University engagement with industry

Greetings from the Australian National University were the College of Engineering & Computer Science is having an Industry Engagement Day. The idea is to working out how to apply the research done by universities and places like NICTA, to industry. I have some background in this having been involved in formal discipline bodies to change IT research and informa discussions leading to the the creation of NICTA. More recenelty I have helped teaching innovation a ANU.

The first speaker was Professor Mandy Thomas, PVC Research. She pointed out that the Australian Government released an innovation policy "Powering Ideas: an innovation agenda for the 21st century" (12 May 2009) and rearranged portfolios to place research with industry. ANU is looking at ways to link with industry. Support is provided to researchers to seek out industry partners for ARC Linkage Grants. Professor Thomas invited suggestions on how to improve this program.

My suggestion was be to provide training for researches on how to innovate. ANU's engineering students run an excellent Innvoation ACT program each year, to teach how to take an idea to business. This is now an ACT wide program involving other universities and all disciplines. The presentations are recorded and I suggested it would not be difficult to turn this into a formal course.As an e-learning course this could be avialible to all ANU postgraduate students, and students at partner unviersites worldwide.

From the Innovation Report:

... Australia’s recent innovation performance has been uneven, and we have failed to keep pace with the rest of the world. In the last eight years, Australia has slipped from fifth to eighteenth in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index. Our multi-factor productivity grew 1.4 per cent a year on average between 1982–83 and 1995–96. Growth has averaged only 0.9 per cent a year since then, which is no better than we achieved in the 1960s. Since 2003–04, our productivity has actually declined.

... The Australian Government has adopted seven National Innovation Priorities to focus the production, diffusion and application of new knowledge. All of these priorities are equally important. They address the country’s long-term weakness in business innovation, and in collaboration between researchers and industry. The National Innovation Priorities complement Australia’s National Research Priorities, which help focus public-sector research.

Priority 1: Public research funding supports high-quality research that addresses national challenges and opens up new opportunities.

Priority 2: Australia has a strong base of skilled researchers to support the national research effort in both the public and private sectors.

Priority 3: The innovation system fosters industries of the future, securing value from the commercialisation of Australian research and development.

Priority 4: More effective dissemination of new technologies, processes, and ideas increases innovation across the economy, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Priority 5: The innovation system encourages a culture of collaboration within the research sector and between researchers and industry.

Priority 6: Australian researchers and businesses are involved in more international collaborations on research and development.

Priority 7: The public and community sectors work with others in the innovation system to improve policy development and service delivery.

... the Australian Government will ...

Capacity

• Progressively increase the number of research groups performing at world-class levels, as measured by international performance benchmarks.

• Use mission-based funding compacts and other funding mechanisms to promote collaboration by encouraging universities to organise themselves into research hubs and spokes, and to pursue opportunities to undertake industry-driven research more vigorously.

• Progressively address the gap in funding for indirect research costs — starting by augmenting the Research Infrastructure Block Grants Scheme with a new Sustainable Research Excellence in Universities Initiative.

• Help smaller and regional universities develop their research capacity by teaming up with other institutions — supported by a new Collaborative Research Networks Scheme.

• Increase the capacity of public research organisations, especially to tackle complex problems, participate in domestic and international collaborations, and undertake multidisciplinary research.

• Continue to invest in research infrastructure to support collaboration and give Australian researchers access to the latest technology, guided by the Strategic Roadmap for Australian Research Infrastructure (2008) — building on $580 million for university research and teaching infrastructure in the first round of the Education Investment Fund, $321 million for research infrastructure in the second round, and $901 million for projects identified through the roadmap and funded under the Super Science Initiative; the third round of the Education Investment Fund will be conducted in 2009–10 to maintain the momentum.

Skills

• Develop a research workforce strategy to address expected shortfalls in the supply of research-qualified people.

• Increase the stipend for Australian Postgraduate Awards — with an increase of more than 10 per cent announced in the 2009–10 Budget, lifting the stipend to $22,500 in 2010.

• Significantly increase the number of students completing higher degrees by research over the next decade — building on the Government’s ambition to lift the proportion of 25–34-year olds with a bachelor’s degree and its new incentives to get undergraduates studying maths and science (both of which will enlarge the pool of students qualified to undertake research degrees), as well as its action to double the number of Australian Postgraduate Awards in the 2008–09 Budget.

• Create viable career paths for Australian researchers — building on the Government’s measures to support research trainees (more Australian Postgraduate Awards with higher stipends), early-career researchers (Super Science Fellowships), mid career researchers (Future Fellowships), and senior researchers (Australian Laureate Fellowships).

Accountability

• Introduce mission-based funding compacts that allow universities to determine their own research and collaboration agendas in line with national priorities.

• Implement Excellence in Research for Australia to measure the quality of university research and guide the allocation of resources.

• Require universities to provide more meaningful data on research costs through activity-based reporting, and to meet specific performance targets to be developed in consultation with the sector.

Business innovation

... the Australian Government will ...

• Aim to increase the proportion of businesses engaging in innovation by 25 per cent over the next decade — building on initiatives including Enterprise Connect, Clean Business Australia, and the new $4.5 billion Clean Energy Initiative.

• Aim to increase the number of businesses investing in R&D over time — fuelled by the introduction of a new R&D Tax Credit, which will double the tax incentive for small-business R&D (restoring it to pre-1996 levels), and lift the base tax incentive for R&D by larger firms.

• Support innovative responses to climate change — including through Clean Business Australia, the Green Car Innovation Fund, the Clean Energy Initiative, the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, and the Climate Change Action Fund.

• Improve innovation skills and workplace capabilities, including management and leadership skills — building on Enterprise Connect and the Education Revolution.

• Support the efforts of Australian firms to get their ideas to market — through initiatives including Climate Ready, the Green Car Innovation Fund, and the new Commonwealth Commercialisation Institute.

• Work with the private sector to increase the supply of venture capital — building on the Government’s measures to maintain stability and liquidity in the Australian financial system during the global financial crisis, and on the new Innovation Investment Follow-on Fund.

• Maintain a continuous dialogue with industry about how we can maximise business innovation — including through Enterprise Connect, Industry Innovation Councils, and working groups like that established for pharmaceuticals.

Public sector innovation

... the Australian Government will ...

• Take advice from the Australian Public Service Management Advisory Committee and the Australian National Audit Office on how the public sector can implement the recommendations of the Review of the National Innovation System.

