From Aboriginal ingenuity to cutting edge scientific research, the Hunter Region (Australia) has been and continues to be a leader in creativity and inventiveness.
This Forum was a celebration of the people and institutions which have helped and continue to help shape the region.
The Event was held in the Newcastle Town Hall on the 19th April 2012, and organised by the Hunter Regional Committee of the National Trust of Australia.
Speakers included:
– Dr Bernie Curran, Executive Officer, University of Newcastle Foundation, who facilitated the event
– Mr Bill Jordan, Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (Australia) on Newcastle’s engineering and industrial history of innovation and adaptation.
– Dr Betty Capper, former nurse, now historian, on the period of innovation and change at Royal Newcastle Hospital in the McCaffrey era of the 1950s and 60s
– Professor Emeritus John Hamilton, OBE, former Dean of the Faulty of Science and Health at University of Newcastle on recent innovation and future directions in medical science in the Hunter.
– Dr. Philip Pollard architect and former planner at the University of Newcastle on innovative buildings and landscaping on the University campus
– Mr Peter Stevens – spoke on Scoping Useful Principles.
After all the dysfunctional behaviour we’ve witnessed lately from our local Council it was heartening to hear about some Novocastrians who have made a positive contribution to Newcastle and set a benchmark for the rest of the country.