Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434 Brisbane QLD 4001www.qut.edu.au

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QUT Outstanding Alumni Awards – Celebrating 20 years 19 91 – 2 011

I N S P I R E

QUT Outstanding Alumni Awards – Celebrating 20 years 19 91 – 2 011

I N S P I R EAcknowledgements

Produced by QUT Marketing and Communication Department for QUT Alumni and Development Office.

Text Sandra Hutchinson

Art direction and design Mia Berkovits

Photography Sonja de Sterke

Additional photography Chris Budgeon, Melbourne (David Moffatt) and

Peter Rossi, Highlights Photography, Cairns (Pia-Angela Francini)

ISBN 978-1-921897-05-4

QUT is committed to sustainability. Printed on Envirocare 100% Recycled

by Cornerstone Press Pty Ltd, Brisbane

© QUT 2011 17753 CRICOS No. 00213J

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Contents“Nothing great

was ever achieved without

enthusiasm”R a l p h Wa l d o E m e r s o n

1 8 0 3 – 1 8 8 2

Foreword ......................................................... 6

QUT, a leading university ............................... 7

Chancellor's Outstanding Alumni ................. 9

Dr Mick Adams ........................................................................ 11

Allan Brackin ...........................................................................13

Dr Cristina Cifuentes ..............................................................15

Pia-Angela Francini.................................................................17

Dr Dale Gilbert PSM .................................................................19

Dr Amaya Gillespie .................................................................21

Jan Hannant ............................................................................23

Professor Robert Hess ............................................................24

Stephen Lawrence ..................................................................25

Zimi Meka ................................................................................27

Geoff Mitchell AO ....................................................................29

David Moffatt ..........................................................................31

Kevin Perkins ...........................................................................33

Dr William Robinson AO .........................................................35

Dr Chris Sarra ..........................................................................37

Heather Waldron .....................................................................39

Professor Harvey Whiteford AM .............................................41

Dr David Wyatt ........................................................................43

2011 Outstanding Alumnus — Colin Jensen ........................45

Award winners .............................................. 47

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QUT, a leading university

QUT has a long tradition of recognising exceptional achievement.

Following its inception as a university in 1990, QUT established its Outstanding Alumni Awards program in 1991, to acknowledge the contribution of QUT graduates and those of its predecessor institutions. The program recognises exceptional service covering professional, academic and research achievement as well as significant contributions to the community.

An initiative of the QUT Alumni Board, the first awards included faculty recognition for extraordinary achievement and the selection of an overall alumni award winner, the Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus. Over the years, the awards have developed to include recognition for the Outstanding Young Alumnus, as well as Special Excellence and Excellence in Research awards, all of which are selected by the Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumni Awards Judging Panel.

Over time, the awards have grown in prestige and popularity and are regarded as QUT’s most significant alumni initiative. The award presentation ceremony attracts a large audience comprising alumni and their families, QUT staff, students and industry partners, philanthropic donors, politicians and government officials.

The awards play a critical role in helping the University engage with the community to demonstrate its learning, teaching and research excellence.

It is particularly pleasing to note that many of the winners continue their association with QUT, lending professional expertise to the governance of the University by serving on QUT Council, on the Alumni Board and supporting the academic and research development program in faculties and institutes. Also, many have provided significant and much welcomed philanthropic support to a variety of projects and programs.

QUT is deeply honoured to have the privilege to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of so many distinguished graduates who reflect and exemplify the outcomes QUT seeks for all its students.

Major General (Ret’d) Peter Arnison AC, CVO Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake AO Vice-Chancellor

QUT is a highly successful Australian university with global connections and a distinctive reputation for quality courses, outstanding teaching and high-impact research.

QUT enrols some 42 000 students. Our courses are in high demand and graduates enjoy excellent job and career outcomes. academic programs from bachelor

degree to Phd are offered in engineering, architecture and design, business, creative industries, education,

health, law, and science and technology. Some 20 per cent of total enrolments are at postgraduate level, and 16 per cent of students come from overseas.

QUT is recognised nationally and internationally for the relevance of its teaching and research to industry, the professions and the broader community. The University’s "real-world" positioning is also underpinned by close relationships with employers

and professional bodies which provide students with a unique balance of theory and practical skills.

The quality of QUT's teaching has been reflected in the University's consistent positioning at the top of national awards for teaching excellence and innovation, and the relevance of its courses is underpinned by national and international professional accreditation. during the past decade, QUT has greatly

expanded its research and international profile. In 2010 the University was ranked at world standard or above in 75 per cent of its research, assessed under the Australian Government’s Excellence in Research for Australia assessment framework (ERA).

QUT hosts two federally funded cooperative research centres (wound management

and engineering asset management) and is a participant in another seven. it has established

Queensland’s first Confucius institute and hosts the australian-Canadian Prostate Cancer research

alliance, the arC Centre of excellence for Creative industries and innovation, the syngenta Centre for

sugarcane Biofuel development, the microsoft eresearch Centre, aussun research lab and the

australian research Centre for aerospace automation. Very importantly, QUT also established several years ago the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), which brings together 400 researchers across the relevant fields in world-class premises.

Based in Brisbane, QUT has campuses at gardens Point and Kelvin grove in the inner city, and at

Caboolture, north of the city. The Gardens Point campus will be transformed over the next year as a new $230 million Science and Technology Precinct takes shape. at Kelvin grove, a modern urban village development is integrating the campus with the community,

bringing together residential, educational, retail, health and recreational facilities.

Foreword 7

Chancellor's Outstanding Alumni

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s2010Mick Adams

F a c u l t y o f H e a l t h / P h D / C l a s s o f 2 0 0 7

education has made a profound difference to mick adams’ life.

as an indigenous child growing up in the northern Territory,

dr adams admits he did everything he could to get away

from school. at 15 he left.

“yeah i was a bit of a rough head back then,” he says. “i was

getting in trouble and i wasn’t living the best life.”

But at 28 dr adams, who was working as a house painter,

enrolled to undertake an associate diploma in social work.

This led to securing a job with the department of social security

working with aboriginal people throughout the northern

Territory.

with a passion to improve the health outcomes of indigenous

people, dr adams got a taste for studying and went on to

complete three other degrees before starting his Phd at QUT.

His ground-breaking research looked at indigenous male sexual

and reproductive health and built on his more than 30 years

experience in liaison, training policy and senior management

roles in the northern Territory.

dr adams has a vast amount of knowledge and practical

experience within indigenous communities. “i have worked

closely with indigenous communities and they have come

to trust me,” he says. “They know the work i am doing is

important and have helped me achieve some really positive

outcomes.”

He says his decision to focus on male health needs came

about from a meeting with a group of indigenous women

while doing a scoping study on aboriginal mental health.

“when i was sitting there talking about mental health and how

do we try and address it, we got to talking about their men.

They said too many of our men are dying at an early age, or

going to prison because they are angry and not looking after

themselves. The women said that if we don’t look after our

men we are not going to have any future. without our men

we don’t have husbands, fathers or leaders. so they said i

should go and work with the men.

“i’ve taken control of my health and i know how to reach men.

you have to ask them to think about why they want to live a

long and healthy life. once they can find a reason, such as

seeing their grandchildren grow up, it has a positive effect on

their life and they start to take charge of keeping themselves

healthy. most men say that they want to be positive leaders

in their communities and want a safe and secure life for

their families.”

since completing his Phd at QUT, dr adams has continued

his work with indigenous communities. He still holds

positions at QUT as national indigenous Coordinator for

palliative care and as a fellow continuing his research into

men’s health issues.

The motto i use is “i strive for the best, anything less will not

do", he says. “Because i know when i first started studying

at 28 i had limited reading and writing skills. i thought i was a

bit of a dummy, i knew i had the ability but didn’t think i had

the brains. so i took the opportunity that presented itself

and made the most of it.

“i always try to lead by example. my previous life, that was

my past and i don’t want people to suffer and live the

way i did.”

“I strive for the best, anything less will not do.”

