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Chairman's Report
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, I AM PLEASED TO REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF THE HEARING COOPERATIVE RESEARCH CENTRE (CRC) DURING THE PERIOD JULY 2008 TO JUNE 2009.
It has been gratifying to see the organisation grow and consolidate during its second year of operation. I thank my fellow Board members for their diligent work during this time, as well as our core and support Members for their ongoing interest and support.
The HEARing CRC was officially launched in May by Senator the Honourable Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. It was a pleasure to speak at this event which also marked the formal opening of our new headquarters, situated in The University of Melbourne’s Audiology, Hearing and Speech Sciences building. The facility, shared with the University’s Department of Otolaryngology, is a new $3.5 million custom-designed refurbishment that contains the largest sound booth in Australia, high specification engineering facilities and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment for teaching and research. The building provides an excellent work-environment in which the HEARing CRC can grow and develop; currently it houses the Executive Management team and also our sound coding / engineering research.
The launch event, held in the new building, was attended by Prof Graeme Clark AC (pioneer of the Nucleus multichannel cochlear implant), and by distinguished guests from The University of Melbourne as well as by the HEARing CRC Board. Many of our Members and researchers were also able to join us to celebrate this important occasion.
Our research Programs have achieved significant advances during this second year of activity. To cite two instances: novel hearing-loss associated genes have been identified within our forward looking genetic research Program and a provisional patent for technology that will improve own-voice sound quality for hearing aid users. We have been involved also with the establishment of a new magnetoencephalographic (MEG) imaging facility at Macquarie University with custom designed auditory stimulation equipment, facilitating access to this valuable research tool in Australia. As well as utilising new technologies we have been developing them; in particular we have successfully patented a number of sound processing strategies that will be valuable both to the next generation of cochlear implants and hearing aids, and to hearing protection of those who use telephone and computers as a means of communication.
During this period we have seen an increase in the number of PhD students involved in our Research Programs. The innovative and painstaking work carried out by our project teams underpins the success of the HEARing CRC and positions Australia at the forefront of hearing research internationally. It is advantageous that the next generation of researchers will receive high quality training from the committed researchers currently with us.
I note, with pleasure, that the governance structure of the HEARing CRC is now almost complete. We have identified a number of candidates to join the Board as Independent Directors and hope to make two appointments shortly. In addition, we have worked hard to identify suitable, independent candidates for the Chair and membership of the Science Advisory Group and again hope to make appointments in the near future.
With regard to the Board, I would like specially to acknowledge the hard work and valuable contribution of Ms Anthea Green, who resigned from the Board in September 2008. And I welcome Ms Kathryn Greiner who joined us in November 2008.
I particularly thank the two Board Committees, Finance and Audit (chaired by Mr Barry Roberts) and Nominations and Appointments (chaired by Ms Anthea Green and then Ms Kathryn Greiner): they have provided guidance, oversight and valuable advice. On behalf of the Board as well as for myself, I thank the three persons who successively held the position of Company Secretary during this period, Ms Jenni Lightowlers, Mr Lorensz Senn and Mrs Lisa Norden. It is a pleasure to record our gratitude to A/Prof Robert Cowan for his exceptional commitment to the HEARing CRC and for his establishment of a very capable Executive Management team.
I commend this report to you and extend the Board’s gratitude and congratulations to the HEARing CRC Members, Executive Management team, researchers, staff and students for what has been a stimulating and productive year.
Mr Richard Searby AO QC
Chairman
The full HEARing CRC Annual Report can be downloaded below, the contents pages include live links and the arrows in the top right hand corner can be used to move forwards and back in the document. Please use the scale function in your PDF reader to alter the magnification of the pages.
The Highlights Flyer is also available for download, please contact us if you would like to receive this in hard copy.
