There are definite pay-offs for University of the Sunshine Coast students who get involved with the Innovation Centre and the businesses within it.

This will be the message that new Innovation Centre Student Ambassador Erin Pyers will be spruiking to new and returning students at the University of the Sunshine Coast this year.

Erin, who is in her second year of a Bachelor of Public Relations degree at the university, said she was very excited about her new role.

“Being the Innovation Centre’s student ambassador is the perfect opportunity to put into practice all the skills I have been learning in my degree,” Erin said.

“The Innovation Centre is full of really exciting businesses which creates great opportunities for students wanting to get experience in a whole range of industries,” she said.

Innovation Centre CEO Colin Graham said the Student Ambassador program was established last year to increase awareness among students of the business activities at the Centre and the opportunities this created for them.

“The results last year were fantastic with 12 students accessing part-time or fulltime work at the centre, a further 16 taking part in work experience or internships and another 34 taking part in student projects,” Mr Graham said.

Erin moved from Victoria to the Sunshine Coast to study and be by the beach, which she also emphasises the benefit of having opportunities at the Innovation Centre in relation to it’s prime location.

Erin said as part of her job she has been in the process of meeting with the 30 companies based at the Innovation Centre’s Business Incubator and Business Accelerator to find as many opportunities as possible for students in the coming year.

“I will be working to link students with the Innovation Centre companies and to find suitable students for work experience and internships, or to recruit for full time or part time employment,” she said.

“I will also be speaking to lecture classes about the Innovation Centre and the opportunities here.

“Many students just don’t realise what great opportunities there are right on their doorstep.  Just by attending the regular networking functions like Enterprise Tuesday students can gain excellent contacts to help them with their career.

“Graduates really need to have an edge when looking for a job and begin to utilise the great range of companies at the Innovation Centre, to get first hand experience in their chosen career.”

Any students wanting to find out more about the opportunities at the centre can contact Erin by email – Epyers@usc.edu.au or visit the Innovation Centre website: www.innovation-centre.com.au.

A Queensland invention that reduces the risk of musculoskeletal injuries in the transport industry, helping to cut the huge cost of workplace injuries has been released on to the market.

The Strong Arm Strap, developed by a Brisbane Company, Fit For Life Consulting in close consultation with the transport industry to reduce workplace injuries.

Fit for Life Consulting, which specialises in workplace injury management, developed the Strong Arm Strap to make it easier for drivers and transport workers to pull heavy tautliner truck curtains (side curtains) open and shut, and to reduce the risk of injury to the back, shoulder, upper limb, and neck.

The transport industry has a much higher rate of injuries than many other occupations, and statistics show the average cost of a lost-time work injury in transport and storage is $11,000 (Q-Comp 07/08 Statistics Report).

Occupational Therapist and director of Fit for Life Consulting, Tim Elvery said the inexpensive product was developed through necessity and aimed to reduce back and shoulder injuries.

“Our team of occupational therapists and physiotherapists has seen the damage truck drivers can do to their bodies by pulling tautliner curtains that are sticking, worn or just heavy,” he said.

“We were helping people who had already injured themselves and we thought: Wouldn’t it be great if we could stop some of those injuries from occurring in the first place.

“When you look at the cause of these injuries, a lot of the problem revolves around how someone stands and the way they reach and pull.  It’s easy to overstretch if you don’t get your position and movement right.

“The simple device we developed, the Strong Arm Strap, uses a handle, strap and hook to enable workers to pull truck curtains open or shut much more easily.”

The strap hooks into the curtain buckle (saving fingers and hands from possible injury) and allows workers to keep their arms close to their body as they pull, thus using their core strength and reducing the risk of over-stretching (saving back and shoulder injuries).

“We’ve developed the Strong Arm Strap with the help of trucking industry experts and it’s been trialled by workers who are already appreciating the benefits,” Mr Elvery said.

Workplace-related injuries and illnesses cost the Australian economy about $60 billion each year.

The Strong Arm Strap retails for $39.95 (Inc GST).

