Just a 'bushie' Outstanding Alumni Central Tech revisited

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Outstanding Alumni Central Tech revisited

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January 1997

Issue Number 23

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Well-respected by her peers, Elizabeth was one of the first nurses in Singapore to be awarded a masters degree. She has a strong vision for the development of nursing in Singapore, is committed to the highest possible education standard for Singaporean nurses and has worked tirelessly to develop higher education

opportunities for her peers.

Information Technology

Clyde Torkington is a 1987 Bachelor of Applied Science (Computing) graduate who has been active in the development and management of gaming systems throughout Australia and, predominantly, in Asia.

Currently Software Manager with AWA Limited in Sydney, Clyde has also worked with the Golden Casket Art Union Office in Queensland.

Law

Sally Pitkin is a 1982 Bachelor of Laws graduate who has specialised in corporate and finance law, practising at the bar of the Supreme Court of Queensland and before the High Court and Federal courts of Australia and completing her Master of Laws at QUT in 1995.

An approved mediator for the Queensland Law Society, Sally has been a partner with the

Brisbane legal firm Clayton Utz since 1989 and is a director of the Golden Casket Lottery

Corporation and of the board of Brisbane Water as well as a member of the Banking Law Association Limited and the Academic Advisory Committee to the Faculty of Law at QUT.

Science graduates Helen Jennings, left, and Jodie Moffatt, right, with their boss at PanBio, David Wyatt, this year’s QUT

Outstanding Alumni winner

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After having around a dozen QUT students through the Safety in Mines Testing and Research Station at Redbank near Brisbane, the organisation believes QUT’s Cooperative Education Program has benefited not only the students, but SIMTARS itself.

A world pacesetter in mine safety technology and an independent division of the Queensland Department of Mines and Energy, SIMTARS conducts mining safety research and provides occupational health, environmental and

analytical services. It has engaged QUT students regularly over the past five years.

The manager of SIMTARS’ Occupational Hygiene, Environment and Chemistry Centre, Stewart Bell, a graduate of QUT himself, has high praise for the program.

“We have had employees here in the past who have come straight from university and, owing to their limited workplace experience, have been of minimal value,” Stewart said.

“This is because they did not have a ‘feel’ of how a working laboratory operates and that they were still enmeshed in the collegiate structure.

The CEP students, he said, fitted in well and were

“excellent performers”.

“When we have a student here for 12 months, during this period they get a pretty good understanding of what is expected from an employee concerning work application and attitude.

“We have recently hired another CEP student and have two former CEP students now working in the Occupational Hygiene group.

“SIMTARS has also been involved in a number of joint research projects with QUT,” Stewart explained.

He said one current project involved a study by a senior lecturer in the School of Public Health, Dr MaryLou O’Connor, who was working with SIMTARS staff on health issues for coal miners.

Stewart did a Certificate in Chemistry and followed that with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemistry) in 1979.

Since then, he has returned to QUT as a member of the Chemistry Consultative Committee and has lectured in Occupational Health and Safety.

Stewart said that, of the 28 permanent staff in the centre, about 15 would be graduates of QUT, with a majority of the CEP students coming to work at SIMTARS being women.

“We probably look at putting on one or two graduates a year, because people move on and we replace at the junior end of the scale,” Stewart said.

“We look at the program as a dual-purpose benefit, mutually beneficial to the student and SIMTARS.

“We have a student working for us for 12 months carrying out some of our core business activities.

It also provides the students involved with experience of what a workplace is really like.”

He said another advantage of the program was when vacancies occurred, the ability and performance of CEP students was already known. A number of CEP participants had become permanent employees this way.

rogram proves a

goldmine for SIMTARS

P

A group of SIMTARS staff who have graduated from QUT (front, l-r) Stewart Bell, Paul Harrison, Robyn Fry, Bruce Pollard, (back, l-r) David Stevenson, Darren Brady and Peter Murphy – Peter gained his Graduate Diploma in

Computing Science while the remainder all have Bachelors of Applied Science (Chemistry) degrees

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For John Thelander, Ric De Luca and Dion Seminara, QUT has provided a springboard to a successful business partnership.

The talented trio – all QUT Bachelor of

Architecture graduates – have built on university and work relationships to form their own

architecture firm, ArcStyle, a partnership which has already made its mark as one of South-East Queensland’s most versatile and energetic firms.

ArcStyle’s offices in South Brisbane are simple, practical, bold and cheerful and symbolise the three partners’ approach to their work.

Formed nearly three years ago, the firm is going from strength to strength with an unstoppable momentum that the partners hope will move into top gear during the upturn of Queensland’s building industry that Sydney Olympics is tipped to bring.

