CRCWMPC
SPECIAL
FEATURE
EDUCATION, TRAINING AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER J Nielsen Two objectives of the CRCWMPC are to 'capture the ou tcom es of research through co mmercialisati on and tec hnology transfe r for the be nefit of Australia' and 'provide education and train ing to practitio ners in the enviro nment management industry.' The CR CWMPC has develop ed inn ovati ve education, training and technology tran sfe r pro gram s to fu lfil these objectives .
Education and Training Th e C R C WMP C do es no t run fo rma l edu ca ti on programs fo r students becau se this would be seen as being in competitio n with m embe r u n ive rsities-the U niversities of N ew Sou th W ales, Q u ee nsland and W es te rn Sydney. H oweve r, it d oes provide scholarships for postgradu ate stude nts from member unive rsities to undertake relevant research . Stude nts fu nded by the CRCWMPC are currently undertaking research in all of th e CRC's program areas. T his includes improved and innovative treatment tech no logies for domes tic and industrial wastewaters; textile wastewater trea tment, recycling and resource recove ry; rem oval of arsenic from drinking water; improved sludge dewatering technologies ; a clea ner production management model; solid waste management; and mi crobial ri sk assessment. Much of this research is resulting in patents and awards. For exa mpl e, research undertaken o n a new species o f ni trifying organ ism in wastewater treatment has been recognised by the C RC Secretariat as the seventh most important di scovery made by all Cooperative R esearch C e ntres in Australia. Larger scholarships are provided than are available from governmen t and u niversity sources in recognition of the intellectual property w hi ch stude nts may ge nerate in their researc h . In addition , the C RCWMPC also provides fu nding to scholarship students for cons umables, fieldwork, small items of equipm ent, relocatio n expe n ses fo r study at other universities, production of theses and attendance at conferences, seminars and workshops. In addition to generous sc holarships,
th e C R C WM PC adds value to academic p os tgradu ate program s by providing to students: • t he possibility of study at other universities • in- hou se and exte rnal w o rksh ops and se mi nars fo r th eir professional development • industrial linkages • patenti ng and co mmercialisation o f in tellectual prope rty • acknowledge m e nt o f intellec tu al prope rty and payment if it is commercialised. These benefi ts arc now recognised as adding real valu e to postgrad uate programs and result in grad uates who have signifi cantl y in creased e mployability.
Technology Transfer The C R CWMPC undertakes several typ es of technology transfer ac tivities for th e benefit of th e environ mental management indu stries in Australia and overseas. The main activities include th e Internati onal Win ter Environme n tal Sc hool, the Y oung W ater Scientist o f the Year Award , various w orkshops, and confere nce sponsorship. The In ternational W inter Environme ntal Sch ool (IWES) i s a unique co ntinuing edu ca tion p rogram for e nvironmen tal professionals whi ch is jointly unde1written by the C RCWMPC and T he University of Queensland. ft is designed to keep professionals abreast of the latest environmental management technologies and trend s. The format o f th e School also e ncourages t he exchange of ideas and allows interaction be tween participants on professional and informal levels. The !WES is unique in Australia and ove rseas because of the quality and breadth of courses it offers. It is arguably th e largest and most successful continuing edu cation course for environmental professionals in Australia. O ne of the strengths of the program is the i nteraction within and betwee n disciplines. The School has been held annually most years since 1978 at the Gold Coast, Q ueensland. It bas progressively grown since 1978 from the two initial
courses to around 25 courses, depending on de m and. Cou rses are now o ffered in wastewater treatment and nu nagement, air pollutio n, solid waste man agem en t and environmental management and are taught by national and international experts. More th an 20 0 delegates at te nd the Sch o ol annually and con sistently rate it highly. The IWES program is being expanded i n Australia and wi ll also be o ffered ove rseas in respon se to th e increasing need fo r environmental edu ca tion programs. IWES is now being recogni sed as a uniqu e program overseas and interest is being expressed in offering IWES- type program s in the A sian region and the Middle Eas t. The CRCWMPC held the inaugural Y oung W ate r Scien tist o f the Year Award in 1998 to showcase the quality of students and research from a numbe r o f C RC s. T he judges , prominent prac titio ne rs in th e e nvironme ntal managem ent ind us try, no ted that all prese ntati o ns 'dem onst rated hig h quality research , excellent prese ntation skill s and even m ore impo rtantly , a keen understanding of the relevance o f th eir researc h to indu stry and t h e community.' Th e winner of this pres tigiou s award received $2,000. During th e last year several se minars h ave bee n held in the Phi lippines, Thailand, Vietnam , Singapore, M alaysia and C hina. T he C RCWMPC regularly p rovi des sponsorship to co n fe re nces. R ece nt conferences which have been sponsored include th e 3rd Specialist Conferen ce on B iological Nutrien t R emova l from Wastewaters (BNR3), 2nd Asia-Pacific Confere nce o n Sustainable Energy and Environme ntal T ec hnology, UNEP Inte rnational R egional Conference on Environmental T echnologies i n W as tewa ter Management, the 1998 Enviro nme n tal Engineeri ng R esearch Eve nt and th e Ko rea- Aust ralia 2nd Clean Energy Workshop.
Author Dr Jeppe Nielsen is Education, Trai ning and T echn ology T ran sfer Manager w ith the CRCWMPC.
WATER JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 1999
37