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Melbourne, 1 December 2006Swiss expatriates are at the forefront of the creation of an intense light source that will transform Australia’s medical imaging capability.They will reveal their work at a forum of Swiss and Australian scientists and business people at the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne today Friday, 1 December 2006.Next year Australia will become the latest country to open a gigantic state of the art synchrotron. The $200 million facility will provide intense beams of light and x-rays that will reveal the shape and structure of molecules, engineer nano-machines, track chemical reactions, and even detect individual cancer cells. But even before the Australian Synchrotron opens, Swiss scientists and know-how are playing considerable roles in developing the new light source. Daniel Häusermann, a physicist, and Karl Zingre, an engineer, are two Swiss expatriates who have taken their expertise to the far side of the world. Häusermann, who arrived in Melbourne just over a year ago, is the scientist responsible for the design of the Australian Synchrotron’s Imaging and Therapy Beamline which is set to push the boundaries of medical imaging. Zingre, who has previously worked with the Swiss Light Source in Villingen, as well as on synchrotrons in Canada and the UK, is a radio frequency engineer responsible for the Australian Synchrotron’s radio frequency systems which are used to generate and accelerate electrons and to keep them at high energies. Zingre brings to the project huge experience with radio frequency systems gained through working initially on commissioning broadcasting stations, and more recently on synchrotrons. “It’s basically the same technology,” explains Zingre. But Swiss involvement with the Australian Synchrotron goes beyond individual scientists employed in Australia. In May this year a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Australian Synchrotron and the Swiss Light Source which will pave the way for the exchange of ideas and people between the two facilities. The Swiss Light Source is also manufacturing an A$420,000 advanced x-ray detector system for the Australian project. Already, according to Häusermann and Zingre, there is considerable collaboration. “Synchrotrons worldwide are very open, with people helping each other,” explains Zingre who regularly speaks with colleagues at the Swiss Light Source. In addition, the Director of the Swiss Light Source, Professor Albin Wrulich, sits on the Australian Synchrotron’s International Scientific Advisory Committee and has been involved as the Australian machine is built. This week Swiss involvement with the Australian Synchrotron will be given a further boost as members of the Swiss academic and business community in Melbourne meet with Australian counterparts to promote bilateral working in synchrotron based medical imaging and diagnostics. The event is initiated and organised by the Swiss-Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) one of the largest bi-lateral Chambers in Australia. “This event not only offers a unique opportunity for fostering understanding between the Academic and Business communities but also highlights growing collaboration with Switzerland in high-technology markets” says Thomas Schmocker, SACCI VIC chapter president and REDcentre partner. The Swiss Academic Network Melbourne which co-sponsors this event, comprises Swiss academics working in Melbourne. Set up two years ago, the group has 75 active members and, as well as being a great way for Swiss academics down under to network, aims to boost the two-way flow of academics between Australia and Switzerland. Among the Swiss companies supporting the event is SGS, a world leading inspection and verification company, which has 1,400 employees in Australia. SGS works with many companies in Australia who will use the new light source. “The Synchrotron will be a big boost for Australia and this event is a great networking opportunity,” explains Phil Hocking, General Manager (Australia), SGS Consumer Testing Services. “There are a lot of activities in health in Switzerland and in Australia,” says Terry Polkinghorn, executive director of REDcentre, which is organising the event’s creativity workshops as part of its Innovation Partnering model undertaken for the Victorian Government’s VicStart programme. “If you look at the two countries, there is lots of overlap and opportunities for collaborative projects.” Photos and a profile of Daniel Häusermann are available at www.scienceinpublic.com Media contacts:Niall Byrne ph +61 3 5253 1391, niall@scienceinpublic.com Florienne Loder ph +61 (404) 230 006, flo@scienceinpublic.com Thomas
Schmocker for SACCI, ph +61 2 9458 5800, +61 408 990 888,