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s1999Allan Brackin

F a c u l t y o f B u i l t E n v i r o n m e n t a n d E n g i n e e r i n g / B A p p S c ( S u r v e y i n g ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 8 1

allan Brackin has made a name for himself in the

business world.

at just 26, the QiT applied science and surveying graduate

took a $30 000 gamble and started his own business. within

two decades he had turned aag Technology services Pty ltd

into one of the biggest australian-owned iT companies listed

on the australian stock exchange. after mergers with Volante

limited and then iPeX, mr Brackin was heading a company

employing more than 1000 staff.

How does a surveying graduate get into the iT business

world?

mr Brackin’s passion for rugby league and a “lull in the

surveying industry in Brisbane” when he graduated, steered

him into a sales position.

while studying at QiT, mr Brackin was a first grade rugby

league player for souths. when he finished studying, rather

than give away his sporting interest and head to the country

in search of a surveying job, he took a position selling

surveying instruments for a Brisbane firm.

a couple of years later he started his own business in the

same industry.

“surveying then became very computerised, and that is how

i became involved in the iT industry,” he says. “To be honest,

surveying was a great help for me because surveying is very

meticulous, it is an exact science, you can’t be wrong. so i

guess in my early business days, i was very process driven,

i made sure the money was collected. even though i was

entrepreneurial, i had that skill of attention to detail.”

mr Brackin says one of his mottos in life “is you have got to

take your opportunities. i was not flamboyant, i guess i just

wanted to get ahead. i was very driven to be successful in

that area, although i never dreamed it would be that big.”

at the end of 2004 the father of four retired from full-time

work to spend more time with his family and pursue the

pastimes he hadn’t had time to enjoy such as tennis, squash,

golf and mountain trekking. But he also kept his hand in

the business world taking on a number of commercial and

community Board positions.

“i have a passion for business and i believe i can really help

younger guys grow their businesses. Today i am involved

in five companies and three of those are very much about

mentoring the Ceos, but in all five i think i play a pretty

important role in helping them run and grow their business.”

mr Brackin credits his business success to a few key

philosophies. “i always believed in controlled profitable

growth. we never grew and lost money. a lot of

entrepreneurs go out there and make big revenues and try

and grow their business pretty quickly and a lot of them go

broke because they can’t control the business. But we

never did that.

“one of the other reasons i had success was having

outstanding business partners and staff and sharing the

rewards and success with them. you can try and keep it all

to yourself and get mega rich but one of the most enjoyable

things for me was sharing the rewards and success with

my partners and our staff.

“i also believe you have to have a win-win attitude. if you can

go through life, if you can look for a win-win solution, there

will be benefits for everyone.”

“...one of the most enjoyable things for me was sharing the rewards and success with my partners and our staff.”

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DS2001Cristina Cifuentes

F a c u l t y o f S c i e n c e a n d Te c h n o l o g y / B A p p S c ( C o m p u t i n g ) , H o n s , P h D / C l a s s o f 1 9 8 9 , 1 9 9 0 a n d 1 9 9 4

in her free time Cristina Cifuentes enjoys stirring things up

in the kitchen but it is behind the keyboard that she has

risen to great success.

The Us-born iT professional, who grew up in Colombia, has

proved to be a leader in the world of information technology

research and application, breaking new ground in the

technically difficult area of computer science.

dr Cifuentes’ interest in iT began with a love of mathematics.

“i was good at maths and i thought what can i do with it? at

the time computers were still a very new area, and i guess i

was just drawn to them,” she says.

so after starting a Bachelor of engineering and Computer

science degree in Colombia, dr Cifuentes and her whole

family migrated to australia where she completed her

undergraduate degree at QUT.

she then went on to gain an Honours degree before

embarking on a Phd which focused on the area of reverse

engineering and decompilation – which looks at recovering

source code from programs for which the source code has

either been lost or is unavailable.

in 1994 dr Cifuentes’ Phd thesis was so innovative that

she was overwhelmed with offers to collaborate on further

research projects and went on to be granted an australian

research Council grant – an outstanding feat for a new

researcher.

“i have basically been involved in research my whole

career,” she says. “i have worked on different projects in

different roles.”

for the past 11 years dr Cifuentes has worked for the same

company, originally sun microsystems, last year acquired by

oracle, as part of their research laboratories, oracle labs.

“at the moment i am working on a project that is developing

technology that will became an internal product,” she

says. “what is so great about this project is that i have been

involved from the beginning, the conception of the idea, the

development of a prototype and, very soon, in what will

become an internal product at oracle.”

in simple terms dr Cifuentes’ work is looking for a quick

and efficient way to find computer errors, or bugs, in

software. while bug-checkers are not a novel idea, developing

techniques that make them run in a practical timeframe

and are precise is novel.

dr Cifuentes and her team have developed a bug-checker

that removes the easy-to-find bugs quickly, freeing up time

to pinpoint the harder-to-find bugs.

“i am very focused on my work but i also like cooking,

scrapbooking and playing with my seven-year-old son,”

she says.

“i think my success has probably been due to my

determination. i also always try to be fair with everyone. in

my role now i have a team to manage. i have achieved a lot

but i am not just fixated on the technical side of sitting behind

a computer, it is also about people.”

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F a c u l t y o f B u i l t E n v i r o n m e n t a n d E n g i n e e r i n g / B E n g ( M e c h ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 9 4

Pia-Angela Franciniwhile trading a career as a global engineering executive

for the life of an emerging artist may seem extraordinary to

some, for Pia-angela francini it’s been a natural and rewarding

juxtaposition.

mrs francini was once responsible for more than 22 000

employees at one of the world’s largest global engineering

firms and rose through the ranks to become, by age 30, an

international leader in the oil and gas industry.

after graduating from QUT with a Bachelor of mechanical

engineering in 1994 mrs francini joined schlumberger.

“i started in australia but very quickly worked in various parts of

the world as a field engineer, and then manager, in some really

extreme environments, both off-shore and on land,” she recalls.

from there a brilliant corporate career took off, as the woman,

who would later be named one of australia’s most influential

female engineers, stepped up through a range of international

executive roles.

from business development and operations management

to human resources, marketing and workplace health and

safety services, Pia francini distinguished herself at every

professional turn.

she oversaw the development of more than 100 research and

development programs in new oil and gas technologies, holding

several patents, and was globally recognised when she was

awarded the Us Key women in energy "Visionary" award

in 2004.

at 34, as Ceo of schlumberger australasia based in Perth,

mrs francini was responsible for growing the company’s

operations in australia, Papua new guinea, Timor and

new Zealand.

Today, in a new phase of her life’s journey, mrs francini is

using her wealth of experience in business, finance and

engineering to pursue what many may consider a new

interest, but to her is a long-held passion.

mrs francini is focusing on her creative talents.

“i was very successful in the engineering and business side

of the world and was fortunate to do very well at a very

young age. But now i am re-connecting with my artistic and

creative side,” she says. i actually did best at music and the

arts in school, so i see this new stage as a great adventure, a

realisation of my childhood dreams.”

working and living in Cairns, and learning from a local

production company, the engineering dynamo is now setting

up her own sound studio, with plans to tap into both the right

and left side of her amazing brain to explore a range of digital

creative pursuits including animation, writing ebooks, and

music composition.

The recalibration of direction is also allowing time for a

fulfilling focus on family. “i am taking one day at a time now,

making each of those days count and doing what feels right,”

she says. if i can enhance the human experience through my

art, by drawing on my knowledge of technology, then that

would be very rewarding too.”

mrs francini is also strongly involved within the QUT

community as a QUT Council member and as an adjunct

professor and Ceo in residence, working with the Business

school and faculty of Built environment and engineering.

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s1998Dale Gilbert PSM

F a c u l t y o f B u i l t E n v i r o n m e n t a n d E n g i n e e r i n g / A s s o c D i p M e c h a n i c a l E n g / C l a s s o f 1 9 7 1

Today we can breathe a little easier thanks to the work of

dr dale gilbert.

although the mechanical engineering graduate from QiT

began his career in an industry not generally renowned for its

environmental sustainability, dr gilbert has gone on to make a

significant contribution to improving air quality and the health

of the environment.

