At our recent Tech Talks session, we were fortunate to listen to a detailed history of Schneider Electrics presented by member Garry Manning, spanning from the first building to the present day.

Schneider Electrics started off small with basically two men and their families restarting a manufacturing process that had been shut down by their previous multinational employer. They moved from their previous employer in Lilydale to new premises in Benalla. This was to Benalla's advantage.

Through expansion and merger, Schneider Electrics has increased in size several times over. Staff levels have risen to several hundred at times when circumstances allowed. Employees have come from all over the world. Schneider Electrics has stayed at the forefront of electronic technology all during this time.

The town of Benalla has indeed benefited.

The Schneider Electrics story is indeed inspirational.

​Neville Gibb

At our last Tech Talks we watched videos showing the development of Radio Vacuum Tubes. These were introduced to us by Graeme and we thank him for bringing them to our attention. You could say that Radio developed because someone noticed a smudge on an electric light bulb and decided to check it out. Whatever the reason, it's obvious that we are standing on the shoulders of Giants in the development of Radio Technology  and that we still do not completely understand Electricity. 

We had a short discussion on the Concorde and the Soviet  TU -144. The Soviet Union built its own equivalent of Concorde. Unfortunately one of its prototypes broke in half when being shown at a public demonstration. It wasn't completely successful. In the early prototypes noise inside the plane was a real problem.

We watched a Video showing that there are attempts to revive supersonic travel. If we use multiple thrust technologies it will be possible to travel from Londeon to New York in two hours. Unfortunately we won't be able to look out the windows because no glass can be included in the construction of the plane. 

​Neville Gibb

​At our last Tech Talks Doug Smith of our group enlightened us with the History of the Wodonga Albury Freeway Bypass.

The 17km Albury Wodonga Hume Freeway opened to traffic on 6 March 2007. The route links the Hume Freeway in Wodonga with the Hume Highway at Ettamogah, north of Albury.

The $524 million project was funded by the Australian Government and included the $12 million Bandiana Link that was jointly funded by the Victorian and Australian governments.

Doug Smith was the overall Project Manager and he took us through the project from start to finish. There was a lot of construction required. Both Freeway and Bridges had to be constructed. Doug had many stories to tell about the satisfaction of building the Bypass and we thoroughly enjoyed his talk.

For the last part of our session we watched a video on how to link up with Starlink. This was done by a person who appeared to live in an outer suburb of an Australian Town. This citizen was having difficulty with NBN as there had been housing developments close to where he lived and the potency of his signal was being diminished through the increase in subscribers. He felt he was suffering from having to rely on a land based signal.

The video showed that it is not difficult to join Starlink which of course is based on a low earth orbiting satellite.

Starlink is an alternative to NBN and is well suited to Benalla.
 
Neville Gibb

​This month we enjoyed listening to the work history of one of our members. Julie has had an extensive career in the Armed Services. Specifically Aeroplanes. And quite impressive. Of course other things as well. But we enjoyed immensely Julies telling of her story.
 
The rest of the time we watched a video entitled - Is the Cloud Damaging the Planet. The cloud is an absolute requirement of modern times.There is a lot of energy required in maintaining the cloud. As with modern life this can be both good and bad.  We need to both maintain and extend the cloud. We need to provide the energy to run the cooling units that maintain the cloud.

​Confronting and overcoming such problems is something that is normally outside our experience but in time we might find ourselves living within sight of Data Units required to cope with the extensive need for Data.
 
Neville Gibb.

For most of our recent session we concentrated on discussing Elon Musk. In modern times several figures have emerged which have influenced modern life. Elon is one of them. Zip online city guides, Paypal, Hyperloop, Space X, Tesla Cars - the list goes on.

The more relevant development relating to Australia is Starlink. Starlink has great relevance to Australia and specifically to Benalla. It allows mobile phone coverage without the inconvenience of Mobile Phone Towers or earth based infrastructure such as copper wires. A series of low orbit satellites delivers broadband internet to remote, rural and unserviced areas where fibre or cable is unavailable or incompetent. With further development of low level satellites, cable will become redundant.

Later on we discussed several new technical developments relating to Medicine.