• Use public procurement to drive research, innovation and technology development by Australian firms — building on the new Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines released in December 2008.

• Take steps to develop a more coordinated approach to Commonwealth information management, innovation, and engagement involving the Australian Government Information Management Office and other federal agencies.

• Consider options for reforming the Australian patent system to increase innovation, investment and trade; and supporting intellectual property education for researchers and business.

• Improve the management and regulation of biotechnology and nanotechnology to maximise community confidence and community benefits from the use of new technology — starting with a new National Enabling Technologies Strategy.

Collaboration

... the Australian Government will ...

• Aim to double the level of collaboration between Australian businesses, universities, and publicly-funded research agencies over the next decade — building on initiatives including mission-based funding compacts for universities, Enterprise Connect (including its Researchers in Business Program), Industry Innovation Councils, the new Joint Research Engagement Scheme, and the new Royal Institution of Australia.

• Increase international collaboration in research by Australian universities — building on actions to open important Australian Research Council awards and fellowships to international applicants, and increase multilateral engagement (for example, in the Square Kilometre Array radio-telescope project).

• Renew the Cooperative Research Centres Program along the lines proposed in Collaborating to a Purpose — building on the new program guidelines released in 2008, which reinstate public good as a funding criterion, encourage research in the humanities, arts and social sciences, and increase the program’s focus on the needs of end-users.

• Improve Enterprise Connect’s services to individual firms, anticipating that Enterprise Connect will continue to develop and may include regional clusters and networks uniting businesses, researchers and educational institutions.

• Promote proven models for linking public and not-for-profit researchers with industry and the wider Australian community — including the CSIRO’s National Research Flagships and the CSIRO ICT Centre.

Governance

... the Australia Government will ...

• Strengthen the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, especially its capacity to look over the horizon and identify emerging trends.

• Use the Commonwealth, State and Territory Advisory Council on Innovation to improve intergovernmental coordination, starting with the design and delivery of business programs.

• Give the interagency Coordination Committee for Science and Technology more responsibility and rename it the Coordination Committee on Innovation.

• Increase the use of metrics, analysis, and evaluation to inform policy development and decision-making.

The future

By 2020, the Australian Government wants a national innovation system in which:

• the Commonwealth clearly articulates national priorities and aspirations to make the best use of resources, drive change, and provide benchmarks against which to measure success;

• universities and research organisations attract the best minds to conduct world-class research, fuelling the innovation system with new knowledge and ideas;

• businesses of all sizes and in all sectors embrace innovation as the pathway to greater competitiveness, supported by government policies that minimise barriers and maximise opportunities for the commercialisation of new ideas and new technologies;

• governments and community organisations consciously seek to improve policy development and service delivery through innovation; and

• researchers, businesses and governments work collaboratively to secure value from commercial innovation and to address national and global challenges.

From: Executive Summary, Powering Ideas: an innovation agenda for the 21st century, 12 May 2009

Next speaker was Professor Chris Baker. He started by citing Stanford University's 2006 strategic plan, which while pointing out the unviersity's impressive role in creating new industries and educated captains of industry were working to improve firther. Professor Baker also used the example fo te Cambridge Computer Lab, where about one third of funding come from industry. The comparison with Cambridge is an interesting one. Some years ago on a visit to Cambridge, Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, Chair of the University IT Committee recommended the report "The Cambridge Phenomenon". I found a copy of the report in the ANU library and made a brief study of it:

Segal Quince & Partners (Segal 1985) looked at four policy issues:

• The role of small new technology based firms
• Links between industry and higher educational and research institutions
• The contributions and roles of the public and private sectors in stimulating technological change and economic development. What is the impact of the allocation of allocation of public research funds?
• The spatial distribution of high technology industry. Will there be a trend away from established industrial and urban areas to attractive rural areas?

Lessons of History

• There is a long history (100 years) of high technology companies in Cambridge, due to the University.
• The University is dominant in the city of Cambridge and is strong in scientific fields.
• The region was already growing before the latest hi-tech developments.
• Planning which limited large industrialisation may have helped small hi-tech firms.
• Problems of preservation v development remain.

... two kinds of company links:

• People forming new start-ups from existing companies, the University, or research laboratories
• Subsidiaries of existing companies in the area created, but operating essentially as independent companies

... ``nursery units' ... technology parks were:

• The park was developed in response to demand, not to encourage it,
• Private sector development was dominant,
• The buildings were not especially high technology in design or facilities.

Definition of the Phenomenon

• Large numbers of high technology companies around Cambridge for computer hardware, software scientific instruments, electronics and biotechnology
• Young, small, independent and indigenous companies
• Decades of high technology company start ups
• Research, design and development activities or small volume high value production
• Links between firms, the university and research organisations...

From: The Cambridge Phenomenon, Summary of The Report, From Net Traveller, Tom Worthington, 1999

Based on this I proposed "Building Arcadia: Emulating Cambridge's High Technology Success", some of which was incorporated in NICTA. Some of the lessons from Cambridge were not welcome in academia and in incorporated. As an example, one reason for the creation of so many start-up companies in Cambridge was the lack of tenure for most staff. Researchers who wanted to keep the Cambridge lifestyle had to go out and set up a compnay in order to earn a living.

Pault Stapleton, from NICTA was the next speaker on the NICTA commercialisation model. NITA has licencsing of technology to existing companies and spinouts (creating new companies). More recently NICTA has offered R&C services. NICTA has a commercialisation team to support the researchers.

NICTA's Investment Model

Grants Pre-Commercialisation

Up to AUD 50K Market Development Grant Up to AUD 100K Proof of Concept

• 
• 
• 
• 

Investments for Commercialisation

Up to AUD 250K NIPR Investment

• 
• 
• 

Up to further AUD 250K from NIPR

From: "NICTA's Investment Model", NICTA, 2008.

As an example Paul mentioned the Goanna Software Bug Detection tool , AutoMap map analysis, and the Performance Assessment for Service Architecture (ePASA) for ICT development.

Screen Australia and film industry

Greetings from the Screen Australia road show. A government review of support for the screen production industry, including the Producer Offset, is due out today. But at the same time Screen Australia is seeking input on the future of the film industry. CEO Ruth Harley is speaking at a road show around Australia and today is Canberra's turn. The meeting is at the CSIRO Discovery Theatre, with about 60 people present.

