News & Events - Past News
2005
Congratulations to Mark Griffin, the recipient of the 2005 Technical Staff Excellence Award. This award recognises and encourages exceptional and outstanding service or work performance by techical staff members of the Faculty of Engineering.
Supriya Pillai was awarded the inaugural Dean's Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Research on the 6th December 2005 in the Scientia. This award recognises outstanding research in engineering and applied science. Students were required to present a poster and deliver a five-oral presentation to judges representing five research themes. Supriya's work on 'Application of Surface Plasmons For Increased Light Emission And Absorption For Thin Film Silicon Cells' was selected as the best overall from about 70 applicants. Supriya's prize is $3000 towards travel to local or international conferences. Congratulations Supriya!
On the 24th November 2005, the Head of School, Dr Richard Corkish, attended Sydney Technical High School to present Edmund Tse with his prize as the winner of the 2005 Virtual World Solar Car Challenge. This competition was held by the Centre to correspond with the World Solar Challenge in September 2005. Edmund designed a virtual solar car called SRII, and won the competition by recording a time of 40 hours, 49 minutes and 45 seconds in a simulated race from Darwin to Adelaide. The principal of Sydney Technical High School, Ms Lynne Irvine was presented with the School's Prize for the challenge. Once again, congratulations Edmund.
The debate on climate change is over. As far as the Howard Government is concerned, Australians must accept that humans contribute to global warming and adapt their behaviour to save the planet.
Emerging from a bushwalk through the Tarkine forest in northwest Tasmania, Environment Minister Ian Campbell told The Australian that argument about the causes and impact of global warming had effectively ended.
"There is a very small handful of what we call sceptics who, in the face of seeing all of the evidence about carbon increases and all of the evidence about impacts on the climate, would still say that it's only natural variability that is causing it. On global warming, I have spent an enormous amount of my time getting to understand the problem and getting to understand the solutions, and I think the Australian Government owes it to the public to tell it like it is - it is a very serious threat to Australia." The Hon. Ian Campbell, Minister for the Environment.
Read more in The Australian's article Debate over, it's time to save the planet by Matt Price
The Times Higher Education Supplement has ranked the University of New South Wales sixteenth (16) in the world, making it the leading Australian Technical University.
Further information available at the Times Higher Education Supplement website.
In conjunction with the 2005 World Solar Car Challenge, from 9am 1st September 2005 to 11.59pm 2nd October 2005 our School held the 2005 Virtual World Solar Car Challenge for high school students across Australia. This event was won by Edmund from Sydney Technical High School with his car SRII in a time of 40hours, 49 minutes, and 45 seconds. The runner-up of the event was Sebastian from Normanhurst Boys High with Batmobil which completed the race in 40 hours, 52 minutes, and 58 seconds. Congratulations to these two winners and thankyou to everyone who participated in the race, we hope you enjoyed the game.
For more information and to play please visit pv.unsw.edu.au/links/vwsc/
Professor Green, of the ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, and Dr Conibeer, of the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, have won a prestigious Stanford University Global Climate and Energy Project grant estimated at US$2.37million.
Further details available at the Faculty of Engineering news story.
A new challenge for school students has been announced by the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering with the opening of a competition for the fastest school in the School's Virtual World Solar Car Challenge.
For more information and to play please visit pv.unsw.edu.au/links/vwsc/
The Faculty of Engineering at the University of New South Wales has introduced a new entry scheme that looks beyond exam results.
Multiple Criteria Entry (MCE) involves prospective students attending an interview to assess their suitability for engineering studies.
Download the press release for more information.
Brett Hallam has a few ideas about how he can make farming around Bairnsdale more sustainable and he plans to share them this week with students at his former school, Bairnsdale Secondary College.
Brett, who is doing a double-degree in Solar Energy and Science at the University of New South Wales, plans to research and design solar energy systems such as remote power supplies for farms when he graduates from university.
Continue reading about Brett Hallam and the Faculty of Engineering's Rural Scholarship Program.
The UNSW Council, the highest decision making body of the University, approved on 25th July 2005 the creation of the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering. The new School will become the tenth Engineering school at UNSW.
Imagine this: a modern city office building that produces zero greenhouse gas emissions. Imagine further that this building has no connection to the mains water supply or sewerage system and produces its own electricity, powered by solar panels on the roof...
Download the July edition of Uniken to read more on page 10 (752kB).
This annual event provides a unique opportunity to promote the achievements of all aspects of engineering endeavour. It allows professionals to demonstrate engineering achievements through otherwise inaccessible site visits, various speaker/audience opportunities, forums, fundraising initiatives, and social outings.
If you would like to find out more about Engineering you might like to attent events runs as part of Engineering Week 2005 from 13th to 21st of August 2005. A site visit to the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering is planned for Monday 15th August at 2pm as part of the scheduled events for Sydney.
Read more about Engineering Week at www.engineeringweek.org.au
UNSW students have won four out of the eight Australian fellowships offered this year under the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program.
They join a group of 100 outstanding students from around the world to be awarded the prestigious fellowships, which recognise both academic performance and community contribution.
Continue reading UNSW article...
May 2005 saw the installation and commissioning of a 42-kilowatt (peak power) grid-connected photovoltaic system on the north-facing roof of the Quadrangle building.
The project showcases UNSW technology in the array of buried contact solar cells, made under license to UNSW.
Continue reading the UNSW Energy Unit's article...
Online Course - Photovoltaics Devices and Applications
Enrolments for the Online Course offered by the School, Photovoltaic Devices and Applications, are now open.
Course Details
| Course Duration | 12 Weeks |
| Start of Course | Monday July 25th, 2005 |
| Finish of Course | Monday October 17th, 2005 |
| Last Day to Register | Monday 11th July, 2005 |
| Non-refund Cutoff | Monday 1st August, 2005 |
Continue reading about the online course...
UNSW Quad Construction of a 40kWp Grid Connected Photovoltaic System
Work began this week on a 40 kW photovoltaic power station on the roof of the UNSW Quad Building. The project will showcase UNSW technology in the array of buried contact solar cells, made under license to UNSW.
BP Solar to expand production at Sydney
BP Solar will invest A$8 million in an expansion of its Sydney solar cell and module factory. The facility can presently make in each year enough cells to generate 40 MW under standard conditions and the expansion will take it to 50 MW.
For more information, see bpsolar.com.au
2005 Dean's Awards Presentation
The Dean of Engineering, Professor Brendon Parker, presented the Annual Dean's Awards for outstanding 2004 students in the Faculty at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts. Recipients from the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering were (L-R) Emily Mitchell (Stage 3), Phillip Hamer (Stage 2) and Adeline Sugianto (Stage 1).