thomass@redc.com.au A Swiss scientist is leading the team building a remarkable new medical imaging and therapy tool as part of the $200 million Australian Synchrotron, due to open in April 2007.It’s been a long journey for this former roofer come printer who crashed out of university before rediscovering his love of science and creating a career designing high power x-ray research facilities. Not only has Australia welcomed him with open arms, but he has also reconnected with his homeland through the Swiss community in Melbourne, Australia.In Australia for just over a year, Daniel Häusermann is responsible for the design of the Australian Synchrotron’s 150 metre long Imaging and Therapy Beamline. The powerful beamline will be able to image an object the size of the human chest and should detect abnormalities at ten times the resolution of conventional CT scans. “We expect to be able to see single cells,” explains Häusermann, who is also a Senior Research Fellow at Monash University and in the CSIRO Division of Manufacturing and Infrastructure Technology. “This will be extremely useful following cancer surgery when we will be able to see if all the cancer is really cleared.” He adds this will be done while exposing patients to x-ray doses 10 to 100 times less than in conventional machines. The Australian Synchrotron, like its Swiss counterpart the Swiss Light Source, creates intense but very fine beams of light and x-rays billions of times brighter than sunlight. But according to Häusermann, what makes the Australian Synchrotron’s medical programme different is the physical proximity to a new biomedical imaging development centre being setup aside the synchrotron, and the level of enthusiasm and collaboration shown by the medical profession. “If you look around the world,” explains Häusermann, “There are no synchrotrons with this kind of medical programme”. “But here we will be fully integrated with the new biomedical imaging development centre being created next door. There will be patients on the door step. We have access to facilities at CSIRO and Monash and the new centre, and there is great support.” Häusermann, 51, comes to the Australian Synchrotron with huge experience of designing high power x-ray research tools. But this is the first time he has brought his know-how to the world of medicine. Previously he has worked in the field of high pressure physics, designing beamlines firstly at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, and more recently at the Advanced Photon Source in Chicago. “What I did before,” explains Häusermann “was more abstract – more related to knowledge of the planets and materials. By coming to work on this beamline, it was a good opportunity to go into a field which was directly relevant to society.” From an early age, growing up in Mont-sur-Rolle, Switzerland, Häusermann was fascinated by how things work. He describes taking a watch to pieces at the age of four, “and discovering I could not put it back together”. A strong scientist at school, he nevertheless spent several years as a roofer, watch casings polisher and lithographic printer before moving to London to train UK printers on Swiss machines. “I decided printing wasn’t that exciting and went to evening school,” explains Häusermann. Within a year, he won a scholarship to study physics at Kings College London. He stayed in London for a PhD, funded partly by the UK research council, but also by a Swiss cantonal scholarship and the private foundation of his Swiss home town’s largest wine business. After two years 0f postdoctoral research and a year as a senior lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London, Häusermann began to focus on building instrumentation for synchrotrons. “My years of manual work have helped me with my career of designing and building scientific instruments,” reflects Häusermann. Having worked on machines all around the world, Häusermann is very happy to be in Australia. “Scientifically, it is exciting here,” he says. “In the field of imaging, Australia is a world leader. There are a handful of world class imaging people here in Melbourne, and the medical field is very big here. If you put these together, Australia does not have to envy other countries.” Häusermann adds that the research environment he has encountered in Australia has been welcoming and he loves the opportunities for exploring the country. The process of getting a visa to work in Australia, adds Häusermann, was “an absolute pleasure.” “A country cannot be more welcoming than through its visa system,” explains Häusermann who is in Australia on a 457 skilled worker visa. Ironically, it has taken for Häusermann to move halfway around the world to really catch up with Swiss colleagues. In Melbourne, he has found an active Swiss community and encountered many Swiss colleagues. “Since leaving Switzerland in 1974 I have never really mixed with Swiss people,” he says. “And now I am the furthest away from Switzerland that I can be, and it is where I am building links.” He adds, “There is a ‘Swissness’ that you can tell and of which we are always proud.” Written by Julia Hinde for Science in Public, November 2006
Photographs of Australian Synchrotron To access photographs of the Australian Synchrotron:
Please visit the Australian Synchrotron website: www.synchrotron.vic.gov.au/ Or contact: Rachel Taylor,
Australian Synchrotron Project, Ph: +61 (3) 9655-8997,
rachel.taylor@iird.vic.gov.au Photos can also be found on
the Swiss-Australian Chamber of Commerce website:
www.sacci.com.au/pages
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