Prestigious award for pilot simulation software

19 November 2001

A high-tech program used by the Royal Australian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy has won a small multimedia team from the University of Wollongong new accolades.

The Pilotage Courseware V1.0 CD ROM developed by the University of Wollongong and its partner Impart Corporation was chosen as the 'Best of the Best' at the 8th annual Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Awards (AIMIA) for 2001 held in Melbourne on Friday night. It beat more than 300 entries in 12 categories to win the award, which is a tribute to the 10 years of work in the multimedia industry by the Educational Media Laboratory at UOW. The courseware also took out the Austrade Award for Excellence in eLearning category.

The coursework was developed to train young naval officers of the Australian and Singaporean and Navy in the guidance of ships through coastal or inland waters faster and substantially cheaper than is currently possible.

UOW is one of four shareholders in Impart. Professor Barry Harper, Dean of Education, coordinated the project that was led by Rob Wright, project manager of the award winning Educational Media Laboratory team, in designing and developing the outstanding product.

Impart Corporation specialises in the development of e-learning solutions, particularly interactive coursework development. In addition, Impart assists organisations with e-learning strategies. Its blue chip client base includes organisations like the Australian Taxation Office, the Department of Treasury, and Telstra. OPTUS, ANZ Bank and Australian Rail Training.

"Most people have seen Flight Simulator. This has some similarities, only now you are piloting a ship. The ship can move freely through a 25 by 25 nautical mile space with a group of islands in it and the learner has to navigate the ship safely through these waters, either through visual pilotage or by using a radar," Professor Harper said.

The Educational Media Laboratory in the Faculty of Education at UOW has an extensive record of multimedia development. The laboratory has developed many award winning products including the interactive CD ROM StageStruck which outclassed Microsoft's millions to win a British Academy of Film and Television Award in 1998. It is also a previous AIMIA winner and is the focus for a large team of researchers working in this area.

For further information contact Professor Barry Harper on 4221 3961.