John said that he believed ArcStyle was unique and could offer a hands-on and personal approach to architecture that medium- and larger-sized firms could not.

“Basically, our practice is service-orientated because there are just the three partners,”John said.

“Anyone wanting a job goes straight to one of us, whereas – in a larger firm –␣ they will delegate down to juniors. We have all seen that and we have seen clients get frustrated with that process – they end up with someone who doesn’t really know what the client wants.”

In what have been described as tough times in the building industry, the promising trio have never been short of work, with Ric and John concentrating on residential, medium density, industrial and commercial work while Dion specialises in “the bread and butter” work – residential extensions, renovations and designing entertainment areas.

Most recently, ArcStyle snared contracts to design the new, $1.5 million Southport Surf Life Saving Club and a modern, beachside restaurant north of Hervey Bay.

Past projects have included renovating

landmark buildings in Brisbane and Eumundi, design work for industrial and commercial buildings and new homes, fitting out dentist surgeries and even a beauty school.

Ric said the trio prided themselves on the diversity of their work when it came to jobs that were spread across Queensland.

“For every different design problem there is usually more than one solution – I feel that ArcStyle comes up with creative solutions to different problems,” he said.

“Each of us is in our early 30s and, as you mature, everything that you’ve learned – all the experience you’ve had at different offices – suddenly falls into place.”

Ric and John initially forged a friendship as students in the six-year Bachelor of

Architecture course at QUT (then known as the Queensland Institute of Technology) in the early ’80s.

They met Dion when all three were working together at a Milton-based firm.

Long term, Dion said, he envisaged the company expanding to six or seven architects but working hard to avoid the temptation of becoming a middle- or large-sized company.

“At this stage, what we have talked about is each of us cultivating our own contacts with a view to casting the widest net,” he said.

“We have all brought to the practice different skills – management, contract administration, design skills – and, together, we cover the spectrum of different skills that go into the extremely diverse field of architecture.”

Architectural trio do it in style

ArcStyle’s Ric De Luca, John Thelander and Dion Seminara . . . coming up with creative solutions

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When Wesley Enoch was a bright-eyed boy narrating the Year 8 high school play he stole the show with a spot of impromptu orchestra-conducting and a cheeky dance.

The resounding applause and laughter kindled the first spark of a love affair with drama that was to result in the birth of Queensland’s first indigenous theatre company Kooemba Jdarra 12 years later.

As the company’s artistic director Wesley, 27, has the smile of a man fulfilling a dream – to

communicate the spirit of what it means to be an Aborigine. He graduated from QUT’s Bachelor of Arts (Drama) course in 1990.

“One of the interesting things about the work that we do, is that we have something to say and I think any good theatre is about having something interesting to say,” he said.

“As a company we are saying: ‘Yes, there are political imperatives in the community – talking about health and water and housing and all of those issues, but there are also the emotional and humanitarian, or the basic humanity, of the community we portray as well’.

“I think Kooemba Jdarra is teasing out all the issues of what it is to be an Aborigine in Australia today and so that it is clear that we are not a stereotype, we are actually much more than that.”

In the past year, Kooemba Jdarra has performed the acclaimed Little White Dress at the Out of the Box children’s festival, undertaken a regional Queensland tour with Changing Time and a successful staging of The Dreamers for the

Brisbane Festival. The company will produce Louis Nowra’s Radiance with the Queensland Theatre Company in February, 1997.

Wesley stepped out of QUT into a traineeship with Brisbane’s Contact Youth Theatre. A freelance year in 1993 saw him perform with La Boite, the Queensland Theatre Company and St Martin’s Youth Theatre at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

In 1994 he helped found Kooemba Jdarra and took up the role of artistic director.

“Out of Contact Theatre, we identified we must take control of what we were doing as Aboriginal people.

Sometimes we were being told to do things that we didn’t believe were

important, but we weren’t in the decision-making roles,”

Wesley said. “Kooemba Jdarra started with a loose collective that incorporated as a company. We set up in 1993 with $30,000 and now we have a turn-over of about half a million dollars. We earn half of that turnover through contract fees and touring.”

While Woodridge High School and Logan City Theatre Company provided the original impetus for his chosen career, it was QUT where he found his voice as a champion of Aboriginal arts.

The second-born child of a marriage between an Aboriginal father and an Anglo-Celtic mother, Wesley – occasionally (mistakenly) thought to be of Italian or Greek descent – has always proclaimed his Aboriginality proudly.

He came to QUT through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Unit, though his Queensland TE score was easily high enough for the hard- working student and school prefect to enter through mainstream channels.

