On the occasion of his attendance at an international conference held in Australia, Professor Derek O. Northwood paid a visit to the WIETE in Melbourne on Monday, 6 July 2009. Prof. Northwood is University of Windsor Research Leadership Chair and Professor of Engineering Materials in the Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering at the University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada and the President of the WIETE International Academic Advisory Committee (WIETE-IAAC).

Prof. Northwood made himself familiar with the WIETE facilities and spent a considerable amount of time discussing many burning issues concerning the operation and activities of the WIETE. High on the agenda was the issue of the revival of some of the activities carried out at the UICEE in light of the recent transfer of UICEE intellectual property and copyright by Monash University to the WIETE Director.

The discussions continued over lunch at the Monash University Club, where Prof. Northwood met Prof. Marika A. Vicziany, Director of Monash Asia Institute (MAI) at Monash University and Ms Dianne Q. Nguyen, formerly a Research Fellow at the UICEE and presently with the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. In a relaxed atmosphere with a glass of Australian white wine, discussions centred on potential collaboration between the WIETE and the MAI in the area of culture and technologies. In is envisaged that the two institutes will stage an international conference on this important topic in India early in 2010, through which they will endeavour to raise the awareness of Indian and international colleagues about the importance of the interaction between cultures and technologies in a local environment.

Following an invitation from Prof. Vicziany, Prof. Northwood had the opportunity to visit the MAI and was briefed on a wide range of activities carried out by this famous unit of Monash University.

The picture shows Prof. D.O. Northwood (r) with Prof. M.A. Vicziany (c) and Ms D.Q. Nguyen at the Monash University Club.