|
|
A new super computing partnership will enable Monash academics to use high-performance computer (HPC) equipment for their research.
The alliance, called the Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing (VPAC), was launched last week by Victorian Minister for State and Regional Development Mr John Brumby.
VPAC is a consortium comprising Monash University, RMIT, La Trobe University, Swinburne University, the University of Melbourne and the University of Ballarat.
It aims to improve the effectiveness and competitiveness of Victorian universities, research institutes and industry by providing and supporting advanced computing facilities and technologies.
School of Computer Science and Software Engineering head Professor David Abramson said Monash would contribute more than $1 million a year for three years to the alliance.
He said the partnership would make HPC facilities and staff available to all parties in the consortium and could benefit most Monash faculties.
"HPC basically refers to very fast computers that can solve very complex problems, and it's hard to imagine a faculty at Monash that could not take advantage of HPC," he said.
Obvious applications ranged from stress analysis and fluid flow (Faculty of Engineering), pollution modelling and chemistry (Faculty of Science), gene sequencing and advanced imaging (Faculty of Medicine), and drug design (Victorian College of Pharmacy).
However, HPC could also be used for computer-generated movies and art (Faculty of Art and Design) or running large economic models (Faculty of Business and Economics).
As a VPAC partner, Monash will be linked to the central HPC facility at RMIT and have access to other HPC sites around Australia.
Professor Abramson said key VPAC activities would include developing an internationally recognised Centre of HPC Expertise and an HPC Education Centre.
"Through the Expertise program, we want to target our existing research strengths. For example, someone from Mechanical Engineering at Monash could deliberately target a project to use HPC in their existing research area," he said.
"The education program focuses on building courseware for undergraduates and postgraduates through collaboration with industry and research institutes, and also on producing training materials."
Monash deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Development) Professor Peter Darvall said the VPAC launch was a major achievement for all partners in the consortium.
RMIT's Department of Computer Science head Professor Bill Appelbe has been appointed the chief executive officer of VPAC.
A half-day seminar will be held from 10 am to 12.30 pm on Thursday 28 September in lecture theatre E7, building 72, Clayton, for academics and postgraduates interested in using high-performance machines for their research.
To register for the seminar or more information about possible applications of HPC, see www.csse.monash.edu.au/~davida/HPC@Monash/
The
Governor of Victoria, Sir James Gobbo, is to be the patron of Monash University
in Prato.
Sir James, who was born in Melbourne of Italian parents, said he was honoured by the invitation to become patron of the Prato centre.
"The centre is an exciting project which promises to provide many benefits to both Monash University and Prato, and indeed to both Australia and Italy," he said.
He said Prato was "a very interesting and vital town, of considerable cultural and industrial significance".
"I look forward to visiting the centre and to renewing my links with Prato, which I visited several times when I was in Florence on a student vacation."
Centre director Professor Bill Kent said Sir James was approached because he was the most prominent Italo-Australian in Victoria and a founding father of Australia's multiculturalism.
"His patronage gives Monash in Prato the highest profile in governmental and Italo-Australian circles."
The new director of Monash's Berwick and Clayton campuses, Mr Bob Burnet, is looking forward to the challenge of overseeing two very different campuses.
Under the new support services strategy, the role of campus directors will be strengthened as each campus develops a distinctive identity within the greater Monash.
"My appointment as director of the Berwick and Clayton campuses provides me with the opportunity, in conjunction with the associated communities, to shape the future of a relatively young campus and to consolidate the position of an established campus," he said.
His common goals for the two campuses include strengthening the university's relationships with the relevant external communities and promoting the social and cultural cohesion of campus life.
Mr Burnet took over the role of campus director at Berwick from Mr John White, who is campus director of the Caulfield and Peninsula campuses. Mr White became Berwick's interim director when former director Professor John Anderson accepted the appointment as head of Monash South Africa.
At Clayton, he takes over from Professor Peter Darvall, who has been campus director as well as deputy vice-chancellor for the past two years.
Mr Burnet took up his new appointment on 1 September after spending six months as interim director of the Gippsland campus.