“I did my Bachelor of Arts in Drama and then did an honours year and focused on contemporary Aboriginal arts and that has formed the basis of all the work I have done since then,” he explained.

Wesley is related – through his great-great grandmother – to Australia’s foremost Aboriginal poet, the late Oodgeroo Noonuccal, who was widely known and published under her European name, Kath Walker. In 1993, Wesley starred in a play about her life – One Woman Song – produced by the Queensland Theatre Company which his

“Aunty Kath” had a chance to see, about three months before she died.

“She liked what the company did, but she thought the white director wasn’t finding a lot of it (the meaning of her story). I just remember one time she just leant across and said ‘when we do it, we’ll do it our way’.”

directs Kooemba Jdarra’s success W

Wesley esley

Kooemba Jdarra artistic director Wesley Enoch . . . teasing out all the issues

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While most of the world takes life one step at a time, Deborah Mailman has moved in

bounding leaps to become one of Queensland’s foremost indigenous actors.

The bubbly, vivacious 24-year-old has a powerful stage presence that has brought national acclaim and snared some of theatre’s choicest roles since she graduated from

QUT’s Bachelor of Arts (Drama) course in 1992.

She recently returned to Brisbane after a national tour of The 7 Stages of Grieving, a play which she co-wrote with Kooemba Jdarra artistic director (and fellow QUT graduate) Wesley Enoch.

The one-woman show saw Deborah facing the audience alone in a thin dress and alternating between poignant and funny, and cheeky and tearful as she told stories about the past, present and future of Aboriginal people. To a backdrop of sepia photographs she catalogued issues such as loss of family, language and culture and Aboriginal deaths in custody, through to personal recollections and lone musings as the haunting sound of didgeridoos filled the theatre.

The show has been published by Playlab Press and hailed as a success by critics throughout Australia. It has given an

entertaining, disturbing voice to the complex question of

reconciliation between black and white communities.

It is also likely to rocket Kooemba Jdarra (which means ‘good ground’) to international fame, with a recent stint at the Canberra Festival drawing invitations from the London International Festival Theatre and companies in Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and Norway.

“The 7 Stages of Grieving is my story, it is Wesley’s story and it is the stories of our friends and families but, at the same time, there are a

lot of stories within it from which I am very far removed. It’s faction – part fact, part fiction – drawing on our own experiences,” she said.

While still a QUT student she performed and toured in Gwenda with the Brisbane Theatre Company, and then Summer of the Aliens with Queensland Performing Arts Centre, One Woman Song with Queensland Theatre Company, and co-directed Markings with Contact Youth Theatre which toured Holland and Denmark.

She helped found Kooemba Jdarra – she remains a board member – and starred in Cherry Pickers before snaring the coveted lead role in 1994 production of Taming of the Shrew with La Boite Theatre.

In 1995, Deborah starred in Gigi with the Queensland Theatre Company, Murri Love with Kooemba Jdarra and Capricornia with QUT, before beginning work on The 7 Stages of Grieving.

In 1997, she will star in Radiance, a co- production with the Queensland Theatre

Company and Kooemba Jdarra, and has been invited to join a training program with the prestigious Boston Shakespeare Company in America.

“I think I’ve been really lucky. I’ve just come straight out of graduating and gone from strength to strength – I haven’t really sat back and looked at the bigger picture and at what I’ve achieved. You just do it,” she said.

“I think the most important thing that QUT gave me was a sense of confidence to articulate myself as an actor because there were moments when I didn’t know what I wanted to be. When I graduated I had the confidence to really believe I’d be an actor.”

No downtime for dedicated Deborah

Co-author of The 7 Stages of Grieving and Kooemba

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Grazier and National Party vice-president Jennifer Russell . . . “just a bushie”

With a self-deprecating smile belying the determination needed

to operate as a mover and shaker in the hard-bitten world of

party politics, QUT graduate and successful grazier

Jenny Russell describes herself as

“just a bushie”

Jenny juggles politics

and

primary

industry

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T

his bushie, however, just happens to be a senior vice-president of the Queensland Branch of the National Party – the highest position ever held by a woman in that

organisation – as well as manager of her family cattle stud, Swan Hill, near Blackall in the central west.

“In the Queensland National Party there is a president and two senior vice-presidents – one for North Queensland and one for the rest – I am the one for the rest,” Ms Russell said.

An alumnus of two of QUT’s predecessor institutions, Ms Russell completed a teaching qualification at the Kelvin Grove Teachers’

College in the early 1970s before embarking on a communication degree at QIT which she finished in 1980.

