QUT News & Events Wrap - August 29 edition

NEWS


 

QUT major creative industries expansion opens: QUT is firmly cementing its position as a premier creative industries teaching and learning university with the official opening of the $88 million expansion of its Creative Industries Precinct last week and yesterday's public CreateX festival.

   
 

An imbalance in nutrients threatens plant biodiversity: global experiment: An unnatural balance of nutrients threatens biodiversity in a survival of the fittest scenario, according to the results of a world-first global experiment published in the prestigious Nature journal.
 

Call to ban doctors from conscientious objection: QUT lecture: Doctors working in the public system should not be able to object to performing procedures such as abortions or prescribing contraception on the basis of their own values or religious beliefs, says bioethicist Professor Julian Savulescu, who is speaking on the topic of conscientious objection in medicine at QUT’s Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR) on August 30.

New funds to recharge battery research: A new battery that can be charged in minutes and run for a lot longer is being developed by QUT Professor Nunzio Motta (pictured) in collaboration with Professor Yeugang Zhang in a project funded by $250,000 grant from the Queensland-Chinese Academy of Sciences Collaborative Research Fund.

‘Communitainment’ is what young people want – QUT expert: A new global screen ecology led by YouTube stars once considered rank amateurs is dictating the future of entertainment and policy makers should take note according to QUT Distinguished Professor Stuart Cunningham.

Northside STEM challenge: Robots open students’ eyes to the future: High school students on Brisbane's northside have celebrated the end of an eight-week robot-building journey with a community showcase of their robots at Murrumba State Secondary College.


 

Visual arts new lease of life at QUT’s expanded Creative Industries precinct: The stunning new visual arts spaces in the $88 million expansion of QUT’s Creative Industries Precinct have made it the most sophisticated, technically advanced creative space in Australia and one of the best in the world, especially for visual arts students.

Brace yourself - VR is about to get real: Once a realm solely for computer-generated imagery, 360-degree virtual reality (VR) technology is about to get uncomfortably real, taking audience participation beyond anything ever experienced.


 

Post-punk guitarist spins tales of Brisbane’s 70s music scene: John Willsteed, the former member of The Go-Betweens who is now QUT's head of music, has shared colourful stories of Brisbane's 1970s music scene in a special performance at CreateX.

Mad tech mash makes a mind-blowing augmented reality adventure: Pokémon Go is already a goner – make way for room-sized augmented reality.

EVENTS

Now - Sept 1: QUT STEMFEST 2016 (free) @ Gardens Point
Now - Sept 4: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Costume Exhibition (pictured) @ Old Government House
Now - Nov 13: 'the churchie' National Emerging Art Prize Exhibition (free) @ QUT Art Museum
Aug 30: Public lecture: Conscientious Objection and Value Pluralism in Medicine (free) @ Gardens Point
Sept 2: The Museum of Colliding Dimensions (free) @ Creative Industries Precinct
Sept 4: Jazz Age Swing (free) @ Old Government House
Sept 7-8: QUT 2016 Ubercamp @ Twin Waters Resort
Sept 7-9: Personal Insolvency Conference 2016 @ Rydges South Bank
Sept 14: Always Patsy Cline @ Gardens Theatre
Sept 15: Mid Autumn Moon Festival (free) @ Gardens Point (Kidney Lawn)
Sept 15: Queensland high school external exam discussion forum @ QUT Kelvin Grove
Sept 16: Colonial Charity Ball @ Old Government House
Sept 22: Creative3 Forum @ Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
Sept 22: QUT Faculty of Law Comedy Debate @ Room Three Sixty
Sept 24: QUT Learning Potential Fund Riverfire Celebration @ Room Three Sixty
April 5-7: 2017 Times Higher Education (THE) Young Universities Summit @ Gardens Point
Now - June 18, 2017: William Robinson: Genesis (free) @ William Robinson Gallery

MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

- The Creative Industries Faculty’s CreateX festival drew lots of media attention, with the festival on Nine News and artistic director Professor Andy Arthurs profiled by the Courier-Mail, Brisbane Times and other Fairfax news sites. The Sunday Mail ran a piece about the history of the expanded Creative Industries Precinct (pictured) while CreateX got a pre-event plug in QWeekend and 612 ABC. Distinguished Professor Stuart Cunningham and Professor Greg Hearn spoke to 612 ABC Drive about the future of entertainment and what would be happening at CreateX.
- Mumbrella covered Prof Cunningham’s predictions on how creativity would save us from robots while ArtsHub ran his ‘communitainment’ research. Prof Cunningham and Dr Patrik Wikström also contributed a piece to The Conversation comparing the cost of Olympic gold to elite arts prizes, which was reprinted in ArtsHub.
- Mardi McNeil’s discovery of a vast reef behind the Great Barrier Reef was reported widely internationally including Nature World News, The Statesman, India Today, Daily Sun, Motherboard, Capital Bay and Business Standard.
- Australasian Science ran a story and link to Brett Lewis and Dr Luke Nothdurft’s time-lapse footage of coral bleaching.
- Associate Professor Gary Mortimer's views on reward cards were covered widely across the APN network. He also spoke with the Brisbane Times, SmartCompany and The New Daily about specialist retailers feeling the heat from Aldi.
- Associate Professor Linda Graham spoke to 4BC, The Courier-Mail, the Townsville Bulletin and Ten News regarding a proposal to test Year 1 students for literacy.
- Professor Chris Eves spoke to ABC TV, ABC online and Sunshine Coast Daily about the growing trend to build high-rise retirement complexes.
- Brisbane Times and Fairfax outlets featured Oxford-based Australian bioethicist Julian Savulescu who called for a ban on doctors raising conscientious objections prior to his QUT talk this week.
- Professor Marek Kowalkiewicz (pictured) told The Australian that many CEOs were asleep at the wheel in relation to the digital economy and the potential threat of digital start-ups.
- News.com.au sought Dr Beth Saggers’ expertise for a story about students with autism in mainstream schools.
- Dr Rebecca Byrne told the ABC it’s normal for toddlers to assert their displeasure at new foods.
- 612 ABC spoke with Associate Professor Michael Milford and Professor Jonathan Roberts in meet-the-scientist segments for National Science Week. Their Conversation piece about the winners and losers in the race for driverless cars was also republished by Australian Business.
- Prof Roberts also featured in The Courier-Mail regarding Brisbane becoming a future centre for robotics.
- Professor Kar-Tin Lee was interviewed by 7 News about the growing number of secondary school teachers who are teaching subjects they're not qualified in.
- Dr Cassandra Cross’s article on what happens when Australians try to report online fraud was published in Smart Company Australia. She was also interviewed by 2SER.
- Professor Marilyn Campbell spoke with ABC Gold Coast and Professor Kerry Carrington on Hot Tomato about students sending indecent photos.
- CIM Magazine featured a story about QUT’s installation of laser projectors at The Forum and The Cube.
- Lauren Solomon’s research empowering textile workers in Cambodia was reported by the Huffington Post.
- QUT Tall Poppy award winner Dr Makrina Totsika (pictured) and her research on building new therapies to kick bacterial superbugs ran on Health Medicine Network.
- StartUp Daily profiled the QUT CEA finalists pitching for a place at the Creative Business Cup in Denmark.
- Associate Professor Kirsten Vallmuur told the Courier-Mail not all baby products were subject to any kind of standard.
- The Courier Mail and the Geelong Advertiser featured stories on the AusPollen Partnership which will help asthma sufferers, quoting Associate Professor Janet Davies.
- CARRS-Q’s involvement in Road Safety Week got a mention in the media including the Bayside Star and its road safety facts featured across the Quest network.
- Business Insider republished Professor Paula McDonald and Dr Peter O’Connor’s Conversation article on employers watching your online profile. 612 ABC also spoke with her.

Release date: Monday, August 29, 2016
Media contact: media@qut.edu.au

QUT is part of a national collaborative group of five major Australian universities that form the ATN (Australian Technology Network of Universities).