Dr Arun Chandu
Research Fellow at the CAHS & Airways Museum 2013-
Dr Arun Chandu BDSc, MBBS(Hons), MDSc, PhD(Melb), FDSRCS(Eng), FRACDS(OMS) completed a PhD thesis on the Planning History of the Tullamarine Airport (Melbourne Airport), 1920 to 1970. Arun's research drew heavily on the archives of the Civil Aviation Historical Society. As of 2016 he is working on publishing the results of this extensive study.
Dr Chandu trained in both the UK and Australia, completing Medicine, Dentistry and Masters of Dental Science at the University of Melbourne with fellowships from the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons. He is head of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Western Health, Melbourne, and a consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at both the Royal Melbourne Hospital and The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne. He is in private practice in Moonee Ponds and Sunbury and is an Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, School of Dental Science, University of Melbourne.
Searching for a new field of endeavour, Arun decided to do something completely different and turned to the history of Melbourne Airport, a long-standing interest.
Melbourne Airport was one of the first well-planned post-war airports in the world, readily expandable with plenty of land and with multiple access modes, although the rail-link is still to be built. It became the blueprint for all new airports in Australia and the region and influenced land-use planning around airports in Australia. Arun's thesis covers the planning history of Tullamarine, its construction, the history of airports in the area, access methods including the rail-link, Stanley Korman and his satellite city for Tullamarine - Woodlands, land-use zoning and its history of failed housing projects around the airport, the 1959 protest movement and places of interest lost to the airport’s development such as the Inverness Hotel.
Dr Arun Chandu was appointed the inaugural Research Fellow at the CAHS & Airways Museum in February 2013.