“When I graduated from Kelvin Grove, I asked for Blackall and, not surprisingly, the Education Department was glad to have a volunteer,” she said.

“I was the only one who wasn’t crying at Kelvin Grove when they got their postings.

I got exactly what I wanted and everyone else got these western towns and were getting out the atlas to see where they were going and crying their eyes out.”

Having finished high school early, Ms Russell found herself teaching high school in Blackall at the tender age of 19.

“During that year (1973) I was persuaded by the RSL to enter their Girl in a Million quest. I won and the prize was three months overseas,”

she said.

“I had six weeks in Asia, six weeks in Europe and a fortnight or so in the United States,” she said.

“It was fantastic – I had my 20th birthday in Rome.”

Travelling the world expanded Jenny’s horizons and she returned determined to broaden her career beyond teaching.

Having undertaken a lot of promotional duties during her time as the Girl in a Million, she enrolled in a communication degree with a public relations major while working full-time as a teacher in Sandgate.

“Studying four nights a week from 6 to 9pm while trying to hold down a full-time job was a bit distracting,” she said with a wry smile.

“When I finally graduated, and it seemed to take forever, the opportunity came up for a relatively junior position at the National Party head office and I took it.”

She was able to put her communication skills to good use as a research officer undertaking policy

research and working on media releases and speeches.

“You sometimes wonder what you learn in a degree until you actually get into the workforce,”

Ms Russell said.

“When I went to my first job in the party secretariat, I knew what media schedules were and what reach and frequency meant in advertising campaigns. I could write media releases and speeches and reports.

“Looking back, it was probably a greater help than I realised at the time.”

However, in 1985, a personal tragedy forced a choice between a political career and the call of the bush.

“My mum was killed in a car accident in 1985.

She was a lynchpin for the family’s business and I tried to do her work in the office at home and have a full-time job and obviously I couldn’t do both, so I had to choose.

“With the family business we had a real asset and I thought it would benefit from my attention and I decided that was what I wanted to do and keep politics as an interest.”

Giving up paid work in 1986, Ms Russell maintained close links with the National Party and, in 1995, was elected senior vice-president, a position to which she was returned last year.

She said the history of the party was enough to keep her ambitions to be president in check.

“Our current president has only been in for two terms. The one before him was there for six years and the one before that for 19 so I’m not holding my breath.”

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NEWS IN BRIEF

QUT graduates find work faster

Latest official figures confirm QUT is the nation’s largest provider of bachelor degree graduates into the workforce.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson said the national Graduate Destinations Survey 1995 report released in the latter half of 1996 showed the university had a high proportion of its graduates available to start careers (80.5 per cent against a national average of 67.3 per cent).

Further, he said, those graduates had already been highly successful finding work within five months (85.6 per cent against 79.1 per cent nationally).

Professor Gibson said this result, when translated to actual bachelor degree graduate numbers (4,433 in total), meant some 3,055 graduates were already working full-time when the survey was taken, the highest number for any university in Australia.

“We are happy to see a consistently large number of our graduates move directly into full-time jobs related to their studies,” Professor Gibson said.

“Our university’s primary role is preparing graduates for the workplace,” he said, “and, as the nation’s largest provider of graduates in the employment market, the university’s contribution to State and national economies should not be underestimated.”

* The above results are derived from the Graduate Careers’ Council of Australia’s national Graduate Destination Survey 1995. The GCCA report is based on a survey of graduates five months after completing their courses and 73.8 per cent of recent QUT graduates responded to the survey.

Conference confirms strong links

Links between Australia and Malaysia are strong, healthy and underpinned by valuable relationships between former university students from both countries who studied in Australia.

According to QUT’s Development Manager, Rod Miller, the recent Malaysia-Australia Alumni Conference in Kuala Lumpur “made clear that Malaysian-Australian relations – particularly through alumni of Australian universities – are very strong”.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Dr Mahatir, addressed the conference and pointed out that there were now more than 120,000 Malaysians who are alumni of Australian universities, with a further 16,000 studying in Australia at present. Also in attendance were Australia’s Federal Minister for higher education, Senator Amanda Vanstone, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer.

“The QUT alumni I met are energetic and already making a significant impact,” Rod explained. “They see the excitement of Kuala Lumpur’s economy.

The whole Malaysian economy is on the move, with major building development and infrastructure projects – major freeways,

underground systems and a monorail – to be completed by mid-1998 for the Commonwealth Games.”

He said QUT’s alumni linkages were important in moves to build more partnerships with Australian institutions, including universities.

“I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for QUT to increase the range of masters and postgraduate programs it delivers in South-East Asia,” he said.

