Media Releases 2008
3 April 2008
TENIX HMAS PERTH RESEARCH AWARD
Dr Ian Pfennigwerth, historian and a retired Captain of the Royal Australian Navy, received the inaugural Tenix HMAS PERTH Research Award presented by the Acting Rector of the University of New South Wales Canberra Campus at a small ceremony at the Australian Defence Force Academy last week.
Commandant of ADFA, Brigadier Wayne Goodman, Dr Ian Pfennigwerth,
Acting Rector of UNSW@ADFA Professor John Arnold
The Award, which has a value of $10,000 p.a. over two years, is sponsored by Tenix Defence, with the support of the HMAS PERTH National Association, and is administered by The University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy (UNSW@ADFA). It is awarded on a competitive basis.
The purpose of the award is to perpetuate the stories of the ten ANZAC class ships completed at Tenix’s Williamstown facility between 1995 and 2006 as well as the histories of their predecessor ships. The award will fund an original research project on some aspect or aspects of these ships, their companies, or people or organisations directly associated with them. The research should contribute to an understanding of the ships and their people in the context of the nations they have served and continue to serve.
Dr Pfennigwerth will be conducting research into the whole life-cycle of the Tribal Class destroyers ARUNTA and WARRAMUNGA, from the decisions surrounding the building of the vessels during World War II to their eventual decommissioning twenty-odd years later.
The involvement of Tenix Defence as the major sponsor of the Award reflects its commitment to perpetuating the story and understanding of Australian and New Zealand naval defence.
Dr Pfennigwerth bio: Dr Pfennigwerth spent 35 years in the Royal Australian Navy in seagoing and overseas postings. After his retirement from RAN in 2000 Dr Pfennigwerth developed a passion in Australian naval history. In 2005 he was awarded with a PhD from the University of Newcastle. He is now the editor of the Naval Historical Society’s Journal of Australian Naval History, and is a contributor to the Naval Historical Review and the Australian National Maritime Museum’s Signals magazines. Dr Pfennigwerth is an author of many books on naval history such as A Man of Intelligence, HMAS Perth, Missing Pieces, with a new book being released in March – Tiger Territory.
~ENDS~
Media Contact: Natalia Komarova, Public Relations Manager, UNSW@ADFA
tel: 02 6268 8760, mobile: 04 34 662 874, e-mail: n.komarova@adfa.edu.au
28 March 2008
CANBERRA SCHOOLBOYS WIN FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN MALAYSIA
Canberra schoolboys received the Best Engineered Car Award for sleek design and attention to detail at the F1 in Schools World Championships in Malaysia last week.
The four Year 9 boys of Team Goshawk from Trinity Christian School also claimed second place outright. Team “Pulse” from England and fellow Australian team “Impulse F1” from Barker College in NSW took first and third places respectively.
Formula One in Schools is the only global multi-disciplinary challenge for students aged 10-18. It is estimated that over 10,000 schools participate this year from 28 countries with over 14 million students aware of the program.
Students create a CO2-powered model F1 car of the future using CAD software. The cars are then analysed for aerodynamic performance and manufactured with state-of-the-art software machining processes. Further testing in wind and smoke tunnels follow before the cars finally race side-by-side along a 20-metre track, traveling at a scale speed of up to 350kph.
ACT Schools were first engaged with the program in September last year and others are about to join in 2008 for the next round of competition. Dr Warren Smith, Head of the School of Aerospace, Civil and Mechanical Engineering at UNSW@ ADFA along with a team from the Australian Navy headed by LEUT Ken Merridith, has provided Canberra schools with a technological hub of support for their endeavours.
Trinity team (comprised of Dan Boucher, 14, Luke Abberton, 14, Ed Larkin, 14, and Alistair Smith,13) won their way through the ACT event in November, then the National Titles in December following by a trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia paid for by Australian F1 in Schools sponsor Re-Engineering Australia.
Alistair Smith, 13, the Goshawk’s Design Engineer, was delighted by the win. “These awards represent a lot of hard work and sacrifice, lots of late nights, weekends and even my summer holidays. I am so glad it was worth it! But it’ll be good to get back to normal … friends and sport…at least until it is time to do this again.”
“Now I want to teach what I have learned to other students, or maybe form a collaborative team with the French since we both use the same software. There are lots of options, but the competition is so much fun I definitely want to do it again.”
For further information, please contact:
Dr Warren Smith w.smith@adfa.edu.au
Team Goshawk celebrate in their Pit after winning two top awards at the 2008 F1 in Schools World Championship in Malaysia:
Ed Larkin, Daniel Boucher, Alistair Smith, Luke Abberton
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