“while i was undertaking my studies part-time i was working

in the area of tyre design engineering at the olympic Tyre

and rubber Company in Brisbane,” he says. “it was at this

company that i gained my love of research and innovation. in

my early career at olympic Tyre and rubber, it was one of the

most progressive companies in australia.”

However, dr gilbert said the general lack of knowledge about

the health effects of working with chemicals and solvents,

and the effects of airborne pollution saw his career take a

“healthier” turn.

“while working with the Queensland department of Public

works, i started to look at air quality issues in buildings and

specifically the notion of ‘sick building syndrome’,” he says.

This interest in air quality and pollution continued and

dr gilbert, through a world Health organisation fellowship,

went on to lead and encourage national initiatives to address

poor indoor air quality and its impact on human health.

He has since been very involved in a number of QUT

projects through the University’s international laboratory for

air Quality and Health, which looks at monitoring indoor and

outdoor pollution levels and the health effects of ultra-fine

particles.

“i have been involved in some breakthrough research which

has led to the introduction of healthier buildings,” dr gilbert

says. “for example, a lot of the work i have been involved

with is now part of the green star ratings, which reduces

pollution in buildings and focuses on health and safety issues.”

mr gilbert says he is passionate about reducing pollution.

“There is pollution everywhere and my work was very much

looking at minimising pollution levels whether it is at home,

on the way to work, or at schools,” he says.

while mr gilbert’s research area remains very much a topic

of interest among scientists today, he has now retired from

that line of work and focuses on looking at technologies and

innovation that can make a difference to global warming

and climate change.

“i am not a gloom and doom merchant, in fact i am a super

optimist and confident that we will solve this problem,” he

says. “There are plenty of innovations and research being

done that can and are making a difference to reducing

greenhouse gases.”

“I am not a gloom and doom merchant, in fact I am a super optimist and confident that we will solve this problem.”

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s2006Amaya Gillespie

F a c u l t y o f E d u c a t i o n / D i p E d ( S e c - P h y s i c a l E d ) a n d B E d ( I n - S e r v i c e ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 8 2 a n d 1 9 8 7

F a c u l t y o f H e a l t h / G r a d D i p H l t h S c ( H l t h E d ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 8 6

Zambia is one of the world’s poorest countries and sits in the

heart of the region most affected by HiV and aids. one in

eight adults in Zambia live with HiV, and more than one million

children have been orphaned by the disease. for global health

campaigner amaya gillespie, this is her daily challenge, and it

is the community she and her family call home.

The Unaids coordinator, who has been stationed in Zambia

for three years, is on a mission to reduce HiV infections,

increase treatment rates and improve the health outcomes

of its people.

it’s a big challenge,” she says. But with more than one million

Zambians living with HiV, it’s a challenge she can’t ignore. and

the good news is dr gillespie’s work and that of the United

nations is making a difference.

“it’s been more than 25 years that we have really known about

HiV,” she says. “Today it is a more sophisticated area of work

than when we started. in those 25 years there has been a

huge international push on the boundaries of what were

previously taboo topics. in particular, the plight of women

and young girls has been drawn into sharp focus.

“what we have seen in the past two decades is a 25 per cent

reduction in new infections, which means that the prevention

message is getting out. Prevention is much, much harder than

treatment. People get behind the medical model and some

would even say that we can treat our way out of this disease –

but it is expensive and it overlooks the opportunity of

preventing infections in the first place.”

dr gillespie’s belief in the importance of health education and

promotion has taken her all over the world. The QUT education

graduate, who has worked with the Un for much of her career,

says she has always been drawn to adolescent health.

“when i started it was cutting edge,” she says. “it was the

beginning of education systems taking seriously issues

like alcohol abuse, tobacco use and HiV. it was seen as

something quite risky and there were a lot of battles to be

fought about these issues.”

The absence of reliable data and the lack of understanding

of the health problems affecting young people fuelled

dr gillespie’s interest in research. “Just because some

behaviours are illegal, does not mean they should be ignored,”

she says. “By studying the behaviours doesn’t mean we

condone them, we are trying to work out how to reduce the

behaviours and the harm or the impact of the behaviour.”

dr gillespie’s career has included positions with the United

nation’s Children’s fund (UniCef). in 1999 she moved to

new york to manage UniCef’s HiV/aids programs as a

senior adviser for HiV Prevention and young People. five

years later she was seconded to geneva as the director

for the Un secretary-general’s study on Violence

against Children.

“working with people and how they think and what motivates

certain behaviours and how to prevent the most harmful

of these has always been my area of interest,” she says.

“People say prevention is not rocket science, but i say it is

much harder.”

living by the motto coined by mark Twain that “supposing

is good, but finding out is better,” dr gillespie has been able

to travel the world to experience first hand diverse cultures

and deal with a wide range of challenges. and she intends

to continue to push for public health solutions.

“People say prevention is not rocket science, but I say it is much harder.”

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s1991Jan Hannant

F a c u l t y o f E d u c a t i o n / C e r t Te a c h ( S e c - H o m e E c o n o m i c s ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 5 5

as Jan Hannant reflects on her life, it is easy to see why she

was awarded the inaugural QUT Chancellor’s outstanding

alumni award.

ms Hannant spent much of her life as an educator, starting

off as a teacher before being promoted to some of the highest

ranks within the Queensland education system.

although only a teen herself, ms Hannant began her teaching

career as a secondary school teacher. “in those days you could

get a junior teacher’s scholarship so you could train to teach

after completing junior school,” she says. “so i started teaching

very young and then i did my senior studies at night, because

i wanted my senior certificate.”

in the early 1960s ms Hannant transferred as a lecturer to

the Kelvin grove Teachers College, which was run by the

education department. it wasn’t an easy job for someone so

young, which is why she packed up and spent a year travelling

in the UK and europe. “in that year i really matured and when

i returned, i came back to the teachers college and i happily

settled,” she says.

But by then ms Hannant had caught the travelling bug and

applied and was granted study leave to go the United states,

where she completed a master of science degree. on her

return home, she visited a teaching friend in africa, where

she toured schools in malawi, mozambique, Zimbabwe

and Zambia.

with a wealth of education and life experience behind her,

when ms Hannant arrived back in australia she was recruited

to work as an inspector with the education department, a

position she held for more than a decade.

following a restructure, ms Hannant was offered the

prestigious position of regional director of the south-west

region based in roma. as the regional director ms Hannant

introduced a principal swap program with new Zealand. “i

discovered that at many of the very small rural schools we

had young teachers who had been classroom teachers

in metropolitan schools and all of a sudden they found

themselves as the principal and only teacher at these small

rural schools, which were the centre of the community,”

she says.

“what we managed to do was connect with small rural schools

north of auckland and arrange for our teaching principals,

who wished to, to work alongside the principals in these

new Zealand schools. That really helped a great deal in the

professional development of these young people.”

another initiative started by ms Hannant was the introduction

of a reading program called reading recovery, designed to

identify year 1 students who were having difficulty reading.

The program, also adopted from new Zealand, took young

students out of the classroom and gave them one-on-one

help to become effective readers.

“That was the best thing i have ever done because those small

children who were struggling with reading, all of a sudden

within a short period of time became very effective readers

and i had letters from parents that said it changed their

children’s lives.”

ms Hannant retired in 1997 and today focuses much of her

time researching history.

“my motto is ‘be proactive’. actively seek opportunities and

make the most of them,” she says. “i suppose i had a little

personal project that i would travel at every opportunity. so i

have taken what opportunities i could.”

252003Robert Hess 2005

F a c u l t y o f H e a l t h / D i p A p p S c ( O p t o m e t r y ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 7 0 F a c u l t y o f B u i l t E n v i r o n m e n t a n d E n g i n e e r i n g / B E n g / B A p p S c ( E l e c t S y s t e m s & C o m p ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 9 2

robert Hess likes nothing better than a challenge.

as one of the world’s leading vision scientists, Professor

Hess says one should not underrate the potential career

benefits obtained by early rejections.