We finished by noting several inventions you would not believe were made in NZ. Included was the Electric Fence. Also instant coffee. Not surprisingly the Zealandia Milking Machine.

​Neville Gibb

At our recent Tech Talks we discussed a media article about Barry Jones - our former great Minister Of Science. Barry is in his mid 90's and has recently had an incident where the floor came up and hit him on the head. Amongst other things Barry Jones was the first Australian to mention the  words - global warming and climate change. This should give him some kudos when it comes to relevance. When he was hospitalised he reflected on some pertinent things. Of the 20 or so medical staff who treated him, only 2 were anglo. He asked how much resources the state should allocate to keeping people his age alive. He reflected on the lack of discussion about Science  in Parliament.
 
Since Barry's retirement Science has definitely been relegated off the front page. This is an unfortunate occurrence for us all.
 
For the rest of our session we concentrated mainly on China. We watched an informal interview with a Teacher whose parents moved to China in the 50's. They wanted him to be Chinese and did not speak English to him until he was 6 years old. 
 
It is extremely interesting listening to a person totally proficient in both languages and totally at home in both cultures. Amongst other things he mentioned that during the hard times at the end of the 50's some people actually starved. He also showed us the Chinese equivalent of his aged pension card. He reflected on how public opinion sometimes changes government policy much the same as in the rest of the world. He also pointed out how the public collective consensus can be the same in most wealthy countries. For instance, parents in China now drive their children to school. No parent would dream of letting their child walk or ride a bike to school. 
 
Does this sound familiar?
 
Neville Gibb

​We started by watching a video of a large passenger plane coming into land. This was filmed inside the cockpit and the pilot was one of our members attending Tech Talks. It was only after the plane had safely come to a stop that it was revealed to be a simulated flight. Nevertheless it looked extremely real. I doubt if any normal person could tell the difference.
 
The recent Epstein Files have had some unexpected results. Some prominent people have had their reputations tarnished. One such person is Bill Gates. We watched a video where Bill Gates explained the development of AI. The bubble surrounding AI is different to the bubble that surrounded the Dot.com boom. AI has yet to develop an algorithm that produces reason.
 
The problem we now have is can we give people the same respect after scurrilous claims have been made about them on social media.
 
We then watched a video of a large car factory in China where the factory is more or less permanently in darkness. This is because all the workers are robots and do not need any light. There are no humans involved in the manufacturing process. Occasionally humans come and service the robot machines and of course the lights then have to be turned on.
 
It is obvious that great changes have occurred recently in China. Still there are areas that have stayed much the same since 1980. We watched a video made by a westerner of a large area inside the city of Chongqing. This area  reverts to the stereotypical and shows a cramped area of extremely small 7 story apartments. Dark atmosphere. Very  narrow alleyways. No open areas. Dangerous looking electrical wiring everywhere. However the people living there looked prosperous and healthy. Apparently the area is privately owned and the government has had trouble in its attempts to redevelop it.
 
Neville Gibb

We began by examining the newly completed London Transport Map. This map now incorporates all below and above ground lines and the Tram Line in South London.

This map is now so comprehensive that it's difficult to read all the stations. The writing has to be so small so as to fit everything on the page.

We were then brought up to date on NASA's plans to put a colony on the moon. NASA plan to build at the south pole where they think frozen water might exist. Parts of the South Pole never see the light of day and have been frozen for millennia. The surprising thing about establishing a colony on the moon is that it will have many of the problems that exist on earth. Roads. Power lines. Vehicles. Insulated buildings. etc.

We finished by watching a video explaining the manufacture of computer chips. Computer chips are extremely difficult to manufacture and they are always in short supply.  This can sometimes lead to difficult political situations.

Neville Gibb

At Tech Talks we take on a number of subjects. Sometimes  these subjects are difficult to comprehend. Nevertheless we press on.

Because of the number of unresolved conflicts in the world, the interest in weapons has proliferated. Mr. Putin has announced that he will showcase a new ICBM powered by Nuclear Energy and Mr. Trump has responded by saying he will also test a number of new weapons.

We watched a video explaining the development in Nuclear Powered rockets that apparently has been going on for a number of years. Not sure that we completely understood the technology but we tried. In essence a  hydrogen fed nuclear reaction is set up  and this produces  more power than conventional chemical rockets.

