The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 22 August 2013
Russia: Ford partners with university to study space robots
In a bid to create safer cars, Ford is partnering with St Petersburg Polytechnic University to study its communication models with robots in space, reports Wired. The plan is to develop a messaging protocol based on how communications are sent to space in the wake of a system outage. Adapted for cars, this will mean that a damaged vehicle will still be able to communicate. One of Ford’s technical leaders in systems analytics, Oleg Gusikhin, said: “If one network is down, alternatives need to be identified and strengthened to reliably propagate messages between networks.”
Switzerland: Researchers breakthrough in post-transplant care
Researchers at Inselspital (hospital) and the University of Bern, Switzerland have successfully tested a treatment that could prevent future hand transplant patients from needing total immunosuppression, reports Science World Report. Laboratory experiments on rats have determined that it is possible to treat just the transplanted limb instead of the whole body. Professor Esther Vögelin, Senior Consultant and Co-Director of the Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, said: "This laboratory success means that in future hand transplant patients can hope for a significant improvement in quality of life, because systemic [total] immunosuppression could be reduced or omitted altogether.”
New Zealand: First MOOC from an NZ university launched
In a first for New Zealand's universities, the University of Waikato has launched a MOOC (massive open online course) on data mining, reports Scoop. The course is called Data Mining with WEKA, and uses open-source WEKA (Waikato environment for knowledge analysis) software that was developed at the university. University of Waikato Professor Ian Witten said: “Some people are talking about monetising MOOCs by selling diplomas, advertising, and suchlike, but we're not thinking about any of those things at the moment.” The software allows for large quantities of data to be sifted and analyzed.
Malawi: Bureaucracy affects opening of science university
The Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), due to open its doors in January 2014, is still incomplete in many areas because of government bureaucracy, reports The Nyasa Times. It has no library books or furniture, an incomplete road network, and no laboratories. Laboratories are crucial for the institution, which will be focusing on engineering and science subjects for the first intake. Officials are concerned that the red tape will delay the procurement of the needed items for the January opening.