Professor Hess believes in the groucho marx adage “i don’t

want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member”.

His research path has gone from QiT to Cambridge (via

Birmingham and melbourne). He founded and is the current

director of the mcgill University’s Vision research Centre in

montreal.

after graduating from QiT with a diploma of applied science

(optometry), Professor Hess wanted to be involved in

research and applied to do a Phd at the University of nsw.

“fortunately i got knocked back, which made me even more

determined to pursue a research career,” he says. Professor

Hess headed for the United Kingdom, where he completed

a master of science degree in neuropsychology at the

University of aston in Birmingham, working on a novel

approach to avert seizures in patients with epilepsy.

Two years later, a stint at the University of melbourne

where he did his Phd in vision perception, led him to the

prestigious Physiological laboratory in Cambridge. There

he went from visiting researcher (a meres senior scholar) to

staff (a wellcome senior lecturer) in five years.

His contributions to research while at Cambridge were

honoured by a number of prestigious medals including the

Champness in 1983 and the edgridge-green in 1989. He

was then recruited to a chair position in ophthalmology at

Canada’s top university, mcgill University in montreal.

“i was settled at Cambridge and was really enjoying the research

environment when i got a call offering me the chance to come

to mcgill, assemble my own team, create my own research

environment and do the work i wanted to do,” he says.

Professor Hess, acclaimed for his originality and influence on

the understanding of visual processing, has now been at mcgill

for more than two decades and continues to make a significant

contribution within the field of ophthalmology. He has published

more than 300 papers, edited two books and holds a number

of patents.

His work, which has a particular focus on the condition known

as amblyopia (lazy eye), has gone a long way to unraveling

the neural mysteries of the condition which affect about

five per cent of all children.

His latest work has turned the clinical treatment of amblyopia

on its head. He has developed a novel means of treating a

condition in adults that was considered untreatable after the

age of 10. furthermore, even in the younger group this no

longer involves the patching of children’s eyes but the more

enjoyable use of specially designed, ipod-based video games.

Professor Hess is currently heavily involved in mri brain

imaging as well as different forms of electrical and magnetic

brain stimulation as a means of improving vision in normal

adults and restoring vision in adults with amblyopia. His recent

discovery is that just 10 minutes of non-invasive and painless

repetitive magnetic brain stimulation in adults can restore vision

in the amblyopic eye, even in middle age. This will likely form

the basis of a future new therapy.

“The work that i am doing is making a difference to the lives of

people who have amblyopia. it’s a complex problem, but one

we should be able to solve,” he says.

You might not know the name Stephen Lawrence but

chances are if you have used Google, you’ve clicked on

his work.

Dr Lawrence is one of the world’s leading computer

programmers and for the past 10 years has been a senior

research scientist at Google – having developed the

top-ranked search engine Google Desktop Search and

Citeseer.

But it was as a young boy that Dr Lawrence’s fascination

with computers first started.

His parents Colin and Barbara Lawrence, who still live in

their home town of Bundaberg, remember their son was

“always mad about computers”.

“He, like most young boys at the time, loved computer

games. So the first computer he had was one of those

Ataris,” his mum says. “At school he was also interested

in computers and began writing programs while still at

primary school. I think he knew all along he would go into

computing. He didn’t really have any other ideas in his

mind, apart from a fascination with electronics.”

So when Dr Lawrence finished school he did what came

naturally, a double degree in engineering, and electronic

systems and computing at QUT. As a graduate with First

Class Honours he then went on to complete a PhD, before

being offered a position which took him half way around

the world to the nEC Research Institute at Princeton,

new Jersey. He resided in new York, a city which he

grew to love, commuting each day to work.

Stephen LawrenceMrs Lawrence says it was family reasons that saw her

son take the leap to Google. “He and his wife decided

new York was not the best place in which to bring up a

family. So they packed up and headed for California.”

“He has worked very hard to achieve what he has.

Obviously he had the ability to start with but he worked

very hard as well. Before he had children he worked

terribly long hours. He was at Google all hours of the

day and night. But since he became a father and a family

man he has settled down a lot, and he keeps much more

regular hours now.”

Dr Lawrence’s academic achievements have seen him

recognised with a host of awards and honours including

the Technology nJ Internet Innovator Award and nEC

Research Institute awards for Impact, Excellence and

Best Patent. In 2002 he was made an AAAS Fellow in

recognition of his fundamental research on the structure

of the world wide web, characterisation of web search

engines and the role of the web in changing scholarly

communication.

Today Dr Lawrence, with wife Gennette and their two

children, Marissa and Matthew, enjoy spending their

spare time as a family.

“They go on holidays during the summer vacation break

and Steve has just taken up golfing,” Mrs Lawrence says.

“We’re really very proud of him. He has achieved a lot,

and has a good life to show for it.”

“Fortunately I got knocked back which made me even more determined to pursue a research career.”

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s2008Zimi Meka

F a c u l t y o f B u i l t E n v i r o n m e n t a n d E n g i n e e r i n g / B E n g ( M e c h ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 8 1

as the Ceo of a leading global engineering and project

management company servicing the resources and energy

sectors, it would be understandable for Zimi meka to be

single-mindedly focused on company growth and profits.

However, he is not.

mr meka, the ausenco co-founder who graduated from QUT

with a mechanical engineering degree in the 1980s, believes

in the importance of all ausenco people living the core values

of the company. and he leads by example.

from a handful of people in a small office in Toowong in

Brisbane, to the global organisation it is today with 2700

people in 32 offices in 20 countries and many remote project

sites, ausenco’s growth has been characterised by its strong

leadership, a values-based culture and a desire to continually

raise the bar.

“financial success is obviously very important – it helps our

company grow, our clients’ projects to be successful and

it provides opportunities for our shareholders, our people

and our business partners – but we also believe in making

a safe and positive contribution to the communities and the

environments in which we work,” mr meka says.

“firstly we need to be vigilant about ensuring safety in all we

do. it is a core value and something we focus on every day.

we believe zero harm is achievable and we will continue to

strive for this goal.

“we also know our people are our strength. This is another

of our core values and, as a business that sells the skills

of our people, our continual focus is on hiring, developing

and encouraging our people to seek breakthrough results in

everything they do.

“from the largest copper-processing plant in africa to

high-altitude pipeline and heap-leaching projects in south

america, ports and marine terminals and materials-handling

projects in almost every continent in the world, and wind

farms in western australia and in the russian sea, our people

continue to deliver sustainable solutions for our clients.”

mr meka is also a champion of giving back to the

communities in which ausenco operates.

“The ausenco team is very generous and very active in

making a positive difference in their local communities,”

mr meka says.

“whether it is through participation in fundraising bike rides,

walks or runs; donations to help victims of natural disasters;

donation of goods and uniforms for children at orphanages

near mumbai and in Colombia; building schools and/or other

facilities near client projects in remote locations; or giving

time to numerous other causes, the ausenco team has a

strong sense of community.”

mr meka has been instrumental in establishing the ausenco

foundation to support many of these initiatives. He was

nominated as one of engineers australia’s 2010 Top 100

influential engineers in australia, and plans to continue to

lead ausenco in its next phase of growth.

“with a world-class team, our strong culture and the

opportunities in the markets in which we operate, i am

confident we can achieve our goals,” he says.

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s2002Geoff Mitchell AO

F a c u l t y o f S c i e n c e a n d Te c h n o l o g y / D i p I n d u s t r i a l C h e m i s t r y / C l a s s o f 1 9 6 7

if geoff mitchell has learnt anything in his 20 years as the chief

of the largest cane grower in Queensland, Bundaberg sugar, it

is: don’t panic.

in an industry dominated by volatility, governed by the

changing price of sugar in the international trade market,

mr mitchell says when it seems everything is coming down

or swelling up around you, the first thing you want to do is

panic – when in fact it is the last thing you should do.

