Two Central Queensland University Bundaberg academics have been named in the University’s 2001 Top 10 Researchers list recently released.

The Faculty of Informatics and Communication’s Dr Karl Neuenfeldt and Tim Roberts were both recognised after having numerous articles published in various publications. The publications highlight that regional academics can produce valuable research of international calibre when supported by local universities.

Dr Neuenfeldt said his articles mostly focussed on music in regional Queensland. Two of them explore music in the Torres Strait region and how colonial era music still influences contemporary music. He has been actively involved with recording musicians throughout the Torres Strait region.

“Because Torres Strait was a very multicultural society, the music of Asia, North America, Europe, Polynesia and Melanesia is heard in the songs of singers such as the Mills Sisters, Christine Anu, Seaman Dan and community musicians,” Dr Neuenfeldt said. “CQU has actively supported music research projects in regional Queensland. This research has led directly to several CD recordings, including two CDs by Seaman Dan which are heard regularly on ABC and community radio.” Tim Roberts and Dr Neuenfeldt are both academic staff with the Faculty of Informatics and Communication, however that is where the similarities end. Mr Robert’s primary research interests include the theory and practice underlying flexible delivery in higher education, and online and web-based teaching and learning He is currently editing a book on online collaborative learning. He is also engaged in research into magic squares and knight\'s tours. He has discovered the first new tours found since 1988. “Magic knight’s tours fall under a part of discrete mathematics known as graph theory, with the tour itself being a Hamiltonian,” Mr Roberts explains. “But you don’t need to understand any advanced maths to understand the concepts involved – they’re very simple,” Mr Roberts said.

“A magic square is one in which the numbers in all of the rows and columns add up to the same total. A knight’s tour is a tour of the board in which every square is visited exactly once using the knight’s move in chess. A magic knight’s tour just combines these two elements.\" For more information on Dr Neuenfeldt go to: http://www.infocom.cqu.edu.au/Staff/Karl_Neuenfeldt/Publications/index.html For more information on Tim Roberts go to: http://www.infocom.cqu.edu.au/Staff/Tim_Roberts/Publications/index.html