Fix this text
UNIKEN
Fix this textTHE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
Fix this textNo. 222 (No. 2 of 1987)
Fix this textPublished fortnightly by the Public Affairs Unit
Fix this textRegistered by Australia Post - Publication No. NBF 4388
Fix this text6 March 1987
Fix this textUnique UNSW
Fix this textsound system
Fix this texttakes on
Fix this textAmerican market
Fix this textThe problems of finding local manufacturers and financiers to back
Fix this textresearch and development are common for Australian inventors. But,
Fix this textAssociate Professor Harvey Holmes of UNSW’s School of Electrical Engin-
Fix this texteering and Computer Science and one of his former postgraduate students,
Fix this textJoe Hayes, are overcoming the hurdle.
Fix this textTheir pre-amplified split signal acoustic contourer (PASSAC) is a
Fix this textunique product that can amplify the acoustic sound of a stringed instru-
Fix this textment. The PASSAC gives back to a stringed instrument the natural
Fix this textacoustics coming from the soundhole which would normally be lost to
Fix this textelectronic contact pickups.
Fix this textIt has found a ready market in
Fix this textthe large US music industry and is
Fix this textalready being used by such notables
Fix this textas Sting, Dire Straits and Leo
Fix this textKottke.
Fix this textMr Hayes, an acoustics engineer
Fix this textand amateur guitarist, hit upon the
Fix this textidea when preparing a thesis on
Fix this textloudspeakers and approached the
Fix this textInnovation Council of NSW for
Fix this textadvice. The Council approached
Fix this textProfessor Holmes and the idea
Fix this textbegan to become a reality.
Fix this textSoundhole resonance
Fix this textAfter tranforming the acoustic
Fix this textrelations to electronic terms,
Fix this textProfessor Holmes designed sophisti-
Fix this textcated circuitry to simulate the
Fix this textsoundhole resonance and restore
Fix this textthe natural ‘body’ to the pickup’s
Fix this textsound.
Fix this textHaving taken the PASSAC from
Fix this textconcept in 1983 to the finished
Fix this textproduct in 1985, the pair found
Fix this texttheir work was only beginning.
Fix this textManufacturing, financing, market-
Fix this texting, patenting and quality control
Fix this textwere terms they would encounter
Fix this textfrequently in the months ahead.
Fix this textRealizing the Australian market
Fix this textwas too small to realistically launch
Fix this textthe product, Professor Holmes
Fix this textcontacted a friend living in Silicon
Fix this textValley, Allan Madden, who became
Fix this text‘their man in the United States’.
Fix this textUsing Mr Madden’s seed finance
Fix this textand his marketing and entrepren-
Fix this texteurial expertise, the fledgling
Fix this textAustralian company has since sold
Fix this textseveral thousand PASSACs in a
Fix this textshort period of time and expects
Fix this textsales to increase both on the huge
Fix this textUS market and from a planned
Fix this textventure into the more fragmented
Fix this textEuropean market.
Fix this textWhile the PASSAC continues to
Fix this textfind friends with bands and soloists,
Fix this textfunds from sales and seed capital
Fix this texthave been poured into research and
Fix this textdevelopment of other innovative
Fix this textproducts. The company has now
Fix this textdeveloped an even more sophis-
Fix this textticated product, the PASSAC
Fix this textSentient.
Fix this textAccording to Professor Holmes
Fix this textit is the most advanced guitar-MIDI
Fix this textinterface to be developed and will
Fix this textbe aimed at a much bigger market
Fix this textthan the PASSAC. (MIDI stands for
Fix this textMusical Instrument Digital Inter-
Fix this textface - a device which ‘translates’
Fix this textsound information from an instru-
Fix this textment into a form that a digital
Fix this textsynthesiser can ‘understand’.)
Fix this textThis sort of innovative manu-
Fix this textfacturing and export-oriented com-
Fix this textpany is very rare in Australia.
Fix this text‘Australian manufacturers usually
Fix this texttake the attitude that it’s a wild
Fix this textworld and they don’t want to get
Fix this textinto it’, Professor Holmes says.
Fix this text‘We haven’t gone for outside capital
Fix this textyet but if we do it may have to be
Fix this textin America where they judge you
Fix this texton the product and the team, rather
Fix this textthan the amount of real estate you
Fix this textown.
Fix this text‘As a company we only want to
Fix this textdo innovative things and not
Fix this textcompete with existing products.
Fix this textContinued page 2
Fix this textHigh acceptance
Fix this textrate for first
Fix this textACCESS Scheme
Fix this textintake
Fix this textThe recently appointed co-
Fix this textordinator of the ACCESS Scheme
Fix this textat UNSW, Ms Robyn Horwood,
Fix this textsays all those who have been
Fix this textinvolved are delighted with the
Fix this texthigh acceptance rate in its first
Fix this textyear of operation.
Fix this textOf the 75 offers made to Higher
Fix this textSchool Certificate students whose
Fix this texteducation had been disadvantaged
Fix this textby circumstances beyond their
Fix this textcontrol, 68 have accepted and
Fix this textenrolled in courses and another two
Fix this texthave accepted and deferred their
Fix this textenrolment for one year.
Fix this textThe ACCESS Scheme was ap-
Fix this textproved by the UNSW Council in
Fix this textMarch 1986 to assist students
Fix this textwhose secondary education had
Fix this textbeen affected by social, environ-
Fix this textmental or physical conditions for a
Fix this textperiod of at least one year, and
Fix this textwhose HSC score would not nor-
Fix this textmally gain them a place in courses
Fix this textat the University.
