Skip to content | Change text size
 

Fellows endeavour to boost research

20 July 2005

An Iraqi academic has received an Endeavour Fellowship to Monash, where he is working on research that will enable him to contribute to the rebuilding of his country's damaged infrastructure.

Dr Al-Amery (right) receives his Endeavour Fellowship certificate from the Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson.

Dr Riyadh Al-Amery is one of six Endeavour scholars at Monash this year. The fellowships are funded by the federal Department of Education Science and Training for international scholars to undertake research in Australia.

Dr Al-Amery is working in the Department of Civil Engineering under the supervision of senior lecturer and Australian Iraqi Forum president Dr Riadh Al-Mahaidi, to find ways to reinforce and repair damaged concrete structures.

As a lecturer at the University of Technology in Baghdad, Dr Al-Amery said he would continue his research and share his knowledge when he returned home at the end of the six-month fellowship.

"This fellowship is very important to me because I will be able to use what I have learned to enhance the abilities of academics at home," Dr Al-Amery said. "Iraq is rebuilding itself with a new generation of engineers."

The other Endeavour Fellows at Monash this year are:

  • Ms Tara Higgins of the National University of Ireland, who is undertaking research into plankton through the School of Biological Sciences;
  • Mr Alejandro Tapia, a student from the Universidad de Chile, who is continuing his research into uterine bleeding, at Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research;
  • Dr Ghassan Al-Kindi, a lecturer and postgraduate tutor at the University of Technology in Iraq, who, from August, will undertake research at the Robotic and Mechatronics Research Laboratory, investigating the importance of surface texture and roughness in manufacturing;
  • Mr Dae-Jin Kim, a research associate from EMBIX Biotechnolgy Inc. in South Korea, who, as part of his PhD work, will aim to identify prospective target donor cells and recipient cells which could lead to the production of therapeutically valuable cells;
  • Ms Jennifer Ralph, a pharmacy assistant from Ireland, who, as part of her PhD in biochemistry at the University College of Dublin, will investigate anti-inflammatory drugs used to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.