N E W S - I N D U S T R Y M A T T E R S
UC students
engineer medical
solutions in Tonga
For 10 weeks this summer, seven
University of Canterbury (UC)
students are going to be repairing
life-saving medical equipment
and engineering biomedical
solutions in Tongan hospitals.
Sponsored by Callaghan
Innovation summer research
grants, the seven UC Biomedical
Engineering students are learning
how to repair medical devices on
campus in Christchurch, before
they left for Tonga.
UC Senior Lecturer in Mechanical
and Biomedical Engineering
Dr Debbie Munro is leading the
initiative. Earlier this year, UC
launched an annual biomedical
engineering work experience in
the Pacific Islands where students
can combine their engineering
skills with hands-on training
for repairing critically needed
hospital equipment.
“We've selected our interns and
are in the midst of preparing them
to leave for Tonga. We will be
repairing hospital equipment for
ten weeks while also developing
the framework for a training
programme for local people
to continue the repair and
maintenance work in Tonga,” Dr
Munro says.
Dr Munro is the supervisor for the
first five weeks and UC Electronics
Technician Julian Phillips, who
received a staff development
award to attend, will take over
supervision for the second half of
the internship in January.
“I am super excited to be
partnering with Callaghan
Innovation, Fisher & Paykel
Healthcare, and Take My Hands
to send these students to Tonga
for a global work experience
where they can apply their
biomedical engineering skills
towards improving healthcare in
developing countries,” Dr Munro
says.
12 December 2019
Auckland
professor
wins ‘Oscar
of Space’ for
junk clean up
How do you catch space junk that
circles our planet? With a harpoon
and a net, of course. This has been
demonstrated by leading space expert
Professor Guglielmo Aglietti, who joined
the University of Auckland’s Faculty of
Engineering in October as the inaugural
director of Te Pūnaha Ātea | Auckland
Space Institute.
He has also just won the Arthur C Clarke
award for research showing how, using
a harpoon and a net, we might declutter
the space above us.
Professor Aglietti brings 25 years’
experience in academia and industry
in the space sector, including most
recently, leading the prestigious and
world-leading Surrey Space Centre in
Britain.
The Centre made headlines in 2018
with its successful experiment called
RemoveDebris, designed to gather
up space waste. That work won, on
November 14, Professor Aglietti and his
international team a Sir Arthur Clarke
Award in the Space Achievement:
Industry/Project Team category.
The prestigious awards are given out
annually in recognition of notable
contributions to space exploration.
“This is a great honour, as we consider
these awards like the ‘Oscars’ of the
UK space sector. I am delighted for the
whole team that worked tirelessly on
this project,” says Professor Aglietti.
Cleaning up space debris – which can
range from the size of a fingernail to
that of a bus – is becoming increasingly
important, he says.
“We rely so much on space technologies,
from the satnav in our cars to satellite
television, but we now must tackle
sustainability in space to avoid space
debris collisions, which could destroy
operational satellites.
“We’re putting more and more satellites
into orbit, but the old ones are still up
there. While their owners are supposed
to bring them down, that requirement is
very difficult to achieve and enforce.”
He and his team looked at the problem
from another angle. “If we can’t bring
the junk down, can we do something
innovative in space but using low-cost
technologies?”
Surrey’s RemoveDebris proposal is
the first practical solution to cleaning
up space debris. A small satellite is
launched, the net is deployed and both
the satellite and debris are burnt up in
the upper atmosphere.
Professor Aglietti came to New Zealand
because of the progress being made
here in space research and activities,
including the highly successful Rocket
Lab.
“In the last few years New Zealand has
attracted a lot of attention in the space
sector, particularly with its capability
to launch satellites at an affordable
cost and short time scale. This is an
extraordinary asset and advantage for
New Zealand,” he says.
“The University is well-known as an
institute with a growing range of space
relevant research activities, such as
its work with Rocket Lab, and has
significant potential to boost the local
space sector. New Zealand is extremely
well placed to develop a thriving space
sector.”
Professor Aglietti’s appointment
has been supported by the Tertiary
Education Commission as part of the
Entrepreneurial Universities Initiative,
a role developed to lead, energise and
protect New Zealand’s emerging space
industry.
“I see my role as trying to bring these
elements together and make a real
contribution to unlocking the country’s
potential,” he says.
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