In a first for Central Queensland University Mackay, secondary school students are experiencing a ‘day-in-the-life’ of tertiary education students.

Students from Mackay Christian College, Mercy College, Pioneer, Moranbah and Mackay State High Schools have completed campus-based activities, with seven other schools visiting in the coming months.

Misconceptions about careers in Information & Communications Technology (ICT) will be addressed in workshops at Central Queensland University this month. A practical guided tour of what is required of ICT graduates will be offered to maximise their success in the current market.

CQU, the Australian Sports Commission and the Queensland Academy of Sport have teamed up on an 18-month research project to identify young people in the CQ region who have natural, raw cycling talent.

In the first program of its kind to be run in regional Australia, researchers will assess of about five thousand 13-to-26-year olds in Rockhampton, Yeppoon and Mount Morgan.

A project that aims to identify defects in railway tracks is the focus of a Masters Research project being undertaken by the James Goldston Faculty of Engineering and Physical Systems newest postgraduate student Steven Bleakley.

Steven’s Master of Engineering by Research project is titled ‘Analysis of Train Dynamic data for rail defect detection and identification’.

Director of the CQU Foundation Anne Gribbin and Foundation project officer Tony Gubbins met up with a number of Foundation members this week at a special afternoon tea at the Old District Court, Rockhampton City Campus.

Foundation members Ron and Helen Diamond, Merilyn and Frank Luck, and Dr Merv Gold and Norma Davies attended the function which included a tour of Rockhampton’s Heritage Post Office which is to be the headquarters for the recently established Central Queensland Health Partnership.

Paid agricultural workers occupy the bottom income strata in Australia, according to a Central Queensland lecturer.

Jim McAllister, Lecturer in Sociology with the School of Psychology and Sociology, said these workers also live “on the fringes”.

CQU’s Tim Roberts is researching online collaborative learning across the higher education industry.

Students located thousands of miles from one another now chat and discuss problems across different time zones.

CQU has partnered with the Department of Primary Industries to study the impact of recreational fishing in Queensland.

Although anecdotal evidence about the importance of recreational fishing exists, there is little quantitative evidence about the value of recreational fishing and its influence on regional economies.

Andy Vann has been appointed Associate Director of Corporate Information Systems in the Information Technology Division. The Corporate Information Systems section in ITD looks after maintenance of the large corporate applications such as PeopleSoft, Concept and the Helpdesk software.

Dr Bob Miles has been appointed Director, Institute of Sustainable Regional Development. Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic & Research) Ron Davies made announcement Monday 11 March.