Latest news with #UOW
AU Financial Review
26-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Wollongong: The coastal city leading an entrepreneurial revolution
In recent years, Wollongong has become a hub for start-ups and the young entrepreneurs who want to build their businesses in a forward-thinking supportive community. For starters, launching a start-up away from the major cities is more cost-effective, which reduces the risk of scaling a business. And entrepreneurs can get stuck into creating their business while still enjoying a thriving coastal lifestyle. Wollongong's smaller size also lends itself to a supportive business community, where people genuinely want to network and build things together. Then there's the University of Wollongong (UOW), which creates a steady pipeline of high-performing research, tech and engineering graduates ready for the hire. Leading this revolution is iAccelerate. Established in 2016, iAccelerate is one of Australia's largest and longest running business accelerators providing entrepreneurs with the skills, mentorship and business connections to be successful. Located at UOW's Innovation Campus, the world-class business incubator has been instrumental in supporting more than 385 start-up and scale-up companies, and was named as a finalist in the prestigious 2024 Asia-Pacific Triple E Awards. iAccelerate director Dr Tamantha Stutchbury describes the program as a 'lightning rod for innovation'. 'Central to our values is the belief that anyone can be an entrepreneur,' says Stutchbury. 'That's why the program actively supports underrepresented groups in entrepreneurship, from women to First Nations, and culturally and linguistically diverse entrepreneurs.'
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Oliver the 'Cash King' was hit with a $97 fine after parking on campus - now he's taking university to court
A budding law student who refused to pay for campus parking using card or an app will take his university to court after he was slogged with a $97 fine. Oliver Griffiths, 21, has slammed the University of Wollongong (UOW)'s app where students pay for parking - arguing it excludes those who prefer to use cash. The fourth-year student downloaded the app, CellOPark, but didn't like how it bulk-billed him at the end of the month instead of every time he parked. The $40 deduction eventually put a restriction on his debit card, so Mr Griffiths stopped using the app and placed a handwritten note on his car instead. He wrote that he was happy to pay for parking - as long as it was with cash. Despite his efforts, he was slapped with a $97 fine. Mr Griffiths now plans to fight the fine in local court and has started a GoFundMe to raise funds for his legal fees - which has so far raised $500 of its $5,000 goal. 'I am doing this out of principle - that cash is fundamental to the economic and personal freedom of Australians, it is our LEGAL TENDER and should not be refused for essential services, and that banks should not have the excessive control over our lives as they currently do,' he wrote on the fundraiser. Mr Griffiths wrote on the GoFundMe he didn't have the money or legal backing to take his case to court so was relying on his own research and preparation. 'My name is Oliver and I am a fourth year law student at the University of Wollongong. On campus, like most universities, we have paid-parking,' he wrote. 'Raises over $3million from students per year. Around the start of second semester last year, UOW implemented 'cashless parking'. 'They require us to use an app called CelloPark which takes our car's registration details and bulk bills our parking fees. A few times, I have been short on 'digital cash' due to bills, textbooks and other payments - but I have always had cash. 'Since I discovered this change, I have always left a note on my windscreen offering to pay for my parking in cash and providing my contact details. 'I was issued a fine for the first time recently. I have until May 20 to take my claim to court, and I suspect my case will have grounds for appeal.' A spokesperson for the university said CellOPark app was good for students as they only had to pay parking for the time they were there. 'However, UOW still retains parking ticket machines that accept cash, including at each of the four major casual car parks on the Wollongong Campus,' they said. 'There are also card-only machines, which provide another alternative to CellOPark.'
