Interview with Graham Town

Featured Engineer

Graham Town

Graham Town - Professor at Macquarie University

How did you get into electronics/ engineering and when did you start?

I was always interested in science and technology, and particularly electronics, when I was young. It probably started when I received an electronics kit for Christmas one year, and I used to “tinker” with radios and things (and gave myself a couple of electric shocks doing so). I also had an uncle who was an electrical engineer who’d built a TV set (black and white, discrete components) which I thought was pretty impressive.

Over the years, what have you worked on in your career?

One of the nice things about engineering is the variety of directions it can take you in. As a trainee engineer with Amalgamated Wireless Australasia I worked in a number of sections around a large factory producing a wide range of electronic equipment. I gained experience in the machine shop, the test and measurement section, the circuit board layout section, and I also worked in the production engineering group. I subsequently spent some time as part of the team developing an early version of the Interscan microwave landing system, and I also worked on a microwave communication system and on developing applications for 1st generation optical fiber systems. I then joined the University of Sydney where I was part of a small team which built a working NMR imaging system; my PhD on problems associated with selective excitation and spectroscopy in NMR. After that I moved back into 3rd generation optical fibre technology and photonics as an academic member of the Australian Photonics Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) where I used some of the theory picked up in my PhD to design microwave and optical filters, and I also worked on early fibre lasers and nonlinear optics. Since then I’ve also developed a strong interest in engineering education. I enjoy teaching and have been privileged to supervise some outstanding students who’ve gone on to much greater things. The academic achievement of which I am most proud is establishing the undergraduate Engineering degree program at Macquarie University (in Sydney, Australia), where I’ve been since 2002.

What was your favorite?

It’s all been fun, but the most fun was probably the early years of the Photonics CRC when I was working on 3rd generation fibre optics and photonics. What made it stand out was that the early years involved collaborations with mathematicians, physicists, and chemists, so it was a great learning time, and there were also some very good people involved. Some of my most original research was completed during that period.

What are your favorite hardware tools that you use?

Spectrum analysers (anywhere from audio through to optical frequency).

What are your favorite software tools that you use?

Matlab/Simulink and the various associated toolboxes

What is the hardest/trickiest bug you have ever fixed?

In the MRI system we were building during my PhD there was a “ghost” in the image that disappeared when the peak modulation on the gradient coils was kept relatively low. It turned out to be a software bug – every sample of the MRI signal acquired in time had a real and imaginary part, but the complex data was being split across adjacent samples when stored due to an initial offset in the memory pointer (i.e. the two parts of the complex data were being stored as the imaginary part of one sample and real part of the next). A simple error, but tricky to find.

What is on your bookshelf?

Lots of books, from electromagnetics through electronics and photonics to feedback control, and also theses by previous research students. The books I treasure most are classics on radio engineering by Frederick Terman – I rescued them from a library clean-out.

Do you have any tricks up your sleeve?

Start simple, then complicate things step by step so you understand exactly what’s happening at each step.

Do you have any note-worthy engineering experiences?

I’ve been privileged to have had the opportunity to work with some really great people, both students and colleagues, and across a variety of areas.

What are you currently working on?

Several things, in both teaching and research. I’ve just finished reviewing papers for an upcoming conference in Sydney on optical sensors. I should be writing some papers myself.

What has been your favorite project?

I’ve yet to have a favorite project, but the thing I like most about my job as an academic engineer is travelling, i.e. to attend conferences and to visit and collaborate with colleagues around the world.

Can you tell us about establishing the Engineering program in Telecommunications at your university?

Macquarie University was established about 40 years ago with only a small number of degrees, i.e. in arts and science. Over the years a number of other degree programs were established, but not engineering, even though the University is located on the edge of a technology park and some significant engineering research has been done there (e.g. the first silicon “system on a chip” for wireless communication was developed there by David Skellern and Neil Weste). Given the history, the location, and the general shortage of engineers in Australia, establishing engineering at Macquarie University seemed an obvious thing to do. Whilst many agreed, no one had acted, so I moved to Macquarie in 2002 with that as my primary goal, and the first intake of engineering students occurred in 2004.

The main challenges had to do with a lack of resources and lack of profile. We had to “bootstrap” the telecommunications engineering program from an electronics and communications major in a science degree with only a small number of staff. Also, the number of students grew slowly at first, however in 2006 a new Dean arrived who was very supportive of engineering and enabled us to market the program effectively, and after that the number of students doubled each year for a few years. Whilst we so far only have Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering and associated majors, it is hoped the Department will continue to grow and new engineering disciplines (e.g. mechanical engineering) will be established in future.

Regarding successes, I regard every engineering student who graduates and gains employment as a success. The supportive links we have developed with local industry are another very positive outcome. I also believe the development of the engineering degree program has had a positive impact on the University through the professional accreditation process, which for engineering is relatively modern – for a while the Department was trailblazing new curriculum design processes, new quality processes, the use of problem-based learning, and generic skills development.

What are your current research projects?

My primary research at present is focussing on integrated DC-DC converters and power supplies for efficient energy conversion – this project is supported by Triquint Inc. and the Australian Research Council. I am also working on radio-over-fiber systems and terahertz technology development for applications in sensing and communication. Other activities include nonlinear fibre optics, optical sensor design, microstructured polymer optical fibers, etc.

What direction do you see your Department heading in the next few years?

I would like to see the Electronic Engineering Department develop more teaching and research activities in power electronics and small-scale power engineering with applications in renewable energy systems. I believe the development and integration of renewable energy sources and the efficient use and management of energy will be critical to maintaining and improving standards of living over the next few decades, and we will need many engineers capable of designing, fabricating, and operating these new energy systems.

What challenges do you foresee in our industry?

Loss of expertise, especially if our most talented young people continue to be attracted to careers outside science and engineering.

What are you favorite leisure activities?

Surfing, bushwalking, bike riding.

What is your favourite city (after Sydney)?

Rome.

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