Swinburne University of Technology

Swinburne University of Technology

Motto	Achievement through learning[1]
Type	Public
Established	1908[2] (University status 1992)
Chancellor	Graham Goldsmith
Vice-Chancellor	Linda Kristjanson
Students	20,864[3]
Undergraduates	17,805
Postgraduates	2,320
Doctoral students	739
Other students	9,673
Location	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	Universities Australia, OUA, ASAIHL, Engineers Australia,[4] NICTA,[5] Apple University Consortium,[6] Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy[7]
Website	www.swinburne.edu.au

Swinburne University of Technology (often simply called Swinburne) is an Australian public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. Its main campus is located in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne which is located 7.5 km from the Melbourne central business district.^[8]

Swinburne runs five campuses; in total, Swinburne has 60,000 students.^[9]

In addition to its main Hawthorn campus, Swinburne has campuses in the Melbourne metropolitan area at Wantirna and Croydon. Swinburne also has a campus in Sarawak, Malaysia.^[10]

History

Swinburne University of Technology has its origins in the Eastern Suburbs Technical College, which was established in 1908 in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn by the Honourable George Swinburne. In 1913, the institution changed its name to Swinburne Technical College. The Institute attained university status on 1 July 1992 following the passage of the Swinburne University of Technology Act 1992.^[11]

As a consequence of the Dawkins reforms to Australian higher education in the early 1990s, the university commenced delivery in the suburb of Prahran through a merger in 1992 with Victoria College (previously the Prahran Institute of TAFE),^[12] which stood on the site of Victoria's first training institutes, the Prahran Mechanics' Institute.

In 1997, Swinburne opened a campus at Lilydale, Victoria. In 1998, it merged with the Outer East Institute of TAFE and commenced operating from campuses at Croydon and Wantirna.^[13]

In 1999, Swinburne established the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA).^[14]

In 2000, the university opened a campus in Sarawak, Malaysia, as a partnership between the university and the Sarawak State Government.^[15]

In February 2011, the university opened the Advanced Technologies Centre,^[16] a 22,000 square metre building of modern architectural design at its Hawthorn campus,^[17] known locally as "the cheese grater building".^[18]

Following a series of funding cuts announced by the Victorian Government to vocational education in May 2012,^[19] Swinburne announced that it would close its Lilydale and Prahran campuses.^[20] Lilydale campus officially closed on 1 July 2013.^[21] In August 2013 the university announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE to sell its Prahran campus to NMIT with effect from 2014.^[22]

Academic

Rankings

Internationally, Swinburne is ranked 301-400 by the Academic Ranking of World Universities^[26] and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings^[27] and 351-500 by the 2013 QS World University Rankings.^[28]

Swinburne also is ranked 76-100 in the field of physics by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.^[29]

The university's computer science and information technology, sociology, psychology, and communications and media subjects were ranked 151-200 by the 2013 QS World University Rankings.^[30]

Swinburne College

The university also operates Swinburne College, a provider of pathway education courses which prepare students for university study. Programs offered by Swinburne College include English language, foundation studies, diploma and professional year programs.^[31]

Campuses

Hawthorn

The Hawthorn campus is Swinburne’s main campus. It hosts a range of vocational, undergraduate, and postgraduate programs.

Wantirna

Wantirna is a TAFE-specific campus.^[32] The campus also offers courses in areas including health and community services, visual arts, business and accounting.^[33]

Croydon

The university's Croydon campus is a TAFE-specific campus, with a focus on training in trades such as building, carpentry, electrical and plumbing.^[34]

Prahran

While Swinburne no longer operates at the Prahran campus, the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) continues to be based there.^[35]

Sarawak, Malaysia

The Sarawak campus is located in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.^[36]

Swinburne Online

The university's joint venture with SEEK Limited led to the creation of Swinburne Online in 2011.^[37]

Architecture

• 

  Daryl Jackson's Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship (2001)

• 

  The George Swinburne Building, also known as 'The George' (2011)

Student life

Students on campus

Swinburne Student Union (SSU)

Swinburne Student Union (SSU) is the independent student representative body of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Membership is opt-in for all students.^[38]

Notable alumni

• Mark Hartley: film director, Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)^[39]
• Richard Lowenstein: film director, "Autoluminescent" (documentary film on the life of Rowland S. Howard; 2011), He Died With A Felafel In His Hand (2001), Dogs In Space (1986), "Strikebound" (1984)
• L. Scott Pendlebury (1914–1986): landscape and portrait artist; instructor (1946–1963), head of art school (1963–1974) at Swinburne Technical College^[40]

See also

• List of universities in Australia
• National Institute of Circus Arts
• Prahran Mechanics' Institute
• Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus
• Hawthorn, Melbourne

References

External links

• University website
• Alumni web community
• Australian Government 'My University' website

Universities in Australia Tertiary education in Australia Australian Capital Territory Australian Defence Force Academy (UNSW accredited degrees) Australian National University University of Canberra New South Wales Charles Sturt University Macquarie University Southern Cross University University of Newcastle University of New England University of New South Wales University of Sydney University of Technology Sydney University of Wollongong Western Sydney University Northern Territory Charles Darwin University Queensland Bond University Central Queensland University Griffith University James Cook University University of Queensland Queensland University of Technology University of Southern Queensland University of the Sunshine Coast South Australia University of Adelaide Carnegie Mellon University, Australia Flinders University University of South Australia Torrens University Australia UCL Australia Tasmania Australian Maritime College (UTAS accredited degrees) University of Tasmania Victoria Deakin University University of Divinity Federation University Australia La Trobe University University of Melbourne Monash University RMIT University Swinburne University of Technology Victoria University Western Australia Curtin University Edith Cowan University Murdoch University University of Notre Dame Australia University of Western Australia National Australian Catholic University Education in Australia

Coordinates: 37°49′16″S 145°2′18″E / 37.82111°S 145.03833°E / -37.82111; 145.03833