Conference season at UniSA
UniSA has been involved in a range of conferences recently in a range of
fields including tourism, body shape, accounting and rural issues.
Leading experts in body shape were at the City West campus in mid-February for the World Engineering Anthropometry Resource Conference.
UniSA Associate Professor Verna Blewett said the conference was an opportunity to access the latest research in anthropometry including 3D body scanning and modelling.
“From the seats we sit in to the clothes we wear, the science of anthropometry is essential to the design, fit and ergonomics of countless items of daily life,” she said.
“Changes in lifestyle and nutrition lead to changes in body dimensions; anthropometry tracks these changes in body dimensions to ensure that products designed for people develop accordingly.”
Earlier in the month, UniSA hosted a major tourism conference, the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality 2011 National Conference.
UniSA Professor of Tourism Management, Graham Brown, was one of more than 10 UniSA presenters at the conference. He said it was a great opportunity to draw the attention of delegates from around the world to the range of research conducted by people in the School of Management.
Meanwhile, the relationships between accounting research and professional practice came under the spotlight during a forum at UniSA on February 1, coordinated by the Centre for Accounting, Governance and Sustainability (CAGS) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
The Forum initiated a dialogue between leading academics and practitioners to address the problem that accounting research, practice and policy making are worlds apart from each other.
UniSA Professor of Accounting and Director of CAGS, Roger Burritt, who initiated and co-chaired the event, stressed the future importance for practitioners and the profession of integrated reporting.
“Academic and practitioner accountants are important transdisciplinary team members in addressing critical policy issues such as sustainable development,” Professor Burritt said.
There is a need for accountants to engage with related disciplines, such as engineering and law, to create an integrated reporting and accountability system which can help movement towards a sustainable society, he remarked.
Speaking at the opening of the Forum, UniSA Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice President Research and Innovation, Professor Caroline McMillen, said that the event was a first step towards building networks critical to address gaps in communications between academic accounting research, policy making and the profession.
And in January, the South Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association hosted the 2011 National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association Congress at UniSA. The Congress saw 240 pharmacy students, ranging from first year students to interns, take part in the event at UniSA.
This year marked the 10th anniversary of the reformation of the National Australian Pharmacy Students’ Association.
Emeritus Professor Lloyd Sansom from UniSA’s School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences was the keynote speaker for the opening ceremony of the Congress.
Rural focus in Whyalla in 2012
UniSA’s Whyalla campus is set to become a global focal point for rural issues thanks to a winning bid by the Centre for Regional Engagement to host the Fourth International Rural Network World Forum in 2012.
Spearheaded by Whyalla-based Senior Research Development Manager Jen Cleary, the bid displayed a high level of regional support and a strong commitment to community engagement.
“Whyalla campus demonstrated an exquisite point of difference in that it really is the nexus where regional, rural and remote meet, making it unique from other universities,” she said.
Run by not-for-profit association, the International Rural Network, the conference aims to give rural communities a stronger voice in policy making debates by bringing together practitioners, communities, rural organisations, policy makers and academics from around the world to discuss rural issues.
“The focus of the 2012 conference will be the reality of what it means to live in a rural and remote area in a global context,” Ms Cleary said.
The conference is expected to attract between 400 and 600 delegates from up to 50 different countries, with around a third of attendees to be from developing countries.