For information or orders call 07 3630 4940 or visit www.strongarmstrap.com

Industry Testimonials:
Transport workers have told us that just using the strap means they automatically use a better posture and are not inclined to overreach which is where the risk of injury is the greatest.

“A number of our businesses have tested and now incorporated this tool into their operations, as it has been seen to contribute to reducing the risk of injury and recovery from injury to our workers.” (Group OHS Manager, Toll Group)

“We introduced the Strong Arm Strap into our operations following 2 recent shoulder injuries from pulling curtains. This was initiated by senior management, and supervisors/team leaders support this as a standard risk management process within our Townsville operation. The straps are now being used by all of our handlers and drivers.” (NQX Townsville)

The start of a New Year is a time to reflect on how we can grow and change for the better. David Lumb, Managing Director of Clearmake – the National winner of 2008 Telstra Country Wide Regional Business Award – is a firm believer that we can always do things better in business.

The University of the Sunshine Coast’s Innovation Centre Enterprise Tuesday will kick off its 2010 series with David presenting ‘Long live the evolution: Growing a successful business’ (Tuesday 2
March, 4pm-6pm)

Enterprise Tuesday is a regular business forum inspired by a program of the same name run by the University of Cambridge. These events are open to local business owners and managers, USC staff and students, and feature entrepreneurial speakers from the Sunshine Coast region in Clean Tech, Digital and Creative industries.

David, a key speaker at the recent Asia Pacific Green Building Leadership Program, said this presentation would explore what achieving business excellence represents to him.

Taking over Clearmake in 2007, David set a challenge for himself to make the business more profitable and financially sustainable whilst increasing employee job satisfaction. In the first financial year Clearmake accomplished an impressive 35% revenue increase.

Innovation Centre CEO, Colin Graham said “Clearmake is a business success story on how to build a Clean Technology business from a Sunshine Coast location”.

“The Innovation Centre is proud to showcase this Clean Technology company as one of its three key focus sectors including Clean Tech, Digital and Creative industries,” he added.

To register your place at the next Enterprise Tuesday event visit www.innovationcentre.com.au/events or phone 5450 2600.

The University of the Sunshine Coast’s Innovation Centre 2010 Business Event Series is proudly sponsored by Westpac.

The Sunshine Coast Literary Association is hosting a special workshop for aspiring writers wanting to learn more about plot development.

Award-winning Maleny author Steven Lang presents the Architecture of the Novel workshop and will take participants through the structure and plot development of the modern novel, as well as inspiring insights to help get them thinking and writing more effectively.

SCLA president Hari Kotrotsios said the workshop was the first of two being held to help writers as they prepare entries for the association’s WARM Writers Competition for 2010, which will be launched in March.

“The SCLA strives to nurture, showcase and celebrate literary  talent on the Sunshine Coast, so we are continually holding events that provide skills development and activities which showcase and recognise talent,” Hari said.

“This year the WARM Writers Competition has four categories and with a cost of just $5 per entry it is easy to be a part of it. This workshop, and another we have planned for March, will help writers get cracking on their entries,” she said.

The Architecture of the Novel workshop will be held on Saturday, 20 February from 9.30am to 3.30pm at the Lake Kawana Community Centre, Sportsman Parade, Bokarina.  As part of the workshop Steven will be talking about his latest book 88 Lines About 44 Women. The cost is $55 for SCLA members and $65 for non members. Participants are asked to bring their own pen and paper and lunch or they can drive to nearby shops during the lunch break. For bookings phone 0414 635 407, email info@scliterary.org or visit www.scliterary.org for more details.

Details about the WARM Writers Competition and the next workshop on 20 March 2010 are available on the SCLA website www.scliterary.org.

Australia has always been a popular destination for migrants looking for a new home, and now there is a fantastic new resource available for the almost 200,000 people who arrive down under each year.

The unique Living Down Under DVD series offers immigrants and students all the information they need about living, studying and working in different regions within Australia.

And now Living Down Under creator Tessa Stevens is about to launch the series in the UK during an exciting media tour promoting the real Australian way of life.

