Australian treasures including Aboriginal paintings and
funerary poles could soon be getting a state-of-the-art clean thanks to the
latest laser technology.
Deb Kane, professor in the physics
department at Macquarie University in Sydney, and her team plan to use short pulsed lasers to clean contaminants
from the surface of some of Australia’s unique heritage.
Professor Kane is on a national tour promoting
women in physics, at a time when physics is booming, and industry is desperate
to attract more physicists.
This year’s Australian Institute of
Physics (AIP) ‘Women in Physics’ lecturer, Professor Kane has for some time been
using lasers to clean the surface of very small objects such as optical
materials.
“At the sub-micron level particles can
become strongly adhered to surfaces,” says Professor Kane. “Removing such
contaminants, without damaging the properties of the underlying material, can be
very tricky and raises fundamental questions about how materials work at small
scales.”
Now Professor Kane has won seed
funding which will enable her to use her understanding of materials to help
conserve Australian artwork.
“Australia has a wonderful heritage of
Aboriginal work,” explains Professor Kane who is excited to start preliminary
testing to gauge the effect of lasers on cleaning Australian artefacts.
According to Professor Kane, varnishes
used on paintings, for example, often darken over time causing the loss of the
true colours. She hopes to use lasers to strip away such varnish and reveal the
true colours hidden beneath.
Lasers have already been used on
masterpieces in Europe, such as the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo’s David, but,
says Professor Kane, this is the first time the technique has been applied to
Australian works. “I am anticipating we can do some exciting things with
textiles too,” she says.
Professor Kane will reveal the details
of her work at lectures to fellow scientists, the public and school children
across Australia. Melbourne is the first stop on a
nationwide tour as Professor Kane takes her passion for physics to a wide
audience. Then onto Canberra, Tasmania, Sydney and Brisbane.
“It’s important for us to bring the
value, and the passion of our science to the public,” says Professor Kane who is
particularly keen to inspire school children in physics.
“There’s perhaps a perception that you
have to be really smart to do science,” she says. “But there’s a whole range of
great opportunities and jobs in science. You don’t have to be the leader of the
whole project. There are opportunities in science-related areas for all
abilities. It’s about finding it exciting and wanting to know more about our
world.”
“Deb Kane has made an outstanding
contribution to the advancement of physics in Australia,” says David Jamieson,
AIP President.
“The AIP’s Women in Physics program
aims to encourage women to develop careers in physics, by having a woman of
research excellence give lectures to high schools and universities around
Australia.”
“The 2006 tour comes at a time when
physics is booming in Australia, with large projects such as a new nuclear
reactor, and a synchrotron under construction, and an unprecedented demand for
physics graduates,” says Jamieson.
Professor Kane is the tenth annual AIP
Women in Physics lecturer.
For more information or to
interview contact: Deb Kane on (02) 9850
8907 or
David Jamieson, President of the Australian Institute of Physics on (03) 8344
5376 or 0408 344 024
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