“when you’re in the role of a chief executive officer and all of

a sudden you are responsible for everything, it is very easy

to get stressed,” he says.

But the once leader in the australian sugar industry and

long-serving chairman of the australian sugar milling Council

says panicking only causes more troubles.

so you would think retirement would be a welcomed break.

an end to the fast-paced, high-pressure life mr mitchell

once lived. no. in fact retirement had done little to slow

mr mitchell down.

“essentially my focus is now on health, wellbeing and

supporting family and friends,” he says. “i ride twice a week

with mates, each time up to 40 kilometres and i also walk up

mt Coot-tha once a week.”

and while some may see it as reliving his youth, for

mr mitchell it is more like doing all the things he wanted to

do but never had time for.

as an evening student, mr mitchell graduated from the then

QiT with a diploma in industrial Chemistry in 1967, and the

skills to make him a valuable contributor to the sugar industry.

He then continued his working life in sydney and melbourne,

before being headhunted by the company that was later to

become Bundaberg sugar.

mr mitchell worked his way up the management ranks,

becoming actively involved in all aspects of sugar production,

from cane growing and sugar milling, through to distilling,

refining, marketing and research.

“The industry definitely changed a lot in those years,” he says.

“we went through changes in environmental, industrial relations

and sugar-industry-specific regulations and we learnt that a

business would be left behind if it didn’t adopt marketing and

brand awareness, and target international benchmarks.”

a modest mr mitchell said while he never intentionally set out

to achieve great things, he credits his success largely to the

people around him. “i’ve always said you only see ahead when

standing on the shoulders of great men,” he says.

in fact, in his 2002 outstanding alumnus award speech,

mr mitchell said: “This award does not just recognise me, but

rather a large group of people who were students and lecturers

in that period almost 40 years ago. it really is the great people

around me who have helped me to achieve.”

so while mr mitchell, who has been married for 43 years,

has two daughters and one grandchild, may have hung up

his business suits, given away his 12 to 14 hour days, and

is pleased to no longer be an international frequent flyer, he

still wakes up every morning invigorated to be a contributing

member of society.

“Just because you are retired doesn’t mean you should lose

your productivity. you can’t just stop, and i have no intention

of doing that.”

“I have always said you only see ahead when standing on the shoulders of great men.”

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s2000David Moffatt

F a c u l t y o f B u s i n e s s / B B u s ( M a n a g e m e n t ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 8 4

david moffatt is a man of extremes.

He is an extremely talented businessman, he enjoys extreme

sports and he is extremely committed to raising money for

charity.

and while his professional life, which includes holding top

positions with general electric australia and Telstra, may be

impressive, it is mr moffatt’s “adventure philanthropy” which

he says is far more interesting.

To celebrate his fiftieth birthday last year, in a somewhat

unconventional way, mr moffatt decided to ride 900

kilometres on a mountain bike from Cairns to Cape york, then

hop into a sea kayak and paddle from Cape york to Papua

new guinea. finally he finished the adventure by running the

Kokoda Track.

But this epic journey was not just about his love for adventure.

mr moffatt was raising money for the lost Battlefield Trust by

taking part in the Cape Tribulation to Kokoda adventure epic.

mr moffatt is one of a handful of men who helped in the

discovery, and continues to work on, the preservation of

the battlefield which lies along the Kokoda Track.

The lost battlefield, above eora Creek, is believed to be where

australia won the final Battle of the Kokoda campaign. The

battle lasted five days and claimed 79 australians and at least

69 Japanese.

“Prior to the adventure, i was training up to six hours a day. we

completed the entire event in 11 days. so in terms of extreme

adventure it is right up there,” he says. “in my private life,

what i have been able to do is combine my passion for health

and fitness with a penchant for raising awareness and money

for community causes.”

mr moffatt supports a range of non-profit organisations which

benefit autism, road safety, education and cancer causes, to

name a few.

He has taken part in events for charity including the iditarod

Trail alaska, the shanghai to Beijing road bike ride, the Pure

Tasmania Challenge, as well as the giant steps multi-day

bike ride.

“fortunately i have not been touched by these diseases

personally but i have been indirectly. many people ask

for help and i have been able to help some of them,” he

says. “my interest is in building sustainable communities,

which means building the capacity through community

organisations for the community to sustain itself.”

mr moffatt says community organisations have a role to

play in ensuring their own success and sustaining their own

futures. He says rather than relying solely on governments,

community organisations need to be self-sustaining.

“and this is what i have been trying to do, helping some of

these community organisations with my business knowledge

and through my passion for adventure philanthropy,” he says.

as a man who lives by the motto to “do interesting things

with interesting people and add value”, david enjoys an

action-packed life. i get a huge amount of support and i don’t

think that anything i have done is in particular extraordinary,”

he says.

and according to mr moffatt there is still plenty to do. “in my

professional career i am not done yet. i probably have two

‘careers’ left in me. Privately i am very interested in continuing

to build community capacity.”

1993 33Kevin Perkins

F a c u l t y o f B u s i n e s s / B B u s ( M a n a g e m e n t ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 7 6

as the largest shareholder of the Collins foods group –

owners of KfC Queensland and the sizzler chain of

restaurants in australia, the Us and asia – Kevin Perkins

admits to taking plenty of risks in business. But his success

is helped by his sensibility not to gamble.

“i guess i live by the motto ‘never give up’,” he says.

“Persistence is incredibly important in business and in life.

i’m not averse to taking risks, but i am not a gambler. i look

at it as taking strategic risks.”

Business has been good to the QiT graduate, who made his

way into the initially Us-based food company after completing

a mBa at California state University in los angeles in 1979.

“i was offered a job in la by what was then Collins foods

international. They had a relatively small KfC operation in

australia. They had always had an american running the

business and they were looking for an aussie who they could

train up in the head office and send back to australia to run

the australian business.”

at the time Collins foods international operated about

40 KfC outlets in australia.

armed with the Collins foods international “secret recipe”

for business success, mr Perkins returned to australia in

the early 1980s as the Queensland director of marketing

and operations. after a stint in sydney, he was appointed

managing director of the australia arm of the business.

it was in the mid-80s that Collins bought out the Bonanza

steak House chain and introduced sizzler. and while these

were good times for business in australia, within a decade

the parent company would suffer as a result of the United

states recession, opening up the opportunity for mr Perkins

and a team of business partners to buy out the Us-based

company and bring its headquarters to australia.

“Basically the Us public company put the company on the

market and, with the help of our australian private equity

partner, Pacific equity Partners (PeP), we put in a bid and we

ended up buying the total enterprise,” he says.

Today Collins foods group owns KfC Queensland’s 119 stores,

sizzler australia’s 29 restaurants, sizzler asia’s 58 restaurants

which are franchised, and sizzler Usa's 29 companies and

149 franchised restaurants.

“we as a company pride ourselves on being a people-orientated

company,” he says. “when you look at our business, people

think we are in the food business, when really we are a

people-based business. we say we’re in the people business

serving food, not in the food business serving people.”

and the people who work for Collins foods group, most

of whom are young causals, are keen to serve up more than

just good food and service. They are also happy to dig deep

for charity.

in the past two years, employees, supported by Collins foods

group, have donated almost one million dollars to charity.

“what we do is allow people to donate pre-tax through their

salary. we use the slogan ‘a dollar will do and 50 cents is fine’

and we match the employee contributions up to $100 000

each year.

“everyone told us we’d be lucky if we got five or 10 per cent

of our people to sign up and today we have around 25 per cent

who contribute. our workforce is predominately casual which

says a lot about the generosity and social responsibility of this

generation X and y.”