What strikes me is that Screen Australia talks about the feature film and TV industry. However, these are now dwarfed by the computer games industry. The Apple iPod has changed the music industry and the iPad may be about to do the same to the TV industry. However, the way Screen Australia works does not seem to have changed since cameras were hand cranked. They seem to be trying to help set up an obsolete analogue last century industry for Australia, rather than a digital one for the future.

Pressure points identified by Screen Australia:

1. Mid range features ($M10-30 ) lack domestic funding. This is an effect of the government offset, which helps both small and large features, but not mid-range.
   
2. Longer documentary series are doing well, but the Screen Australia process is complex for one off documentaries.
3. Liquidation of SPV has complex legislative issues. Providing a grant has tax issues.
4. SAC test is currently holistic and has no detailed points score type process which leaves producers uncertain as to what might rate well. Details of previous applications are secret due to tax law. "Reality" TV is uncertain as to if it qualifies as "documentary".
5. Low budget features may not be helped by lowering the limits on the current tax offsets as this requires a "theatrical release". Low budget films might use other distribution, such as online digital, which does not qualify as "theatrical".

At question time I asked if Screen Australia were addressing digital media. They responded they have initiatives in this area. However, I suggested they need to change their mindset and terminology. Digital distribution is seen as "alternative" by Screen Australia, and theatre distribution normal. I suggest this needed to be reversed. Young consumers see the iPhone as normal and going to a "cinema" as unusual.

Another attendee asked about support for the gaming industry and Screen Australia replied this was a matter of government policy and that representations should be made direct to the government. I got the impression that Screen Australia did not want to address the gaming industry without additional resources.

In my view, as the gaming industry is now larger than the film industry, at least half Screen Australia's resources and the government funding, should be devoted to it and digital media. Screen Australia appears to be stuck in last century technology and unable, or unwilling to change. The government should therefore abolish Screen Australia and set up a new digital entertainment body, which addresses digital media as a priority and also the legacy film industry as a secondary priority.

Invitation to the O'Connor Wetland Planting Day, 14 March 2010

The ACT Government has invited the community to help plant native plants at the Banksia St O'Connor Wetland in Canberra, 9am - 12 noon, Sunday 14 March 2010. There is another wetland in David Street (behind the shops) across the road from City Edge, where my Smart Apartment is.

*COMMUNITY PLANTING DAY*
Banksia St O'Connor Wetland
9am - 12
Sunday 14 March 2010

Bring sturdy shoes, hand tools, buckets and a wheelbarrow & a rake if
you have one.


*Edwina Robinson*
Urban Waterways Coordinator
Sustainability Programs
Department of Environment, Climate Change, Energy & Water
6207 5520/ 0466 153 641

Innovative Ideas Forum 2010 in Canberra

The National Library of Australia will host the Innovative Ideas Forum 2010, in Canberra, 16 April 2010. This excellent annual event is free, but you need to register.

The organisers encourage live blogging (tag: iif2010) and twittering (#iif2010) from the event, making for a lively discussion. Last year I took Mark Scott, Managing Director, ABC, to task for problems with the accessibility of the ABC mobile web site, grumbled about Marcus Gillezeau's "Scorched", and contemplated what Dr Anne Summers had to say about serious writing and the Internet.

Innovative Ideas Forum 2010: Program

Chair: Warwick Cathro, Assistant Director-General, Resource Sharing & Innovation, NLA
9.30am	Welcome: Jan Fullerton, Director-General, NLA
9.40am	Dr Genevieve Bell , Intel Fellow, Digital Home Group Director, User Experience Group, Intel Corporation, talking about technology and the ways people use it in their everyday lives
10.30am	Mark Pesce, FutureSt Consulting "Whatever Happened to the Book?"
11.15am	Morning Tea
11.45am	Brianna Laugher, President Wikimedia Australia, "Is Wikipedia a one-off? Is mass collaboration all it's cracked up to be?"
12.30pm	Kent Fitch, Programmer, IT Division, NLA " Resistance is futile: how libraries must serve society by embracing cloud culture, the end of the information age, and inevitable technological and social trends"
1.15	Lunch
Chair: Mark Corbould, Assistant Director-General, Information Technology, NLA
2.30pm	Dr Nicholas Gruen, CEO. Lateral Economics "Information and content: the new public good of the 21st Century"
3.15pm	Rob Manson, Managing Director, MOB, "Collections are Leaking into the Real World". A look at how mobile phones, iPhones, iPads and augmented reality are changing our use of collections and their place in the world.
4.00pm	Closing remarks: Jan Fullerton

Battery Backup Pump for the Smart Apartment

After flooding in the basement of the Smart Apartment I have suggested a battery backup pump be installed. This consists of a 12 volt electric pump, a battery, battery charger and some complicated plumbing. This pump would then come on automatically if the main pump does not.

Flooding in the smart apartment

While we have had only a drizzle of rain in my part of Canberra, the electric pumps in the basement of the "smart apartment" have failed and it is now ankle deep in water. Fortunately the Transact fibre optic node is mount a metre above the floor and is not in danger, unless there is heavy rain. I am going out not to buy a bilge pump.

Demolish Lecture Theatres to make Room for Students

It is time for Australian universities to demolish their obsolete lecture theatres to make room for modern teaching and student accommodation. In 2006 I suggested we celebrate Canberra's centenary by investigating the construction of low cost, high quality, environmentally efficient modular housing. The ACT Government did not take up this idea, but the Australian National University built a student block from shipping containers, modelled on the Keetwonen project in Amsterdam (as highlighted in my proposal). Other Australian universities are following this lead, but are still short of student accommodation. What campuses do have are old large obsolete lecture theatres, which I suggest be demolished to make room for modern education and accommodation facilities.

Old large lecture theatres are no use for modern educational techniques. These spaces are now mostly empty, as few students attend traditional lectures. New, smaller, computer equipped teaching spaces are needed. There is no efficient way to convert the old lecture theatre buildings to the new use. These buildings should be demolished and replaced with new ones. As well as new smaller teaching spaces, this space can be used for more student accommodation. The distinction between accommodation and teaching building can also be lessened, with more teaching done close to the accommodation (Oxbridge style).

