ACU Centenary Lecture Series

To mark its Centenary, the ACU is delighted to announce a series of lectures by Sir David King, former Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, UK.

26 February 2013

• The role of innovative manufacturing in meeting the new 21st century challenges (Sir Bernard Crossland Lecture)
  The Courtyard, Riddel Hall, Queen’s University Belfast, UK

In this lecture, Sir David King will consider 'what are some of the challenges ahead and how can innovative manufacturing help us solve them?'

Population growth is a driver of change, but the more drastic change is development and the increased use of resources by the population. Here, environmental risk management for mankind becomes an opportunity for business to efficiently move ahead. In order for the most effective solutions to come about, manufacturers must be allowed to flourish in the right atmosphere. What is needed then is a supportive environment in which governments create the level framework (regulation and opportunities) allowing business to create and bring solutions to the marketplace. These new challenges require new solutions and new economic thinking, increasing the role that manufacturing plays in finding them.

12 March 2013

• Global implications of a growing middle class on higher education
  AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong

In this lecture, Sir David King will consider 'what are the problems to which we seek solutions, and how does technology help us foresee and address them?'

The growing number of people who are entering the ‘middle class’ around the world presents many issues ranging from health and social care to the environment and education. Approximately 1.8 billion people are currently considered middle class, but the number is estimated to jump to 4.8 billion people by 2030. This has important implications for a number of stakeholders in the educational arena and beyond. The educational arena will be changed - whether embraced or forced upon. Standards and expectations, accountability, and quality in higher education will need to acquire the ‘adapt and change model’ or face a long hard road to obscurity.

14-15 March 2013

• Pushing the research frontier: long term vision of research policy 
  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 

In his lecture, Sir David will consider 'how should governments, universities and funding bodies work to ensure the importance of the long term vision in setting national research policy?'

As a former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK government, Sir David King understands the importance of integrating science in policy making.  Having created in-depth horizon scanning processes for government on a wide range of long term issues, from flooding to obesity, Sir David has demonstrated the need for science and research to work together in setting the policy agenda. The advances in both technology and science mean that today’s scientific community is more capable in assisting government to reduce potential risks to the population. However, without the dedicated resourcing to science and research through collaboration, governments may miss an important trick in driving economic growth and stability.

• Environment, innovation and education 
  ILIA Auditorium, Universiti Brunei Darussalam

In this lecture, Sir David King will consider 'how can a country reliant on its oil and gas industry find a way to improve its eco-credentials?'

What role do universities, researchers and government have in shaping a country’s desire to balance its eco-credentials in energy production? The growth of the ‘middle class’ means a shift in the reliance on traditional oil-based energy methods.  Governments and industry need to seek out opportunities and solutions to the impending energy crisis. Researchers, together with universities and governments, need to change their focus and seek practical solutions to these problems to create a sustainable future. In order for countries to achieve sustainable economic growth, more will need to be done to manage key resources, energy and climate change.

18-19 March 2013

• Research and teaching in 21st century higher education: rising to the challenges
  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

In his lecture, Sir David King will consider the 'transformative role of higher education'.

The role of the university has changed, and continues to change. The fundamentals, however, remain the same; they provide a space for discussion, debate and the exchange of ideas, while preparing students to tackle societal issues. Together, commercial partnerships, governments and institutions need to engage with each other to find solutions to the global challenges. A rising middle class creates a new economic paradigm, shifting the focus on how all stakeholders can deliver solution-based thinking. What impact can universities have on the global challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change, population growth and resource scarcity?