This UK born Aussie go-getter is surprised no one has thought of the idea before and is eager to share her enthusiasm for Australia with students and migrants who are contemplating the move.

Tessa said it was her own harrowing experience moving to Australia in 2004 that sparked the initial idea of the Living Down Under DVD series and the dynamic website that followed.

“It was a difficult, long and complicated process, but after arriving in Australia and getting used to my surrounds, I started to see what an incredible lifestyle and spectacular facilities can be enjoyed here and thought, wouldn’t it have been great to have seen all this before I arrived?”

Armed with a handy-cam and a stack of entrepreneurial enthusiasm, Tessa ventured out with her two young children in tow, to film footage of her home town, the beautiful Sunshine Coast. Loading an unscripted DVD on eBay, Tessa was astonished to sell two copies the very first night.

“The success of those first, rough attempts at sharing my new found home with others really took me by surprise,” Tessa said.

“Before I knew it, I had four different DVD’s completed and the Living Down Under concept was born.”

Tessa had discovered a massive gap in the market and went about educating herself on website development, social networking skills and e-marketing, undertook voice coaching and filming lessons – while raising a young family.

“It has been a challenging journey but I have remained determined to make my dream a reality and I’m very proud that Living Down Under has grown to range 16 DVD titles and is becoming a popular online travel and educational resource.”

“I immerse myself in the culture literally setting off on road trips across Australia, filming and interviewing experts and migrants wherever I go, covering everything from beach safety and finding a job, to schools and a place to live to buying a car and even the wheelie bin system – all to bring to life visually what it is like to live in Australia and to answer the common questions most people have when embarking on such a big move.”

Tessa said Australia’s Immigration Department issues 300,000 visas each year, while the education sector represents Australia’s third largest export, bringing in 340,000 students every year.

“It goes without saying that the migrant and student markets are massive, and I believe the Living Down Under series can play a huge role in helping to boost the Australian economy by promoting Australia’s exceptional facilities and way of life to these audiences.”

“I can help you move to paradise and show you everything you need to know with practical, realistic and useful information.”

“My Study in Australia DVD for example shows real life footage of students and a variety of educational facilities from high school to university and provides information on everything from the Australian education system and preparing your visa to what is it like to home-stay with an Australian family.”

Tessa believes people should ‘prepare for their new Australian adventure BEFORE they get here’ and has been overwhelmed with positive feedback on both her DVD series and downloadable interviews with experts like doctors, lawyers, financial advisers, real estate agents, teachers as well as migrants who have settled into their new life.

“Fantastic feedback from people overseas has revealed the Living Down Under series has eliminated the need for them to go to the expense of flying here first to ‘check things out’.”

“I am excited by the potential of Living Down Under to genuinely help people settle by preparing them through other peoples experiences and having experts share their experiences gives them a true insight into Australian life before they leave their homeland,” Tessa said.

“I am so passionate about Australia and the wonderful lifestyle it has to offer and if I can assist one family in making the move or convince one student to embark on studies in Australia, then it has all been worth it.”

Our ‘Smiling for Smiddy: Journey of Friends’ documentary had its premier screening in Brisbane this week, playing to a packed house of over 300 people, receiving a fantastic reaction.

The documentary, a longer directors-cut of the version that went to air on Win TV before Christmas, tells the story to the 2009 Smiling for Smiddy Challenge, a gruelling 8-day bicycle ride from Brisbane to Home Hill, near Townsville, to raise money for cancer research in memory of Adam Smiddy who died from an aggressive melanoma. This year the riders raised over half a million dollars. View the promo below.

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/8054311[/vimeo]

To find out more about and support this worthy charity please visit www.smiddy.org.au.