We also were given an insight into Black Holes. Again this enlightened us slightly but not completely. It is believed that every Galaxy has a black hole at its centre. But there are a small number of rogue black holes not attached to any galaxy and occasionally they are attracted to each other. The knowledge on these matters is being added to almost daily.

We ended the day by watching a report on the increasing number of westerners who are moving to Russia. There are number of people on YouTube who are willing to tell their stories.

​
Neville Gibb

​The earth is currently experiencing  a number of conflicts and it is obvious that the practice of warfare has  changed somewhat in recent times. Drones and anti drone warfare are now common. In some quarters Australia is considered to be a leader in the development of Drones. This is surprising considering the length and breadth of Australia but it is true. Australia has developed one of the best new drones. Look it up on YouTube.

We watched a critical assessment of Bill Gates' support for developing nuclear power using Thorium. Thorium is a non radioactive element that can be converted to U233 which is then used to create heat that can be stored in liquid sodium which can then be used at the manufacturers convenience to produce electricity. In other words a nuclear reactor that can be ramped up and down to a certain extent. There is also less nuclear waste and it is hoped that the nuclear waste produced might be recycled at a later date.

We finished with a music segment purely to indulge myself. When horsehair is pulled over a taut wire a wave is produced. This wave is transmitted to us as a sound. Music has to comply with the laws of physics and it does. Beautifully. We listened to a piece of music that Mozart wrote called Tu Virginum Corona. This was written when Mozart was still in his teens for a Castrati that Mozart admired.  We listened to a recent recording sung by a counter tenor. I dare anyone to resist this beautiful music when they hear it..

​Neville Gibb

​In Tech Talks we cover a fair range of issues. Some surprisingly contentious. This week wasn't one of them. We concentrated on relevant topics.

This week we covered the subjects:-Top 10 Megaprojects in Australia: Melbourne Sewerage System of the 1920"s: Steve Jobs insult response: The genius design of Antarctic Bases: and Why AI experts say humans have 2 years left.

Surprisingly the driest continent on earth is the Antarctic.  It requires buildings to be built that can cope with the conditions. These buildings do not resemble the buildings Mawson left behind. Because of climate change and the ice sheet melting and moving faster than it used to, the buildings have to be moveable -virtually portable.

There are 10 megaprojects under construction in Australia. Unfortunately the majority of them have problems and are behind schedule. We will keep in touch.

We do not know if they experienced similar problems with the sewerage system of the 1920's. Most of which was done by hand.
​
Neville Gibb

At our recent session, we diverted from our usual format and had a lively discussion about why a murder trial in a small Victorian town should be the centre of attention for what seems to be the world's media. This is a most unusual situation. The mainstream media is no longer as well-funded as it once was, yet it is clear that global media outlets have chosen to invest significantly in covering this trial. The question is—why? We speculated whether there might be an underlying reason driving such intense interest, but we reached no firm conclusion.

As part of our ongoing effort to understand China, we also revisited some of its current engineering projects. China has an impressive number of developments underway. In particular, it has rebuilt its train system and now boasts the largest high-speed rail network in the world.

Perhaps we could take a leaf out of their book—or even consider subcontracting them to build a high-speed rail system for us.
​
Fearing we might be suffering from "China fatigue," we ended the session by learning about electricity. To a certain extent, electricity remains a mysterious force that is not fully understood. The BBC History of Electricity is an extremely enjoyable and informative video on the subject.

​Neville Gibb

​If we are to achieve zero net emissions by 2050 we will have to double our solar and wind turbine projects. If we object to the proliferation of solar panels and wind turbines we will have to sooner or later accept that there will be many more of them or else we will have to accept some alternative method of energy production. Benalla is a very conservative place and there is some opposition to Solar Farms.  Benalla already has a number of Solar Farms surrounding it and will shortly have more.  We watched a video of an interview with the Manager of the Glenrowan Solar Farm. She indicated that the Solar Farm was proceeding satisfactorily and that they already had sheep on the Farm. She explained that when sheep graze amongst the panels they actually do better than sheep in an open paddock.