“In South-East Asia, there also appears to be a growing demand for local delivery of concentrated, two- week blocks for certain postgraduate subjects which can be delivered in regional capitals.”

Atlanta medals abound

QUT staff and students were responsible for bringing home five medals from the summer Olympics and the Paralympics held in Atlanta in August␣ – two golds, two silvers and a bronze.

The gold was won by Australian women’s Olympic hockey team member Renita Farrell when her team defeated Korea in the finals and Australian Paralympic Captain Brendan Burkett, who snared his gold medal in a 50m freestyle event.

Renita was in her third and final year of a business degree and Brendan is a PhD student in the School of Human Movement Studies. Brendan also picked up a silver medal for his contribution to the 4 x 100m freestyle relay in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, over on the track, Technical Services Laboratory Assistant Jaime Romaguera won a silver medal at the Paralympics in the men’s 100m sprint.

Fourth-year Civil Engineering student Brendan Garard, a member of the Australian men’s Olympic hockey team, also scored a medal in Atlanta when his team defeated Germany in the play-offs for bronze.

Former GG speaks

Former Governor-General, Foreign Affairs Minister and Opposition Leader Bill Hayden stepped out of retirement recently to tell QUT students about that momentous day in Australian politics – November 11, 1995.

Mr Hayden delighted his audience with revealing insights into the infamous political stalemate in the Senate that led the then Governor- General Sir John Kerr to dismiss the Whitlam Government.

Last year Mr Hayden accepted an invitation to become an adjunct professor within QUT’s School of Humanities as a community service.

Medal-winning hockey stars, Brendan Garard and Renita Farrell

Paralympic silver medallist, Jamie Romaguera

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The former Governor-General has conducted three lectures to students – The Australian Constitution, on Government,Westminster and Parliament, and The 1975 Dismissal.

He also gave the QUT annual Ethics and Public Life Lecture on October 30.

Postgrads try out centre

Postgraduate researchers and staff have been taking advantage of the new Researchers’ Centre at QUT’s Gardens Point Library.

Located on the top level of the Library, the centre features networked PCs with access to the Internet, remote databases, the Library’s CD-ROM collection, a mediated on-line searching/

consulting room, a bookable meeting area, copying and laser printing facilities, a new serials collection as well as help from specialist librarians.

Access to the new centre is via a security door, with personal identification numbers issued at the Information Desk on Level 2 of the Library to all QUT general and academic staff, PhD students and masters-by-research students.

The centre opens the same hours as the Library: (during semester) 7am- 11pm Mon-Fri; 8am-6pm Sat-Sun;

(during breaks & public holidays) 8am-6pm Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri; 8am- 10pm Wed. Liaison Librarians are available for consultation 9am-5pm or by appointment.

New business faces

Two world-class business academics have been appointed to QUT’s Graduate School of Business.

Professor Evan Douglas – who has taught widely in Canada and the United States and most recently was Professor of Entrepreneurship at Bond University on the Gold Coast – will become head of the Graduate

School of Business in mid-1997, following a 10-month stint as visiting Professor of Management and Strategy in one of the world’s leading business schools, the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at North-Western University in Illinois.

Professor Douglas has been proprietor of his own businesses as well as a consultant to major industry and government clients.

Meanwhile, Associate Professor Gary Stockport – who is at present director of the Master of Management Program at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand – will take up the role of director of QUT’s Master of Business Administration program in January.

Professor Stockport, who holds a PhD from the Cranfield School of

Management in the United Kingdom and an MBA from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, has experience developing consortium- based and company-based MBA programs, including the British Airways MBA program at Lancaster University.

Students vie for prestigious award

A host of industry, academic and business professionals recently previewed the skills of talented final- year QUT Built Environment and Engineering students at the BHP Engineering-sponsored 1996 Dean’s Seminar Award.

They saw six final-year undergraduate students from each of the Built Environment and Engineering schools present their innovative research findings to a panel of non- technical judges.

Andrew Collins – a double-degree Engineering/Information Technology student – was judged to be the student best able to communicate ideas and technical concepts to a non-technical audience.

He took out the 1996 Dean’s Seminar Award which was presented by Brian Shepherd, Manager (International) BHP Engineering.

Plaque marks 25 years

During the past 25 years, more than 1,500 Education students from QUT and its predecessor institutions have experienced practical teaching in classes at the Brisbane State High School.

With the school celebrating its 75th anniversary recently, QUT’s

Professional Experience Unit marked the occasion with a plaque to express its gratitude for the school’s continued support and the quality of its supervision of QUT student teachers.

