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Joint media release with the Prime Minister, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP, the Member for Corio, the Hon Richard Marles MP, and the Member for Corangamite, Mr. Darren Cheeseman MP

The Australian Government will invest $37 million to develop a world first Australian Future Fibres Research and Innovation Centre (AFFRIC) at Deakin University.

The project will support:

More than doubling of laboratory space from 1500m2 to 4000m2;
3 additional research groups;
220-270 additional researchers;
50 additional Australian and international research collaborations;
The co-location of 86 CSIRO researchers; and
120 onsite jobs during the construction period.

Swinburne’s Professor Chris Berndt has been nominated Vice President of a prestigious international professional body.

ASM International, a US-based society established in 1913 represents 36,000 members in the materials science field worldwide.

Berndt will take on the role of Vice President of the organisation for twelve months in October this year when his appointment is ratified at the 2010 Annual General Meeting.

Berndt is the Director of the Industrial Research Institute Swinburne (IRIS) and was an ASM trustee from 2005-2008.

“This nomination is a great honour for Professor Berndt,” said Professor John Beynon, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences at Swinburne. “This is only the second time in the history of ASM International that a non US-based member has been nominated for the position of Vice-President.”

According to ASM International’s constitution, after a one year term, the Vice President automatically becomes President of the organisation.

Berndt has more than 30 years experience in the materials engineering field, specialising in the area of thermal spray coatings.

“This honour is a shared one because of the strong support of many colleagues around the globe and especially that of Swinburne University," he said.

Berndt has undertaken several fellowships in the USA, including a two year stint at NASA-Lewis Research Centre, and was appointed professor at Stony Brook University in New York in 1995, where he remains an Adjunct Professor.

In early 2005, he returned to Australia as the founding Professor of Surface and Interface Engineering at James Cook University in Queensland. He was appointed the founding Professor of Surface Science and Interface Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology in late 2007 and became Director of IRIS in March 2008.

Berndt is a member of 13 professional societies in the materials, mechanical, manufacturing and biomedical fields. He was inducted into the Thermal Spray Hall of Fame in 2007.

ASM International is a society dedicated to serving the materials science and engineering profession. Through its worldwide network, ASM provides authoritative information and knowledge on materials and processes, from the structural to the nanoscale.

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OVER $27 MILLION TO HELP ATTRACT THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST

Attracting and retaining the best and brightest early-career researchers from within Australia and around the world is at the heart of the Rudd Government’s decision to fund 100 Super Science Fellowships.

Researchers are critical to Australia’s knowledge economy. Early-career researchers are well placed to take advantage of opportunities as they emerge. They are the entrepreneurs of the future.

More than $27.2 million will be spent over four years to help keep Australia at the forefront of global research and ensure it remains internationally competitive. Our aim is to support exceptional domestic and international researchers to establish and maintain careers in Australia, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr said today.

“Providing opportunities for our most promising early-career researchers to work in areas of importance to all Australians is critical, especially as we move through the global recession,” he said.

“These Super Science Fellowships will not only enable vital research in the areas of space and astronomy; marine and climate; and future industries, they will foster our brightest young minds to start or further their research careers in Australia.

“Twenty Australian institutions are being awarded fellowships. They will begin a process of competitive national and international recruitment to fill the positions.

“Some of the research programs involving Super Science Fellows will:
• help provide a better understanding of future changes to groundwater resources;
• revolutionise the field of nanophotonics for a variety of novel applications including defence and renewable energy; and
• enhance the prospects of Australian scientific and technical involvement in next-generation astronomical facilities such as the
Square Kilometre Array.”

Fifty Super Science Fellowships will begin in 2010 and 50 in 2011.

The scheme is administered by the Australian Research Council and is part of the Australian Government’s $1.1 billion Super Science Initiative, which is helping to build a stronger higher education and innovation system for the 21st century.

Information about the scheme and the research programs involving Super Science Fellows is available at www.arc.gov.au.

Media contacts: Aban Contractor, Minister's Office, 0457 989 842
Sheena Ireland, ARC, 0412 623 056

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OVER $27 MILLION TO HELP ATTRACT THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST