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Research priorities releasedAbout a year back CSIRO decided to get a firmer grip on its research destiny bytaking on the difficult and internally sensitive job ofassessing national researchpriorities, and, from that, deciding what its own role should be in responding tothem. Difficult, because it was uncharted territory, meaning an approach had tobe worked out virtually from scratch. Internally sensitive, because it is thenature of sets of priorities to set some goals below others, and the nature ofscientists to set their own on top. CoResearch officially releases the results of theExecutive Committee's deliberations, together with some funding consequences,in a centre-spread on pages 4 and 5. Pictured opposite are a couple of the luckyconscripts currently struggling to knock together a system that can turn thenewly adopted causes into effects within the Organisation.

-----------------------------

Former headMr Victor Burgmann, CBE, Chairman ofon 7 February in Sydney aft ongwife Lorna, and their four , Jon

Ml Burgmann was perhapsmost famous for his pioneeringwork in radar during the

I Second World War, bIremembered il IP..leadershiperiod whenactivities were SUb, to acomprehensive review by theBirch Commitlee of Inquiry.

Mr Burgmann becameChairman of CSIRO on March25, J977. Starf serving underhim at that time said that hisleadership and competence asan administrator quicklyearned their respect.

On his retirement inSeptember 1978 the thenPrime Minister of Australia Mr

Dr Bob Fr(lta, Director of tbe CSIRO Institute ot'lnformotionScience and Engineering, and now also Chair (d' a working groupset up to advise on implementation of the Organisation',\' newdecisiortJ on CSIRO's response to national poorines 'Nariollu/lv.we are only one (4thI' players, and often a minor one. Our re,lpulI'"has to be mode in terms (4 whether we can moke ({ meal1lnc~I,,1

contribution _'

Dr Mike Rickard, Chief af the CSIRO Division of Animal Healthand (l memher of the new priorities l>vorking Mroup (see cap/ioll

abOl'e): 'If you're very heavily dependent on external earnings, infilct, you have to I({{Rely be servil1/i the priorities of those industries

that arefill1ding you.'

338##1991

Physics, retircd in 1988 afterbeing Head of the High VoltageLaboratory at Lindfield forsixteen years. His Fellow gradewas awarded for 'contributionsto the field of high-voltageelectric power lransmission.'

Or James, a Senior PrincipalResearch Scientist in theRadiophysics Electromagneticand Optics Group, was givenhis Fellow grade for 'contribu­tions to geometrical theory ofdiffraction and mode-matchingtechniques for corrugated

waveguides and horns', .:.

of infiltration (how water soaksinto soil), the thermodynamicunity connecting watermovcment through soil andplants into the atmosphere, andthc effects of climate onirrigation and waleI' storage.

'These arc examples of sophis­ticated mathematical physicsproviding much needed insightinto vital practical problcrm,"Or Stocker said.

The title for the person leadingtile Centre 1'01' EnvironmentalMechanics ilas changcd from'Chief' to 'Head', in obedienceto a recent ExecutiveCommittee decision to restrictuse of the title 'Chief' to Chiefs01' Divisions and 'Director' toDircctors of Institules. OrStocker has approved thcappointment of Dr JohnFinnigan as Head of thc Centrefor a three-year term for 15January 1991.

... and acouple of other Fellows

Two CSIRO scientists havebeen elected Fellows of theInstitute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers, USA(IEEE). Only a few scientistsand cngineers each year receivethis honour, which is limited to0.1 % of membership.

The two scientists are OrGraeme James, Division ofRadiophysics, and Or VicMorgan, Division of AppliedPhysics.

Or Morgan, a privateconsultant and an HonoraryResearch Fellow with Applied

Ahove, Dr Graeme .lames. Fellow of the Institute "f Electrical andElectronics Engineers, USA

The category of CSIROFcllow has been created tomake it possible I'or outstandingscientists within theOrganisation to stick with full­time research and still reach thesame rates of pay as those whomove over into researchmanagement.

Or John Stocker, CSIRO'sChief Executive, called the newFellowship an important stcp inCSIRO's history. 'Or Phi lip.' hesaid. <has an outstandingnational and internationalreputation. The CSIROFellowship recognises thisachievement and a lifetime ofcreative, productivc and distin­guished service to CSIRO andAustralia. '

Or Philip is already a Fellowof the Royal Society of Londonand of the Australian Academyof Science.

Typical pioneering research byOr Philip includes the physics

weighting to give cach researchopportunity we've had to gopretty thoroughly into thebackground I'Hetors. Let's saywe find an industry that isattractive as a research area interms of potential benefits toAustralia. But then we also findthat Australia isn't able tocapture those benefits: itsindustry is in poor shape, or inforeign hands, or has otherstructural difficulties. Well, weare now in a position to marchup to the Government and talkabout what it and the industryarc going to do about that.

Certainly what we've beenlooking at is research priorities,but in the course of doing thatwe've acquired the ability tomake a far broader and 1110reimportant contribution. We'vebeen coming across structuralimpediments that arc holdingback more than science: theyare holding back nationaldevelopment in general. Thesein-built impediments exist in thecomputer industry, the foodprocessing industry, theconstruction industry ... they'rewidespread.

Such blocks should beremoved, and we now have astronger voice to say so togovernment and to industry. Wchave already been using thatvoice, in meetings with theMinister, with ASTEC, andwith groups like NSTAG, theNational Science andTechnology Advisory Group,where industry is also involved.The Institute Directors and I arenow having frequent boardlunches with Australia's majorcompanies, and CSIRO Boardmembers are also participatingin this information exchangewith industry people. Thepriorities exercise has made us a1110re credible and effectiveconversation partner in thesecircles.

The Federal Government hasjust asked ASTEC to embark ona major study whose finalupshot will be a white paper onAustralia's national researchpriorities, and our contributionwill be a strong one. We haveseconded Ron Murnain from theCorporate Resources Branch towork on their team, andMalcolm Robertson, from ourResearch Data Office, will alsobe observing and helping.

r~·~

times, and we have to keepquestioning our assumptions.

But the goal is to ensure thatthis necessary process of changecan be hand led within thenormal planning cycle 01' theOrganisation and"ot require themassive, disruptive reviews andrestructuring that havc charac­terised our recent past.

Taking thc long view doesn'tget us out nf the job ofconstantly looking al new needsand opportunities as they get up,and fitting them into the broaderconcepts and priorities.

Our new priorities - and theprocess we have gone throughto develop them - have madeus more than ever fit for aIcading role in the dialogue withgovcrnment and industry thatwill dccide just how Australiagoes about becoming a clevercountry.

Because of the work that'sgone into establishing the rulesfor our own exercise we can

now make quite a contributionjust in terms of the priority­selling machinery itsel f - wehave acquired some expertise inhow you do these things. We'vebeen able to devise amethodology that makes theresults of our CSIRO priority­setting exercise directlycomparable with resultselsewhere.

In deciding what priority

To ensure that I wasn't overburdened with sparetime during my first three months as ChiefExecutive, the Board slipped in among my initialtasks the little matter of assessing national researchpriorities.

The Executive Committeemembers and j hcld a number ofworkshops and, bit-by-bit,established a set of methods,which arc now being appliedacross the Organisation. Youcould say that the taking up ofthat particular challenge has setthe Organisation rocking fromits Canberra headquarters toCSIRO sites all over theAustralian continent. It'sreached its climax, now, withthe first results reported in thisissue 01' CoResearch.

We weren't looking only atwhat CSIRO does, but also atwhat it might do. We had towork out the relation of thepresent mix 01' researchactivities to our vision 01' theAustralia 01' the next two orthree decades, and beyond.

01' course, having worked thatout. wc 've entered a continuum.

We can never say we've done it,

once for all, and now we can getstuck into the work involved.These new priorities are lcsslike ordinances in stone thanprovisional jottings in wax.They operate in relation to achanging national situation, andonc driven largely by I'actorsover which we have litlle or nocontrol - I'rom foreign marketsto the weather.

We have to be prepared tochange our tactics - and evenour strategies - with changing

Let's tackle this thing head-on! CSIRO's first Fellow. .• Start chalking your forelocks for a good grip. Dr

(Uh. .. whIch bit IS the head, actually?) John Philip, former Chief of the CSIRO Centrefor Environmental Mechanics, has become thehistoric founding member of the new order ofCSIRO Fellows.

338-1991

CSIRO wins nearly $3millionin latest DITAC grants

Lets hear it for the greenhouse effect

The Federal Government's Industry Researchand Development Board has released details ofits latest grants - $10.7 million worth.

CSIROmanagingvery nleery

The Australian FinancialReview Prize for CorporateFinancial Management for 1990has been won by Or GrahamPrice of the CSIRO Division ofGeomechanics in Melbourne.

The prize is one of fiveawarded for the top individualperformances among 390participants in the DiplomaCourse for CorporateManagement run annually bythe Institute of CorporateManagers, Secretaries andAdministrators.

The prizes carry an award of$500 and an inscribed plaque.-:-

showed no adverse reaction,'Mr Forbes said.It was Mr Forbes who last

June surveyed the site nearHeard Island to check itssuitability for the experiment.

Three of the 19 listeningslations around the world werestaffed by Australians. Theywere stat;oll,l'd at Tasmania'sMaatsuyker Island, ChristmasIsland and Australia's Mawsonstation in Antarctica.

Several major US researchagencies also took part in theoverall program.The underwater soundexperiment is the most sensitiveway yet devised of measuringlong-term warming in theworld's oceans, and hasclimatologists around the worldwailing eagerly for its results.

Quadrella is under commercialproduction through USELucerne Pty Lld, a jointcompany formed betweenspecialised lucerne seedgrowers and Kei th Seeds PtyLtd.

Managing Director of KeithSeeds, Mr Shayne Martens, saidQuadrella had shownoutstanding progress so far. 'Wenow have 1,000 acres sown forcertified seed production,' hesaid.'We believe that Quadrellawill follow Trifecta overseasand bring in valuable exportdollars for Australia.' -:-

New lucerne varietyIn New South Wales and Queensland Stemphyliumleaf spot is one of a complex of winter diseases thatcan cause up to a 90% yield loss in lucerne crops.

But the Division of TropicalCrops and Pastures, inpartnership willl the Universityof Queensland, has come upwith a new variety of lucernebred to be resistant to a widevariety of pests and diseases,especially Stemphylium.

The variety is calledQuadrella, and is the firstlucerne variety to be grantedprovisional plant variety rights(PVR) in Australia. Trial workon the variety is continuing inAustralia and is also planned formajor lucerne-using countriesthroughout the world.

December's CoResearch ran a story on a plan to measure the greenhouse effectwith sound waves. Since sound travels faster in warmer water, the scientistsreasoned that they could work out whether the oceans really were warming up, aspredicted by greenhouse theorists, by sending sound signals on ocean voyages andtiming them. If after several years the times were obviously getting faster, then itwould be a good bet the water was getting warmer. An elegant idea, which has nowbeen put into operation, with Andrew Forbes of the CSIRO Division ofOceanography as one of the principal players.

On 7 February CSIRO and US results of this first step.scientists were able to The underwater sound trialpronounce the first part of the was the brainchild of Professorexperiment a success. The 35 Waiter Munk of the US Scrippssound signals they sent off from Institution of Oceanography,remote Heard Island in the sub- who designed the program withAntarctic had been picked up by Andrew Forbes of CSlRO'sscientists at listening stations Division of Oceanography inaround the world, including Hobart. The two were chiefBermuda. Ascension Island, scientists aboard the USSouth Africa, Canada, India, research vessel Cory CllOuestTasmania, Kerguelen, Nova during the experiment.Scotia, Oregon, California and Scientists on the COl)' ClIouestChristmas Isla<ld. and its companion research

The experiment, which ran vessel, the Amy Clwuest, can·iedfrom January 26 to February 1, out extensive biological surveyswas planned as a feasibility before, during and after thestudy for the larger program experiment to see whether tileaimed at finding out whether or sound transmissions had anynot our oceans are getting effect on nearby whales,warmer. That program could dolphins and seals.run for a decade or more, but 'The marine mammalsfirst the scientists will spend appeared to behave normallyseveral montlls analysing the during the tnlllsmissions and

exploration.The World Geosciencc

Corporation Lld is thecommercial partner for thisproject.

Another CSIRO project to wina grant comes from the Divisionof Applied Physics, incommercial partnership withIBM Australia Ltd. It is aimedat solving some practicalproblems currently holdingback the commercial exploita­tion of 'magneto-optical thinfilm structures' - a form ofmass data storage. The projecthas been granted $419,473.

The rest of the grant-winningprojects were from majoruniversities, with twoexceptions.

The Australian ArtificialIntelligence Institute was given$480,324 for a project todevelop new computerprograms able to manage andcontrol 'distributed systems'such as occur in air transport',telecommunications networksand power distribution systems.

The largest grant of all, for$1,900,000, went to a DSTOproject mysteriously titled'BolOJneter Infrared SensorArrays'. The project willdevelop components for use incommercial products like nightsights and surveillanceequipment.

The money is to be splitamong 13 projects to do withinformation and communica­tions technology, CSIRO hasbeen given three slices of thepie.

The largest grant of the three- $1,369,304 - went to aproject to be carried out by theDivision of InformationTechnology in commercialpartnership with BHP Researchand New Technology.

The project will develop aparallel image processing anddisplay system for the analysisand processing of large andcomplex image data sets. Thesystem will offer help in a broadrange of fields with bothgeneral and specialised imageand signal proccssing problems.

The Division of ExplorationGeoscience also gained a grant-$988,083 for a three-yearR&D project to study rapiddigital signal processing andcontrol in geophysical applica­tions.The main use for the

technology generated by thestudy will be in the airborneelectro-magnetic remote sensingof the near surface of the earth.The accurate mapping ofshallow features of the earth hasbecome a critically importantconsideration in two significantareas for Australia - environ­mental monitoring and mineral

338-1991

Research priorities for CS/ROCS/RO has released to CoResearch the first findings of the year-long priority-setting process set in motion by itsBoard. The exercise has triggered fierce debate inside the Organisation, and gathered an attentive audienceoutside. The illustration at top left outlines the criteria the Executive Committee used in assessing nationalpriorities, and the bottom two, taken together, show the relations between these priorities. Page 5, opposite, givesmore detail on the 'research purposes', as they are now being called, to which research proposals will bedirected, together with some initial guidelines for filllding. A brief account of the evaluation process appears onpage 6, and page 2 carries some personal comment on the exercise from ChiefExecutive John Stocker.

two Institutcs.'I think nne of the things that

became clear when we weresilting on this working party ­and again, particularly withthose DiVIsions that have such avery high level of externalfunding - is that in fact. ifyou're doing your job, you areconstantly looking at yourpriorities. and you areconstantly changing andmodifying those. And if you'revery heavily dependent onexternal earnings, in fact, youhave to largely be serving [hepriorities of those industries thatare funding you.'

Dr Andrew Pik says that whenit comes to implementing thenew priorities, 'wc still have along way to go'. He thinks thefunding guidelines needtightening up before thcy arespecific enough 10 bemeaningful. But. likc the uthersinterviewed by CoRes""rch. hehas no quarrel with theprioritiy-sctting proeess itself.

CSIRO's priority-settingexercise will have a directimpact on a major studyrecently begun, at the request ofthe Prime Minister, by theAustralian Science andTechnology Council (ASTEC).

The study will develop thenational framework for sellingR&D direetions, and eventuallyform the basis of a while paperto be tabled by the PrimeMinister in May 1992.

Mr Ron Murnain, fromCSIRO's Corporate Centre, wasseconded to the ASTEC team inmid-January, but will stay inclose touch with CSIROthrougllOutthe study.

Mr Malcolm Robertson of theCSIRO Research Data Officewill also be working closelywith the ASTEC team. sincedata on the national R&D effortwill be an important part oftheir work.

ASTEC has called forsubmissions from interestedparties, and CSIRO will bemaking a submission, on 20February, which will drawheavily on the national priority­selting exercise, both itsmethodology and its results.

The CSIRO Board hasremained actively involved withthe project throughout. (SeeMatta of Opinion by Boardmember Ralph Ward-Ambler,

CoResearch No. 334, page 3.)·:·

Page 6 gives all olltlille of thesystem that was llsed fordecidillg the Ilew priorities,alollg with a rather differelltperspective all the exercisefrom 011 ex-CSlRO artist.

The working group is chairedby Dr Bob Frater, Director 01'

the Institute of InformationSeience and Engineering, andincludes three Chiefs; Mr BobGarret!, Finance Branch ofCorporatc Services; Dr BethHeyde, Office of the ChicI'Executive and Board; Dr Irenelrvine. Chair of CSIRO'sCommunication WorkingGroup; Dr Guy Kretsehmer,Corporate Planning Office; OrAndrew Pik, Chair of theCSIRO Planners Group; and DrJohn Yate" Chair of theInstitute Resource ManagersGroup. There are also two orthree observers.

The Chiefs on the workinggroup arc Dr Rob La Nauze,Division of Mineral and ProcessEngineering; Or ]im Peacock,Division of Plant Industry; andDr Mike Rickard, Division ofAnimal Health.Dr Rickard told CoResearch

he was 'pleased that the ChiefExcculivc has involved peoplefrom the whole spectrum of theCSIRO functional areas,because the crucial part will bemaking the exercise as effectiveand as economical as possible.

'Otherwise it will simply turninto another bureaucraticnightmare where, you know,there's a thousand and onethings to do and people just getvery disillusioned with thewhole thing.'

He thinks the strategy forshifting resources from lower tohigher priorities will help toencourage broad research acrossDivisions and Institutes, sinceproposals will be assessed forfunding against researchpurposes based on those set bythe Australian Bureau ofStatistics (see page 5) ratherthan on CSIRO's ownDivisions.

However, Dr Rickard stresscdthe point that this sort of cross­divisional research is not new inCSIRO. He cites as an examplea vaccine technology initiativehe is co-ordinating.'The actual projects,' said DrRickard, 'involve my Division,the Division of AnimalProduction, the Division ofTropical Animal Prodnction,and the Division ofBiomolecular Engineering. Soit's across four Divisions and

The next step will be totranslate these bt'oadpriorities into financialterms.

Three Divisional Chiefs aretaking part in a prioritiesworking group part of whosejob will be to work out a systemfor making sure [his translationis fair and efficient. The gronpis made up of representativesfrom various CSIRO interestareas, listed later in this article.

An early idea Ilad been to setup a central resource-poolcreated by reserving 1.5% ofappropriation funds. Researchteams would then put forwardtheir proposals in a competitivebid for a share of this money.The amount would be matehedout of Institute funds. Using theguidelines shown on page 5, theChief Execntive and ExecutiveComl11illee would then decidewho would get how much out ofthat pool.

However, some members ofthe priorities working groupmade the point that Institutesand Divisions will already bere-allocating some of their ownrcsourccs under the guidelines,making the central pool 10 thatextent less necessary.

Dr Stocker has accepted thispoint, but he points out in returnthat the process must be able toaccommodate the shifting offunds betwcen Divisions andbetween Institutes.

Cons ctfon.En ,gy SL!'P~. Del ce

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338-1991

338-1991

Pri0rities - what makes some more prior than others?

from research for the purpose inquestion;• Australia's ability to capturethe benefits, i.e. thc ability ofAustralia's organisations,private or public sector, toconvert technical progress intocommercial or other returns;• R&D potential, Le. thescientific or technologicalpotential of relevant rcsearchareas; and• R&D capacity, i.e. Australia'sability to conduct the R&D andrealise its potential in a timelyway.MethodologyAfter much reading, listeningand talking, the ExecutiveCommittce gathered as a group.Each member gave a score toeach of the criteria for eachresearch purpose. Then they gottogether to discuss the scores,and, in some cases, to clarifyunderstanding and do themagain. Finally they averagedtheir scores to an-ive at a scorefor each research purpose.The Committee makes no

pretence that this is, or can be,an objective proccss in anyscientific sense. The scores arebased on the best informationavailable, but of course they arestill personal judgements. Andthe Committee stands by them.

The two factors shown on theresults graph (bottom of page 4)are labelled 'attraetivcncss' and'feasibility'.

•Attractiveness' wasdetermined by multiplying thescore for potential benefits bythat for ability to capture. Itmeasures the likely benefit ofsuccessful research. and isdetermined by factors overwhicll research organisationshave little control.

'Feasibility' was determinedby multiplying the score forR&D potential by that for R&Dcapacity. It is a measure ofability to achieve technicalprogress in Australia, per unit ofR&D investment.

A research purpose that rankshigh on both attractiveness andfeasibility clearly warrantsinvestment of resources. So, thefurther towards the top right­hand corner of the graph aresearch purpose lies, the moreit is considered deserving ofsupport. By the same token,selectivity in providingresources needs to increase asresearch purposes lie furthertowards the bottom left.•:.

Well, it's all over bar the shouting, alld we even have SOI1IC

indication of whose shout it will be, but in case you're interestedin just how those new research priorities were established, thefollowing is a brief account of the process. More - /Iluch /Ilore- is available from the Corporate Planning Office or yourInstitute planllers.It's more than a year now sinceCSIRO first took a step back tohave a careful look at itspriorities, building on anapproach the Board had alreadybroadly mapped out. It was ajob that fell, natllrally, to theExecutive Committee,consisting of the ChiefExecutive, the six InstituteDirectors, the Director ofCorporate Serv ices and theManaging Director of Sirotech.

They began by giving closeattention to-• classification of the totalpossible national research effortinto convenient and meaningflllunits or 'research purposes';

• the criteria they would use toassess those research purposes;and• the methodology - or stockof procedures and workingconcepts - they would use toassess the priorities.Classificatioll of researchpurposesThe Committee adopted amodified version of the nationalresearch classification used bythe Australian Bureau ofStatistics. This categorises allresearch into four 'divisions', orprincipal objectivesadvancement of knowledge,economic development,national welfare and nationalsecurity.

Each of these divisions isfurther divided into sub­divisions, which are in tumdivided into groups, and thegroups into classes at the verybottom of the pyramid.

From the sub-divisions theExecutive Committce chosethose that were relevant toresearch in tile field of scienceand technology, re-organisingthem into a form moremeaningful to CSIRO. Thesebecame the research purposeson page 5 of this issue.Evaluatioll criteriaThe Committee drew from anumber of sources for its finalframework, but it is mainly anadaptation of an approachdeveloped by the IndustrialResearch Institute of the UnitedStates, in the period 1982-84,for assessing return on R&D. Itis centred on four criteria:

the potential benefits(economic, environmental andother social benefits), i.e. themaximum commercial or otherrctums possible from techno­logical improvcments resulting

Then again, there are other ways of looking at this whole business. The above viewofpriorities comes from graphic designer Socrates Paschalidis,formerly ofCSIRO.

338-1991

On the last day or January the Minister for Scienceand Technology, Simon Crean, announced that theFederal Government would continue CSIRO'stdennium funding. (Yay, Team!?)

CSIRO grantedtrienniumfunding(first victory for Project Ambassador?)

attributed its youthful vigour tothe simple, clean living thatbecomes a habit when you're onlow rates of appropriation,

The CSIRO social club inCanberra really is organising acelebration, probably at theDivision or Entomology, thoughthe details aren't sorted out yet.

If you've got any ideas orquestions the person in chargeis Gary Knoble, (06)2766442.

A lot of people think it wouldbe great if there were celebra­tions at sites all over Australia,but it's a bit late ror organisinganything nationally.

One suggestion was a fancy­dress parade through the streets.

Less boring than a barbecue, .:.

companies build an enduringcollaboration betweenAustralian and Japanesescientists.

'A number or prominent andforward-looking Australianfood and beverage companieshave already signed up for theJapan Project, and I hope wecan encourage others in theindustry to take thIS steptowards securing their slice ofthe expanding markets in Japanand other countries in Asia.

'It also provides anopportunity to further relationsbetween Japanese andAustraliatl food suppliers anddistributors.

'I hope this research byCSIRO helps the two nations'people understand each otherbetter.' .:.

develop foods made fromAustralian ingredients thatsatisfy Japanese tastes, At theJapan Project's Tokyo facilityAustralian food can be cookedby speciality Japanese chefs andtested by Japane'e tasters.

On 23 January, during aprivate visit to Japan, CSIROChairman Neville Wran joineda panel of 30 Japanese taste­testers at the facility to tryoutsome newly tailored products.

Mr Wran said CSIRO's workwitll tile food industry was vitalto expanding Australia's shareof the Japanese market.

'The Japan Project.' he said,'is a fine example of how co­ordinated quality marketanalysis, first-rate scientificresearch and sound strategicdecisions by Australian

Popular local pel'sonality and internationallyrespected institution Commonwealth Scientific andIndustrial Research Organisation (CSIRO ­pronounced 'sigh-row') will be celebrating its 65thbirthday at its Black Mountain property in thenation's capital, Canberra, on Friday March l5.

Actually born on March 16, a bit of scientific research, justCSIRO has chosen the 15th for whencver I feel like it, withoutthe celebration as most of its having to worry if the boss isfriends will be busy on the 16th, going to catch me at it.which is a Saturday. 'It'll feel funny, of course, I

Asked by CoResearch how it guess I'll be looking over myfelt about turning 65, still- shoulder for a rew years yet,'sprightly and remarkably sighed the colorful oldarticulate CSIRO replied, 'I'm character.really looking forward to it. 'But I don't think I've

'I'll be able to get on with forgotten how. It's like riding asome of the things I've been bike, research,' chortled thewanting to do for years but cheerful sexagenerian.couldn't because of work. Like CSlRO told CoResearch it

Half-price haircuts nowfor CS/RO?

MlIl

Ahove, Chairman Neville Wran visilS Ihe Tokyojilcility qrCS/RO'.I· Sensory Research Centre dUI'IIl[; Cl

privale visil 10 Japan. On his lett is Mr Shuji Himse, Chief Execulive Direclor of Ihe Japan,Auslralia. New Zealand ,)'OdeIY.

The Japanese are really intofood, compared to us, and theydon't mind paying for it, either.Every year they spend morethan $A400 billion on it, and alenth of that - or $A40 billionworth - is imported.Currently, Australia is

providing less than $A3 billionworth of the annual Japaneseshopping list, but CSIRO'sSydney-based Sensory ResearchCentre has been trying hard toincrease that amount. They cal!their effort the Japan Project.

Until now a major obstacle tothe Australian industry has beenthat the Japanese have differenttaste preferences from theAustralians.

The Japan Project team hasbeen working with a majorJapanese consumer group to

Maybe de gustibus ain't what dey used tobe, but we'd rather catch up than criticise

all staff letting them know thegood news about the trienniumfunding and commending MrCrean for arguing our case soforcefully within theGovernment.

He also assured staff he andMr Crean would be 'workinghard' in the coming months tomake sure the Governmentunderstood the imporlance ofthe remaining issues.

Professor Tony Wicken,President of the Federation ofAustralian Scientific andTechnological Societies(FASTS), was less sanguineabout the decision.

'The announcement,' he said,'may be welcome. It dependson whether it is three years ofgood funding or three years ofbad.'

'And there is a hint in theannouncement that it could bethe latter. The Government isactually considering not payingaJ 1 of the increase in salariesawarded to CSIRO staff by theIndustrial Commission.

'If a large company with alarge profit and a relativelysmall, skilled workforcewelched on paying suchincreases there would beoutrage.

'The award restructureprovided by the IndustrialCommission was in recognitionof the greater skills efficiencyof CSIRO staff. lt was obtainedthrough fair process.

'1 I' the Government welcheson funding for CSIRO what isthe message for Australia? Thatthe 'clever country' concept isjust hype, that award restructur­ing can be ignored if thegovernment does not like theoutcome?

'The Hawke Governmentmust put its money where itsmOlilh is or risk greater

cynicism in the electorate. '.:.

Other major scientific bodieswere included in the step, whichwas 'designed to free them fromannual uncertainty over theirbudgels'. The otllers were theAustralian Science andTechnology Organisation(ANSTO) and the AustralianInstitute of Marine Sciencc(AIMS).The government has also

undertaken to maintain budgetfunding in real terms over thethree-year period.

'Triennium funding provides asecure, long budget cycle soscientists can get on with thejob the organisations were setup to do,' Mr Crean said.

Perhaps more important thanthe immediate gain is theCabinet decision that trienniumfunding should become 'anaccepted philosophy':

'In those years, the agenciesmade an important start inchanging the way they work,'Mr Crean said. 'Trienniumfunding gives them thenexibility and stability to planlonger term research programsand priorities. They can alsodevelop closer relationshipswith industry through strategicjoint ventures.

Previously agreed targets forexternal earnings will continuefor CSIRO and ANSTO, with asimilar target now also applyingto AIMS: 30% of total funds byJuly 1991 for CSlRO; 30% ofappropriation funds by 1993 forANSTO; and 30% of appropria­tion funds by 1996 for AIMS.

Cabinet has put off decisionson other funding issues; MrCrean and other relevantMinisters will meet later todecide the issues of supplemen­tation for pay increases and theefriciency dividend.

On the day of the decisionCSIRO Chief Executive DrJohn Stocker sent a statemcnt to

338-1991

Care for kids, andkeepyour career options open

extra $20,000 towards cstablish­mcnt costs once the centre isconstructed.

The Clayton child-care centrecommittee thinks the centremay be ready to open hyOctober 1991 At the 111nmel11they arc looking at ways ofraising extra runds and wouldwelcome any suggestions oroffers or help.

said she is very impressed withstafr's crrorts there so far. Shehas been able to have rundingfor the centre approved andbrought forward to the 1990-91financial year. She has alsopersuaded CSIRO to provide an

Above. John Stocker IS offered the choice (!(' cf/(",~in~ (he firstnappy or tllrnin~ the first sod at CS!RO's first child car(' centre at

Black Mountain lfl Canberra - und disappoints a crowd of ('a~er

onlookers hy choosin~ {he the soft optioll.

Dr Stocker said that CSIROcurrently planned to build threeon-site child care centres. Aswell as the Black Mountain site.which was expccted to bcopcrating in July this year,CSIRO would also build centresat its North Ryde site in Sydneyand at Its Clayton site inMelbourne this year.

'CSIRO is well allead or mostother Government and privateorganisations in having an equalemployment opportunityprogram recognising that starr,particularly women, haveramily responsibilities: said DrStocker.

'The signiricant salary risesthat were awarded CSIRO starrrccently by the IndustrialRelations Commission and tbeprovision or on-site child careracilities are part of a humanresources strategy aimed atmaking CSIRO an attractiveand modern employer.

'These are important moves inensuring that we continue toretain and attract excellent starr.

'The thrcc CSIRO cbild carccentres will be entirely rundedhy CSlRO, and this underlinesCSIRO's recognition thal starfshould not havc to Jeopardisethcir careers when they alsobecome parents.

'Each child-care centre wouldhavc about 40 places andcbildrcn or CSIRO-employcdparents would be given priorityover other applicants," he said.

The Black Mountain cbi ld­care ccntre is costing CSIRO$520,000.

Plans rnr Ille centrc atCSIRO's Clayton site are alsomaking progress.

Ms Cannc] MePherson of theHuman Resources Branch has

Dr John Stacker, Chief Executive, turned the first sodat CS/RO's first child-care centre at a lunch-timeceremony at the Division of Entomology's BlackMountain site in Canberra on14 January.

Mic/we! Camilleri , an apprelltice fitter and machillist at theDivisioll (~f Geomechallics at SYI/dal il/ Melbourne, displays theBronze Medal iust presellted to him at Ormolld College,Melbourne Ulliversity. lie won the medal for his skill illNumerical COlltrol Machinil/g at the Natiol/al WorkskillEngil/eeril/g Finals held il/ December last yeaI' Photo by Roger

Digby, CSIRO Apprentice Co-ordinator.

Geomechanics apprenticetakes out Bronze Medal

338-1991

No.• .~ e vt'~~~::l c,~,~,~,o

Co-operative Research Centres 2~~P~'1991 II

CSIRO scores 15 uhJfJl5

Above. members of CSIRO's Board inspect the plans of the Division of Forestry building 10 beerected on this site at the University of Tasmania in Hobart. The new building will be the home baseof the Temperate Hardwood Forestry Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) announced by SimonCrean on March 14, and construction is to be complete by the end of 1991. Second from the left is DrGlen Kile, Officer-in-Cl1arge of the Division of Forestry's Tasmanian Forest Research Group,Program Leader of the Intensively Managed Temperate Eucalypts Program, and Director-designate ofthe new CRC. The others are, left to right, CSlRO Board Members Dr Tony Gregson, Dr Kevin Foleyand Mr RaJph Ward-Ambler. Hobart Divisions did remarkably well in this first round of ResearchCentre allocations. winning two out of 15 offered throughout Australia. The CSlRO MarineLaboratories in Hobart are llOlding Open Days on April 18, 19 and 20 with the theme 'CSlRO inTasmania'. They will feature mainly the work of the Divisions of Fisheries and Oceanography, butthere will be displays from other Divisions. The research vessel 'Franklin' will be one of theattractions. The Open Days aim to show the public the sorts of work CSIRO is doing to help industry

and the environment. Photo by Barbara Magi.

.So I see the CRCs as being avery important part in linkingthe future opportunities of ourmanufacturing industry withtbe academic community.'

The first-round Co-operativeResearch Centres, (CRCs) withtheir CSIRO partner andlocation, are as follows:-CRC 1'01' AerospaceStructures, Institute ofIndustrial Technology(Divisions as yet unspecified),Melbourne and Sydney;-CRC 1'01' Intelligent DecisionSystems, DlVisioll ofInformation Technology,Melbourne;-CRC 1'01' Robust and

On Mm'ch 14 Minister for Science and Technology Simon Cl'ean announced thefirst 15 of up to SO Co-operative Research Centres the Federal Government willset up under a program it announced when it came into office last year. (SeeCoResearch No, 331, April 1990.) CSIRO figUl'ed in 14 of the centres announced,but it has since been decided that the Organisation will be involved in all 15. Ithad orignally been left out of the Co-ol>el'ative Research Centr'e for AerospaceStructures, but will now be part of the second (and further) phases of thatpl'Oject, due to begin around the end of 1992.

There are some people in the very, very good CRC proposal,Organisatiou who feel that the but We felt that we couldcentres are a mistake from probably strengthen it byCSIRO's point of view, in t11at bringing in some other peoplewe stand to lose autonomy, that we know about personallyfruits or research, and even wbo've got key contributions toresearchers themselves. make but might not have

But the consensus seems to be otherwise been involved in thethat even on a selfish level we proposal.will gain more from sharing 'It's really to make sure thatthan we will lose, and that the we do have the very best talentnation as a whole will certainly in Australia co-operating in thebe a winner from the enterprise. CRCs.

There will be changes to the 'The ones that I've been askedconduct of the scheme in thc to take some responsibility fornext round, with CSIRO itselr are an automotive industry CRChaving more say in who will be that would be focussed, weinvol ved, and how, in each think, around Melbournecentre. University, the Royal

In the week berore the Easter Melbourne Institute ofbreak Professor Ralph Slatyer, Technology and the Division ofhead 01 the Prime Minister's Manufacturing Technology, andScience Council, called together a National Metallurgical Centrekey people in science which we think would probablymanagement to work out be focussed around theimprovements to the present University of Queensland. thesystem ol'selection ofCRCs. University of Wollongong,

As a result of that meeting the Monash University, and theInstItute Directors of CSIRO CSIRO Division of Materialshave been asked to become a Science.'brokerage' committee 10 work 'We have had submissions andwith the IWO sub-committees expressions of interest in thesethat currenlly assess the CRC,. broad areas, so the brokerageThese arc cbaired by Professor committees really areIan Ross from the NatIonal attempting to beef up thatUniversity and Dr Keith proposal to make it an evenBoardmall, retired Chier stronger proposal.Executive ofCSIRO. Asked his opinion of the

The Science Council has asked CRCs DI' Adam first explainedthe Directors to act as brokers to that as a result of the downturnpull together disparate aspects in our agricullural exportsor proposals they arc familiar exports in manufactured goodswith, so that the whole proposal for the calendar year 1990 hadstructure can become more exceeded exports of agriculturalfocussed on the national products for the first time ininterest. Australia's history.

Dr Colin Adam, Director of 'll seems to me,' he said, 'thatthe CSlRO Institute of we've reached a watershed inIndustrial Technology, told this nation, where we shouldCoResearch the new committee perhaps look on ourselves atwas designed to 'ensure that we long last as a manufacturingput the first I I on the field for nation, and make sure that weAustralia'. equip our work-force and our

'Perhaps a University, and a industries, and their intellectualDivision of CSIRO, might have capital, with the reSources thata good idea, and it might be a are needed.

Adaptive Systems, Division ofRadiophysics (Signal andImaging Technology Program),Canberra;-CRC 1'01' Eye Technology,Division of BiomolecularEngineering and Division orChemicals and Polymers,Sydney;-CRC for Tissue Growth andRepair, Division of HumanNutrition, Adelaide;-CRC for Cellular GrowthFactors, Division ofBioI11olecular Engineering,Melbourne;-CRC for Waste Managementand Pollution Control,Division of Water Resources,Sydney;-CRC for the Antarctic andSouthern OceanEnvironment, Division ofOceanograpllY, Hobart;-CRC 1'01" Soil aljd LandManagement, Division oJSoils, Adelaide;-CRC 1'01' Tropical PestManagement,Division of

Entomology, Brisbane;-CRC for Plant Science,Division of Plant Industry,Canberra;-CRC for TemperateHardwood Forestry, Divisionof Forestry, Hobart;-CRC for Mining Technologyand Equipment, Division ofGcomechanics and Division ofMineral and ProcessEngineering, Brisbane;-G.K. Williams Co-operativeCentre for ExtractiveMetallurgy, Division ofMineral and ProcessEngineering, Melbourne;-CRC for Austl'alia'sPetroleum Industry, Divisionof Exploration Geoscience andDivision of Geomechanics.Sydney and Melbourne.

Some surprise has beenexpressed ln3idc and olltsid\:CSIRO at the failure of WesternAustralia to gain any CRes atall, but there is hope that thesecond round will re\"nedy that.

339##1991

Dear Or McKern,This is waugh!

The photo clear!y depicted myheroic attempt to remove the'efficiency dividend' which stillfouls our level playing field likea fresh cow pat.

And that's not cricket..John Stod,er

Dear Editor,No Australian worth his/hcr saltcould fcel anything butembarassment at the photo ofJohn Stockcr on the back pageof thc last issuc of C"Research(February 1991 )./8e1' he/ow./

Could someonc please takehim aside and discreetly pointout that one is supposed to faceaway from the wicket whenplaying cricket, and that there"no advantage in putting yourfoot on the end of the bat')Perhaps Allan Border could beseconded to CS1RO as publicengagements adviser to theChief Executive.

Nen McKernDivision of Biomolecular

Engineering

Lettersto theEditor

Dear Editor,Each month 1 look forward tothe Letters to the Editor inCoResearch. I enjoy the free­ranging discussion of CSIROmallcrs, and [ feel reassured bythe obviously high level ofeditorial freedom.

What happened to the Lettersin the February issue?

Alister K. SharpFood Research Laboratory

That's what I'd like 10 know.Ther(' w('ren't an)'. -Ed.

legitimate and necessary role inhelping government with policy,but mainly by injecting factsinto thc discussion.

We think we ought to try tospeak with one authoritativevoice rather than a lot of littleyapping ones below knee­height, inaudible and contradic­tory. That's always going to bea tricky act for us, and there's awobbly high wire to be walkcdbetween helping theGovernment set policies on theone hand and helpingcompanies and private industryon the other. We saw that, andgave considerable thought tomechanisms for coping with it.The main thing again is that linemanagers are going to have tobe responsible for the communi­cation aetivities of staff.

Anotl1er topic we discussedwas performance contracts formembers of the ExecutivcCommittee, and I settled withthe Institute Directors what theirmain job descriptions andobjects would be. We agreedthat performanee planning andevaluation would carry rightthrough the Organisation, withme conducting sessions with theInstitute Directors similar to thesessions being held betweensupervisors and their staff atevery level. Tlrere will bc afeature in next month'sCoResearch explaining in detailwhat those sessions willinvolve.

Commercialisation wasanother theme we touched Oil,

particularly the crucial role ofSirotech in improving thecommercialisation of CSIRO.

I was recently privy to afascinating discussion at theLong Pocket Laboratories inQueensland. The group I wastalking with had attended acarecr development course atLittle Bay in which a group ofthe participants came up withsome ideas about the best wayto manage these inter-Instituteand inter-Division projects. Wediscussed the risk that lines ofresponsibility can get tanglcdwhen a pro gram's sphereincludes the work of quite a fewDivisions. There are questionsIikc - who's in charge, howwill that person report? Whatabout people whose program ispredominantly run by oneDivision but whose Chief, andadministrative home base. is inanother Division?

Those are issues that theDirectors and 1 again took up atBowral, and will continue todiscuss in the months ahead. Infact, with the implementation ofthe new priorities, and with thegearing up of the newCooperative Research Centres,they will get to be moreimportant and immediatequestions. We're going to haveto get very much beller ateffective collaboration.

We agreed that the InstituteDirectors are now expected toperform as group executives ina large organisation. Thiscontrasts with the tradition insome organisations of peopledefending their own patch andjudging their success directly byhow big a si ice of resourcesthey arc able to grab.

Everybody in CSIRO mustthink of how best theOrganisation can get its acttogether to ensure externaldelivery of research results in ausable form. That's what ourmission really is.

We also talked aboutgovernment policydevelopment: wherc does ourrole start and stop? We agreedthat we really do have a

these reviews had actuallyaccomplished, and if wethought our present form theright one for the enormouschallenge facing Australia intcrms of appropriating researchresults in the next decade.

The answer we came up within the end was 'yes'. Thestructure we have at themoment does enable us torespond, very efrectively, to thepresent needs of Australia in thein~luslry sectors we scrve.It's going to take an increase

in awareness of exactly whatare each individual's responsi­bilities within our large R&Dcorporation. We think thechance to accomplish that hasbeen facilitated by awardrestructuring, and performanceplanning and evaluation.

The latter rcally strikes mc asbeing a tool with which CSIROstaff can begin to gather someof the benefits of functioning asCl corporation.The next question we had to

ask ourselves was what thatreally meant - what are theconsequences of CSIRO reallybeing regarded as 'CSIROInc. "I And how do we get betterat working corporately across anumber of issues?

Wc're going to have to surveythe administrative walls whichhave sprung up over the years.And we must reward thosepeople who take part inproductive collaborationsbetween Divisions.

We think we are much bellerable now, as an organisation, toput together programs to servethe community than we werebefore we had our presentstructure. Howevcr, there arestill some details that need to beworked out, particularly when itcomes 10 large multi-disciplinary collaborativeprograms involving a number ofdilTerent divisions.

t

Well it happened in responseto the February issue, with itslate but loud release of thenational research priorities.

And I've certainly been diningout on that exercise in recentweeks - responding to a floodof invitations to lunches anddinners with the Boards ofvarious companies. TheAustralian business communityis showing dose interest in ouranalysis. Even some grantingbodies _.- not traditionally notedfor their intercst in pushingresources to high priority arcas- are starting to get bright­eyed about our methodology.

This issue features CSIRO's65tb birthday celebrations, forwhich I made a speech and cut acake in Adelaide. I spent myfirst birthday as Chief Executivein joining the Institute Directorsfor a little jaunt at Bowral - aretreat (advance?) - at whichwe discussed the past, presentand future of the Organisation.

1 callcd on them to identifywhat they thought were themost important issues facing liS,

and to choose a handful ofthemes from these fordiscussion over our time atBowral. Now, somc of thesewere themes that have beenwith us for 65 years, and othershave evolved from ourcontinuous attempts to adapt tochanging circumstances.

And that was thc first thing wetalked about - CSIRO and itsmulti foliate reviews. CS1ROhas becn rcviewcd, revised,restructured, and reorganised.It's had its problems solved, itsbarriers dissolved, its powersdevolved, its destiny evolved,until its head revolved. There is,we might as well admit, someheavy scarring. A bit like anexperimental subject who'sbeen used for testing all the newtransplant techniques.

We had to ask ourselves what

It's not often that a staff magazine is plagued by enquiriesand pleas for extra copies from the outside world. Itcertainly hasn't happened to CoResearch in recent memory.

339-1991

EveryBody loves us(but it looks like cupboard love ... )Remember the 1988 CSIRO-pl'oduced ARCtelevision series 'The Good Food Show', withcelebrity chef Gabriel Gate?

More than likely you don't, health informatIOn, andsince it was stuck with a Interviews experts like Doctors'suicidal' time slot early on David Topping and IvorSunday mornings. Dreosti, both from the Division

In spite of that, it was of Human Nutrition.successfnl enough for the ABC There are 13 episodes in theto commiSSion our Film and series. and they're showing atVideo Centre to produce the K.OOpm on ABC TV everynutrition segments for their Thursday night.recently aired weekly series Or Topping appears in four of'EveryBody'. these episodes, talking aboutThe fll'st six episodes have how to pick the perfect

been a genuine hit. In television breakl'ast, the bene!1ts of eatingjargon they've scored between !1sh, the difference between the14 and 16 - which in English saturated and unsaturated fats inmeans they're running a close our diet, and the nutritionalsecond to the top-rating value of meat.commerctal network show for The guiding idea of thethattimeslot. segments is to cut the hype and

And the CSIRO segmelll of misinformation on health andEpisode 5 - the fnllt episode diet so often pumped out~ nearly blew the top olTthe through the media; all theABC switchboard. It was nutritional information in theseJammed lill midnight on the segments has been checked bynight of the screening, and they the Division of Humantallied up g,OOO requests for the Nutrition.recipe featured. But there is also a Project

'EveryBody' is a common- Ambassador bonus to the series:sense lifestyle program for it provides a national platformthose not necessarily interested for CSIRO scientists to talkin donning leotards and jogging about their work and its directoff to power wor!<outs at a relevance to the Australianhealth club every day. public.TheCSII~H.s~p~ents are Below is the recipe that

preset1\ed by"Gabt'ieI Gate, who launched 8,000 requests in acooks, offers no-nonsense single evening. A votre sante!

CS/80's anempt to level itsown bitof the playing field

Ms Josephine Tiddy, South Australian Commissioner for Equal Opportunity, presents the awardrecognising CSIRO's initiative in promoting greater equality to Mr Peter Langhorne, Director of

CSIRO's Corporate Services.

CSIRO has won an Equal Opportunity Award for a scholarship and trainingscheme it offers to senior secondary students who suffer from physical disabilities.

The award is one of three In the case of the Adelaide "What it comes down 10 IS

given each year by the South program, which is the onc that attracting talented staff andAustralian Commission for has attracted the award from the training them whatever theirEqual Opportunity. They arc South Australian Commission, gender, race, bclief or physicaldesigned to give public the 1990 winners will get their disability.'recognition to individuals and work experience at the Division The scholarship scheme lS notorganisations encouraging equal of Soils' Adelaide Laboratory. the only string to CSlRO'sopportunity in the community. The students are Daniel Carr equal opportunity bow. Mr

Early in In9 CSIRO initiated from Mount Gambier, who is Langhorne also drew attentionfour scholarships for disadvan- profoundly deaf, and Rodney to the Women in Sciencetaged studenb who might Russell from Mundoora. who program, now operating in allbenefit from being encouraged suffers from spina bifida. states as well as the ACT.to take up a career in science. The South Australian Female scientific and technicalThe two in Adelaide are Commissioner for Equal staff visit schools 10 try to getdesigned to encourage students Opportunity, Ms Josephine young women interested in theWitll a physical disability and an Tiddy, presented the award in study of science before theyaptitude for science to continue Adelaide on February 20. It was make final choices about theirtheir studies to Year 12. The accepted on behalf of CSIRO careers.two in TownsviJIe are awarded by the Chief Research Scientist But perhaps there is moreto Aboriginal and Tones Strait and former Offieer-in-Charge of immediate interest to presentIslander students. CSIRO is the Division of Soils' Adelaide staff in the part of the EEOnow helping eight students Laboratory Or Ken Lee, program t!lat includes theunder the four scholarships. CSIRO's national equal setting up of three child-care

The students each win a $500 opportunity ofl'ieer Ms Patrieia centres in the next few months.grant for Years II and 12, and Quinn-Boas, and the organisa- These will be sited inare given work experience at a tion's director of corporate Melbourne, Sydney andlocal CSIRO site. They arc also services Mr Peter Langhorne. Canberra. and each will haveoffered a year's full-time Mr Langhorne said, 'Our room for some 40 children ofemployment as technical approach to equal employment CSIRO slarf.assistants with CSIRO when opportunity is quite a selfish .:..:..:.Ihey finish school. one'.

~\I,I,/I~ t=:=i=:---

'TI·\fE. SELF' -5 HE"IH~'1'I\c, 'L..t.-- ;sA\lE, C'" I-., ~I ~\)r 1tlE l-\f:HRNE:,.s)L.L c..o~'T.

339-1991

CS/BD has officially turned 65. We won't be getting apensi,

(There are CSIRO pictures and clippings that are more interesting, but this selection represellts Ot

from the Argus, a now defunct but once respectablcMelbourne newspaper, of June 19, 1926 ...

Similarly, thereorganisedCommonwealthCouncil forScientific andIndustrialResearchshowingremarkable propensity to expandits highly-paid personncl. Thepiclllre of the savant noblydedicating himself to the cause ofpure science, scorning delights andliving laborious days for a rewardrcprcsented by the knowledge thathe had conferred a bencfi t onmankind does not come within theGovernmcnt's conception. Part­time members of the council arebeing substantially remunerated;the chairman, Mr. G. A. Iulius, hasbeen appointed for five years at£ 1000 a year; Mr. W. I. Newbiginand Professor A. C. D. Rivcttrcceive £500 a year cach. An offerhas sinee been made to ProfessorRivett to accept a whole-timeposition under the council. toorganise and direct the work ofresearch, with salarly of £[500. Itis understood that the salary of thesecretary (Mr. G. Lightfoot),hitherto £ lODO a year, will besubstantially augmented. Theappointment of a research director,in addition to a council ofdirectors, appears to have been anafterthought, unless it be anotherexample of the principle ofdelegation. The Governmentappoints a council: the council inturn wants an executive officer,who doubtless will engageassistants and specialists forvarious jobs.

NEW COUNCIL APPOINTED.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.

Before the House of Rcsprescntativesadjourned yesterday afternoon, the PrimeMinister CMI' Brucc) announced that the Cirst~cssiol1 of the Council for Scientific andIndustrial Research would be opened by him atthe council's offices in East Melbourne onTuesday. Mr Brucc said that the new actwhich was passed to reorganise the'-----l----­former lnstitute of Science and Industryprovidcc..l for the appointlllent of acouncil to consist of three membersnominated by the Minister ...

Pl'ime Minister's Announcement.

ALL INTERESTS REPRESENTED.

339-1991

;cially turned 65. We won't be getting a pension or reduced bus

s and clippings that are more interesting, but this selection represents ottr infancy, before we really he:ctable

t 1 V e s~ r i Jl1 e

fi <sI

; anddm atle 011

N acI

Similarly, thereorganisedCommonwealthCouncil forScientific andIndustrialResearch isshowIngremarkable propensity to expandits highly-paid personnel. ThepIcture of the savant noblydedicaling himself to the cause ofpure science, scorning del igilts andliving laborious days for a rewardrepresented by the knowledge thathe had conferred a benefit onmankind does not come within theGovernment's conception. Pan­time memhers of the eoul1cil arebeing SUbstantially remunerated;the chlllnnan, Mr, G, A, .Iulius, hasbeen appointed for five years at£1000 a year; Mr. W. .I, Newbiginand Professor A, C. D. Riveltreceive £SOO a year each. An offerhas since been made to ProfessorRivett 10 accept a whole-timepositIon under the council, toorganise and direct the work ofresearch, with salarty of £ ISOO. 11is understood that the salary of thesecretary lMr. G. LightJ'oot),hitherto £1000 a year, will besubstantially augmented. Theappointment of a research director,in addition to a counci I ofdirectors, appears to have been anafterthought, unless It he anotherexample of the principle ofdelegation. The GovernmentappollHS H cOllncil; the council inturn wants an executive officer,who doubtless will engageussifiLants and specialists for

various jobs.

from thl1926 ...

With ttall polihbenefi tmonelnrnewly Ctfor ScienResearecwork. lhappier Ithe InstillIndustryhandicalbeginnin,funds, ymuch g(council

339-1991

Institute of Science and Industry Conference, 30 May-l June 1925.

Front row from left: G. Valder (NSW), Senator]' D. Millen (Tas.), E. J. Goddard (Q'land), SirJohn Monash (Vie.), Senator R. V. Wilson, Sir George Knibbs (Vie.), Sir David Masson (Vie.),R. H. Cambage (NSW), s. s. Cameron (Vie.), Second row: B. D. 5teele (Q'land), E. J. Mulvany(Vie.), G. A. Julius (NSW), H. A. Woodruff (Vie.), E. H. Flaek (Vie.), A.E.V. Riehardson (SA),A. J. Perkins (SA), A. D. Ross (WA), H. W. Gepp (Tas.), W. R. Grimwade (Vie.), Back row:E. MaeKinnon (secretary), G. A. Cook (secretary), E. Sho11 (reporter), G. Lightfoot (Vie.), E.}.Horwood (Vie.), R. D. Watt (NSW), E. W. Skeats (Vie.), C. E. Lane-Poole (Vie.), C. S. Nathan(WA).

339-1991

In or reduced bus fares, but at least let's have apeek at the

rr infancy, before we really had anything much to report, but were inspiring a lot ofspeculatioll ... )

from the Argus, June 23,1926 ...

With the good wishes 0

all political parties and thebenefit of an adequatemonetary foundation, thenewly constituted Councilfor Scientific and IndustrialResearch has begun itswork. It sets out undehappier auspices than didthe Institute of Science andIndustry, which washandicapped from thebeginning by a paucity offunds, yet accomplishedmuch good work. Thecounci I is particularly

strong, but itwas a wiseplan to have a'mall workingxecutive on

which thescientific, thepractical, andthe businessides are all

'epresented.he field of

operationsbefore theorganisationappears to bea I m 0 s t

boundless, andit would bewell toremember Ht

the outset thatthe very nature

f its workprecludes theossibility of any swift return inard cash for the money spent.ature does not yield up her secrets

n a day. Research students havetill to be trained to carry out theast work that will be necessary,nd this is not the work of a few

weeks or months. There are boundo be shallow critics who willenounce the necessary expendituren research as a waste of money.hen the machinery works

moothly, however, and provisionas been made for Australia toenefit by the scientific research ofther Dominions as well as herwn, the material results willndoubtedly be such as to justifyhe expenditure.

SCIENCE AT FOlJRPENCE EACH

Can Australia, as n nation, afford to spend on scientific researcha sum which would provide each inhabitant with one glass ofbeer a year'! This is one way of putting the eXllenditure whichSir Frank Heath estimates as required when the scheme whichhe has recommended for the Commonwealth is in full operation.For the first year the sum of £40,000 would be spent, and for thesecond £50,000, but eventually the amount would rise to£100,000. And with the Commonwealth's present population of,roughly, 6,000,000, the sum of £100,000 is 4d a head.The truth is that Australia cannot afford not to spend

whatever is necessary within reason to encourage scientificresearch. Sir Frank Heath's proposals mny need modificationin details, and they certainly need amplification on oneimportant point, that of secnring greater publicity for theresults of scientific work. In essence, however, the proposals arewell·founded, and the eXllenditlll'e proposed is very moderate inproportion to the results which should be obtained.

339-1991

On Wednesday March 13 CSIRO's fonnel' Minister Harry Jones unveiled aportrait of CSIRO's former Chief Executive Keith Boardman. As is the CSIROtradition, money for the portrait came not from the public purse but from thepockets of some of Dr Boardman's colleagues in the Organisation. It will bedisplayed, with those of other past leaders of the Organisation, on the top floor ofthe Corporate Centre in Canberra.

Keith Boardman joinsgallery ofCS/RO leaders

You'll soon be gelling yet another lillle booklet giving you theofficial line on how you should be conducting yourself duringworking hours.

But this onc may have some real practical importance; it's aboutgeneral and specific dangers in the workplace and how to avoidthem.

It's been prepared by CSIRO's regional Health and Safetyadvisers, who have real knowledge of particular sites. and i11ey'll bedistributing copies to staff during the coming wecks.

The manual should help supervisors look after the health andsafety of the people under thcm, but more importantly il shouldteach people enough about how to work safely that they won't needlooking after.

The manual is divided into thrce main sections --• a general section, with information on legislation, CSIRO policiesand Health and Safety structures;• a specific section, with information on hazards identified within aparticular projcct. Typical entries in this section includc thermal,biological, chemical. radiation and mcchanical hazards;• a section covering local Health and Safcty requirements.

On March 13 the Division of Tropical AnimalProduction formally opened the Les Bett ResearchLaboratory at its headquarters at Indooroopilly.The laboratory was named in Blackall.honour of Mr Les Bett, a retired Or David Mahoney, Chief ofgrazier who died last August the Division of Tropical Cropshaving donated almost $3 and Pastures. said at themillion to sheep blowfly opening of the Laboratory thatresearch during his life. Mr Belt was dedicated to the

In the past five years he spent sheep industry and had decided$800,000 backing research into to back research to rid sheepa ny vaccine. producers of the blowfly

Mr Bell was formerly a part- menace, which is estimated toowner of the giant merino cost $150 million every year.property' Portland Downs I at .:..:..:.

Health and safetymanual released

New research Laboratoryhonours Les Bett

Expiry date

or $8.50on a 2_year &Ub5cr\pUOn

(normallY $34)

My name and address afe

Name

were thrust upon him. But for ashy person he was extraordinar­ily effective at networking ....

•Somehow or otherGovernment got the idea thatthe correct model for all publicinstitutions was the corporation.I'm not sure what model theyhad in mind, whether it was theBond corporation or perhapsSkase or one of the other greatentrepreneurial high-flyers ofthe 1980s, but it was decided toconvert the structure of CSIRO.

'1 do think the Organisation,having gone through that periodof trauma under Keith's verysteady leadership is stronger, isbeller placed to operateselectively. 'Ifor an account of the years ofOr Boardman's leadership ofCSlRO, sec CoResearch No.331, April 1990, pages 4 and 5.1

Address, .

Postcode

Address

Name .. .

Signature

.... PostcodeJenclose a cheque for $..... _,'.' payable

to Ecos, or charge to myD Bankcard D Maslercard

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the artist's portrait of SirWarwick Fairfax IHld been amemorable feature of the recentFour Corners program on thecollapse of the John Fairfaxcompany.

Westwood is currentlyworking on a series of portraitsof veterans of the ANZAClanding in Gallipoli which willform an important part of theNational War Memorial display.

Barry Jones spoke at somelength of the days, not longgone. when he and KeithBoardman had worked closelytogether in the cause ofAustralian science.

Mr Jones characterised OrBoardman as 'in some ways thequintessential back-roomscientist. rather uneasy in thepublic eye, not entirely happywith the leadership roles that

Arrange a giftsubscription now andthe winter issue will bedelivered with a specialcard saying who hasgiven the subscription.Or order a subscriptionfor yourself. A 25%staff discount nowapplies for personaland gift subscriptionstaken out by CSIROstaff.

CSJRO's sclence~and-the-envlronmentmagazine

Archibald Prize winner BrianWestwood spent many sessionsgetting a feel for OrBoardman \ character and thehistorical signi ficanee of his,;cientifie work beforecompleting the painting.

Or Boardman said he thoughtthe real lest of a portruit waswhether someone who hadn'tknown the subject could getfrom it some true idea ofcharacter, and sometimes thisdidn't happen for many years.

Barry Jones praised theexpertise of Brian Westwood inthis respect. 'Ji's true.' he said,'that his portrait of MaleolmFraser, which was intended forParliament House, was rejectedby the subject on the groundsthat it made him look remote,inOexible and humourless.'

But Mr Jones pointed out that

thoU:htful ECaSgiftl

339-1991

Greenbank Observatory inVirginia and the Hat CreekObservatory in California.

The CSIRO Overseas StudyAwards are intended to givestaff the chance to extend theirtraining and experience. Theyare granted annually, one eachfor the technical, trades, profes­sional (non-research) andadministmlive areas.

The awards are tenable forbetween three and six months,and up to $20,000 is provided 10

cover air fares, overseas livingallowances and tuition fees.

More infonnalion is availablefrom Ruth Lancaster of theEmployee Development Unit,on 06 2766 221.

Yov CAN ~~WFl\1<;

~/,.,L w ('rH e~CI<l.(­

TH Is ""Mt: 1"l)S;nfl:~,.. NE-IV C rlAOSTf/t::OQE.TIC-\AN, bR.F(J..Act"AI... e \..c>\.

Mr Dennis Allman, Site Services Manager at theAustralia Telescope site near' Na....abri, has won aCSIRO Overseas Study Award, one of only fourawarded each year.

The award will allow him tovisit the United States for threemonths at the end of this year,to sllldy the maintenance andoperation of telescopes similarto the Australia Telescope.

During his stay Mr Allmanwill work with his counterpartsat the Very Large AlTay, a radio­telescope near Socorro, NewMexico. It is the telescope thatmost nearly resem bIes theAustralia Telescope, whichmakes studying it a goodpractical proposition.

•As far as maintenance goes,'said Mr AlIman, 'we want ashort learning curve - this willsave us time and money.'

He will also visit the

Beam him up, Stocky!

,--------,,..........-----------------

f

There was much, much morein the same vein, and MrMcGauran wound up hisspeech, which he said was not aeulogy, by wishing CSIRO avery happy 65th birthday andexpressing confidence in itsfuture .•:.

generated a body of knowledgeof wide public benefit, particu­larly when it came to theenvironment. This was an area,he said, where it could not beexpected that industry linkageswould be easily found. Andneither could we depend onimporting solutions to ourenvironmental problems, sincethey were often specific toAustralia.

But CSIRO, he said, had along history of involvement inAustralia's agriculturalindustries and this had given itan intimate understanding ofenvironmental and climaticconditions.

'CSIRO alone,' the ShadowMinister said, 'is capable ofmarshalling the resources, thehard data and the humanexpertise to confront problemsof this kind.

'It alone is capable of buildingpractical solutions to issuessuch as land degradation,arising from years and years ofsteady deterioration.'It alone has a tradition of

scientific objectivity and goodcOl11l11onsense that makes it atrusted ally of primaryproducers and industries whoseactivities bear upon theenvironment in various ways.fts work on land care and waterresources therefore are at theforefront of public policy inrespect of the goal ofsustainable development.

'The CSIRO will be theresearch agency to whichgovernments will look toestablish baseline environmen­tal data upon which policy willbe built.

'The organisation willcontinue to play the role ofumpire between combatants inthe debate betweendevelopment and conservation- although we know that itshould really be a debate overdevelopment and conservation,as neither objective is mutuallyexclusive. This is whygovernment Ministers queue upto avail themselves of CSIRO'sresearch capabilities.

'CSIRO's role in this regard isset to become even morecritical. I

t Ir

prices in international markets.'lts efforts to control cattle

poisoning from plants andmicro-organisms alone havesaved producers $100 millionannually.

'CSIRO's entomological andplant industry researchprograms have devised newways of reducing the threats to

primary industries posed byinsects and other pests withoutrecourse to the application ofchemicals.

'CSIRO has increasinglyturned to assisting fanners toovercome problems associatedwith land degradation and soilsalination and acidification.CSIRO's land and water careresearch programs are designedto prov ide farmers wi thpractical land managemelltstrategies which retain farmproductivity whilst preservingand improving (he quality ofsoils. I

Mr McGauran praised CSIROfor managing to balancecommercial imperatives withstrategic objectives. 'Thisbalancing act,' he said, 'oftendelicate, consumes much of thetime of CSIRO's leaders and, Imight add, legislators. Much ofthe debate about the futuredirections of CSfRO centres onthis vcry point.

'In a nutshell, the debate is: towhat extent should we requireCS1RO to maintain a body ofknowledge upon which it andother researchers in Australiacan draw, whilst at the sametime tailoring its research totake up commercial opportuni­ties?'In recent times, under the

strong and imaginativeleadership of the ChiefExecutive, Or John Stocker, Iam confident that this balancehas been about right.

'CSIRO has demonstrated itsfierce detennination to be at thecutting edge of science andtechnology. The organisationdoes not complacently shufflealong, like so many othergovernment businessenterprises, arrogantly assumingthe taxpayer will fund itsexistence come what may.

McGauran said CSIRO

,lIIIl

II

The occasion of the speechwas CSIRO's celebration of its65th birthday at sites aroundAustralia. (Note: there arevarious views on the question ofwhen CSIRO's was 'born', andMarch 16 1926 isn't amongthem. The chosen 'birthday' isin fact a composite of a date in1916 when Billy Hughes set upa 35-member Advisory Councilof Science and Industry, and theyear when the Council forScientific and IndustrialResearch (CSIR) held its firstofficial meeting.)

Mr McGauran told the Housethat CSIRO was 'pivotal to theenvironmental debate' since theidea of sustainable developmentcould be made a reality onlythrough the application ofscientific knowledge. Hementioned as examplesCSIRO's recent work on plasmaarc technology, the Airtrakpollution detection system andresearch on factors affectingclimate.

The work of CSIRO was also,he said, 'integral to lifting thecompetitiveness of Australianindustry', citing Sirospun,which he said had 'revolu­tionised the production of finequality woollen yarn and halvedthe cost of conventionalprocesses 1 •

Mr McGauran went on topraisc CSIRO's agriculturalwork. 'I do so unashamedly,' hesaid, 'particularly given thevery proud and long associationbetween the former CountryParty, but now National Party,and the CSIRO.'

'CSIRO's efforts,' he said,'have been instrumental inboosting the efficiency of plantand animal production in therural sector.

'The organisation has led theworld in developing new cropstrains which arc diseaseresistant and capable offlourishing in what were oncethought to be hostile environ­mental conditions.

'CSIRO's genetic engineeringresearch programs also serve toproduce livestock which arehighly fertile, less prone toenvironmental stress andcapable of commanding higher

Shadow Science Minister Peter McGaurandelivered a long speech in praise of CSIRO tothe Federal House of Representatives onThesday March 12, calling us 'a great organi­sation' that all Australians could be proud of.'The future of CSIRO is secure,' he said.

339-1991

Above. Margie Enfield. Corporate Centre's Head Librarian. and Brian England, until recently JohnStoeker's Executive Assistant. jointly cut the first slice of CSIRO's 65th birthday cake, one of manybeing cut on Friday March 15 at sites aroond Australia, Or Stocker, CS1RO's Chief Executive,performed the ceremonial slicing in Adelaide. Ms Enfield and Dr England wcre asked to cut

CS[RO's Canberra cake because they too were celebrating their birthdays on that day.

Happy birthday to you, andyou, and you ...Ten years hard CSIRO turns 65, all over

March 16 was not only the 65th birthday of CSIRO,but Dr Angus McEwan's tenth anniversary as Chiefof the Division of Oceanography in Hobart. On theaftemoon of the 15th, a Friday, staff of the Divisiongathered to celebrate both events.

Chris Fandry, Assistant Chief of the Division, delivered atoasting speech. He recalled the moment ten years back whenAngus McEwan had nrst encouutered his 25 disillusioned staff,just fonned into a Division in their own right and facingrelocation from Sydney to Hoblll·t.

On top of the rapid-fire reviewing and restmcturing assaultthat CSIRO as a whole has weathered in the past decade, hepointed out, the Division of Oceanography had had to establisha new identity in a new physical environment.

The fact that the lOO-strong Division was now a coherent,progressive community must, he remarked, reflect on thatdecade's leadershil).

Gut hard upon these gentle words another scientist, thinlydisguised in laurel garland and plastic sword, leapt to centrestage, declaiming that the day was the [des of March, when'only brave or foolish leaders would dare to call their colleaguestogether-

Editor of CSIRO magazine Thc Helix, David Sail. prepares the coming-of-age edition

with it. and is now a leader inits rield. It has a circulatIOn of30,000. going oUI la clubmembers. science teacher~ andhigh schools all ovcr Australia.The magazine involves its

readers in experiments andoffcrs an endless source ofprojects and avcnues of investi­galion. It makes a [Joint, too, ofshowing its young readers thewealth of possibilitics for acareer in science.•:.

grown to become a real force inscience education, wilhmembership now lopping14,000.

As the of1'icial mouth-piece ofthe club, The Helix has grown

Spiralling in on maturity?

Break out the non-alcoholic champagne! Let therafters ring till 8 pm. Roll out the platicised redcarpet! With its most recent edition CSIRO'smagazine for science-minded kids, The Helix, tums21. Issues that is, not years. It's five years old, andwalking tall.

To cclebrate its coming of ageThe Helix has taken on a bolderand brighter image, going alloul for visual impact, withevery page in full colour, andmany full to blinding, just theway kids Iike it.

The Helix is a brainchild ofCSIRO's Education Programsunit. They figure if Australia is10 become lhe clever county it'sgoing to need a clever, science­literate population, They'vebeen cultivating that literacywith a range of programs aimedat getting kids into science, andscience into our day-to-dayconversation.

Five years ago they started upthe Double Helix Science Club,and since then the club has

Friends, CsiRomans, countrymen, lend me your ears,I come to IJlII:V Caesar, not to praise him.The sciellce that mell do lives aiter them,

Sciellce mallagement is best illterred with their bOlles ... '

Above. Chicf of the Division of Oceanography, Or AngusMcEwan. displays heroic contempt for the infamous Ides of March

Or McEwan confided that his initial hope as Chief has beenthat he might have more contl"Ol over his time, to create moreopportunity to do his own science.

339-1991

CS I RO

within the earth's crust.including earthquakes.Dr Shirley .!cl'l'rey, marinebiologist at the Division ofFisheries. Or Jeffrey has gainedinternational eminence with herinnovative studies or a type ofchlorophyll, called chlorophyllC, in ocean algae. Shedeveloped new methods, asingchromatography, to detectchlorophyll C, which haverevolutionised measurements ofthe distribution or algae inoceanography.

The other new Fellows of theAcademy are Or lan Mackay, aPrincipal Scientist at the Centreror Molecular Biology andMedicine at Monash University;Or Stjepan Marcelja, a ScniorFellow at the Department orApplied Mathematics at theAustralian National University;Professor Georfrey Thorburn.an Associate Dean of tbeFaculty of Medicine at MonashUniversity; Or GeoffreyWatterson, a Reader inMathematics a,t. MonashUniversity; and Professllr JllhnWhite of the Research Stl1llo1of Chemistry at the AustraiJanNational University.

The Academy also electedfour new Fellows [0 lisgoverning council 0" 16, sec

page 2 - Academy COUlh'jl. •:.

newspapers t a f fAUS T RAt lA

CSIRO supplies fournew Academy FellowsFour of the nine new Fellows elected to theAustralian Academy of Science are f'l'Om CSIRO.

A/Jove, Dr Adrielllll' Clarke, Memher (~f' the CS/NO Board.Director of the Plant Cell Biology Research Celltre at theUniversity of'MeI/Jourlle, alld now Fellow of the Australiall

Academy r!f'Sciellce.

The new Fellows. listed below,were elected at the latestAnnual General Meeting of theAcademy, held in Canberra onMay 2.Professor Adl'icnnc Clarllc,CSIRO Board Member andDirector of the Plant CellBiology Research Centre at theUniversity of Melbourne.Professor Clarke has beell apioneer in the understanding ofcell biology in plants, with earlywork in medical researchincluding isolation of the pollenallergens in rye grass. Shegained world-wide atrention in1986 with a series 01discoveries on cell self­incompatibility in plants.))1' Peter Hannaford, ChiclResearch Scientist at theDivision of Materials Scienceand Teehnol()gy. DrHannafm:d's contributions to thefield of atomic speelroscopy areinternationally recognised. Hiswork has made possible muchmore accurate measurement ofIhe abunclance of severalelements in slars.Dr llruce HolJlJs, Chief of theDivision of Geomeehanics. OrHobbs IS Australia's mostpromLnent structural geologistand has performed innovativeresearch and development workon the causes 01 rockdeformation and movement

'sCS I R 0

More Oil the project Oil page 6.

obtain a clearer, more detailedpicture of the universe.

VLBI uses radio telescopesspread across the continent oracross the world, 'linking' themtogether to form the equivalentof a single giant radio telescopcmany thousands of kilometresacross. This is done with high­speed tape recorders and atomicclocks.

In order to 'sce' with helterand better detail you need 10 goto shorter and shorter radiowavelengths and longer andlonger distances between thetelescopes.

But there \ a limit to that, asthe earth is only 12,000kilometres in diameter.

So you need to get a radiotelescope into space. And that'swhat's happening withRadioastron and VSOP.

The Soviet space telescopewill fly very high - 80,OOOkm- to get the highest possibleresolution, while the Japaneseone will only go to 30,OOOkm.

radio telescopes are crucial.Australia will be providing

CSIRO\ Australia Telescope. anew antcnna at Tidbinbilla nearCanberra, a Tasmanian antennarun by the University of Hobart,and possihly some of OTC\antennas near Perth.

As well as that, Australiancompanies - British AerospaceAustralia. and Mitee .- arebuilding one of the datareceivers for the Radioastronsatellite, giving them the chanceto show that they can producehardware fit ror space lIse.

The technique involved in thenew venture is called VLI3I, orvery long baseline interferome­try, which offers the highangular rcsolution needed to

May 1991

The two projec!s areRadioastron, co-ordinated bythe USSR. and VSOP, a.Japanese project. Australia istaking part 111 both.

The orhiting telescopes willlink up with earth-based radio­telescopes to produce telescopicnetworks much more powerfulthan anyone of thc telescopesllsed alone.

The networks will be able togenerate images hundreds. oreven thousands, of times belterthan those the Hubble SpaceTelescope was to produce.

The pictures will be ofespecially active and inlerestinggalaxies. Since many or thesecan only he seen Irom thesouthern hemisphere. Australian

Above, astronomers FOn! space satellitenlissilJnsllll;tmaymdically chl/llge our of ol~iects and events IIJspacehundreds of times superior In the backgi"ound are, centre,Dr Sel:~ey SI'IIeinl11an, of the and right, Dr Atanislav Glazov, of the Space DeviceCOIj10rtltwn, hoth in the VSS/? In the .f{lregmund, l~fi to I'Ight, Dr Nikolay Nikolaev, Dr NikolayKilrd", hev, and Or Leonid Gurviz, all of the Astm Space Centre, USSR ACildemy rJ{ Sciences, illMoscow, fJr /)(/I'id )iluncey, Australia Telescope National Faciliry, and Dr Dirk Colonna, the NASArel'resentalll'e In Australia. The picture "vas Taken at Tidhinbilla, hy CSINO's lohn Masterson, while

!he group l'vere touring Australia's telescopefaci/fries.

During the week from April 22-26 more than 80representatives f.'om space agencies in a dozencountries, including the USSR, Japan, Sweden andGermany, gathered at the CSIRO Division ofRadiophysics Laboratory at Marsfield in Sydney.The meeting was for detailed discussion of twointernational pl"Ojects to put radio telescopes intoorbit in the mid-1990s.

NO.340

Australia to play key role infinddingarytnsw

h_er to I,·ft?,:~,~~~an eve Ing ..t·,,-"l.,~;s·- I

11MAY1991 I{Well, the universe, anyway.C~-_-J

340##1991

With ambassadors like these, howcan we lose?

John Stock er helps denude a se!t:shearing sheep at the RoyalEaster Show in Sydney. Photo by Louise Lockle.\', Division (~t'

Bio!Jlo!ecu!ar Engineering.

This month's column is going to be so much a matterof rapid-fire pats on the bacl. to CSlRO staff thatI've already booked a session with my doctor foradvice un handling the excruciating bout of RSI Iknow must follow.

with the CSIRO Board notthrough intermediaries, butface-to- face.The new sub-committee has

already set itself some tasks,among them writing an articlefor CoResear,.h readers on theimplications of the recentpriority-setting exercise.working oul a clear CSIROpolicy and strategy on internalcommunication, and makingsure that all stalT trainingcourses inelude something oncommunication skil"'.

democracy in CSIRO.The Council is no longer

dealing merely with the day-to­day slaff issues that have madeup its traditional bailiwick, butwith major issues in theOrganisation.

The Council now has threesub-committees, one dealingwith training and development.one with human resourcespolicy, and one with organisa­tional policy and communica­tion. It is the last of these threethat otTers the most excitingdeparture from tradition,opening, as its name suggests, anew and mllch wider field ofoperation to the Council. Peoplethroughout the Organisation cannow have a voice in thedecisions or a very high-levelcommittee. And one that deals

Another important event thattook place during my visit toHobart was the latest meeting ofCSIRO's Consultative Council,whieb J have the privilege tochair.

The Consultative Council isCSJRO's main forum forconsultation betweenmanagement and staff, and atthis meeting J was able tooversee some major changes toits structure. These changes arenot merely administrative. Theyconstitute, I think, a completechange or direction, and willmove the Council towardsbecoming 111uch morepowerful voice for industrial

And there's another group inCSJRO which, though 1 couldhardly call them unsung,usually attract dirty dillies!

I recently spent some timewith Peter Langhorne and thesenior staff or the CorporateServices Department at theirannual planning session. Ourmain job was to work throughthe Department's objectives fDrthe coming year. and or coursewe also looked back over therecent past.

One of the real difficulties forcentral groups in all organisa­tion like ours is that the valuethey add is often not readilyvisible from the decentralisedunits. One of the points Iimpressed on Peter and his stafTwas that they must work outbetter ways to tell the organisa­tion what they do, why, andhow much it costs. It's fine tobe the quiet aehievers, but don'tbe totally inaudible.

Over the past year there havebeen several achievements fromCorporate Services, I think, thathave fallen welf within theaudible range. The mostimportant has been awardrestructuring, which hasrestored CSlRO to a position ofpre-eminence amongst researchemployers.

Then there were some newapproaches to the investment ofexternal earnings, which haveenabled Divisions to earn up to$1 million extra last financialyear, the helpful new CSIROData Book, the CSIROResearch Leadership courses,the installation of a newmainframe computer service losupport our managementinformation services, and theprovision of streamlined anduseable financial informationfor the Executive Committeeand Board.

So although I am on record assupporting administrationbashing as a natural and healthyacilivity for every red-bloodedscientist, J must also declare areal sense of admiration for theachievements of Peter and histeam in the past year.

think open days also play quiteall important role in internalcommunication. If you have toget your story in good enoughsbape for presentation to theotl(side worJ~,it.will also beclearer to your colleagues, andmaybe even to yourself. I knowI've often found it so.

Another recent blow struck forjustice (to CSIRO) was ourstand at the Royal Easter Showin Sydney, stage-managed byPatrick O'Neill with bell' from.Iill Wilson, the State Co­ordinator of CSIRO EducationPrograms, Gary Lewis, also ofEducation Programs, and a hostof helpers from the DoubleHelix Club and staff from allaround the Organisation. Thiswas a smaller display, of course,but it really seemed to me toform the most visible andenticing exhibit in theTechnology Pavilion. If theproof of that pudding is in theeating, J can report a lot of loudlip-smacking, panicularlyamongst the generation that wi 11provide our future funders.

Speaking or I'uture funders,and future scientists, too, J alsohad a chance in Hobart tobreakfast with an unsung butremarkably effective group ­the people who run the CSIROScience Education Centres inthe various States. I think theseCentres arc one 01' our mostimportant interfaces with theAus!njlian public, and I sawtremendous advantages in themanagers' laking theopportunity to get together andcompare notes.

The first two salvos of back­palling go to separate groups ofCSIRO staff with whom I'vejust had deal ings in Hobart. Thefirst is all those staff who arehcl ping with ProjectAmhassador, in particular therecent Hobart Open Days, andthe second is the Managers ofour Science Education Centres.

The Open Days, presented atour Marine Laboratories, werethe great public event of myHobart visit, ami J must say Iwas very impressed.

Apart from withstanding theonslaught of I,SOO schoolchildren -- and withstanding itwith grace and fortitude - theCSIRO stalT were bursting withenthusiasm for the cvent. Thisglowcd very brightly in thevarious 'show-and-tell'exchangcs. but not only there.It sbone through also in thecarel'ul preparations they hadmade to make sure the workwas shown in the moststimulating and exciting way,and with demonstratedrelevancc to issucs orimportance to Australia.

These Open Days - togctherwith what I saw of Biota latelast year - have convinced methat the enormous amount ortime and erfort it takes to set upsuch events is time and effortwell spent I'or CSIRO.

I heard from quite a fewpeople within CSIRO, somefrom the Marine Labs and somenot, that it bad been their firstreal chance to gel an overviewof the work done io variousparts of the laboratory, so I

340-1991

Letters to the Editor Warming up the wool market

The CS1RO people involved inthe basic research behindCIBAFAST W were Dr NeilEvans (now at the WoolCorporation), Mr lan Leaver(Division 01' Wool Technology,Melbourne Laboratory), MsJudi Rosevear (retired), MrPeter Waters (Leather ResearchCentre, Clayton) and Dr JackWilshire (Division ofB iomolecular Engineering l.Contribntions were also madeby Mr Leo Ho\!, Dr RobMarshall, Dr Brian MilIigan(retired) and Mrs JennySaunders (Division of WoolTechnology, MelbourneLaboratory.•:.

and, three years later, set up ajoint testing program withCIBA-GE1GY (Switzerland) toidentify which would be themore suitable for commercialexploitation.

The Australian launch of thenew product, held at theheadquarters of tbe AustralianWool Corporation, was allendedby representatives of CSIRO,the Wool Corporation, CIBA­GEIGY and tbe transport.textile and chemical industries.

Celebrating the Australian launch (d' C/BAFAST W althe Australian Wool CO/poralion headquarTers.left to rig hI, Erwin Brenzik'!f"r, Divisional Mana8er. C/BA-GEfGY, SruarT McDiarmid, BusinessManager, Wool and Carpets, CIBA-GEfGY, and /an Leaver, Principal Research Scientisl, CS/fIO

Division ,~rWo(}1 Technology, Melbourne Lal",ratol)'.

On February 19 a new wool product was launched byCIBA-GEIGY Australia Ltd. It is the final outcomeof J'esearch begun in 1977 by CSIRO's Division ofProtein Chemistry.The product is calledClBAFAST W, and it is nninnovative compound thatpromises to pep up our ailingwool market by making woolmorc colourfast and resistant tothe effects of light.

Of the 40-odd compoundsCSIRO synthesised and tested,two showcd promisc.

At this point, in 1984, theInternational Wool Secretariattook on the commercialassessment of these compounds,

•ACT

/ had my answer all ready forMr Fennessy when he spoiled itby writing again to let me knowhe had already found out what fwa.\· going 10 lell him' fn caseothers are il1leresled, ProfessorBoris Schedvin is working onthe second volume ofhis historyof CS/RO. The period 10 becovered is still underdiscussion, bUI al the momentlooks like being Fom /949 10

/976.-Ed.

•TAS

Dear Editor,Recent issues of CoResearchannounced the demlSe of theDSIR in New Zealand and alsothe 65th birthday of CSIRO onMarch 16.

I hope the passing of CSIRO isnot imminent. Such a sad eventwould be more likely to bedeferred indefinitely if thepublic at large could get abetler, perspective view ofCSIRO's many achievementsover many years. Some or themstill continue to bave a majorinfluence on the economy ofAustralia.

Moreover, present and formerstaff of CSIRO interested intaking an active role in ProjectAmbassador la promote CSIROas an organisation vital toAustralia would be better ableto do that if they had easieraccess to a perspective view of

Dear Editor, even exacerbating this bias (seeCSIRO scorcs 15 out of 15 diagram below).CRCs, but Western A ustralia The history of poor fundingscores none. This should come bears little relation to economicas no surprise as, historically, productivity, as the WesternWA has been a very poor cousin Australian economy provided,in thc distribution 01 in 1988-89, 20.4% ofCommonwealth research Australia's foreign exports ($8.9monics. Despite having 10% of hillion), 16.1% of Australia'sAustralia's population, Western agricultural output ($3.7 billion)Australia receives only 4.1 % of and 25% of Australia's mineral,Commonwealth funding for R oil and gas output ($6.3 billion)& D and 4% of CSIRO's staff. and 7% of manufacturing output

In comparison with Western ($9.4 billion). WA contributesAustralia, which received in positively to Australia's foreign1988-89 $22.30 per capita of trade, consuming 7.6'Jlo ofCommonwealth R & D funding, Australia's imports ($3.6South Australia received billion) but producing 20.4% of$79. I 0, Tasmania $90.10, our exports ($8.9 billion), whichNorthern Territory $75.30 and is in contrast to Australia'sthe ACT $475.80. Queensland overall trade deficit. There arereceived less at $21.70 per urgent needs for research tocapita but has ncarly twice the sustain this economicpopulation of WA and is less performance, if WA is not toisolated from the main intellec- end up as the dust bowl oftual centres. Australia. CSIRO and the

This lack of funding has over Commonwealth Governmentthe years led to a serious loss 01 should act now to redress rathertalent and a lack of the than entrench past fundingprominent scientists required by ll1eqUlties.the CRC committee for a Richard Smithsuccessful subml"ion. The Division of ExplorationeRe proce~s confirms or is Geosciencez Federal per capita R& D Funding and eRe successQ co-

~:::>n.

a:>LL

O'D_B::J~Ltwn.

<3-.:t­Lto..J:::>LL

gjw8 C\l_

1il • SA~ • VIC

~ OLD e. NSW

~ o-L.,-_e_W"'A_,- -. -,r- .- ...-Jrt I I

100 200 300 400 500FEDERAL R & D 1988-89 ($ PER CAPITA)

the Organisation's history, ethosand achievements.

When then can we expect tosee a published history ofCSIRO to complement C.B.Schedvin's 'Shaping Scienceand Industry' - the history 01CSIR from 1926 to 1949'1

Bunny FennessyBraddon, ACT

[formerly of CSIROj

340-1991

Caption competition time!

RunnerS-lipLaurie Noyes,from the Division (!!,Geomeclllwics - 'Selld himback for another roulld, but this time dOIl't let him drillk thetot.'Pllul Daniel, Division of Water Resource.1 - 'Ah!Re!,reshmeJlts. Thallk yOIl, Simoll. Milld in Ily the red?'Doug MUne, Australia Telescope National Facility - 'WouldyOIl care for a glass of Ihe corporate punch ,'ir? 'Colill Wrigley, Divisioll of ptalll bulllstlY - 'I know it's goodbasic research, but I don 'I thillk there's 11 market for titalliumice~cream cones. '- allll IIU UI~!,ortllllately "nollymous elltry totally d!tferent

Fom all the rest - 'Well, IIIlIybe with tl padded seat!'

Now Ily yo"I' halld at the oue below ...

Nearly everyone responded alcoholically to therequest in CoResearch No. 335 for a captio/l to tileabolJe photograph of .'limon Crean, De/lnis Cooperand Trevor Bird, with feed/wrns ./fIr AUSSAT B, atthe Division (~t' Radiophysics site at Mar5:tield. Thewin/ler is Jell Kingwell, (~t' COSSA, with 'OK, who'sthe fool who stapled the wine goblets to the cheesetray?'

• •I I

April, on. The year went by and there was no further whisper of it. No announcement withiu the schoolof a possible glitteriog pnze. Cynically, we assumed that if the promise was Implemented it would bejust in tunc for the next election.

Come October, I happened to be in conversation with the headmaster. Had he heard of aCommonwealth award for achievement in Year 12? Never. Did not remember the election promise. Onewould have thought that there might have been a slight professional responsibility to keep track of suchthings, but no malter.

Deeember. The total blank made me write to the local federal member. the Hon. E. Lindsay. to find outwhether I had been hallucinating on the whole thing. Prompt reply. enquiry passed on to John Dawkins'office. Fair enough.

8 March 1990. It was the 1990 federal election campaign, but in North Queensland we were moreconscious of Cyclone Aivu hanging around. However. the whole family happened to be WIthin sight orsound of the TV when the PM delivered the government's education policy. There was talk of the'clever country'. Fair enough, long overdue. Then (What was that? Did you hear that?) a specificpromise to introduce a prize for Year 12 students. A $2,000.00 prize, no less. and 500 of themthroughout Australia. With one of the family looking to perform creditably in Year 12, here wassomething of more immediate interest than onc expected.

This month's opinion comes j1'om Dr Brian Lowry, a Principal Research Scientistwith the Division (~t' Tropical Animal Production in Townsville.

Of late the phrase 'clever country' has been invoked fairly frequently in newsconcerning CSIRO. I have been quite interested in its application in anotherarea, but one in which it seems we have a long way to go. The experience is bestrecounted in diary form.

End of sehool year. speech night. Lots of talk of achievement bm recognition of winners has to beegalitarian, so there is nothing as abrasive as naming the top academic performance, although theydon't mind naming a Student of the Year based on social criteria. No mention of the Commonwealthmaybe recognising the top pelformers. that year or in the future.

The TE scorcs come in, each released as a secret triumph, or otherwise, as the the case may be. Nopublishing a list of the 990s. Maybe it would make the others fee.1 bad.

Early February, 1991. Reply from Minister Dawkins office, via Hon. Lindsay. It seems wc were nothallucmating. The award exists and is called the Australian Students Prize. There are indeed to be sonpriles worth $2,000.00 each. Not only does it exist, but it is being implemented for the previous 1990school year. They arc consulting with each state on the results from 1990. Winners expected to hedecided in March.

One calls up the headmaster again. What is happening? What inputs have tlley had? Total blank. withschool and education department locally. Someone vaguely remembers a circular last year (Who filedit" Where did it go?) but anyway no onc takes any notice of election promises. Does this mean NQstudents arc not in the draw? At least in a lottery you know whether you arc in it or not.

April, 1991. The ASP takes on more tangible existence with a nice letter from Mr Dawkins 10 the ex­Year 12 membcr of the family. How many of the 500 letters have arrived a a total surprise 10 thereCipients? It seems Ihere is to be an official launching and presentation in Canberra next week.

The week passes. The only news in the media concerning Mr Dawkins is obsessive analysis ofsomething he might have said that might mean a cabinet rift and which will be forgotten by ti,e timeanyone reads this. A substantial initiative in education. the surprise and delight of the SOO top students,perhaps the slart of a new trend towards rewarding achievement - not a whisper of that. One assumesthe presentation did indeed take place but have no way of knowing.

Wednesday 10 April. The Australian publishes the names, all SOO of them, in a solid block ofmIcroscopic print with no explanation or accompanying story.

So far the school has not told this year's Grade 12 of the existence of the award.I am totally bafned.First, by the apparent failure of many individuals with a potential direct interest to follow up a speeineelection promise. Second, the apparent indifference or ignorance of the teachers and schools. Third, bylack of press enquiry or reporting on this initiative, even after the event. Arc there anti-elitist altitudesthat have contributed to the apparent silence on the award? Is not this something for the press toinvestigate? Or is the obsession with doom and gloom on the economy such that the media do not wantgood news?

Photo by Louise Lockley, Division o( IJioll1o!ecn!ar Engineering

340-1991

progress towards thedevelopment or the cenlre, Itwould. he said. stimulateeducation, research, productdevelopment, marketing skillsand commercial applicationsthat would not only support theindustry here 111 Australia butwould also capture 1I11crnalionalmarkets,

The development follows on amemorandum of understandingsigned in 1988 by the Premicrof Western Australia and theChairman of CSIRO.

Cabinet has now approvedfunding of $280,000 to pay fordetailed design drawings forcontruclion tenders, Thehudding program will costaround $5.5 million, but shouldyield a commercial rClLlm fromtenants' rents ovcr an 1H-yearperiod.·:·

Above, Federal Ministel fil/' Science and Technology, Si/71on Crall/, has a go at SO/71e not-so-re/71otesel/sing, The picture was taken by Can] Brown of the Division qiPlant Indllstry dllrillg the Mil1lster'svI"it to that Division on Al'ril8. L~fi to right, Dr AI/all Green, Richard Eckerslev, Mr Crean, Dr JohnBegg alld Dr Jim Peacock, Chief' oj'the Division. Mr Cram ;.1' sniffing Linola ,;il, and holding in hishand some Lino/a seeds.

'Unola' is the trademark lUll/le fill' a new top-grade polyunsaturated edihle oil with worldwidepotential, evolved /'y Plallt Industry researchers f1'om the un,~/a/71orous industrial product, linseed oil.

Prodllcts made with Unola should start appearing on supermarket shelves in early 1993,

On April 21 CSIRO's Chairman, Neville Wl'an,announced the appointment of Dr Don Gibson asChief Executive of Sirotech Limited. Or Gibson willtal,e up his appointment on June 11 this year.Sirotech Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of CSlRO, Itsfunction is to help with the transfer of the Organisation's researchresults to industry.

'The appointment of Or Gibson as Chief Executive completes aprogram of restructuring which has seen the Boards of Sirotech andCSIRO merged and the activities of Sirotech and CSIRO moreclosely integrated: Mr Wran said.

In making the announcement Mr Wran said that Or Gibson. who iscurrently Chief of the Division of Building, Construction andEngineering, will bring to the position extensive experience inresearch management and an excellent background in the successfultransfer of technology to industry. Or Gibson will become amember of the CSlRO Executive Committee chaired by CSIRO'sChief Executive Dr John Stocker.-:·

Gibson to head Sirotech

Well, Westem AustJ'alia didn't score in the CRCstakes this time round, but CSIRO's Division ofExploration Geoscience is set to be a major player ina new scientific initiative in that State nevertheless.West AustralulI1 deputy premier fisheries and land and environ-Ian Taylor announced that menta! management,' he said.Cabinet has given the go-ahead 'The establishment of theto a detailed planning and Remote Sensing Industrydesign study for the estabJish- Development and EducationI11cnl of a remote sensing centre Centre wi It pray ide anin conjunction with CSIRO -~ opportunity for industry to co-the Western Australian Remote locate with CSIRO at its FloreatSensing Industry Development Park Laboratories and takeand Education Centre, or advantage of the substantialWARSlDEC'. commercial oppurtunities in

Mr Taylor said that Western remote sensing in Australia andAustralia was tooling lip to overseas.exploit the multi-million-dollar 'By 1994, the world marketworld market for rell10te for remote sensing is estimated.sensing products. to be worth $2.6 billion.'

'Sophisticate(\ remote sensing Federal Minister of Seiencctechnology has been vital for and Technology, Simon Crean,mllleral exploration, agriculture, said he was delighted with the

AMRAD and Glaxo (Australia)have representatives on the BRIBoard, which is made up ofleading members of the medicalresearch and industrialcommulllties.

Or Colman, who JoinedCSIRO in 1978, is an interna­tionally renowned expcrt in thefield of protein structure. Hereceived his doctorate from thcUniversity of Adelaide in 1969,and worked in America andGermany before returning toAustralia, From there on his listof credits is impressive.

He won the inauguralFrederick White Prize of theAustralian Academy of Sciencein 1984, the inaugural CSlROMedal for ResearchAchievement in 1985 and theRoyal Society of Victoria Medalin 1986, In 1988 he was theLemberg Medallist and Lecturerof the Australian BiochemicalSociety and in 1989 was electeda Fcllow of the AustralianAcademy of Science.

As Chief of the Division ofBiomolceular Engineering heleads a group of about 180 staffin laboratories in Parkville andNorth Ryde. The Divisionstudies molecular structure andfunction in biological systems,exploiting those aspects that arerelevant to the development ofAustralian pharmacelltical,health-care, and biotechnology­based inclllstries .•:.

PholO by Leolla Monarch, D,vIsion "tBioTllolecular Engineering

The BRl is a Joint initiative ofCSIRO and the StrategicResearch FoundatIon, a bodyfunded by the VictorianGovernment. lt IS structured andmanaged as an independentresearch institute but is preparedto make its facilities availahle toother research institut.ions, andto the private sector, throughcollaborati vc projects,

The Institule's first target willbe the pharmaceutical andhealth-care industries. It willprovide state-or-the-art fad Iitiesfor making images of macru­molecules like proteins, virusparticles and gencs. This willhelp SCIentists determine therelationship between structureand runction in biologicalsystems.

This information can Lhen beused in the rational design ofpharmaceuticals and biologicalcontrol products,

In the early stages researchwill focus on the discovery ofnovel nnti-viral compoundsthrough the investigation orvirus biology and structure,

Part or the BRI's strategy rorcommercialising the scienceand technology it develops is toforge agreements witll industrialpartners who are able tomaximise returns to theAustralian economy, Alreadythe Institute has establishedcommercial relationships withinthe pharmaceutical industry, and

Dr Peter Colmllil has been appointed Director of thenewly formed BiomolecuJar Research Institute. OrColmlln, who is the Chief of the CSIRO Division ofBiomoJecular Engineering, has been the InterimDirector of the BRI since its formation in late 1989.

Co/man and BRI WARSIDEC gets the green lightmake it official

340-1991

Page 1 carries a brief account of a recent international meeting held in Sydney todecide details of the Radioastron and VSOP space satellite missio/ls. Since this isgenuine world science, CoResearch thought readers might be interested ill howsome of the scientists themselves felt about the initiative, and did a bit of a ring­around to find out. 011 the whole, they're thrilled at the prospect.

10 years agoFrom the Chairman - A regulat' column

by the Chairman ofCSIRO Dr. J. Paul Wild

The official title of the Razor Gang's activities is the Review ofCommonweallh Functions, The Government's decisions based inthis rcview werc announced by the Prime Minister on April 30th,

The most serious consequences for CSIRO are that we share in theacross-the-board decisions to cut staff ceilings by about 2% Ca cutof 132 positiom in our case) and to limit next year's operatingfunds to the same money amount as this year (i,e, a real cut of10-12%) unless special arguments can be given. The politicalclimate is such that no amount of protest, argument or lobbying willalter these decisions which have been made with a kind ofevangelical fervour based on political conviction and ideology.'

- CoReseal'cll No. 240, May 1981

%0 years ago'It is a tmism to say that we are living in a world ofchange. But in no area has this statement greatervalidity than in science and technology, where everyadvance contains within itself the seed of furtherchange,' the Chairman, Dr J. R. Price, said inMelbourne last month.Dr Pnce was addressing the Royal Society of Victoria on the role ofCSIRO in the seventies.

'But,' Or Price said, 'I believe that wc must bc able to changedirection rapidly when the pressure is on - that is to say when achange in public needs which can be met in part or in whole byscientific effort becomes evidcnt.

'This is not to suggest a capricious will-o-the-wisp pattern ofresearch but rather a quicker recugnition of those areas wherescience and technology can help, followed by a re-allocation ofpriorities and thus, a readier deployment of resources to those areas,

'The pattern of research you will see in CSIRO will be verydifferent by the time this decade is over.

'Consequently, I can say with cunfidence that the seventies will seethe growing importance in CSIRO of research for the mineralsindustry.

'But the real challenges facing Australia today are the numeruusaspects of what we call environmental quality.'

- CoReseal'ch No. 146, May 1971

30 years agoSir David Rivett, formerly Chairman of the Councilfor Scientific and Industrial Research, died on 1stApdl, 1961, after a long illness. The Prime Minister,Mr. Menzies, on hearing of his death said "DavidRivett was one of the great Australians of our time.He combined an absolute first-class mind and greatscientific attainments with a generous outlook and aquiet but pervading enthusiasm. Scientific researchin Australia owes a great deal to him."Sir David was born on 4th December, 1885, at Port Esperance,Tasmania, and was educated lit Wesley College, Melbourne lIndat the University of Melbourne, He was Victorian RhodesScholar for 1907.

Or Raymond Non'is, a PrincipalResearch Scientist for theCSIRO's Australia Telescope,said, 'We can potentially piay avery important part In this,because to make these very high-resolutiun ubservations you'vegot tu have decent radiotelescopes on the ground. Andthat's something that weobviously have in Australia.

'These satellites will spendhalf their time observing thesouthern skies, and there's lotsof exciting astronomy to be gotout.

'Of course the Russians andJapanese are very keen to useour ground telescopes, so wehave the opportunity to be equalpartners in wlu\t is an enunnousproject. There's no way, clearly,that we can affurd to put upthese spacecraft. That's whywe're so excited about it.

'By a relatively smallinvestment we open up thepossibility of doing someabsolutely front-line research­to look at the sky with thehighest resulution thatMankind's ever had!'

Or Norris also pointed out thatwhenever a new way of lookingat the sky had been used in thepast it had led to the discoveryof things that could not havebeen guessed at with existingdata.

He said there were somespecific objects astronomerswere very excited about, forexample, the 'cores' of activegalaxies and quasars'galaxies right out at the distantcorners of the universe',

'There's a lut of evidence,' DrNorris said, 'that black holes ­objects which are radiating an

enormous amount of energy,much more than the whole orour galaxy put together - arcin the centres of these.

'It's where space and time getsurt of ripped, in the region or ablack hole. Very strange thingsgo on in there.

'It's a very exotic area ofphysics. an area you can '[ testadequately at all un earth.

'We've got this circumstantialevidence that these things areout there. and when Radioastronand VSOP gu up rin 1994 or 51we'll get the sort of resolutionwe need. We'll get down to thesort of size where we can seethe stuff fall ing into the blackholes, if indeed they are there.'

Dr Norris said scientists mightbe able to determine the role theblack holes were playing ingalaxies and quasars, pcrhapseven in the furmation ofgalaxies, a process as yet notknown,

The visiting scientists werefull of praise for the Sydneymeeting, agreeing it was thebest-organised of its type theyhad attended. (Meetings on theprujects are held twice a year,but this is the first one to beheld in Australia.) Or RichardSchilizzi, of the NetherlandsFoundation for Research inAstronomy, said a lot of peoplemust have put a lot uf thoughtinto how things would run.

He said everyonc involved inthe project was confident ofgetting better images than everbefore with the new satellites.

Or Schilizzi. like Dr Norris,expressed a strong interest in'getting down close to thesemythical black holes in themiddle of the galaxies.'

'Here in the southernhemisphcrc,' he said, 'there's agood chance of gelling quitcclose to Centaurus A, and ofcourse you don't know whatyou're going tu find.

'Once you take a step like this.in the dark, you're alway,hoping that you'll findsUl1lething new.'

Dr Schilizzi said that observa­tories around the world were allvery similar, though there weredifferences in style, and ofcourse the ones in the SovietUnion didn't have as muchequipment as some others.

'Huwevcr,' he said, 'I thinkmore brain power is used thereto good effect.' Asked if hethought that people starved orequipment were furced to makemore use uf their brains, he saidhe thought that was probablywhat happened,

Or Leonid Gurviz, theScientific Secretary of the AstroSpace Centre in Moscow, saidthat for him, and for most of theSuviet delegation, it was a firstvisit to the southernhemisphcre, which he said heldgreat interest for all of thembecause uf the many famuusphenonmena in our skies, andbecause they knew that radioastronomy was very strong inthis country, He praised thefriendly climate of the Divisionor Radiophysics and theAustralia Telescope.

Dr Roy Booth, of the OnsalaSpace Observatory in Sweden,said he thought the meeting hadput the programs into a clearerperspective than ever before andtackled some of thc harderissues of scheduling andpriorities for the first time.•:.

340-1991

Performance Planning and EvaluationThe wheels of progress,

and how to ride them

The next cycleThe next cycle begins as soonas the old onc is complete, butyou might like to take a fewdays to think about workobjectives for the next period,and that's fine. You and yourmanager would (hen arrange agood time for another Stage Imeeting, beginning the process

for the next appraisal period.•:.

ConfidentialityYour manager will keep yourform handy, so that you eanhave access to it whenevcr youlike, but will not let others seeit. You, of course, can keep acopy for your own reference.

As each appraisal cycle iscompleted your form will goonto a conl'idential file, withaccess allowed only to thosewith a legitimate right. asverified by the DivisionalPersonnel Officer or equivalent.(In practice, that wouldnormally be appropriateDivisional personnel staff andappropriate management sta I"f.)

your current year's work seemsoutslanding; and•..eclassil'ieation - where yourachievements and competenciesseem to justify a higher level.

Whether or not you gct anincrement will depend onwhether or not you haveaehieved your work obJeetlvesand competencies.ln somecases, however, your managermay decide that yourperformance was satisfactoryeven though you didn't achieveyour objectivcs, judging that thefault lay in circumstancesbeyond your control. Forexample, a bmdlfire may haveburned out your cxperimentalplantings, your computer mayhave broken down repeatedly,or you may have had an unusualamount of time off withsickness. Or, as often happens,the task you were working onmay have opened up like aflower, revealing undreamt-ofeomplexities.

In all of this, if you and yourmanager don't sce eye-ta-eye.you move to the next-upmanager.

be considered nevertheless.Your manager should preparefor the diseussion by ­·Iooking baek over the achieve­ments noted in the signi fieantevents diary:·if necessary, seeking relevantinformation from other sources;and·trying to anticipate whateoncerns you might want tobring up about your eareerdevelopment and what plannedaetivities for the unit mightaffect your next appraisal eycle,

By the end of the meeting thetwo of you should have beenable to agree on your overallperformance, and this

'agreement should includeassessment of-

'your achievements,including any specialcireumstances that

affeeted whether ornot, or how well,you managed youragreed workobject ives;·the level ofcompetencies you

showed; and'yourclevclopment

during the period,identifying strengths

and/or weaknesses,especially with an eye to

your development necds,which ean then be ineorporatedin the personal developmentplan you prepare at thebeginning of the next appraisaleycle.

When you have agreed on allthis, your boss will summariseyour overall level ofperformance as ' very good','satisfactory', 'fair' or'deficient'. If appropriate, he orshe can then recommend meritrewards and, if authorised,approve incrementaladvancement. With this systemincrements are no longerautomatie, and if yourperfOrtllance is . fair' or'deficient' your pay will notrise. But, on the plus side, yourmanager can reward goodperformance with any or all ofthe following-·aecelerated advaneement ­this will be considered whereyour work for this year andother years seems to be consis­tentlyoutstanding:-incentive Ilayment - where

Stage 3-completing the appraisalLike Stage I, this stage is ameeting between you and yourmanager, and again, you canhave a fellow worker with youif you want to. If the managerhas been doing his or her jobthere shouldn't be any surprisesat this meeting, since you'llhave been getting continuousfeedback on whether your workwas satisfactory or not. Youshould prepare for the meetingsimply by summarising youraehievements over the year.This formal appraisal

discussion focuses on aeomparison of your aehieve­ments and perforlllanee with theobjectives and competenciesyou wrote down at the firstmeeting, or as modified by bothof you during the year. Thercmay also he important achieve­ments that are not on thatoriginal agreement but should

Stage 2-continuing performancereview and feedbackThis stage goes on for the wholcevaluation pcriod, that is, allyear. The point of it is to makesure that managers havefrequent communieation withstaff members. Your managershould provide you withcontinuous feedback,

A new method of assessing the work of CS/RO staff members comes intoforce on July / this year - Performance Planning and Evaluation, or PPE,to its friends. Below is a brief account - based on information supplied bythe Human Resources Branch - designed to give CoResearch readers aglimpse of what's in store ...tllne. ['Competencies' are still monitoring your progress andsomething of a mystery to most giving you the encouragementstall of CSIRO, but you will and the support you need tohave them in time for your first achieve your objectives andPPE sessions. In the meantime, improve your skills. You andthey eould be roughly described your manager should both keepas combinations of skill, a 'significant events diary' toknowledge and aptitude, as try to make sure neither of youopposed to qualifications. flIlls into the trap ofProblem-solving ability, for remembering what you want toexample, will be one of them, remember 0" of forgeltingand a CSOF 2 would be things that happened a longexpected to have a lower level time ago. It's all too easy to letof that ability, or competency, this week's triumph or disasterthan a CSOF 3. They will be an overshadow the rest of theimportant part of your year's work.assessment for promotion, andCoResearch will carry an articlesoon on this part of the newsystem.]

You can takeeo lieague into this firstformal session if youfeel uncertain ofhandling it on yourown.

When you andyour manager haveagreed on all thisand written itclown, both of yousign the form and itis sent off to the nextlevel up, that is, toyour manager'smanager. With approval atthat level, you and yourmanager can also set downextra training or resources youfeel you need to achieve yourwork objectives.

It's not set in concrete,however. The work objectivcsand the personal developmentplan can both be modifiedduring the appraisal period,though all such modificationsshould be endorsed by thehigher level manager. And thathigher level manager is also theone who steps in to mediate ifyou and your manager disagreeon what you should write intoyour PPE agreement at thatrirst meeting.

Stage 1-setting the performanceobjectives and thedevelopment planYou begin by listing your jobresponsibilities on the PPE formanti giving it to your manager.The two of you then gettogether for a formal planningdiscussion with speeific tasks.·Working out a personaldevelopment plan. This is togive you and your manager abasis for career planning Hnddevelopment activities. Yousimply write down your careerpre ferenees and yourdevelopment and trainingpriorities.·Clarifying work aetivitiesand responsibilities, You dothis by writing down your broadJunctions, your work activities,and your areas of responsibilitywithin your program. Thesewill, of course, be related to theprogram objectives, so this isthe time to clarify these withyour manager..Setting wOI'k objectives. Thisis to make sure you and yourmanager ha ve the ~al11e ideaabout exactly what work youare to get done during theappraisal period, and how thatwork will be evaluated. That is,which activities arc the keyones on which yourperformance will be judged:your work objcctives should bespecific about both the quantityand the quality of the resultsexpected from you in key areasof the job.·Recording your 'competen­cies'. This simply meanscopying in the 'eompetencies'that are listed as expected atyour classil'ieation level. Thequestion of wlletller theyactually match your real skillsdoesn't arise until assessment

The CSIRO's newPerformance Planning andEvaluation pl'Ogram aimsat top-quality wOI'k,including leadership,linked to impr'oved careel'planning and development.The system will follow a

yearly cycle, with theappraisal period beginningin May and winding up inJune the following yeal..Here's how it goes.

340-1991

Fishe,.,es scientist Dr Clil'e Stanley dem.onstrates Ihe 'FisheryManagemenl Model' (or pin ball machine) 10 crowds {Illhe Hobarl

Open Days in April. Pholo by Graeme Johnson.

Irate visit.or and Patrick O'NeiIJQ: Have you got a sciencedegrec?A: No.Q: Then what are you doinghere?A: I'm running t.he stand!Q: Then find me a scientist toanswer a very importantquestion!A: We have hundreds of them.What do you want to know?Q: I want to know if there is lifelike ours on any other planet inthe universe.

I don't know about tileuniverse. but there was certamlylife on our stand. It had a soul.Indeed. that is what set it apartfrom other big-budget extrava­ganzas.Moreover. the vastmajority of volunteers enjoyedthe 'Project Ambassador'experience. Whife I may havebeen a 'mug' to accept mybirthday present at such shortnot ice, I won't bc such a mugncxl lime!·:·

lure. Indeed, the resultingpublicity on biological woolharvesting was syndicatedround Australia and manyvisitors came to scc andpillage - the fleece exhibitedon the stand as a result!

Finally, some plaudits for themany volunteers who gave uptheir time. A stand withouthappy staff eager to talk to thepublic is just a shell. Apart fromthe Stocker family - theStocker girls took $50 in theshop - one director. twoassistant chiefs and manyscientists put their names on thelis!. Importantly, many technicaland administrative support staffalso volunteered for this major'Project Ambassador' event.

'Oh ... you won't get anyoneto give up their Easter to workon a waste of money like that

",

moaned the occasional prophetof doom. As it turned out. theresponse was so great that wcwere turning volunteers away. Ifsome were worried about theirlack of seienti fie educationinhibit.ing their ability to answerquestions, the followinginterchange should reassure.

have succeeded.I wanted CSIRO given a high­

tech air - a sort of 'Beyond2000' image. The stl1nd had tohave flashing lights, 3Dexhibits, short captions andplenty of things to touch. Iwanted exciting T-shirts for thestall. flashy badges and pop­science merchandise in theshop.

The stand had to 'stand out'and be relevant. Visitorsst.ruggling through a crowdedpavilion would be lucky to havea concentration span or morethan three or four minutes. Anyresearch that could not beunderstood in a few secondswould not have a chance.Above all, it had to be attractiveto children, hence the hands-onexhibits. They would be the keyto attracting adults.

Once attracted, there was asuper-magnet for them to try topull apart, a cDmputer on whichto tryout remote sensing, anatomic clock for a time checkand a display of biologicalcontrol in action, Eighty-fiveCaligrapha pantherina beetleswere seen demolishing someSida aeuta, a plant that hasbecome an aggressive weed inthe Northern Territory.

Staff from the Sydney ScienceEducation Centre put onperiodic 'science shows'demonstrating how liquidnitrogen boils, silly putty nowsand PSZ (partially stabilisedzircDnia) will not break. Sopopular were the shows that onone occasion I counted seventypeople watching!

The stand also had to beflcxible. It had to be able to'showcase' NSW research aswell as present the nationalperspective. H it goes to othcrcapitals, it will also have t.hatcapacity.

But it also needed an event. Ifwe could attract media interestduring the early part of theshow. then hopefully the crowdswould follow. Dr Stockerpulling the wool off a 'self­shearing' sheep was the perfect

On the Rth of January (mybirthday), when asked if I'd liketo organise CSIRO's stand atSydney's Royal Easter Show, Iseem to recall saying 'I'malways in for a new experience,'while thinking 'you mug!'.Both were true. It was a newexperience, but when I lookedat the date I realised what a mugI was. I had ten weeks!

Despite the trauma, I think Ican safely say it worked, andworked well.

I estimate that 120,000 peoplevisited CSIRO's stand. In ball­park figures, il cost a little over$60,000 - or 50 cents pervisitor. Wc spend more than thaton brochures!

The stand is reusable anddestined for the Brisbane show.It may also go to Melbourneand Adelaide, and, if the crowdsare similar to those in Sydney,more than a quarter of a millionpeople will have seen it l,y theend of the year - a veryelJeetive way to se[1 CSIRO tothe public, and an excellent'Project Ambassador' event.Of course there was a lot

wrong with it. as you'd expectwith something organised insuch a hurry by someone withso little experience. But therewas a lot right with it too:

• we clearly defined who ourtarget audience was, why wewanted to be there, and what wewanted to say;

• wc hired a good exhibitionconsultant and designer:

• wc were blessed withenthusiastic volunteers andcommunications staff.

The principal faults of thcstand lay in the captions. Theylacked quality and there weremistakes .- the result of ashortage of experience, staffand notice. Some subjects hadto be left out for lack of goodphotographs, and the shop coulddo with some re-planning.

But why be at a general publicshow at all? This was a questionI was often asked, and theanswer lies in the followingquote from the Bodimer reportto Britain's Royal Society( 19R5), which states-

'If the public is not told aboutthe scientific research itsupports through its taxes, itwill not be unduly concerned ifthat level of support is reduced.'

So I wanted an easy-to­understand showcl1se that wouldgive marginal-scal voters aquick impression of what wcdo. If they came away appreci­ating why wc exist, how wc arerelevant and what makes ourwork exciting, then wc would

Project Ambassador at the Sydney ShowCSIRO's roping journalist and PR pundit, PatrickO'Neill, sends this report of his first showgroltlld gig.

and the Hobart Open Days•••

Wendy Parsons, Communications Manager for theInstitute of Natural Resources and EnVironment, wentalong to the recent Open Days at CSIRO's MarineLaboratories in Hobart, and she offers CoResearchreaders this personal account of the event.The morning of IR April dawned crisp and clear in Hobart. Down atthe CSIRO Marinc Labs, ideally located on the waterfront, tberesearch vessel Franklin was sporting flags from stem to stern andmiles of brightly coloured bunting flapped away above the mainbUlldlllg.

Everything was ship-shape and in order. No one would ever haveguessed the mammoth effor! that led up to that impressive scene.the organised chaos tbe day before, the research staff rehearsingtheir lines, tour guides pacing out their routcs. last minuteadjustments to displays and signs.

But that was all behind them and now the corridors and laborato­ries wcre filled with pictures, charts, scientific gear and, mostespecially, smiling staff.

At lOam the buses drew up to disgorgc bundreds of studentsready for tbe fray. They kept coming in a steady stream, as did thegencral public, over the next three days. In all, about 10,000 peoplecame through to learn of the wonders of the oceans and the risl1 tbatlive in them, and to trace some of the intricacies of forests and trees.What they wcre seeing was the work of CSIRO in Tasmania.

Onc of my outstanding impressions was of Angus McEwan, Chiefof Oceanography, discoursing in impeccable Scientific with one ofhis research stall - then instantly switching into l'Iuent Kidspeakwhen descended on hy a school group, to tell them about theexperiment he had setup specially for them!

Another impression - Jeannie-Marie Lcvoi holding a group ofsmall schoolgirls spellbound as she showed them how baby oystersgrow and what they cat.

Also, the smiles and enthusiasm of the Double Helix kids.All up, a great experience. Go to an event like this if you want to

revive your faith in human nature l1nd especially if you think thatjoy In the wonder of science is flagging in CSIRO.·:·

111<1''''''"Above, CS/RO's sland al the Royal Easier Show ill Sydney. Nextslop the Brisbane Show, AuguSI8-J7, and Ihen probably Adelaide.Le{i, Lilldsay Bevege, Manager olthe Public Affairs Unil, alld right,Ross Kfllgslalld, Manager of Education Programs, have their skillslesled as thev 'manage' crowds t!f curious show-goers in the small

space of the exhibil.

340-1991

federal seat of Macquarie, andhas since changed to thc seat ofLindsay.

Mr Free has served on severalHouse of RepresentativesStanding Committees- onPublications; Expenditure; andEmployment, Education andTraining. I-Ie is also a memberof three Government CaucusCommittees - Economic andIndustrial Relations; Em­ployment, Education andTraining; and ForeIgn Affairs,Defence and Trade.

Ross was born inBathurst on March 7 1943, andattended Bathurst Demon­stration School and All SaintsCollege there. He took hisscience degree at the Universityof New South Wales and hisDiploma of Education atSydney University.

Before going to teach atSydney Boys' High School, heworked at the University orNSW, doing research intomental health.

He first went into Parliamentin 1980 as member ror tile

festival, held in Canberra inOctober last year, In whichscientists opened their labora­tories to the public.

Mr Free seems to have agenuine con1milmenl loscience, as well he might, withhis background.

He told CoRfsearch he wasgreatly impressed with thequality and breadth or thecontribution made by CSIROand believed his role was topromote its obJectives inresearch, collaboration withindustry and other sciencebodies, and in leading anincreased science and tech·nology effort in Australia.

'Science and technology,' hesaid, 'are providing solutionsin this critical time inAustralia's history.

'In the slime way that manyor us grew up in Australia witha view that CSIRO was theinnovative engine of thenation, so too do most Aust­ralians today look to theorganisation to increasinglyprovide answers to present andfuture problems with theintellectual power that hasepitomised its research effortsthrough the years.

'CSIRO has been setting asignificant pace in its increas­ingly important work,' Mr Freesaid, 'And I am immensclypleased to be part or theendeavour..

be more prepared to take up thechallenges 01 Australianscientific and technologicalinnovation.

'The science community, forits pan, must show that It isproud of its profession, and thatIt is in touch with the needs ofAustralian society.'

But Mr Free gave credit to thescience community for haVingthe idea for a festival in the firstplace. He paid tribute to tworesearchers from the ANU'sJohn Cunin School of MedicalResearch, Dr Arno Mullbacherand Dr Paul Waring, who haddeveloped the idea about 18months ago, and had workedhard to see it become a real ity.The event, said Mr Free,

would be a rorum for scientists,tedlnologists, academics, indus­try leaders and governmentdecision-makers fl'Om Australiaand overseas.

But it would also be a show­case of Australian scienceachievement for the Australiancommunity at large. It wouldinclude plenty of hands-onactivities for families, pre­senting science as fun, ancl aspart of everyday life.

The festival is to be held inCanberra to give the cvcnt anational profile, and because somany of Australia's scientificinstitutions have their headquar­ters there. It will incorporateCSIRO', successful 'Biota'

Anyway. the latest inheritor ofthe portfolio of Science andTechnology. Mr Ross Free.looks promISing. If there aredoubts that hc has qUite thepolitical clout of a SlmonCrean. there is no doubt he hasthe right sort of background fora Milllster of Science. I-Ie's anhonours graduate in science.and has not only taught sciencebut been co-author of quite afew science texts for use inschools.

And. in fact. we don't yetknow how much clout be mayor may nol have when it comesto pushing 101' our budgetaryneeds.

So rar, be seems to be noslouch. He's already madeseveral visits to CSIRO. and ()!1

Sunday June 16, after little,more than 'a week in office togen up on what we were up to,he's sent out' a press releaseannouncing that Australia is tohave a national science Iestivalin 1993. And challenged thescience community and industryto come up with ideas ror It.

'For Australia to become theclever country it is important toincrease awareness or thecrucial role of science ineconomic development,' hesaid.

.It IS important ror Australiansto realise how integra! scienceIS to their everyday lives

.Australian businesses should

\-"----,,,"---,---_..-_.._.,NO.341 June 1991 CSIRO's staff newspaper CAJsT~A~'?

New Minister for CSIRO( - oh, andfor science and technology in general)

Makes you wonder, doesn't it, whether maybe we should start directing ourresources into projects aimed at discovering a new and more effective underarmdeodorant for national science bodies. Our Ministers keep going away from us.

World Environment Day: Wran launches 'new' EcosCSIRO's magazine on science and the environment - Ecos - has just had afacelift. Perhaps 17 seems young fot, such an operation, but you should have seenthe heads turn on Wednesday June 5, World Environment Day, when CSIROChairman Neville Wmn launched it at Parliament House in CanbetTa.Mr Wran said E"os was thesource Australians should turnto ror reliable information aboutenvironmental issues. It hadoften reported on unrecognisedissues that were now part of themainstream environmentdebate.

For example, he said, the firstedition of Ec()s 17 years agohad talked aboul 'such obscureand unfashionable topics' as thegreenhouse eHect, toxic

pollution in Tasmania'sDerwent River and uraniummining in northern Australia.'If you want 10 know where

the environment debate isheading, and why, Ec()s is agreat place to look,' Mr Wransaid.

Mr Wran said that manypeople had been surprised thatthe top priority area identifiedin CSIRO's recent priority­setting exercise had been

environmental aspects oreconomic management. '01' inother worcls, the marriage ofindustry and the environment.'

Asked about the tOXIC wasteincinerator debale. Mr Wransaid that Plas('on, a new processbeing cleveloped by CSJRO forthe high-temperature destruc­tion or toxic wastes, would be'a huge step forward, andprobably a huge step forwardfor the whole world. '.:.

341##1991

ATale of Three Ministers

No responsible manager couldpreside over a further decade inwhich our lIssets are allowed toerode, For that reason I'vedeCIded, with Ihe full support ofthe Board, that we ahsolutelyneed to :-;pcllcl a minimum or$35 million per annum for thenext three: fillancial years, onreplacement: refurbishment,repairs and maintenance to ourhuildings and assets, and that'swithout any major new buildingprograms,

We estimate that we can fund$15 million 01' that from illlernalsources, both by scratching upsome of our own appropria­tions, and by sell ing some ofour assets, but we will need $20million of additional money tobe able to conduct the program.

Now, if wc don't succeed ingaining that capital budget.obviously it means that we'llhave Lo cut research programs.That's the last Ihing wc wanl todo, and wc think it" the lastthing the government wants usto do,

For that reason we've made avery vigorous and pictorial caseto the government, indicatingthe state of many of ourbuildings. Simon Crean hasbeen very supportive in helpingus prepare that case, which isnow before the ExpenditureReview Committee of Cabinet.

Mr Wran and I have discussedthese critical issues with MrFree, together with othergovernment impositions withwhich we disagree, such as theelTieiency dividend (Oh, youcan be sure I'll lose noopportunity to mention that!)and Ihe fact thal the governmenthasn'l yet officially notified us

universally known as .lackCurnmins, whose ohilUary waspublishcd in CaRcsc"rch No.328, October IlJH9. In IlJ30, hewas doing research on prc.'\crva­tlon, becoming Officer-In­Charge. Preservation Section, in1936. In IlJ45, he wasappointcd Director, CSIRScientific Liaison andInformation Burcau.

In thc same photograph, '[anLanlands, timbcr mcchanlc'appear"l. He was 10 becomeOITlcer-in-Charge, TimberMechanics Section. andsubsequently Chief, CSIRODivision of Building Research.

I would like to take thisopportunity to acknowledge thcpIOneering contributions of .lackCummins in technologytransfer. There IS no doubl, inmy view. that .lack CUlTlminswas ahead of' his time in hisconviction that interpretedscientific and technicalinformation is a vital element ina national R & D infrastructure.

Recenlly 111 Auslralia, after along penod of limited actlvity.there is renewed awareness ofthe Importaoce of the scientifici,nformation resource and analignal Slr~tegy_ IS

developed.CI)'de Garrow

Information Services B,'anch

Dear Editor.The cartoon of BrailsfordRohertson in CoRcsearch No,33lJ would be by John HenryChinncr, who was quite no(edas a local caricaturist inAdelaide, in days gone by! Hewas Secretary and otherwiseclosely associated with PrinceAlfred College in Adelaide formany years ~- from aboul IlJ I1unlil his dealh in 1933.

With kind regarusDavid I{iceman

Millswood SA

Dear Editor,I notice that the Cenlre,Corporate, has revised the litles,position, for a number ofmanagers, senior (Circldar,Policy, 91/5). I am not sure howthe titles streamline theOrgani sat ion 's Delegations.Financial (a rosc by any othcrname etc ... ) but, in Iheinterests of streamlining thelanguage, could we please have'Corporate Property Manager','Capital Resources Manager','Information Services Manager'rather than 'Corporate Manager,Property' , etc.7

DawSOll 1 lainDivision of Indusrry, Plant

Letters to theEditor

Dear r~ditor,

Thanks for the article on PPEfrom the Human ResourcesBranch in the May issue. I hadto stop reading a couple oftimes Lo make sure I was ill facta maturc adult working for thenation's premicr scientiricorganisation.

The part which really mademe do a double take was the bit- 'Competencies are stillsomelhing of a mystery to moststaff of CSIRO ... '. Speak foryourself! Out here in researchland wc don't know themeaning of the word incompe­tencies!

.I.E. VercoeTropical Animal Production

Rocl,hampton

Dear Editor,Your 65th Anniversarycommemorative tribute«('oResearch, April 1991)included a photograph of theCSIR Division of ForestProducts circa IlJ30. Onc namein the caption reads 'JohnCummings?'

I write to confirm that this wasindeed .I.E. Cummins,

that supplementation of oursalary increases is approved.

These three issues still remainhefore us as major concerns, sothe new Minister has a fairlygreasy ball to play across thatlevel playing field so beloved ofmany of hIS co lIeagues,

Finally, at a lil~,e when thenation is in Cl rural crisis, itseems very important to me(and this is my column') that astrong minister who has a realcommitment to micro-economicreform and to the welfare 01' thenation be given thc PrimaryIndustrieSillld Energy portfolio,and I think that Simon Crean islikely 10 handle it admirahly.

At a time when commodityprices are low, and ruralindustry research funds havetheir income threatened, themaintenance of an R & Dcapacity is going to bc essentialfor the future of rural industries.Mr Crean, with his appreciationof these issues, will continue tobe extremely important toCSIRO. I wish him well.

Speaking of wishing peoplewell reminds me of CSIRO'sBenevolent Funds. ( ... just asubtle way of reminding you Ihave Cl nodding acquaintancewith Latin.)

CSlRO does have benevolenlfunds, four of them, coveringfour regions. and this issue ofCoRl'search carries a briefaccount of them. They arc doingan excellent job for staff andtheir dependants in times ofcrisis, and I recommend thatyou turn the shadow of your'well-wishing' to fellowworkers IIllo the substance of aformalised donation to thc'henevolence' they provide, byjoining. I have,

To have served under' three Science Ministers infifteen months as Chief Executive of CSIRO smacksof the stuff that records are made of! Mr Free hasnow received the Science and Technology portfoliolike a sharp pass to the (right?) wing, and for CSIROhis pace and ball handling will be of decisiveimportance.

1'm delighted to be able to tellyou Ihat our new Minister isintensely inleresled in andsupportive of CSIRO. In fact hearranged three meetings withme in hIs first two days ofoffice. He has also met MrWran and Ihe entire ExecutiveCommillee for lunch. Not bac!in his first week!

Mr Free is a scientist, ancl he\hows a gratifying t:ommitmcnlto thc clcver country Similar tothat of IllS predecessors, SimonCrcan and SalTY .Tones.

Jones made a great contribu­tion In raising the level ofdehate on science to the statusof an important national issue,and hc played a decisive role inframing the crucial White Paperof May IlJXlJ.

The Prime Minister's ScienceCounctl. a real opportunily forscientisls and industry represen­tatives to have un interface withIhe head of government. wasalso a major achievement of thisPaper.

S imoll CrCHll was also a veryeffective Minister for CSI RO.His l11gher calling has come at acritical time for theOrganisation. Wc have hugelyimportant issues like our capitalbudget hanging in the balance atthe time of writing.

HaVing Visited now nearlyevery CSIRO site, of whichthere are about 108, one of thethings that really struck me isthat our capital assets arc in Cl

parlous state. As I wroterecently in my article for theApril/May issue of Scarch,urgent attcntion necds to begiven to CSIRO's approximate­ly $I,(JOO million worth ofassets.

341-1991

What's a REDCOM?

SUl!ef CS/ROMeital created

at least' one being a user ofresearch results, whereappropriate

ChIefs and Orficcrs-IIl-Cl1argeshould send nominations lo

their Institute DIrectors fora"essment by August 16, so ilyou want to nOIl1Inate yourselfyou should get the material In [0

your Chief or 01C well beforethat date,

Directors will send a short list01 nomInations ror theChairman's Medal to a .JUdgingpallel chaired by the ChiefExecutive.

Nominees for a CSIRO Medalwill automatically be con­sidered for the Chairman'sMedal, but you can't win bothin the same year. An inform­ation circular - No. 91/25 ­has been sent out inviting nom­lIultions for the 1991 CSlROMedals and giving details ofwho should apply and how,

CSIRO does great work. But how well does it manage to communicate that great work to theoutsille world? And what about the inside world? 1low well are we communicating with eachother? In August the communicators of CS/RO will be having their second-ever nationalconference. It will be a very big deal, with their conclusions, in the form (d' a set ofrecommen­dations, to be formally presented to VI' John Stocker, Chief Executive of CS!RO, at theconclusion of the three-day event. The program shown below is still subject to change, sobefore you do anything hasty, like attending, you shoukl check with one (~fthe organisers listed,The Hoard of CSIRO has created a glamorous new

award - the Chairman's Medal - for the highest of'its scientific high flyers.

The Chamnan" Medal will hea sort 01 Jewel in the crown 01the CSIRO Medals, with thewinner bClng announced as theclimax 10 the award ceremonyeach year. ThIS will happen ID'the f,rst t'llle at the CSIROMedals award ceremuny 111

Novemher 199 I.The Medal carries with it a

prize 01 $25.000 cash orequivalent.

The winncr will be selceted onthe baSIS or a major achlL:-vc­mcnl in the advancement 01~cielllific ~nowlcdge or tech­nology or its commercialapplication.

The achievement must haveoccurred or gained recognition111 the past five year.').

Nominations should contain-details of the nominee,including 11 brief career outline.and puhlications rel,cvant to theachievement;• a concise description or theresearch Hell ievemcnt andevidence or lIs scientific orlI10ustrial recognition~

• naJ1le~ of at least two rel'erees.

If' you have any questionscall Jeff Fitzgibhon, Secretaryof the Medals Selection

Committee, on 06 276 651\9,-:-

COSSA launches series ofspace seminarsThe CS1RO Office 01 Space Science and Applications (COSSA)will be running a series of fonnighlly seminars on the theme'Australian Space Activities to the Year 2000: Strategies andPriorities lor Research and Development.'

The seminars will be held from .June through December 1991 atCSIRO headquarters in Canl1erra, and will include speakers fromCSJRO, other government science bodies, the universities andindustry.

Speakers will bc askcd to provide the texts of the seminars aschapters o! a book to be published in early 1992.

The letters stand for Regional Employee DevelopmentCommitlee, and there are live ot' them, serving the ACT, NewSouth Wales, Queensland, South Australia undVictoriu/Tasmania,

The REDCOMs try to identify and arrange the professional,teehnicul and trades skills training that can he moreappropriately and cheaply done on a J'egional hasis, Theiractivities are meant to complement the individual trniningand development courses HlTanged by Divisions,

All the Divisions and the larger sites arc represented on thecommittees, and members lire drawn from professional,technical, trades and administmtive areas.

REDCOMs have been !:iven some fnnds, but not nil courseswill be fully funded by them. Sometimes your Division willhave to chip ill, Also, thongh they are often able to help withthe shorter skills courses, they don't arrange tertiary or otherlengthy courses,

The sorts of courses they do handle vlll'y according to area,but cover skills like word processing, defensive driving, lirstaid, public speaking, light microscopy, using a chainsaw nndehairing presentations.

If you think you might be interested contnct your PersonnelOfficer; COllies of the REDCOM booklet, including contacts,detailed inforlllation on a vailable courses, Hnd courselnomination forms, have been sent out to all Divisions.

341-1991

185'7: THe INTAOPUCTIOA/ Or A/lBBI75 TO AU-STA/lUA

Priority rules, OK!But that doesn't mean priority is superiorityDr Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe, Assistant Chief ofthe Division of Wildl~fe and Ecology, is one ofmany whose programs were approved forfunding support by the CS/RV Board on June18. (See story opposite, page 5.)

The program, 'B iologica\ population. The trouble was thatControl of Vertebrate Pests', nobody could think of a way tofalls wholly undcr thc heading get a contraceptive into the wildof 'Environment', one of the population in sufficient'research purpose' priorities numbers and sufficicntlythat camc close to the top of the chcaply.screen in the assessment of 'Now, the essence of our newnational priorities relcased by idea is that you eould use athe Executive Commillcc earlier virus as the means to transmitthis year. and has hccn given the thc contraccptive into the wild$ISO,OOO the Institute of population.Natural Resources and 'You find the gcnc for aEnvironment had asked for. particular protein that is

The aim of the program is to essential for fertilisation; youcontrol the numbers of put that gcnc Into thc virus (thevertebrate pest species by myxoma virus, in thc case ofreducing their fertility. the rabbit); that provokes the

'ThIS idea,' said Or Tyndale- infectcd rabbit to makeBiscoe. 'is what wc call a antibodies to its own fertilitygeneric idea. Thal is. if wc can protein; and that acts as ashow that this melhod will work contraceptive.'for rabbits and foxes. then we Or Tyndale-Biscoe said he hadcan later dcvelop the samc had great difl'iculty trying to getmethod for other mammal pests. money for research on the idea,such as mice or rats in None of the funding bodiesIndonesia, possums in New would back it, for two reasons.Zealand, or any other mammal, First, they thought it was toobecause the principle will be the outlandish to work (one called itsame. 'loo innovative'), and second. it

The idea had emerged about was too cxpensive, requiringthree years ago. he said, In new scientists with new skillsdiscussions in the laboratory. '1\ became very frustrating,'and was a completely new said Or Tyndale-Biscoe,concept for controlling 'bccause it was quite clear thatmammals. we were onto a very important

Or Tyndale-Biscoe said tbat in idea.'the past people had always tried 'We got a lot of encourage-to control wild mammals. such ment around the world fromas rabbits, foxes, mice and rats, other scientists, but we couldn'tby killing them. The prohlem persuade any Australianwith that. he said. was that funding bodies to support it, andreducing the numbers only in the current climate ofCSIROallowed the next generation to we couldn't get any additionalsurVive In greater numbers. resources from within theRabbits, he pointed out, produce Organisation to support a newfar more young than would direction like this.'normally surVive to become But then last year some fundsadults. were made available through

'If you kill the adults all you the Prime Minister's Mayclo is make space available for Statement. Or Tyndale-Biscoemore of the young ones to was able to recruit one extrasurvive. scientist.

'Over the years. selection 'That started the process oil,'favours those that eithcr avoid he saicl. 'and at that point I saidthe poison or can resist the to my program team: "Well. wedisease. So you gradually get a all agree that this is a verypopulation that is no longer important project, but we're notaffected by the agent that you're going to get it clone unlessusing to control it. In the case of we 're prepared to change ourrabbits, that was the myxoma own program and move morevirus. resources into this.'''

In a sense, Or Tyndale-Biscoe They made the decision tosaid, such an approach actually wind down the research theyhelped the species to become wcre then doing on marsupialstronger. biology: several scientists were

'Ovcr Ihe years,' he said, moved out or that work and into'people havc discussed the point the ancillary areas or the newthat if you could only find a work on rabbits.way of controlling the fertility In October last year moreor a mammal like the rabbit, money came in, from the Primethis would be a much more Minister's Environmenteffective way of controlling the Statement on endangered

speclcs, for work on foxes. Thetcum was now able to recruittwo morc scientists (0 work onthe same concept. though on thefox rather than the nIbbit.

'The momentum was buildingup,' said Or Tyndale-Biscoe.'The Chief moved ecologistsout of other projects to work onthis project on the fox and therabbit.'

However, the marsupial workthat the people working on theprogram had decided to winddown was very importantscientific work, work of interna­tional repute. 1\ was work forwhich Or Tyndale-Biscoe hadwon a CSIRO medal only a fewyears back.

So tlmt was a rcal sacrifice. Atfirst Or Tyndale-Biseoe hadtned to argue with his Chief, OrBrian Walker, that they shouldnot reduce the marsupialbiology work. It was goodscience. It was science thatcould be done only in Australia.They ought to be testing thenew concept with additionalfunds.

But. as the years went by andthe new idea languished. itbecame clear that they weren'tgoing to be able to do both.