New building can be designed to be easily re-purposed for teaching, administration, commercial space and accommodation. These buildings can be built using environmentally efficient modular techniques and rapidly constructed.

e-Learning needs better tools

The webinar on “Trends in Personal Learning” by Stephen Downes, at Canberra Institute of Technology today was disappointing. Stephen was billed as "a reliable forecaster of trends and events in online learning", citing his "prescient" 'Future of Online Learning' and other works. But the technology for the webinar did not work properly. This made anything he said about using such technology less credible: if a guru of the technology can't get it to work, then what hope is there for the rest of us?

There were difficulties with the sound quality for the first part of the talk. I was tempted to offer to help (as I have a CIT certificate in A/V production), but the staff fixed it after about ten minutes. However, there remained intermittent problems with the audio, video and slides.

As for the content, what we got was a rambling monologue. Stephen was not able to get effective and timely feedback on the presentation due to the technical problems. This confirmed my view that such video conference presentations are of little value when used as a substitute for live presentations. Either the technical facilities have to be of a very high quality, or the system and presentation format has to be adapted to allow for the inevitable problems. The technique I have used in the past is to pre-record the presentation and only use live links for the question and answer time. This reduces the need for a reliable high speed connection (it also forces the presenter to present a well crafted, succinct presentation).

As for the content of the presentation I liked the description of the iPad as personal and portable. Stephen addressed the issue of the lack of content creation tools by arguing that later versions and similar devices will add those tools. Essentially the iPad is not important as a device, but because as a way to popularise the idea of highly portable devices for taking notes and for learning. Ironically I was using a cheap netbook with a keyboard to take my notes (which works very well for education and costs half as much as the iPad).

Stephen argued that new tools will spark creativity to create new content. Unfortunately what he was showing in reality were poor quality Powerpoint slides. This largely lowered the credibility of the argument. If these new tools are so good, then why wasn't he using them?

Stephen then discussed the value of videoconferencing. Ironically in the middle of that the image cut out. Of the video events I attend, only about one in twenty works well. The rest were as this webinar was, with much of the time taken up trying to fix problems with audio, video and slides. Even when the technology is working, what is presented much of the time are poorly prepared rambling monologues. I do not believe that this is the future of education, or of human communication in general. It is disappointing that after so many years of claims for video-conferencing the technology has advanced so little.

I had not heard of by Stephen Downes before CIT invited me to this event and I did not learn much more about him or his ideas from it.

Some suggestions for ACS in 2010

The first meeting of the Canberra Branch of the Australian Computer Society for 2010 was devoted to hearing suggestions from the members. Here are some suggestions I made:

• Make web site mobile okay: Currently the ACS home page scores less than zero out of 100 on the W3C mobileOK Checker: "This page is not mobile-friendly!". I suggest aiming for a score of 80/100 on the mobile tests for the ACS web pages. This would be a way to curb the web designers enthusiasm for putting too much stuff on the pages. It would also make the ACS look trendy, by having a web site which works on iPhones and the like. Obviously the ACS should also fix the minor accessibility problems, as indicated by an automated TAW Test. Designing web pages which work on smart phones and which meet accessibility standards, so as to comply with Australian law, is not too difficult and I teach it to the ANU students. To be fair, other IT professional bodies do not rate much better. The ACM home page scores only 1/100 on the mobile tests and only slightly better than ACS on accessibility.
  
• Social networking for professionals: The ACS is using social networking for teaching online courses. This could be extended to all members, with online forums and activities. ACS should divert a significant amount of resources to this. At the national level I suggest diverting 75% of what is currently spent on publications, meetings and marketing to online interaction. There is little point in spending effort on meetings and bits of paper which few people attend or take notice of. The ACS could use a mix of the software which it already has installed for education (Mahara ) and external sites, particularly Linkedin.
• Support for meetings: Using the online tools discussed above, I suggest we should have an online component to all meetings. When there is a branch meeting, members should be invited to discuss the topic online, before, during and after. This can also allow for more fluid and more far reaching meetings. Last year I helped Senator develop her "Public Sphere" format for events. On a smaller scale the first Bar Camp Canberra is on at ANU this Saturday. This is a sort of make it up as you go along conference, using of online resources.
• Digital CVs: ACS education is providing "e-portfolios" for students, as do some other education providers. I suggest ACS provide certified e-portfolios for members. This would be a web page about the member's qualifications and experience, testified to by ACS. This could then be used when they apply for a job or course. The ACS is already checks and records the member's credentials.

Contemporary Art Exhibitions in Canberra

Free exhibitions of Glass, Painting, Print media, Drawing, Ceramics, Textilesl, Gold, Silversmithing and Furniture are being held at the ANU Gallery in Canberra, from 3 February to 26 March 2010. "NEOLOGY" showcases the work of the ANU School of Art.

School of Art Gallery Program

NEOLOGY│GRADUATE SEASON 2010 │ 3 February - 26 March

A series of exhibitions showcasing works produced by candidates for the PhD, Master of Philosophy, Master of Arts (Visual Arts), and the Graduate Diploma of Art.

SEASON ONE

Glenn Carter (MVA, Glass)
Diana Johnstone (Grad Dip, Painting)
Jill Loupekine (MAVA, Printmedia and Drawing)

EXHIBITION ends Friday 12 February
_____________________________________________

SEASON TWO

Craig Edwards (Grad Dip, Ceramics)
Keven Francis (Grad Dip, Ceramics)
Nicole Muniz (MAVA, Glass)
Arion Siu Man Lam (MDA, Textiles)

RECEPTION Wednesday 17 February at 6.00pm

EXHIBITION ends Friday 26 February
_____________________________________________

SEASON THREE

Dean Allison (MAVA Glass)
Cinnamon Lee (MPhil, Gold and Silversmithing)
Kenichi Sato (MDA, Furniture)

RECEPTION Wednesday 3 March at 6.00pm

EXHIBITION ends Friday 12 March
_____________________________________________

SEASON FOUR

Nicola Dickson (PhD, Painting)
Suzanne Moss (PhD, Painting)

RECEPTION Wednesday 17 March at 6.00pm

EXHIBITION ends Friday 26 March

Canberra Constructed Wetlands

The ACT Government is seeking community input into the design of wetlands at Dickson and Lyneham. Workshops are being held on 3 and 4 February 2010:

• Proposed Dickson and Lyneham Wetlands
  

• Flemington Road Ponds Project
  

• Media Release - Work Underway on Wetland Ponds

• Banksia Street Development Application

BarCamp Canberra 2010 on e-Gov 2.0

A BarCamp Canberra 2010 around the topic of e-Government and Web 2.0, will be Saturday, 6 February 2010 from 9:00 am in the famous Room N101 of the School of Computer Science, Australian National University. This a free event where anyone can turn up and offer to speak. I attended Bar Camp Canberra 2 last year and this year have volunteered to speak on:

e-Books for e-Learning

Tom Worthington shows how he used simple web pages and free open source software to create a university level e-learning course and accompanying e-book for the Amazon Kindle, Google Android, Apple iPhone, i-Slate and Netbooks.