For the rest of the session we concentrated on the achievements of Headlie Shipard Taylor. This man is the unknown hero of  grain harvesting technology.  Australia  became a world leader in this field because of him. He developed the Header Harvester. Easier said than done. He built a machine that separated the seeds from the husk and carried them back to where they could be bagged up. (Remember the wheat bag). This was driven by a sprocket mechanism built into the Header's Wheel. Inverted fingers collected a surprisingly high proportion of the wheat seed. This machine made wheat farming a profitable exercise.

Headlie Taylor started in Henty but in 1916 he joined the HV MacKay Company where he continued to invent and develop new farm machinery. Hugh MacKay had a checkered career when dealing with staff but the partnership between him and Headlie Taylor proved to be highly successful and Headlie Taylor continued with the HV MacKay Company until he retired in 1954.

This country is in his debt.

Neville Gibb

We spent most of our May session investigating the production of Silicon Chips.

Producing computer chips is a complex procedure involving a number of countries and requires the cooperation of a number of companies.  There is only one company with enough expertise to build the machine that produces chips and you can understand the pressures it experiences. There is both  a shortage of computer chips and an increased demand for them.

There is constant research and development occurring in this most precise industry. It is exceedingly complex and difficult to produce computer chips. Taiwan is the largest producer at the moment.

It is not known if chips will be exempt from the new tariff charges announced by the United States.

We finished by watching another chapter in the history of electricity. The story of how electricity developed is fascinating.

Neville Gibb
​May 2025

​

At our monthly session on Tuesday 8th April we were introduced to Linux by Steve Davies.

Linux is an open source operating system. It is a computer system available for all to use. It is free for anyone to use.

It competes with both Microsoft and Apple. Today, it has a massive user base, and is used in the world’s 500 most powerful supercomputers. Users gravitate toward it for its versatility and security capabilities, among other reasons. The Linux kernel is maintained by a worldwide community of open source enthusiasts and has hundreds of unique users.

​The linux system is extremely important if little well known and we thank Steve for bringing it to our attention. It is obvious that Steve is extremely skilled in its use. He demonstrated how attachments can be added when required. He showed that the desktop can be made identical to both Microsoft and Apple. He emphasised that both Microsoft and Apple use the same "kernal" as Linux and their systems are based on Linus software.

We thank Steve for his input and look forward to further explanation from him.


​Neville Gibb

​In the history of the Motor Car there are many unusual cars but we can say that one standout is -  The Trabant. This was the car of The German Democratic Republic. The GDR did not have many natural resources - well none in 1945 - but they wanted the public to have their own car. After the war the country had lots of problems - lack of resources - lack of labour - bit they persisted in setting up manufacturing facilities to make their own  “peoples” car.  They had no steel making facilities and no petroleum refineries for instance.

The East Germans had to build the Trabant from what they could scrape up from what was available. The chasis was originally built of wood but was later built of low grade steel. The body was made of Duroplast which was a synthetic material made out of Bakelite and recycled cotton and wool  waste. The engine was a two stroke engine similar to what was used in lawn mowers in the West.  It had a cruising speed of 90kph. It was a very simple car. It had no accessories. Limited dials etc. No fuel indicator. It did come to receive acceptance from the public and is still regarded with affection by a number of enthusiasts.

The Trabant was produced from 1957 to 1990 with only minor adjustments along the way. It was still essentially the same car in 1990 as it was in 1957. The manufacturing plant closed down within days of the demise of the GDR. Over 3,000,000 were produced and was sometimes called “a spark plug with a roof”.

We watched a detailed History of the Trabant.

Later on we watched the unveiling of a portrait of Einstein in the Royal Society in London. This portrait was painted before the advent of the Nazi period in Germany and was smuggled out during the Nazi period. If it had remained in Germany it would have been destroyed. The Royal Society is now in the building that was occupied by the German Embassy before the war.

​Neville Gibb

At our February meeting we discussed the potential impact of ChatGPT and how it virtually rewrote a short attempt at combining Quantum Theory with Nano Time and made it comprensible. We started our meeting discussing a new addition to the AI world with the announcement that China has released a new AI  app - DeepSeek. It is said to take less data to use than ChatGPT.  When asked if any of the U3A members present would be using this new app from China, no one put up their hand.