The plaque was presented to Brisbane State High School’s Deputy Principal and Practicuum Coordinator, Trish Underwood, by QUT Professional Experience Unit’s director, Allan Yarrow, its Secondary Practicuum coordinator, Ross Muller, and Secondary Placements Officer, Mary Lou Spratt.

Graduate named Young Engineer of the Year

Civil Engineering graduate Peter Richter has been named Queensland Young Engineer of the Year by the Institution of Engineers Australia.

Peter, 24, has worked with Queensland Alumina since graduating with first-class honours from QUT in 1992 and is a civil structural engineer at the company’s expansive Gladstone plant.

Institution of Engineers Australia’s State President (and School of Civil Engineering’s Senior Lecturer) Cliff Button, said Peter had demonstrated a range of strong skills in his academic studies, valuable community work, excellent involvement and responsibilities on the job and as an active member of Australian Paralympic Team

Captain and gold and silver medallist, Brendan Burkett

Former Governor-General and now adjunct

Professor of Humanities at QUT, Bill Hayden

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Keep ⁱⁿ

touch ^{. . .}

Tarlan Amigh

(Bachelor of Business – Marketing 1996) Tarlan is working in Sydney for Murdoch Magazines (Better Homes & Gardens) as Marketing and Promotions Coordinator.

Phone (02) 9956 1937.

Eden Bartak

(Associate Diploma in Clinical Techniques 1989) Eden works with the Wesley Hospital Epilepsy Monitoring Unit as a clinical technician. Phone (07) 3232 7370.

Grant Beevers

(Diploma of Teaching – Science 1985; Graduate Diploma of Education – Computing 1990) Since graduating, Grant has taught in Brisbane, Rockhampton and Beaudesert.

He is currently lecturing at Brisbane Institute of TAFE, Gateway Campus, in the field of information technology. He is married to Leica (nee Mecklem), (Diploma of Teaching – Home Economics 1987;

Bachelor of Education 1991; Graduate Diploma of Education – Early Childhood 1995). Phone (07) 3259 3077.

Jan Bennett

(Bachelor of Education 1991; Master of Educational Studies 1995)

1996 has been Jan’s year to stop and

“smell the roses”. She enjoyed six months’

long-service leave. For part of her leave she travelled to Europe, but the highlight was a 3-day safari through Kruger National Park. Next year it’s back to the classroom at Mountain Creek Primary.

Phone (07) 5443 2831.

Margaret Briggs

(Diploma Applied Science – Clinical Nursing Studies 1985)

Margaret is Assistant Director Nursing Services (Management) with Moreton Bay Nursing Care Unit. Phone (07) 3893 8447 Anne Brosnan

(Bachelor of Science 1977; Graduate Diploma of Computing Science 1990; Master of Engineering – Technology Management 1993)

Anne has just started a new job with Queensland Rail as Principal Information Strategist. She will be providing internal consulting services to Queensland Rail’s information service providers and be responsible for development of the information strategic plan, information policies, procedures and standards. Anne was previously Senior Project Consultant with the Brisbane North Health Region.

Phone (07) 3353 2926.

Iain Brotchie

(Graduate Diploma in Business Administration 1979; Diploma of Applied Science 1981) Since graduating, Iain has worked in the

Queensland Public Service as corporate services director in the departments of Attorney General and Consumer Affairs. He left the service in 1995 to work as an organisational change consultant and has increased his involvement with executive training and development in the tertiary sector. Phone (07) 3882 1015.

Bob Burbank

(Associate Diploma of Creative Arts/Diploma of Education – Primary 1983)

Since graduating, Bob has worked as a lecturer/consultant with Human Resource International as a primary school teacher and has appeared in a number of television commercials. Phone (07) 3284 7623.

Anne Burley

(Bachelor of Education 1991)

After completing an extended Bachelor of Education, Anne continued to work as a full-time teacher with the Catholic Education Office. She transferred to St Flannan’s, Zillmere, in 1996 after six years at Christ The King at Deception Bay.

Phone (07) 3880 2428.

David Butler

(Bachelor of Applied Science – Medical Laboratory Science 1989)

David works as a scientist in a small, busy anatomical pathology laboratory at the Prince Charles Hospital which services the cardio-pulmonary surgery on-site, as well as the Redcliffe and Caboolture hospitals.

Recent heart and lung transplant programs have added to the variety of pathology seen in the unit. Phone (07) 3350 8379.

