University Of New South Wales News

Robert Allan Ltd. is a consulting naval architectural firm, established in Vancouver, Canada in 1930. Mike Fitzpatrick has been a driving force in the company’s growth since joining the firm in 2003. As a key member of the initial employee ownership group, he was named president and CEO in 2015, responsible for corporate direction, business development, management of senior project managers, and project priorities, schedules and profitability. Fitzpatrick is a 1995 graduate of the University of New South Wales in Australia, with a Bachelor of Engineering in naval architecture.

The devastating explosion in Beirut should be a wake-up call for countries on the dangers of ammonium nitrate, which caused the blast, experts say.Lebanese authorities said 2,750 tonnes of the industrial chemical had been stored for six years at Beirut port without safety measures. That stockpile exploded on Tuesday, killing more than 150 people, injuring thousands and leaving about a quarter of a million people homeless.Commonly used in fertilizers and as an industrial explosive…

Sea levels will rise between 0.7 and 1.2 metres (27-47 inches) in the next two centuries even if governments end the fossil fuel era as promised under the Paris climate agreement, scientists said on Tuesday. Early action to cut greenhouse gas emissions would limit the long-term rise, driven by a thaw of ice from Greenland to Antarctica that will re-draw global coastlines, a German-led team wrote in the journal Nature Communications. Sea level rise is a threat to cities from Shanghai to London…

The Chief of the Defence Force Parade took on added significance today as the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) marked 30 years since the first trainee officers marched in. Traditionally, the first parade of the year acknowledges the achievements of the Midshipmen and Officer Cadets who have successfully completed their initial military training. Today's parade also provided an opportunity to reflect on ADFA's history. Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin identified a number of similarities between the original class and ADFA's newest cadets. "In 1986, Defence was preparing to deliver a White Paper and a $25 billion defence force development program was under consideration.

ARENA today congratulated researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) for being the first in the world to convert more than 40% of the sunlight hitting a solar system into electricity. The record efficiency was first achieved in outdoor tests in Sydney, before being independently confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at their outdoor test facility in the United States. ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said this is another world first for Australian solar researchers, demonstrating the value of investing in Australia’s renewable energy ingenuity. “The clever solution combines advanced triple junction cells with cheaper conventional silicon cells to boost power output,” Mr Frischknecht said.

The Australian Photovoltaic Institute is holding the inaugural Asia-Pacific Solar Research Conference at the University of New South Wales in Sydney from 8-10 December 2014. The conference aims to encourage and advance innovation and new developments in the solar sector. More than 200 presentations by Australia’s best and brightest and leading solar researchers from around the world will be on show. Solar research students will also have the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas at a networking event. The conference will provide a channel for information sharing in the Asia-Pacific region and strengthen the relationship between research and development activities and industry.

The Australian Government today announced $21.5 million funding for 12 cutting edge R&D projects that will keep Australia at the forefront of solar research. Parliamentary Secretary for Industry Bob Baldwin made the announcement at an Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) event held at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the projects from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the Australian National University (ANU), CSIRO and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) represented the vanguard of Australia’s solar ingenuity. “These are the top 12 projects from a very competitive round where 110 applications were received, peer-reviewed and ranked against one another,” Mr Frischknecht said.

Seventy four people spent Christmas aboard the Russian cruise ship 'MV Akademik Shokalskiy' beset by ice in a remote region off the coast of Antarctica. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is co-ordinating the search and rescue operation, and 3 ice-breaking vessels in the area are now en route, although all are at least two days sailing away. The ship is in the Australian Search and Rescue region, 100 nautical miles east of the French base Dumont D’Urville, having been caught in the ice while on a cruise to the site of an historic  Antarctic expedition.