Both were good science, butthe marsupial biology rescarch,the research Or Tyndale-Biscoehad joined CSIRO to do. wasattractive mainly to scientists.The eradication of vertebratepests was attractive both toscientists and to funding bodies.

Or Tyndale-Biscoe chose theeradication of vertebrate pests.Better onc research project aliveand kicking than two stnrvedinto impotence by inadequatefunds.

He is happy with the program,which he said is extremelyexciting.

'!t's got a lot of intellectualchallenge,' he says. 'It's reallybreaking new ground scientifi­cally, and it's got a potential tobe very important forAustralia ..

But the cost, he said, was high.'We were doing some

extremely exciting research onmarsupial biology; it wasreaching a very advanced stage,and we've had to stop it. I'mvery disappointed about that.

'Let me give you an example.'Next month. here in

Australia, two of us will beallcnding an internationalconference on the pineal gland.It will probably be the last timewe'll be involved in internation­al research conferences on thistopic. with which we've beeninvolved for nearly ten years.

'One of the things with pinealresearch that interests everyoneis how an animal measurestime. We know they do respondto changes in clay length and soon.

'The animal we were workingwith, the wallaby, is extremelysensitive to these changes, andwc think that wc were almost

within reach of findIng outwhere the centre is in the brainwhere animals can measurelime.

'This is fundamental researchwith wide implications, and ifwe hadn't had to stop we'd havebeen spending time on that.

'But wc have had to stop. Andonce you stop you really can'tdo anything because you can'tkeep up with the literature orthe experiments.

'You just have to sce it go by.'Some people in CSIRO talk

about this 'prioritisation' astllOugh somellOW what we endup with is better than what wchad before.

'That's not true. The things wchad before wcre excellent. but.with limited resources, youhave to make some difficultchoices ..

Or Tyndale-Biscoe alsoadmilled that there is alegitimate worry that changesmay actually be for the worse.

He said the push for CSIRO tofind 30 per cent of its researchresources had a very consider­able long-term price-tag,because when a project gets 30per cent of its funds fromoutside il is virtually forced toput the rest of its resourcesbehind that 30 per cent.

'That was our problem withthis project on fertility control,'he said, 'Wc got a certainamount of funding from outsidebodies, and then in order to besure that the thing's going towork, we've had to transfcr alot of people from other projectsinto it.

'This too is done at a cost, andthe cost is the basic science,because il's very much moredifficult to say where that basicscience is going to cnd, whetherit's going to produce benefits ornot.

'What worries me as IncaI' thecnd of my career in CSIRO isthis -- ten years down the track,where are CSIRO's scientistsgoing to generate their newideas, like this one that we'vegenerated?

'Our iclea was generated out ofdiscussion by people who werefully engaged in scientificresearch into reproduction, andbecause of their wideknowledge of reproduction they

could come up With somelateral thinking.

'We can now lake auvantageof that idea because we'relapping into an intellectualcapital we've been Ilurturing.but what worries me is that inten years time, when all of usare busy doing these prioritisedresearch programs. who's goingto comc up with thc lateralthinking?

Or Tyndale-Biscoe quotcd thereply made by AlberlSzenlgiorgi, noted Hungarianphysiologist, when asked whalre:-icarch he was going to donext year.

'11' I knew WIHlt J was going todo next year,' he said, 'itwouldn't be worth doing.'

'But wc don't do that now,' OrTyndalc-Biscoe said, 'Now wehave to say what we're going todo in rive years time.

'The cssential driving force ofscientiri<.: research is a hurningcuriosity. and then the rcsourcesto be able to take that to thelimit.'

Dr Tyndale-Biscoe agrees thatwe must \0 do resenreh ofbenefit to the country. but hefeels we must also he verycareful not to lose sight of thebasic science.

'Mind you. when yourresearch is l1irectcd at Cl veryspecific goal, as ours now is, itdoes sharpen up everybody'scritIcal faculties.

'You've got a lot of veryshat"ply focused questions, andthat's rine - it's very exciting;but Ihe other kind of research isalso terribly important.

'We are selling priorities,' hesaid, 'between intellectuallyequal projects. And the reasonfor the change is money.'

'If the implicntion is given thatit's all so much belter nowbecause we're all chargingalong on high-priority researchwhereas before we weren't.then I think that's n misconcep­tion of CSIRO.'

However, Or Tyndale-Biscoecertainly doesn't think the workbeing doue under his presentproject is intellectually worsethan what it replaces.

He may know what he's doingnext year. but it's still wellworth doing.

341-1991

Ahove, the Sydney connection in the SAWfEL/SA project, part qf the CSIRO team whose bellel"fJlosl'l1sor m,;y so,;n have the buddinli world market FJr the.l·e devices beatinli :1 path W ,our ,hJOr. Le]t10 ,.iliht, !Ju,i row. Dr Tony Coffinlis, Division '!fApplied Physics, Dr DOl.1 Pnce, DIVISIOn 0] Appfll:dPhvsic.", Mr Don BarnI'll, Division of Food Production; 1~/i to riliht, .lront row, Dr John Skernll,Wi,eat Neswrch Ullit. and Dr David Lainli, Division of Food Processillg. The photo was taken by

Moria Bosalilia of the Division (J/"Applied Physics.

the establishment of nationalpriorities and CSIRO's responseto them. Thc two are far fromidentical.

For example, proJect elementswith a research purposeclassified as 'Environmcnl'attracted only $368,000, thoughtheir position on the nationalpriority grid would have putthem only marginally behind'Minerals Industry' and'Environmental Aspects ofEconomic Development', whichattracted $ I ,448,O(JO and$1,265,000 respectively.

The actual amount beingredistributed throughout theOrganisation also cxceeds whatshows in thesc rigurcs. [[ is notsimply a matter of $5 millionfrom the levy being malched byproJccts' own funds to a tolal of$10 million: apart from thcscrecently nominated projectsthere is a process of priorityassessment and rc(lireClion ofresources currently going on atall levels m CSIRO.

So the proJects that have beengiven some funding in thisround are not on Iy just thebeginning of a long story: thcyare just part of the beginnmg. Infact, in most cases they are justpart of the beginning of themiddle of an even longer story.

Or J-Iugh Tyndale-Biscoe, forone, has spent the last yeartotally redirecting his researcheffort, on his own initiative. The$ 180,000 his project has nowbeen granted from the centralfund is only a small part of thefunds he has got, and spent,over that period, to build aproject that can survive theharsh light of priorityassessment, not just by hisorganisation. but by the,unscientific' business intereststhat can keep a project alive orkill it. A ease of assess yourselfbefore you get assessed. Hisstory appears opposite (page 4).

.:+lI>:••:.

Building Science Forum of Australia1991 Book Award

Entries are now invited for the 1991 Book Award of the BuildingScience Forum of Australia. The deadline is August 19, 1991.

The Building Science Forum is a non-profit organisation set up toachieve a better understanding between the interests that make upthe Australian building industry,

Authors of innovative scientific, technical. economic or socialpublications relating to either building, construction or architecturewill be considered as suitable entrants.

For information contact Bryan Cossart, Building Science Forumof Australia, ACT Division, GPO Box 429, Canberra ACT 260 I.•:.

Board approves firstround of projects forpriority fundingIn February this year CSIRO's Executive Committeereleased the broad outlines of the Organisation's newpriorities. Now those outlines al'e beginning to befilled in, with specific projects and specificmovements of resources.A central pool of moncy wascreated at the time by a 1.5 pcrcent levy on all CSIRO areas,amounting to just under $5million, for distribution in thefinancial year 1991-92.

Since each project beingfunded has to provide amatching sum, the actualamount being redirected isaround $10 million.

The first decisions have nowbeen made on the redistributionof that money. On June 18 theCSIRO Board met to considerthe advice of the ChiefExecutive on individual projectproposals put forward byDirectors and Chiefs.The Board endorsed the

choices, which closely reflectedthe priorities announced earlier.

For example, projects forwaste management, requiringresearch work in all sixInstitutes, attracted funding of$606,000. of which $515,000was for elements failing underthe 'research purposc' of. EnvHonmental Aspects 01Economic Development',named as a very high priority illFebruary. (See CoRe.l'earch No.338.)

Research on Australia's fragilecoastal zones also scored wellfor both the research purpose 0 I''Environmental Aspects ofEconomic Development' andthat of 'Environment' ­another high flyer in theNational Priorities lab le.Coastal zone research is to have$600,000 from the levy,

In fact, well over half themoney from the fund will begoing to projects in the twoareas of highest nationalpriority: 'Strategic Research forthe Minerals Industry' and'Environmental Aspects ofEconomic Development'.

But the national priorities arenot prcciscly predictive ofCSIRO's project choices. Thereare two elements in the process:

'Excessive chlorination ofwater supplies should also beavoided,' he said, 'and this maybe possible if we can detectcontaminants quickly and moreprecisely.'

Thc CSIRO team is drawingon a wealth of scientit"ic andtechnical capital including-- comprehensive thin filmsfacilities, and advanccd skills inultrasonics design and model­ing and in the physics oftransducers (DivisIOn 01Applied Physics);• expertise in monomolecularlayer-surface physico-chemistry(Division of Chemicals andPolymers):-enzyme-linked Immuno-sorbent assays research(Dtvislon of Animal Health,Division of Food Processing,and the Wheat Research Unit inthe Division of Plant Industry);• monoclonal antibody pro­duction facilities and experiencein scale-up from lab research toproduction (Division ofBiomolecular Engineering).

The team is poised to cash inon its researcll results in nichemarkets where commercialisa­tion is immediately practicable.

When surface sound waves aresent across (his substrate fromone set of electrodes to another,tmy changes in mass along thepathway show up as smallchanges in frequency.Concentrations or conlamil1allt~

as low as a few parts per billioncan he detected.

In the SAW/ELlSA biosensora thin layer of molecules,containing highly selectivechemical altractors produced oythe immunological system of ananimal, is attached to thesubstrate.

This layer is first made evenmore selective oy means of anenzyme-linking process. Then asurface acollstic wave device isattached to it, further expandingthe efficicncy of thc twoscnsing processes.

Or Collings said thatsuostances called trichloro­al11soles, which are used in food[lackaging, can cause a mouldytaste and smell. ContaminationIS a serious potential threat tothe dried fruits, rice, wine andbeef industries.

A team of twenty csm.o staff - drawn from acrosssix Divisions and three Institutes - is working on aproject aimed at creating a genedc biosensortechnology in Austt·alia.According 10 recent inlcrnation­al market surveys the world ison the brink of an unprecedent­ed surge in biosensor sales. TheCSIRO team is In a front-lineposition for gaining internation­al scientific and commercialinterest in its biosensor develop­ments because of the widerange of research disciplines itcan bring to the task.

The leader of the project. OrTony Collings, of the Divisionof Applied Physics, says thenew sensor the team IS

developmg has major potentialin both food packaging and thesupply of clean water.

In spite of a name ­SAW/ELlSA- that brings tomind old-fashioned eireos acts,the device is absolotely state-of­the-art. It is essentially a blendof two advanced technologies- surface acoustic wavedevices (SAWs) and enzyme­linked immuno-sorbent assays(ELlSAs).

Initially, thin metal clectrodesare sputtered on to a piezo­electric substrate.

341-1991

CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT

Ah01C. Mr Bruce \ia/cuI1l1e, or rhe Royal Auslra/iau Mim. shows Senalor ./ohu 13ullon. Miuis/er fill'/udus/n, Techu%g\' and Commerce, how Ihe oplical sUfFice prn{iler will help in the making orcOlus.In Ihe hClrkgrOlwdis[)rBillli/eviu,Chic1' 0/ IheQinsion !it'Applird Physics, Ihe Diviswu Iho/ha,\'

developetl Ihe pmfller

Caption competition

Thc rcsponsc to last month's caption competition was the fastestcvcr. Whcthcr it was also the best cver is for )'OU to judgc, Thewinning cntr)' for thc above photograph (of David Salt,Education Programs) was' All I did was snceze and my brainblcw out' from Stcwa,'t Wall,cr of thc Division 01' Coal andEncrgy Technology.Runncrs,up wcrc 'Catch II falling star and .. , " and

'Aaaaaarg! in E sharp', both from Lynn Pulfol'll of EducationPrograms, and no fcwcr than six cntrics from the InformationScrvices Branch rcfcrencc library in East Melbournc (what arcthc)' doing down thcre. anyway'?). The six wcre - 'Dis de waywc mal,c de pizza (CSIRO Div. Pizza Rcscarch'!)' (Susan Rccd;'Lifc is all one big ball of fun' (Nicolc Thompson); 'I wondcr iflI1y rcscarch grant will run to anehovics'!' (Penny Braybrook);'This is thc biggcst mothball Pvc cvcr sccn' (Charanjit Walia);'At last! The world's first non-mclting snowball' (Pctcr Alston);and 'Thcn 1 opcncd my cyes, and she had turned into a .. ,!' (JillCrowther).

Makcs you wonder about young David. All those submissions!And almost all from women ... And only almost all from wOll1cn!Anyway, Ict's scc if any of the gentlemcn bclow can arousc asmuch creath'e encrgy ...

Services:• Dralt Program & Budget• Conlerence Secretarial• Delegale Processing &

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Proceedings

Plevin and Assoclales prOVides acomprehenSive and prolessionalconference management servicefor seminars, meetings andconferencesIf you are planning an event inSouth Austral ia, we can prOVideobjective adVice and assistance,reduce your administrative burdenand ensure all aspects ot tile evenlare cost,effectively andprofeSSIOnally managedDirectors:Irene Plevin BEc (Hons), Dip EdPhilip Plevin BEc (Hons)

PLEVIN ANDASSOCIATESPTY LTDAddress:Innovalion HouseFirst AvenueTechnology ParkThe LevelsSouth Australia 5095Telephone' (08) 260 8212FaCSimile (08) 260 8100Telex AA88556

Last month CSIRO officially handed over to the Royal Australian Mint aninstrument that should revolutionise the quality of coin manufacture inAustralia. CSIRO's Chief Executive, Dr John Btocker, and Senator John Button,Minister for Industry, Technology and Commerce, oft1ciated at the cel'emony.The optical surface profileI', enhance process quality control. points on the coin, and displaysdeveloped by the Division of For example, the optical three,dimensional relief maps III

Applied Physics, is also being surface profiler can check how a variety of colours and forms.marketed internationally. accurately a coin design is Tbe technology also hasThe profileI' produces high, transferred from tbe die to the applications to other sectors of

resolution relief maps of the coin. the manufacturing industy, assurface of dies and other tooling The advanced software for the prcision shape measurement isused to manufacture coins. profileI' calculates parameters essential in the die,making,Sophisticated non,eontact important for quality control, moulding, pattern-making andDptieal techniques arc used (0 such as the highest and lowest other industries.

Division ofAppliedPhysicshelps make money forAustralia

341-1991

Dr lan Colditz of the Division of Animal Health'sPasto\'al Research Laboratory in Armidale has beenawarded the lan Clunies Ross Medal.

The Australian College of Veterinary Scientists presented DrColchtz with the medal for hiS work on sheep alTlietions cUll'entlycosting the Australian woo] industry $200 million a year.

Dr Colditz graduated from the Ul1Iversity of Queensland WIth FirstClass Honours in Veterinary Science m 1980. In 1981 he wasawarded IllS PhD by the same university for hiS work on inflamma­tIon of the mammary gland (mastitis).

Dr Colditz has achieved international recognitIon 11'1 this field, andhas done work both here alld overseas on tile body chenllStry ofSkIll diseases and asthma.

At the moment he IS looking IlIto the prospects for Improvmgmflammatory and Immune responses m the skm of sheep, to helpprotect them dgainst neeee rot and fly strike

The two arc connected. 'Fleece rot creates all environment 101flystrike: Or Colditz said.

'It's hard to say just how close we are: he said, 'but I thInk withinfi ve years there will be a vaccine ready for field trials.' .;.

Co/ditz wins lanClunies RossMedal

1

overwhelming response. Itseems people have heard morethan enough about wormtreatmellts.

Next year, John hopes toproduce a morc provocativedisplay. IThe mindboggles!--Ed.]

Niall Byrne of the AustralianAnll11al Health Laboratorymanaged to weave some lIsefulcontacts with veterinary officersand the Rural Lands ProtectionBoard into his steady stream ofradio interviews - picking upan invitation to take part in theirnext semmar.

The Institute of Animal Pro­ductIon and Processing officesupported Ihe CSIRO standagain this year by funding theexhibition space and supplyingNaney Mills Reid and KeithDash as roving ambassadors. Asever, any person Keith didn'talready know, or get to know,simply wasn't worth talking to.

It was Keith who collected themany favornble commentsmade about our stand by WoolExpo organIsers, other stallholders and the general public.

Armidale stall, too many toname, did all those non­glamorous but truly essentialorganisational tasks needed toget together a display - trans­port. display boards, freight,furniture, local liaison, public­ity. hospitality ... and the listgoes on.

The lesson learned from thehighly successful CSIRO publicrelations and educational eventis that a good display needs amix 01' work in progress, workcompleted and productslaunched, plus a contingent 01'keen, well-informed andarticulate staffers who can helpwith the questions.•:.

1x

display allracted much interest.as did Sirospun. and the displayof the recently releasedSiroclear process. Barry Hirslbelieves that, in contrast to themore casual altitude in goodtimes. producers are now vitallyconcerned with progress in bothproduct development andfundamental research.

But the display thatundoubtedly attracted mostinterest was Ralph Chapman'schemical (or non-surgical)mules111g.

Muleslng is a process namedafter the twentieth-centuryAustralian grazIer who inventedJl - J.H.W. Mules. It consistsof removing excess loose skinfrom either side of the crutch ofa sheep to reduce that curse ofsheep farmers, blowfly strike.

Or Chapman, who is aPrincipal Research Scientistfrom the DiviSion of AnimalProduction in Sydney. foundhimself constantly inundated byproducers, agribusiness peopleand mulesing contractors, allwanting to know when theproduct would be released.They were disappointed to

hear that release is two or threeyears away, but pleased to findthat CSIRO is working on analternative to this controversialand unpopular practice.

John Dufty, from AnimalHealth in Parkville, was lesshappy, but philosophical; hisdisplay on combinationdrenches brought a less than

I

Denise S/even.,· and }ahn Lax observe Ihe observersJi'om Iheir posl on Ihe CSIRO Fine Wool Projectdisplay allhe /991 Wool Expo in Annida/e.

Once again. CSIRO staff fromIhrec 01 the DiVisions that makeup the Institute or AnimalProductIon and Processinggathered in Armidalc. NSW. todisplay CSIRO science to40.()OO people ovcr three days.

This year our featmc displaywas all about tbe CSIRO FineWool Project. a collaborativeventtlrc of the Division of WoolTechnology In Sydney and theDi vISion of Annml1 Productionin Armidale. The project aimsto delenTIlne thc genetic andenvironmental factors thatmfluenee the production of lineand superfine wool. and to findobjective ways of measunng thequalitics that go 10 make tilebest cloth. particularly thalelusive quality of wool 'style'.

Denlse Slevens and KerryHansford were encouraged bythe ehthilsli\sliereSIJoilse fi'6inlocal wool growers. Fromcontacts made at Wool Expo,they now have several peoplecommitted to taking part insubjective assessment tests of'handle' and 'style'.

Bany Hirst and Pat Naughtinfrom Wool Technology InGeelong are 110 ..,trangers to the'open day' and trade showscene, and they found the 1991Wool Expo the best such eventthey had ever taken part in. Patsaid there was :-;ll'ong interestfrom producers, who were allkeen to talk alJout potclllial newuses for our stockpiled woo!.

The new wool-rich quilt on

With the wool industry in tough times, you mighthave expected that the 1991 Armidale Wool Expowould have been something of a fizzer. Not so. Afterall, the event is a celebration of wool fleece, fibre andfashion, and what better time to promote the productthan when it's facing attacks on all fronts'?

With the wool industry in deep crisis, how are graziers reacting to displays (~f thelatest i/l wool technology and sheep research? Are they so depressed that nothinginterests them, so desperate that anything does, or are they simply interested indifferent sorts (~l things now? Judith Wood, from the CS/RO Division of AnimalProduction, took /lart in the recent /991 Wool Expo in Armidale, and oflersCoResearch readers this player's eye view of the audience.

341-1991

Above, D;reclor Corporate Services. Mr Pc/erLanMhorne, who leave" rhe OrMolli.IO/;on on July /2

Head of Corporate Services leaves CSIROMr Peter Langhorne, CSIRO's Director or Corporate Senices for the last three and ahalf yeal's, is leaving on FJ'iday July 12. He will tah Oil the job of General Manager orAUSTRADE's Corporate Arfairs, based in Canben'a, on the following Monday,While his new position issimilar to the onc he has held inCSIRO. therc will be greatercmphasts on interaction withMinisters, the Parliament.government departments.national organisations andJhcDiplomatic Corps.

'['m cCItainly looking forwardto the new job,' Mr Langhortlesaid. 'or course it will be verydifferent in many ways, but inone way at least it will befamiliar territoryAUSTRADE is going throughchanges very similar to thosewe wen I through here in CSIROfour years ago.

'They are responding, as wedid. to a MeKinsey report. Itrecommends they take astronger role in providingaccess for Australia to overseasmarkets, place greatcr emphasis011 overseas activities, andreduce administrative costs.

'As with us there will be slalTcuts. restructuring, and Cl

devolution of functions from thecorporate centre oul to theoperating units.'

Mr Langhortle said his time inCSIRO had been mostrewarding. 'It's been particular­ly exciting working with JohnStocker,' he said, 'and theExecutive Committee, and theBoard, to make the changesnecessary to get CSIRO wellposilioned for the future.'

'And it is now well positioned.While there is certainly morework to do, and whi le theOrganisation has to keep on itstoes constantly, ready to leapforward and make changes onits own initiative, it is now wellequipped to do that. Muchbelicr equipped than it wasthree and a half years ago.

'We should not underestimatethe extent of the changc. It's avery difl'erent organisation nowthan it was then - iL '~ moreresponsive to the needs 01industry and government. ami itis working more closely withthem. Its decision-making isless centralised. And it'scertainty a more open organisa­tion - willing to I'orecast itsown performance and willing tohave that performancemeasured.

'I really have appreciated allthe help given to mc, and to theCorporatc Services Departmcnt,during thc pel'loel of change.'My personal view IS that,ovcrall, CSIRO really has avery high quality of administra­tive stall, both corporately andin the lnslllutes and Divisions.

'The Organisation needs toappreciate that, and tell them

about il more often. '.:.

CSIRO Benevolent Funds

Well, there isn't. Not one central body, that is, What we dohave" a loose grouping or four separate CSlRO BenevolentFunds. one I'or Queensland and the Northern Territory. one forNew South Wales, one I'or Canberra, and onc I'or the 'southemrcgion' 01 Australia.

In each case the money COllles from CSIRO stall who elect IDbecome Bcnevolent Fund membcrs by having a small amounttaken out or thcir paye heck each fortnight. The four funds haveslightly difl'crent mcmbership charges, ranging from 20c to SOl'per pay, and slightly dil'ferent charters when it comes tonnancial help, some leaning more to interest-I'ree loans andsome to outright grants. But the overall policy is much thesame m each case helping CSIRO stall, past and present.and thclr dependant>, get through the really rough patches,

Each fund has a committee, drawn I'rom among its contribut­ing members. whose job it is to assess all proposals for help.They judge each case on Its ments, without regard to whetherthe person concerned has, or had, temporary or permanentcmployment with CSIRO, for example. or does or does notcontribute to the fund, In these assessments they observeabsolute eonndentiality. This confidentiality extends also toany request I'or help made through representatives or theBenevolent Funds in vanous Divisions and Units.

Ii's hard to know cxactly how much such a service is worth topeople in times "r need. but surely much more than it costs. Ifyou aren't a member of onc 01' the Benevolent Funds at themoment, you mtghl considcr adding to their ability to help byfilling oul an 'authorilY to dcduct' for the pay orrice.

Your Pcrsonnel Officer or Stall Clerk will know who yourlocal representative is. and the officials of each fund are listedundcr CSIRO Benevolent Funds (page Il4) in thc latestCSIRO telephone dircctory.

Have you ever wondered whether there is somecentral bodv in CSIRO that 1001,s after staff intimes of special stress, relieving the pressure withfinancial aid or expert advice?

341-1991

CS I ROnewspaperNo.AUSTRALIA

Science untler::a~lo gwhite cloud?New Zealand releases details of DSIR replacement institutes

The new nationalinstitutes:cqmposition·andfundingNational Institute ofPastoral Agriculture- all of MAF Technology'spastoral ,mcl animal research, all ofDSIR Grasslands, plus DSIR PI:U1tProtection's relevant fomge speciesresearcll.To receive revenue from the Crownof about NZ$65 million; 1i'Om othersources, $5 million.

National Institute ofHorticultm'al Products- DSIR Fruit ancl Trees, MAFTechnology's hOlticullural research,DSIR Plant Protection's horticul­tural weed, pest ,md disease controland molecular biology groups,DSIR's Palmerston Northsubstation 01' the AppliedMathematics Gl'OUp.Crown $36 million; other sources$11 million.

National Institute of FieldCrop Products- all 01' DSlRCrop Research,DSIR Phmt Protection's weed, pest:U1d disease control in the tield croparea, MAF Technology's cropresearch, Lincoln substation ofDSIR's Applied MathematicsGroup.Crown $16 million; other sources$3 million.

National Institute ofIndustry Development- all of DSIR Industrial

The most important job in Zealand'lDiFJ(lIIllSt(Ycikerin NewZea@/dJast.numth discus'SesDSIR's (ldvanced ceramics research with, left, Dr DickClarke, Assistaut Director-General of DSIR,and,right, Dr Vaughan White, DSIR Chemistry. Dr Stocker was in Wellington to attend and speakat Scitecl,2000; all im[JortantNew Zealand science COllference.with.overseas speakers includingBruce Smith of the Bmokings Institute in Washington DC and Akito Arima, President of TokyoUniversity. There was ml/ch lively discussion on the restructuring ofNew Zealand's scientijlc work,and Dr Stacker said scief/tists themselves.sho/lld be (he ones to manage science and set the prioritiesfor research. 'Any structure set up apart from scientists to decide science priorities,' he said, 'risksdisjunction from real science and a lack of accountability.' Speaking of the implications (~f thechanges in the jield of international scientific collaboration, he said, 'In the past the great bulk ofour collaboration has been with DSIR, so olJl'iouslyl am concel'lled that such a usejiil, SIlccessfuland respected organisation has been disbanded ami replaced by the new institutes. Dr Stocker a/s(lspeculated on the likeliho(ld that the chief executil'es of the new iustitutes would tend to get togetherlIIore and more often as time passed, perhaps eventually formalising their relationship into a new,over-arching scientific body. He eveu ventured to suggest a nal/le for the integrating body - DSIR.

Strange, isn't it? Just as CSIRO is putting its best effort (and1.5 per cent more of its funds) into work it hopes will helpbreak down barriers between disciplines and un(fy theOrganisation's research in line with national priorities, NewZealand is galloping off in the opposite direction ­separating its pnblic science into autonomous units.Following it.l· shock announcement at the end of last year thatthe 64-year-old New Zealand science body DSIR was to bedisbanded, the New Zealand Government has flOW releaseddetails of the 10 institl/tes that will replace it. The announce­ment was made on J l/ly 11, following publication of the finalreport of the Science Task Group. The Government hasadopted near~v all of the task group's recommendations.

Far rrom seeing the change as possible ror them to 'swimone that splits the work of the against the tide' of centralscience community, the runding priorities, at least toMinister responsible for Re- some extent.search, Science and Technology, Government-funded scienccSimon Upton, said a key currently accounts for half of allprinciple or the c1umgc was to New Zealand's scientificintegrate the science dfort research, or NZ$255 millionvertically, allowing scientists to worth a year.do research ror one seClor frombasic seientil'lc understandingthrough to applications in themarketplace.

'Each institute will be able todo research from DNA to thedinnerplate,' he said.

The new institutes will be setup as companies under theCompanies Act. They will havefull commercial powers, andtheir liabilities will not beunderwritten by theGovernment.

However. Mr Upton said thatthe institutes had not been setup with ultimate privatisation inmind.Each will focus on a particularindustry seClor or a naturalreSOllfce area and have its ownboard or directors, appointed bythe Government. TheGovernment would be seekingappropriate people to serve onthese boards, both from withinNew Zealand and rromoverseas, within the nexl twomonths, Mr Upton said.

The new scheme will comeinto being on July I next year.At tile moment the Governmentallocates funds for publicsc ience projects through theFoundation for Research,Science and Technology, withresearch agencies bidding rorthis money against each other.

Mr Upton said theGovernment is considering theScience Task Group's re­commendation that 10 per centof the money in the pool beavailable to the institutes tospend on research or their ownchoosing. This would make it

Development, DSIR Chemistry'simlustTy-relaled chemistry, much01' DSIR Physical Sciences, mostof Applied Mathematics.Q'Own $27 million; other sources$10 million.

National Institute ofForestry and WoodProducts- essentially the same us thepresent Rotorua-based ForestReseru'ch Instilllle.Crown $17 million; other sources$9 million.

National Institute ofEnvironmental Healthand Forensic Science- Department of Health's NZCommunicable Diseases Centrein Poril1la (formerly the NationalHealth Institute), DSIRChemistry's Forensic Science.health and parts 01' ils environ­mental chemisuy groups.Crown $2 million; other sources(inclUding government depart-

ment contracts) $14 million.

National Institute of theGeosphere

DSIR Geology andGeophysics, DSIR PhysicalSClences nuclear sciences group(except for its atmosphericresearchers) mld seismology gmup,DSIR Chemistry's geochemicaland geothermal groups, some ofthe stafr of environmentalchemistry.Crown $21 million; other sources$6 million.

National Institute ofAtmosphere and Water- Meteorological Service'sweather forecasting and research,DSIR Marine and Freshwater'soceanographic and river and lakeresearch. the atmospheric rese:uchgmups of DSIR Physical Sciences,MAF Technology's aquatic plantsgroup.

Crown $21 mi lIion; olher sources$31 million.

National Institute of LandEnvimnments- DSIR Land Resources, coll­ection of insects, mthropods, fungiand bacteria li'om DSIR Plant Pro­tection, remote sensing group fromDSIR Physical Sciences, phmts forsoil conselvation Irom DSIR Fmitand Trees, most of the forest andwildlands ecosystem division fromthe Forest Resem'C11 Institute, rabbitaod land management researchfrom MAFTechnology.Crown $22 million; other sources$7 million.

National Institute of Socialand Economic Development.-The Science Task Group hassuggested this be formed bycombining the NZ PlanningCouncil :md DSIR Social Sciences.At present the Government hasagreed that it will consist of theDSIR Social Science Unit alone.

Crown $2.3 million; other sources$260,000.':'

342##1991

Australasian science

Making the right connections

1 crossed the Tasman last month to peep under thelong white cloud.

Letter to theEditor

Yes, it is Ihe same Mr Flack,apparenlly,

My source, Ron Clarkl',wrifinR in the AustralianDiclionary of Biography, saysIhat Flock's victory in Ihe 1500metre race at the 1896 AthensOlympics was a popular onebecau...\'e the Americans had beendominating the competition, Healso won Ihe 1500 metres race,He was running second ill Ihemaralhon when he collapsedand had to be taken to Ihesladium hy ambulance 10 watchthefi'nish of Ihe race,

Born Edwin Harold Flack in1873 at Islington East inLondon, he had come toMelbourne with his family in1878,

He was educated al Melboul'l7l'Church of England GrammarSchool before returning toEngland 10 gain .formal qualili­calions as an acconl1/anl (FCPAaI1lIFSAA).

With his father and later hisbrolher Henry he buill up thefirm of Flack and Flack,accounlanls. wilh branches inSydney, Brislwnl' , Adelaide andPerlh ill Australia, as well asAuckland and Wellington inNew Zealand,

Aparl from his role in Iheformatioll of CSIRO. Flack wasa director (~f several companies,He died alti'/' an operalion in1935, having sn.t/ered It'omhearl tmuMe for some time, lienever married.-Ed.

inlluential series,Mcnnwhile, back on the farm.

thc Public Afrairs Unit has alsojust completed a snapshotinternal phone survey thatseems to show that most staffhavc a good basic understand­ing of our recent nationalpriori tics exercise. However,nearly all said they would liketo hear more about it, preferablyfrom thcir supervisors nndCoHesearch. Some detnils ofthe projects that altractcd extrafunding in the recent round ofBoard allocations are providedin this issue,

A.J. LynchHcad of Departmcnt

Dcpartment of Mining undMctullurgical EngineeringUnivcrsity of Queensland

-Dear Editor,I was interested to bc given acopy of the April 1991 issuc ofCoHesearch [No, 339] and tosee the photograph on page 4-5which, I presume, wns theequivalent at the time of aCSIRO Advisory Committee,

Many of those in thephotogmph were great people,In fact, I wonder if CSIRO hasever subsequently had such astrong Committee, I was partic­ularly interested to see mentionof Mr E,H. F1ack, If I remembercorrectly a person of that namewon two gold medal s forAustralia in Athens in 1896,Was he the person who was thcOlympian? What was hisrelationship with Scicnce andIndustry? What was his positionat the time? If it was theOlympian, you may wish toconsider publishing a brief noteabout him.

In fact, some brief notes aboutmany of those people might beinteresting, Messrs. W.H, Gepp,E,J. Horwood and ProfessorE,W, Skeats made great contri­butions to the Mining Industry.Professors E.J, Goddard andB,D, Steel have had buildingsnamed in their honour at theUniversity or Qucensland nndthcre are many others who arewell known,

grist. It's vital that we continueto bring home to Australians theimportance of scientific re­search in general, and CSIRO'scontribution in particulnr, inrealising national objectives, Allthe decisions made aboutCSIRO - including thc vcryimportnnt funding decisions ­arc materially influenced bywhul peoplc are saying out inthc community about ourorganisation.

In recent weeks LindsayBevege of the Public AffairsUnit has been involved in apromising initiative: he's beentalking to thc production teamof A Country Practice about thework of CSIRO, They areinterested, nnd it looks as iI' aCSIRO scientist mny soonappear as one of the charactersin thnt high-rating and very

and rocused effort in this area,particularly with rubbit and foxcontra!.

Our approach is to look alusing the myxomu virus, in thcease of rabbits, cither as apathogen or, more probably, tocarry the genes cncodingantigens to immunise the pestsagainst their own fertilityproteins - a kind of 'immuno­sterilisation' program,

I noticed in New Zenland thatthey had a very differentapproach, using pheromonesand other chemical signalseither to deter vertebrate pestsor to altract them to baits,It struck me that the two

approaches might be combinedin a complementary way, and Iwant to organise a symposiumthat will bring together ourpeople and the New Zealnndscientists to develop this ideafurther,

New Zealand already hns acollaborative project with us, inour Animal Henlth Lab­oratories, looking nt theproperties of n hemorrhagicviral disease of rabbits, and Ithink our two countries couldnfford to make much more ofsuch collnboration,Po~.~ums, for example, are a

majtJI'probIcm in Nev;:<Zealand,and it would be filling if thecountry from which they camecould identify some pest controlmechanisms, Dr Tyndale­Biscoe has made a proposal tothe New Zealand government.Another possible aren is

materials science, a growingfield in which both DSIR andCSIRO are involved,

Then there's atmosphericresearch, Thcre is already aconsiderable and successfulcol1nboration bet wecn ourDivision of Atmospheric Re­search and several DSIRResearch Institutes, both in theNorth Island, wherc theyconcentrate on troposphericresearch, and in the SouthIsland, whcre the field is strato­spheric atmosphere com­position, Here again, I think afurther strengthening of thatcollaboration, involving climatechange, atmospheric compos­ition, and the greenhouse effect,might pay excellent dividends,

So there we havc three areasthat seem to me to be ripe forstrengthened collabomtion.

The vcrtebrnte pest controltopic is one the medin here inAustralia have taken up of late,as indeed they have a greatmany CSIRO programs andactivities - all good, healthygrist to our Project Ambassadormill.

And it is a mill that still necds

caps', But somehow that didn'twork either. Ah well, I leave itwith you."

You probably remember theDecember issue of CoResearch,in whishthsdissolution of

. DSIR into a number of CrownResearch Institutes wasannounced, and in which mycolumn posed the question as towhether New Zcaland wasshooting itself in the brain,

Scitech participants expresseda variety of opinions nbout themnssive uphcaval in NewZealand sciencc, involving notonly DSIR but the universityresenrch grnnting system andthe Ministry for Agriculture andForestry.

What is important now for usis to establish how CSIRO willfind its way through the newstructurcs in New Zcalandscience to continue and expandsome or the vcry significant andimportant collaborations wehave with collcagues there.

Thc Ministers with whom Ispokc agreed that it would beeminently sensible for our twocountries la do morc collabora­tive research,

One idea that Mike Call insand J began to hatch was toidentify a couple of areas wherewc do want to increase collabo­ration anel then organisesymposia to get the ball rolling.

The !'irst onc ['m looking at,with Brian Walkcr and HughTyndalc-Biscoe of the Divisionof Wildlife and Ecology, andother groups in CSIRO, isvertebrate pest control. We havein Auslrnl ia a vcry important

My trip began with a tour of oursister organisation, DSIR,magnificently hosted by myopposite number over there,Mike Collins, and 1 had meet­ings with b~thorfhe.Millisters

responsible for SC:ience in NewZealand, Simon Up ton andDenis Marshal!.

I also had the chance to attendand talk at Scitech 2000, amajor science conference inNew Zealand. A numbcr ofNew Zealand scientists andbusiness leadcrs had the chanccto comment on the Govern­ment's proposed restructuringof science administration.

A dry Yorkshireman, Pro­fessor Trevor Hathcrlon,proferred onc of tile loveliest,and aptest, descriptions of thework of a scientific researcher Ihave ever heard. The researchprocess, he said, was onc ofcnd less crawling about in thedark through haystacks, findingonly needles,

'But every now and then,' hesaid, 'just every now and then,you come across the farmer'sdaughter, '

OK for him, but a ChiefExecutive has to be careful. Itoccurred to me that, delightfulthough this was, J might heaccused of sexism if I passed iton, So I jotted in, first, ' .. ,farmer's daughter and son' andthen, feeling unaccountablyuneasy about that one, mnendedit to ' '" fanner's daughter nndseveral of her friends of bothsexes and various religiouspersuasions and racialbaekgroulllh, some with handi-

342-1991

level more say in the Council'sdecisions. '

The Chairman praised thcOfficers' Association for havinghad, throughout its history, amuch wider role than mereindustrial advocacy.

'I was espccially pleased,' hesaid, 'to see tile Officers'Association's wholchearled ad­option of Project Ambassador.

'Projcct Ambassador is up andrunning, and it will become apermanent feature of CSIRO. Itis important for each and everyone of us to 'communicate withthe community' about whatscience is all about and why itmatters. And I believe thattalking publicly and simplyabout what CSIRO does is avery good way of expandingOllr own understanding.'

--"'iiI .T._~

Now that's high technology

A little b~/f)re noon on Wednesday July 17,ji'om a launching site in French Guiana, some very sophis­ticated/rddly bits lOok ~ft'for outer ;1}(/ce in the European Space Agency'; ERS-I sa(ellite aboard anAriane rocket. A lot of those bits were Australiall, and a lot <!f'thejrddling was done by CSIRO. CSJROis co-ordinating 21 Australian experiments, ond one New Zealand one, fO be allowed by the EUl'IJpeanSpace Agency (ESA) to receive datafi'()m the satellite. The satellite will orbit (he earth at a height of780 kilometres, relaying i,!ff)rmation.f{)r scientists studying glo/wl environmental problems such as thegreenhouse elIect. This in/f)rmation will be received at ground stations around the world, iucluding thenew 1(lSInanian Earth Resources Satellite Station (TERSS) now being built iu Hobart, aud another at

the Australiau Centre for Remote Sensing (ACRES) iu Alice Springs. Photo courtesy ofcosSA.

Chairman of CSIRO, Neville Wran, addressed theOfficers' Association Annual General MeetingDinner on Friday June 14 at the CSIRO MineralsResearch Laboratory at North Ryde in Sydney. Thenew Science Minister, Ross Free, also attended.

Mr Wran remarkcd that there were able to mount a case thatwere not many organisations in was not just convincing, butwhich the Chairman of the irrefutable.'Board could feel so comfortable Thc package CS1RO hadtalking to a gathering of gained, he said. 'will mean thatunionists. He said that 'unique salaries are linked tofeature' of CSIRO was one of performance, and it docs awaythe reasons it had been able to with the old system of'weather the storms of the last automatic annual increases.'decadc with our optimism and 'It moves the cmphasis awayenthUSiasm intact.' from formal qualifications and

Speaking of last October's toward each individual's provenwage case decision, he said' It ability to do the job at hand.'is a measure of our maturity as Another important change toan organisation that we were the Organisation, Mr Wran said,able to go as one lobby to the was the rccent rcstructure of theIndustrial Relations Com- Consultative Council, whichmission. United us we were, we would 'give people at every

Wran addresses CSIRO union

There were five CSIRO people in this year's Queen's birthday honours list.OFFICERS service to science and to the with various units of CSIRO,Professor Adrienne Clarke, of environment, particularly including the Bushfire Vnlt,the CSIRO Board, received an through land resources was honoured with an OAM forAO for her service to sciencc management. his service to the developmeotand industry, particularly MEMBER of aerial ignition techniques forthrough the application of Dr Alan Donald, Director of the bushrire management.biotechnology, lnstitute of Animal Production Mr Hugh Waring, formerly with

Mr Ray Perry, former Chief of and Processing, won an AM for the Division of Forcst Research,the Divisions of Groundwater his service to primary industry also received an OAM. His wasResources and Land Resources in the field of animal health. for service to soil scienceManagement, was also awarded MEDALS forestry and education. 'an AG. in recognition of his Mr David Packham. formerly .:..:..:.

Ah! That's better! Queen's Birthday bringsmany happy returns

'solarweave' 1I1m's exposure tosunshine.

The traps are placed atstrategic points, such as theentry to the dairy or the watersource.

According to Bob Tozer, oneof the development team, thetraps are environmentally safeand far more labour-efficientthan control by pesticides. Hesail! that in fiell! trials on fivedairy properties in south-castQueensland, not one dairyfarmer had had to resort topesticides during the whole ofthe buffalo fly season.

He also said that judging bythe immense interest shown inthe !nIl) during its development,industry adoption should berapid.

The cattle, too, showed greatinterest in the development,many coming back repeatedlyto try to go through the trapagain.

The Division developed thetrap with help from the DairyResearch and DevelopmentCorporation' and the QueenslandDairy Farmers Organisation.CSIRO has patented the design'md signed an agreement withCountry Industries Australia PtyLtd, a Queensland manuhlcturerof livestock-handling equip­ment. The agreement gives thecompany exclusive rights tomanufacture and market the unitworld-wide.The trap is a practical app­

lication of the results andunderstanding gained from adetailed ecological andbehavioural study of the bulTalo

lly by the Division.-:-r===~==T77===~-- ~~=~~~=~

Infestation of cattle by thispest has been a constantheadache in the northern areasof Australia. They suck thecattle's blood, and the irritationcauses stress. The cattle try toget rid of the flies by rubbingagainst posts and trccs, givingthemselves sores in the process.The disturbancc to their feedingand resting, anl! the energy theyuse in their frantic efforts to ridthemselves of the rlies, lowerthe cattle's general conditionand their milk production.

Over the years the fly hasdeveloped widespread resis­tancc to most syntllcticpyrethroid pesticides, increasingthe urgency of the need for achemical-free method ofcontrol.

The new trap oLTcrs maximumfly control with minimuminterference to cattle movementor management on the farm, andneeds very Iitlle maintenance.

The l'Iies feed on their hostsabout lR times a day, and needto stay on them for about twodays before they can lay anyeggs in the call1e's dung. Thetraps reduce rly breeding bykilling them before thishappens.

The trap is simplicity itself. Itconsists of a tunnel built over acall le race, tightly covered witha 'solarweave' greenhouse film.As cattle pass through the trapthe flies are brushed off byweighted curtains.

Then the !'lies are attracted tothe natural light coming fromthe top of the trap, wherc theyare killed by the hightemperalure generated by the

Earlier this month the Division of Entomologyreleased a cunning new device for controlling buffalol1y on dah-y cattle. Instead of chemicals it makes useof the buffalo l1y's sensitivity to light and heat.

342-1991

Priority projects for this year

Australia'sfil'e worst introduced vertebrate pest species, as seen by Peter Ma,.kman

ability and design of knittedwool en fabrics. Divisioninvolved: Wool Technology(Institute of Animal Productionand Processing).

Fat-modified foods($100,000)This research aims to designhealthier food components, andproducts with reduced ormodified fat components, whileretaining the sensory appeal offat. Put simply, to make low-fatfoods tastier. Divisions involv­ed: Food Production, HumanNutrition (Institute of AnimalProduction and Processing).

Mineral exploration($284,000)The main thrust of this work isto understand the way in whichhidden ore bodies have their•signatures 1 (Cl Chalf!cteristicpattern of outward) modified bythe deep weathering that occursacross most of Australia; howthose signals can be charac­terised, and how they may bedetected. Division involved:Exploration Geoscience(Institute of Minerals, Energyand Construction).

Metalliferous mining($340,000)The emphasis is on the forwardplanning of large mines in terms

possible reduction 01'greenhouse gas emissions fromcoal-l'ired generators of up to 20per cent and a saving in coalcosts of $40 million a year.Divisions involved: Coal andEnergy Technology; Mineraland Process Engineering(Institute 01' Minerals, Energyand Construction).

Solid oxide fuel cells($200,000)This projcct aims to develop thesolid oxide fuel cell running oncoal gas, nUlural gas or meth­anol fuels, with combined heatand electricity gencrationcapability.

Total project expenditure of $5million a ycar, with $3 millionof that from external sources, isenvisaged.

Division involved: MaterialsScience and Technology (lnstit­ute of Industrial Technologies).

Automotive technologycentre ($150,000)The role 01' this centre will be toidenti fy and develop projects incollaboration with theautomotive industry.

