Nathan campus says the major is offered at arguably the most fertile period in the development of UAV technology.
Available through the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) at Griffith’s Nathan campus, the UAV major offers students the chance to graduate as qualified electronics engineers and certified drone pilots, ready to design and fly the unmanned aircraft of tomorrow.
“Graduates will be equipped to develop advanced new aircraft and systems, as well as the applications they’re put to,” says Steven.
“And UAV design and application will continue to evolve with greater navigational capabilities, greater autonomous ability and artificial intelligence, longer endurance and greater payloads.”

Steven says UAVs—more commonly known as drones—have been quickly

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Most people think of aerosols as something you’d get from a spray can but scientists are discovering more about how these atmospheric particles are protecting the planet.
Research led by Griffith University and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in the USA, recently published by the American Meteorological Society, has revealed the role marine biogenic aerosols play in the Arctic and Southern oceans, helping the global challenge climate scientists face – understanding aerosol effects on warming.
Most aerosols have a cooling influence on the climate by reflecting sunlight back into space and altering cloud microphysics. Without their ‘masking’ effects, global temperatures would have increased more than they have since the 18th century.
Until recently aerosols have been acting like a ‘handbrake’ on global warming but Associate Professor Albert Gabric, of the Griffith School of Environment, warns the possible decline in emissions of natural and anthropogenic aerosols in the future could accelerate the warming

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Concern over the potential long-term adverse health effects associated with new 5G mobile phone technology will be the focus of a public lecture today (Thursday August 17) at Griffith University.
“The health effect issue of 5G is potentially very controversial as the communications industry is massive and 5G technology will be quite pervasive but its long-term health effects on humans are largely unknown,” says Professor Dariusz Leszczynski, the keynote speaker at the public lecture co-hosted by Griffith’s Centre for Environment and Population Health and the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists.
Professor Leszczynski was one of the thirty experts on the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)/WHO 2011 evaluation group that classified all radio frequency (RF-EMF) emissions as a possible carcinogen.
Current safety limits could be insufficient
Professor Leszczynski suggests that the current safety limits imposed on wireless communication devices (WCD) are insufficient to protect all users of such devices. “Besides carcinogenicity, there are

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If you want strong stock market growth, invest in renewable energy.
Research from Griffith University and Jiangxi University, described as “the exact opposite of what we’ve been lead to believe”, shows there’s a positive correlation between renewables and the market – a potential boon for the economy as a whole.
The paper, called ‘The effects of stock market growth and renewable energy use on CO2 emissions’, was published in Energy Economics.
Dr Rakesh Gupta
Dr Rakesh Gupta from Griffith Business School said he was sceptical when the idea was first floated but “shocked” at the final results.
“We tested our findings and analysed different models to ensure it was, indeed, true.”
Dr Gupta said the implications for emerging economies were also significant, as it could potentially lead to more foreign direct investment.
“There’s a whole perception out there that investment in renewable energy hurts the economy and takes away jobs – but that’s simply not true.”
The paper

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Griffith University scientists have helped discover new compounds which could help block the transmission of the deadly disease malaria.
A team of Griffith researchers has found a novel class of compounds, the hexahydro quinoline (HHQ), with potent activity against the parasite stages responsible for the clinical symptoms of malaria and its transmission to mosquitoes.
Malaria is still a leading cause of death, with 212 million new cases and 429 000 malaria deaths recorded worldwide in 2015, 90% of which are in Africa. A major obstacle in eradicating the disease is wiping out the sexual forms of the malaria parasites, the gametocytes.
While not responsible for the clinical symptoms, gametocytes are essential for the continued transmission of malaria, as these are the parasite stages taken up by the mosquito.
Gametocytes are naturally insensitive to the antimalarial drugs routinely used for malaria therapy and therefore escape the killing action of the drugs, enabling the new infections

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From his office 10,000m above the ground, Virgin Australia pilot Dan Lang surveys a career that is literally and figuratively flying.
Becoming a pilot was Dan’s dream from boyhood when he and his family made the long-haul flights from Australia to visit loved ones across the world.
The journey from enthusiastic youngster to an aviation degree from Griffith University and now to a commercial flying career has taken years of dedication and diverse experience. And there are still a few more air miles to log as Dan prepares to transfer from the co-pilot’s seat on the right of the Virgin cockpit to the captain’s seat on the left.
Dan’s family emigrated from Switzerland to Sydney in 1988 and international flights became a part of life.
“I loved flying from the start and that has never changed,” says Dan, 34, who is based in South East Queensland where he lives with dietitian wife Michelle and their

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The potential dangers of 5G technology to human health will be outlined by a world authority on radiation emissions at Griffith University on Thursday (August 17, 6pm).
Professor Dariusz Leszczynski was among 30 invited experts to classify radiation emitted by wireless communication devices (WCD) as possible human carcinogen in 2011.
“The current scientific evidence suggests that the radiation emitted by current wireless communication devices could be re-classified as probable human carcinogen,” Professor Leszczynski said.
Griffith’s Centre for Environment and Population Health will host Thursday’s public lecture at its Nathan campus, starting at 6pm.

READ THE CONVERSATION: Mobile phones and brain cancer

“The evidence of health risk indicates that the current safety limits are insufficient to protect all users of wireless communication devices,” Professor Leszczynski, an adjunct professor at the University of Helsinki in Finland, said.
“The 5G network will be a giant leap for the technological development but, even more, it will be a giant leap

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