Trends in Personal Learning Webinar

Canberra Institute of Technology are hosting a seminar on “Trends in Personal Learning” by Stephen Downes, 12 noon, 4 February 2010, in Room A108 on their South Side Campus, and online (RSVP: Penny Neuendorf).

Canberra Institute of Technology

The Gaggle invitation

Stephen Downes has long been a reliable forecaster of trends and events in online learning, making his mark in 1998 with the prescient 'Future of Online Learning' and in 2005 with 'e-Learning 2.0'. More recently, he authored the volume, 'The Future of Online Learning: Ten Years On'. Downes has also informed the development of online learning technologies with
papers such as 'Learning Objects', 'Resource Profiles' and
'Learning Networks and Connective Knowledge'.

Thursday 4th February 12.00pm - 1.00pm
Where - At your desk or come and join us in Room A108 for light refreshments.

Log in at: http://161.50.50.74/launcher.cgi?room=FlexEdRoom
and enter the relevant details. If you have not used Wimba before, please run the Wimba Wizard prior to the event.

• Online learning environments
• Networked learning aproaches
• Implications for the future of learning

• Are you an e-learning practitioner?
• Educational Designer? Or Developer?
• Based in the ACT and surrounding region?

Today’s presentation: “Trends in Personal Learning” by Stephen Downes

Educators have been earning experience in social networks and other Web 2.0 technologies for several years now, and as e-learning 2.0 becomes more familiar it is beginning to transform into a more robust and personalized form. Newer and more powerful collaboration tools, such as Google Wave, are appearing. Individualized applications, such as the Personal Learning Environment, are appearing. Tomorrow`s
e-learning student can look forward to having a range of powerful tools at his or her fingertips. This presentation outlines trends in the development of these tools, and
describes what an education system that uses them will look like.

RSVP: Penny Neuendorf
E penny.neuendorf(a)cit.act.edu.au T 6207 4041

Rail and broadband in place of second Sydney airport

A very high speed train from Sydney, through Canberra, to Melbourne would replace about 75% of flights on one of the worlds busiest air corridors. This is not a new or unexplored idea, from a high speed rail line proposed in 1981, to a "East Coast Very High Speed Train Scoping Study" in 2008. But the mass production of very high speed trains in Asia, combined with advances in broadband and environmental pressures, makes it more feasible.

The Federal and New South Wales Governments are to conduct a joint study of options for additional airport capacity for Sydney. This follows a "National Aviation Policy White Paper" (16 December 2009). It should be noted that the paper is not just talking about an airport and mentions rail transport systems. I suggest that the study should look at a train in place of a second Sydney airport. A very high speed train from Sydney, through Canberra, to Melbourne would replace about 75% of flights on one of the worlds busiest air corridors. Provision of wireless broadband on the train would allow the passengers to do useful work and be entertained. In addition to passengers, a high speed train can also carry high high value freight, such as priority mail, currently sent by air.

Sydney airport already has two underground stations in place and a direct underground line to the Sydney CBD. Work would be needed on the rail corridor out of Sydney, but this is relatively minor, with work already underway for a rail freight corridor.

Very fast trains are now a proven technology, with China and Korea mass producing adaptions of proven European designs.

The cost of the line from Sydney to Melbourne could be covered by the sale of land in new greenfield environmentally efficient towns in inland Australia. These towns would also reduce the growth pressure on Sydney (politically the new towns would be attractive to the current NSW and Federal governments as it would shift the voting trends to the ALP in previously conservative rural electorates). Integration of the National Broadband Network in the new towns would allow rapid provision of services and jobs to the new towns and reduce the cost of infrastructure.

New towns could be built along the VFT route incorporating high environmental and planning standards. Buildings could be designed to use the minimum of water and power, then assembled from mass produced modules. Homes could be designed to accommodate the elderly. Broadband could bring jobs, education and services to the towns quickly. Both government and commercial telecommuting offices could be provided allowing office works to telecommute most days and perhaps have to catch the train only once every few weeks. Each town could have a university campus, as well as a hospital with advanced medical facilities, linked by broadband to specalists.

The pressure on Sydney airport will also be reduced in coming years due to changes in the aircraft used and environmental pressures. The introduction of larger aircraft, specifically the Airbus A380, will reduce the number of international aircraft movements needed. Added to this the Boeing 787 (and Airbus A350) will allow more direct international flights from other Australian airports, reducing the need for Sydney to act as a hub. Added to this, the need for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will increase pressure on airlines to have aircraft loaded to capacity to increase fuel efficiency. The requirement for passengers to pay the environmental cost of their travel will also dampen demand for flights.

Sydney is Australia’s biggest and busiest city and Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport is Australia’s busiest airport, with over 32 million passengers in 2008–09. To ensure the future aviation needs of Sydney meet the expectations of the community and are fully integrated into long-term growth strategies, the Government, in partnership with the New South Wales Government, will work together to plan for the Sydney region’s future airport infrastructure, including how it links to Sydney’s growth centres and its road and rail transport systems. This is the first time that the two governments are aligning their planning and investment strategies. ...

From: National Aviation Policy White Paper, Department of Infrastructure,Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, 16 December 2009

Chancellor Gareth Evans

Today the Australian National University appointed Gareth Evans to replace Ambassador Kim Beazley as Chancellor. Mr Evans was Foreign Minister and President of the International Crisis Group. In a fictional future history "Canberra 2020: World Information Capital" I made Mr. Evans the UN Secretary General, which caused him some amusement.

GARETH EVANS TO BE NEW ANU CHANCELLOR

Former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans has been appointed Chancellor of The Australian National University by the University Council today.

Mr Evans will succeed Professor Kim Beazley, who has been named Australian Ambassador to the United States.