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William Robinson AO

F a c u l t y o f E d u c a t i o n / C e r t Te a c h a n d D i p A r t Te a c h i n g / C l a s s o f 1 9 5 4 a n d 1 9 6 2

C r e a t i v e I n d u s t r i e s / D i p D r a w i n g & P a i n t i n g / C l a s s o f 1 9 6 7

william robinson is renowned as one of australia’s greatest

living landscape painters, but his talents extend far beyond

the trees.

in fact he has won a swag of awards, and has twice taken

out the nation’s highly regarded archibald Prize, first in

1987 with Equestrian self portrait and then in 1995 with

Self portrait with stunned mullet. He has also twice won the

wynne Prize for landscape painting with The rainforest in

1990 and Creation Landscape: earth and sea in 1996.

although gaining critical fame only in his middle age,

dr robinson has spent much of his life in front of the canvas.

He completed his formal art education at the Central

Technical College in 1962, but this by no means resulted in

a rapid rise to fame. That took some time. for more than

30 years dr robinson taught art at QUT and its predecessor

institutions, while working on his masterpieces in his

spare time.

for the past three decades dr robinson has produced

original, contemporary and often thought-provoking works.

But it wasn’t until the 1980s that he really transformed his

first-hand observations into a daring, colourful display of the

world around him.

“i think there is a tradition in australia of painting the wild

west, the inland and, although some painters have painted

the rainforest, there have been a whole host of great artists

in australia who painted australia as the golden fleece

as it were, pastoral landscape and then the deep interior

landscapes. i painted the rainforests because that’s where

we lived. it was my landscape.”

dr robinson’s environment has been dominant in his works,

but it is his wife shirley who is perhaps his greatest muse. she

features prominently in many of his paintings and he credits

her with being his “greatest success”. “she’s like a column that

i lean on and rely on,” he says. “she must be very tired of me

asking her opinion in everything i do.”

while dr robinson’s landscape works have drawn him great

praise, he is also highly regarded for his work in farmyard,

seascape, self-portraiture and still life genres.

His favourite work is Creation landscape: The ancient trees

(1997). “i think it is the most intense of my creation landscapes,”

he says.

dr robinson’s philosophy is to always have faith. “Because of

the things that have happened in my life i would say you have

to have some faith to hold on to and then you’ve got to make

up your mind to survive,” he says. “The greatest virtue you

can have is kindness. i try to be kind but sometimes i am also

pretty awful. The art world is a difficult world to live in but i have

survived it for more than four decades.”

dr robinson says his future art work is likely to focus on still life.

“That’s mostly because of circumstances of life and age,” he says.

“i can’t walk in the bush as much as i used to. i think still life, as

i go on, will take over from the landscapes.”

in recognition of dr robinson’s great talent, in 2009 the

University established the william robinson gallery at old

government House, on the grounds of the gardens Point

campus. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from

QUT in 1998.

“ I painted the rainforests because that’s where we lived. It was my landscape.”

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s2004Chris Sarra

F a c u l t y o f E d u c a t i o n / D i p E d ( S e c - P h y s i c a l E d ) , B E d ( I n - S e r v i c e ) a n d M E d / C l a s s o f 1 9 8 7 , 1 9 9 1 a n d 1 9 9 7

Chris sarra is one of australia’s leading indigenous educators

and his “stronger and smarter” philosophy has improved

educational opportunities for aboriginal and Torres strait

islander students across the country.

as a child who experienced first hand the challenges of being

an indigenous student, dr sarra admits “there was this tide

of low expectation”.

“when i was at school, yes i probably should have and could

have pushed myself harder,” dr sarra says.“ But there was

really no one there pushing me.”

That is a different story today for many indigenous kids,

whose schools are learning the “stronger and smarter” way.

dr sarra is the director of the stronger smarter institute,

which started out as a partnership between QUT and

education Queensland, and has secured funding from the

Telstra foundation and sidney myer foundation.

The institute is arming principals and educational leaders

with the beliefs and capacity to make a profound change in

indigenous education.

“The stronger smarter philosophy is about acknowledging

and embracing a positive sense of indigenous student identity,

acknowledging and embracing indigenous leadership and

having high-expectation relationships with high-expectation

classrooms,” dr sarra says.

“There is no place to hide for any educator with stifled

perceptions of indigenous children. There is no place for

excuses anymore.”

dr sarra has taken the lessons and great success he learnt

as principal of the once-troubled Cherbourg state school and

is transforming the way schools teach indigenous children

across australia.

at Cherbourg dr sarra instilled in his students the belief

and the willpower that they could be something great. The

outcome was a staggering 94 per cent drop in unexplained

school absenteeism.

“Kids wanted to be at school, they wanted to achieve and they

now had a belief that they could succeed,” he says. “school

is a place where you get power, where you learn how to play

and win the game of life. we want to teach these young kids

to have high expectations.”

dr sarra completed a diploma of Teaching in Physical

education, a Bachelor of education and a master of education

in school guidance and Counselling at QUT. He also has a

Phd in Psychology.

His dedication, commitment and achievements saw him

named Queenslander of the year in 2004 and he was also

nominated as australian of the year in 2009.

But it is not the accolades that push the father of three to

make a difference in the world. He says if he wasn’t living up

to his own rhetoric, he’d feel like he had no integrity.

“my motto is simple ‘did you give your best today?’. i am the

only one who knows the answer to that and i have to be

content that i have done my best,” he says.

“That is all anyone can do, is their best. That is all i expected

of my students, it is all i expect of myself.”

“School is a place where you get power, where you learn how to play and win the game of life.”

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Heather Waldron

F a c u l t y o f H e a l t h / D i p A p p S c ( O p t o m e t r y ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 6 8

Heather waldron had a vision to make a difference in

optometry and being a woman was not going to stop her.

at a time when women focused on careers in teaching and

nursing, mrs waldron entered the male-dominated profession

of optometry.

“when i joined the profession there wouldn’t have been any

more than 10 per cent of practitioners who were women,”

she says.

But that didn’t stop the somewhat sheltered young QiT

graduate, who came from an all-girl family and attended an

all-girls boarding school, from breaking through the glass

ceiling to become one of australia’s most respected

optometrists.

after graduating at 20 and still a year too young to work as an

optometrist without supervision, mrs waldron was appointed

as a lecturer at QiT. “This way i could get into optometry right

away without fulfilling the requirement of being 21,” she says.

The following year mrs waldron entered private practice

working for a large optometry firm, fraser edmiston. Through

their industrial division, she provided on-site consultations at

factories and shipyards and recalls this as a great experience,

always being treated with respect by the patients and her

colleagues.

“in my whole career i can probably only think of one occasion

when a patient refused to be treated by a woman, and i

always enjoyed the support and encouragement of my male

colleagues,” she says.

But that said, there were times when achieving equality was

somewhat of a struggle.

“when i first joined the optometry council, the meetings were

held at the Cricketers Club and that was one of the places

women weren’t allowed. women could go to the cricket but

they couldn’t go to the hallowed halls of the club. so i had to

be smuggled in. The men would form a bit of an honour

guard and i would quietly slip into the room. it was all a bit

of a joke really.”

in 1976 mrs waldron joined waldrons optometrists, her

husband’s family business. it was here that she was

instrumental in developing the firm into a highly successful

group practice in south-east Queensland.

mrs waldron’s contribution to optometry extends beyond

the walls of her own practice. she has held positions on

numerous professional organisations and provided advice to

government. she was australia’s first optometric consultant

to medicare and to the department of Veterans’ affairs. in

1994 she was named as the first recipient of the Queensland

optometrist of the year award by the australian optometrical

association.

in the wider community, she has been an advocate for

women and girls.

“Through my involvement with Zonta, i have worked towards

the advancement of the status of women locally and

internationally,” she says. “i am particularly supportive of

providing role models for young women in the professions

and i continue to take mentoring roles in a wide range of

pursuits, as well as within my own profession.”

“my motto is ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto

you’. and i guess i see that as treating everyone as equal.”

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F a c u l t y o f H e a l t h / M P H / C l a s s o f 1 9 9 3

Harvey whiteford is not trying to save the world but he is

trying to leave it a better place.

The medically trained doctor, who started his career

in pediatrics, has spent almost four decades working to

improve mental health services at a state, national and

international level.

