CSIRO ICT chief scientist honoured

AUSTRALIA’S peak research body has named CSIRO ICT Centre chief scientist Dr Trevor Bird as a CSIRO Fellow, the first information and communications technology researcher to be given the honour.

Dr Bird was among seven scientists appointed as CSIRO Fellows by chief executive Dr Geoff Garrett at a ceremony at the CSIRO Discovery Centre in Canberra yesterday.

Dr Bird, who was presented with a CSIRO-produced titanium ring as a token of his “dedication and eminence”, was appointed for his contribution to reflector antennas, multiple beam antennas, and arrays.

Also appointed were Dr Greg Constable from CSIRO Plant Industry; Dr Ron Ekers and Dr Dick Manchester from the Australian Telescope National Facility; Dr Trevor McDougall and Dr Steve Rintoul from Martine and Atmospheric Research; and Dr david trim from Petroleum Resources.

The seven new Fellows join the three existing CSIRO Fellows – Dr Jim Peacock and Liz Dennis, both renowned plant scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry, and Dr Ezio Rizzardo from CSIRO Molecular & Health Technologies.

The Fellows will be closely involved in a number of CSIRO initiatives planned to enhance the organisation’s science and attract more young scientists.

Dr Bird is known internationally known for his work on antennas and arrays. In addition to his work as CSIRO ICT Centre chief scientist – where his role is to provide leadership in developing and nurturing professional skills in the fields of science and engineering – he is also an Adjunct Professor at Macquarie University.

He is also a Fellow at the IEEE, the Institution of Electrical Engineers, and Engineers Australia.

Dr Bird has led projects including the design of operational antenna systems on the Optus-B, Galaxy IV and Orion satellites. He led the design of earth stations for the Australian Department of Defence and Telstra.

He has also guided the development of CSIRO’s MultiBeam earth station antenna, and designed innovative multibeam feed arrays for the Parkes radio telescope, as well as radio telescopes at Jodrell Bank in the United Kingdom, and Arecibo in the United States.

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CSIRO in tech transfer link with China

AUSTRALIA’S peak research outfit, the CSIRO, has signed an technology transfer agreement with one of China’s largest IT companies to commercialise its wireless technology.

The CSIRO ICT Centre said its landmark deal with the China Electronic Technology Corporation for technology transfer in the areas of wireless antennas would be the first in a long-term partnership.

“With its booming economy and large consumer base, China is fast becoming a significant early adopter of new technologies,” CSIRO Wireless technologies director Dr Jay Guo said.

“This is just the first success in a long term partnership between the two parties.”

He said the CSIRO was confident that the deal would allow the opportunity for “a closer collaboration between China and Australia to extend research cooperation and develop markets for CSIRO’s research.”

The CSIRO is a recognised world leader in wireless technology.

Last December, Dr Guo’s team demonstrated a more than six gigabits per second point to point wireless connection with the highest efficiency achieved for such a system anywhere in the world.

At the time, Dr Guo said the breakthrough was just a first stage towards direct connections of up to 12 gigabits per second.

“The system is suitable for situations where a high speed link is needed but it is too expensive or logistically difficult to lay fibre, such as in congested urban environments, and across valleys and rivers,” he said.

“The system is also ideal for creating networks to meet short term needs such as emergencies and large events.”

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Research priorities outlined at Future Parc

TECHNOLOGY that can assist the environment – in particular water resources – will be a key theme when the nation’s flagship information technology research organisations outline research priorities at CeBIT’s Future Parc showcase.

The CSIRO ICT Centre is expected to use Future Parc to highlight its ongoing work in one of the hottest topics in Australian politics – the way it monitors Australia’s scarce water resources.

The organisation has made impressive progress in developing wireless sensor networks for use in collecting geospatial data.

CSIRO ICT will showcase the sensors used in its $9 million-a-year Water Resources Observation Network (WRON), which is being developed to help better management Australia’s water and to protect river systems.
“Spatial data and sensor technology have a wide range of applications, particularly in the environmental field,” CSIRO researcher Gavin Walker.

“This technology will improve our scientific understanding of Australia’s scarce water resources and will revolutionise the way scientists gather data.”

The organisation has developed the technology in close collaboration with the Open Geospatial Consortium, developing a set of improved OGC specifications to provide access to multiple sources of geospatial information to assist in decision making.

With a keen eye on commercialisation opportunities in recent years, the CSIRO has point to the water monitoring application as a technology with broad potential across the globe.

More generally though, CSIRO ICT the geospatial technology that backs WRON can be applied to a vast range of different applications.

Both CSIRO and National ICT Australia (NICTA) – the country’s other flagship tech researcher – are both expected to use future parc to introduce specific commercial initiatives.

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