22 Aug: Vol 24, #12 - UWA News staff magazine - The University of ...

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10 UWAnewsWorking together creates supportA simple solution to a problem in a Universitylibrary has been an excellent example of stafffrom different areas working together.The Education, Fine Arts and Architecture (EDFAA) Libraryhas hundreds of big heavy art and architecture books that usedto fall over when somebody took a nearby book off the shelf.Straightening the shelves was becoming a problem and causingphysical pain to library staff.The problem was identified by EDFAA library staff CaroleDuffil and Judy Smith; they asked advice from Safety andHealth Office (SHO) occupational therapist Averil Riley, whodid some research and came up with an idea; staff at FacilitiesManagement, particularly tradesman, welding expert and sculptorOne of the world’s great artshows will feature a sculptureby UWA staff member LenZuks.Len’s steel sculpture of a horse andrider has been chosen to be part of theBeijing Biennale, China’s biggest and mostimportant art exhibition, opening nextmonth.He has been an artist and sculptor allhis life but says he also enjoys his work asa tradesman for the Facilities Management(FM) maintenance workshop.“It’s hard to make a living as an artist,but I don’t do it for the money, I do itbecause I love it,” he said.Len was at the exhibition of Sculpturesby the Sea at Cottesloe early this year atthe same time as a Chinese delegation.“They were talking about acquiring artfor the Beijing Olympics, so they couldline the road between the airport andthe Olympic Village with installations. Ihappened to have photographs of someLen Zuksexplains hisdesign tolibrarian JudySmithAn Aussie icon in Chinaof my work with me and showed themto them. They immediately chose oneof my pieces, then returned to Beijingwhere a committee decided on a differentpiece, then asked me to exhibit it in theBiennale,” he said.“It was one of those hugely luckycircumstances.”Len’s horse and rider sculpture is 1.8metres tall, 1.8 metres long and about ametre wide. He calls it Duffer McCreedyafter a fictitious iconic Australian outbackcharacter.“He was a hard-working but illiteratestation hand, who met a teacher whocame to the station, learnt to read andwrite, fell in love with the teacher andmarried her, but didn’t quite overcomesome of his early ways.“The police were after him for somepetty thieving, so he ran away to war,served in Gallipoli and returned hometo make a lot of money on the land, thenbecame a philanthropist.“It’s the story of our land ofTHE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 22 AUGUST 2005Len Zuks (see also below), played around with the idea and, aftera few prototypes, and the help of Peter Norgard in the electricalengineering workshop, came up with the solution; and Libraryadministration manager Annie Macnab initiated the project andfound funding for it.Judy Smith explained that while most library books weighedabout 500 grams, EDFAA’s big books could weigh up to fourkilograms. The staff were getting repetitive use strain fromcontinually sorting the books, which were held up only by otherbooks. Averil Riley contacted other art libraries and found onesolution at Curtin University of Technology: a shelf support thatcould be attached to existing shelves, to take the load of heavybooks.Len Zuks considered the Curtin model, then thought of abetter way to make the support, using less material but in athicker gauge so the extra strength gave more support.“Len also ensured that the edges weren’t sharp and they wereset back from the edge of the shelf, so nobody would scratch orgraze themselves on it,” said Ms Smith.About 600 shelf supports are needed and the FM workshophas produced and installed about 200 so far. They haveoutsourced the cutting of the zinc-plated steel supports as FMdoes not have a machine capable of large numbers of repetitions,and Len is welding them together.Ms Riley said she encouraged staff who identified manualhandling hazards to reportthem to SHO.opportunity, and it inspired me to createthis vision of a proud man on his horse,”Len said.He doesn’t know of any other WesternAustralian artists who have been invitedto exhibit at the Biennale, where he hopessomebody will buy Duffer McCreedy.Len is currently working on a life-sizedsteel sculpture of an Aboriginal man. “Thebody’s done but I have to think of a storyfor him before I do his arms and hands,which will dictate what he’s doing with hisarms,” he said.Len has been working at UWA for 16years, first in the physics workshop, thenfor FM. He is taking leave to go to Chinafor the Biennale, where he will attendseminars and workshops with otherinternational artists.
UWAnews 11Mathematics’hotyoungstarsSarah Flannery with two of her young fans from Perth Modern School.When Filomina D’Cruz heardthat UWA was hosting theInternational MathematicsSymposium 2005, she didsome quick calculations of herown.Ms D’Cruz, who is project officer forthe Student Diversity Access program,approached the conference chair, Dr PaulAbbott from Physics, to ask if one of thespeakers, Sarah Flannery, would considertalking to some high school students.She ended up with three brilliant youngspeakers, all eager to address 14- and 15-year-old students.More than 200 students from 11 schoolsand a group of 23 Indigenous students fromprivate schools attended the three sessionsand were enthused by Sarah Flannery, LucBarthelet and Phil Ramsden.Sarah Flannery was named EuropeanYoung Scientist of the Year, at theage of 16, in 1999, for her work oncryptography. After completing a BA inComputer Science at Cambridge, she isnow working in research. In 2000, a bookshe wrote with her father, David Flannery,In Code: A Mathematical Journey, became apopular science best-seller.Luc Barthelet, the most anticipatedspeaker of the three guests, makes theSims computer games. He is senior vicepresident and executive producer forthe company Electronic Arts, and isdeveloping a new simulation game. He ledthe product development for video gameswhich include The Sims, The Sims 2, SimCity4 and SimCity 3000. Although self-taughtin computing and programming, Luchas degrees in electrical and mechanicalengineering.Phil Ramsden is a consultant forgifted and talented students in London,developing learning materials for them,while working in the MathematicsDepartment of Imperial College London.He specialises in computer-based learningin higher education and runs regularmathematics summer schools.A record for the booksThe Save the Children Fund (SCF) made arecord $140,000 profit from their annualbook sale last month in the Undercroft.The secretary of the University Branch of SCF, KerenMcCullagh, said the increase was largely due to the outsidebroadcast of the ABC’s 720 Saturday Morning Program atthe sale, which attracted more buyers than usual.She said the branch was enormously grateful to UWAfor its continued support, including permission for thebroadcast.The money raised will go to SCF projects in WA andoverseas, to improve the lives of disadvantaged children.The branch thanked the University administration, staffand students for their support of the book sale.CreditdueOur on-campus creditunion has ranked 10th in anational survey.Unicredit was in the top 10in Credit Union of the Year, part of Money magazine’s 2005consumer Finance Awards.The awards were judged on the overall score of products andservices from 180 credit unions, including everyday transactionaland savings accounts, term deposits, home loans and personalloans.“We are very pleased with our position,” said Unicredit’sGeneral Manager, Michael Blackburn. “Unicredit places a highlevel of importance on offering fair fee structures competitiverates, convenient services and flexible products.”You can find out more about the award-winning range ofproducts and services by calling in to the UWA Unicredit branchon the first floor of the Guild Building, or by visiting www.unicredit.com.auTHE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA • 22 AUGUST 2005
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