Psychiatry was not an easy career choice when he was a

young doctor. “But the thing i didn’t like about some areas

of medicine was they talked about the diagnosis instead of

focusing on the patient,” he says. “in mental health you had

a chance to combine biology, neurochemistry and psychology

with who the person really is, in their social environment.

“even though the person is not well mentally, you need

to get to know the person, not just their blood results and

their x-ray results. i felt i had more interaction with the patient,

which suited me better than procedural medicine.”

after moving from pediatrics and then spending five years

training in psychiatric units at Brisbane hospitals, dr whiteford

became interested in research. He won a government

scholarship and went to stanford University as a Postdoctoral

fellow. when he returned to Queensland he set up what is

now the Queensland Centre for mental Health research.

in the late 1980s he was promoted to director of psychiatric

services with Queensland Health. in this position, dr

whiteford had direct responsibility for the administration

of three psychiatric hospitals, 1200 beds, 14 community

psychiatry services and the Health department's forensic

psychiatry services. it was in this position that dr whiteford

really started his campaign for mental health reform. it was

also during this time that he gained his masters of Public

Health from QUT.

“Basically my masters degree gave me the skills to do the

administration side of public health,” he says. “i rationalised

it by saying okay i am not seeing many patients but if i can

make the system better, that could benefit a lot more patients

than i would ever be able to benefit by seeing them one at a

time as a clinician sitting in an office.”

a stint as the federal director of mental health gave

dr whiteford responsibility for the australian government’s

initiatives in mental health.

dr whiteford was then headhunted by the world Bank,

as the first mental health appointment, a position created

to develop the bank’s capacity to respond to the rising

contribution mental health and substance abuse was making

to the world burden of disease.

in 2001 dr whiteford, who had run a state service, federal

service and an international program, decided he wanted to

return to research and now works as the Kratzmann Professor

of Psychiatry and Population Health at the University of

Queensland.

reflecting on his career, dr whiteford says while there have

been huge improvements in the way mental health care is

delivered, there is still a long way to go.

“yes i think we have come a long way,” he says. “i think we

have better treatments, more people working in the area and

less stigma. many people have come out and said yes i have

had depression, i’ve attempted suicide, i’ve been really down.

it is accepted that mental health is an important part of health.

But i think the quality of services is still less than you would

get if you had a physical illness. i think we’ve still got a long

way to go.”

“ If I can make the system better, then that could benefit a lot more patients than I would ever be able to benefit by seeing them one at a time as a clinician sitting in an office.”

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s1996David Wyatt

F a c u l t y o f S c i e n c e a n d Te c h n o l o g y / B A p p S c ( M e d Te c h n o l o g y ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 7 2

david wyatt has made an invaluable contribution to the

medical world.

as one of the pioneers in the development of diagnostic tests

for infectious diseases, dr wyatt’s breakthrough research in

the areas of mosquito-borne viruses continues to be used

in pathology labs across the world.

His work in the field of immunology and diagnostic testing

for diseases like ross river fever and dengue fever was

commercialised when he co-founded two successful

asX-listed biotechnology companies, agenix ltd and

PanBio ltd.

But dr wyatt, who has worked as a lecturer at QUT and a

scientist and manager in private pathology, medical research

and the biotechnology industry, is quick to point out that while

his individual contribution has played an important role, many

of his successes have relied on a collaborative effort.

“when i was working to develop these new diagnostic

techniques, i was the first in australia to do a lot of it, so all

sorts of people wanted to collaborate and work with me,” he

says. “and one of the things to come out of that was the

establishment of QUT’s first major research centre,

the Centre for applied immunology.

“i was pleased to return to QUT in 2004 as Professor

of Biobusiness and innovation and to play a role in the

establishment of the institute of Health and Biomedical

innovation.”

dr wyatt says his drive to “make a difference” was spurred

by his disadvantaged background.

“i lived in a poor suburb and my father died when i was 10, so

we really struggled,” he says. “i had a real interest in doing

something socially useful. i didn’t really know what, and the

medical field just attracted me.”

Today this same socially responsible attitude is still a central

focus in dr wyatt’s life.

while dr wyatt has moved out of the scientific field, he has

taken up a new challenge, which is to live a sustainable life.

“my wife and i live in an eco village on the gold Coast. we

live in a zero-carbon house in a zero-carbon village,” he

says. “i am aware of how much things have changed in my

lifetime. we have made all this wonderful technological and

social progress but we’ve seen vast environmental damage

including to the fish in the sea and what has happened with

the forests and the animals. it just does not seem sustainable

and it doesn’t add up, so something dramatic has to happen.”

living by the motto of “variety is the spice of life,” dr wyatt is

not a man who rests on his laurels.

“To me ‘variety is the spice of life’ is all about the need to keep

exploring, to move out of your comfort zone and, coming

from a life science background, i really understand the

importance of biodiversity in our world,” he says. “much of

my work has been international. i have travelled a lot and i

have learnt to respect, tolerate and appreciate a wide variety

of cultures.”

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s2011Colin Jensen

“I consider I have had a blessed career, excellent opportunities to learn more about the way things work, the way the world is and the way people work together.”

Colin Jensen is one of Queensland’s most senior public

servants and his career is built on delivering outcomes that

have led to the growth, development and prosperity of

the state.

He has held top positions within the Queensland government,

has led national and international efforts in intelligent transport

systems and is now chief executive officer of the largest

local government in australia, Brisbane City Council. and

while mr Jensen admits his career has been “blessed with

opportunities”, it is his forward-thinking, problem-solving

approach that has helped the QUT civil engineering graduate

rise to the top.

in his role as Coordinator-general and director-general of

the department of infrastructure and Planning, mr Jensen

was responsible for overseeing the delivery of the largest

infrastructure building program in Queensland’s history.

Presiding over the largest capital program of any australian

government – $18.2 billion – mr Jensen directed major

developments, infrastructure planning, and urban growth

and land use in Queensland.

Today, instead of focusing on the building, expansion and

growth of Queensland, mr Jensen is, in part, directing his

efforts to the rebuilding of Brisbane following the devastating

January 2011 floods. He has a damages bill of more than

$400 million to manage and a large and diverse

organisation to lead.

and when it comes to making the big calls during a crisis,

mr Jensen says he “values those around me”. “There are a lot

of competent and clever people providing me with advice,” he

says. “The challenge is to see the big picture in terms of how

does all that advice fit together and then look for the correct

decision amongst all of that.”

mr Jensen is not just about growth and the building of public

infrastructure. He is also committed to sustainability and

improving people’s quality of life. He has appreciated being

involved in various initiatives to increase the amount of

open space and protected environmental areas throughout

Queensland as well as improving public transport.

Brisbane City Council is also leading the charge against

climate change including offsetting all of its carbon emissions.

Council already uses 100 per cent green power, has reduced

its greenhouse gas emissions below its own target and is

well on its way to planting two million trees across the city.

“i have chosen to make my career almost exclusively in the

service of the public, and for me that means the decisions

you make now have to be for the long-term benefit of the

community,” he says.

mr Jensen has been named one of australia’s top 100 most

influential engineers by Civil Engineers Australia magazine for

four years running, he is a fellow of engineers australia and

was a recipient of the young Transport achiever award in 1999.

“i never really planned where my career was going … but that

doesn’t mean i ended up somewhere i didn’t want to go,”

he says. “i consider i have had a blessed career, excellent

opportunities to learn more about the way things work, the

way the world is and the way people work together. equally

i have worked with some truly amazing people who have

achieved great things.”