Dorothy Byrnes

(Bachelor of Education 1989; Graduate Diploma of Applied Linguistics 1992)

Since graduating, Dorothy spent several years as an education advisor in English for the Department of Education. A very enjoyable year then followed at MacGregor State School where she was able to put

“theory into practice”. During 1995 she worked with teachers as an education adviser in literacy, which enabled her to learn about the Shaping the Future initiatives first hand. This year Dorothy was appointed Deputy Principal at Waterford West State School where, she says, she’s on a sharp learning curve and is grateful for the support of the administrative team and staff. Phone (07) 3849 4574.

Janice Bywaters

(Bachelor of Laws 1990)

Janice has worked with Walker Smith &

Breen for five years and, in 1995, was appointed a partner. Her main areas of practice are franchising, licencing and property. Phone (07) 3229 4144.

Neil Campbell

(Bachelor of Business – Accountancy 1974) Neil is an accountant with Cowley & Gill Pty Ltd where he is enjoying accounting and financial advising. Phone (07) 3378 7399.

Bernard Canavan

(Bachelor of Business – Marketing 1982) Bernard is Managing Director of Portfolio Corporate Communications, a graphic design firm. Staff work on all facets of graphic design, from corporate identity and logos to annual reports, brochures and multimedia. Phone (07) 3252 3533.

Dr Greg Cash

(Bachelor of Applied Science – App Chemistry 1973; Master of Applied Science 1986) A senior research assistant with the School of Chemistry at QUT, Greg has been married for 24 years and has one son. He is President of the Australian Railway Historical Society in Queensland. Phone (07) 3864 1807.

Matthew Cassidy

(Bachelor of Applied Science – Medical Laboratory Science (Hons) 1991)

From an interest in photography and computer imaging gained while working in the electro-microscopy unit at Gardens Point Campus, Matthew and a friend have since set up a business called Clarity Multimedia, involved in photography, multimedia and design. Phone (07) 3300 6360.

Judy Chapman (nee Nicholls)

Working as a teacher at Aspley State School, Judy has just returned from two weeks in Japan and is looking forward to her next visit. She is also planning a visit to the Isle of Wight for the World Motorcycle Championships next year. Phone (07) 3359 0612.

Margaret Alice Charles

Margaret has had the privilege of examining for Trinity College, London, in New South Wales, New Zealand and Singapore in the past three years, after being appointed to the Panel of Examiners in 1991 for Speech and Drama and Effective Communication.

Phone (07) 3281 3296.

Mark Connor

(Bachelor of Business – Accountancy 1990) Working for Ernst & Young as an audit manager, Mark left the Brisbane office late 1992 and was transferred to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. After three successful years in expanding the audit portfolio and improving efficiency in the local office, he was transferred to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Phone 971 2 722224.

Chin Fee Koon

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Les Crossman

(Bachelor of Technology – Civil 1975) Les is the Queensland Manager for Maunsell Pty Ltd. Phone (07) 3371 4533.

Greta Dabrowski

(Bachelor of Business – Management, Human Resource Management 1989)

Greta is Human Resources Manager with CSIRO Tropical Agriculture. Phone (07) 3214 2766.

Susan Dale

(Bachelor of Applied Science – Chemistry 1987;

Graduate Diploma of Teaching – Sec 1988) Presently on maternity leave, Susan works as a chemist for Queensland Health Scientific Services.

Ian Dearden

(Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice 1985;

Master of Legal Practice 1995) Ian is a practicing criminal and anti- discrimination lawyer with Robertson O’Gorman. He has written or co-written three substantial texts on advocacy, criminal law and anti-discrimination law in the past four years. He has also edited and written a number of other texts/chapters/

journal articles, etc. As President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, Ian frequently finds himself appearing in the media on all aspects of civil liberties issues.

Phone (07) 3236 1311.

Evan E. Edwards

(Diploma in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering 1956)

Acting for the State Government in the field of environment, Evan’s main duties as senior inspector (compliance) are to “fix up” complaints from the public. His experiences in contracting and consulting engineering in mechanical services assist him in this work. Phone (07) 3224 2763.

Steve Guttridge

(Bachelor of Laws 1990; Master of Laws 1994) Steve is a solicitor with Milburns. Phone (071) 244355.

Ken Jarman

(Certificate of Teaching 1955; Diploma of Teaching 1978; Bachelor of Education 1980;

Master of Education 1993)

After 19 months as headmaster of a provincial high school in Papua New Guinea, Ken is about to move to the American School of Donala in Camaroon, West Africa. The experience in PNG has been novel and interesting and he expects it will be equally interesting and eventful in Africa.

Chin Fee Koon*

(Bachelor of Business – Marketing 1995)

program in England, majoring in human resource management. She misses the time spent at QUT and hopes to visit Brisbane in the near future. Phone (65) 748 2345.