Staying on the subject of China we watched a video of Jeremy Clarkson extolling the virtues of China's new road system. Clarkson is usually a cynical character with nothing much good to say about any country except UK, but he appeared virtually gob smacked at the advances made in road transport in China and how it compares with the lack of Road Technology in the UK.

We brought ourselves up to date on the progress of Snowy Mountains Two. The scheme has had many problems and is both behind time and  experiencing  large cost increases - but thankfully is still progressing.  When it is finished it will be worth whatever the cost because it will transform the renewable energy situation for the whole of Australia.

Lithium is an element crucial to the development and manufacture of Electric Batteries. Lithium is not an easy thing to mine. A massive area encompassing Chile, Bolivia and Argentina is where most of the world's supply of Lithiam comes from and it is rumoured that both China and Russia are interested in investing in the industry. Australia also mines Lithium and both South America and Australia share the same environmental problems mining in areas with an indigenous history.

We finished by watching a video predicting how different things will be in 50 years time. This predicted a number of developments. Quantum computers should be able to transform problem solving. AI should be able to assist in diagnosing medical symptoms. AI will speed up genetic exploration. These are just a few. The possibilities are endless.

It is worth noting that the BBC made some 50 year predictions in the early 70’s through their TV show Tomorrows World. These can be seen on YouTube. Unfortunately most of these are well off the mark. We have progressed well in advance of what they predicted and the technologies they thought might eventuate are extremely unsophisticated by today's standards.

​Neville Gibb

At Tech Talks we cover many subjects.  At our session on the 10th December, still on the subject of Canberra. we learned that there were several unforeseen problems when the Science Dome was constructed. This Dome was constructed to be a showpiece of Canberra where lectures etc would be held. It quickly gained the nickname - the Martian Embassy. It was found to have a special property. People got ill after spending time inside the Dome. People felt disorientated and light headed. Seasick even. It was established that the colour scheme in the decoration of the interior walls had an effect on some people. The interior had to be redesigned. The Science Dome remains a tourist attraction and hopefully people no longer get sick.

Les Rogers talked to us about encryption and decryption. In simple terms the operation of transforming a plaintext block into a ciphertext block is called encryption and the operation of transforming a ciphertext into a plaintext block is called decryption. The need to keep messages secret has been in mens minds for centuries and is very much at the forefront of modern computer technology. In 1997 a competition was held for the search for a successor algorithm of DES that would be accepted by all. The winner was proclaimed in Oct 2000 and is now in general use.

ChatGBT-OpenAI has been in the news lately. One of the topics offered in the U3A class 'As Time Goes By' was Right Here - Right Now. Taking this subject literally, I produced an essay attempting to combine nano time into quantum theory. The essay resulting was not entirely comprehensive. However when the essay was put through ChatGBT the result was extremely surprising. It made the essay not only look authentic but made it interesting and easy to read.  It certainly made the writer look good.

It is hard to see how anyone will not now put all their writing through ChatGBT - emails, lectures - anything!

Neville Gibb

Editor's Note - If you would like to read Neville's essay, and the response when ChatGPT was asked to review its propositions, go to 'Right Here, Right Now - Meditation on time' 

We covered a number of subjects that I hope were of interest to Engineers.

We discussed the inland Rail Route from Melbourne to Brisbane. Still under construction. Big Plans in place. We are still in the early stages of this project. Not to be confused with the Fast train from Melbourne to Brisbane.

We then moved to Canberra. The Government held a competition to decide the development of Canberra and thankfully the Griffins submitted their entry. We were able to see some of the plans submitted that were not chosen. One advocated a chocolate box European style city of 15000 built in one enclosed space. Very ornate. Very unlike modern Canberra. It is interesting to note that several of the competition entries were dead against the grid system claiming that cities are more civilised when streets meander. As it was Canberra took a long time to develop and sometimes deviated from the Griffin Plans.. The population was only 10000 between the wars and at times there was talk of abandoning it and moving to Sydney. However by and large the Griffin Plans were followed and this resulted in sections of Canberra being seemingly in isolation from other parts.  Civic was distant to Parliament House. Belconnen was even more distant. We saw some of the early inner Canberra buildings and this was extremely interesting. Of course they are still there but the centre of Civic has moved.
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We then moved to something completely different. The UK is reintroducing Beavers after a period of 400 years. There are now Beavers in Hampstead Heath. The Beavers were once spread all over Europe including the UK but were hunted to extinction. For their Pelts and Vanilla flavour. Beavers follow the laws of physics and are natural engineers. They have a knowledge of water storage. They are good for the ecology and attract other species to their waterways. They can also alleviate flooding downstream. It is hoped that Humans can accept their presence in the landscape this time around. Farmers are the main objectors.

