Across the water

Across the Water is a piece for solo cello and audio recording. It was composed using oral history interviews between cellist Stephanie Arnold and Melbourne-based asylum seekers, who tell their stories of journeys to Australia. Each speaker's unique musical style expressed in their prosody is distilled into the cello music, which is designed to enhance perception of the prosody and to concentrate the narrative and emotional aspects of the interviews. This form of storytelling is intended to give space for the complexities and subtleties of emotion and expression behind the often unheeded words of asylum seeker to be heard, not through the noise of politics or media but on the terms and through the voices of asylum seekers themselves. There are three movements in this 16-minute work: 1. Respected as a human 2. I don't know 3. Good woman The work won the Oral History Victoria 2017 award

Advanced Components for Spaceborne Infrared Astronomy

Basic improvements in the technology of low noise read-out systems for low background detectors were demonstrated. Using discrete JFET integrating amplifiers at their optimum temperature of 55 K, read noise less than 7.5 electrons in 128 seconds of integration was obtained. Two models of single channel integrators are now available, the JF-77 for use between 50 and 80 K and the JF-4 for lower temperatures. A 1 x 15 linear array of complete integrators on a single integrated circuit was developed and will be made available in the near future. The successful operation of a superconducting stepper motor was demonstrated. The motor shows a three fold increase in torque over conventional motors operating at room temperature. The success of the motor stems from the use of superconducting coils in conjunction with developments in bearings for cryogenic use, rare-earth rotors, and motor cooling techniques. The current state of development will allow the rapid development of motors optimized for specific applications. An electronic switch capable of resetting cooled JFET integrating amplifiers was developed. The JFET integrating amplifiers that use this switch have demonstrated read noise of less than 10 electrons. The JFET reset device exhibits an extremely high open impedance and low leakage current. Capacitance is sufficiently low so as not to impair amplifier sensitivity. The effects of transient switching charges are minimized by a compensation technique and variable transient current problems inherent to devices of this type are overcome by external circuity