The Fulbrighter AUSTRALIA
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The newsletter of the Australian–American Fulbright Commission VOLUME 24 | NUMBER 3 | OCT 2011 promoting educational and cultural exchange between Australia and the United States. the fulbrighter AUSTRALIA photo: the Australian Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard MP with Dr Tangerine Holt, Executive Director, Fulbright Commission, Ms Lyndell Wilson, Manager Scholarships and Strategic Engagement, Natalie Collins, Program Officer and the Fulbright U.S. Scholars. Photo: Auspic, David Foote Fulbright U.S. Scholars meet in Canberra Meeting the Prime Minister of Australia, The Enrichment Program covered many the Hon. Julia Gillard; taking morning tea important aspects of living in Australia, with the U.S. Ambassador and Mrs Bleich; including visa information, Embassy and the Enrichment Dinner; and a tour of the Commission support and the Alumni inside Canberra Glassworks were highlights Association. of this year’s Enrichment Program for The proceedings commenced with Executive Director’s update 02 Fulbright U.S. Scholars. an introduction at the hotel followed Fulbright Alumni Scholars 02 Sixteen 2010 and 2011 Fulbright U.S. by morning tea at the Ambassador’s Fulbright Alumnus Ambassador to Scholars came together and met with residence at the U.S. Embassy, where Australia 03 Fulbright Commission staff, Alumni the Scholars met U.S. Ambassador and other contacts at the Enrichment Jeffrey and Mrs Bleich. Postcard from Baltimore 04 Program, which ran at the Brassey Hotel Managing water use in the in Canberra from 24-26 August. Continued page 3 energy sector 04 My name is Ross… 05 Philippa and the King 05 Story to come Scholar arrivals and departures since August 2011 06 2011 Senior Specialists 06 Fulbright remembers 06 2011 Fulbright Symposium 07 Public Lectures 07 2012 Fulbright Symposium 07 Membership Form 08 the fulbrighter | VOLUME 24 | NUMBER 3 | OCT 2011 ED’s update Still to come This year’s Alumni Scholarship winners Mr Matthew Hoffman, a recent graduate Fulbright Alumni are Australian Mr Gar-Wing Truong, who in Mechanical Engineering from the Scholars also won the Fulbright Postgraduate Georgia Institute of Technology in the Scholarship in Technology and United States, arrived in Australia at the Communications sponsored by Telstra, end of October. The Fulbright Postgraduate Alumni (WG and American Mr Matthew Hoffman. Through his Fulbright Matthew is working Walker) Scholarship and the U.S. Alumni Mr Truong is a PhD candidate at the with thesSchool of Mechanical and Postgraduate Scholarship are supported University of Western Australia (UWA). He Manufacturing Engineering at UNSW on a through donations from Fulbright Alumni, will depart in January 2012 for his Fulbright project that aims to improve the efficiency and are awarded to the highest-ranked at the National Institute of Standards and of a new concept for roof-mounted solar postgraduate applicants out of the Technology (NIST) in Maryland. energy production. Australian and U.S. groups respectively. Gar-Wing will use his scholarship to Working with D. Gary Rosengarten in the further his PhD research in measuring the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing physical properties of gases using a new Engineering, Matthew will focus on optical analysis technique based on laser optimzsing an experimental system’s spectroscopy with Dr Joseph Hodges at thermal performance. NIST. He intends to extend the technique so “Although simple to install, the high cost that it can also measure the temperature of of photovoltaic (PV) cells is exacerbated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere with by low solar-to-electric conversion high precision. efficiencies,” Matthew said. “Accurate gas pressure and abundance can “Concentrating solar thermal power is a already be determined using apparatus more efficient means of converting solar available at NIST, whilst high precision radiation to useful energy but has thus temperature measurement techniques have far been limited to utility-scale power been developed at UWA,” Gar-Wing said. generation.” “My FulbrightpPostgraduatesScholarship “My Fulbright project will address these presents an opportunity to enhance both issues by developing a technology that experiments and provide me with an combines the benefits of photovoltaic and invaluable learning experience. This work concentrating solar thermal components is of global significance as it might prove in a form that could be adopted building useful in validating or refining climate by building.” change models.” 