The centre will bc fundedjointly by CSIRO, theautomobile industry and Federaland State governments.

Division involved: Manufact­uring Technology (Institute ofIndustrial Technologies).

High-temperature resins($150,000)This project involves researchconducted under the Memo­randum of Undorstanding withBocing.

The major market 1'01' theseresins, stable at high tempera­tures, is in the fast growingaircraft component exportsector. Other potential marketswith possible shorter termreturns include circuit boards,high-temperature films andmining equipment.

Divisions involved: Chemicalsand Polymers (Institute oflndustrial Technologies); FoodProcessing (Institute of PlantProduction and Processing).

PLANS: program forLANS (local areanetworks) andnetworked services($350,000)PLANS is a ml\jor initiative bythc Institute of InformationScience and Engineering totarget thc telecommunicationsservices sector. The program isbuilt on, and exploits, trendsand rapid shifts in personalcommunications, portablecomputing and the use ofcomputers in communication.

Initially the central focus 01'PLANS will be a broad-bandwirelcss local area nctwork withmore than a hundred megabitsper second of capacity. Thetechnologics needed 10 deliversuch a network incllldemillimetre-wave antennas,gallium arscnide integrated

both of physical design and oftotal stress analysis, togetherwith the definition of grade andof geological structure. Theresults will be applied to bothunderground and open-cutmines to improve recovery,safety, costs and effectiveness.

The research will include thecriteria for design of high­production deep open pits,which are expected to be one ofthe mining technologies to beadopted in Australia.

Division involved: Geo-mechanics (lnstitute ofMinerals, Energy andConstruction).

Processed minemls($545,000)In non-ferrous mineral treat­ment research will focus onseparation of valuable mineralswith improved recovery andimproved classificationmethods.

In alumina production theresearch is aimed at improvingplant efficiency throughfundamental understanding andmodelling of the processtogether with on-linemonitoring and control.

In heavy minerals processingresearch is focused on mineralsands processing, including that01' the more recently discoveredfine-grained deposits.

Research is also aimed atdeveloping a caustic magnesiaproduct, derived frommagnesite. that is acceptable tothe efflucnt treatment market.

Divisions involved: Mineraland Process Engineering;Mineral Products; Building,Construction and Engineering(Institute of Minerals, Energyand Construction).

Basic metal products($331,000)The strategic research will be toidentify and create improve­ments in aluminium smelting; inthe high-intensity smeltingprocesses on WllicllSIROSMELT and ISASMELTare built; and in the productionof magnesium metal. Anincrease in the basic unde­rstanding of the chemistry,metallurgy and fluid dynamicsinvolved will yield considcrableadvantages in these processes inthe medium to longer term.Divisions involved: Mineral andProcess Engineering; MineralProducts (Institute of Minerals.Energy and Construction);Materials Science andTechno Iogy (I nst itu tc ofIndustrial Technologies).

Power generation($120,000)This research will providegasification yield data for keyAustralian coals for usc underspecial conditions for electricitygeneration. This will make

Last month's CoResearch carried the news that the Board had approved JohnStocker's selection of projects for extra funding from the pool of money created bythe 1.5% levy. Though that selection is only one step in the continuing priority­setting process, it is a first step, and CoResearch is interested in finding out howstaffare responding.

From a very small intel'1lal phone survey carried out this month by the PublicAffairs Unit, it seemed that most staff would like to know more about the process.CoResearch was the most popular choice for preferred il~formant, thoughsupervisors ran a close second. So here goes!In case the information ham't yet reached you, here are some details on each of

the projects that succeeded in attracting money from the new fund. Next month'sCoResearch will ask you to respond to a questionnaire (being prepared by theCSlRO Consultative Council and the Communication Working Group) designed tofind out what you think of the whole thing.

The funding available (Institute of Plant Productioncentrally for recurrent and Processing).redirection in 1991-92 - the Genetic Improvement of1.5Po:r ce~t Icvy :- w~s $4.896 wool quality ($150,000)millIOn, Includlllg $367,000 The aim here is to develop andfrom the Corporate Centre.. apply improved techniques in

Thc projects that .wIlI bencfll sheep breeding, measurement offrom these deCISIons, as wool characteristics, woolapproved by the Board, are processing and fabric qualitydescr.1 bed bel?w. In. all cases the assessment. These will be usedpnonty fund~ng Will be only a to select and breed sheep with~l11all part 01 the total lundll1g wool quallty characteristics101' the work descnbed. better matched to the require-

Improving the quality ments of the changing wool

and productivity of market. This should help Aus-radiata pine and tnIlia to maintain or improve its

eucalypt forests share ?f the. world textile trade.DIVISIons Involved: Animal

($350,000) Production; Wool TechnologyThis effort is focused on the (Institute of Animal Productiondevelopment of objective and Processing).

methods f~r rapid assessme~'tof UIlper volume woolwood quality; shortenlllg ot tree marketing initiativesbreedll1g cycles; and genellcmodification of tree quality for ($180,000)wood production purposes. The Medium diameter woolpotential returns from increased constitutes the bulk of theyield and improved wood Australian wool clip andquality are high -- initial stockpile. This research isreturns from pine breeding are aimed at increasing demand forin the order of 15-18 per cent such wools and regaining lostsustainable yield and rcassess- market share. This will be donement of pulping qualities of first by blending wool with fineeucalypts is estimated to return synthetic fibres and reducing$460 million. Divisions properties causing prickliness.involved: Plant Industry; A second research goal will beForestry; Forcst Products to improvc the shape-keeping

342-1991

Don't wait, festivate!

suggestions, offers of help andconstructive criticism from allover. I would like the sciencecommunity to do its own thing.If you think you can play a part,pleasc let me know.

We chose Canberra as thevenue for two very simplereasons ~ because we wantedthe event to have a nationalfocus. and because so Illanynational research insliliollS havetheir headquarlers or a largepresence in Canberra.

I suppose I should state mybias. I represent CSIRO on theFestival's Steering Committee. Ithink the Festival is a great idea.For the past six months I'vebeen working within CSIROand with other institutions tohelp gel it off the ground.

The Steering Committee ismade up of representatives fromCSIRO, the National Scienceand Technology Centre and theAustralian National Universily.Of course other institutions andcompanies will also beinvolved. The eo-ordinator'sposition is funded by a grantfrom the Science andTechnology Awarcness programof the Federal Department ofIndustry, Technology andCommerce, and the Festivalwill be managed by an ACTgroup called Canberra FestivalInc. A private sponsor, PrimeComputer of Australia, andCSIRO's Public Affairs Unit arefunding a planning study.·:·

circuits and advanced signal andimage processing.

Total expenditure will bc inthe order or $2 million a year.

Divisions involved: Radio­physics: Inrormation Technol­ogy; Mathematics andStatistics; and tile AustraliaTelescope National Facility(Institute or InformationScience and Engineering).Coastnl zone ($600,000)A major component of theincreased elTort in the categorycalled Environmental Aspectsof Economic Development willbe the eo-ordination and en­hancement of coastal zonercsearch into a strongly focusedprogram for improving thequality of coastal zone manage­mcnt in all Statcs of Australia.

There will be consultationswith State and local governmentmanagement agencies beforeany major effort is started inany particular location.

Divisions involved: Environ­mental Mechanics; Fisheries;Oceanography: Water Re­sources: Wildlife and Ecology(Institute of Natural Resourcesand Environment); Soils: Trop­ical Crops and Pastures (In­stitute of Plant Production andProcessing); Coal and EnergyTechnology (Institute of Miner­als, Energy and Construction).Waste Treatment($606,000)Some half-dozen projects wereproposed. These are beingevaluated by a task forcechaired by DrTom Sputling.This task force will propose astrategy for waste treatmentresearch in CSIRO.

The strategy will deal withtreatment of wastes, rather thana determination of the fate andimpact of waste in the environ­ment. This laller activity will beaddressed in this year's round ofthe priority process.

Divisions involved: Manufact­uring Technology: Chemicalsand Polymers (Institute ofIndustrial Technologies); Soils(Institute of Plant Productionand Processing): Wool Technol­ogy (Institute or Animal Prod­uction and Processing); MineralProducts (Institute of Minerals,Energy and Construction):Water Resources (Institute ofNatural Resources andEnvironment).Matching land use toforestry practices($80,000)This funding is for the enhance­ment of existing work onincorporating better environ­mental, tree-growth, and soilsdata into decision supportsystems for forestry manage­ment, taking into accounttimber production, wildlifehabitat and biodiversity consid­erations. Di vision in vol ved:Wildlife and Ecology (Instituteof Natural Resources andEnvironment ).

Sustainable grazing($180,000)This proposal aims tu model theinteraclion of envirollmcnLaland economic factors that affectthe long-term stability andproductivity of grazing systemson the temperate sown pasturesof eastern Australia.

Particular emphasis will be onfertiliser use and the potential ofnew plants, plant managementand supplementary feeding.

Decision-support systemsincorporating the results of themodelling work will bedevelop-cd for graziers in theNSW and Victorian wheat andsheep and high-rainfall grazingproperties.

This project is funded subjectto the successful integration ofthe work into the CSIRO Landand Water Care Program. DrDavid Smiles has been asked tofacilitate this.

Division involved: AnimalProduction (Institute of AnimalProduction and Processing).

Biologicnl control ofvertebl'3te pests($180,000)This project aims to controlvertebrate pests, SUel1 as rabbitsand foxes, by reducing theirfertility. Division involved:Wildlife and Ecology (Instituteof Natural Resources andEnvironment). (See specialfeature in last month's Co­Research, No. 341, page 4.)

A spokesperson for the CSIROBoard told CoResearch that thenew process for identifyingpriorities and supporting themoffered a flexibility that was'essential'. The process wouldalso offer greatly increasedopportunities for promisingresearch programs, put forwardfrom 'the bench', to besupported by the ChiefExecutive, the Directors and theChiefs from the funds they nowhad under their control.

The Board was 'verysupportive of the methodologyand the processes', seeing it allas 'very transparent andobjective' .

However, the spokespersonadmitted, the Board recognisedthat the process was currentlyseen as very 'top-down', andevery effort was being made toachieve a more balancedprocedure in future years.

CSIRO Chairman NevilleWn\n said, 'the inLentiol1 now isto find out just what ourscientists feel they could do tomake the whole process workbetter; but a proccss involvingthe shifting of resources cannever be expected to pleaseeverybody'.

That intention should be atleast partly addressed by thequestionnaire in next month l S

C"Research.

Last month's CoResearch reported that Australia was to have its first­ever national science festival in April 1993. The event, to be held inCanberra, was announced on June 16 by the new Federal Minister forScience and Technology, Ross Free. One of CS/RO's own staff,journalist David Mussared of the Public Affairs Unit, has been closelyand keenly involved with the project from the beginning, andCoResearch thought readers might be interested in his account of howit's all shaping up so far ...CSIRO is one of the I,ey organisations behind theAustralian Science Festival. Planning has alreadybegun, and a co-ordinator should be nppointed bythe time this issue goes to print.But what exactly is a Science and many other industries. TheFestival? What happens? Who Festival will not shy away frompays for it? And why should we controversy, and it will be aboutbother? why we do science as much as

The answers to all of those it is about what we do.questions depend very much on Edinburgh, Scotland, hasthe scientific community itself. hosted a very popular scienceThe Festival is a chance for festival every year for the pastscience to 'come out'. It is a three years. I would like to seechance to show that scientists the Australian Science Festivalare an integral and necessary also become a regular event,part of the community, and that although there are differingwhat science does is interesting thoughts on whether it shouldand fun. It is a chance for be annual or biennial.science to celebrate. Probably the hardest thing is

Ideas have been suggested that scientists are not trainedranging from u 'fuel-effieeney performers, and science is notboat race' on Lake Burley really scripted to be performed,GrifTin to a Science Fiction film But the Edinburgh Festival hasfestival; from major forums on come up with many creativescience policy to a 'Science ways of presenting science, andBall'. The Biola science and of involving the public.environment festival staged by The vital question, of course,seven of CSIRO's Canberra is who pays. The AustralianDivis.ions will become wu·t of Science Festival does not IUlve athe larger event. large pot of money 10 dole out.

The Festival will cover the full All the money we have raisedspectrum - from serious so far has already beenscientific conferences to fun allocated to employing a co-events for fatuilies and 11011- ordinator and running ascientists. planning study. Instead we hope

The possibilities are limitless. Australia's different scientificEvents may deal with medical institutions and industries willscience, environmental science, come up with their own ideas,food science, sport science, and their own funds andforensic science, space science, sponsors, which wi I1 becomeindustrial science, science in part of the wider Festival.mining, agriculture, brewing We are seeking ideas,

342-1991

Up-north up-dateOn the wrong day it would be easy for theacademythical Man from Mars to get theimpression that the letters CSIRO are a mereformal device designed to bundle together some35 divisions, units, laboratories and centres whosescientific work has, in fact, no real connection.Well, if the Man from Mars might think that­and we all know he's no fool - then it's a safebet the odd Man from Earth might think so too.

Caption competition

Allother bumper crop of entries for the captioll competitioll! Thisthillg is starting to get out of halltl.

The willller is Bill Zimmermall, who has just lejl CSIRO '.I'

Science and Careers Education (Ilee Educatioll Programs) toretul'/l to teachillg. Bill's submissioll was 'Shall we freeze thewhole body, orjust the head?'

Oil the ji'eezillg theme there were also ' .. , alld maybe some tlaywe will have the techllology to re,'ive you as a Cabillet Millister'from IlIlallts Liepa, Division ofCoal alld Energy Techllology, and, ... and will it.fi'eeze budgets too?' from Bob Coupe,; Divisioll ofBuildillg, COllstmctioll alltl Ellgilleerillg.

Then there was boilillg, with Peler McGalll'lln musillg 'Now didI tUI'/l off the iroll this olOl'Ilillg?' from Lynll Plllford '~l Scienceand Careers Educatioll, alld 'Ilubble, bubble, toil alld trouble/fire bll/'Il alld cauldron bubble/ Now, who bronght the bats'willgs?' And spinning, with 'All, so this is how fairy flm's ismade!' .fi'lJ/n Jan Ilabel, Buildillg, Coustrllction alld Engineering.There was art ('And here we have a simulatioll (~l your flulillgpolitical careeer': Alau Alltlersw, Wildlife alld Ecology); politics('Well, sir, you tlid say we should agitate for greater publicrecognitioll': Alall again); alld evell magic ('... and the gellie will1l0W appear to grant you allY wi,.h, Barry': Roger Lipscomb,Radiophysics. All tll"ee topics were perhaps covered ill the captiollsellt by FrallZ Spranger of the Editorial Services Section ill EastMelbourlle: 'Keell illterest is showll by Goverllmellt alld oilcompallY officials in CSIRO's {Jel7Jetuallllotioll machine.' Alldthere were I1lore .. ,

But the fllllniest thing [','e read recelltly was sent 1I0t to me butto the Ilew COllllllllllicators' lIewsleUe,; 'Letferbox', alld though Itry 'lOt to swipe thillgsfrolll olher {Jublications I really call't resistthis one, It comes from Jim Edwards, Divisioll of Coal andEnergy Technology:'Is a negative PPE outcollle called a Poo Poo Ee, alld is therecipiellt cOllsequelltly granted all excrement rather thall allincrement ... ?' Wish I'd thougltt of it.

ItllyllOW, have a go at this next photo, taken by the same BillZimlllerman you met at the head ofthis COlUIIIII.

andfealSThe response in Townsville,however, was less sanguine. Infact the Minister for Scienceand Technology, Ross Free, putout a press release on July 4 toallay fears for the survival ofthe CSIRO Division of TropicalAnimal Production facility inTownsviJIe, expressed to him bythe Federal Member forHerbert, Tcd Lindsay.

Mr Free said that no decisionhad yet been made, and that hehad reassured Mr Lindsay thatthe review was taking particularaccount of local concerns thathe and other parties had raised.

The Committee is expected torelease a draft report by the endof Augus!.

The Townsville facility, at theDavies Laboratory, is one of thethree Queensland locations ofthe Division of Tropical AnimalProduction. The number of staffthere is currently thirteen, out ofa total Davies Laboratorycomplemcnt of about eighty.

Mr Free emphasised thatDivisional reviews are part ornormal operating procedureswithin CSIRO. They frequentlytake rlaee on the retiremcnt of aChief - in this case Or David

Mahoney.·:·

of the Queensland Departmentof Primary Industry, and MrWally Peart, Chairman of theDivision of Tropical Product­ion's Advisory Committee.The Committee has already

caused quite a stir. Ils work hasinvolved an exhaustive consul­tation process, with over fiftypublic written submissionsalready received. The team hasvisited Townsville, Roekhamp­ton and Brisbane to hear theviews of thirty-three individualsand groups from a wide eross­section of livestock industries,the community, universities, theDepartment of PrimaryIndustries and CSIRO staff.

Loca/hopesRockhampton Mayor AldermanLea Taylor said that in its sub­mission the city council strong­ly supported thc continuedpresence and strengthening ofCSIRO's Tropical ResearchCentre.

'The ccntre is a vital compon­ent of the beef industry, pro­viding a focal point on researchfor northern cattle producers,'he said.

The editorial of the Queens­land Morning Bulletin took thevisit by the Review Commilleeto Roekhampton to mean thatthe city WHS a 'hot contender ...for the establishment ofAustralia '5 first genuine beefindustry research institution.'

In late April a ReviewCommillee was set up to look atCSIHO's research on tropicalbeef production. Il is chaired byDr Alan Donald, Director of theInstitute of Animal Productionand Processing, and includesMr Jim Miller, Dircctor-General

Beefreviewcommittee

Project Ambassador is alive andwell in the north.

John StackersspeechSreaking of Project Ambass­ador, CSIRO's Chief ExecutiveOr John Stoeker was also in onthe Hoekhampton public re­lations push. He gave a speechto delegates at the Beef 91conference in which he warnedbeef producers they would needto look to research anddevelopment that went beyondthe farm gate if they wanted tostay competitive.

He said the beef industry mustcontinue to del iver the productsconsumers want, which meansmonitoring the health andnutrition qualities 01' beefproducts for domestic andinternational 111arkcts. as well askeeping up with overseastrends.

'Owing to thc removal of beefquotas, demand for our beefproducts with countries such asJapan has entered a new era ofuncertainty,' Dr Stocker said.'Much needs to be learnedabout Japan's consumerpreferences in order to keep theAustralian productcompetitive. '

Dr Stocker said CSIRO studiesof food preferences in Japanwill allow Australian companiesto tailor their products in a bidto rear benefits on both sides ofthe farm gate.

'The conlinued supply ofquality livestock,' he said, 'willbe vital to support any changein direction brought about byconsumer demands.'(CSIRO Occasional Paper No.5, The Australian BeefInduslry: facing up III thejil/ure, is an edited transcript ofDr Stacker's address 10 the Beef91 Conference and is availablefrom the CSIRO Bookshop.)

Beef91 exhibitionNot, however, if he was amongthose who went to the recentBeef 91 exhibition in Hock­hampton, The Divisions ofTropical Crops and Pastures,Tropical Animal Production,Food Processing, and Soils, gottheir various acts together topresent a unified display at thisimportant industry even!.The theme of that display ­

'CSIRO Beef Hesearch: OnTrack' - gave graziers andother industry interest groups aglimpse of past triumphs andpossible 'coming atlractions'.Land and water care projects,along with pasture and animalproduction initiatives. wereintegrated with research thathighlighted the processing andmarketing of meat products.

Key research efforts wereoutlined in the four sections ofthc display:

• keeping the herd profitable;• keeping the land productive;• keeping the product right;• keeping an eye on the future.Assistant Chief of the Division

of Tropical Animal Production,Dr John Vercoe, said the displaywas a big step forward forCSIRO's northern Divisions.

'By pooling their resources,Divisions and Institutes wereable to present a more unil'icdimage of CSIHO research in thenorth.' he said.

Jel1ni Metcalfe, Communic­ation Manager for the Divisionof Tropical Crops and Pastures,agreed with Or Vercoe.

'We wanted to avoid the con­fusion that much of the publichas about CSIHO's organisa­tional structure,' she said.'People really don't care whatDivision we're from, as long aswe're doing relevant research.

'And most of Ihe people whoallendcd our display were veryimpressed with the directionCSIRO's beef research istaking,'

The DiviSions that took parthope to repcat the exercisc inSeptember at Toowoomba'sFarml'est. a rural trade expo thatattracts more than RO,OOOpeople each year.

What with all these, and theforthcomil1g CSIRO exhibitionat Brisbane's August show­the 'Ekka' -- it seems that

342-1991

Communication: how do we stack up?

employing more externa!experts on contract to provideback-Up in routine technicalservices such as editing andgraphic design. This hascertainly happened with avengeance in the CorporateCentre, and we are finding thatit has advantages. It does freeup the permanent staff toconcentrate on longer term,more strategic issues and to putmore energy into the morecreative jobs.

Where we do fall behind,though, is that where thisreduction of permanent staff hasoccurred in US companies, thesenior communicators haveusually been taken up into thetop management teams asvulued strategic advisers. InCSlRO and other Australianorganisations, communicatorsare still too often regarded asmainly technicians. A Westpaccolleague remarked on thisbitterly in relation to that bank'srecent PR troubles!

Another area where CSIRO, atleast, falls behind, is in its lackof a coherent emptoyeecommunication strategy andplan. There is heavy emphasisplaced on regular employeecommunication in America, andalmost two out of three people Imet were involved in theirorganisation's in ternal

We seem to have had consellSus for some time now, publicly at least, on the question of whether communicationis A GOOD THING. It is, we've decided, definitely something we should be doing lots of, both inside and outsidethe Organisation. When SCICOMM -CSIRO's own national conference on communication - takes off onAugust 13 this year, the question ofhow best to go about accomplishing this avowedly good thing will be whiskedonto the front bume,: It had better be: a paper answering just that question is to be ceremonially presented toJohn Stocker on the 15th, as the climax of the event.

Jen!fer North, CSIRO's Manager of Corporate Communication, has just arriJ1ed back from the United States,where she took part in an international conference on professional communication skills and strategies.CoResearch thought readers might be interested in how we compare with the people widely thought to beworking at the pointy end of that area of expertise - the Americans.I have just been fortunate 24 countries, and the program they are often ahead of us inenough to be able to allend THE was packed tight for all four some technical aspects ofmajor international gathering of days. The topics covered both communication, we arc llheadcommunication professionals, strategic and technical issues, of them in adapting moreheld in Washington DC. This with the greatest emphllsis on quickly to some major strategicwas the 21st Annual the strategic. changes affecting ourInternational Conference of the Topics I found particularly profession. My impressionsInternationlll Association of interesting were on the changes were gllined by listening toBusiness Communiclltors that will llffect the communica- advice from several speakers,(IABC), held June 9-12. tion profession in the next few observing audience reactions

The lABC is an orgllnisation declldes; advances in and tlllking to many Americanof over 11,500 professional developing strategic communi- communicators.communicators working in cation plllns; and II large Por instance, in CSIRO, and inmore Ihan 40 countries research study under way aimed other Australian organislltions Ithroughout the world in at defining the characteristics of know, we seem to be furtherindustry, government, non- excellence in communicalion. ahead in changing from usingprofit organisations and llearned far too much to pass broad, mass-media messages foracademia. on in a brief CoResearch article, wide audiences to using more

My trip was paid for by its but I'll be distilling some of it speeific, targeted messagesAustralian equivalent - the for presentation at SCICOMM devised to suit varying keySociety of Business 91 in August, and in articles in audiences. The Americans stillCommunicators (SBC) - andl the SBC monthly newsletter. tend to be bound up with massrecord my hearlfelt thanks 10 I'm also happy to talk to anyone communications.that body for the wonderful who's interested. Targeting not only improvesopportunity it has given me to Por the purposes or this article the effectiveness of thewiden my experience. I'll be dwelling on some communication but usuallyThe membership 01' the SBC comparisons I was able to make saves money too! 01' course it

includes marketing and public between the profession of demands more skiIJ andreI at ions experts, communica- communication in Australia and knowledge of audience charac-tion managers, graphic in the USA. There are some teristics, the different communi-designers and crelltive photug- considerable surprises! cation media available andraphers, writers and editors, I went to the conference to which to choose to suit eachpublishers and printers, und film learn. After all, the US of A is audience - but that knowledgeand video mllkers. the centre 01' most advanced comes with a well trained

The American lABC knowledge, and the field of communicator.conference made most communication and public We also seem to be furtherAustralian conferences I have relations has always been one 01' down the track in reducing thebeen to look very small. There its strengths. size of in-house permanentwere over 1,100 delegates from What I found was thai, whilst communication staft' and

communication. I listened withinterest to descriptions of manyorganisations' innovative.vigorous and well-fundedemployee communicationprograms, and then squirmedwith cmbarrassment whenasked to describe CSIRO's.Their programs included

regular videos from the ChiefExecutive as well as inform­ative videos or films on topicssuch as superannuation or worksafety, regular meetings by theChief Executive and othersenior managers with all staff,slice group meetings, electronicmail bulletin boards. annualreports by management toemployees, and telephone hot­lines to provide answers toquestions on burning issues.

All these activities were seenas being essential adjuncts tohelping line managers in tlleirroles. They formed part of amanagement-oriented, formalplan complete with objectives,strategy and budget.

However, CSTRO does seemto be well advanced indeveloping its external comm­unication strategy. 1 met manyUS communicators who haddeveloped strategies for specificexternal communication cam­paigns, but few had developed aglobal. organisation-wide one.except perhaps for PR, Wllich isonly one aspect of communica­tion. So, we can pat oursel veson the back for doing both.

In summary, 1 found, to mysurprise and pleasure, thatAustralian comtTIunicators werewell up with advanced interna­tional trends in some aspects oftile protession. Does this showthat comnlunication amongstcommunicators actuallyworks?·:·

SCICOMM 91Minister 1'01' Science, Ross Free, will officially open SCICOMM91, a three-day national conference on the role of the specialistcommunicator in CSlRO, in Geelong on August 13.Or John Stocker, Chief Executiveof the Organ-isation, will take pal1in tile final plenary session todiscuss the recommendations 01' theconference with a view to takingthem to the Executive Commillee.

Pour preliminary work-shopteams are already at work preparingpapers on the issues voted mostimp0l1ant in a sUlvey 01' communi­catOl'S earlier this yew":• resourcing communicationprograms;• evaluating and recordingcommunication programs;• inlemal communication; wld• cOllllllunicating through imagesruxl sound.

Other key issues for paneldiscussions will be the roles andrelationships of the various

components of the Orgrulisation ­Divisions, Institute Offices, andCorporate Centre; and the use ofthe Research Data Base as acommunication tool.

Practical workshops will beanother leature 01' the conlerence,as wcll as special sessions set asidefor photographers and graphicdesigners.

A range 01' displays and infollnallearning sessions will round 01'1' thepmgram.

Registration forms are availableIrom ILIly of the following:Peter Murphy: 09 387 0710Rae Robinson: 03 487 9217Jenni Metcalle: 07 377 0361Nancy Mills Reid: 02 887 8259Wendy Parsons: 06 276 6615

342-1991

The only thin~ that's still the same as ir was 25 years ago whenBernie Mithen started his career with CS/NO at3/4 Albert Street

-the number: Photo hy Max McMaster, //l/iJl'/l111tion Services.

Hernie Mithen leaves CSIRO

Sevcral farcwell functions wcrearrangcd ror Mr Mithen beroreand on his Dnal day with theOrganisation.

At the climactic rarcwcll. held,of course, at the historic EastMelbourne site now housing thcInformation Services Branch ofwhich he was head, Mr Mithcnwas presentcd with the 'Orderor the Paoo [spadc!, in rormalrecognition or his ootstandingachievements in the field of tallstory tell ing, impersonations.and the calling of H spade aspade.

That evening he and his wifcwere wined, dincd andshowered with goodonyas.

'We can 110 longer say '{rustus' or 'look at our track record'.Now wc have to demonstratewhy we are doing what wc aredoing and why wc havcallocated the resources to thoseoutcomes.'

After a quarter of a century, Bemie Mithen has leftCSIRO to go to work for the Australian SecuritiesCommission as its Executive Director.When he finished up on Friday Slacker.June 14 it was as General 'We went rrom being aManager or CSIRO's Inform- university without students toatiol1 Services Brunch at 314 an organisation that not onlyAlbel"! Street, right back where knows why it's doing Ihehe started from in 1966, when research it's doing, but is able tothe site was still the Organ- explain that to the Australianisalion's headquarters. community and 10 make the

The orrer or the new job, Mr changes necessary to meet theMithen told CoResearch, 'came demands as those demandsalong a year or two sooner than change. Wc are becomingI thought it would, but it came increasingly responsive.along, and it was a bit too good However. Mr Mithen didto resist.' admit there were some losses 10

The Commission is a body set against all those gains.with Cl starr of about 1,700, sited 'The old CSIRO,' he said,in Melbourne. It looks after 'simply let loose to do its bestcompany registrations. statutory 011 its own programs, unqucs-returns and processes, and the tionably produced some or theASC business centres all around best science in the world.Australia. 'But community expectations,

Mr Milhen said the job would especially or accountability,be a challenge as well as a step have meant that we need toup, 'It will have,' he ,akl, 'the have thatllctivity focu,ed,same central focus oninformation as a resource thatneed, to be managed andhusbunded in the same way asany other current re,ouree.

'But the markel ror theinformation at the ASC is prettyextensive, and that will be a bitof i.\ change. '

Mind you, he', used tochange. Mr Mithen said somepeople may have their first year25 times, but that certainlyhadn't happened in his case.

Not only has he had frequentjob changes himself in CSIRO:he has watchecl CSIRO strugglethrough frequent and deepchanges in structure and altitudeover the years.

'I think that CSlRO haschanged very significantly forti,e beller,' he said, 'given thechanges in public expectationsof a research organisation.

'The old days where sciencewas what the best brains didbest are gone, CSIRO has re­focused, and reorganised, tomeet that cI,allenge, and it'sdone that very well.

'What the best brain does bestis now explicity focused onnational benefits and industryneed.

'We're doing the same job, butwe're doing it differently, doingit a little smarter and a whole lotmore focused, with a Illorecorporate approach to howCSlRO is going to add value toAustralia, We are deliberatelyfocusing our efforls rather thanallowing the consequences oftho,e efforts to emerge.'It really began with the

implementation of the newCSIRO on Ihe first of January1988. and it's been given anenormous kick along by John

Arthur FrostApprentice Award

The 1991 CSIRO Arthur Frost Apprentice Awardwas officially presented to Deryk Hartwick at theDivision of Atmospheric Research recently byCSlRO Board Member, Or Kevin Foley.

Mr Hart wick began his Frost Apprenticc Award.apprenticcship as a radio trades- The award commcmorates thepersDn at the Division in 1987. life of Arthur Frost, a workshopHe worked in the Electron ic supervisor at the then DivisionInstrumentation Group on Ihe or Textile Physics, now Wooldevelopment and manufacture Technology. Arthur tDok a keenof a range Df instruments interest in the development Dfincluding rainwater collectors, apprentices in his DivisiDn andremote pressure monitors and a throughout CSIRO in Sydney.volcanic ash detector. First presented in 1974, the

Mr John Bennett, Project award is now funded by theManager, described Deryk as a Institutes of CSIRO and'most conscientious, diligent comprises an inscribed plaqueand persistcnt apprentice'. and a chcque for $500.

At the presentation, Mr Roger Mr Hartwick now works as aDighy, CSIRO Apprentice Technical Assistant at theCoordinator, outlined the Division of Forest Products inhistory or the CSIRO Arthur Clayton.-:'

342-1991

No, 3 4 3 S e p t e m b e r i 9 9 1 I'F (', I C SIR 0 's s t a f f new spa per C SIR 0, ~. AUSTRALIA

BudgetbiiiitSslap in face

Excalibur! Which knight has the power to pull the enchanted slJade ji'Oln the soil and ji'ee thewOlllen oJCS/HO ji'olll the crl/elty ofolrsite child-care?

CSIRO takes lead inmotherhood.statements

Faint, but genuine, smiles and a couple of almost-hearty cheers greeted thisyear's Budget allocation for science at CSIRO's top table. CSIRO ChiefExecutive John Stocker said, 'I am pleased that science and CSIRO are beingsupported by the Government. However, we will have to continue to work hardto mal,e sure there is general recognition of the importance of investment inscientific research to the future of Australia.'

impetus behind its developmcnt- represent efforts to buildcloser administrative slructuresaround the nation's scientificand technological researchactivities.

'I am concerned that thepublic research sector is underso much pressure todemonstrate its return oninvestment thal it is in dangcr oflosing its way in respcct ofcommercial objectives. '.:.

this issue and wc are proud ofit.'

'So far,' Or Stocker said,'science has been much toonHIch a male domain.' l1e saidhc hoped providing child careon the work-site would givemore women heart to combinecareers in science. or sciencesupport, with motherhood.

CSIRO is spending $1.5million on this program toprovide child care for its stall.The two other centres arc InSydney and Canbcrra.

The new centre should be openfor business by January 1992and will provide high-quality ~~

and high-aeecssabilIly - carefor about 40 'scientific' babiesand toddlers.•:.

parental prejudice, The centre,he said, was a hard-headedinvestment decision aimed atretaining the Organisation's bestpenple.

'No other fede;'al governmentdcpartment or government busi­ness enlcrprise has so far beenwilling 10 build child-careccntres in Ihree states,' hebragged. 'CSIRO is leading on

expressed reservations about theWhite Paper.

'When I hear talk of WhitePapers and the like,' he said, 'Iam afraid I hear the not-so­gentle footsteps of tC'eDepartment of Employment,Education and Training in thebackground.

'Perhaps I am being melodra­matic or overprotective, but Iam worried that the WhitePaper ~ and the bureaucratic

technology, the paper is due tobe tabled in the first half of1992.Slladow Science Minister

Peler MeGauran, who alsospoke at the luncheon,

(Slid backs them with money)With the announcement of the opening of its thirdon-site child care centre CSIRO takes the lead inpl'Oviding this sanity-saying sel"vice to its employees.No other government agency in Australia hasprovided' so many work-based centres out of its ownpocket.This third centre, at the

Clayton site in Melbourne, hasnot yet been built, but funds arecommitted, and the ChiefExecutive of CSIRO, Or JohnStocker, has made it all officialby enthusiastically turning thefirst sod on the spot where thecentre will go up.

Or Slocker: a self-confessedfather, denied any softening

Budget meets that cost.The bad oews is thai, unlike

the ABC, we have not been letoff the irritating and apparentlymerely silly hook of the'erficiency dividend', the J .25per cent extracted from ourallocation each year regardlessof perfnrmance, or anythingelse, as an 'encouragement' togreater efficiency. (See lettcrbclow.) This year's 'dividend'amounts to $4.12 million forCSIRO. bringing onr $lO.72million down to $6.6 million.

An important, thoughunsurprising, element of thisBudget is the formal acknowl­edgement of the Government'spromise to make three-yearfunding a permanent fixture forCSIRO, the Australian Instituteof Marine SCIence and theAustralian Nuclear Science andTechnology Organisation.

At the 1991 National ScienceForum Budget ltmeheon onAugust 21, the day after theBudget release, ScienceMinisler Ross Free praisedCSIRO's work on researchprIority-setting and made muchof a future White Paper onscience and technology thm hasbecn endorsed by thc PrimcMinister's Science Council.

Designed to sel strategicdircctions to guide Governmentdecision-making on science and

Thc Treasurer, Mr John Kerin, was in Rockhampton recentlyon his so·called 'selling of the budget' trip, where he spoke toa luncheon of local cattle producers, business people, unionleaders, academics and representntives of state and federalgovernment bodies,

DnI"ing the question time that followed he was nsked thefollowing question by a CSIRO stnff member.

'Mr Treasurer, would yon please explain to me and to theother members of the public here this afternoon why it is thatyou reduce your contribution to CSIRO every yenI' by 1.25per cent and call it an efficiency dividend'! If we were toreduce our efficiency by just a touch would you provide uswith nn efficiency bonus of I.25 per cent'!'

To which the Treaslll'er l'eplied -'This doesn't just apply to CSIRO but across the board ...

blah blah ... more difficult to see its merit in the particularcase of CSIRO .. , yawn yawn .. , a good idea to keep biggovernment bureaucracies lean and keep their eye onefficienc)' ... bore bore ." but I can assure you that it won'tlast I'orever,'

The latter is just as well because the asymptote 01' the policyis zero!

.. , selit to CoNesearch by 'a Nockhalllptoll CSlNO scielltist'.

From the sidelines ...

Science Minister Ross Freesaid, 'I am pleased to reportwhat, in the prcsent economicclimate and in the context offiscal restraint, cun only bedescribed as a successfuloLltcome for science andtechnology. '

A t a nearby ( - some saidvery nearby) table ShadowMinister Peter McGauran washeard to admit that CSIRO had'won a minor reprieve' whichhe attributed to 'John Stacker'sforceful advocacy of the causeof CSIRO within governmentcircles and the commincenctworks.'

The Budget brings a 4.3 percent real increase in governmentsupport for major scienceprograms, The budget appropri­ation to CSIRO has increased inreal terms by 3 per cent.

CSIRO has been granted anextra $10.72 million for urgentrepair of decaying buildings andeqll ipment. We had asked for$20 million.

Some breath had been heldover the question of whethcr theFederal Government wouldmake good ils half-promise tomeet the full costs orImplementing the awardrestructuring CSIRO undertooklast October in relurn rorsizcable pay rises for its staff,particularly ils scientists. This

343##1991

Afair-sized cutting fromthe root ofall evil ...

The above grapll is/innl the 1991 CS/NO DATA BOOK More letters Oil page 6

It is al1 housed in a purpose-built at!oy carry-case suitable for fielduse. Thc equipmenl was purchased about eighleeen months ago for$4,400.00 and has only becn used on one ficld excursion.

For more details please contact Peter Hutchings: phone 06 2818341 or Fax 06 281 8348.

Liz MaeKayEditor, CoResearch

Dear Readers,People send me stories, they give me tips, and they answer myquestions when I catl them up. But they never send me anycartoons! 11010 Vi' wc have arlisls ollllhere. How aboul a few originalcartoons for your very own starf newspapcr?

l. a thermo·"onlrol assembly, model No. YTCOIL2. a balance, model No. IBIOS, capadty 3IOg, readability O.OOg3. a data printer model No. YDP 02-0D.

Dear Editor,Following the birth of my second son, I have reassessetlmypriorities ancl have rcsigned from tile Organisation. Sincecommencing in 1977 I was fortunate to work in all areas of CSIROadministration - RAO, Hcad Orl'ice, Division and Institute, andwas privileged to see much of the research of the Organisation l'irst­hand, through visits to many silcs across Australia.

I would like to take the opportunity, through Co!?esfOrch, to thankall CSIRO staff with whom I came into contacl over thc years fortheir friendship and support. I wish everone, and CSIRO. all thebest for the future.

Cathy ReadInstitute of Inl'ormation Science and Engineering

North Ryde

Mr Hutchings suggests the name 'Siroequip Trader' for a possi!>leregu.lar CoResearch column. J like the idea very much, hut I'rntotally dependent 011 readers Fir items t" advertise in il. Please.everyone, let me knol-v U' you l-vould like 10 see such a column.especially ifJ'ou have an item "f' /Wo 1 could kick orTwith.-Ed.

Peter HutchingsSenior Technical Officer

Bllshfire Research Unit

Letters to theEditor

Dear Editor,1 would like to comment on some aspects of the sale and disposal 01'cquipment (both recent and ancient) throughout the Organisation.

I have noticed in our Division that some equipment sits around onshelves or in cupboards long aftcr it has ceased to be useful to aproject. I'll bet it is a similar situation elsewhere. and occursbecause tile disposal procedures within the Divisions are time­consuming and the monetary returns from Illany of tile items ofauctioned equipment barely cover the procedural costs 01' disposal.In contrast to highly saleable items such as motor vehicles, powertools and the like, much of the specialised eqUipment has a verylimited market outside the Organisation.

To make beller use of these equipment rcsources beFore they reachdisposal status why not try an equipmcnt exchange column (forsale, swap or donation) in Co!?esearch? Equipmcnt lists circulatethrough various Divisions from time to time, and some, Iunderstand, are also on electronic mailing facilities. However. thereis no universal list available to all Divisions simultaneously.

Pcople whose programs are in priority-funded areas may not seethe merits of this idea. but there are many of us who are not sofortunatc, who have to make do witll equipment that is not stale-of­thc-arl, who need equipment for a projcct but don'l have thenecessary funds. Naturally, any transaction with equipment wouldhave to follow conventional rules and guidelines as laid down bythe Organisation.

When the question of disposal arises, what is really stopping usfrom setting up small in-house tendering proccdures to encouragcstarf to help recycle a smat! portion of those otherwise-lost funds onantiquated museum pieces?

To start the bat! rolling, the Bushl'ire Research Unit, Division ofForestry, Canberra, has a Sartorius lnfra-red Dryer for sale.

The instrument package consists of:

And now I'd like to put in aplug for my new video.

Just the other day 1 was shownthe final version 01' a short videonewsletter I have been workingon with Nick Pitsas, NickAlexander and Robert Kerton atour Film and Video Centre inEast Melbourne. I am pleasedwilh the oulcome and the videowill now be sent oul toDivisions.

I'm hoping it will be a usefulvehicle for further improvingour internal communicalions.I'm looking forward tofeedback I'rom staff as towhcther you think it is anappropriate thing to do, andwilelhcr the kind of materialwe've chosen For the firstepisode is what you would liketo see.

In Future episodes we mean tohighlight thc extraordinarycfforts of women and menthroughout the Organisationwho are maki ng unusual orinteresting contributions.Please. really, let me know whatyou think.

~f-.r

thcy have highlighted it in theirrecent publicalion 'Funding theFabric of Australian Science.'

Another ASTEC committee isnow looking at the issue ofmajor Facilities and items ofequipment, and two of oursenior people are serving on thiscommittee: Jim Peacock, Chiel'of the Division of PlantIndustry, and Ron Ekcrs.Director of the AustraliaTelescope.

In the course of discussionsleading up to the budget Ibecame convinccd that theimportance of CSIRO researchis being recognised in highplaces. and that ProjectAmbassador has played animportant role in this. We'llneed to step up our efforts toensure a good outcome to theMay 1992 While Paper.The bIoi on our landscape

remains the so-called'efficiency dividcnd', and westill have to mount a concertedeffort to push for the realisationthat this regular erosion of 1.25per cent to our budget is mostunlikely to increase theefficiency of our research. Quitethe reverse, in tflCI.

We can perhaps take someheart from the success of theABC in having this pernicious'dividend' removed.

million for CSIRO, AIMS andANSTO, of wllieh our sharewas about $20 million.

I feel that given the extremelydifficult budget cont"xt, the factthat we got $12 million, ofwhich $ 10.72 was set aside forCSIRO. was a good result.

The While Paper on seicnceand technology that theOovel'l1ment is pUlling togetherfor ncxt May will give usanother chance to press the caseFor the importancc of capitalfunding. We must again put itForward forccl'ully as a majorproblem requiring governmentaction in the funding of thiscountry\s science andtechnology.

ln past CoHe.l'earch columns Ihave mentioned the jssucs andoptions paper being prepared byASTEC on the state ofAustralian science, and thatpaper is now complete.Throughout their consullationprocess the ASTEC team heardthe capital funding themerepealed again and again, and

Well. there goes another budget,and, all things considered, nottoo bad a one.

Of course our central coneernwilhthis last onc has beencapital Funding. Frolll the graphbelow you can sec how duringthe early and mid eighties wehad quite large slabs of moneyavailable for capital, and howthose sums dwindled until theybecame nearly invisible at thetop of last year's expenditurebar.

The CSlRO Board has agreedwith me that we'll have to dosomething about it, and thatsomething is to spend llloney onit. Wc 've decided the essentialamount for us to spend over thistriennium is $35 million eachyear.

Wc can fund about $ 15 millionof this from our own resourcesincluding the sale of variousasscls. Wc asked Ihe FederalGovernment for the balance.$20 million a ycar for threeycars. In Fact. the total amountin the submission was $22

'The fundamental evil of the world arose from thefact that the good Lord did not create money enough'- Heinrich Heine, 1822.

343-1991

SCICOMM91

Friday the 13th fell on a Tuesday last month. Dozens of the 150 orso CS1RO communicators who attended SCICOMM 91 on August13,14 and 15 were struck down by a mystery gastric afflictionblamed variously on the Geelong water SlIpply, the airline orangejuice, the more lively of the midnight workshops and the less livelyof the conference prcscntations.

In spite of the fact that many of those stricken were primeorganisers of the conference - Lindsay Bevege, Judy Marcure andWendy Parsons, for example (did I mention poisoning as one of thesuspected callses?) - the affair was generally agreed to have been asuccess. Much heat was generated in the workshops, and even someconsensus. The results of thc workshops, aftcr being presented to,lInd rcshaped by, a gathering of all conference members, were sentto John Stockcr for his response. The conference was to have beenceremonially opened by Minister Ross Free, which it was, andceremonially closed, with the passing over of the conferencerecom1l1enations, by Dr John Stocker, the Chief Executive.However, Dr Stocker was also laid low by illness. He sent thismessage, shown above being delivered to Wendy Parsons by hisproxy. (John Card of Wool Technology took the pictures.)

TODAY'S NEWS OF DIRE CONSEQUENCE TRICKYHAS \-lIT HOME LIKE A BLOW FROM A BRlCKlEA STRIKE BY AN ICONTO PSYCHE 'EM AT SCICOMM- THE CE IS TAKING A SICKlE'

PRIORITIES QUESTIONNAIRE ALERTLast month CoRe.learch promised to tell you about a question­naire being prepared by CSIRO's Consultative Council and theCommunication Working Group. The questionnaire is aimed alfinding out what our scientists leel could be done to make thewhole process work better, and it will be sent out thIS month to allproject and program leaders.

