Queensland Biotechnology startup, Vaxxas has formed a new partnership with Queensland Micro and Nanotechnology Centre (QMNC) at Griffith University to help boost nanotechnology commercialisation.
Vaxxas hold patents over one of the world most exciting biotechnology products, the Nanopatch™, which is a safer, more reliable and durable delivery system for vaccines than needles. QMNC is one of Queensland’s most advanced laboratories, previously focussing on new technologies in energy storage and distribution.
The agreement with Griffith sees a Vaxxas micro-manufacturing specialist employed full-time within the manufacturing laboratory at the Nathan campus, building precision-machined parts and equipment for Vaxxas.
The exchange of resources, rather than money, is not new within the industry, though at a University it usually involves research, rather than technical expertise.
The deal was brokered by the University’s commercialisation office, Griffith Enterprise and is part of a broader advanced manufacturing drive Griffith has been developing over the last five years.
Director of QMNC, Professor Nam-Trung
Category: Griffith University Feed
Stop orphanage volunteering and reduce child exploitation
Australia must do more to stop child trafficking in developing nations says Kate van Doore, leading international child rights lawyer and Griffith Law School academic.
Ms van Doore, who will give evidence at the Parliamentary Inquiry into Establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia in Melbourne next week, has been working to abolish orphanage tourism and funding which she says encourages child exploitation.
“Many Australians visit orphanages in developing countries like Cambodia where many children are not orphans at all. In fact it enables form of modern slavery where children are kept in poor conditions in orphanages to profit from well-meaning donors and volunteers,’’ she said.
Ms van Doore coined the term ‘paper orphaning’ as the active recruitment of children into orphanages or residential care institutions in developing nations for the purpose of ongoing exploitation through orphanage tourism and funding.
Orphanage tourism includes volunteering at, or visiting, orphanages in developing countries. This is an increasingly
Women’s Rugby Sevens evolution has arrived
The inaugural Aon Women’s University Sevens Series (Aon Uni 7s) was officially launched at Macquarie University in Sydney today (Thursday), hailing the evolution of Women’s Rugby Sevens in Australia with the five-week tournament to kick off on August 25.
Off the back of Australia’s gold medal success at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, women and young girls have been flocking to Rugby Sevens right across the country to join one of the fastest growing women’s sports worldwide.
FIND OUT MORE: Griffith announces squad for inaugural Series
Australian Rugby Union CEO Bill Pulver and members of Australia’s gold medal winning side, alongside the next generation of Aussie Sevens players launched the competition with their respective University teams in Sydney today.
The Australian Women’s Sevens squad has been distributed among the eight teams, alongside the next generation of rugby talent who are embracing the possibility of realising their Olympic dream.
A first for Australian sport
In an Australian sporting
Core human principles just as important at brand values
Bruce Highfield, the Executive General Manager of Human Resources and Safety at Olam International will join United Care Queensland’s Shannon Foley and the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing’s Dr Rebecca Loudoun for a special panel discussion on the importance of organisational values in the recruitment and management of employees.
Those in attendance will hear about a variety of topics including how values play into employee recruitment, how to maintain these values and how values may differ depending on the organisation.
“One of my most recent undertakings was to review the global recruitment process for Olam, so it’s quite uncanny that this discussion has come up,” Highfield said.
“We have some brand values, and I have put a proposal together to align our recruitment to our brand values. If you say your brand is this that and the other, it would make some sense to be aligning yourself with those brand values.”
As well as
Challenges facing tourism industry – and how to tackle them
Training opportunities and clear career paths are essential to improving productivity in the tourism sector.
Dr Andreas Chai, from Griffith Business School, contributed to the June 2017 CEDA report into the economic consequences of Australia’s productivity performance in the service sector.
He suggests that more can be done to boost labour productivity in tourism by improving the quality of training opportunities and the management of casual workforces.
“In the short term, a casual workforce is fine as it keeps costs down and helps business owners survive,” Dr Chai said.
“But in the longer run, it will create a skill shortage due to the digital revolution.
“There will be an increase in demand for works who have IT skills or programming skills, with companies like AirBnB and hotels already marketing themselves on big digital platforms.
“The industry will have to compete with this and it will drive up costs.”
