By DAVID MYTONAt heart Michelle Simmons is a builder and a maker. Her raw materials differ from those of more traditional trades and crafts. They are not bricks or wood, metals or glass. They are the fundamental building blocks of nature itself – atoms.The UNSW professor has always loved...
By DAVID MYTONWisdom, to paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, comes from taking responsibility for our futures. By that yardstick, Hugh Bradlow is wise indeed.For Bradlow, the future is not something to be passively accepted. It is to be measured, analysed, strategised, constructively considered, and prepared for...
By DAVID MYTONTanya Monro is something of a regular at the Rob Roy Hotel, a popular watering hole in Adelaide’s CBD. But she’s not there for the grog. Rather, she can be found talking with her customary passion, answering questions about subjects such as string...
By DAVID MYTON People with a background in science could be far better prepared to run a business than those who study management, according to Dr Larry Marshall, Chief Executive of CSIRO, Australia's national science agency. In an article to coincide with National Science Week, which has...
By DAVID MYTON A lone rower sculls across the placid surface of Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin, the passage of his craft marked by the ripples and eddies stirred by the vessel and the rhythmic lapping of the oars. Emeritus Professor Barry Ninham AO is taking his...
By DAVID MYTON And now for something completely different - a blog about Tweets and Twitter. Over the past 28 days I have published 114 Tweets on @HE_CG. My aim is to reflect the variety of thought, opinion and research relevant to anyone interested in education,...
By DAVID MYTON The Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda has copped its share of flak during its lifetime (viz: “whimsical cash-splash for inner-city hipsters”) but there it still is, chugging along, funnelling not a little of its $1.1 billion in the direction of highered. One of...
The light bulb is commonly used as an illustration to accompany articles about innovation and science (see above). It is a universally recognised symbol of discovery – the a-ah! moment when the researcher/inventor finally finds the big breakthrough or cracks a hitherto unsolvable problem. A light...
An amazing event happened this week that simply could not have been conceived of in any practical sense in previous eras. It took place, along no doubt with many other splendid things, big and small, amid the business-as-usual tragedy and turmoil that haunts our planet....