06 December 2011

Good afternoon,

Welcome to our November edition of the ISS Institute Update. The last five weeks have been incredibly busy and exciting, as we planned and prepared for the 21st Annual Fellowship Awards. The Hon. Peter Hall MLC, Minister for Higher Education and Skills, wholeheartedly endorsed the importance of innovation and working towards up-skilling our workforce through people who are passionate about making a difference. Sir James Gobbo (left) gave a brilliant address that captured the history and the future direction of the ISS Institute.

Julie Belle shared her Fellowship experiences with us and gave our new Fellows some very sound advice. Sincere thanks to our 2011 Fellowship sponsors who have enabled our Fellows to extend themselves to be the best that they can.

Sincere thanks to:
– Ron Cooper-Thomas and Paul Warmington from Skills Victoria
– John Baker from AgriFood Skills Australia
– Jane Sharwood and Andrew Stephenson from the City of Melbourne
– Janet Hirst and Caitriona Fay from The George Alexander Foundation
– Rohan Wright from the Furnishing Industry Association of Australia (Vic/Tas)
– Bryan McGoldrick from the William Angliss Institute.

This year’s awards ceremony was quite unique in that it was truly a community event. Our neighbours, Brunetti, University Café, King & Godfree and Browns generously supplied us with the delicacies that they are renowned for. Beverages were supplied by our Fellows, Michael Dal Zotto, Kim Chalmers and Nick Haddow, who had the opportunity to showcase their magnificent wines and cheese. We are indeed grateful to these exceptional Fellows.

We have two new reports to showcase in the areas of green plumbing practices and livestock land use patterns (please see below). Each report is very interesting and has wonderful implications for industry so please have a read and feel free to circulate the reports through your networks.

Warmly,

The Team
International Specialised Skills Institute

In This Edition

• New Fellowship Reports!
• Fellows’ News
• Other News

New Fellowship Reports!

New Reports:

Tony Darcy (2008 Skills Victoria/ISS Institute TAFE Fellow) reports on ‘Skills Deficiencies in the Australian Plumbing Industry. Green Plumbing Practices and Grey Water Recycling.’

Dr Robin Dobos (2010 AgriFood Skills International Fellow) reports on ‘Understanding Land Use Patterns by Livestock.’

All of our Fellows’ reports are available on our website. Follow this link and search the Quick Links on the right-hand side of the page to select a category.

Fellows' News

Paul Bramley’s (2000 ISS Institute/TAFE Fellow) Fellowship left him with a passion for wallpapers and design! Following on from his Fellowship in 2000, Paul has just returned from another trip overseas. On this trip Paul investigated imitation graining doors in Paris, wallpapers in Naples, and more! Read more about Paul’s Fellowship in his report.

Sidonie Carpenter (2006 The Pratt Foundation/ISS Institute Overseas Fellow) was one of the Distinguished Speakers at GreenRoofs Australasia’s Greening Cities Conference 2011 in Sydney. GreenRoofs Australasia (GRA) is the peak body for the promotion and dissemination of information on greenroof and greenwall best practice, design, research and technology. For more please click here.

Kim Chalmers (2011 AgriFood International Fellow) of Chalmers Wines is over the moon! Chalmers Wines have been awarded three silver medals and three bronze medals for their wine at this year’s Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show (AAVWS). One of the bronze medals was awarded for their 2011 Nero d'Avola. The Nero d'Avola is one of the varieties Kim will be studying during her Fellowship travel next year.

Kim Chalmers, recipient of a 2011 AgriFood International Fellowship

Fiona Chambers (2009 AgriFood Skills International Fellow) has once again been featured in The Age! The article ‘Who Is The Rarest Of Them All?’ talks about her work with rare breeds of pig. Read more here.

Our thoughts are with Jennifer Critchlow (2008 Skills Victoria/ISS Institute TAFE Fellow) who is recovering at home from serious injuries at the moment. Get well soon Jennifer.

Michael Dal Zotto (2007 The George Alexander Foundation/ISS Institute Fellow) of Dal Zotto Wines has been quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald! The article is about the King Valley Prosecco Road, a collaboration among six of the region's wineries. Read more here.

Michael has also been featured on the Italianicious website where he talks about the Primavera del Prosecco event held in November by Dal Zotto Wines:

“Primavera del Prosecco is bigger than Christmas for us here at the winery. We get to celebrate the things we love: friends, family, food and wine with visitors and that’s something we look forward to every Spring.” – Michael Dal Zotto.

To read the article please click here.

Richard Exley (2008 International ISS Institute/DEEWR Trades Fellow) has been quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald! In the article ‘Building A Better Bean’ Richard talks about Australia's fledgling vanilla industry. Read more here.

There’s more about her chocolate adventures on Terri's Facebook page and her blog.

Terri Mercieca, recipient of a 2008 The George Alexander Foundation/ISS Institute Fellowship. Image courtesy of Haydn Cattach.

Jessica McKelson (2006 The Pratt Foundation/ISS Institute Overseas Fellow) has been featured in The Age! The article ‘Zookeepers Plan To Build Islands For Orang-utans’ highlights Jessica’s involvement in Melbourne Zoo’s ambitious plan to create four man-made islands in Sumatra to host the Indonesian island's population of sick and injured orang-utans. Read more here.

Well done to Alan Platt (2010 Skills Victoria International TAFE Fellow). Alan presented his Fellowship findings to representatives from the automotive industry at the Victorian Automotive Forum meeting in November.

Sandra Vazzoler (2006 ISS Institute/Italy (Veneto) Fellow) beat some of the top cheese makers in Australia to win the gold medal at the Penfolds Magill Estate Restaurant’s cheese festival competition along with Janice Roberts. To find out more please click here.

Other News

If you are a Fellow and have news that you’d like to share with us then please email Fiona. Please note that your news might also be shared using our Facebook page and Twitter. If you are using these social media tools then please comment on our Facebook page or send us a message on Twitter to let us know how we’re going with sharing your achievements!