F a c u l t y o f B u i l t E n v i r o n m e n t a n d E n g i n e e r i n g / B E ( C i v ) / C l a s s o f 1 9 8 6

“Do not go

where the path may lead,

go instead

where there is no path

and leave a trail”R a l p h Wa l d o E m e r s o n

1 8 0 3 – 1 8 8 2

Award winners

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Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Jan Hannant

Faculty AwardsMark Raymond Built environment and engineering

Jan Hannant education

Marcia Cowle Health

Malcolm Thatcher information Technology

1993

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Heather Waldron

Faculty AwardsJohn Frey arts

Ian Oelrichs Built environment and engineering

Kerry Daly Business

Ken Jarman education

Heather Waldron Health

Professor The Hon Michael Lavarch law

Dr Martin neilson science

1994

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Dr David Wyatt

Faculty AwardsTracey Curro arts

Bernadette Archibald Business

Greg nunn Built environment and engineering

Elizabeth Ee Lee Lim Health

Clyde Torkington information Technology

Sally Pitkin law

Dr David Wyatt science19

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1997

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Professor Harvey Whiteford AM

Special Excellence AwardProfessional Excellence Allan Gillespie Shane Thompson

Faculty AwardsThe Hon Peter Beattie arts

Allan Gillespie Built environment and engineering

John George Business

Kathleen newcombe education

Professor Harvey Whiteford am Health

Christopher Curtis information Technology

Dr Paula Gerber law

1996Chancellor’s Outstanding

Alumnus

Kevin Perkins

Faculty AwardsWesley Enoch arts

Peter Williams Built environment and engineering

Kevin Perkins Business

Mary Burgess law

Professor The Hon Michael Lavarch law

Ian Chant science

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Alan Key

Faculty AwardsJanet Donald arts

Bet Gaunt Business

Dr Robin Sullivan education

Leo Hartley Health

Alan Key information Technology

Professor Gerard Carney law

Craig Schloman science

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Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Dr Dale Gilbert

Special Excellence AwardProfessional Excellence nuno D'Aquino

Faculty AwardsTracey Carrodus arts

Dr Dale Gilbert Psm Built environment and engineering

Leonard Scanlan Business

Colin Waldron Health

Associate Professor James McGovern information Technology

Professor Brian Fitzgerald law

nuno D'Aquino science

1999

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

David Moffatt

Special Excellence AwardsExcellence in Contribution to the Community Dr Mary Magee oam

Professional Excellence noel Robinson

Faculty AwardsRobert Tannion arts

noel Robinson Built environment and engineering

David Moffatt Business

Vicki Wilson oam education

Glynis nunn-Cearns oam Health

Brett Hooker information Technology

Jane Macdonnell law

Dr Mary Magee oam science

2000

2001

2002

2003

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Professor Robert Hess

Special Excellence AwardsExcellence in Contribution to the Community Megan Mcnicholl oam

Excellence in Globalising Indigenous Arts and Culture Award Jenny Fraser

Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Sharon Gillett

Faculty AwardsGabriel Poole Built environment and engineering

Peter Howes Business

Jim Rudder Creative industries

Megan Mcnicholl oam education

Professor Robert Hess Health

Kevin Cocks Humanities and Human services

Michael Clarke information Technology

Michael Baumann fm law

Stewart Bell science

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Geoff Mitchell AO

Special Excellence AwardsExcellence in Promoting Creativity/Innovation John Mendoza

Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Chris Layton Dr James Bradfield Moody

Faculty AwardsRobert Bird Built environment and engineering

Carolyn Barker am Business

Venero Armanno Creative industries

Jane Andersen education

John Mendoza Health

Gary Morgan information Technology

Dr Ken Levy rfd law

Jennifer Peut QUT Carseldine

Geoff Mitchell ao science

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Dr Cristina Cifuentes

Special Excellence AwardsExcellence in Contribution to the Community Dr Jean Calder aC

Professional Excellence Anne Wallace

Faculty AwardsJim McKnoulty Built environment and engineering

John Martin Business

Anne Wallace Creative industries

Dr Jean Calder aC education

Judith Magub Health

Dr Cristina Cifuentes information Technology

Paul Chartrand law

Keith Harrison science

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Allan Brackin

Special Excellence AwardsExcellence in Contribution to the Community Joseph Kwan mH

Professional Excellence Deborah Mailman

Faculty AwardsDeborah Mailman arts

Allan Brackin Built environment and engineering

Rosemary Vilgan Business

Ian Healy education

Judith Gay Health

Dr Adrian McCullagh information Technology

The Hon Timothy Carmody sC law

Walter Robb science

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Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Dr Chris Sarra

Special Excellence AwardsExcellence in Service to the International Community Rodney Cocks Csm

Aline Matta

Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Sarah-Jane Clarke

Faculty AwardsShane Thompson Built environment and engineering

Sarah-Jane Clarke Business

Dr Derek Wilding Creative industries

Dr Chris Sarra education

Ian Kent Health

Sandra Angus Humanities and Human services

Paul Kenny information Technology

Susan Francis law

Simon Critchley science

2005

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2007

2008

2009

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Dr William Robinson AO

Special Excellence AwardsGyton Grantley Sir Brian Bell Csm, KBe, Cst.J

Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Dr Tom Ward Tammy Williams

Faculty AwardsKirsti Simpson Built environment and engineering

nicole Hollows Business

natalie Weir Creative industries

Dr William Robinson ao education

Dr Shaun Larkin Health

Lieutenant Colonel David Freeman KsJ, frgs law

Mario Pennisi science and Technology

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Zimi Meka

Special Excellence AwardsExcellence in Contribution to the Community in Healthcare Margaret Vider

Excellence in Early Career Fashion Entrepreneurship Gail Reid

Excellence in Medical Research Professor Alan Cowman

Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Dr Michael Bonning

Faculty AwardsZimi Meka Built environment and engineering

Susan Kelly Business

Sean Mee Creative industries

Rhonda Davidson-Irwin education

Margaret Vider Health

Gordon Moyes information Technology

Senator The Hon Joe Ludwig law

Professor Alan Cowman science

2006

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Dr Amaya Gillespie

Special Excellence AwardsExcellence in Contribution to the Community Lawrence Truce

Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Stephanie Jarvie

Professional Excellence Jason Pourpouras

Faculty AwardsMike Wilke Built environment and engineering

David Pradella Business

Peter Alwast Creative industries

Dr Joseph Pagelio education

Dr Amaya Gillespie Health

Dr Gregston Terrill Humanities and Human services

Greg Davies information Technology

Michael Bowers law

Paul nitz science

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Dr Stephen Lawrence

Special Excellence AwardOutstanding Young Alumnus Award Aaron Chippendale

Faculty AwardsMark Henry Built environment and engineering

Paul Taaffe Business

Yolande Brown Creative industries

Sharon Galleguillos education

Jennifer Muller Psm Health

Beverley Watkinson Humanities and Human services

Dr Stephen Lawrence information Technology

neil Laurie law

Bill Taylor science

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Pia-Angela Francini

Special Excellence AwardsExcellence in Educational Innovation and Leadership Lynne Hinton

Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Alen-Igor O'Hran

Professional Excellence in Health Dr Peter Keller

Faculty AwardsPia-Angela Francini Built environment and engineering

Stuart Parkyn Business

David Kidd Creative industries

Lynne Hinton education

Dr Peter Keller Health

Caitlin O’Brien Humanities and Human services

Campbell Webb information Technology

Michael Wadley law

Rhonda White science

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Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Dr Mick Adams

Special Excellence AwardsRichard Malouf

Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Emma Griffiths Anthony Smare

Faculty AwardsMark Menhinnitt Built environment and engineering

Shaun Scott Business

Matthew and Daniel Tobin Creative industries

Shelley Peers education

Dr Mick Adams Health

Magistrate Jacqui Payne law

Bernie Hobbs science and Technology

2011

Chancellor’s Outstanding Alumnus

Colin Jensen

Faculty AwardsColin Jensen Built environment and engineering

nathan Mayfield Business

Tracey Robertson Creative industries

Julie Grantham education

Jacqui Reed Health

Allison Stanfield law

Dr James Bradfield Moody science and Technology

“e great thing in e world

is not so much where

We stand,

as in what direction

we are moving”O l i v e r We n d e l l H o l m e s , S r

1 8 0 9 – 1 8 9 4

Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434 Brisbane QLD 4001www.qut.edu.au

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QUT Outstanding Alumni Awards – Celebrating 20 years 19 91 – 2 011

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