World Heritage, World Futures blog

Western Forecourt Collection online

28 July, 2010 10:00 by Megan

As part of the cataloguing process I have been preparing the artefacts recovered from the western forecourt archaeological excavation for display online. The first round of these artefacts is now up on History and Technology Collections Online.

In addition to the bottles and crockery I have blogged about before, you will find some more obscure artefacts such as butchered meat bones, wire nails, buttons and a harmonica!

Approximately 1,000 records are online to date, with another 500 to go up in the coming months.

A piece of cattle rib bone sawn at both ends
Image: Megan Sheehy
Source: Museum Victoria

 A single shank, pin hole button made from bone
Image: Megan Sheehy
Source: Museum Victoria

Part of a harmonica
Image: Megan Sheehy
Source: Museum Victoria

The base of the tank is poured!

16 July, 2010 16:33 by Anne

Today over 35 concrete trucks came on site, one after another, to provide a continuous pour for the base of our water tank.

Pouring Concrete for the Water Tank
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

The water harvest process in 3D

12 July, 2010 15:20 by Megan

There's no making cups of coffee for year 11 work experience students Stuart Biggar (Cheltenham Secondary College) and Adrian Sortino (Galvin Park Secondary College). These two exceptional students were selected through the Victorian Information Technology Teachers' Association 'ICT Achievers' program, which placed them with Joseph Austin-Crowe and his company Advanced 3D Modelling.

Stuart, Joe & Adrian discuss the 3D modelling project
Source: Museum Victoria 2010

Over two weeks, Stuart and Adrian will work with Joseph and his company to create a virtual moving image sequence that shows the workings of the water harvesting system currently being installed as part of the World Heritage, World Futures project.

Joseph explains:

This is our second year participating in the VITTA Young Achievers program. We are assigned two very bright secondary school students who work on a variety of tasks exactly as an employee would. They turn up 9 to 5 and are expected to make up any gaps in skills or knowledge in their own time.

The project is a hands-on experience for Stuart and Adrian, who will work on the project from concept to completion. Stuart commented:

I was surprised by the level of involvement that Joe allowed us in this placement. Usually all a placement wants you to do is make coffee and do the odd task, but Joe let us make key decisions and let us do most of the work on the project, all the while offering assistance and advice when we needed it.

Stuart and Adrian are both interested in pursuing careers in 3D modelling and this placement offers them a real experience in the working world from meeting clients to dealing with project challenges such as complex software. Adrian commented:

I am interested in pursuing an IT career after leaving school, hopefully in 3D design... So far I have found that the software used to generate 3D designs is very complex but interesting to use.

Keep an eye out for Stuart and Adrian's work, which will be published on the blog!