John Stephens, better known as vice-president of the CSIROOfficers' Association, is the convenor of Ihe ConsultativeCouncil's working party on the research priorities exercise. Hetold CII[le.'l'lII-ch 'a vigorous bottom-up response to this exerciseis essential. Otherwise, in a changing world, we may well fail topreserve the science in CSlRO's research and developmentmission.

'This questionmure,' he said, 'is a slep 111 the development ofthat bottom-up response.'

The scientISts will be asked how they think the priority-settinginitiative has affected CSIRO's image, both inside and outside theOrgamsation. They will also be asked for specifies on how it hasatTected the,r statl, how valid they think Ihe methodology used toset the new pl'lorities actually is, and how good or bad thecommunication or \he process has been.

Finally they will be asked for overall commenls and specificsuggestions as to how the process might be improved.

The clover countryThe media success of CS/RO's recent 'Cle)ler Clover' campaign has been immense.The papers have loved it, the telly has loved it, and the people who read papers orwatch telly have 100'ed it.CleJ'er COJ'er, if you haven't already got it by heart from the various newI' reports,

is a way of managing the vegetable garden to minimise soil degradation. During thewintel~ clover is grown in the beds that will carry summer J'egetables, and duringthe summer, lucerne goes into the beds that will carry winter vegetables. These (~fJ~

season crops ofler a source of mulching material, as well as protecting the soil ji'omexcesses of sun and wind, adding nitrogen to the soil and encouraging wormactil1ity.

Toss Gascoigne of the CS/RV Centre .le)r Environmental Mechanics, who thoughtup the name and handled much of the publicity campaign, oflers CoResearchreaders this brief report on its success, from our point of view ...The CSIRO lives as an admired accompanying leller, 'it's a message, sometimes It has got aand much-loved Australian small donation to help Australia bit blurred. 'Clever Clover' wasinstitution! That's the clear become a slightly cleverer not designed to be the answer tomessage from the lellers that country.' every young maiden's prayershave been f100ditlg in to the What staned out as a message - it needs both intelligentCentre for Environmental about soil degradation for the gardening and a lurger-than-MechaniCS with orders for Australian public has taught the average vegetablc patch. The'Clever Clover' kits. people at the Centre for message has at llmes been over-

Many of the t ,900 letters that Env ironmental Mechanics a simplified in a way ,cientistsnrrived in the first week thing or two as well. They find dismaying.contained warm words about learned that media work takes But the main aims have beenCSIRO. 'Congrntulations!' time, that twenty-plus radio achieved. The Australianbegan one; and another, 'I think interviews and a handful of population knows a little moreyou arc doing a wonderful job television appearances will soak about soil degradation;for Australia. Keep it up- the up the best part of a research scientific research will gelcountry needs you!' week for two scientists. In this welcome feedback Irol11 the

The computer system handling case, the two whose time got experiences of thousands ofreceipts for this bundle of muil sponged were the Centre's Dr users; and the country has had ahas been thrown into confusion Richard Stirzaker and Dr lan timely reminder aboul theby cheques made out for $15 White. pivotal role CS!RO plays ininstead of the $10 the kit costs. While the media have done a research.'Keep the rest,' reads a typical great job of spreading the All up, a 95 per cent sueeess.-:-

Above, Dr Richard Slirwker {!!'the CS/NO'.I Cen/refilr Ellvirolll11emal Mechanics exulls ill the "Iemythat Clever Clover has broughllll his backyord vegewh!e garden in Callherra. Pholo by Greg Heath,

also 0/ the Celllre fiJl' Em'lronmental Mechallic'\",

343-1991

Judith Koch retiresafter40years

Alm"e, Dr Judilh Koch, ,,,,'edfi'r her work on behaif o(women inCS/NO as Ivell asJin' her s<'ieulijic excellence.

Vale Ron GarvieThe following tribute to the late NOli Gm'vie was cOlltributed byM. j. Bannister, Sellior Principal /(esearch Scientist alldCeramics Program Maaager at the Division ofMaterials Sciellceant! Technology, on behalf ofhis DiI'isioll,

Ronald Charles Gar'vie, a Chier Research Scientist in the Divisionof Materials Science and Technology at Clayton. died 01' cancer onthe everning of Tuesday August 6th, 1991. He was 61. and issurvived by Ilis wife Gudrun, daughter Vivian. son Cy and son-in­law Jaime. His passing was marked with great sorrow by hisfriends and colleagues in CS[RO and around the world.

Ron joined the Engineering Ceramics and RefractoriesLaboratory of the Division of Tribophysics (as it was then) earlv in1972. -

He was born and educated in Canada. and had prcviously workedwith Atomlc Energy or Canada Ltd, the Cmadian Department orMines and Technical Surveys, the United States Bureau of Mines,Corning Glass Works and McMaster University.

He was recruited to CSIRO by the late Neil McKinnon to boostthe Division's new research program on zirconia ceramics. Hisefforts and those of his co-workers were quickly rewarded withspectacular success - the discovery of transrormation tougheningin partially stabilised zirconia ceramics.

His seminal Nature paper 'Ceramic Stecl'?' published in 1975(with co-authors Richard Hannink and the late Terry Pascoe)marked one of the most significant achievemcnts yet made in thescience and technology of engineering ceramics, and was a majorturning point in the strengthening and toughening of ceramics. Itled directly to the present Nilera PSZ advanced ceramic manufac­turing operation and indirectly to the local production of zirconiapowders by Z-Tcch. both activities now forming part of lC]Advanced Ceramics. It also put Australian advanced ceramicresearch 011 the international map in Cl way never hefore achieved.For their dcvelopment of PSZ ceramics, Ron Garvie, RichardHannink and Terry Pascoe were awarded the Victorian BranchCeramic Achievement Award in 1984.

The development of PSZ sparked a scries or internationalconferences on the Science and Technology of Zirconia, beginningIn 1980. Ron was on the Organising Committee for the first three.and his pivotal role in modern zirconia ceramic technology wnswell recogoised by his appointment as Chairman of Zirconia V, thefi rth International Conference on the Science and Technology ofZirconia, to be beld in Melbourne in August 1992. Sadly, ile willnot be here to receive the plaudits that arc sure to come.

Through the 1970s and '80s Ron continued his love arfair withzirconia, devoting himself to studies on the thermodynamics andmechanism of the tetragonal/monoclinic phase change that is at theheart of transformation toughening and. in more recent years, toexploring novel ideas for using zirconia to improvc the m~ehanicalproperties of refractory hodies. Despite surgcry carlier this year hecontinued an activc involvement with his researcil team.maintaining contact by fax when cnvcnLually he became too weakt~ travel to work. He continued communicating to within days 01'hIS death,

ROil was H stimulating and enjoyable companion with a vigorousand inquiring mind. He delighted in challenge ami competition. Hehad a great love for CSlRO and often credited tile Organisationwith providing the right blend of scientific and industrial

Ll\l11ulation for his work. He will be greatly missed.

Judith Koch's role was centralto this success. and it was notsimply a case of 'follow theleader', with the greater publicservice making the running.CSIRO was the firstCommonwealth employer toadopt a formal policy on tileemployment of women and toundertake such an extensivestudy or the women in itsemploy. (We are currentlyleading the field in theprovision of on-site child care,too: see story page 1.)

and her work for science ­Judith Koch first joined CSIROas an enzymologist with theDivision of Animal Health.Later she went to the Divisionof Animal Genetics to work ontissue growth factors, moved tothe North Ryde site with theDivision in 1966, and hasremained with it through rivename changes and four Chiefs.

Her work from the late 1960sonwards was concerned withepidermal growth factor (EGF),now well known as a chemicalde-ne@eing agent I'or sheep,

Samples of EGP extracted andpurified in her lab were the firstsupplies to be tested in the de­fleecing program. They becamethe standard in attempts byCSIRO staff working at theCarlsberg Laboratories inCopenhagen to synthcsise bulkEGP.

In her own work, Dr Kochcarried out extensive studies onthe functional and structuralrelationships between EGP andits variants. She reported 1I

previously unrecognisedimmuno-suppressive propertyof EGF. Unlike many of itsother properties, this wasdependent on the molecule'sbeing structurally intact.

In 1970 she was promoted tothe rank of Senior PrincipalResearch Scientist inrecognition or her researchachievements.

In 1984 she was madeAssistant Chief or the newlyformed Division of MolecularBiology.

Receotly Or Koch has becomestrongly involved in the issuesassociated with occupationalhealth and safety and with theethics of scientific work withanimals.

She has also recently playedan important role in themanagement of the Division ofMolecular Biology and the(short-lived) Division orBiotcchnology, serving severaltimes as ACling ChicI'.•:.

had of getting full professionalstatus and career opportunitiesin the Organisation. Theyapproached Grattan Wilson,then Secretary of CSIRO, andasked him to set up a committeeto investigate the role of womenin the Organisation.

I-le formed a committee madeup of Jlldith Koch, MarjorieJago, Don Gwynne and ArthurBlewitt; but the Ofricers'Association. not trusting thisarrangement. set up iLs owncommittee.

In 1978 the two committeescame together under theConsultative Council Sub­committee on the Employmentof Women, with Judith Koch asChairman (her own preferredtitle). All 01' CSIRO's stallassociations were representedon the sub-committee.

The grou p developed aquestionnaire which was com­pleted by all the women in theOrganisation, a.nd by a compar­ative sample of about 800 men.

They prepared a report whicbwas considered by a specialmeeting of the ConsultativeCouncil in 1983. In Pebi'uary1984 the CS IRO Executiveendorsed all 49 of theirrecommendations. thus layingthe foundations for our currentEqual Employment Opportunitypolicies.

Her work fm" women -She joined the Division of

Animal Health in 1951, just aspeople were starting to take anintcrest in the role of women inCSIRO. [n 1949 women hadbeen admitted to pcrmanentemployment in the ThirdDivision (professional andhigher clerical and technicalgrades). Reforms in the '50sand '60s includcd pcrmanencyfor married women and cqualpay for equal work.

In 197~ the AustralianGovernment ratified anInternational Labour Organ­ization convention abolishingunfair discrimination inemployment and education. Butin 1975 IntcrnationalWomen's Year - there was stillevidencc of unfair discrimina­tion in promotion and of abacklash over matcrnity leaveand work-based ehild care.

./udith Koch belonged to asmall band of CSIRO womenwho were concerned about thechances they and other women

Dr Judith Koch, Assistant Chief and Officer-in­Charge of the North Ryde site of CSIRO's Division ofBiomolecu)ar Engineering, has retired after 40 yearswith the Organisation.Dr Koch has becomc known inCSIRO, and bcyond it, as avigorous advocate of decentworking conditions for women,

She grew up in Hungary andcompleted her medieal qualifi­cations in Munich beforecoming to Australia,

343-1991

Above, Dr !vlauhew Bailes, one ,,{the discoverers <d'the new "Ianet.

Planet panicBy J)avid !H1I,I'sared, CSJRO Public Aft'airs UI/it

Staff at the Australia Telescope's Sydney sitewitnessed a media feeding frenzy last month whenthe news broke in England that an Australian andtwo other astronomers had discovered the first-everplanet outside our sollll' system.

timc has come the levy willdisappear, but Divisions andInstitutes would still keep uptheir own internal mechanismsto make sure resources went tothe highest priorities,

Why do we have tohave all this extrawOI'kload to preparebids'?

Who makes thepriority decisions?The Board, on the advice of theChief Execullve and Directors.makes the initial decisions atthe broad seetoral level of theresearch purpose classificationscheme,

Then, at the next level down,the Directors and Chiefsdetermine priorities within theirareas of interest.

In the same way, but at a lowerlevel again, the Chiefs andprogram leaclers togetherdetermine priorities in their areaof interest.

This tiered structure allows forinterchange of ideas at eachlevel, and shoulcl lead to a highdegree 01' interaction frombench level right up to the ChiefExecutive. The main forums forthat interchange of ideas are theDivisional managementmeetings, the InstituteCommittee and ExecutiveCommittee meetings, and theallllllal program reviews andassessments made by Chiefsand Directors.·:·

In the first round the biddingprocess probably did result in alot of extra effort. It did,however, focus a lot of healthydiscussion on the identificationof important priority areas 01'CSIRO research. Hopefully wecan continue to ref'ine theprocess. What we are al"ler is asystem in which Institutes andDivisions bid for money only inthose areas of research theywould want to pursue anyway,regard less of the levyarrangement. Then the centralbidding process would not beextra work but a naturaloutcome of the Division andInstitute strategic planningprocesses.

Will the levy systemoperate forever?Not necessarily, and it may notstay at 1.5 per cent. There hasalways been a need to adapt tochanging priorities, and therealways will be, but there maycome a lime when we can dothis within 1nstitute andDivision budgets.

When the Board thinks that

Are the allocationsfor three years?No. The allocations arerecurrent. This means theybecome parr 01' the Division'srecurrent budget and are subject10 the 1.5 per cent levy eachyear.

How much is beingre-allocated eachyear?The 1.5 per cenl levy yieldsabout $4,5 to $5 million eachyear in this triennium. Aboutone third of that goes tostrHtegic minerals, onc third toenvirollmental aspects ofeconomic development and onethird to other areas.

How often moepriorities set'?Once every three years at thebroad level. Thus this year'sbasic re-allocation will berepeated for each of the next

Priorities? Whatpriorities?Well, some ofyou may be groaning at the sight ofyet another article onresearch priorities, but there are a lot of stajf still saying they don't jitllyunderstand the process or its effects. That can't be good, since theprocess is going to affect, and involve, all of us more and more as timegoes on. Andrew Pik, who chairs the Institute Policy and PlannersGroup, offers CoResearch readers some answers to the seven 'mostpopular' questions.In April 1990 John Stocker called on the InstitutePlanners to help him develop a methodology andprocess for determining national researchpriorities.Since that time we six Institute Planners, with the

help of the Corporate Planning Office staff, havespent countless hours in preparation and debate tohelp the Chief Executive achieve his objectives.The methodology, the process and the budgetary

implemenation are now in place, although finetuning, particularly of the levy re-allocationsscheme, is still going on.The debates have been exhaustive. The more the

process is discllssed the more questions are J'aised.Some of the more common ones we have beenfielding are set out below together with a John­Stocker-approved response.If there is sufficient interest we'll be happy to

pJ'epare another set of answers, this time toquestions from CoResearch readers. Over to you.

What exactly is the two years. The next majorreview of bl'ganisational

priorities p"ocess? priorities is scheduled for AprilIt is part of the strategic and 1993 to take effect from July Ioperational planning process 1994 ( - the sturt of the nexland involves three distinct triennium),phases:• assessing national researchpriorities (by analysing andscoring each research purposeagainst the four criteria ­potential benefit, ahility tocapture that benefit forAustralia, research anddevelopment potential, researchand development capacity);• working out what CSIRO'sresponse to those prioritiesshould be (since we are not theonly research and developmentperformer, and since we need todecide what the balance shou Idbe between appropriation andexternal funding for each of ourresearch purposes):• implementing the CSIROresponses (this will be done byDivisions and Institutes, in linewith the decisions made by theExecutive Committee on whatthat response should be and theChief Executive's re-allocationof the 1,5 per cent prioritylevy).

what he supposed would be aquiet day of pulsar discussionswith Dr Manchester. It was tobe the first of many suchencounters.

Dr Bailes spent the next eighthours doing radio interviews,television interviews andnewspaper interviews andposing, patiently, for in­terminable photographs. For aman suffering from jet-lag andbemusement he copedremarkably well.There were some light

moments. A constant demandfrom the media was for scalediagrams - pictures they coulduse in the newspapers. Theexplanation that a scale diagramsuch as was being requestedwould probably in itself bemany times larger than thecontinent of Australia fell ondeaf or uncomprehending ears.Aner all, 30,000 light years is avery long way, especially if youwant to get a decent-sizedEarth, and Australia, into thepicture as well.

About 4.30 in the ufternoonthe media people vanished assuddenly as they hud arrived.Back in their ofrices otherstories beckoned.

And when you weigh up therelative news merits of a newplanet against whaever thePrime Minister said inParliament that day - well,they hardty compare, do they?

By five o'clock the new planethad plopped quietly back intothe obscurity it had enjoyed forthe past several billion years.-:-

One of the astronomers, 28­year-old Australian MatthewBailes, was visiting the CSIROsite when the news broke as acover story in Nat ure, OrBailes, funded by an AustralianAcademy of Science scholar­ship, had been working with thetwo English scientists at JodrellBank in the UK when the teammade the discovery,

News of the find was releasedto the media, but wasembargoed until the officialpublication time for Nature at9am (Australian lime) onThursday, July 25, Thatembargo was broken by twoLondon papers on Wednesdayafternoon Auslralian time.

So on Wednesday night theAustralian press pounced,Journalists from news organisa­tions around Australia beganringing CSIRO's Or DickManchester, who was work ingwith Or Bailes at the AustraliaTelescope.

The journalists also ranganyonc and everyone else theycould think of. BatTy Parsons,the site engineer for theAustralia Telescope and theDivision of Radiophysics, wasgetting frantic calls on hisemergency after hours numbertill after midnight.Thc next morning the

Communications Office at theAustralia Telescope became theheadquarters for a nationalmedia scramble.

A Channel 7 crew was waitingfor Or Bailes as he shut thefront door behind him to go to

343-1991

1659; rh'-=, INT/',ODUCTION Or .RAB81?::; TO AU.,ST'«AUA I

Letters to the Editor

Again, lots alld lots of 1Il1lllOrOllS contriblltion,I' .fi'O//l ont there,but first, an apology. Owillg to a typing error on my part. lastmOllth's Captioll competition featllre failed to give credit to olle (~{

the contributors - Colin J. Veitch of the Dil'isiOIl of WoolTechllology in Belmollt, Victoria. lIis elltry (remember, it was forthe picture of Barry Jones alld others I'iewillg tlte 'steam'billowiug up from a supercool condllctor demol/stratioll) was'lIubble, bllbble, toil and trollble, / Fire bllm and call1drollbllbble, / Now, who brought the bot's wings?' Sorry Colin.

The willniug entry for the above p!lOtograp!r is 'Researchheating ill cOlldominillms, not condoms!' .fi'iJln Karl Armstrollg,Technical bl{ormation Officer for Ubrm:v Services at the Division~{Building, Construction and Engineering at lIighett in Victoria.

Condoms were by far the most popular theme, with 'OK, 1 dOIl'1mind the Chi~r advocating safe sex ... but why does he have labrag!' .fi'om filbert Trajslman of the lAPP Biometrics Unit illParkville Victoria; 'Graf Zeppelill now //lakes condoms for theBig COllntry' fi'om lIeikki Mamers, Division of Forest Pmdllcts,Claylon; 'Yes, Minister. A lid i{the .fi·uit.f7y c/mtinlles to wear thiscondom, Entomology guarantees us that the .fly populatioll willdecrease by 90 per cent by 1995'.fi'om Warrick Dawe.<, D;,,;sion r~r

Water {(esources, Canberl'l1. The wildest of the condomcompetitors was 'CSlRO scientists test their latesl invention - anill/latable condom for f7ying elephants. A dllmb DumllO idea?'from Stewart Walkel; who claims to work with are 'PachydermProphylaclic Produclion Pr~iect' al the Division of Coal andEnergy Technology.

Jenny Meyrick,fmm the Division r~rBllilding, Crm"traction andEngineering, took a swipe at Canberra with '{(all lip, step thisway! Get your free copy r~{Canberra's economic policies ... holdon fight though - remember Ihe hot ail' contenl!'And lJynn PIll.ford, of Science alltl Careers Edncation ill

Canberra, came through with her uSllal odd slanl Oil things,~[{erillg 'CSIRO Donble lIelix members work all experimeuts 10colllaill greenhouse gases.' Now see how )lOll go with this one!

Caption competition

Barwon Park was close 10

present-clay Gcelong: dependingon your sense of irony. it'seither appropriate that AAHL istesting new methods oferadicating rabbits so close tothe site of their first majorimpact ... or appropr.iate tha\ arabbit plague should have beenrepJaced by an equally pestilen­tial plague of CSIRO communi­cators at SCICOMM '91.

Cal'son Cl'eaghEcos

Iruth. 'Most workaholics haveestranged wi Yes..

Our Minister. Ross Free. IOldme that he 'understands that theDivision has explored opportu­mties for redeployment of thosestafl deemed to be potentiallyredundant.' At my interview Iwas told there wus no chance ofredeployment. I sent him a listof the more than twenty-fivepeople gIven indefiniteappointment, translerred toForeslry or appointed fromoutside the Division during thepust six years.

My ten-year-old son has seena photo of our ManagementCommittee and he understandswhy there will be no money fora tertiary cdllcation.

If management can selcet thepeople they want to get rid ofthen this will sel a precedent formany CSIRO Divisions.

Mike CashmoreDivision of' Forestry

Canberra

flufTy little bunnies.By 1837, rabbits were being

kept in baekyard hutches aroundSydney; Hobart's ColonialTimes and Advertiser reportedin May that year that rabbitswere ISO numerous througholltthe colony that they arc runningabout Oil some large estates bythe thousands', anti a colonywas undermining thefoundations of the Port Phillippolice station in 1846.

If anyone deserves to be thescapegoat ror Australia's rabbilproblem it is surely ThomasAusnn, an early fan of thecultural cringe who wanted (0

suck up to 'real' gentlemen (Le.those [rom 'Home') byproviding genuine British sport.Austin Imported 24 Englishrabbits and hegan breedingthem at his Victorian property,Barwon Park. in 1860; the shipcarrying the rabbits droppedanchor on Christmas Day 1859.Austin later recorded that heand fellow sportsmen (includingPrince Alfred, Duke ofEdinburgh) had shot 14.253rabbits on his property in 1867alone.

happens to be true.) In whichcategory would your readersplace themselves?

Four research articles on thegroWIng problem of 'work­aholisIll' in the USA haveappeared in the past two years.Their general consensus: 'thereis only onc difference between aworkaholic and un alcoholic.Onc works himself to death andthe other drinks himself todeath.' They described threemajor emotional prohlems ofchildhood that cause this socialdisease. (Female workaholicsarc rare.)

In CSJRO a workaholic isrewarded and promoted whileSOmeone who goes home at fiveis a deviant.

Workaholics and alcoholicswill always deny their con­dition, but wc have had enoughreports. over the years. from 'afriend of the wife' to know the

Dear Editor,The first rabbits to arrive inAustralia didn't hop ashore in1859. In fact, five of the littlebuggers were collected at CapeTown by the First Fleet. Historydoes not record wlJat happenedto tllem: it's likely, given thedisastrous first couple of yearsof European settlement atSyuney Cove, that they wereeaten by starving convicts ­though many convicts had beensentenced to transportation forrabbit-poaching -- or theirnear-starving guards.

HMS (Jorgon carried anunspecified number of rabbits toSydney m 1791, and by 1806that choleric cleric Dr SamuelMarsden had established awarren at his Parramalta home.True to form. he was soonthreatening legal action againstGeorge Caley, the botanist,following reports that ealey'sdog had been frightening his

The above cartoon appeared inCoResearch No. 341. Thecartoon was OK, hut it seerns IgOl-'e the artist the vvroug date.(See be/ow.) Sorry. ~Ed.

contil/uedfrom page 2

Dear Editor.So you believe it is sale for youto be indifferent to the Forestryredundancies'?

Our Management Committeerecently had to produce a list oftwenty potentially redundantstaff for our Director. TedHen!.el!. Several were PhDsCIentists; several wereworkaholics: several were old:several were 'not productive';several were scientists whobelieve they were deliberatelyput in a hackwater so theywould qualify for theredundancy list; sevcral werepeople who have moredifficulty resisting the sevendeadly sins than do themembers of our ManagementCommittee. (Except jealousy.)(In Australia yOLI can say almostanything. unless. of course, it

343-1991

CSIRO to try out YQM

CH1EF provides you withfinancial information as recentas thc close of business on theprevious day. There is no needto leave your office or bench, asyou can bring to your ownscreen the value of grantsreceived for your program orproject, the amount spent, thedetails of how it was spent, andthe appropriation and grantbudgets for your program orproject. A one-screen incomeand expenditure statement isalso available.

There are already a good manyDivisional Chiefs and programand project leaders making useof CHIEF, and it' you would liketo use it too you should contactyour Divisional administrativestat'f. A comprehensive usermanual is available, and theMIS Branch will provide groupand/or individual training fornew llsers .•:.

Dr Barry Inglis or IIU' Division of Applied Physics tries /Jilt thenew system 011 his Applied Electricity and Magnetism Program

The MIS Branch has developeda computer system to help theever-increasing number ofresearch managers responsiblefor the managemem of financialand personnel resources,

The new system is calledCHIEF, and was specificallydesigned for staff who are notfamiliar with the wide range ofadministrative computing tasks.

CHIEF provides onlineinformation for each Divisionalproject or program. Thisinformation is obtained from theresearch, finance. personnel andassets databases. Each screenhas been designed with thetarget audience in mind, ::i-nd'help' scrcens and pop-upwindows will help you chooseand understand the options thatappear on your screen.

You can access CHIEF fromWM, NOen, UNIX and MACworkstations.

New computersystem for Chiefs

greatly are AVCO FinancialService" IBM, RAAF and CIO.

There are few R & D organisa­tion, comparable to CSIROanywhere in the world, butlocally Kodak has been success­l"<lily using TQM principles inits R & D group and in theUnited States there is consider­able i11\eresl on the part ofcompanies like Dupont, 3M,Ford and many others.

The exercise agreed to by theExecutive Committee consistsof four pilot proJects, aimed atfinding the best chance oftangible benefits to theOrganisation.

Each pilot project team will begiven training in the tools andprinciples of TQM. 'Facil­itators' will help with the use ofTQM tools and the building ofteam spirit.

In the end it will be the teamsthemselves that will analyse theselected processes and chart thecourse towards bcller processes.The trainers ancl facilitators willbe external consultant, andscientist, from the Division ofMathematics and Statistics whohave considerable experience inapplying knowledge of TQM tothe solution of real problems.

A working party funded fromCorporate and In,titute budgetsis responsible for the exercise. rtcomprises Bob Frater (Chair),Peter Bose; (lMEC), [an Diek(represeotiog CSIRO unions),lan Farrar (Corporate Centre),Tim Mangan (Division ofFisheries) and Ron Sandland(Division of Mathematics andStatistics).

Once the pilot projects havebeen completed, their storieswill be circulated, TQM is alive process, involving realpeople, and we hope tllat thesuccesses of the pilot projectswill help us to pusll the use 01TQM principles more widelyinto the Organisation.

We are not setting out to solvetile problem of world hunger intwo weeks. The projects aremanageable and we hope theywill bring benefits to the wholeOrganisation.

Not aii groups in CSIRO canbe represented in the initialexercise: we simply don't havcthc resources to take on mmethan four pilot projects rightnow, but we would like to seethe ability to use the tools ofTQM spread widely throughoutOrganisation.

I have spoken 10 most of theChiefs about TQM and will becontinuing to speak about itwhenever I get a chance.

Until you get a chance to takepart ill training, or to be amember of a quality-improve­ment team, you can rind Ollt

more about TQM from Doug

Shaw on 024137721.':'

measure and how to use the datato help in decision-making.

Typical benefits of TQM in­clude reduction in errors andthus in the need for 'rework',higher productivity, greatercontrol over processes and ahappier, more committed workforcc.

Bcnefits of the system inCS1RO might include arcduction in unnecessary paper­now, less time being spent byscience managers on adminis­trative tasks, fewcr processingerrors. a team culture in wh'ichall staff felt they were takingpart, and' a betler understandingand integration of the role, ofthe dillerent functional groups.III shor!, using our resourcesmore effectively.

Doing better science is not aTQM targel,2 but creating theright supporting environmentcan help to make sure theOrganisation is not holdingscience back with the internalsystems its scientists have tocope with.

One of the questions oftenasked about TQM is 'isn't it alljust for manufacturing'!'

The answer is definitely 'no'.Many service organisations

have benefited from TQM, andmanufacturers have used TQMideas in lheir service areas.Some that have benefited

Any Australian enterprise thatwants to compete in productexport industries -- or inindustries aiming to provide nproduct we formerly had toimport - must achieve qualityin that product. The ability toachievc cver-higher levels ofquality is one of the corner­stones on which the Japanesepost-war economic miracle wasbuilt. Incidentally, qualityneedn't mean attainingstandards of pcrfection that fewcustomers would ever be able toafford, like a Rolls Royce, forexample; achicvlllg quality inthe production of goods andscrviccs means reliably andefficiently meeting thecustomers 1 needs.

TQM is a 'philosophy', orsystcm of management, withfour ccntral strands:

·customer focus - under­standing who the customer isand what his or her needs mightbe;

"all emphasis on process ratherthan product - not jLlst cor­recting mistakes when theyhappen but making sure theprocess delivcring the productsdoesn't make mistakes;

-teamwork - recognising thatit is everyone's job to achievequality outcomes;

-a scientific (data-based)approach - knowing what to

The Clayton sile o! the Division I~t Mineral and ProcessEngineering has /'Ome t>f" age. As part o{ its 21st birthday celebra­liolls Professor Clive Prall returned to gil'e a lalk about the earlydays. Professor Pratt I,vas Chi~r I~f the Dil'isiol1 of ChemicalEngineering, as it was then called, when it moved fromFisll<'rmans Bend to its present site in Clayton. Above, lell, hepresel1ls Dr lIob La Nallze, the cnrrent Chie!: with an ({erial sholiJ! Ihe Division or Chemical Engineering as it was, then. The siteJUJH' (fccommodates 140 stq/J' and the Division has hecome a l11(1;jor

ceJltre.f(Jr mhu'ral and energy resean'h.

Total Quality Management - or TQM to its ji"iends-has been kicking around for quite a few years, andapparently getting some good results. It's finallybeginning to gain acceptance in the conservativeAustralian business community, and - with the publicsector paying more and more attention to how businessruns its business - even in government agencies.CS/RO's Executive Committee has agreed to a numberof pilot projects to test the usejitlness of TQM withinthe Organisation, and they're starting up this month.Dr Ron Sand/and, Chief of the Division ofMathematics and Statistics, offers CoResearch readersthis run-down ofhow the system works.

343-1991

Black day for some at Black Mountain

Freney nlade Fellow of ASADr J.R. Freney of the Division of Plant Industry has been elected aFellow of the highly regarded American Society of Agronomy.

The Fellowship is in recognition of his innovative work on thechemical nature of sulphur and nitrogen in soils. The Society alsodrew attention to his work over the last J.'i years on improving theefficiency of nitrogen fertilisers.

The American Society of Agronomy is an international organisa­tion with more than 12,000 members. The new Fellowship will giveDr Freney entry to an elite group that includes only three otherAustralians.

Dr Freney will be flown to the United States in October this yearto accept the award in a special ceremony.

Considerable doubts surroundhis claim that this emergencystop lasted for 10 minutes, andthat an unimpeded run wouldhave placed him 13th.

Mr Mason was ill 110 conditionto put a stopwatch on theStocker assistance. The mysterymay not be resolved until nextyear's run, and keen students ofform will be interested to seehow long it really takes theChiel' to gallop round thecourse. (But he did gallop roundit: our information is that he isthe first head of CSIRO ever todo so.)

hundred runners started tbe 5.6kilometre course up the side ofthe 1ll0untall1, round onc of tbecompanion peaks, and thenback to the finish line on thelawns outside EnvironmentalMechanics.

Only ninety-nine finished thecourse. Col Mason, a Sydneyentrant from Building,Construction and Engineering,fell and broke bis leg on one oftbe steeper downslopes.

Luckily, Ihere was a doctorhandy. Chief Executive JohnStoeker stopped to render I'irstaid, and finisbed the course in32 minutes, 19.3 seconds.

The Black Mountain Cup has left Canberra for f:he first time since it came intobeing 15 yeal's ago, carried off by a victorious four-man team from CSIRO'sLucas Heights site. The team runners (see photo below, by Greg Heath) were, leftto right, Craig Curtis, Gary Foulds, Stual·t Day and David Abernathy. Theyscored a comfortable win with a total time of 1 hour, 27 minutes, 53.2 seconds,more than 5 minutes ahead of the Division of FOl·estry.

Mick Crowe of Forestry was the first runnel' home, for the second year in a row,with a time of 20 minutes, 49 seconds (0.4 of a second outside his 1990 time). Hedescribed the win as one of his hardest. 'A couple of hills at the back were realkillers, and the section around the saddle was really tough.' Above, the momentof vict<wy is caught by Gl'eg Heath of the Centre for Environmental Mechanics.

As well as being first outrigbt, ranked Australian representative Division of Building,be was tbe first CSIRO runner in his age group in this gruelling Construction and Engineeringbome and tbe first in the '40 event, which covers a 3.8 took Ollt the 'fifty pillS' sectionyears plus' category. He carried kilomctre swim, a bike ride of in 23 minllles, 35,2 seconds.off tbe blllk of the prizes, 180 killlLnetres, and a rlln of 42 The Centre for Environmentalprovided, as usual, by kilDl11etres. Mechanics kicked off the fllnSirocredil. The first woman home was rlln 15 years ago and have been

Later this year S'rocredit will Beveriy Molloy of tbe Division organising it ever since. Gregalso be helpIng Mr Crowe III of WaleI' Resources with a Lime Heath of tbe Centre acts ascompete in the Ilawaiian Iron of25mll1utes, 32.8 secllnds. slarterand chief steward, and heMan triathlon, He is the third- Neville Diekson of the reported a good turnout. A

Dr John Freney demonstrales his award-winning style as II<'measures ammonia 10.1'.1'./;'0/11 a /i'eshly ferli!isedjield. Pholograph

hy Garry Brown. [)ir;,\'ion orPlant {nduslry.

343-1991

a difficult one, because theGovernment has requiredCS[RO to find 30 per cent of itsfunding from external earnings.

Now, in doing that CSIRO hasworked very luml to meet theneeds of external funders and inmany cases has formedexcellent working relationshipswith them.

BlII it \ a competitiveenvironment. The universitiesare also involved in that kind ofexercise, and the rurnl rcsearchfunds, some of thcm, are goingthrough periods of difficulty,and In some cases maybe can'tor won't come to the party asmuch as people would like.

CSIRO's difficulties in thisarea have been recognised, andpart of that I guess has beenaddressed by the additionalcapital money that came to theOrganisation in this year'sbudget.

But I think it's wrong of thecritics to say that the externalfunding requirement has been abad thing. My impression is thatit's helped to make CS[RO amuch more outward-looking,accountable. relevant organisa­tion. Though that's a processthat's probably been occurringanyway.

Working out priorities andstriking a balance between thebasic and applied ends of theresearch continulIlll is always amatter of healthy debate amongthe practitioners themselves.

But it's also a malter ofresponding to the needs of thecommunity, who supply, andwill continue to supply, theoverwhelming bulk of thefunds.

[ think CSIRO is a healthierorganisation for having beenseen to be responsive to currentdemands.

CR: You don't see thisdirection we've gone in as aresult of the funding targets asposing a threat to our role ashonest broke" in thecommnnity'! That we mightnow have a vested interest incertain moneyNluakingventures - namely the onesthat are supplying part of ourbread and butter - thatwould interfere with scientificobjectivity'!

RF: I sce no evidence 01' that. Imean I understand that a casecould be made for it hypotheti­caIly, but I have faith that thepeople III the Organisation whodecide priorilies and take onwork of this kind will ensurethal the objectives and integrity01' the Organisation aren'tcompromised.

CR: The ethical standards inCSIRO are pretty high, bntintegrity not only has to bedone but has to be seen to bedone,

RF: ('ve seen no evidence that

the integrity of the Organisationhas ever been called intoquestion.

CR: Our sell'-perception inCSIRO has changed since,John Stoc({er came in, Weused to be more ­Sllppo"!ive, I suppose, is theword - and ,John Stoc"er'sline has been much more tostress 0111' leadership, andperhaps even to get us intopolicy-making, IJUt certainlyto have liS push forwardrather thall be pUlled along.What do you thin"?

RF: I think that's right. I thinkthe Organisation is enormouslyfortunate to have had a Boardled by Neville Wran and to haveJohn Stocker as ChiefExecutive.

I think that the capacity exists,and the opportunity exists, forCSIRO to become much morepro-active and to lead in avariety of fields. I've found it,for example, in my time in thejob, to be an enormouslyoutward-looking, pro-active,livelyorganisntion.

And I think that's a directionthat is going to be good for thecountry and certainly going tobe very, vcry good - hasalready proved to be very, verygood- for morale. Just suberb.

CR: Do you think that it'sappropriate that it should heCSIRO doing that ratherthan, say, the universities'!

RF: I think the nniversities havea role to play, and a veryimportant role to play, inreseareh. But they have anumber of objectives to meet inaddition to providing high­quality research.

I think the pressure has been,and probably will remain, less,on the universities, to providethat relevant research, to answerthose questions of today andtomorrow morning. The univer­sities have the responsibility ofproducing skilled people, ofcourse, who will, hopefully,come and work for CS IR O!

In that sense, CSIRO can bemuch more single-minded, Iguess, on research. What are themeans for us to be striking theright balance, getting thepriorities right, working outwhere the country's going to bein the next decade, twel1lYyears, and beyond? Wlutt aregoing to be the importantindustries in need of supportand research?

CR: Finally, what do you hopeto accomplish as ScienceMinister?

RF: I come in at a time whenCSIRO's reputation hasprobably never been higher. It'sseen as an effective, importantAustralian institution. I want toprotect that, and I want to build

on it.A lot of that, of course,

involves funding questions.Funding is oot the only factor,but it's a necessary factor.

I've also come in at a timewhen Government recognitionof the importance of science,and of CSIRO in particular, isvery, very high. And there havebeen some practical results ofthat in this year's budget. Not asmuch as the Organisation wouldhave wished, but life is full ofcompromises.

And there will be opportuni­ties to address a whole range ofbroad questions concerning thefuture of science and the role ofCSIRO, or the science ugenciesin general, and the universities,during the process of puttingtogether our nrst White Puper.That's due next May, so it willbe an exciting few months forus.

As far as the Organisationgoes, I want to build on the

achievements of my predeces­sors in the science area ingeneral. [ want to do what I canto secure our next generation ofscientists: make sure they arc atleast as good as the ones we'vebeen fortunate enough to huveso rar.

I want to make sure tllatscience plnys its role in meetingOllr economic objectives, inmaking our industry moreinnovative and more productive,and the opportunities are there.

From tile kinds of stories I'vebeen seeing in the press, [ thinkthere's certainly a belterrecognition now, amongworking journalists, of thecontribution that science canmuke to industry - deliveringinnovative products that aregoing to 1'indmarkets overseasand replace imports here, andthus make that necessary contri­bution to fixing our currenteconomic problems andsecuring our economic future.

CR: Vou thint< then thutgetting the media moreinterested is an importantpart or bringing scienceforward in Anstralia'!

RF: A very importal1l part. It'sbeen recogmsed in theDepartment tor a long time.Hence the Michael DalyAwards, for example, forscience Journalism, which wercawarded last week. Goodrepresentation of femulejournalists, too. Cathy Johnsonfrom the Sydney MorningHerald won thc overall prize.Very good work.

Apart from tile particularbenent, that it might inspirepeople to take up careers inscience, it's all part of buildingthe general public awareness.You never lose, 1 think, byhaving that general acceptanceof science, that feeling thutscience is a Good Thing.-:-

343-1991

Letters to the Editol·

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what science is about.Later, wc learn that a CSIRO

scientist will appcar in ACountry Practice. Perhaps the'corporate image' of a scientistmight be best representedallegorically, by a white,middle-aged male, loiteringaround the haystacks of WanclinValley looking for women toassault.

Dr Stocker is our leader: wclook to him to sce how to act.He has senl out precisely thewrong message, one that riskssubverting the few EqualEmployment Opportunityadvances that have been madewithin CSlRO over the last fewyears.

Mark LonsdaleDivision 01' Entomology

Darwin

As Editor ot' CoResearch I takeresponsibility./i,r what I prinl,regardless (!l the source, andI'm always happy to apologisefor mistakes. In this case,however, I thought, and stillthink, the joke referred 10 wasfunny and harmless. I don'tthink it was about women anymore than it was about needlesor Iwyslacks.

Incidentally, the CSIROscientist scheduled to appear in'A Country Practice' next weekis a female geneticist.-Ed.

continuedfi'om page 2Dear Editor.Congratulations to CS1ROInternational Relations Centre(CIRC) for their recentcompilation of Funds forInternalional ScientijicActivities. This useful summaryincludes application closingdates. necessary qualifications,contact addresscs and even thelikelihood of success! Perhapsthe Corporate ServicesDepartment should nowproduce a compilation of FundsF,r National Scient(ficActivities.

Phil SchmidtDivision of Exploration

GeoscienceDear Editor,I was dismayed by Dr Stocker'scolumn in CoResearch 342. Themetaphor for science that herecounted was nol 'lovely','apt' or 'delightful' to me. Ifound it thoroughly inappropri­ate.

So, I suspect, must many ofmy colleagues, particularly thevery few female scientists in theOrganisation. In recounting thisunseemly metaphor, andapproving of it, Dr Stocker willappear to many to be sayingthat, in his mind, a scientist is amUll; moreover, the metaphorcarries the corollary that nowoman can ever really know

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A'bove, tile W;'lIIel; by a mile. It was submitted by GeoffRoberts oItlle Norlll Ryde Laboratories oftile Division oI Buildillg, COllstructioll alld Ellgineering. Runners-up Iollaw:'At last what all CSIRO needs - a decision is made to get a round luit' from Richard Gibbans,Division of Food Pl'Ocessing's Meat Research Lab in Brisbane; '(O,'erheal'd at a recent novice(?)politiciallS' meeting in Canberra} I'm not really sure; maybe it's a ... POLICY!' fi'om Colill J.Veitch, Division of Wool Techllology ill Belmollt; 'The one we inteud fitting to Paul Keating has tobe bigger and witlt a I~jt-haml tllread'.ti·om Heildd Mamers, Division of Forest Products, ClaytOil;'Shall we call it SIROSflUCER or UFO-SIRO?' from Karl Armstroug, Divisian of Building,COllstructioll ami Engilleering at Highett; alld ' ... alld this is the vel)' disc Ite slipped. He's stoodstaoping al our meetings ever since' from A/IOn, 5th Floor [Hmmml. Some sent mulliple entl'ies,of which a selection only - 'Ah yes, we're quite proud of this one. It's the thillg tllat goes'Zssssmm' inside Ille machine that goes 'Ping!'; and 'As you can see, this indispensable kitchenitem will revolutionise the way you chop vegetables. But wait! Ring now, ami you also gel ... ' IJOthfi'lJln Melissa R(![fey, Division (!t'Materials Science alld Technology in Clayton. The ./illlowing fiveentries are all from Albert Trqjstman (~r the IAPP Biometrics Unit in Parkl.ille: 'I don't care whattltefools in Marketing say ... I reckon that the invisi!JIe CD player is hae to slay'; 'Bul waiter, weasked for the large pi:,"I1!'; 'Well gentlemell, unlike our plastic note I think that the ten-dollar coinwill prove very popular'; 'Are you sure tltis is whal John wants to be known as the StackerMedal?'; and 'Ifwe.!ust look natural they'llnevel' think of a eaption to this one'.IJelow is another for you ta try your wits on, but suitable photographs are getting harder 10 find(the quarry are getting cunning!) so if onyone ha,\' any likely ones ... ? (CSlRO-related, please.)

343-1991

NO.344 November 1991 CSIRO's staff newspaper-- CS I RCAUS T RAllA

'Bondi'Beech winsSir lanMr Don ('Bondi') Beech, of the Division of TropicalCJ'ops and Pastures in Queensland, has taken out thisyear's Sir lan McLennan Achievement for IndustryAward for his work in tuming the humble chickpea intoan $80 million annual export industry for Australia.

Above, left ro righi,Si/-;pelerDerham, Chairman ofTrustees for Sir fan McLennan Achievementfor fndustryAward, Mr Don ('Bondi') Beech, winner of the Award, the Hon. Neville Wran, AC QC.Chairman ofCSfRO, and Dr John Stockel~ Chief1'.xecutive of CSfRO. The photograph was taken atthe Award ceremony at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, on October29 by John Ma.l'terson of the CSIfIO Australia Telescope National Facility. Certificates ofCommendation went to Mr Les Edye. also (!f'the Division of' 7/'(}pical Cmps and Pastures,and to Dr

Ronald Kemp, Division (!fApplied Physics. (See a<!iacent stOl)'.)

What? The best bodiesin Australia, too?

·researching and developingstrategies in key areas targetedhy Comcare 1'01' premiumreduction, such as heavy liftingand workplace stress.

A further $300,000 will heavailahle to Institutes andDivisions 1'01' specific pl'Ojeclsaimed at impruving health andsal'ety on the sites. These cancuver a broad range ofactivities, such as c1mnging theworkplace itself or buyiug newequipment.If you'd like to know more

you can call Warren Smith,Occupationul Heulth undSafety Munager, on 06 2766440.':'

umount should he allocated inthe 1991-92 t'inuncial year tospecific health and safetyinitiatives.

$200,000 of it is earmarl<edfor corpurate pl'Ojects:·training of health and safetyrepresentatives and heulth andsafety committee membel's, asrequired nnder the newOccupational Health undSafety legislution;·implementing corpuratestrategy on hazardouschemical management;

CSIRO has been able to reduce its yearly COl11caI'epremium rate by 38 per cent over the past year ­from $4,5 million to about $2.7 million.The uveruge reducliun over thepedod for all CommonwealthAgencies is only 8 per cent.The reduced premium

reflects a reduction in thenumber of cluims and, moreimportuntly, u reduction in thelength of time each claimanthas spent away from work.

Of the $1.8 million saving,$500,000 is to be ploughedhuck into health withinCSIRO. The ExecutiveCommittee agreed at itsSeptember meeting that this

Association, whose membershelped with trials 0(' the newchickpea varieties, and ParsRam Brothers (Aust) Pty Ltd, aseed company that helped withmarketing advice and commer­cialisation.

The Trustees of the Awardalso decided to give Certificates0(' Commendation to two othersamong the CSIRO nominees.

