Papua New Guinea University of Technology Research Report 2014

FOREWORD

I am delighted to present the 2014 Research Report of the Papua New Guinea University of Technology. In spite of some disruptions of classes at the start of the 2014 academic year, Unitech research activities were a big success in 2014.

Research activities at Unitech are spurred on by having the largest postgraduate program in the country. There are currently 141 postgraduate students, including 9 at PhD level. Unitech also hosts 8 PG students from Caribbean and Pacific through Erasmus Mundus Program of the European Union. The presence of research students creates an atmosphere that is conducive to research. Supervision of postgraduate students and doing research go hand in hand. A postgraduate seminar program during October 13 - 14 resulted in 55 postgraduate students presented their research work that was attended by staff and students from across Unitech and beyond.

There is a well-attended weekly research seminar at Unitech. This is organised by the Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Research, Professor Shamsul Akanda. I am very grateful to him for his commitment to the seminars and to the postgraduate program as a whole. A total of 23 research seminars were organized in 2014.
A major seminar, known as the Huon Seminar, is held at Unitech every two years. The last one was the seventh one and it was held in November 2013. Its proceedings have been published in a book form.

Unitech has a Research Committee that funds research projects and staff attendance at national/international conferences. In 2014, a total of K114, 462 was given out by the Research Committee for research projects, and K41, 699 was used to support staff attendance at national and international conferences. Nonetheless, many requests for research funding and attendance at international conferences were turned down by the Research Committee, due to a shortage of funds. These funds need to be tripled or quadrupled. That would be a good investment.

This Research Report is a compilation of research activities at Unitech. It describes the research work of each department and lists the academic papers that were published, department by department.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all heads of department and members of the Research Committee for their fruitful work during the year 2014. I also commend the SEMT for their continued support and commitment of funds even when the university budget is under stress. Above all, I thank the Dean of Postgraduate Studies and research, Professor Akanda, for preparing the 2014 Unitech Research Report.

Dr Augustine Moshi
Pro Vice Chancellor Academic and
Chairman of the Research Committee