Australian Wool Education Trust
Since 1951 the Department of Wool & Animal Science at the University
of New South Wales had been the only Australian Tertiary institution
to provide comprehensive specialist training in wool and textile science
and technology. For this reason, it was the major source of graduates
employed in wool marketing and technology industries and in related
research.
The decision of the University of New South Wales at the end of 1996
to close the Department, created a void in the tertiary training of
undergraduates and graduates and also reduced the facilities for post
graduate study and research. This situation was made worse by the closure
of the CSIRO Division of Wool Technology laboratory at Ryde, NSW, in
mid 1996.
To minimise the effect of these closures, in 1998 the Australian Wool Testing Authority Limited (AWTA) established the AWTA Limited Wool Education Trust with a grant of $3 million. In June 2004, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) invested a further $4 million dollars from the sale of the CSIRO Prospect property and the Trust was renamed the Australian Wool Education Trust (AWET).
These funds allow AWET to support the promotion of undergraduate and/or post graduate study in wool and wool science and technology, from wool growing to textile production. This includes some of the following subjects:
- fibre science;
- wool production, including management, breeding and preparation for sale;
- wool metrology, including testing technology, process control, Total Quality Management and the prediction of processing performance; and
- wool and textile marketing, including trading, processing and promotion of woollen products.
For more information about the Australian Wool Education Trust contact:
Address: |
Australian Wool Education Trust |
Telephone: |
(03) 9371 4101 |
Email: |