Mr Les Edye, Division ofTropical Crops and Pastures,won a Certificate for his workon developing new stylocultivars for the northern beefindustry. His new varieties arereponed lobe increasing beef ..production by about $13 milliOlla year.The other Certificate winner

was Or Ronald Kemp of theDivision of Applied Physics. OrKemp recently developed newtechnology to determine temp­erature accurately during themanufacture of high-voltageinsulated cable.

His work has enabled industrypartner Olex Cables to gain avaluable supply contract inAustralia, and the company isnow planning to break into tbeoverseas market for high­voltage cables.The Award Ceremony was

held on Tuesday, October 29, inthe Bayside Room of theSydney Convention andExhibition Centre at DarlingHarbour.The Sir [an McLennan

Achievement for IndustryAward was established in 1985to recognise and rewardscientists who have taken theirwork oUl of the laboratory andinto the marketplace to thebenefit of Australia.Sir lan himself, after whom

the Award was named, wasChairman of BI-IP for manyyears and later Chairman of theANZ Banking Group and ofElders IXL. He has beenassociated with Australianindustry for more than 50 yearsand is an enthusiastic supporter0(' new technology.•:.

The Award bnngs him a grantof up to $ lO.OOO, to be spent onan overseas study visit connect­ed with the achievement, aswell as the Medal itself.

CSIRO Chairman Nev.illeWran, who presentcd theAward, called Mr Bcech's work·visionary'.

Mr Beech first recognised thecOlllmercial potential ofchickpeas in the 1960s, and thenspent years doggedlyresearching and testing differentvarieties and setting up marketsfor the Australian crop in Asia.

He chose a chickpea variety,called Tyson, that successfulymatched Australian growingconditions with what the marketwas demanding.The industry is now growing

fast, with experts predicting itcould be bringing $150 milliona year into Australia by the endof tbe I990s.

Chickpeas and chickpea flonrhave long been commoningredients in Middle East andAsian food, familiar to us indishes like hummus and dhal,but also much used in theirsoups and batters.

Now Australian 'chickpeaexports to the USA,. UK andCanada arc also growingsteadily, with some British fishand chip shops even usiogchickpea flour in their fishbalter.

Mr Wran said that it was MrBeech's leadership and marketresearch, as much as hisscientific work, that had madethe industry so successful.

. In the course of 41 years atCSlRO,' he said, , Mr Beech hasIcd the way in innovations in hisfield. He has shown the value ofknowing the markctplace aswell as the microscope, and hehas been the cornerstone inbuilding a major new industryfor Australia.'Two organi~ations olltside

CSIRO were given plaques inrecognition of their contribu­tions. They were theQueensland Grain Growers

344##1991

delivery to our externalpaltl1Crs.

A start was made with theearlicr booklet 'CommercialRelationships with CSIRO', butwc now need to derinc aflexible model that will enhanceour use of external funds.

One thing is clear: cxternalearnings targets have helped toFoells our Organisalion's

attention on external delivery.Our jungle will never be quitethe same again.

Photograph by John f{ouldsworth

The jungle was still, strangely still, as mottled light fell across water dropletscupped in the lowest leaves. The grunting band pushed forward, pale beings in pithhelmets, incongruous, unadapted, unsure in this other-world.

Letters to theEditor

'We del/land only access to your beads that we may report.'

And so they left again the clearing in the land of the Sirollas and, wonderinggreatly, produced their report.

'Do not relate to us your legends nor confuse us with your culture. Tell us not ofneighbouring tribes nor of your progress and experience in establishing relation­ships with the creeping cities.

At last, the clearing, and just as expected, the Encounter with the Tribe, spoken (~t'

in many legends. 'We are here,' declared the men from the Australian NationalAudit G.llice, 'to report'.

YES, PLEASE ,.. RUSH MEyour exciting ~no nloredigging ever' special offer!

I CAN HARDLY WAIT foran cnd to WASTING MYTIME in the vegie Ilatch.

Very Sincerely,ANNEBENOY

CON GRATU LATIONS.DOCTORS STlRZA KERAND WHITE, the gardener'sfriends!

Dear Editor,Despite the article on 'CleverClover' in your last issue.where you gave him to thcCentre for EnvironmentalMechanics, Or RichardStirzaker remaius on the staff 01'the Division of Plant Industry.

'Clever Clover' continues toattract a steady flow of ordersfor the $1 (] kits - 5,000 plus sofar - and a stream of generalcorrespondence. Our favouritelo date reads:

written opinion.The above proposals would

appear to be quite reasonahle inview of tile fact that CSIRO issupposed to be implementing anindustrial participation policy.The point of this letter is tostrongly urge staff with similarpoints of view to write to OrStocker and/or the Boardexpressing concerns, opinionsand suggestions about thismatter.

Art RaicheExploration Gcoscience

It's encolll'aging 10 know justhow warmly Australia feelsabout its CSIRO.

Toss GascoigneInformation Officer

Centre for EnvironmentalMechanics

(More letters 011 page ())

Dear Editor,With the advent of Springcomes the thought that thecontract for at least some of theInstitute Directors must bewithin a year of expiry. With thcrather extraordinary hierarchicalline management system thatCSIRO has chosen to adopt, theposition of Institute Director isan extremely powerful one, ableto cOlllroJ completely the shape,directions, and budgets of thesubordinate Divisions, withvi rtually no limiting factoroutside of criminal law.Although one might prefer amore horizontal, consultativestructure, the adoption of suchappears to be most unlikely.It occurs to me that in

choosing a person for such apowerful position, it would begood if there were a mechanismby which the future subjects ofthe ID were able to expres.sopinions concerning thesuitability of the short-listedapplicants to the selectioncommittee - especially sincethe quality and morale, andconcomitantly, the scientificoutput, of the Institute staff willbe strongly affected by thechoice of ID. In particular. Ipropose the following:

I. that the names of theselection commitlee be madeknown;

2. that the names of the short­listed applicants, together with abrief biography for each, becirculated to the relevant sitesfor discussion;

3. that each candidate berequested to address meetings atthe nH\jor sites 01' each Instituteand be open to questions; and

4. that the selection committeebe prepared to read andconsider the views of those staffmembers who care to express a

Chris Walsh, from the Divisionof Applied Physics, who is atpresent on secondment to myofl1ce as part of tile LeadershipDevelopment Program,prepared a paper and led aspirited discussion about waysin which we might tackle thesecomplex issues.

As a group we identified theissues' and decided that onemodel would not encompass allthe complexities of the varioussorts of arrangements CSJROhas to enter into to get the bestresults from its rcsearch. Wewere able tn define severaldistinct categories of con­lracluaJ arrangements. rangingfrom short-term researchcontracts from which we needto recover full costs and perhapsa prorit margin, all the waythrough to strategic research.where we might be putting in 50per cent of thc resourcesourselves.

In consultation with Chiefs.Divisional Business Managersand Sirotech staff we now needto devclop a set of principlesthat will allow various modelsfor collaboration with and

their role) the ANAO teammissed the chance to analyseand set CSIRO in the businessenvironment in which we work.They spoke of the need foruniform policies which sbouldbe appl led throughout all ourbusiness activities, with noapparent appreciation of theintricacies and differencesinvolved in working with Imgemanufacturing companies, ruralindustry research corporations,foreign-owned multinationals,government departments andfragile start-up companies.

Each has its own needs andculLurcs. In some cases researchagreements involve short-term,tactical research. In others,long-tcrm strategic programsthat represent the Division'smainstream research activitiesare involved.

We must respond to theANAO report by continuing toimprove our marketing, ourproject management. ourcosting and pricing practices.

Executive Committee mem­bers discussed this at the recentExecutive Committee Work­shop at Coff's Harbour. Or

The Auditor-General's recentEfficiency Audit of CSIRO'sexternal funding (Audit ReportNo. 8, 1991-92) has had somecoverage in the press and copieshave heen distributed to theDivisions.

Its main conclusions can besummariseclthus:

CSIRO has been set the targetof achieving 30 per centexternal earnings in a very shorttime. It has done so. Manysystems still nced to be put intoplace or tightened up toimprove the efficiency ofgathering and using these fundsto ensure a maximum return oneffort invested.

I agree with this and, as thereport notes, 'the CSIRO Boardand Chief Executive Off'icer arcaware of issues covered in I.hjsreport and have taken theinitiative in addressing theirmajor concerns..

What thc report utterly failed10 do was to set our effort andpractices jnto nny national orinternational context. Apartfrom questiooing the wisdom ofthe quite arbitrary 30 per centtarget (which was prohably not

'We have heard that others have come bearing bright beads, which you have traded,used and sequestered in your shambling houses. We bear no beads. We do not knowyou. We do not know your elll1ironment 01' understand your jungle.

344-1991

AI)())'£,. Dr David Rand. winner ot/he 199/ Faraday Medal.

COOPERATIVE I<ESEARCH CENTREmR PLANT SCIENCE

lHt

One of the first of the Co-operative ResearchCentres, the Plant Science Centre in CanbelTa, wasofficially opened on Sel}tember 26 by AustralianPrime Minister nob Hawke.The Plant Science Centre The Centre would also encouragepartners are Ihe CSIRO Division more people to enter the area of01' Plant Tndustry, the Australian plant biology, he said, whereNational University, Bioecm there is an acute shortage ,,1'Pacinc Pty Lld and industry qualified scientists.associates I'rOIJl Australian Mr Hawke said that Australiaagribusiness. had produced many world-class

The Division of Plant Industry researchers who would now,and the A.N.U. both have through the Centre. have aninternational reputations for opportunity to work together.excellence in plant research and backed by the equipment andeducation. Biocem Pacific is a facilities they needed to helpplant research and hioteclmology Australia gain and keep a leadingcompany and a component of the cdge in research.world's third-largest seed 'I've been staggerell,' he said,company. 'by what I've seen at CSIRO. H

Or Jim Peacock. Chief of the says something not only aboutDivision of Plant Industry and the quality of the researchers butCo-director or the Cemre, said. about the quality of their'The Centre will give Australian exposition that someone asmdustry an opportunity tll focus unsclentifteally minded as 1 amaround a very powerful plant already has a total grasp of whatresearch team with research you're about. May I say I'm I'ullycapability unprecedented in impressed by what you're "boulAustralian plant biology.' and what you're achieving.'~'

Hawke opens PlantScience Centre

Researchers from the CSIROWheat Research Unit in Sydneyhave developed a simple testthat will make it easier to detectcoeliac disease - an intoler­ance to the gluten protein incereals that affects about one in2,ODO Australians. The test kitsare made and marketed byMedical Innovations Ltd, anAustral ian based company.

Project Leader Dr JohnSkerritt, together with Or .IuditGonezi and Ms Amanda Hill,all from the Wheat ResearchUnit, worked with Dr .IohnMitchell from the Prince ofWales Children's Hospital inSydney to develop the tesl.·:·

Mr Nigel Stokes hasjoined the CSIRO Board.

Mr Stokes was born andeducated in Sydney and IS agraduate in both Economics andArts.

He has had considerableexperience at senior levels withboth the Commonwealth andNew South Wales Govern­ll1enls.

He was formerly with theCommonwealth Department ofthe Treasury as an economist,Hnd spent ten years as afinancial adviser to the newSouth Wales Governmenl.

Mr Stokes was a Director ofthe Electricty Commission ofNew South Wales from 19R2 1019R9.

He is currently a Director ofContinental Venture CapitalLimited and an Adviser toBankers Trust Allst Lld.•:.

WheatResearch Unittest will helpdetect coeliacdisease

New memberfor CSIROBoard

recently, battery systems.His work on battery systems

has led to important advances inbaltery technology.

Apart from his scientific work,Or Rand has. over the years,been a persuasive advocate orthe role Dj alternative powersources. His colleagues havecalled him 'an inspiration toresearchers and developers ofelectroehemical energy-storagesystems, never fearing to becontroversial when the necdarose' .

The Elcctrochcmistry Group ofthe Royal Socicty of Chemistrypresents th" Medal every twoyears tu a distingUished elcctlo­chemist working abroad.

Past wll1ners' havc IncludedLcvich, Gcnscher and Bockris

all acknowledgcd as majorcontributors in the field ofelectrochemistry.

Over the past 25 years DrRand has made rnany imporlantcontributions to clecLrochcm­istry, including work on fuclcells, elcctrocatalyslS. sulphidemineral processing and. more

••• andtoBavid

Hats off to Haf;He's clone it again! He Illust haJ1e a room filii of themby now, This time it's the Waiter Boas Medal ...The Australian Institute 01' Interl'erometry (SPIE - thePhysics has awarded its 199t International Society 1'01'

Waiter noas Medal to Dr 1'. 0lltical Engineering, 1991).{Haril Hariharan, Chiel' He is a Fellow of the InstituteResearch Scientist at lhe of Physics, London, the OpticalDivision 01' Applied Physics in Society 01' America, SPIE, theSydney. The Institute Royal Photographic Society,established the award in 1982 the Indian Academy 01' Science'10 promote excellence in and the Indian Nationalresearch in Physics in Academy of Science.Australill'. He is Chairman 01' the

Dr Hariha"an worked Australian National Com-initially at Ihe National mittee 1'01' Optics llnd was thePhysical Laboratory, New P"esident of the AustralianDelhi, llnd the National Optical Society in 1988.Resellrch Council, Ottawa. He is also currently TreasurerHe was then Prol'essor at the 01' the International Com-Indian Institute of Science, mission for Optics and Pres-Bangalore, Ilefore joining the ident of the Asia-PacificDivision of Applied Physics. Optics Federation, and wasHis active research is in the recently elected to the Board offields of interl'eromet.l'y and Dh'ectors of SPIE.holography. Dr Hariharan was theDr Hariharan is one of recipient of the Optical Society

CSIRO's most active and of America's Fraunhofercelebrated scientists. He has to Award for optical engineeringhis credit more than ISO in 1989, the Henderson Medalpublications in international of the Royal Photogrllphic.journals as well as three books Society of Great Britain in

'Optical Holography' 1990 and the Thomas Young(Cambridge University Press, Medal 01' the Institute of1984), 'Optical Interfer' Physics, London, earlier thisHlnetT)" (Academic Press 1 year.t985) and 'Selected Pallers in .:..:u;.

D.' David Rand of the CSIRO Division of MineralProducts has won the 1991 Faraday Medal.

344-1991

Ross Free under the microscopeThe way our Ministers seem to keep disappearing on us,CoResearch thought it might be time to do an in-depth, or inany case at-length, interview with our latest, Ross Free ...CoResearch: As our FirstMinister with a backgroundin science education, how doyOll see CSIRO's educational('ole in the community'?

Ross Free: I think it's a veryimportant one. I've beenimpressed with what CSlROdoes in this area. [ think thenotion of using workingscientists to show that they arereal, live, normal people doingimportant and interesting workis an excellent way of helpingstudents nearing the end of theirsecondary schooling to look atscience as a possible career.

CR: Are you thinking of ourWomen in Science Pl'Oject,where some of CSIRO'swomen scientists go out tospeak at public schools'!

RI': That in particular. A lotwas said at the ANZAASconfcrence last wcek - andquite rightly - about the under­representation of women inscience and engineering. Wecertainly do need to do a lotmore to attract women towardscourses, and careers, in scienceand engineering.

CR: Speaking of the ANZAASconference - I believe youmade some criticism of theCo-operative ResearchCentres in your speech there'!

HI': Yes. The Government, inits March Industry Statement,decided 10 establish a task forceto invc51igatc commercialisationof Australian rescarch. It·s an"Id story, and onc we all know,Brilliant research is donc hcre,great scicnce. Far too onen ithas to go off overseas to find acOlllmereial partner. So it's awell understood problem, Ithink. But not too many peopleunderstand the answers.

Anyway. as part of the consul­tation process the task force hasbeen asking industry about itsreaction to the general scene.and in particular its reaction tothe co-operalive researchcentres.

What I said in Adelaide wasthat to dnte they had notreceived universal approval:they had not met everyone'sexpectations. That's certainlythe anecdotal evidence from thetask force, that some people inindustry feel that industry is notbelllg involved to the extent thatis most desirable.

But the other thing 1 did say inAdelaide was that I was fully

conJ'idcnt that the CRCs wouldbe achieving this objective. Wealways knew it was going to bedifJ'icult to get public sectorrcsearch and industry workingtogether, bccause part of thecommercialisation problem wasthe lack of communicationbetween research producers andrcseareh users.

In a lot of ways the partici­pants in the round oneapplication and approvalprocess were trail blazers, andpeople in the second and thirdrounds are going la build onexperience gained.

So we've come a long way.Not as far as we'd like to yet.but 1 am confident that we will.That will mean, particularly,educating industry and ensuringthat industry is better informedabout the possibilities that exist.

I don't want to anticipate toomuch of what the commerciali­sation task force might saybecause I don't know. I havesome hints, but it's tlleir reportand it's yet to bc finalised.Still. I do think that one of thethemes will be that we havecxccllcnt scientists. but we needscicntists ""ith mqnagcll\entskills as wel!.

Similarly. on the industry side,I think that a comment thatmight well be made is that wcneed people working in industrywho arc able to communicatewith people working inresearch.

CR: And how is that going tocOInc about'!

RF: I think that, increasingly,opportunities arc going todevelop where those peoplewho have those nece"ary skillswill be positioned to move inand extraet benefits. I guessthat's where many of the peoplein CSIRO arc well positioncd,because they are uscd toperforming researeb andworking with researchers, andthey arc also used to having allthc headaches of managingparts of a large organisation.

CR: Do you think that infuture people who eoncentrateon researeh only or businessonly are going to fall by thewayside'?

RI': I pre[er to be more positiveabout it than that. I don't thinkthat able specialists in thiscountry will ever fall by thewayside. I'd like to think thatour research organisations arebig enough and diverse enough

to be able to accommodatepeople with a whole range ofskills and specialisations.

CR: How certain can we be ofeontinuing to get good peopleacross that broad range ofskills and speeialisations,though'? There has been a lotof talk, inside CSIRO particu­larly, but also nutside it, overthe lowering of standardS forentry into science degreecourses, It has been reportedthat the standard required isnow lower than for any otherdiscipline, and scientists areworried about the qnality ofthe researehers who willreplace them.

RI': Absolutely. I think weshould all be concerned aboutthc next generation of scientists.We've been very lucky in thiscountry [or a long time. Ithasn't happened by accident,and 1 think we nced to assumethe responsibility for bringingon more of our best andbrightest into the nextgeneration of scientists.

Cut-off points for entry intos(;icl1ce {:;QlIrse.shave certainlydropped over the last ten ycars.This is partly u reflection of theproliferation of tertiaryeducation institutions. but it'salso, and more, I think, areflection of the fact thatcOllr:-;es in law, busincfis andcommerce have tended to otIerthe high salaries, the Wall Streetstandard of living, the movie­style glamour. You can't blamekids for being attracted.

But I think that will change.TI1ere have been modestimprovements in sdentists'salaries, [or onc thing.

Another factor is that thegyrations of the stockmarkets inthe late eighties demonstratedthat you can't always count onsatisfaction and security in thebusiness area. Certainly thedemand for those peoplefluctuates according to theeconomic conditions, and that isnot true to the same extent, rdsuggest, in the sciences. Soscience gets a tick for that one,for security.

There is also the job satisfac­tion aspeet, and that's veryimportant. Sure, young peoplearc concerned about the kindsof salaries they might beearning in the future whcn theylook at tertiary options. But Ithink you should never forgetthat young people are terriblyidealistic, and you can !'ire theirimagination much more. I think,

with the challenge of gettinginvolved in research that mightaddress global questions likedisappearing species, orcleaning up Eastern Europe, orglobal warming, for example.

CR: But that last has beentrue for many years now, andit hasn't been increasing theenrohnents. We need peopleto go through to PhD level orsimilar, not just to beinterested in those matters.

RI': Exccpt that you've neverlost those people. A little bit ofscience is good for everybody.A lot of science is good forsome, and hopefully for some ofthe intellectual top storey.

CR: Also, the problems youmention as firing the imagina­tions of the young are allenvironmental ones, andthat's correct, but there is nomoney to be made fl'(lIneuvironmental scienee, so thepublie must pay.

RF: Yes, it tends to be publicmoney there; that's right.

CR: So we need to get kidsinterested in scienee generally,uotjust the environmentalside'?

RI': Yes. One thing that is beingincreasingly recognised is thatyou need to interest and inspirethem younger, perhaps, thanpeople from my generation havebeen led to expect.

Scicnce used to be somethingexciting that was going tohappen when you got to highschool. Education Departments,I think, arc increasinglyrecognising that you've got todo a lot more in theKindergarten to Year Sixperiod. Just this year the NSWEducation Department launcheda syllabus document dealingwith just that - with science ininfant and primary schools.

CR: What about the taking ofpublic body science out intothe eommunity, as CSIRO hasbeen doing through theDouble Helix Scienee Club'!

RF: Yes, with real scientists,with Double Helix, and withother work that CSIRO does,with cvcnts like the 1993Canberra Science Festival. withOpen Days, with work theuniversities are doing ... I'm offto Townsville tomOlTow, forexample, to open the JamesCook Science Festival.

CH: Our 'ProjectAmbassador' encouragesCSIRO scientists, as well as

other staff, to develop a highpublic Ill'Ol'iIe, and many havebeen doing that. But there a1'estill some who don't quite liI,eto, who feel thllt they are notdoing their job properly ifthey are out there talkinginstead of working at thebeneh. And there has been atendency to eriticise their ownwho have done it.

RI': They are far too Illodest.Every kid in Canberra knowswho Mal Meninga is, whoRicky Stuart is. They wouldn'tknow Matthew Bailes. Theywouldn't know Ted Ringwood.They wouldn't know Hal Hatch.

I think that's a pity. becausethose are three outstandingAustralians who have madeworld-standard contributions toscience since June.

CR: !t's often been said thatAustl'lllians are anti-intellec­IIral, that they won't aceeptintellectuals as heroes. Do youthink that's still part of it'!

RF: Well. I don't know. Ourintellectuals seem to get greatobituaries -like ManningClark and Patrick White. It'sprobably the fate of the intellec­tual not to be recognised untilthe point of departure. Butthere's every reason to put aneffort into changing that. It's notnecessary to replace oursporting heroes withoutstanding scientists - there'sroOI11 on that pedestal for othersas well.

CR: In his eolumn for thisissue of CoReseal'ch JohnStocl,er answers criticism ofCSIRO that appeared in theAuditor-General's mostrecent report. There havebeen letlers in the presschiming in with tltat criticism,criticising onr managementpractices and claiming that weare subsidising industry at theexpense of basic researeh, andso on, What do )'ou think'!

nF: I think that the peoplewho've commented on theAuditor-GencraJ's report, andprobably the others who saythey agree with it. have not hadthe benefit of reading theAuditor-General's report. orCSIRO's response to it.

The Auditor-Genemlidentified a number of problemareas that were already wellunderstood by CSIRO. Many ofthem were in the process 01'being addresscd.

The particular problem ofCSlRO's not charging the fullcost of the research it wasperfonning [or industry is oncthat's been well recognised. It's

344-1991

a difficult one, because theGovernment has requiredCSIRO to find 30 per cent of itsfunding from external earnings.

Now, in doing that CSIRO hasworked very hard to meet theneeds of external funders and inmany cases has formedexcellent working relationshipswith them.

But it's a competitiveenvironment. The universitiesare also involved in that kind ofexercise, and the rural researchfunds, some of them, are goingthrough periods of difficulty,and in some cases maybe can'tor won't come to the party asmuch as people would like.

CSIRO's difficulties in thisarea have been recognised, andpart of that I guess has beenaddressed by the additionalcapital money that came to theOrganisation in this year'sbudget.

But I think it's wrong of thecritics to say that the externalfunding requirement has been abad thing. My impression is thatit's helped to make CSIRO amuch more outward-looking,accountable, relevant organisa­tion. Though that's a processthat's probably been occurringanyway.

Working out priorities andstriking a balance between thebasic and applied ends of theresearch continuum is always amatter of healthy debate amongthe practitioners themselves.

But it's also a matter ofresponding to the needs of thecommunity, who supply, andwill continue to supply, theoverwhelming bulk of thefunds.

I think CSIRO is a healthierorganisation for having beenseen to be responsive to currentdemands.

CR: You don't see thisdirection we've gone in as aresult of the funding targets asposing a threat to our role ashonest bl"Oker in thecommunity? That we mightnow have a vested intel'est incertain money-makingventures - namely the onesthat are supplying part of ourbread and butter - thatwould interfere with scientificobjectivity?

RF: I see no evidence of that. Imean I understand that a casecould be made for it hypotheti­cally, but I have faith that thepeople in the Organisation \','hodecide priorities and take 6nwork of this kind will ensurethat the objectives and integrityof the Organisation aren'tcompromised.

CR: The ethical standards inCSIRO are pretty high, butintegrity not only has to bedone but has to be seen to bedone.

RF: I've seen no evidence that

the integrity of the Organisationhas ever been called intoquestion.

CR: Our self-perception inCSIRO has changed sinceJohn Stacker came in. Weused to be more ­supportive, I suppose, is theword - and John Stacker'sline has been much more tostress our leadership, andperhaps even to get us intopolicy-making, but certainlyto have us push forwardrather than be pulled along.What do you think?

RF: I think that's right. I thinkthe Organisation is enormouslyfortunate to have had a Boardled by Neville Wran and to haveJohn Stocker as ChiefExecutive.

I think that the capacity exists,and the opportunity exists, forCSIRO to become much morepro-active and to lead in avariety of fields. I've found it,for example, in my time in thejob, to be an enormouslyoutward-looking, pro-active,lively organisation.

And I think that's a directionthat is going to be good for thecountry and certainly going tobe very, very good - hasalready proved to be very, verygood - for morale. Just suberb.

CR: Do you thinl, that it'sappropriate that it should beCSIRO doing that ratherthan, say, the universities?

RF: I think the universities havea role to play, and a veryimportant role to play, inresearch. But they have anumber of objectives to meet inaddition to providing high­quality research.

I think the pressure has been,and probably will remain, less,on the universities, to providethat relevant research, to answerthose questions of today andtomorrow morning. The univer­sities have the responsibility ofproducing skilled people, ofcourse, who will, hopefully,come and work for CSIROl

In that sense, CSIRO can bemuch more single-minded, Iguess, on research.What are themeans for us to be striking theright balance, getting thepriorities right, working outwhere the country's going to bein the next decade, twentyyears, and beyond? What aregoing to be the importantindustries in need of supportand research?

CR: Finally, what do you hopeto accomplish as ScienceMinister?

RF: I come in at a time whenCSIRO's reputation hasprobably never been higher. It'sseen as an effective, importantAustralian institution. I want toprotect that, and I want to build

on it.A lot of that, of course,

involves funding questions.Funding is not the only factor,but it's a necessary factor.

I've also come in at a timewhen Government recognitionof the importance of science,and of CSIRO in particular, isvery, very high. And there havebeen some practical results ofthat in this year's budget. Not asmuch as the Organisation wouldhave wished, but life is full ofcompromises.

And there will be opportuni­ties to address a whole range ofbroad questions concerning thefuture of science and the role ofCSIRO, of the science agcnciesin general, and the universities,during the process of puttingtogether our first White Paper.That's due next May, so it willbe an exciting few months forus.

As far as the Organisationgoes, I want to build on the

".$#

achievements of my predeces­sors in the science area ingeneral. I want to do what I canto secure our next generation ofscientists: make sure they are atleast as good as the ones we'vebeen fortunate enough to haveso far.

I want to make sure thatscience plays its role in meetingour economic objectives, inmaking our industry moreinnovative and more productive,and the opportunities are there.

From the kinds of stories I'vebeen seeing in the press, I thinkthere's certainly a betterrecognition now, amongworking journalists, of thecontribution that science canmake to industry - deliveringinnovative products that aregoing to find markets overseasand replace imports here, andthus make that necessary contri­bution to fixing our currenteconomic problems andsecuring our economic future.

CR: You think then thatgetting the medi'a moreinterested is an importantpart of bringing scienceforward in Australia?

RF: A very important part. It'sbeen recognised in theDepartment for a long time.Hence the MichaeI DalyAwards, for example, forscience journalism, which wereawarded last week. Goodrepresentation of femalejournalists, too. Cathy Johnsonfrom the Sydney MorningHerald won the overall prize.Very good work.

Apart from the particularbenefit, that it might inspirepeople to take up careers inscience, it's all part of buildingthe general public awareness.You never lose, I think, byhaving that general acceptanceof science, that feeling thatscience is a Good Thing.':'

344-1991

Letters to the Editor

WKAT'RE. 11tEYLOOKr~6 AT?I woNDER If

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what science is about.Later, we learn that a CSIRO

scientist will appear in ACountry Practice. Perhaps the'corporate image' of a scientistmight be best representedallegorically, by a white,middle-aged male, loiteringaround the haystacks of WandinValley looking for women toassault.

Dr Stacker is our leader: welook to him to see how to act.He has sent out precisely thewrong message, one that ri skssubverting the few EqualEmployment Opportunityadvances that have been madewithin CSIRO over the last fewyears.

Mark LonsdaleDivision of Entomology

Darwin

As Editor qf CoResearch I takeresponsibility for what I print,regardless qf the source, andI'm always happy to apologisefor mistakes. In this case,however, I thought, and stillthink, the joke referred to wasfunny and harmless. I don'tthink it was about women anymore than it was about needlesor haystacks.

Incidentally, the CSIROscientist scheduled to appear in'A Country Practice' next weekis a/emale geneticist.-Ed.

continuedfrom page 2Dear Editor,Congratulations to CSIROInternational Relations Centre(Cl RC) for their recentcompilation of Funds forIn1ernational Scienti.ficActivities. This useful summaryincludes application closingdates, necessary qualifications,contact addresses and even thelikelihood of success! Perhapsthe Corporate ServicesDepartment should nowproduce a compilation of Fundsfor National ScientificActivities.

Phi! SchmidtDivision of Exploration

GeoscienceDear Editor,I was dismayed by Dr Stocker'scolumn in CoResearch 342. Themetaphor for science that herecounted was not' lovely','apt' or 'delightful' to me. Ifound it thoroughly inappropri­ate.

So, I suspect, must many ofmy colleagues, particularly thevery few female scientists in theOrganisation. In recounting thisunseemly metaphor, andapproving of it, Dr Stocker willappear to many to be sayingthat, in his mind, a scientist is aman; moreover, the metaphorcarries the corollary that nowoman can ever really know

Wifh Cl SlROCRB>lrVISA'tf!ytJlJ can

.· relax

SIROCREDIT's Ultimate Account offers you the perfectVISA Card which saves you money with no fees orcharges, Plus you can have your salarydirectly credited to your VISA account.

Where you can find us....~mLBOURNE OFFICE CANBERRA OFFICEB8 Hoddle SI. Richmond CSIRO Black Mountain LaboratoriesPO Box 9East Melbourne PO Box 710 CanberraVlCfORiA 3002 ACf 2601Telephone [03) 4831500 Telephone (00) 246 5400Fecsimile (03) 4831555 Facsimile (06) Z4G 5404 Facsimile (02) BB7 8249

111/1,/13t1111( w/1e1l tf{}tI amweaililllim'1

Above, tile winner, by a mile, It was submitted by Geoff.Roberts of the North .Ryde Laboratories ofthe Division 0/Building, Construction and Engineeriug. Runuers-up follow:'At last what all CSIRO needs - a decision is made to get a roUlld tuit' from .Richard Gibbons,Divisiou of Food Processing's Meat .Research Lab in Brisbane; '(Overheard at a recent novice(?)politicians' meeting in Canberra) I'm not really sure; maybe it's a ... POLICY!' fromColin J.Veitch, Division of Wool Technology in Belmont; 'The one we intmd fitting to Paul Keating has tobe bigger and with a left·hand thread' from Heikki Mamers, Division 0/ Forest Products, Clayton,''Shall we call it SI.ROSAUCE.R or UFO-SIRO?' from Karl Armstrong, Division of Building,Construction and Engineering at Highett; and' ... and this is the l'ery disc he slipped. He's stoodstooping at. our meetings ever since' from Anon, 5th Floor [Hmmm}. Some sent multiple entries,of whicl, a selection only - 'Ah yes, we're quite proud of this one, It's the thing that goes'Zssssmm' iuside the machine that goes 'Ping!'; and 'As you can see, this indispensable kitchenitem will revolutionise the way you chop vegetables. But wait! Ring 'IOW, and you also get ... ' bothfrom Melissa .Roffey, Division of Materials Science and Technology in Clayton. The following fiveentries are all from Albat Trajstman 0/ the IAPP Biometrics Unit in Parkville: 'I don't care whatthe fools in Marketing say ... I reckon that the invisible CD player is here to stay'; 'But waitel; weasked/O/' the large pizza!'; 'Well gentlemen, unlike our plastic note I thillk that the ten-dollar coinwill prove very popular'; 'Are you sure this is what John wants to be known as the StockerMedal?'; and 'If we just look natural they'll never think ofa caption to this one'.Below is another for you to try YOUI' wits on, but suitable photographs are getting harder to find(the quarry are getting clllllling!) so ifanyone has any likely ones ... ? (CSIIW-related, please.)

344-1991

New Chief for Forestry

CS/RO man advises UNon CFC destruction

is the only commercialoperational ~ystem, I he said,'but the committee has agreedto focus on currently availabletechnologies. The Plasconsy,tem under dcvelopment byCSIRO falls in this category,bUI trials have yet to be donewith CFC destruction.'The committee's report is to

be presented to the fourthmectJl1g of the Parties to theMonlreal Protocol in September1992.

Or Waile" said that he foundthe sense of purpose of thecommillee's task to be verystimulating and most relevant toAu,tralia's problems with dis­posing of intractable wastes,-:'

BoardMembers visitKapalga in Kakadu

Above, .fi'om 1~f1, 01' 'fed Cain, 01' T{lny Gregson. ProfessorAdrienne Clarke, Nigel Stokes and Kathryn Cain look on asWildlife and Ecology scientist, Or Laurie Cor/Jell, explains howeffective pit/idl traps (seen af their feel) are .fill' trapping predators

such as lizards and snakes.

CSIRO Board members ProfessOI' Adrienne elm-ke,Dr Tony Gregson and Nigel Stokes, along with BoardSecretary DJ' Ted Cain and his wife Kathryn, made athree-day visit to Kakadu National Park in mid­October.

In spite of 39 degrees Celsius heat and oppressive humidity thegroup climbed rocky escarpment oUlliers, navigated crocodile­infested waters and trekked along a transect at CSIRO's KapalgaResearch Station, in Stage [I of Kakadu.

They spent an afternoon at Kapalga, where they were taken on atour of the research station and shown the Division of Wildlife andEcology's lanscape-scale fire experiment. Research is focused onthe short and long term ecological effects of different burningpractices on the aquatic system, soils, plants, insects, smallmammals, reptiles, birds and large predators,

The visit was brief, but the group was impressed by theimportance of CSIRO's fire ecology research for the conservationmanagement of Kakadu and other areas of the Top End.~·

Dr Glen Kile has been appointed Chief of the CSIRODivision of Forestry fOJ' a five-year term fromFebruary 1992,Dr Kile is currently responsible for the Division's operations inTasmania and i, Director of the newly establishcd Co-operativeResearch Centre for Temperate Hardwood Forestry in Hobart.

A graduate of the University of Tasmania, Dr Kile joined theDivision in 1975 and has established an international reputation inforest pathology through his work on Australian forest diseases,including eucalypt cliebacks, root rots, wills and the consequcncesof thinning damage in regrowth eucalypts,

Or Kife said the Division was well positioned to undertake theresearch needed to support sustainable forest management inAustralia.

'Public debate has highlighted the need for new scientificknowledge for forest management and at the same time re­emphasised the economic importance of the industry,' he said.

Australia currently has a net trade deficit in forest products of $1,8billion per annum, and Or Kile said that there was great potentialfor improved forest productivity to contribute economic andenvironmental benefits.

He strongly believes that the Division of Forestry has much tooffer on issues relevant to the national forest debate, including theproductivity of plantations, regrowth forest management, resourceproteelion, improvement of wood properties, reducing the costs ofproduction and harvesting and promoting innovation in forestmanagement.-:-

Dr Peter Wailes, Deputy Chief of the Division ofChemicals and Polymers, has been chosen to join aTechnical Committee of the United NationsEnvironmental ProgJ'amme.He will advise on the mostappropriate destructiontechnologies for chlorofluoro­carbons (CFCs), halons andother compounds lisled in theMontreal Protocol.

Or Wailes joil1ed eight otherinternational experts for thecommittee's first meeting heldat Nairobi, Kenya, in August,and further meetings will beheld this month in Frankfurt andearly next year in Singapore.

Or Wailes said that thecommittee will set the technolo­gies, including the monitoringand rcgulatory criteria, for thefuture destruction of CFCsal'Ound the world.'High temperature ll1eineration

Verco Award toSoils scientist

Or Mike Murray, Chief of theDiviSion of Materials Scienceand Technology, ol'ficlallyannounced on October I I thatan option had been granted to aQueensland company, Tamba­brook Pty Ltd, to commercialiscCSIRO's 'pixelgram' tech­nology.

Pixelgrams are optical devicescarrying images tha1 varyaccording to the angle at whichthey arc viewed. They can behot-slamped onto documentssuch as bnnknotes. cheques orcrcdil cards to protect againstforgery.

Unlike the holograms cur­renlly used on credit cards,pixdgram devices can generatesmall, high-dcfinition images ofa human face that arc easilyrecugnisable under a wide rangeof lighting conditions.

Under the optuln agreement,Tambabrook will have until thecnd of this year to finalisecommercial arrangemcnts, If theoption IS exercised the companywill invest in further researchand development of thetechnology within CSIRO.':-

The Royal Snciety of SoulhAustralia has chosen Or AlanBird, a Chief Research Scientistwith the Division of Soils, asthe winner of the 1991 VercoAward for hiS work ofoutstanding merit in the area ofnatural sciences.

Or Bird's research has focusedon the biology of nematodesand their interaction~ withmicro-organisms. He haspublished more than 100 papersin international journals andwritten a book, The secondedition nf this book - 'TheStructure of Nematodes' - hasrccently been published byAcademic Press, San Diego.

In 1983 Dr Bird wa, made aFellow of the Society ofNematologislS for his contribu­tion to nematology. ,t,

Pixelgrams tobe marketed

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344-1991

Above, 01' Ron Ekers, DireclOr o/the Australia Telescope National Facility, expla;ns features (!f'thecontrol room to a group 0/ visitors. Below, the braver souls among them climh 10 the telescope's

azimuth track. Photos by Ben Longden, Parkes Champion Post.The telescope originally came r

into being partly through goodmanagement and partly throughgood ILlck.

After the Second World Warthe USA was slow to take upthe new field of radioastrono­my. The Chief of the Divisionof Radiophysics, Dr E.G.Bowen, had many contacts inthe scientific and industrialspheres there, and he urgedthem to make good theirdeficiency in radioastronomy,primarily by devleoping andconstructing a large antenna.

The proposal fell on reeepti vecars.

The Division wrote a detailedspecification for such aninstrumcnt, accompanied by aprogram of scientific activitiesthat the telcscope could pursuc.

At that time the largeAmerican foundations such asFord, Rockefeller and Carnegiewere changing their emphasisfrom support for US science toassistance to development inothcr parts of the world. It wassuggested that the largetelescope proposed could bebuilt in Australia, with financialassistance from the USA.

The Carnegie Corporation hadaccumulated $US250,OOO that itwas obliged, for certain reasons,to dispose of in the BritishCommonwealth, and it wasn'ttoo long before the COI'por­ation's trustees granted thismoney towards the eontructionof a telescope in Australia. TheCarnegie grant was followed byanother $250,000 from theRoekefeller Foundation.

Our Government came to theparty by malching the funds, abuilding contract was placed in1959, and the telescope wascompleted in 1961.·:·(For the history, my thanks to

ICON, the IISE news/ellel:)

The 64-metre Parkes radiotele­scope is onc of Australia's, andindeed the world's, premierresearch instruments. SinceOctober 31,1961, thc giam dishhas becn at thc forefront orastonomy, conducting pionccr­ing research into such fields asthe structure of oLlr galaxy, thediscovery of quasars and the de­mystification of the cnigmaticpulsars.

Parkes Radiotelescopc?' DrRon Ekers, Director or theAustralia Telescope, said,'Gravity has everything to dowith astro-nomy, and Newtonwas first inspired to work ongravity while silting under anapple tree'.

Visitors were surveyed fortheir reactions to the open days.and clearly they were pleased.Onc small child wrotc, 'Thebest part was going lip the stairsto the control room, the worstpart was having to come backdown.'

About 30 staff members, theirfamilies and others came to helpout at the open days.

From Sydney came Drs RonEkcrs, Bob Duncan and RonStewart and their wives, DrJohn Wlliteoak, RohinaOtrupcek, Michael Anderson,Ron Mercer and his son, HelenSim, Alison Garside, and DrBobby Vaille (University ofWestern Sydney).Thcy supplemented the local

staff and hclpers - Dave andMargaret Cooke, Alan andHilary Wright , Harry Fagg,John and Margaret Glowacki,Uwe Knop, Ben Lam, SidHomer, Diane and David SeOl!,Andrew Hunt, Rick Twardy,Iulia Hockings and lanMcGovern.

How it began ...

The site was open to the publicfrom 9am till 4pm on October 6and 7, and more than 2,000people turned up,

Onc of the most popularattractions wa:-; a series of l1£1l1'­hour science shows by theproject officer with the CSIRODouble Helix Science Club,Linda Meise!. These includeddemonstrations of CSIROtechnology such as the'un­breakable' ceramic PSZ, thenew $10 polymer note with itsanti-forgery device and somefun with liquid nitrogen,

Also on offer was a 'ham'radio, set up ncxt to the Parkeseducation and visitors' centre, ahalf-hour audiovisual -'TheInvisiblc Universe' - ill thetheatre, and a historical displayin the administration building,prepared by I-Ielen Sim.

There were several talks byastonomers, including one on'The Search for ExtraterrestrialIntelligence', and the astro­nomers were also available forinformal strolls - cups of teaprovided - on the lawns.

The telescope itself was ofcourse on display, again withastronomers on hand to explainits workings as it collectcd dataon a selected patch of sky.

For the fit (and brave!) therewas a further inspection of thetelescope beyond the controlroom, up to tbe azimuth trackand higher to the junction room,with a descent back to thecontrol room via a helicalstaircase inside the building.

Onc special feature of theopen days was a televisedpi anting of an apple tree. Thecutting llsed came from the timeand garden of Sir Isaac Newton.In response to the inevitablequestion, 'What on earLll has anapplc tree got to do with the

Radiote/escope celebrates its 30th birthdayIn celebration of thirty years of operation, theCSIRO radiotelescope at Parkes held two open daysover the recent October long weekend.

344-1991

No. 345 December 1 9 9 1 CSIRO's staff newspaper AUSTRALIA

Oh boy, it'sagirl! (At last!)It may be mainly a symbolic triumph, butit is surely still a sort of triumph. For thefirst time there is a woman at the top, notjust of any old national government body,but of the old national government bodythat looks after Australian science - thatso, so male domain for so, so long.

Abol'e, CSIRO's new Chairman. PI'(~l'essor Adrienne Clarke. Photograph by A/an Porritt.

Professor Adrienne Clarkehas just been appointedChairman of CSIRO, and onething she certainly isn't, apartfrom male, is so-so.

She acquired her doctorate atthe University of Melbonrne,and is now Head of their Schoolof Botany and Director of theirPlant Cell Biology ResearchCentre.

In between, she did post­doctoral work at BaylofUniversity, Houston. and theUniversity of Michigan, in theUnited Statcs.

She also did some teaching atthe University of Auklandbefore being appointed to apersonal Chair in Botany backat the University of Melbournein 1985

Her research has been in thefield of cellular recognition inplants, particularly in interac­tions controlling fertilisationand the spread of disease.

In I <j9 I her work wasrecognised by the conferring ofan Officership in the GeneralDivision of the Order ofAustralia. She 1lad already beenmade a Fellow of the AustralianAcademy of TechnologicalSciences and Engineering andof the Australian Academy ofScience.

She was a part-time memberof the crstwhile CSIROExecutive, and became amember of the new Board at itsinception in 1986.

Ross Free. Minister forScience and Technology,announced her appointment tothe Chair of CSIRO onDecember 11.

He called her a . a highlycapable spokesperson andleader'. 'Hers is the kind ofcareer,' he said, 'that youngAustralian women can look lipto and hope to emulate.'

Indeed. Clarke's new positionis the highest formal office heldby any woman in the Australianscientific community.

Rivers andrivals:did we hurtYOIl,Darling?Dr Clarke's first announcementas Chairman was that CSIROwould double its own fundingof research into the preventionand cure of the toxic algalblooms plaguing Australia'sDarling River, and beyond.

The increase will take CSIROspending on the problem from$3 million to $6 million overthe next three years.

The extra funding will comefrom the $5 million centralfunding pool fed by the annual1.5% levy recently imposedunder the National Prioritiesexercise.

Professor Clarke said thatCS IRa had first seen thewarning signs of the algaloutbreak in the mid-1970s.

'For the past couple of years,'she said, . we have beenstepping up the work.'

The extra funding will go tothe Division of WaterResources, the Division ofFisheries, and the Centre forEnvironmental Mechanics.

One project is looking atpreventing blooms bycontrolling the now of waterthrough rivers. Algae bloom inwarm, still water with lots ofnutrients, and the scientistswanl to know the minimum!low of water needed to preventthe bloom.

CSIRO scientists are alsosearching for new, safealgicides that can be used to killoff blooms once they havestarted. The only acceptablealgicides now in use are copper­basecl products, which attackeverything - good as well asbad algae, and all other animallife in the water, including thefish - indiscriminately.

The algicides also releasesmclls and poisons from the

algae, so the researchers areafter natural bacteria that canbreak these down. They arealso looking into how the algaeproduce their poisons, for akey to why somc blooms aremore poisonous than others.