The Star
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Star
Living lab for green solutions
Norazlina (left), Prof Hiew (third from right) and Srii (right) with representatives of several companies during the Sustainability Living Lab soft launch at UOW Shah Alam campus. — AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star A PRIVATE university in Malaysia has created a research arm where students, academics and their collaborators can test ideas and collect data to advance planetary and human health. University of Wollongong (UOW) Malaysia's Sustainability Living Lab (SLL) offers companies an opportunity to test and validate their green solutions in a real-world setting. UOW Malaysia School of Engineering senior Nishata Royan Rajendran Royan, who is lead coordinator of SLL, said all studies and tests would be conducted by the university's faculty members, students and researchers. 'Supervision is provided by academic experts based on the project scope and is overseen by the SLL committee. 'For technical and environmental projects, the School of Engineering leads the process with active participation from students and lecturers to ensure academic quality and practical relevance. 'Depending on the nature of the project, industrial grants or consultancy fees may apply, and academic supervision or research assistance may be compensated accordingly.' Nishata said this at the soft launch of SLL, in conjunction with UOW Malaysia's sixth Engineering Research Symposium. Also present were Australian Trade and Investment Commission business development manager (education) Srii Gunaseelan, Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation lead of future tech Norazlina Md Sani and the university's vice-chancellor Prof Dr Hiew Pang Leang. In attendance too were representatives of several companies testing or developing their systems with SLL. Nishata said support offered by SLL included access to specialised software, technical know-how from academic staff, student research teams, facilities such as laboratories, prototyping equipment, testbeds and data analytics tools. In line with its green theme, she said SLL was open to exploring pilot projects that aligned with the university's sustainability goals, such as rainwater harvesting systems, smart organic waste composting, energy-saving devices, circular economy, green composite material or low-risk environmental prototypes. 'Each proposal will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis,' she added. In his speech, Prof Hiew called the SLL project a mindset shift. 'Our campus becomes a living, evolving ecosystem where sustainability ambitions are tested, improved and eventually expanded beyond our gates. Today is just the beginning,' he said. On examples of ongoing projects between SLL and its current industry partners, Nishata cited a company that would be installing an air cooling system in the 24-hour study area at the university's Shah Alam campus. Unlike conventional air-conditioning systems, the new system utilises natural convection to cool a space without relying on mechanical fans. This initiative is being implemented on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis, with the goal of enhancing thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption. Also on display at the event were innovations created by the School of Engineering final-year students. These included a safety construction hat with a built-in cooling system, and a vertical farm with an automatic watering system that could also detect pests. There was also a waste segregation system that could automatically sort out cardboard, plastic and aluminium cans, as well as a recyclable material made from a combination of rice husk and thermoplastic polymer.
Malay Mail
25-04-2025
- Science
- Malay Mail
New techniques uncover how climate ‘upheaval' led to the extinction of Australia's giant kangaroos
SYDNEY, April 25 — Giant prehistoric kangaroos perished when 'climate upheaval' turned lush Australian rainforest into desert, scientists said yesterday after studying ancient fossils with new techniques. Weighing as much as 170 kilogrammes (375 pounds) — almost twice as hefty as the chunkiest living kangaroos — the extinct 'Protemnodon' bounded across Australia as many as five million years ago. Researchers were able to recreate the foraging habits of one population by matching long-lived chemicals from fossilised teeth to recently unearthed rocks. Similarities in chemical composition helped to mark how far the kangaroos hopped in search of food. 'Imagine ancient GPS trackers,' said Queensland Museum scientist Scott Hocknull. 'We can use the fossils to track individuals, where they moved, what they ate, who they lived with and how they died — it's like Palaeo Big Brother.' Lead researcher and UOW PhD candidate Chris Laurikainen Gaete with a tooth fossil from a giant kangaroo. — Picture by Chris Laurikainen Gaete and Scott Hocknull Scientists found the mega-herbivores lived in what was then a verdant rainforest — barely venturing far from home to forage. The rainforest started to wither around 300,000 years ago as the region's climate turned 'increasingly dry and unstable'. 'The giant kangaroos' desire to stay close to home, during a time of major climate upheaval 300,000 years ago, likely contributed to their demise,' the researchers said. Species of giant kangaroo survived in other parts of Australia and Papua New Guinea, with the last populations surviving until around 40,000 years ago. Scientist Anthony Dosseto said the new techniques could be used to better understand the disappearance of Australia's megafauna. Prehistoric species of giant echidna, wombat-like marsupials weighing over two tonnes, and hulking flesh-eating lizards once roamed the Australian continent. 'The debate about the extinction of the Australian megafauna has been going on for decades, but now we can take it to an individual and species-by-species perspective,' said Dosseto, from the Wollongong Isotope Geochronology Lab. 'With these precise techniques, each site and each individual can now be used to test and build more accurate extinction scenarios.' The findings were published in peer-reviewed journal PLOS One. — ETX Studio
