Maxine McKew (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education and Child Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of joining Dr Cao Jianlin, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology from the People’s Republic of China, in launching the Australia-China Research Centre for Wireless Telecommunications. This is located at the CSIRO’s ICT Centre in Mansfield in my electorate of Bennelong and it is a great collaboration, led by the CSIRO and the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications. It means that senior scientists, postdoctoral fellows and PhD students from both countries will be coming together on research projects of global significance. It is indeed a great partnership and opportunity for technological exchange between both China and Australia.

The focus will be on developing technologies for the wireless and mobile communications networks of the future: advanced antennaes, signal processing, algorithms and network protocols. The aim of the research is to translate the outcomes into applications for the world market, creating new jobs and indeed new industries. One of the centre’s early goals will be to develop energy efficient, green base stations for wireless technologies. The aim is to develop smarter technology to decrease the power consumption of base stations, thereby reducing the overall impact on the environment—a very timely initiative.

One of the demonstrations that I observed at the launch showcased the Wireless Ad hoc System for Positioning device, or the WASP, as it is known, whereby tiny electronic devices are placed on individuals or objects, which then allows wireless tracking and monitoring. The CSIRO’s Dr Andrew Hellicar gave assembled guests really quite a fascinating insight into the many applications of this.

Another demonstration involved looking at gigabit wireless technology which allows high-speed transmission of large image and data files. This in time will allow a remote radiologist, for example, to access high-resolution X-ray images or CT scans or even assist in diagnosing or treating a patient in another hospital or a town. This is the telemedicine of the future, and it will make possible the very best treatment for people all across the country.

The CSIRO’s terahertz imaging technology was also profiled. That allows for the identification of concealed items, with implications for improved security through bomb detection and improved scrutiny in the aerospace industry generally.

I would especially like to acknowledge the research director and leader of the broadband wireless team, Dr Jay Gwo. He is showing great leadership in bringing this team together. I am very, very proud that this team of extraordinary scientists—great intellectual talent—at the CSIRO are working in my electorate and that I was able to observe firsthand their endeavours and their successes.