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Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is the national government body for scientific research in Australia. It was founded in 1926 originally as the Advisory Council of Science and Industry. Research highlights include the invention of atomic absorption spectroscopy, development of the first polymer banknote, invention of the insect repellent in Aerogard, and the introduction of a series of biological controls into Australia, such as the introduction of Myxomatosis and Rabbit calicivirus which causes rabbit haemorrhagic disease for the control of rabbit populations. CSIRO's research into ICT technologies has resulted in advances such as the Panoptic Search Engine[1] (now known as Funnelback) and Annodex[2]. Recently, the CSIRO has been actively defending its patent[3] for the use of wireless technologies which are a standard for many modern day laptops. A class action has been filed by US corporations Microsoft, Apple and Dell to renege on paying royalties on the wireless patent filed by the CSIRO in 1996. In October 2005 the journal Nature announced that CSIRO scientists had developed near-perfect rubber from resilin, the elastic protein which gives fleas their jumping ability and helps insects fly.[4]
Research groups and initiatives
CSIRO Darwin Research undertaken by the CSIRO is divided into 16 operational 'Divisions'. These are:
In 2007, the divisions of Industrial Physics and Manufacturing and Materials Technology merged to form a new division, Materials Science and Engineering. In addition, CSIRO is a participant in a number of joint ventures, including:
"Flagship" initiativeThe CSIRO "Flagship" initiative was designed to integrate, focus and direct national scientific resources. In May 2005, the government announced the launch of CSIRO's $97 million Flagship Collaboration Fund, which is intended to encourage cooperative research between universities, CSIRO and other research agencies. As of Jan 2008, the CSIRO supported the following 9 "Flagships"[5]:
In April 2007, funding for a new Flagship was announced by the Federal government[6]. It will be investigating the effects of Climate Change. The Air Quality Modelling and Dispersion TeamCSIRO's Air Quality Modelling and Dispersion Team[7] is a part of the Marine and Atmospheric Research division. Some of the widely used air quality dispersion models[8] developed by CSIRO are:
The "Australian Air Quality Forecasting System" is provided jointly by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO. The Bureau of Meteorology generates the high resolution weather forecasts and CSIRO has created computer models to calculate pollution levels. HistoryA precursor to the CSIRO, the Advisory Council of Science and Industry, was established in 1916 at the initiative of Prime Minister Billy Hughes. However, the Advisory Council struggled with insufficient funding during the First World War. In 1920 the Council was renamed the "Commonwealth Institute of Science and Industry", and was led by George Handley Knibbs (1921-26), but continued to struggle financially. In 1926 The Science and Industry Research Act replaced the Institute with the 'Council for Scientific and Industrial Research' (CSIR). The CSIR was structured to represent the federal structure of Australian government, and had state-level committees and a central council. As well as this improved structure, the CSIR benefited from strong bureaucratic management under George Julius, David Rivett, and Arnold Richardson. CSIR research focussed on primary and secondary industries. Early in its existence, it established divisions studying animal health and animal nutrition. After the depression, the CSIR extended into secondary industries such as manufacturing. Notable inventions and breakthroughs by the CSIRO include:
The CSIRO today has expanded into a wider range of scientific inquiry. This expansion began with the establishment of the CSIRO in 1949 which, as well as a name change, reconstituted the organisation and its administrative structure. Under Ian Clunies Ross as chairman, the CSIRO pursued new areas such as radioastronomy and industrial chemistry. Historic researchCSIR owned the first computer in Australia, CSIRAC, built as part of a project began in the Sydney Radiophysics Laboratory in 1947. The CSIR Mk 1 ran its first program in 1949, the fifth electronic computer in the world. It was over 1000 times faster than the mechanical calculators available at the time. It was decommissioned in 1955 and recommissioned in Melbourne as CSIRAC in 1956 as a general purpose computing machine used by over 700 projects until 1964.[14] The CSIRAC is the only functioning first-generation computer in the world today. Domain nameThe CSIRO was the first Australian organisation to start using the internet, and as such was free to register the second-level domain csiro.au (as opposed to csiro.org.au or csiro.com.au). Guidelines were introduced in 1996 to regulate the use of the .au domain. Previous Chief Executives
Recent controversiesDiet bookIn 2005 the organisation also gained worldwide attention (and criticism) for publishing and promoting the Total Wellbeing Diet book[15] which features a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. The book has sold over half a million copies in Australia and over 100,000 overseas[16] but was criticised in an editorial by Nature for giving scientific credence to a "fashionable" diet book sponsored by meat and dairy industries[17]. Job cutsIn 2006 CSIRO was again in the news, this time with reports that they were struggling with reduced funding and job cuts[18]. It was reported that the organisation was increasingly affected by political processes as claims of gags on scientists on the topic of global warming emerged[19]. The Labor Party attempted to open a Senate enquiry into the matter but it was rejected by the Government.[20] 802.11 patentIn 2007 the adoption of the 802.11n wireless networking standard was held up when CSIRO refused to provide IEEE a Letter of Assurance to not sue over patent violations.[21]. In late November 2007, CSIRO won a lawsuit against Buffalo Technology, with an injunction that Buffalo must stop supplying AirStation products that infringe on the 802.11 patent.[21][22] See also
References
External sourcesCurrie, George; Graham, John, The Origins of CSIRO: Science and the Commonwealth Government, 1901-1926, CSIRO, Melbourne, 1966 External links
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