2 Continued from page 1 Fulbright U.S. Scholars meet in Canberra A visit to Question Time followed later that day and the Scholars had a behind-the- scenes tour of Parliament House, during which they met the Prime Minister who congratulated them and welcomed them to Australia. On the evening of August 25 the Enrichment Dinner was held at a Canberra restaurant, the Boat House by the Lake. The Scholars were introduced to representatives from the Australian and U.S. Governments and the Australian Opposition, Sponsors, the Australian Fulbright Alumni Association, the Fulbright Commission Board, and universities. Dinner attendees included: Senator the Hon. Don Farrell, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, Australian Labor Party and his wife Mrs Nimfa Farrell; Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich, United States of America and his wife Mrs Rebecca Bleich; and Senator Cory Bernardi, Senator for South Australia, Australian Liberal Party representing the Opposition. Six members of the Fulbright Commission Board attended, including Professor Steven Schwartz, the Board Chair, who was the MC for the event. Fulbright U.S. Scholar Ms Krysten Keches delighted the dinner guests with a harp performance, playing Claude Debussy’s First Arabesque. Mr Lee Pearson gave a very witty and entertaining speech, responding on behalf of the Fulbright U.S. Scholars. On the final morning of the program the group went to the Canberra Glassworks for a tour with Ms Ann Jakle, Executive Ambassador Andisha currently is the Director, Canberra Glassworks. They also Fulbright Alumnus youngest Ambassador in the Afghan took part in a glass tile making activity Foreign Service. He is married and organised by U.S. Fulbright Scholar Ambassador to has one child. Matthew Perez, who is studying glass casting at the ANU School of Art. Australia Canberra based Fulbright Scholar, Matthew Perez said of the program: The new Ambassador for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to Australia, “I cannot express how much this opportunity His Excellency Mr Nasir Ahmad Andisha, has meant to me. The Enrichment Program took up his appointment in Australia demonstrated to me the full scope of what in August. Fulbright is about; somehow, for some reason, the stars aligned and brought Ambassador Andisha, who is a career together some of the most interesting, diplomat, was most recently Director dynamic, learned individuals, from diverse General of America and Australia Affairs backgrounds, and plopped them into my in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, lap…I could probably not find more common Afghanistan. He undertook a Fulbright ground from such an unlike bunch of Scholarship from 2007-2009 at the individuals if I tried…I really feel a part of George H.W. Bush School of Government something special, and the Enrichment and Public Services, Texas, USA. He is Program brought me that!” also a graduate of Texas A&M University. 3 the fulbrighter | VOLUME 2124 | NUMBER 23 | JUNEOCT 2011 2008 Current Scholar stories Postcard from Baltimore Benjamin Cheah, 2011 Fulbright NSW Scholar In July I began my fellowship in the Department of Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I am working with Ciprian Crainiceanu, a biostatistician specialising in ‘high- dimensional datasets’ such as the many ‘photographs’ captured during an MRI scan. My time spent in Baltimore has mainly involved learning and applying these techniques to high-dimensional data I I love these benches (pictured) scattered throughout Baltimore. It’s not because of their bold and perceptibly ironic message, collected from people suffering from motor but because this sentiment really resonates with my impression of this city. Criminal activity and poverty are endemic in neuron disease (MND; Lou Gehrig’s disease Baltimore. However, this city is also filled with thousands of talented individuals dedicated to improving the wellbeing of or ALS in the United States). Baltimoreans, as well as humanity. Indeed, my host school’s tagline is ‘Saving lives, millions at a time’. It is this optimism and enthusiasm that I choose to embrace during my stay in this East Coast city. I enjoy working in an environment that fosters a style of thinking different to that which typically occurs in the MND research I have also met many Australian and non- playing against other hospital teams. Lastly, community. There have also been many Australian Fulbright Scholars, including one I am also training intensely for the Baltimore opportunities to network with experts in my department! I am also enjoying the half-marathon coming up in mid-October. within and outside my field of work. I have daily intercultural exchange that is integral attended the International Congress for to my studies and social life. Neuroinformatics in Boston, which was Newsflash: Ben Cheah has just essentially a crash course in research I am currently volunteering at the Charm been awarded a Gregory Schwartz strategies not familiar to most MND City Clinic, a student-run service that Enrichment Grant, sponsored by