Just nine months after it was launched Jentla, a suite of Joomla Enterprise Layer software, has been adopted by the sixth largest education institution in the US and its creator has been recognised by the Financial Review MIS Magazine as a rising star.
Jentla, developed by Brisbane internet-based software design company, Zac-Ware, is a new enterprise grade content management extension for Joomla web developers.
Zac-Ware CEO Damian Hickey said Jentla, which had already been adopted by Prime Television and Queensland Health, had been very successful and they were thrilled to be recognised by MIS.
“We are now extending into the US market with its adoption by Florida State College at Jacksonville. At 90,000 students, they have some serious web requirements. The recognition by MIS is additional vindication of the approach we have taken over the last several years – to build a solution around open source software,” he said.
Mr Hickey said Jentla provided a suite of extensions for web developers that would enable them to dramatically increase the number of websites they could manage.
“We are extending the Joomla CMS solution that is largely built in Australia and is being used by over 10 million websites so it can be applied to even the most diverse enterprises.”
Jentla can support up to 1000 sites, whether micro or fully fledged and large scale, and allows content to be implemented network wide while also allowing content to be customised to suit the different target markets at which the sites are directed.
Zac-Ware, which operates from The University of Queensland owned i.lab incubator at Toowong, said as a small business they recognised the need for a system that had made Joomla more accessible for enterprises while also simplifying and reducing the time investment needed to run a large number of sites for web developers.
“Jentla is based on an open-source solution, which allows us to draw on the enthusiasm and creativity of thousands of developers,” he said.
“We then combine that energy and productivity with a clear enterprise architectural focus.”
Mr Hickey said Zac-Ware was a three-year-old start-up company that moved to the i.lab incubator almost a year ago.
“We had the know how in our industry but basing ourselves at this unique technology business incubator has allowed us to take advantage of the business mentoring facilities and helps us develop and grow markets for our products,” he said.
For more information about Jentla and ZacWare, please visit www.zac-ware.com.

Children’s performance group the Silly Billies will be jumping around and making some noise about solar power and sustainability at two free concerts at Sunshine Plaza this Saturday 23 January.

The concerts at the Riverwalk Stage at 11am and 1pm, will give children one more chance to have fun before heading back to school and be in the running to win some great prizes, while also learning more about how solar power works.

Silly Billies member Jumping John is really excited about the concerts and helping more families to learn more about how easy it is to be more sustainable.

“We had our Auzion system installed about nine months ago because we wanted to help look after the environment,” John said.

“The results have been amazing so I am really looking forward to jumping around and helping to spread the word about sustainable energy.

He said the Silly Billies believed using sustainable energy was really important and that it was important for everyone to do what they could.

“We love our solar energy system but what got us really excited was when we started getting money back instead of an electricity bill,” he said.

“We only got the smallest system available installed and still we are saving hundreds of dollars each quarter.

Auzion managing director Mark Leckenby said with the support of Sunshine Plaza, they were delighted to be presenting the concerts.

“Teaching children about sustainability is really important and our customers tell us it’s often the kids that get them thinking about sustainable energy,” he said.

Mark said the concerts were the beginning of a series of promotions Auzion and the Silly Billies were planning for Queensland, adding the concerts were also a celebration of the success the Sunshine Coast company had experienced since it launched about 18 months ago.

“Already hundreds of families have installed Auzion solar grid connect energy systems, and AuziMax energy management monitors, taking advantage of the solar credits available from the Federal Government.

“Families are fast adopters of new sustainable technology so we see this as a great way to say thank you to them for their support while also continuing to spread the word about the importance of sustainability and the impact we can all have.”

At the concerts there will be thousands of dollars in prizes to be won including Silly Billies merchandise and a solar grid connect system valued at $7000 (*a $1500+gst installation cost applies and installation must be completed through Auzion).

There will also great specials on solar systems available from Auzion on Saturday and throughout the following week at the Auzion stand in the Sunshine Plaza near Terry White Chemist and the Nut Shack, from Monday 25 to Sunday 31 January, where staff on hand to answer questions and demonstrate how the systems work.

“We look forward to seeing everyone there so come along and enjoy all the fun,” Jumping John said.

Thanks to Sunshine Plaza for providing the venue and to the Silly Billies for donating their time to make this event possible.

For more information about Auzion’s solar energy systems, mega solar bundle and the AUZiMAX, visit www.auzion.com.