Adaption is key
But Dr Chai said there was still
Double degree opens doors
An internship with the Brisbane Roar women’s soccer team was the perfect cap to Griffith University graduate Gabrielle Brown’s double degree.
The sports enthusiast and Bachelor of Business/Bachelor of Communications graduate undertook the Roar internship where she managed the team’s social media profile as part of her public relations major.
“It was a fantastic experience,” she says. “I went to a game each week, had a shirt, sat on the bench and really felt like I was an integral part of the team.”
Growing up in a rural area, Gabrielle was a keen horse rider and spent many years riding and competing in horse shows throughout Australia.
After she finished school, she spent 18 months working in a variety of jobs including hospitality and retail to help fund her her horse-riding passion. She then decided to study at university.
“I chose Griffith because even though it’s a large university it feels like
Building tech investment networks in China
A temporary alliance to complete a design and manufacturing contest has fostered a deeper partnership between Griffith University scientists and Chinese manufacturers that may see new businesses brought to Queensland.
Recently, GE Business Innovation Manager, Ty Ferretti, went to three Chinese cities with Professor Eddie Zhang to build up relationships with Chinese companies looking to invest in Griffith science and Australian industry.
The pair visited battery factories, sensor factories, energy grid manufacturers, electrolyte suppliers and renewable power system designers that are interested in bringing their business to Queensland.
One of these companies was Greenway corporation, who manufacture Lithium ion batteries as well as electric bicycles, scooters and electric vehicles. They are looking to establish links with Griffith scientists and have already visited the Griffith in March.
In Beijing, Ferretti met with executives from Insentek, a company who had originally partnered with Professor Chenrong Chen to submit an application to design soil and water monitoring
Griffith helps uncover archaeological past in Mithaka Country
Unravelling the past for the First People is key to a new partnership between Griffith University and the Mithaka People of South West Queensland.
Mithaka People are the Native Title owners of 33,800 square kilometres in the Channel Country of southwest Queensland, as well as the last claimants to a further 22,000 square kilometres west of Cooper’s Creek.
Today (July 24) the Mithaka People launched their Research Framework. This research framework will support Mithaka Traditional Owners and their research partners to:
establish trust between researchers and create a neutral platform for effective research;
implement best practice research using culturally sensitive guidelines and principles;
promote innovative research that traverses and benefits western and traditional knowledge;
create opportunities to develop, promote and engage with Aboriginal research.
The collaboration will allow leading scientists from Griffith’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE) to further their work with the Mithaka people in Channel Country.
By integrating non-Indigenous scientific approaches with Indigenous approaches
Improving the quality of life for amputees
A revolutionary technology in complex reconstructive and robotic surgery is offering amputees a significantly improved quality of life, providing them with far greater mobility and comfort.
The technique is called osseointegration and will be just one of the topics featured at the XXVI Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics 2017. Jointly hosted and sponsored by Griffith University, the event is being held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from 23-27 July.
Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis, a Sydney-based orthopaedic surgeon, will be discussing how osseointegration has put Australia at the leading edge of the technology, and how new work at Griffith on virtual-reality technology and 3D printing techniques can guide the way to more accurately undertake the more complex of these surgeries.
“Osseointegration takes away all the old discomfort and mobility issues seen with the traditional socket-mounted prostheses that patients used to have to endure,” says Associate Professor Al Muderis.
“Now we’re able to directly
Thousands enjoy Open Day 2017
Braving the winter chill, thousands of prospective students, their families and community members turned out for Griffith University’s Open Day 2017.
The annual event on Sunday at Griffith’s Nathan, South Bank and Gold Coast campuses showcased the hundreds of degrees Griffith has to offer across Health, Business, Education, Law, Humanities, Creative Arts, Music, Sciences and Engineering.
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Engagement) Professor Martin Betts said it was the first Open Day in the Remarkable era, and the experiences at all three campuses certainly lived up to the brand.
“We look forward to translating this after last year’s good numbers to a healthy recruitment round in 2018.”
Spectators were able to get up close and personal with drones in aerial displays and learn about the new Unmanned Aerial Vehicles major in the Bachelor of Engineering.
Track cyclist Kristina Clonan talks with NOVA host Ange Anderson.
Business student and track cyclist, Kristina Clonan was at the Griffith Sports College at