Fix this text‘Although it was not widely
Fix this textadvertised and publicized until
Fix this textAugust last year there were 340
Fix this textapplications by mid-October’, Ms
Fix this textHorwood says.
Fix this textAmong the problems encoun-
Fix this texttered by those accepted for 1987
Fix this textwere low family income and
Fix this textassociated difficulties; attending
Fix this textgeographically isolated schools, or
Fix this textones with limited facilities, high
Fix this textteacher turnover and a restricted
Fix this textrange of subjects; serious medical
Fix this textproblems either of the student or
Fix this textthe student’s family; and language
Fix this textproblems suffered by refugee stu-
Fix this textdents and those from non-English
Fix this textspeaking backgrounds.
Fix this textOther problems included in-
Fix this textadequate home study conditions,
Fix this textexcessive family responsibilities and
Fix this textlack of support towards completing
Fix this texteducation.
Fix this text‘Most of the students tended to
Fix this textsuffer from more than one dis-
Fix this textadvantage’, Ms Horwood says. ‘A
Fix this textstudent who came from a low
Fix this textincome environment usually had
Fix this textexcessive family chores and many
Fix this textrefugee students had language diffi-
Fix this textculties and disrupted schooling,
Fix this textsome having no schooling at all for
Fix this texta period of time.’
Fix this textStudents of the first intake have
Fix this textentered virtually every Faculty,
Fix this textincluding Medicine which account-
Fix this texted for seven enrolments.
Fix this text‘Those undertaking science
Fix this textcourses were advised to enrol in
Fix this textbridging courses’, Ms Horwood
Fix this textsays. ‘And, additional academic
Fix this texttuition is planned in chemistry,
Fix this textphysics, mathematics, computer
Fix this textscience and civil and electrical
Fix this textengineering.’
Fix this textThe Student Counselling and
Fix this textResearch Unit organized special
Fix this textsessions during UNIPREP and the
Fix this textLibrary Education Unit is organiz-
Fix this texting a workshop during Session One.
Fix this textAnd, because a number of the
Fix this textACCESS students have language
Fix this textproblems, special English classes
Fix this texthave been arranged to assist with
Fix this textskills, seminar presentation,
Fix this textgrammar and construction and
Fix this textcomprehension.
Fix this text‘We’re using existing services
Fix this textwhere possible’, Ms Horwood says,
Fix this text‘and supplementing them where
Fix this textnecessary’.
Fix this textShe says that 95 per cent of the
Fix this textintake were HSC leavers. ‘There are
Fix this textother special admission schemes on
Fix this textcampus catering for older students
Fix this textand students of Aboriginal descent.’
Fix this text‘Those of us in the Registrar’s
Fix this textDepartment involved in the Scheme
Fix this textare hoping for a high success rate,
Fix this textas are the great many people
Fix this textaround the University who are
Fix this textcontributing to the Scheme.
Fix this text‘And the students who have
Fix this textaccepted are delighted to have been
Fix this textgiven the chance and many have
Fix this textsaid how grateful they are for the
Fix this textopportunity to enrol here’, she
Fix this textsays.
Fix this textFirst days
Fix this textFor over three thousand (mostly) young people the last week of
Fix this textFebruary and the first week of March gave them their first
Fix this textcontact with life as university students. UNIKEN’s photo-
Fix this textgrapher caught some of the reactions of UNSW’s 1987 freshers
Fix this text(see inside for more pictures).
Fix this textPublic Affairs Unit
Fix this textStuart Holley reflects on his decision to enrol in Engineering at UNSW but
Fix this textsays it was an easy one to make because of the quality of the course. Reflected
Fix this textis Diane Booth (Engineering).
Fix this textKevin Doig
Fix this textFirst Year Arts student, Susan Meadow, found plenty to smile about on her
Fix this textfirst day at UNSW despite the gloomy weather.
Fix this textRob Simms
Fix this textRob Simms
Fix this textACCESS Scheme co-ordinator Robyn
Fix this textHorwood had a busy time during
Fix this textUIMIPREP processing 68 enrolments for
Fix this textthe first intake of the Scheme. She says
Fix this textshe is delighted with the number of
Fix this textacceptances.
Fix this textAssociate Professor Harvey Holmes of UNSW’s School of Electrical Engineering and
Fix this textComputer Science, with the PASSAC which has found a ready market in the United
Fix this textStates.
Fix this textIt's easy and takes two shakes of a lamb's tail!
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http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252045803
University of New South Wales. Public Affairs Unit & University of New South Wales, issuing body. (1975). Uniken Retrieved May 25, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252045803
University of New South Wales. Public Affairs Unit and University of New South Wales, issuing body. Uniken Kensington, N.S.W: University of New South Wales, 1975. Web. 25 May 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252045803>
University of New South Wales. Public Affairs Unit & University of New South Wales, issuing body. 1975, Uniken University of New South Wales, Kensington, N.S.W viewed 25 May 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252045803
{{Citation
| author1=University of New South Wales. Public Affairs Unit.
| author2=University of New South Wales, issuing body.
| title=Uniken.
| year=1975
| section=volumes : illustrations ; 30-43 cm.
| issn=0312-7877
| issue=1987, no. 2 (6 Mar., 1987)
| location=Kensington, N.S.W
| publisher=University of New South Wales
| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-252045803
| id=nla.obj-252045803
| access-date=25 May 2025
| via=Trove
}}
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