Aug 28 2009
And your time starts … now!
At 3pm tomorrow you could drink your afternoon pick-me-up coffee at your local cafe OR you could head to the ABC Cafe on Harris Street to interrogate a medley of research scientists.
Your choice.
Drink one with a "geek" tomorrow and learn about their world of research
A robot designer, an indoor air pollution expert, a games researcher, and a professor of Integrative Physiology – among others – will be there to answer your questions. It’s called ‘Speed meet and greet a geek’ and, to get you started, we’ve begun the interrogation of two “geeks” here.
So read up and think of a question to really stump them!
Yusuf. Image: Joanne Saad for U magazine
The work of Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at UTS, Yusuf Pisan, involves building tools, techniques and methods to create the next generation of games. Yusuf is also the director of Games Studio and co-director of the Creativity and Cognition Studios. His research interests include enabling technologies for computer games and the design of virtual environments that support collaborative work.
What is the most recent book you read?
‘Wrapped’ by Meryl McQueen. My wife is my favourite author!
Was there a single event that motivated you to pursue a science-related career?
I had great, inspiring science teachers in high school.
What are you most proud of?
My students.
What is your favorite month of the year and why?
January. A new year, a fresh beginning and hot, sunny summer days.
What human innovation or invention do you most admire?
Microprocessor – the beginning of the computer age.
What would be your ideal Christmas present?
Chocolate. Dark chocolate for all occasions.
What science-related website or blog couldn’t you do without?
News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters. http://slashdot.org/
Vaughan
Professor Vaughan Macefield is a Professor of Integrative Physiology at the School of Medicine at UWS.
What does your work involve?
I specialise in recording from single nerve fibres in awake human subjects: inserting very fine needle microelectrodes through the skin and into a nerve and amplifying and recording the tiny electrical signals (action potentials) associated with neural transmission. This allows us to tap into signals going to and from the brain, and to help us understand, for example, how sensory signals from the muscles and skin are used by the brain and spinal cord to control our bodies (especially the hand) and how motor signals to blood vessels contribute to the control of blood pressure in health and disease, such as high blood pressure or spinal cord injury.
I also use brain imaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI) to document the regional changes in the brain during pain induced in muscle or skin and to identify regions within the brain and brainstem that responsible for blood pressure regulation.
What is the most recent book you read?
I’m half way through John Irving’s ‘Until I find You‘ and, now while I am in Japan on a conference, have almost finished William Gibson’s ‘Pattern Recognition.’ I’m a slow reader.
(that you might be, Vaughan, but considering we interviewed you a month ago, we’re going to assume you’ve finished it and started on Gibson’s new book, ‘Spook Country‘! – ed)
Was there a single event you can remember that motivated you to pursue a science-related career?
As a kid I can distinctly remember either wanting to be a robber (!) or a scientist. I guess I chose wisely.
What are you most proud of?
My wife, Karla, and our two sons, Julius and Xavier. And ,through perseverence of my goals, having become a Professor at the age of 45.
What human innovation or invention do you most admire?
Personally, the techniques that I use for my research (microneurography and fMRI), but beyond that the development of renewable energy sources and zero-emission vehicles.
What is your favorite month of the year and why?
December: things are winding down, the international conferences I attend have finished, Christmas and New Years’ Eve are around the corner, and I can start reading books on the beach.
What would be your ideal Christmas present?
I’m not so into Christmas that I want something for myself, but when Julius wanted to sponsor a child for Christmas I thought that is the best Christmas present you can give someone.
What science-related website or blog couldn’t you do without?
PubMed – the database of life-sciences literature hosted by the National Library of Medicine (USA). It allows me to search the scientific literature from anywhere in the world.
