Asia Pacific

The Square Kilometre Array, or SKA, is the biggest science project New Zealand has ever been involved in, and it will produce more data than the world has ever seen.

Japanese researchers – together with colleagues from around the world – are analysing data from the Joint ALMA Observatory, located in a remote part of Chile on the Atacama plateau, 5000 meters above sea level. High-speed research networks enable researchers to carry out their studies wherever they are situated, without needing to be at the observatory.

The surgeons at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Korea, are pioneers in minimally invasive surgery. Through live streaming of operations Prof. He-Seong Han and his staff have been able to train hundreds of surgeons across Asia, without need or cost for them to travel to Korea.

Ross Vennell is a man driven by a challenge. He is a physical oceanographer investigating how we could generate electricity from tidal currents, “a bit like having wind turbines under the water”. New Zealand is one of the best places on the planet to extract energy from the ocean, and Ross is trying to estimate how much power we could actually get from turbines.

Stuart Weston collects data observed by the Warkworth radio telescope and shares it with scientists who use it to run their own experiments without needing to be at the telescope.

Transnational Education (TNE) is growing at a brisk pace across the globe. Academic institutions are collaborating to jointly teach students who are benefitting from high quality teaching, locally, without needing to travel abroad. TNE activities are varied from remote campuses to joint degree programmes with institutions sharing best practice on a worldwide scale.

For more than a decade, the Telemedicine Development Center of Asia based at Kyushu University Hospital in Fukuoka, Japan has facilitated remote training of surgeons, sharing of knowledge and the spread of best practice across the Asia-Pacific region, and more recently globally.

The Asia ConneXions program connects Australian schools with schools in Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia and India over high-speed networks using high definition video conferencing. “The program’s success lies in its ability to provide participants with a very personal and experiential opportunity to learn about the diversity within and between the countries of the Asia region..."

Collaborations for Dengue Fever and Chikungunya initiatives are excellent examples of the scalable nature of efforts to build communities. As such, the tools and capabilities are easily adaptable to the plethora of infectious diseases that pose a global challenge.

To meet world population demands for food it has been estimated that the production of rice, the world’s most important staple food, must increase by 24% by 2050. As well as the challenges involved in growing more rice on less land and water, farmers need new rice varieties adapted to changing climatic conditions.

With extreme weather events increasingly hitting news headlines around the world, accurate and timely forecasts are essential for effective disaster warning and mitigation systems. This, in turn, calls for joint research efforts within the global meteorological community to improve models and tools for predicting severe weather, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, floods, heat waves etc.

"Today’s students love technology and integrating technology in education every day helps students stay engaged and prepares them for the future. The Museum Robot program at the National Museum of Australia not only integrates technology and engineering concepts, it also brings the history curriculum alive in a new and exciting way to students all over the country."