Mr Evans, President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group, Co-Chair of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament and Honorary Professorial Fellow at Melbourne University, will take up the appointment early in the New Year.  Mr Evans has had a long career in public life, including 21 years in the Australian Parliament and 13 years as a Cabinet Minister.

A Rhodes Scholar, Mr Evans was academic lawyer and barrister prior to entering parliament.

ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Chubb said Mr Evans was an eminent Australia who would make an important contribution to the University.

"Gareth Evans has made an outstanding contribution to Australian life and international affairs over his long career. His national and international standing makes him a perfect fit for ANU," Professor Chubb said.

"A hallmark of Gareth's career has been the academic rigour and energy he has brought to each role. His output of books and articles over the course of his career is substantial and admirably so given his roles and responsibilities in his professional life.  His links with, and contributions to, universities and like institutions around the world means he has special empathy with the academic enterprise in many of its forms. "

"Kim Beazley has been an excellent Chancellor for ANU. He has had a life-long association with the University and will always be welcomed warmly back to the campus. The loss for ANU, however, is tempered by the gain for the nation. He brings enormous gravitas and a deep understanding of the United States to the role of Ambassador," Professor Chubb said.

Professor Kim Beazley said. "Gareth Evans is a great Australian of international renown. His advocacy and advice will be invaluable within the University and formidable in public forums in Australia and globally.

A full CV of Mr Evans can be found at
http://www.gevans.org/biography.html

For further information or to arrange interview: Jane O'Dwyer 02 6125 5001 or 0412 555 895

Cities for People

Greetings from the The Shine Dome in Canberra where Professor Jan Gehl is presenting the 2009 Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture. Professor Gehl conducted the "Sydney CBD Public Life and Public Spaces Survey" and is the author of "Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space". He started with Robert Mann New York traffic engineer, he proposed the "lomax" (Lower Manhattan Express way). In response Jan Jacobs rallied the neighbourhood and went on to write "The Death and Life of Great American Cities". He then went on to talk about after graduation and learning how people use architecture and what was wrong with architectural education. He strives to go beyond two dimensional rendering which architects use to worry about the dynamics of human use of architecture.

Professor Gehl was critical of Le Corbusier's 1924 planning, where the citizens may only get some greenery on a wall to look at. He also criticised the CIAM Athens Charter 1933 which aimed to separate people and transport. From the 1950s as cars became affordable, the problem became to find more space for cars and planners had become traffic engineers. The result was tall buildings with all the spaces between them taken by cars. The dignity of people was lost in the process with the car taking precedent. Cities are valuable because they allow people to meet each other face to face and cars degrade this.

In the eighties old urbanism was rediscovered with housing tower blocks demolished.

The 1998 Second Athens Charter of City Planning reversed the previous charter arguing that housing and transport should be unified. Many architects were already practising this, but some not. In 2009 in Dubai, Frank Gehry is still proposing 1920s Le Corbusier style impersonal buildings. Professor Gehl described this as "Bird Shit" architecture, dropped from the sky to pollute the urban fabric. He showed the example of Kenzo Tange's, Singapore waterfront high rise.

Professor Gehl used Copenhagen 1962 to 2009 as an example of what to do. In 1962 the main street was pedestrianised, with great success. Progressively 18 public squares were turned from parking lots into people squares. He charted the change in reasons for visiting the city, which changed from "Necessity" in 1900, "Transport" 1950, Shopping 1960, to Enjoyment in 2000. An illustration of this is the growth of the cappuccino culture. Even in Cophenagan's climate, people are happy to be outside all but two months of the year.

In the 1960's Copenhagen considered phasing out bicycles, but this was reversed by the first oil crisis. Copenhagen developed a network of bicycle paths separated from car traffic. They also have priority traffic lights for bicycles and green lanes. The lights are timed to allow a continual flow of bicycles, with cars having the wait. This is the reverse of the trend in Beijing, where bicycles are being squeezed off the roads.

In Copenhagen new roads are being designed with only one lane in each direction for cars, plus bicycle lanes, but in such a way they have a higher car capacity than a four lane road. Taxis and trains are also equipped to carry bicycles.

Professor Gehl contrasted Brisbane and Copenhagen bicycle use. Bicycle use in Brisbane was much lower, with ,most cyclists being young males treating it as an "extreme sport", whereas Copenhagen has almost as many women as men at a much more relaxed pace. However, the Copenhagen cyclists looked hardy when cycling through snow storms.

Discussing Australia, Professor Gehl detailed Melbourne's success at attracting people to the city. He saw a similar positive future for Sydney, with trams and bicycle lanes planned.

Canberra planning forum agenda

Greetings from Parliament House Canberra, where the National Capital Authority (NCA) is holding a public forum on planning in Canberra. THere are about three hundred people present. Sitting next to me is Senator Kate Lundy, chair of the parliamentary committee which delivered recommendations on planning Canberra: "The Way Forward – Inquiry into the role of the National Capital" and who talked on "Creating a New Nation’s Capital – the international origins of the Griffin Canberra Plan" recently (she is Tweeting with the tag "#NCAforum"). One controversial topic on the agenda is the new ASIO Building.

The event did not start well with the MC giving an overly long legal statement explaining that the event would be videoed. This was followed by a brief and interesting introduction by Professor Atkin. This was a brief pause in the tedium, as then several went through the details of NCA legislation and the legalese of the NCA National Capital Plan. have been to several planning meetings and this was not one of the best. NCA might have expert planners, but they are not good communicators. The planners of the Sydney City Council, Leichardt Council and the ACT Government do a much better job. It may because local government agencies have to do it more often. As the talks progressed over 30 minutes the style got a little more relaxed and interesting. The high point for me was a comment on the volunteers who look after the Old Parliament House rose garden "with love".

The NCA claims to be going to release an interactive online forum to allow comments from the citizens. This will be good when done. However, the organisation will need to do some work in online communication styles.

The question I registered was: "What changes have been made to the national capital planning process to take into account the development of the Internet". With is I had in mind both the effect on the physical structure of the city and the way consultations on planning are done. AGIMO have some guidelines for online policy consultation and NCA might consider using them. However, I am sitting in the public forum wondering if I am going to get an answer. If I was a concerned citizen who could not get to the forum, I wonder if they would have any chance of an answer.