Two different projects aretracing where the nutrients inthe rivers come from. Oneproject, in Griffith, is usingorganic compounds proelucedin the animal gut as'biomarkers' to trace effluentsources. Another project, inCanberra, is using isotopes ofoxygen and sulphur'chemical l'ingcrprints' - insuperphosphates to trace theorigin of the nutrients.

Professor Clarke said weknow that the nutrients causingthe algal blooms are comingfrom sewage discharges andagricultural practices such as

fertiliser use.'In a country as dry as

Australia,' she said, 'with ourpoor soils, disposing of theIlutrient-rich sewage wasteshould not be a problem.CSIRO is already developingways or using sewage to waleranel fertilise agricultural landand tree plantatiolls.

More newbloodThe CSlRO Board has not onlya new Chairman but three othernew members. Tlley areProfessor John de Laeter , DrMax well Richards and MrDouglas Shears.

Professor de Laeter is aphysicist, presently DeputyVice-Chancellor and Dean ofGraduate Studies at CurtinUniversity of Technology inPerth. He was Citizen of theYear for Western Australia in

1986.Dr Richards, a geologist, is

Managing Director ofAberfoyle Ltd. He is Treasurerand Past President of theAustralian Mineral IndustriesResearch A:-;sociatiol1 and amember of the ExecutiveCommittee of the Austra]ianMining Industry Council.

Mr Shears is an eminentagribusinessman at the head ofICM Australia. lCM began [IS asmall oat-milling company andquickly became the country'sbiggest privately ownedintegrated agribusinessenterprise.

Sir Gustav Nossa], one ofAustralia's best known andmost honoured scientists, and amember of the CSlRO Boardsince its inception, has beenreappointed for a further two­year term.•:.

345##1991

Aseason for endingsand beginnings

Ros. RaisonDivision of Wool Technology

Letters to theEditor

Phi! TvlerDivision of Mineral and Process Enginee;ing

Dear Editor.Is the Division of Wool Technnlogy (Ryde) 'branching out' intnother areas of research?

A hardy plant species suddenly appeared in a crack, in the middleof a mini cement jungle, only 20 metres from a busy carbon­monoxide-polluted Ryde main road.

An anonymous enterprising entrepreneur grabbed the chance andlabelled it thus:

CSIRO DEVELOPED

SIROTOMGrows anywhere, suitable ror cracks and crevices

Patent pending

In line with cost-cutting measures throughout the Division, thetomato crop will be harvested in time for the staff Christmas party.This exercise will yield a saving or around 0.003 per ccnt of theestimated party budget!

Cotton on CSIRO!Dear Editor,I was very pleased to receive and proud to wear a CSIROwindcheater provided to me for my role as a parking marshall forthe VIP Open Day at Mineral and Process Engineering.

However, at the same time I was cl isappointed as I noted thegarment was of inferior quality aud the manufacturer's labeladvised the garment was 'Made in China'.

How much more satisfying it would have been for me to bewearing a high-quality garment 'Made in Australia' from the finestcotton grown in Australia, developed and produced with theresearch support of the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry's CottonResearch Unit at Narrabri and manufactured in Australia, by anAustralian manufacturer. using the latest manul'actul'ing processesdeveloped and implemented by the CSIRO Division ofManufacturing Technology.If that was the cuse, I would have been even prouder to be

displaying our Logo and Image to our clients and the public.Come on CSIRO, strut your sturf!

delivery of results within theOrganisation.

I know I thoroughly enjoyedmy part in the recent PersonalAssistant's Workshop, and Igathered some interesting andvaluable insights from talking tothe people who attended.

The new Board members bringa wealth of personal experiencethat is very relevant forCSIRO's future directiou.

The new Chairman (and shewants to be called such!) issomeone who has not onlydistinguished herself inacademic Iife, but has taken akeen interest in the naturalenvironment and also formedvery strong links with business.She understands the issuesinvolved in the extraordinarilycomplex business of commer­cialising research anddevelopment, and I lookforward keenly to workingclosely with her.

Doug Shears is someone whohas contributed enormously tothe food industry through hisown activities. That industry isan important CSIROstakeholder, and an area ofAustralia's trade and commercethat absolutely must performbetter if we're to reverse ourbalance of payments deficit. !t'sbeen earmarked for many yearsas an area where we ought to bedoing much better than we are.CSIRO will certainly have to bea part of any major plans for thefood industry, so his experiencein this respect will be a greatasset.

Max Richards, as Chairman ofthe Australian Mining IndustryCouncil and Treasurer and PastPresident of the AustralianMineral Industries ResearchAssociation, is another who isideally equipped to help us innUl' thinking about industrylinks and external delivery ofresults.

John de Laeter is an old friendof CSIRO who brings uniqueinsights from his distillguishedacademic background and hisrecord of bridging the gapbetween universities andindustry.

With this great team of BoardMembers, I look forward tn theNew Year keenly.

I wish all CoResearch readersa happy and relaxing Christmasbreak and a year of greatachievement in 1992!

account of how to arrange apress visit to the AustraliaTelescope!

Neville insisted that theOrganisation develop a humanresources plan, and he promotedus actively as an organisationmaking a commitment to itspeople. That support andpromotion has provided us witha new perfOlmance contract thathelps define and guide the workof everyone in the Organisation.

Speaking of the HumanResources Plan, it seemsalready to have had severalpositive consequences. I'venoticed a number of peopleunder the PPE discussionsbeginning to think about careeropportunities in a way theycertainly wouldn't have before.

I also notice an increase innetworking among staff whohave similar skills and roles butare rather isolated from eachother - for example, librarians,photographers, communicators,and, most recently, personalassistants

Conrerences and meetings ofthese groups have taken placerecently. and I have had thechance to sce at first hand thebenefits or such occasions.There was a time in CSIROwhen meetings of any morethan tllree like-minded peoplemight have been regarded as aconspiracy, and very dangerousindeed. But now, with our moreopen structure, not only can weaccommodate sucll meetings.but the talk is likely to be verypositive, with much about whatwe can actually contributc ­how we can improve our own

The vision he showed inreshaping the Organisll'lion,accepting the ASTEC reportand taking us through theMcKinsey exercise has left usready to meet the approachingdecades with a steadier gaze,and grip.

The new structure makes itpossible for us to focus onexternal delivery of CSJRO'sdiscoveries and conclusions in away we just wcren't able tobefore. I tllink it was a greattribute to Neville Wran and tothe Board that they were able tosee that structural deficiencyand fix it.

The 'leaner, greener machine'that Neville described in hisMilthorpe lecture is able torespond to national issues forthe benefit of all Australians,

On the personal level, NevilleWran has been an unusuallysupportive and pleasantchairman to work with - non­intrusive, but always availableto consult on problems andissues, an extrcmely valuedcollaborator.

Hc was, I think, exactly theright man for the job. Witty andarticulate, he would break us upwith some anecdote from hisfascinating past whenever ourBoard meetings began to get abit dull or stodgy. We're allgoing to miss those moments ofsudden lightness, and, thoughit's a tradition we'll try tocontinue, it isn't going to becasy to match his onc-liners.

And although it doesn'tperhaps lend itself to print inthis carcl'ully perused column,I'd be pleascd to pass on, toanyone who wishes, Mr Wran's

The very nicest thing you can say about people whenthey leave an organisation is that they are leaving itbetter than they found it. As Neville Wran stepsdown from the Chair of CSIRO, there is little doubtthat this is the case. History, I think, will beunequivocal in its judgement.

345-1991

Rockhampton getsBeefCattle Centre

Rockhampton's 'Beef Capital'status. In fact, local member MrWright said Rockhamptonwould now become the 'BeefCapital of the SouthernHemisphere. '

Be that as it may, the numberof CSIRO staff at Rockhamptonlooks certain to increase. ActingOfficer-in-ChargeDr DerekLindsay said he could foreseean increase from 45 to 75 or 80within five years.

When fully operational, theCentre will have a staiT of morethan 100.

They will include people fromthe Queensland Department ofPrimary Industries and theUniversity College of CentralQueensland as well as CSlRO.

Apart from the fundingcoming from these three partici­pants, there will be an extra $[million a year of Federalfunding for the project.

The decision to establish theCentre was great news forCSIRO staff, as rumours ofpossible changcs had beeneroding morale.

John Possingham, Mr PeterClingeleffer, Mr GeorgeKerridge and Mr Max Sauer -­for their development of newtechnologies for the mechanisa­tion of Australian viticulture.

They have made it possible toproduce robust, high-yieldinggrapevines that can be bothpruned and harvested mechani­cally.

Another of the CSIRO Medalswent to Or Robin Hill, leader ofthe Ore Genesis Group at theDivision of ExplorationGeoscience, for nickelexploration research.

Or Hill developed a model ofhow mineral deposits form thatoverturned previous misleadingmodels, and produced majorpayoffs for supportingcompanies,

Mr Bill Trahar of the Divisionof Mineral and ProcessEngineering was awarded aCSIRO Medal j{)r his develop­ments in the flotation method ofmineral separation.

His work in two areas - thechemistry of sulphide flotationand the effects uf mineralparticle size in Ilotation - is atriumph of mineral processingresearch.

Mr Trahar was also awardedthe lan Wark Medal on October3 I this year and the A.M.Gaudin Award lasl year.

Mr Trahar's work hasstimulated research in leadinglaboratories throughout theworld.-;·

for one person to be master of itall in one lifetime.

He also said wc had fallenunder the ancient Chinese curse~ 'May you live in interestlllgtimes'.We were indeed living ininteresting times, he said, in thatwe were crossing over intounsustainability. wl1ere rcsearchhad hecome essential to theworld's survival.

He wanted to name the othermembers of the team - Or KenHarley; Dr Don Sands; OrWendy Forno; Mr Mic Julien;Mr John Whiteman; Mr RichardChan; and Mrs Tini Schotz.

The new Cl1airman's Medalwith its largc cash prize was ofcourse the star turn at theCSIRO Medals Ceremony,which was held on November27 at the Rialto Theatrette inMelbourne, but there were alsothe usual four CSIRO Medalsfor the year.

One Medal is presented eachyear to someone outside theOrganisation, and this year itwent to Professor GrahamFarquhar of the ResearchSchool of Biological Sciences atthe Australian NationalUniversity.

Professor Farquhar was giventhe Meda.l for his research inplant physiology and itsapplication to agriculture.

The first of the three internalMedals was presented 10 theViticulture Group of theDivision of Horticulture - Or

Above, I~ft. Dr Peter Room of the CS/RO Division of Entomology holds up his Certificate, whileretiring CSIRO Chairman the /-Ion Nevjlle Wran AC QC, right, holds rhe solid gold Chairman's Medal.The photo was taken hv Mark Ferglls of the Division (~f Materials Science and Technology ill Clayton.

Salvinia, a floating fern fromSouth America, has been calledthe world's worst water weed.It forms mats up to a metre

thick, completely blanketingwater surfaces, destroying plantand fish Ii fe, devastating theenvironment and causingconsiderahle suffering tohumans.

Dr Room and his colleagueshave been trying to eradicatethe pest hy means of its naturalenemJCs.

Together they have unravelledinteractions between climate,nutrients, sa]v-inia and insects,to come up with one of the mostsuccess{'ul programs ofbiological control everundertaken.The techniques they evolved

have been applied successfullyaround the world to clearsalvlllia plagues - from easternAustralian rivers and lakes,from 200 square kilometres oflakes in Papua New Guinea, andfrom hundreds of water bodiesin Sri Lanka.

Although Dr Room wasawarded the Medal as anindividual, he will be sharingthe $25,000 with the othermembers of his team. He saidthere was no individual piece ofresearch that stood out asbrilliant; rather it was verymuch a case of the whole beinggreater Ihan the sum of theparts.There was just too much

information these days, he said,

0,' Petel' Room of the CSIRO Division of Entomology has tal{en out theinaugural Chairman's Medal for his work on the biological control of salvinia,

Chairman's Medalgoes to Peter Room

Top-down restructure brings leaner,meaner look to Wide Brown LandCSIRO has just released its findings on how the greenhollseeffect is likely to change Australia in the next 40 years.

By the year 2030 we should had in the past, with both ourhave warmer weather all over the 'droughts and flooding rains'continent, by a degree or IWO. increasing.

With the warmer air increasing Our 'far horizons', on the otherevaporation, we should also be a hand, may actually be closing inlittle dryer overall, though on us a little as sea levels rise bysummer rainfall looks like an estimated 20celitimetres.increasing over most of nOl1hern The CS1RO estimates wereAustralia, bringing more !loods. prepared hy the Climate Change

We appear to be in for more hot Impact Group at the Division ofdays and dry spells, but fewer Atmospheric Research. A morefrosts, and cyclones should begin detailed assessment is availableto make their way further south. on request: call either Peter

On the whole, a more dramatic Whetton (03 586 7535) or Paulweather environment than we've Holper (03 5867661).-;-

Staff at the Rocldlampton Division of TropicalAnimal Production wel'e relieved and delighted whenScience Ministel' Ross Free announced on FddayNovember 29 that the Rocldlampton Beef CattleResearch and Extension Centre was to go ahead. Itwasn't a complete surprise to them, as the Review ofTropical Animal Production Research in CSIRO hasbeen going on since June, and the Centre was one ofthe hoped-for outcomes.They were surprised. however,

when Bob Hawke dropped inunexpectedly on the followingWednesday to congratulatethem and look around, Sosurprised, in fact, that the mostsenior members of staff were allmissing,

Dr Bob Hunter and Dr JohnFrisch took charge. Neither isvery used to amba"adorialfunctious - Dr Hunter worksin growth research and DrFrisch in cross-breeding - butby all accounts they carried thething off beautifully. The PrimeMinister was suitablyimpressed, and evenentertained. As a memento ofthe visit, Dr Hunter presentedhim wilh a pair of CSIRO'svery own logo-adorned golfballs.'I suppose,' Mr Hawke joked,

'they go 20 metres further?''Of course,' Or Hunter replied

quickly, 'and on the offchancethat you hit one into the rough,they're bio-degradable.'

The photograph ahovecaptllres Mr Hawke's rcsponse.

The new Centre will cnhance

345-1991

Wran bids worldread itspalm andpineNeville Wran, influential politician and vocal friend of the environment,and our Chairman for the past five years, now takes leave ofCSIRO foronce and for all. CoResearch thought it a good time to ask what hethought of us and our relationship to life, the universe and eVelything.Is it all our fault, and if not, what can we do to change that situation?

Liz MacKay: What do youthink has been the mostsignijicant change to CS/ROdurillg YOllr time asChairman?

NevilleWran: My answer maysurprise you. It's not any greatscientific achievement, nor is itevcn the extcnsive structuralchanges we've heen through.The biggest change as far as I'mconcerned has been anattitudinal change - a changeIn the esprit de corps of thewhole Organisation.

When I first became theChairman, I heard nothing, fromany quarter. other than thatmorale was low, morale waspoor. morale was bumpingalong tile bottom. Now moraleis high. and science slandshigher on the national agendathan probably at any time inAustralia's history.

I hasten to add that I don'ttake the credit for that: I'venever In my life been associatedwith a Board that measureclupto the CSlRO Board. ltsmembers together representedan extraordinary pool ofintellectual capacity, and eachonc of them exerted thatcapacity to the full.

There was plenty of livelydisagrcement. but when adecision was made, it wasaccepted. and there was nosulking. Jt was that sort ofBoard~ everyone seemed tobe big enough to take a loss.and front up to the next round.

And that was terriblyimportant in building upmorale. When that Board wasfirst constituted in 1986, CSIROhad grilled its teeth through thejcrking, CUlling and stitching ofmore reviews than Zsa ZsaGabor had facelifts, and I thinkthe people in the Organisationwere just about exhausted.

Wc took them through twomore rcviews. the MeKinseyReview and the Papas CarterEvuns Review, and since thenwc 've striven to bring certaintyto the Organisation.

During the five-year period theOrganisalion as a whole hashelped to increase the officialrecognition of the importance ofscience. CSIRO contri buted tothe establishment of the PrimeMinister's Science Council andthe Co-operative ResearchCentres. Barry Jones when hewas Minister established theAustralia Prize. In other words,during these five years.

however it happened- and noone person can take the creditfor it - there has been aturnaround in the status ofscience and scientists.

So those are the two that standout to me as the most significant~ and important - changes:morale, and where sciencestands on the national agenda.

LM: What role do you feelyou've played in this change?

NW: Well, I was the firstChairman of CSIRO who wasnot a scientist of any sort, andthere was some fuss about thatat the time.

But I think that specil'ic lack ofknowledge actually made me abeller Chairman. oddly enough.1 was unprejudiced andunencumbered.

Not being a scientist meant 1was immune to the debilitatingpessimism that seemed to seizeand dominate the minds of somany. not only in CSIRO but inscience generally in Australia.

I certainly don't think thatCSIRO should always Mve anon-scientific Chairman, but Ithink at that time itwasprobably an accidental master­stroke to have a non-scientistthere, someone who wasn'tweighed down with the historyand cultural mores of CSIRO.

LM: What il~fluellce wouldyOll say John Stocke/' has hadon the organisation?

NW: In a word. notable. TheBoard has accomplished quite abit in the last five years, but 1think the fullness of time willshow that John Stoeker'sappointment was one of the bestthings we ever did.

Of course he was brilliantacademically, but he alsobrought the fire-hardenedrealism of someone who's beenrunning a successful medicalresearch organisation thatactually brings products to themarket. He's a tireless worker,and he really believes that theChief Executive of CSIRO isdoing a job more important thanthat of the Prime Minister ofAustralia. Now, if you believethat, the enthusiasm itengenders can only be good forCSIRO.

LM: What role do you seeCSIRO playing in Australia'sdevelopmCllt?

NW: CSIRO has always playedan important role in nalionaldevelopment, but I sec thatimportance increasing beyondanything we have seen so far.

This period of micro­economic refonn through whichwe're moving is going to haveprofound effects on thestructure of industry inAustralia, and soon CSIRO willhave a staggering contributionto make to our national future.

The Organisation has nowestablished its list of priorities,and. in a sense, these willbecome the nation's priorities.

Let me give you one illustra­tion: the first and biggest stepstowards a magnesium metalindustry for Australia have justbeen taken with the recentannouncement, by Ross Freeand Wayne Goss. that theCommonwealth andQueensland Governments havecommitted $25 million towardsa program of research into theproduction of magnesium metalfrom the high-quality depositnorth of Rockhampton.

N()w this 'lStd[illly in accordwith CSIRO's list of priorities.We must add value to theminerals we're taking out of theground. Otherwise we continueto be just a handy quarry for therest of world. withoutAustralians getting the benefitof their mineral s.

This magnesium developmentis an example 01' the wayAustralia will have to go· il' it isto recapture and hold the highstandard of living we'veenjoyed in this country.

LM: On a large/' level agaill,do you thillk Australiansciellce has a part to playglobally?

NW: Without doubt. And it isplaying a role globally. Again,let me answer by way ofexample. While it's a pity thatthe Gene Shears research is nowpartly owned by French andpartly by American interests, inanother sense it's illustrative ofthe global nature of science thatthree different, disparate organi­sations can work together onthings such as plant disease.Alzheimer's disease, flu virusand so on, and if anyone ofthem breaks through in aparticular field the impact willbe felt by the world.

The results of science can't belocked up in anyone country.And Gene Shears is a classical

example, I think, of Australianscience going out to the world,albeit by an unfortunate route.

LM: fou yourself are known toconsider environmelltalresearch to be of the highestpriority. Do you think thatCSIRO should have an agreedposition all t!lis research?

NW: No. I do not. CSIRO mustnever forget its real purpose, itsraison d'etre, and that is topractice excellent science. Inthe field of environmentalresearch we shou Id beencouraging the lively intellec­tual diversity essential toscientific enquiry.

We shouldn't start off environ­mental research with an agreedbrief. Whatever the researchturns up is CSIRO's position.

Otherwise we'lI become theprisoner of interest groups inthe community - and there areplcnty of them~ rather thanthe purveyors of good science.

For instance. this very day. inthe midst of the fierce publicdebate over thc bl ue-green algaein the Darling River, a CSIROscientist has said that the use ofa certain substance to dispel thealgae is as harmful as the algaeitself, because it causes thealgae to release toxic materialsthat attack the health oflivestock.

I think that's a perfectly properrole for CSIRO to play. and Iapplaud it.

Certainly it's embarrassing

when CSIRO speaks with twovoices. I recollect that we spokewith two voices in respect of thepulp mill in Tasmania. But farbeller speak with two voicesand maintain your scientificobjectivity than compromiseyour objectivity for the sake ofsaying 'well, after we've allmade concessions, this is theresult. '

That's what the people who doenvironmental impactstatements do. That's not whatscientists ought to do.

I'm not encouragingdiffercnces of view, mark you.but if they're there, you've gotto live with it.

LM: Envirollmental researchis 1l0lV at the top ofCSIRO'sIlatiollal research priorities,but so is minillg. Have yOIl allYcomment to make Oil that?

NW: Sure. What that positiondemonstrates is the inter­dependence of development andthc environment.

The environment. until recentyears, used to be thrown in asan add-on, in relation to the '111­important goal of development.Now the careful assessment ofthe likely environmentalconsequences, and a procedureto deal with those that areadverse. is an integral part ofdevelopment.

In othcr words, there is aninter-dependence betweendevelopment and theenvironment that is here to stay.

345-1991

The environmental questionscannot be disregarded anylonger.

Butl think we can get into afalse mould by being anti­mining, or ami-development.That's not the real issue. Whatwe really need 10 do is muchmore difficult, and tlM!'s to finda reconciliation of our need tomine and our need 10 developwith our nl'",1 to have fresh air,clean water and pure soils.

LM: On a different tack, isCS/RD's role liS 'honestbroker' endangered by therequirement by GOI'erlllllentthat we jind one-third ofourjillldil/g ji'O/ll Olltside sources?

NW: No. CSIRO's role eannever be endangered if it sticksto the basic precept Ihat its taskis to practise good seience,because good science doesn'tallow for imbalancc or·prejudicial eonclusions. Thelogic of research demands anobjective answer, and if therewere any perceived imbalance,or prejudice, in our researchfindings, then the very strengthof CSIRO - its independencefrom the desires of any group- would be lost.

LM: From yOllr}ive years withCS/RO, can yOIl ojfer us anyprophecies on A IIstralian.\'cience or world science?What should science be doingto save the planet?

NW: The greenhouse effect, thedamage to the ozone layer. thenon-disposal of toxie wastes­all those new man-mademenaees that now alTect the air,the waleI' and the soi I, andtherefore everything - aren'tgoing to go away. They'll stayaround, and grow. Increasingly,they will become tbe dominantconcerns for science andscientists as world populationgrows.

11', as is predicted, worldpopulation doubles by the year2020 - some say 2030 - thenit's the scientists who will needto say where the energy willcome fro111 to sustain thatdoubling of population, wherethe food wi 11 come from tosustain that doubling ofpopulation, and most of all. theway in which the planet itselfcan Sllstain that doubling ofpopulation without the totalerosion of the very elementsthat make life possible -- water,air ancl soil.

In other words, as the world'spopulation mindlessly grows,the scientists will be in the frontline of devising techniques forsurvival.

LM: With Com/llllnism dying,leaviug its gentler relatives tosome degree discredited by pastassociation, with ecollo/llicrationalism and yllppyismeverywhere triumphant, the

en~';r{}llmelltseems to some tobe lIIuler greater threat thallever,/i'Ol1l development. CanCS/RO, 01' Australian science,do anything abollt that?

NW: Well, we can certainly dosomething in our sphere ofinfluence, and that I see mainlyas the educational sphere. Ofcourse scientists will produceresults that will have impact,but it's absolutely critical thatthe eommunity, and hence thepoliticians, understand whatproblems are being createdthrough the destruetion of theenvironment, Ilncl how thoseproblems can be solved or theirworst effects arrested.

Offerings from CSIRO sueh asthe Double Helix Club, theeducation centres, input intopopular shows such as Quantumand Beyond 2000, not tomention A Country Practice,and CSIRO's involvement in ahost or conferences, seminars,and publications, all of theseprovide an ongoing and critiealsource of information necessaryto an educational process. Themore we laymen know the morelikely we are to appreciate thechances of survival that wehave and, perhaps moreimportantly, the chances of non­survival if we don't listen towhat we're being told.

So I believe that CSlRO willcontinue to play a literally vitalrole in our own region, ancl in aglobal sense that role is evenmore vital, though relativelysmaller.

I'll take just one illustration­the greenhouse effect. CSIRO isat the cutting edge of researchinto greenhouse, probably moreadvaneed than any othercountry in the world, and we'renot locking up our information;it's there for tile world. We'remaking an important contribu­tion to world knowledge, andtherefore probably to worldsurvival. Even, perhaps, to thesurvival of the world.

LM: So an objective inplltjl'llm science about dangers tothe environment could help tolIloderate or stem what seemsto some to be au alarming shiftto the right in a lot of areas ofthe world, a shift that wouldnormally be inimical to theenvironment, in that itjllVOlI/'Sindustry?

NW: No question. No question.I have much more faith in thepower of people than mostformer politicians, and I takethe view that if you canmobilise and educate thepopulation, then you'll getpressure put upon thepoliticians. People, topoliticians, represent votes, andif the voters are expressingviews about scientific matters,ancl expressing viewssupportive of CSIRO, then thepoliticians will listen.':'

CSIRO's College ofChiefs meetsYes, we know, but why does it?

CSIRO has always had Chiefs, and the Chiefs have always had meetings. After all, itwas always that sort of organisation. Divisions were where the real science was, andthe Chiefs were in change of the various branches of that real science. They were themovers and shakers, not those ILll-scienced bureaucrats at Headquarters. But wasn'tthat all a bit juedal, and aren't times supposed to have changed /low? Aren't we allsupposed to be much more co-operatiJ'e and corporate-minded? What junction doesa College o,fChiefs now serve, as opposed to a corporate committee? To explain whatthe College is, and does, three Chiejs - Tom Biegler, John O'Callaghan and MaxWhitten - have writte/l this piece jor CoResearch readfJrs ,.,

A/JOve, some early mTi\'als at the Chiefv' meeting on the day o[ the csmo Med~/s Award Ceremony.(see story page 3). The head in the foreground is tha~ I~f Or 10m. Spurhng, Chtef of the Dll'lslOn ~}

Chemicals and Polymers. The others are, I~ft to nght, Dr Bnan Tucker, CIII~f of AtmospherrcResearch: 01' Graeme Pearman, Acting Chief of that Division while Dr Tucker is acting for Dr. Roy,Green as Director of'the Institute o!,Natural Resources and Environment; Dr Mike Murray, ChiI'} o}Materials Science 'llnd Technoiogy; and Dr Colin Adllm, Director of the Institute of IndustrialTechnologies. (This being the second meeting for the year, it included some lion-Chiefs: see below.)

For many years, Chiefs of get to know each other. benefit from a moreDivision have been gathering Indeed, there is 110 other corporate approach toat various intervals, usually mechanism by which the management and policytwice a year, for meetings of Organisation's 32 Chiefs can matters.what has come to be known get together. The gathering The current pattem is to

. as the 'College of Chiefs'. also provides a forum for the have one meeting in mid-yearThe role of the College has Chief Executive, the Minister and then one later in the yearbeen a recurrent theme in and othel' top decision involving the Chief Executivediscussions at these meetings, makers to meet with key line aud other representatives ofThis note outlines why we managers and discuss the Organisation. At themeet and what we do. corporate matters. latter meeting the College

The College of Chiefs is an All of this adds up to a elects a Chainnan and a Sub-nnincorporated body without conviction amongst the Committee. The Chairman,rules or constitution. It Chiefs that these meetings supported by the Sub-continues to meet, not continue to have a legitimate Committee, organises thethrough the driving force of role and a benet1cial meetings and communicatessuch prescribed requirements influence, Attendance is the views of the College to thebut because its members get always given a high priority Chief Executive.value from the event. There is by individual Chiefs. The College of Chiefs is nota stmngly shared view that Important topics that have part of CSIRO's linethe meetings help to produce drawn the Chiefs together management structure, andand to reinforce a common over the years have included does not seek to bypass thevision for CSIRO and to give a shared vision for the future formal lines of management.a feeling of corporate unity of CSIRO, the management It is as a forum for thewithin the Organisation. We and structure, the impact of exchange of ideas anddiscuss matters relating to external funding on strategic expel'ience that it makesour roles and responsibilities, research and, more recently, sense, even excels. Thewe help each other to addl'ess award restmcturing and its College of Chiefs is a veryissues of common concern, ramit1cations. The positive force in the unity andwe share experiences and we Organisation and its staff strength of the CSIRO.·)

345-1991

Open Days, open minds,and open slather?It's the age of television all right. Dal1id Mussared ofthe Public Affairs Unit went to Melbourne for theClayton site Open Day on Novermber 21. He wassupposed to write a story on itfor CoResearch. He sawall the displays, and he saw the Minister, but the wholething seems to have got swamped by the televisionshows he watched before he went ...

CSIRO scored an unusual double in the lastweek of November - it appeared on twotelevision soap operas in the space of three days.First tllCre was A CDuntry provide a labDratDry fDr anPractice, when a cold and crusty upcoming episodc. Thefcmale geneticist from CSlRO laboratory, the Chances peopleappem'ed on the Monday night as insisted, must have something toa new character in Wandin Vallcy. do with minerals research and

Things went very badly for must be 'big enough to fit a filmCSIRO that night. The farmers of crew and a couple'.Wandin Valley stmtcdlosing Given the reputation of Chancesmasses of stDck to a mysterious as an 'adult' soapie, it says muchailment, mDst Df the regular for the Division's open-characters came dDwn with a mindedncss that it agreed.strange illness and it was all So after tWD days of CSIRO-blamed on something sinister soap on A Country Practice,going on at the CSIRO lab. Wednesday night saw the

By the end Df the MDnday broadcast Df a dramatic sccncepisode the scientist was from Chances filmed in a CS1ROconfronted with a pile of dead lab.sheep dumped on CSIRO's The next day Federal Sciencedoorstep ('You killed thcm, you Minister Ross Free tumedup at abury them', said a placard), and a 'VIP Open Day' al the same sitetown meeting which erupted into to open Clayton's Co-operativean angry brawl. Research Centre - the G.K.

On Tuesday things got a bit Williams CRC for Extractivebetter. Thc aloof CSIRO scientist Metallurgy.came Dut of her shell- she was The DivisiOll'S chief, Dr Robertconfronted witb the sutTering of a La Nauze, referred at the openingpaltlculm'ly hard-luck fmmer who ceremony to the previous night'smade her remember why she had television appearance.studied science in the first place 'You'll have to tell me whether- and she started helping the you watched it,' he said to MrWandln Valley residents find out Free.what was kllIing the sheep. But Mr Free, sad to say, had not.

And guess what it was? Blue 'l'm sony that I didn't see thatgreen algae were blooming in the soapie this week,' he said. 'I hopevarious dams and waterways of it leads to a series - and you canWandin Valley. How's lImt for give external funding a wholeprophetic? The Darling River new meaning.'bloom did not hit lIlC headlines The G.K. Williams centre - auntil the following week. joint effort by the Division, the

In its second soapic appearance University of Melbourne'sCSIRO did not play quite such a Depmtmenl of Chemicalstarring role. The Division of Engineering and the AustralianMineral & Process Engineering at Mineral Industries ResearehClayton was understandably Association (AMIRAJ - wasdubious when it received a eaU duly opened before a crowd of(i'om the makers of the program some 300 people from industry,Chances. aeademia and CSIRO

The request was for CSIRO to .':":":'

Ahove, CSIRO staff explaill scienlijlc equipment (fluidised hed) toScience Minister Ross Free durillf! his visit to the Clayton site 011

its VIP Open Day last mOllth. Left to right. Mr Ross Clase, MrRoss Free, Dr Rod Dry and Dr Rob La Nallze (Chief {~t' the

Division a/Mineral and Process Engineerillf!}.

Caption CompetitionI'M SOK:R<,) SIIZ{ BiJTIT LOOkS A.S IF'faU've 558N GI'IGN

... SIROLOI<.' TOiRljl BY MISTAKE:

THIS IS\ SI RCfSW'e5T'

'SIROLOI<'.f IS A R~Vol-lJTIOI\\ARY C>IET ADDITtlJs:.A .JAW speCIFIC MU.sCG5 IMMOBI01'5612./ ITCONTR,OLS W~I"l-IT B<t' PQ5Ve-IoJTIN" THeSW.A.l-L-OWlloJ<;;. OF 'FOOD FOR. 2.4 f-lOURS.

The Caption Competition contin.ues to grow in poplllarity, to the extent that only a small proportionof the entries are IIOW being pubtished in. each editiol/. [ could almost put Ollt a mOllthly magazil/ecalled CoResearch Caption. Competition. (Perhaps [ should put it in my PPE?) Anyway the point ofsaying that is to apologise to those of you whose captions are missing out. Also, since Geoff Roberts'inspired effort in the last issue, many readers have been sending entries in that format, i.e. a copy ofthe photo with speech and thought balloons drawn in. Unfortunately, it's virtually impossible to usemore than. one in that style, and printing the contents of the balloon without the picture often spoilsthe joke, especially since it requires a lot of extra verbiage from me to explain it. [ need morebrilliant one-liners! Having said that however, I had to g,:ve first place to Geo,[t' again this time, andhi" complex and difficult to reproduce, but agaill, very fUllllY entry appears above. Tt was just about adraw, though, amll "till have my doubts about whether [ shouldll 't have givell it to Lynn Prllford {~t'

Sciellce alld Careers Education here in Canberra. Her "illgle balloon isslledfrom the mouth of MrStephen Sykes (left), and contained the words 'After we're finished with the lip gloss we can applysome eye shadow.' As always, Lynn's ently was lIot only velyfllllny but totally unlike allyone else's.Dr R.e. Clll/teli"; Division of Chemicals and Polymers, submitted the rather Ileat and topical 'Tthurts right here whenl try to swallow the efficiency dividend.' Kart Armstrong, DMsioll ofBllilding,Construction and Ellgilleeriug, had Dr Don Casimir (centre) thinking 'Hmm ... He doem't speakwith forked tongue .... Gra/wm Pearce of Wildlife and Ecology had Dr Stocker say 'This blelld ofscientific cleverness, extel'llalfundiug alld improved public image has the sweet taste ~r"uccess.' ['mstill hard-pressedfor good photographs, but let's see what the one below brings forth ...

345-1991

The world's bureaucracies - including CSIRO - have enthusiastically adopted personal computers. The new technology has certainlybrought us some impressive improvements in ability, but has our delight in these powerful new toys made us over-eager to please thecommercial Santa Clauses who provide them? Are we guilty of computer cringe? Dr Graeme Caughley, Chief Research Scientist with theDivision of Wildllfe and Ecology in Canberra, says we are, and it's high time we made ourselves more independent.

Historic first: personalassistants' workshopIf there's one thing personal assistants are skilled at it's timing.They have to be, the way bosses keep turning up and disappearingand changing their plans at the last moment, or just after.

Well, from a dramatic effect point of view, the timing couldn'thave been much better for CSIRO's first-ever personal assistants'workshop. It was held in Queanbeyan, outside Canberra, just oneweek before the public announcement that CSIRO's newChairman was to be a woman, Dr Adrienne Clm·ke.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, have a look at thephotograph opposite, taken by John Houldsworth, of the entiregroup. Notice any missing genders? Women may be moving intomen's territory when it comes to jobs, but men certainly aren'tmoving into theirs. Understandable, really.

Cannel Macpherson, newly appointed head of CSIRO's HumanResources Branch, opened the historic workshop with a speech inwhich she said she thought such a gathering couldn't havehappened a few years back. That's probably right, but she got herbesl laugh when she said that personal assistants who wereworking long past regular hours ought to be getting paid for 11.-:-

Thc latest Policy Circular on'Computer Software Use' (91/7of IOJuly 1991) rcaffirms themessage of the previous one onthe same subject (88/10 oDOJune 1988) and warns Ihat 'allproprietary sol'tware used onCSlRO-owned or controlledeomputers must be appropriate­ly licensed and used inaccordance with the conditionsof the relevant softwarclicence. '

Policy Circular 88/10announced (Point 4) that 'mostsoftware companjes are nowproviding demonstrationversions of their software forevaluation. These should alwaysbe used for evaluation, ratherthan copies of someone else'scomplete version.'

I suggest that the interests ofCSIRO and the interests ofsoftware companies are Bolentirely compatible. Whereasthe CSIRO policy statementsmay be adequate for PontiusPilate purposes they are not anadequate guide to buying andusing software.

We of CSlRO need not besubmissive towards softwarecompanies. They need us morethan we need them.

CSIRO appears never to haverecognised its considerablemarket leverage, which ean beexercised on our own behalf oron behalf of less powerfulsoftware users. We ean causefinite distress 10 softwarecompanies who care to cui uprough.

Let me explain.The 'Gungahlin laboratory of

my Division shares 173 PCsamong a staff of J50 people.That staff includes gardenersand cleaners who seldom use

PCs in the course of their work.I subjected these figures to the

mark-recapture analysisoriginally used by Laplace in1986 to estimate the populationof France. It yielded an estimateof about 8,300 PC computers inCSIRO.

A quick check on unit costssuggestcd that those PCs have areplacement value of about $30million and are carryingsoftware worth about $20million.

In the world of PC users weare not small beer.

The policy circulars urge us toabide by the conditions of thesoftware licence. The CSIROpublication NEWSystems(91/16,25 September 1991,page 4) instructs us to seekclarification from 'the companyinvolved' if we do notunderstand our licensedobligations.

The licence is the thing youare deemed by the softwarecompany and the CorporateCentre to have accepted whenyou opened the packet ('Byopening the sealed diskpackage, yOll are agreeing tobecome bound by the terms ofthis Agreement ... ').

This I doubt. The laying-on ofhands and the breaking of thesacred thread may have atheological basis but surely ithas scant legal sanction.

Now look at what you haveapparently agreed to. Forillustration I consider only the'Microsoft Hardware andSoftware Licence Agreement'specific to 'Australia, NewZealand, and Papua NewGuinea.' It is fairly typical.

The print is very small and thewording somewhat ambiguous,

but it would seem Ihat you havetransgressed the putative'agreement' if the software isused in n machine containing il

co-processor or in a portablecarried between locations.

You are certainly in breach ifyou loaded Ihe software intoyour notebook PC by LapLinkcable, which is hard luck forthose of you who have modelslacking a Happy disk drive. Youmay not use such machines inCSIRO. Tough.

Because of the inbuiltambiguity you may, through nofault of your own, find yourselfin dispute with the company.CSIRO in its corporate manifes­tation has made it clear that itwill have nothing to do with thisdispute: 'Staff who knowinglybreach the rights of copyrightowners and thereby exposeCSIRO to possible legal actionmay be guilty of misconduct forthc purposes of CSIRO's Termsand Conditions of Employment'(Policy Circular 91/7). You areon your own, kid.

The licence continues: 'ThisAgreement (i.e. the one specificto Australia, New Zealand andPapua New Guinea) is governedby the laws of the State ofWashington and shall benefitMicrosoft Corporation, itssuccessors and assigns.Licensee consents to jurisdic­tion in the state and federalcourts located in the state ofWashington.' Try to stall themlong enough to qualify for anApex fare.

Surely I need not labour thepoint. SUcll 'I icenceagreements' are outrageous andabsurd. They should not becountenanced by CSIRO forone seeond. They represent an

asking price and reflectaccurately the considerabledisparity between what is goodfor users of software and whatis good for the producers.

For example, users seekstandardisation of key-strokecommands across packages.Software companies seekmaximum diversity ofcommand meanings, suing thediodes otT any competitor whoconverges on their commandlisl; likewise with theappearance and layout 0['

graphical interfaces.Standardisation of these wouldenhance productivity of usersimmeasurably, but eachcompany activety seeks to limitstandardisation so that it canmonopolise a niche in themarket.

As a generalisation, softwarecompanies will seek tominimise portability andmaximise exclusivity of use oftheir software. Users will seekto achieve the opposite.

In my view a big user likeCSlRO should contributeactively to this creative tension.Following the admirableAmerican corporate model weshould have at least two co1ll1cases going at anyone time totest the conditions andlimitations that softwarecompanies altempt to place onthe use of their products.

Legal proceedings can beexpensive but, with our consid­erable investment in computersand computing, any little winmay well save us millions ofdollars.

Instead, the fight has beenwaged largely by the PC users'groups who have beenremarkably successful in

curbing the monopolistictendencies of the largersortware companies bychampioning public domainsoftware.

And we can thank the USFederal Government for theincreased production of open­architecture hardware. Theywill seldom buy proprietarysystems.

In marked contrast the largerusers in Australia, particularlyCSIRO and the universities,have aeted without direction orresolve, apparently preferringinstead to think of England. AsPolicy Circular 88/1 0 puts it,'CSIRO has a positive policytowards the protection of theinterests of software developers... ' Makes it sound like apreearious cottage industry,doesn't it?

We seem to have adopted adefensive mind-set in our policyon use of computer software.Anyone who uses a demonstra­tion version of a program forevaluation and compatibility­tcsting, rather than the realthing, is guilty of gross finRncialirresponsibility Rnd technicalincompetence. But anyway,CSlRO should refusc to dealwith a company that will notsupply a full version onapproval. Nor should it dealwith companies that decline toprovide organisation or sitelicences for their software.

CSIRO can contribute signifi­cantly to a just rationalisation ofthe rights and obligationssurrounding the use of computersoftware for scientific pUllJOses.It certainly has the clout to doso. Does it not also have theduty'?

345-1991

CS/80's Iron Man goes to Hawaiiinfections of sheep.

The party was organised by agroup of current stalT ancl heldon the lawn outside the lab.There were present staff, paststaff including Dr l-Iugh Oordonwho attended the originalopening 60 years ago and beganwork there in the early 1930s,Dr l-lelen Newton Turner - oneof CSIR's first statisticians. DrVictor Cole whose books oncallle and sheep husbandry arewell known, Or Judith Kochwho recently retired from theDivision of BiomolecularEngineering, and Dr AlanDonald, Director of the Instituteof Animal Production andProcessing. There were a totalof six Officers-in-Charge of theLaboratory at thc gathering. andstaff from every dccade since itopened.

Wine and conversation Flowedwell inlo the afternoon as oldfriendships were renewed.Below, Or Hugh Om'don aboutto pick up a knife and cut the60th birthday cake. (Photo byPhil Potter of the Division ofAnimal Production.J·~

The F.D. McMaster AnimalHealth Laboratory was openedin Sydney in 193 I, and onNovember 14 1991 more than170 people gathcred there for alunch to celebrate its 60thbirthday.

The laboratory was built on asite provided by SydneyUniversity, with a donation oftwcnty thousand pounds fromMr ED. (later Sir FreclerickJMcMaster, a grazier of'Dalkeith', Cassilis, NSW. InAugust 1931 a small group ofscientists led oy Dr lan C1uniesRoss moved into the laboratoryto perform research into wormparasites of shcep. TheMcMaster family contributedfurther funds for the purchasc in1936 of the McMaster FieldStation at Badgery's Creek, andin 1956 the lan McMaster Wingwas opened in memory of SirFrederick's only son lan whowas killed at the battle of ElAlamein. The laboratorycurrently houses about 60 staffof the Division of AnimalHealth who perform researchinto parasitic and bacterial

McMaster Animal Health Labcelebrates its 60th birthday

And now here's somethingyou didn't know. Maybe. Aquarter of the competitors in theHawaiian Ironman event werewomen.·:'

sport today.'Encouragement of fellow

competitors,' he said, 'is verycommon, and adds greatly tothe enjoyment of the event.'

Mr Crowe said that theHawaiian Iron man Triathlonhad orginated from a bet,'somcthing with which mostAustralians can identify.'

'Was the fittest person the onewho could run a marathon 142.2ki lometres], or the one whocould complete a 3.8 kilometreocean swim or the one whocould complete a 180 kilometreroad race on a bicyclc?

'The only way to decide it wasto do the lot, and in 1978 theydid - 15 hardy souls lined upfor the first Hawaiian lronmall.'[The full official title is theGatorade Hawaii IronmanWorld ChampionshipJ.

SIROCREDIT (CSIRO's staffcrcdit union) helped Mr Crowefinancially, and he said heparticularly wantcd to thankthem.

He also wanted to alertCoResearch readers to theCSIRO Triathlon to be held atWeston Park in Canberra onFebruary 28 1992. The swimwill be over a distance of 450metres, thc bike ride 13kilometres, and the run 4kilometres. (Doesn't sound likemuch after Hawaii, does it'!) Ifyou're interested, call him on 062818211.

hours 47 minutes. (Thewinner's time was 8 hours 20minutes.)

Mr Crowe saiel that one of thegreat things about triathlons wasthat everyone was in it together-- a mixture ranging from thefinest in the world to first­timers. This had rcsulted in aspirit of camaraderie unusual in

I• ,f 'J ,l'lf' ,

r;fn!i'/ Ifr,

Ahove,former Al/slralian world champion Formnla One driver Sir lack Brahham road-tests a solar­powered racing car at Ihe opening l?f CSIRO's Science Edncation Centre in Wayvil/e. SOl/lh Anstralia.on Ocloher 28. The car, huilt hy MOI]Jhell Vale High School studfll!S with CSlRO sponsorship, wasdesigned to compete in Ihe Darwin-Adelaide Solar Challenge. The Centre. a Joil1l plY~iect of the SouthAnstralian Department 0/ Education and CSIRO, will move in with the new rnvestigator ScienceCentre at Way\·ille Showgrol/nds. lIs aim is to get young people interested in science bymeans or hands-on displays showing science in actioll. On the ril{ht of the picture is the Manager of

the Centre is Mr Rick Daley.

As foreshadowed in CoResearch 343, (September),the Division of Forestry's remarkable Mick Crowecompleted the gruelling Hawaiian Ironman Triathlonon October 19.With Hawaii's usual highhumidity Icvels, air tempera­tures in the thirtics and 1,349other lronmen from around theworld to compete against ­most with far fewer than MrCrowe's 43 summers bchindthem - he completed thecourse well up in the field, withthe very rcspectable time of 10

345-1991