With a double-click, Mark Woods brings up an x-ray carrying bad news for the owner of the abdomen telltale signs of a potentially fatal aneurism.
 |
|
|
Student Mark Woods. |
For the second-year radiography student at Monash University, exposure to the tragedy that could befall the unidentified patient drives home the human side of his chosen profession.
Cast-offs from a big-city hospital, the x-rays have been digitalised and stored on computer equipment for wider access. The equipment is courtesy of a groundbreaking agreement between Monash and film and imaging company Agfa.
The agreement will see Monash become an international training centre for radiography. The benefits for Agfa? Quality graduates fully conversant with state-of-the-art equipment used across the industry.
Such pairings are becoming increasingly common as businesses and educational institutions recognise the benefits of cooperation.
One of Monash’s more well-known partnerships has been the 12-year association between the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) and Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission (TAC).
The TAC has funded Monash research into a number of high-profile campaigns and projects, including speed cameras and random breath testing. Monash staff have been involved in helping to set up both programs, for example, and evaluating their success.
"It’s a very healthy longstanding relationship," says MUARC director Professor Claes Tingvall. "The TAC came in as a baseline sponsor in 1987 and continues to contribute to our research."
In another partnership, researchers from Monash’s Industrial Engineering department have teamed up with Melbourne-based company Jen-Am Industrial Engineers and multinational Bayer.
The project is using computer modelling to identify ways to reduce waste and save costs in pathology laboratories.
Another model collaboration is the Australian Pulp and Paper Institute, set up within Monash’s Chemical Engineering department and funded by the Pulp and Paper Manufacturers Federation of Australia.
Since its founding in 1989, the institute has graduated more than 130 coursework and research postgraduate students and instructed more than 300 in short-course programs.
"The industry has very close involvement in the institute's running," says institute director Professor Johnston. "It has a vested interest in good courses which produce good graduates."
| For information about partnership opportunities at Monash University contact development manager Mr Serhat Abdurazak on (03) 9905 2340. |