One issue which came up was the Immigration Bridge, which is opposed by the Friends of the Albert Hall. The NCA response was that there is no current plan for the bridge and any would have to be consistent with Canberra plans.

Also Professor Jan Gehl will present the 2009 Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture in Canberra, 30 November 2009.

Public Spaces For Public Life

Professor Jan Gehl will present the 2009 Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture in Canberra, 30 November 2009. Professor Gehl is conducted the "Sydney CBD Public Life and Public Spaces Survey" and is the author of "Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space".

Free Public Lecture: 2009 Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture (30 November 2009)

2009 November 23

tags: Institute of Architects, Public Lecture, Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture

by NCCC

The Australian Institute of Architects invites the general public to the 2009 Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture to be delivered by world renowned architect Professor Jan Gehl. Gehl’s vision is to create better cities, aspiring to create cities that are lively, healthy, diverse, sustainable and safe – and thereby improve people’s quality of life.

2009 Walter Burley Griffin Memorial Lecture – Presented by Jan Gehl

Time: 18:00
Date: Monday 30th November
Where: The Shine Dome, Gordon St, ANU, Acton

Bookings essential. Please RSVP to act@raia.com.au

Jan Gehl has worked with the Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne governments and has been engaged by the City of Sydney to develop a Public Spaces and Public Life survey for the Sydney CBD.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said Gehl’s study “will be a landmark urban design initiative for the City to help strike a balance between people, cars and the built form.”

Jan is an Architect MAA & FRIBA, Professor Emeritus of Urban Design at the School of Architecture in Copenhagen. For over 40 years his career has focused on improving the quality of urban life, especially for pedestrians, through his work as urban design adviser to Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, New York Washington, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and many more. His writings include the “Life Between Buildings” first published in 1971, a widely used handbook on the relationship between public spaces and the social life in cities, through to “New City Life”, published in 2006, and which responds to the challenges facing cities in the 21st century (source Gehl Architects).

National President of the Australian Institute of Architects, Melinda Dodson, will be the respondent to Jan Gehl’s lecture.

The 2009 WBMGL is presented by the ACT Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects with the generous support of the Royal Danish Embassy and GHD Australia.

The annual WBGML has been delivered in Canberra since 1961.Over that time it has been given by a number of distinguished individuals from many fields of expertise, including Gough Whitlam, Professor Manning Clarke and Romaldo Giurgola.

Canberra planning forum agenda

The National Capital Authority (NCA) will hold a public forum on planning in Canberra, at Parliament House Canberra, 6pm, 26 November 2009. One controversial topic on the agenda is the new ASIO Building.

I have lodged the question: "What changes have been made to the national capital planning process to take into account the development of the Internet". With is I had in mind both the effect on the physical structure of the city and the way consultations on planning are done.

With the availability of high speed broadband it should not be as necessary to concentrate people in one place, nor have them travel as much for meetings. As an example, NCA are videoing the Canberra meeting. Unfortunately they are not planning to distribute the video for several weeks, making it of little value for consultation purposes. Instead NCA could have streamed the event, allowing people who could not get to Canberra, or to Parliament House to take part.

Here is the agenda for the meeting:

National Capital Authority Public Forum 26 November 2009

Order of Proceedings

All times are approximate and will depend on the level of participant interest

Time Action
6.00 Dr Allan Hawke - Moderator:

• Welcome
• Format of the evening
• Indicative date for the 2010 Public Forum
• Introduction to the panel

Segment 1: Functions of the NCA
6.10 Chairman’s Overview
NCA presentation:

• Statutory Functions
• Budget & Staffing
• Designated Areas (map)
• National Land (map)

6.30 Open Forum
Questions and comments from the audience relating to the general functions of the NCA.
Topics already identified in early RSVPs include:

• Consultation
• Strategic Planning in the ACT
• Sustainability

Segment 2: Topic Spe cific Discuss ions
7.00 Topics already identified in early RSVPs include:

• The New Commonwealth Building Project (ASIO Building)
• Constitution Avenue
• Heritage Management
• Lake Burley Griffin
• Landscape of the National Capital
• Parking Management
• Planning
• Carillon
• Administration of Canberra Avenue
• Monash Drive
• World War I and II Memorials

8.00 If necessary - Short break for tea/coffee
8.10 If necessary - Resume Topic Specific Discussions

Canberra planning forum

The National Capital Authority (NCA) will hold a public forum on planning in Canberra, at Parliament House Canberra, 6pm, 26 November 2009. The agenda has not been finalised and input has been sought. I have lodged the question: "What changes have been made to the national capital planning process to take into account the development of the Internet". With is I had in mind both the effect on the physical structure of the city and the way consultations on planning are done.

On 26 November 2009 the NCA will hold a public forum to begin an open dialogue about planning in Canberra, and ensuring Canberra's 'place' as the national capital. The event will take place at Parliament House commencing at 6pm. An agenda will be issued closer to the date.

The finish time will be determined according to the level of interest, but the forum is anticipated to close between 9pm and 10pm. Tea and coffee will be available.

The forum will provide a framework for discussion between the NCA, the community and stakeholders on:

• the NCA and our role;
• recent projects and work of the NCA; and
• goals and plans for Canberra as the National Capital.

• 
  

Sources in Chicago and comparisons with today's Washington for the Griffin Plan of Canberra

Greetings from the annual general meeting of the., of the Canberra Chapter of the Walter Burley Griffin Society. Brett Odgers, retiring chair of the Chapter is talking on "Sources in Chicago and comparisons with today's Washington for the Griffin Plan of Canberra". He visited Chicago and Washington recently to search for sources of the Griffin's plan for the Australian National Capital.

The talk started with the Art Institute of Chicago Modern Wing, by Renzo Piano. The institute referrers back to the World's Columbian Exposition. The Midway Plaisance of the exposition was the inspiration for Anzac parade in Canberra, ending with what was to be an entertainment venue, but is now the location for the Australian War Memorial.

Emeritus Professor Jill Roe, biographer of Miles Franklin (who knew Marion Mahony Griffin) will present the Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture in mid March 2010.

Planning Washington and Canberra

Brett Odgers will talk on "Sources in Chicago and comparisons with today's Washington for the Griffin Plan of Canberra", at the National Archives of Australia, East Block, Canberra, 5:30pm, 12 November 2009.

