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Seventeen members of the Green Army put down their work tools last week and instead picked up graduation certificates, acknowledging their roles with Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) over the past five months.

In an official ceremony, held in Toowoomba’s Laurel Bank Park, Member for Toowoomba North Kerry Shine and TRC Mayor Peter Taylor praised the program that is seen as a pivotal support for helping unemployed individuals get back into the workforce.

The Green Army concept is a genuine win/win for council and the participants,” Cr Taylor said. As an organisation, we have more people on the ground attending to the maintenance and beautification of our region. On the other side of the coin, these participants gain valuable experience and skills during the program, which they can use to secure full-time employment.

These participants have taken an active role in the control and eradication of weeds, assisted planting programs and general maintenance work including the use of mowers and whipper snippers,” Cr Taylor said. Their efforts make a big difference, in particular helping with the enormous workloads undertaken by all our crews as a result of the January floods.”

Environmental and Community Services portfolio leader Cr Bill Cahill said two separate groups had been involved in TRC work following the devastation of the floods. He said the disaster had brought a desperate need for coordinated clean-up efforts and a team of participants worked specifically on a number of flood-related projects including debris removal, infrastructure repairs, reconstructing tracks, reinstating garden beds and pothole repair.

They worked in areas that included Highfields Falls, Peacehaven Park, Hartman’s Walk Crows Nest, Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery, Jubilee Park, East, West and Gowrie creeks as well as the Waterbird Habitat,” Cr Cahill said.

He said participants were rotated through council’s Construction and Maintenance crews to gain extra skills and hands-on practical experience. Both crews were also given the opportunity to obtain chainsaw tickets.”

The Green Army program has given these participants a valuable addition to their resumes and no doubt has strengthened employment opportunities for many of them,” Cr Cahill said.

Submitted by:
Darren Burton
darren.burton@toowoombaRC.qld.gov.au

Fun for the whole family is the name of the game on Saturday when the 2011 Toowoomba NAIDOC Week program kicks off.

Carl Rakemanns Toowoomba Indoor Sports Centre on Spencer Street will be bouncing with the NAIDOC Family Fun Day starting at 9am. With indoor netball, soccer and volleyball for those keen to raise their friendly competitive spirit, there will also be workshops to learn more about how to play didgeridoo and shake a leg with traditional Aboriginal dance. There will also be giveaways, health screenings and a free lunch throughout the day.

Member of the organising committee Trish Cochrane said the day would be fun for the whole family. There will be plenty for the kids to do and the adults as well and it should be a great way to start 2011 Toowoomba NAIDOC Week,” she said.

This year’s national NAIDOC Week theme is Change: the next step is ours and the 2011 Toowoomba NAIDOC Week Community Committee has designed a jam-packed week to celebrate culture and promote closing the gap.

NAIDOC week features barbecues at Queensland Health on Tuesday, bingo, a pool competition and movies as well as a Blue Light Disco for the kids on the Friday night.

A full run down of events can be found at the NAIDOC Week Toowoomba Facebook page.

One of the highlights of the week will be the Community Morning Tea on Wednesday at the Cathedral Centre from 10am where the winners of this year’s Toowoomba Community NAIDOC Awards will be announced.

Everyone is welcome to the events on the Toowoomba NAIDOC Week calendar with inclusion and acknowledgement being central to the theme of the local events.

Emily Murphy
EM Media & Events
0438 866 020

The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) may expand its research focus into smart composite technologies for space applications following a successful meeting between a USQ academic and NASA scientists in the USA.

USQ Centre of Excellence in Engineered Fibre Composites (CEEFC) Director, Professor Alan Lau, visited the NASA Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland, Ohio, earlier this year to discuss future collaboration in energy composites.

Professor Lau said NASA scientists had shown interest in the CEEFC projects in this particular field: Composites Wind Turbine Blade Design and Delamination Detection of Smart Composite Structures using Embedded Sensor and Actuator Technology.

Many topics, like modelling skills on sandwich structures, life prediction of space composite structures and fibre-optic sensor technology were placed on the table to find any commonality to further extend the research scope in the future,” Professor Lau said.

We also discussed the issue of the life reliability measure for composites and their related structures based on a generic mapping system for smart composite wing, developed by the CEEFC using an embedded fibre sensor network.”

Professor Lau said the centre was now working with NASA on developing a scholar/research exchange scheme, a joint PhD supervision scheme and joint research and development centre scheme in Toowoomba.

Currently, Professor Lau and two key CEEFC researchers, Dr Jay Epaarachchi and Dr Mainul Islam, are working with different research and development sectors on smart technologies for composite materials.

Submitted by
Madeleine Tiller,
USQ Media,
+61 7 4631 1163

Would anyone happen to have a copy of the book (below) lying in a cupboard at home?

It is the second in the Happy Venture Readers series.It was used extensively in QLD schools in the late 50s and then the 60s. I am teaching an adult to read and he has nearly mastered the Introductory Book, which was the first in the series. The approach the book takes seems to suit my student.

Peter Ross | Centre Coordinator
Learning Network Queensland
Phone 0746932785 | Fax 0746932785 | Email pittsworth@LNQ.net.au
Community & Technology Centre Hume Street PITTSWORTH 4356