Finding inspiration by chanceLike so many artists before him, Italian painter and Monash artist-in-residence Mr Maurizio Bottarelli has found inspiration in Australia's desert environment. His exhibition, The Resources of Chance, was opened recently by Monash University in Prato director Professor Bill Kent. About 300 people came to the launch of the exhibition, which will run at the Faculty Gallery at Caulfield campus until 6 October. The name of the exhibition was inspired by the artist's discovery that the Northern Territory's red landscapes reflected the strong rust themes of his previous work. Mr Bottarelli said he had been "very excited" when he saw the rusty, red hues of the landscape around Alice Springs, Uluru and the Olgas. "In particular, the rocks of the Olgas had very dark contrasts among them; some were black, while others were very red," he said. But he said his works were not mere representations of the landscape. "I don't make copies of the landscape; I am not a traditional painter. I prefer to think about the subject for two or three days until it's in my memory. "Then I like to paint what the landscape meant to me and my mood in relation to the landscape." The Resources of Chance exhibition includes 25 small canvases (60 cm x 60 cm) and 12 large works (2 m x 1.5 m). For the paintings, he used a wide variety of media, such as paint, vinegar and nails, to scratch out parts of the canvas. Mr Bottarelli intends to produce further works based on his Australian experience when he returns to Italy. |
A new high-dependency laboratory for the School of Nursing at Peninsula campus was recently opened.
The state-of-the-art laboratory includes a resuscitation mannequin which can be used for ECG interpretation practice programs and record student performance for immediate feedback.
Scenarios of emergency situations can be programmed into the mannequin, allowing students to test their reactions in an environment close to real life.
Advanced resuscitation resources, including a defibrillator, airway management, monitoring capabilities and intravenous equipment, are also part of the new laboratory.
The laboratory has been designed as a multi-function room for students undertaking the emergency course and the new undergraduate high-dependency program (to start in 2001), as well as local industry groups.
Supporting academics in MalaysiaMonash recently strengthened its commitment to supporting academic staff at the Malaysia campus, with the appointment of Dr Yong Wee Ooi as the first CHED associate. CHED associates currently operate in all faculties at the Victorian campuses and provide a link between academics and educational developers. They also identify the need for academic development and support programs at the local level. As part of the recent changes in the reporting lines of some support services, the educational development function in CHED will now be integrated with some of the functions of the Centre for Learning and Teaching Support (CeLTS). According to CHED's Associate Professor David Murphy, the role performed by associates will continue to be important, and the new combined centre will further the university's commitment to providing first-hand support to academic staff. Over the past year, CHED staff have made several visits to Malaysia to conduct workshops on teaching and provide support for staff undertaking the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. |
The Monash Chamber Music Ensemble will embark on a two-week tour of Singapore and Malaysia on 24 September.
The eight-member ensemble will perform at the Monash Malaysia campus in Kuala Lumpur, the Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang and the Australian High Commission in Singapore.
The ensemble, from the School of Music - Conservatorium, comprises staff members Peter Handsworth (clarinet), Fintan Murphy (violin, viola) and Tamara Smolyar (keyboard), and students Anna Rogachevsky (violin), Daniel Levit (violin), Chris Raduly (cello), Kayla Davis (clarinet) and Jonathan Bradley (keyboard).
Concert programs will include works by Mozart, Chopin, Weber, Stravinsky and Gershwin.
The trip will also give staff a chance to promote music studies at Monash to budding Malaysian and Singaporean musicians.
The Monash Library is now listing new books written or edited by Monash staff on its website at www.lib.monash.edu.au/publications/MonashAuthors/
In an arrangement with Amazon.com, these titles will be offered for sale to visitors to the site, with the library receiving a share of the profits.
The library aims to keep an up-to-date archival collection of all books published by Monash staff. Those staff who have recently published or are soon to publish a book are requested to notify the library, so it can obtain copies and promote sales via the website.
The library's listing of Monash authors is also linked to the Monash University Bookshop.
The Department of Civil Engineering will host Implast 2000, the 7th International Symposium on Structural Failure and Plasticity, at the Hotel Sofitel from 4 to 6 October.
The conference aims to build on the existing knowledge base about crashworthiness, blast loading and accident research.
Conference committee chair and Department of Civil Engineering senior lecturer Associate Professor Raphael Grzebieta will speak at the conference.
At the conference, Civil Engineering foundation professor Noel Murray, a world expert on thin-walled structures, will receive an award from the Institution of Engineers and a tribute from deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Development) Professor Peter Darvall.
For more information, contact extn 51342.
 |
Contact
|
Return to
|
| Copyright © Monash University - All rights reserved - Disclaimer |
Maintained by webmaster@adm
|
|
