ASRI  CONFERENCE  REPORT

On the 8-10th December 1993, the 3rd annual ASRI conference was held 
at the Signal Processing Research Institute (SPRI) Building at the University 
of South Australia. At this conference, papers from all of the ASRI program
areas were presented by ASRI members and university students from around
the country.

The conference attendance ranged from 20-40 over the 3 day period and
included personnel from DSTO, the SPRI, the Australian Space Office,
National Universities, Industry, retired experts from Australia's space
history, as well as ASRI members and several general public.

Program updates were given at the beginning of the conference, followed by
the more specific technical papers. In addition to Ausroc, Australis and
Scramjet, a new program to utilise surplus 3.5" sighter rockets, which are
currently located out at Woomera, was officially discussed for the first
time. The sighter rockets are being targeted for a number of scientific,
educational and hardware evaluation roles to enable ASRI to further promote
space science and technology in Australia and gain more trials experience. 

Some 26 University students participated in ASRI projects in 1993. However,
due to work, family or financial reasons, only 11 of these students were
able to attend the conference and deliver their project results in person.
Some of the papers were delivered by proxy. All students, however, have
provided project reports which have been added to the ASRI reference
library.

The quality of the project work, as a whole, was most impressive with some
of the projects producing and testing development hardware. All projects
have contributed new information, some of which has already led to several
design improvements in the Ausroc III launch vehicle program.

The results of the 1993 project work has assisted in the preparation of
project work for 1994. Several third year engineering students were also
present at the conference to get information and ideas for potential
project work in 1994.

Two student awards were presented at the conference. These were for 'Best
Presentation' and 'Most Outstanding Project'. The 'Best Presentation' award
was presented by Frank Eliason from the Australian Space Office, one of our
major sponsors, to Alec Bachorski from Adelaide University who had
undertaken a combined project with Greg Brown titled 'Control System
Simulator'. 

The 'Most Outstanding Project' award was presented by Mark Blair, the ASRI
Chairman, to Stuart Tibbits and Jason Wellington again from Adelaide
University who had undertaken the 'Ausroc III Motor Gimbal System' project.
This project involved the design, FEM modelling, fabrication and test of
the complete gimbal rig assembly for the Ausroc III motor. 

Alec, Stuart and Jason are to be congratulated for their enthusiasm and
commitment during 1993 as are all those who participated in the ASRI
programs.  

A third award was presented by Tzu-pei Chen, the ASRI Treasurer, to Mark
Blair. This award was a certificate signed by representatives from leading
amateur groups in the USA, the UK and Australia in recognition of his
efforts in the promotion and development of amateur rocketry.

The final day of the conference had papers presented by Frank Eliason from
the ASO, outlining the Australian Government Space Program, John Douglas
from the SA Economic Development Authority, outlining space industry
developments in SA and Mark Blair, presenting a paper on international
amateur programs. From these papers it was clear that ASRI is one of the
largest organisations of its type in the world and can make a useful
contribution to the development of a National Space Program.

The conference was capped off by a tour to the Woomera Rocket Range. 
During this tour, 17 of the conference delegates we were able to visit 
numerous facilities around the range including:

        Instrumentation Building (the range nerve centre)
        Test Shop 1 (where Ausroc II was assembled and tested)
        Explosives Fitting Shop
        Evetts Field Runway
        Launcher Area 2 (where Ausroc II  was launched)
        Launcher Area 5 (where Black Arrow & Black Knight were launched)
        Launcher Area 6 (where Blue Streak / ELDO were launched)
        Launcher Area 8 (where Redstone / WRESAT was launched)
        Launcher Area 9 (where Rapier and Sea Wolf were launched)

Thanks must be given to John Draper, the RAAF Range Manager, for arranging
the tour and Bob Dyer, one of the Woomera Area Administrators, for acting
as tour guide for us and arranging the barbecue at Breen Park on the
Saturday night. Bob must also be thanked for introducing a number of our
contingent to the sport of sailboarding on one of the many large salt lakes
in the area.

Finally, the ASRI Directors would like to thank all the ASRI members and
University students for their involvement in the various ASRI programs
throughout 1993. The valuable technical input which they have provided by
undertaking projects has brought us closer to achieving our goals and
meeting our constitutional objectives.

Mark Blair (12 January 1994)