Category: Griffith University Feed

Fancy cruising down the highway at 110 kilometres per hour, hands off the wheel, no engine noise to impede your favourite tracks?
It could be closer than you think.
Jon Dee, host of Smart Money on Sky News, hosted a lecture as part of Griffith University’s on one of his self confessed ‘passion topics’: sustainable transport.
“Electrificaion of transport is happening much faster than people realise,” Mr Dee said.
Also the co-founder of Planet Ark (with Pat Cash) and Managing Director of Do Something, Mr Dee owns a BYD electric car with a range of 400km and an 80kw battery.
It allows him to get from the Blue Mountains to Sydney and back for filming – and he’s also in the process of hooking it up to his solar-powered home, enabling the car to power the house and vice versa.
“So I’m using solar power [from the house] to drive the car, but using the car

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The chemicals you use in your daily life, which end up running off your garden or flowing down the sink, can have serious consequences for the wildlife that live in our rivers, lakes and oceans.
Those are just some of the issues that hundreds of scientists will be discussing when they gather for an environmental toxicology and chemistry conference on the Gold Coast this week.
Studying the toxic chemicals that end up in our environment and what they do to the organisms that live there, the researchers are working to measure and reduce the human impact on our ecosystems.
The conference group is comprised of members of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, an International scientific society dedicated to the study, analysis and solution of problems related to contaminants and other stressors in the environment.
Several researchers from Griffith University’s Australian Rivers Institute and Environmental Futures Research Institute will present their research on

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Australian technology innovator BluGlass Limited has invested $600,00 in Griffith University to develop power electronics.
BluGlass will be leading the two-year cash investment – inclusive of a $300,000 grant from the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre – to develop next-generation GaN transistors, called High Performance Normally OFF GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT).
The technology promises a positive and stable threshold voltage, low on-resistance and high breakdown field.
With an increasingly connected world, demand for smarter, more powerful and efficient electronics is rising exponentially.  

The project aims to deliver and drive adoption of this step-change electronics innovation, that combines two Australian enabling technologies – BluGlass’ deposition technology called Remote Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition (RPCVD).
RPCVD is a revolutionary low temperature approach for the manufacture of semiconductor materials and will be combined with Griffith University’s Queensland Microtechnology Facility (QMF)’s Atomically Smooth SiC on large Si (SiC on Si) wafers.
“Today, electronics manufacturers face high cost barriers for higher performing materials,” said BluGlass

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Olympians, Australian captains and media personalities are inspiring the next wave of elite female athletes.
The Schoolgirls’ Breakfast Career Experience Day was hosted by the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management (Griffith Business School) and the School of Engineering.
Students find out about wearable sensor technology in Griffith University’s Red Zone.
Professor Graham Cuskelly said it’s a chance for students to understand that careers in sport extend further than just being an elite athlete. In fact, the majority of sports-focused students will find a job in various other roles making up the industry.
“This event provides a chance to explore their options,” Professor Cuskelly said.
“Whether that be in administrating, marketing, officiating, communications, engineering or something else.”
The event has been held on the Gold Coast for the past seven years, but 2017 marked the first time the Nathan campus had played host.
In front of an audience of Brisbane students, experts delved into career opportunities

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Four Griffith Business School students embarking on a career of helping others achieve their financial goals have received a boost of their own in the form of a Karl Morris Scholarship.
Jack Kaminski, Ryan Mitchell, Liam Roche and Denis Vukovac – all Bachelor of Commerce students majoring in financial planning – were presented with the award in August.
“I was pretty lost at the end of Year 12 and looking at doing a trade,” said second year student Jack Kaminski.
“Then I got offered a degree at Griffith University and decided to give it a go. I fell in love with one of the subjects: Money Banking Finance. The lecturer was really enthusiastic, I got an internship and then fell in love even more. Now, here I am!”
He said the scholarship helps to lift the financial burden of studying, but is also valuable in building connections with those who have forged successful careers

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Improving community service uptake and wellbeing for people with dementia and their carers during the early stages of the condition, is the focus of a new Griffith study.
This will be just one of the subjects discussed this September at the university during Dementia Awareness Month 2017, the theme of which is “You are not alone”.
“Awareness of community services and levels of uptake are generally low in older people and lowest amongst care recipients and carers living with dementia,” says Dr Gillian Stockwell-Smith from Griffith’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland.
People struggling to cope with dementia
“These are often people that are really struggling to cope with their dementia and are reluctant to access any form of support until the later stages of the condition.”
Dr Stockwell-Smith’s research team evaluated the effect of a targeted psychosocial program offered to 45 people in their own homes which has aimed to get a better understanding of these

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From an inaugural cohort of just 75 students in 1992, Griffith Law School today is recognised as one of Queensland’s most influential law schools while maintaining the University’s unwavering commitment to social justice.
Dean of Law Professor Pene Mathew said the School can look back with immense pride as it comes together to celebrate at the School’s 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner next week at Brisbane’s Victoria Park.
“We had a mere 5 staff members when we first opened the school in 1992 and our small student intake had access to just the one clinical course which was at the Caxton Community Legal Service.
“Today, our students are exposed to a wide range of clinical courses where they can work with clients and are supervised by lawyers in real world legal situations.”
 
Griffith Law School Dean, Professor Pene Mathew
Ranked in the world top 100 law schools in the latest QS Rankings, Griffith Law School is also recognised as

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Children aged 5-12 need 60 minutes of physical activity every day and statistics show Queensland children are not reaching recommended levels.
Griffith University researchers have uncovered the most effective strategies that can be used to encourage kids to walk to school.
Bo Pang, research fellow and PHD candidate for Social Marketing @ Griffith, said the benefits of active school travel (AST) are manifold.
“We know that active school travel is good for kids delivering health benefits. What we don’t think about is that active school travel offers so much more.  It is free, convenient and importantly it delivers social benefits for children including the friends travelled with and the opportunity to build independence,” he explained.
“On top of these benefits, studies show that active school travel improves students’ performance in classrooms. Students who walk, scoot or cycle to school are more prepared and are ready to learn.”
The number of children walking to school has

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Professor Caitlin Byrne has been appointed the new Director of Griffith Asia Institute.
An expert in policy and administration, political science and cultural studies, Professor Byrne joins Griffith University from Bond University where she was Assistant Professor of International Relations.
Her relationship with GAI has developed over the past decade, having worked with the Institute on various dialogues, engagements and research projects.
“What has struck me about GAI has been the breadth and depth of Asia-Pacific expertise that resides there, the strong connections and relationships that it holds across the region, and the fact that it represents Griffith University’s longstanding commitment to the Asia Pacific.
“For me, the opportunity to contribute to Australia’s ongoing engagement in the region – connecting with people and institutions through research, dialogue, sharing experiences and building collaborations – was the most appealing aspect of the new role.”
Professor Byrne is relishing the opportunity to meet and learn from GAI’s wider

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Griffith University continues to play a major role in shaping the medical profession of tomorrow with confirmation that it will train medical students at the newly-opened Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
The announcement was made today after the Federal Government formalised its commitment to provide 50 Commonwealth supported places for local medical students at the Hospital from 2019.
This provides a pathway for local residents to study on the Sunshine Coast, stay where they want and then practice locally in the community, providing vital GP and other medical services.
Griffith University Deputy Vice Chancellor (Engagement) Professor Martin Betts said the formalisation will allow Griffith to commit to a 25-year sustainable partnership with Queensland Health, University of the Sunshine Coast, and TAFE Queensland to train the next generation of doctors for the Sunshine Coast.
“The fact that the Sunshine Coast University Hospital is a medical teaching hospital also means that there is the opportunity for important health

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