Tom Spurling – The Conversation

CSIRO Archives

April 27, 2020

Coronavirus lessons from past crises: how WWI and WWII spurred scientific innovation in Australia

Tom Spurling, Swinburne University of Technology and Garrett Upstill, Swinburne University of Technology

In the 1980s, CSIRO and its university collaborators set into motion a chain of events that would lead to the production of relenza, the first drug to successfully treat the flu.

The new A$10 banknote, part of a series. The next new banknote to be released will be the A$50, planned for 2018. Reserve Bank of Australia

September 19, 2017

It may not be beautiful but the new ten dollar note is pretty secure

Tom Spurling, Swinburne University of Technology and David Solomon, The University of Melbourne

The new series of Australian banknotes are not a designer’s dream but they are the strongest yet in terms of preventing counterfeiting.

World War I made the world realise the importance of scientific research. Australian War Memorial G00907

August 12, 2015

The Great War brought us tragedy but it also birthed Australian science

Tom Spurling, Swinburne University of Technology and John Mark Webb, Swinburne University of Technology

Before World War I, science was considered a novelty in Australia. But the War triggered the realisation that the government needed to invest in scientific research.

They’re waterproof and tough – not to mention colourful – but plastic notes were developed for their unforgeability. Lis Ferla/Flickr

November 25, 2014

Proceeds of crime: how polymer banknotes were invented

Tom Spurling, Swinburne University of Technology and David Solomon, The University of Melbourne

Welcome to CSIRO Inventions, a series looking at the discoveries and innovations borne from Australia’s national science agency. In this first instalment, we outline the story behind the plastic money…

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