Lumen Autumn 2024 - Flipbook - Page 29
Celebrating 150 years
Future history
While our history is our foundation,
the future is being created now
in the minds of our people.
If the past, as British writer Leslie Hartley famously said, is
a foreign country, then the future is a land waiting for us to
imagine it.
Lighting the way
As we celebrate 150 years of our University’s past, we have
our eyes firmly on the future – and how we will continue to
make history. To explore the breadth and importance of the
work we are doing, Lumen spoke to the leaders of our eight
research institutes, and our own academic leaders, to
describe the most important work they are engaged in, and
how it will change the future and impact people’s lives.
Our research institutes vary widely in the work they are
doing. But they are united in the goals of sustainability and
ongoing improvements for our people and environment. This
is very clear at the Waite Research Institute where Professor
Matt Tucker, Interim Director, tells Lumen: “There is no
bigger issue than securing a sustainable and productive
future for Earth’s agriculture.”
“Our research targets new crops, crop varieties and farming
systems that will withstand climate change; create nutritious
and delicious new food and premium wines; and develop
on-demand production of sustainable bioresources such as
biofuels and recyclable plastics.”
It may not be obvious how the manipulation of light may
also reshape the future – but this is exactly the work the
Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) is
engaged in.
The benefits of work in this field are already in our homes
and workplaces – bigger and better televisions, computers
and communications. Professor Andre Luiten, IPAS Director,
says: “There’s much more to come”.
“We are using the power of light to make the world
healthier, wealthier and safer. Amongst our work we are
aiming to build a microscope the size of a human hair to
allow diagnosis of arterial lesions that pose a threat to cardiac
health – and manufacturing optical fibres in space to enhance
internet data transmission.”
Student life
Sustainability is a big issue for our students and, Professor
Jennie Shaw, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice-President
(Academic) says our new Sustainability Strategy embeds
sustainability into our curriculum and teaching practices.
LUMEN