We finished up with an indulgence. I played an aria from The Marriage of Figaro. But of course Music is also subject to the laws of physics.

Neville Gibb

We spent most of September's session watching a TED Talk video featuring educator Sir Ken Robinson. This was most enlightening. It is always good to listen to an inspirational speaker and I would recommend people look him up. Tech Talks is always interested in Education. Sir Ken made the point that educational systems are the same all over the world. At the top of the hierarchy are University Professors and at the bottom of the pyramid are craft and dance teachers. If we find a way to change attitudes in Education then the world might change also. Much discussion followed from this talk.

In the second part of the session we reverted to watching the History of Electricity. We learned of what have been called the Current Wars between Nicholas Tesla and Thomas Edison. Tesla won the battle but lost the war. Or was it the other way around?

​Neville Gibb

​We began our session on Tuesday 13 August with Les showing us how our computers can be modified to accept Windows 11. Windows 11 has certain requirements of our computers before Microsoft lets us install it, and we must get this tick of approval first, unlike any previous incarnation of Windows.  An intricate process requiring concentration.

We then listened to Aldous Huxley warn us about Fake News and the manipulation of Television. He advised that we should always be in control of Technology rather than letting Technology control us. This was all very interesting and relevant to current events, except that Aldous Huxley was speaking in 1963.

​We then looked at current work on the connection between the Eastern Freeway and the Ring Road. This is quite an undertaking consisting of both above and below ground construction.

Finally, a reminder that we will be moving back to Classroom 2 in September.
​
Neville Gibb

At Tech Talks on Tuesday 9th July we watched a replay of 4 Corners entitled Inside China's Tech Boom. This 4 Corners was from Public Broadcasting USA. It detailed the Huawei Company's problems with introducing 5G to the West. It pointed out that China has not been able to keep up with Taiwan, Korea and the US in producing Silicon Chips and this has led to a severe reduction in manufacturing in China. It also pointed out that as the west encourages intermingling of research workers from all over the world this has helped innovation and exploration in Silicon Chip Manufacturers. This has meant the west is well ahead in innovation design and manufacture. China has not followed this policy up to now.

It also revealed that China has shut down its involvement with Crypto Currency. It points out that massive amounts of energy are required to service this industry which it considers both risky and frivolous.


Neville Gibb

At our last Tech Talks we started by discussing the last Four Corners which concentrated on two things. Coal Mining and Wind Turbines.  It is obvious that, if we are to make an impact on the CO2 levels in the atmosphere, we will have to cut back on coal mining and increase the number of wind turbines. The programme spoke to prominent people who think climate change is a hoax and also noted the number of people who think wind turbines are ugly.

The remainder of the session concentrated on new developments in internal combustion engines which are still in the research stage.

We also watched a video of a building development in Melbourne that is close to achieving sustainable status. The main drawback is that you are encouraged not to have a car


Neville Gibb

At our May session Les brought us up to date with problems associated with Lithium Batteries. Les gave an explanation of various types and what they can be used for. Unfortunately, Lithium is an element that reacts with water and can lead to fires. Some houses have been damaged and some cars have caught fire.

From that we took up again the video of The History of Electricity. It is interesting to note that even in the early days of electricity it was not explained just what electricity was. We were more interested in what it could do than explaining what it was. This situation is still more or less the same today. The video provided much fuel for thought. Just what is electricity? Was it created in the Big Bang? Can electrons be transferred from Hydrogen atoms to Helium atoms? Is electricity part of the quantum world or is it part of the wider chemical world we inhabit? Could it be the connection between the two worlds?

Neville Gibb