Brett is the retiring chair of the Canberra Chapter of the Walter Burley Griffin Society. He visited Chicago and Washington recently to search for sources of the Griffin's plan for the Australian National Capital. The talk is preceded by the AGM of the society. All are welcome to attend.

Shipping container apartment building looks good

One of the studio units in the Australian National University Laurus Wing of Ursula Hall was open for inspection, so I went along to have a look. I was expecting something which looked like a stack of containers, but this instead is a modern, elegant and very solid apartment building.

The outside finish and balcony panels had not yet been applied to the building, so the framework of containers was apparent. The joins between the container are being covered to make them appear to be solid columns and beams. The ends of the containers are being filled with coloured glass panels. There is an open welded steel fire stair at one end of the building and a concrete service core at the other end. This sounds very utilisation, but looks much better in reality.

The apartment for inspection was on the ground floor. The first impression, like the building is of solidity: the door is double glazed frosted glass and appears very solid. Next to the door is the access panel to the riser for plumbing (a section has been cut out of the top and bottom of each container to provide easy access for the plumbing). Inside the front door is a small vestibule. There is then the bathroom on the left and a hallway. The bathroom is small but makes good use of the space with a reasonably sized shower. There is then a small kitchen on the left. The kitchen has a single small sink and a very small two plate stove-top in the bench. There is limited cupboard space but a a full size refrigerator. A better option might be to install a smaller bar fridge and put a microwave oven in the space freed up above this. The kitchen is more than adequate with good quality but robust finish.

Next to the kitchen is very small hanging space which might fit one coat and one pair of trousers. While students might not be expected to dress up for the office each day, this seems inadequate (there are coat hooks next to the front door as well). coat hanger is a generous student desk. Perhaps the desk could be smaller to make room for more clothes (with some sort of fold up extension on the desk). Students will be increasingly using online study materials, with less need of desktop space for books.

Next to the desk is a built in bed. The bed looks out on the balcony and with the coloured glass panel installed under the balcony railing will provide a view with privacy. There are large drawers built under the bed and open shelves above, providing most of the storage for the apartment. The wall shelves might have looked better with doors on them., but this would have made the space look smaller.

The bed is fixed and takes up a lot of floor space. It would be tempting to have some sort of folding or sofa bed, but in reality these tend to be left open in everyday use and the mechanisms tend to break. However, perhaps there could be a simple fold down panel to extend the student desk over the bed and some bolsters at the back to make the bed more comfortable to sit on.

A flat screen TV is mounted on an arm on the wall opposite the bed. This can be swung out so the TV can be seen from the bed, kitchen or balcony. This intrudes into the limited space between the bed and wall, making an already narrow space look narrower. I would have preferred the flat screen mounted at the desk, so it could be used as a computer screen with a laptop as well as a TV. However, this would then require lying the other way in bed to see the TV (not that watching TV in bed is a good idea anyway). There may be some other creative solutions to this, such as a small TV attached to the wall above the bed, or a LED/LCD projection unit on the ceiling projecting onto the wall or onto the blind over the window.

At the far end of the apartment is a small balcony. No doubt that these will soon become filled with bicycles and other items, as is common with student accommodation, but it looks a comfortable space to relax and will help shade the apartment from the afternoon sun. In other situations, the coloured glass panels on the balcony might be replaced with perforated metal panels. These would be more robust and could be shaped to allow precise control of the sunlight (admitting it in winter and blocking it in summer) and vision (providing a view for the occupants and privacy).

Quicksmart Homes have made the most of the limitations of the ISO standard forty foot shipping container modules. The apartments still look a little narrow, but livable and stylish. This should do much to dispel the idea that modular buildings are low status, temporary and flimsy constructions.

Social Networking System for Innovation in Canberra

Greetings from launch of the Innovation ACT Portal at "spacedock" (aka John Curtin School of Medical Research) the Australian National University in Canberra. This is a new social media enhanced web site designed to help students and staff at the ANU and University of Canberra to get together to turn their research into products and services. The new web site will be used in the Innovation ACT program which teaches innovation and then has a competitive process. The ACT Department of Business and Industry Development has funded a new web portal.

This year I talked to the Innovation ACT participants about "Innovating to lower costs and carbon emissions with ICT". Next year the Innovation ACT Portal will include a boot camp for new entrepreneurs and an "i-Prize" for addressing an important social issue.

"No matter what your achievements or future plans, chances are you will need to operate within the world of business. Whether you are planning to be the next high flying entrepreneur, an eminent scientist or one of the literati, you will need to attract funding, obtain industry support or get your own business running to disseminate your ideas.

InnovationACT will give you the skills you need to understand all aspects of business and commercialisation, as well as the chance to be awarded up to $20,000 for your business plan.

InnovationACT provides eight weeks of seminars and mentoring from industry leaders and business professionals. Each team will be guided through the process of writing a professional business plan and could be awarded up to $20 000 by our panel of judges.

Open to all staff and students at the Australian National University and the University of Canberra, with no costs and no strings attached. Come along to learn and mingle with industry professionals or put together a winning team and submit a business plan.

Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged and we provide team formation opportunities. ..."

From: InnovationACT, Innovation ACT Ltd., 2009.

GovHack: Mashup Australian Government Data on 30 October

GovHack is a free, intensive event at in Canberra on 30 to 31 October. This is sponsored by the Government 2.0 Taskforce and supported by CSIRO. Government agencies, locals, state, federal and international, might like to come forward with APIs and datasets to be used by the participants. Offer datasets and tools via the Wiki. University and industry researchers can contact Laurent Lefort at CSIRO. The event will explore some of the ideas for the use of government information discussed at Bar Camp Canberra.

Shipping container apartment open for inspection in Canberra

One of the studio units in the Australian National University's new shipping container apartment building is open for inspection by staff, students and members of the ANU community on weekdays between 12-1.30pm. It is at the corner of Dickson and Daley Roads, Acton. This will be known as the Laurus Wing of Ursula Hall and is made from ISO standard forty foot shipping container modules fitted out in China and stacked to form a building. The modules are from Quicksmart Homes

The building is in some ways a realisation of the concept of Le Corbusier, with his Unité d'Habitation. This was intended to be a modular steel frame building, with each apartment a slotted in module, but post-war material restrictions resulted in it being constructed on-site from concrete. With the provision of communal facilities in the building, the Laurus Wing also has some of the social aspects of the Unite d'habitation.