Greg Lapham

(Bachelor of Business – Accountancy 1990) Greg recently returned from London after three years working in corporate finance for Coopers & Lybrand and J P Morgan. He began working in Sydney with investment bank Rothschild Australia Group in September 1996. Phone (02) 9323 2145.

Christine Larsen

(Graduate Diploma - Education 1990) Christine works as a travel consultant with Flight Centre. Phone (07) 3221 9211.

Ross W. Leggatt

(Associate Diploma – Civil Engineering 1972) After graduating, Ross worked for a few years with Brisbane consulting engineering firms. This was followed by four years in the United States working for a large, pre- engineered metal building company. In 1990, although primarily involved with consulting, he formed a partnership called Big Country Building Systems, to bring to Australia techniques learned in the US.

Phone (07) 3892 1391.

Siak-Hong Loh

(Bachelor of Information Technology 1995) Working as a software engineer for Creative Technology Limited, Singapore, Siak-Hong is involved in Windows application and device driver design and development for multimedia products. Phone (65) 770 3757.

Peter Matus

(Bachelor of Laws 1991; Master of Laws 1994) Peter is into his third year working for Robbins Watson Solicitors on the Gold Coast and is still looking for time to head down to the beach! Phone (07) 5593 8883.

Tony Mitchener*

(Graduate Diploma in Industrial Relations 1984) Tony is Employer Liaison Director with the Department of Employment, Education, Training & Youth Affairs in Canberra. Tony was the recipient of Australian Officials In Asia Scholarship to Thailand, where he reviewed the memoranda of understanding with ministries of Education and University Affairs. Phone (06) 203 3319 or 015 483665.

Gretel Moxon

(Bachelor of Business – Public Administration 1991)

Gretel now lives in Sydney and is a life underwriter for MLC Ltd. Phone (02) 9966 3655.

Bill van den Bergh

(Bachelor of Business 1993)

Bill is a consultant for Cullen Egan Dell working with Queensland organisations to improve and develop human resource management systems and practices, particularly in the areas of performance management, organisational review and remuneration. Phone (07) 3246 9556.

Robin Vysma

(Bachelor of Applied Science – Computing 1988) On graduating Robin moved to Canberra where he spent four years with the Federal Public Service, finishing up as Assistant Director of Security (DSB). He is now a corporate support analyst for the St John of God Healthcare System, based in Perth.

Phone (09) 322 1141.

Brenda Woo

(Bachelor of Applied Science – Computing 1992) Brenda lives in Singapore and works as a systems analyst at the Standard Chartered

The QUT Foundation would like to thank the following people who generously contributed to the 1996 Annual Fund:

Bruce Alvey, Scott Andrews, Helen Angelos, Astrid Apel, Nicholas Assaf, Kaylene Baker, Gnanaramani Balarajah, Mark Baldock, Peter Ballin, Ron Berry, Lorraine Birtwell, William Blundell, Terence Booth, Paul Brown, Diane Buckley, Burnadette Buggie, Debra Butterworth, Philip Cameron, Chris Carroll, Rebecca Casey, Andy Chen, Ravindra Chopra, Valerie Colaso, John Collins, Andrew Contoleon, Brian Cordiner, Desiree Cullen, Gary Darvill, Terry Davies, Elizabeth De Plater, Kristin Devitt, Rene Dibbets, Jen Dickfos, Denise Dillon-Bolland, Graham Drummond, Aoife Duffy, Lesley Dutton, Raylee Elliott Burns, Michael Enders, Leonie Fleming, Ian Froome, Pat Galligan, Stephen Gapsa, Bruce Gaylor, Kathleen Gibbings, Andrew Gillies, Peter Hadgraft, Tricia Halstead, Jan Hannant, Jeff Harris, Shirley Hateley, Linda Henry, John Hester, Danielle Hodgens, Angela Huang, Glenda Hunter, Melissa Hyde, Afrodite Inglis, Paul Inglis, Eunice Isles, Mark Jones, Mark Keary, Jan Kendrick, Caroline Kennison, Ruth Kerr, Lesley King, Kathy Kruger, Sandra Law, Rosemary Levack, Theo Livanos, Christine Lovell, Steve Lutz, Peter Male, Joff Martin, Donald Matheson, Peter May, Maxwell McAuley-White, David McCabe, Greg McIntyre, Lee McLean, Mary McMahon, Bob Meggitt, John Miles, Catherine Miller, Iain Moore, Tony Morton, John Mulhall, Rim Neang, Bob Neilsen, Lynn Nicholson, Brian Norris, Michael Nugent, Karl Nystrom, Davina O’Brien, Vivian Ong, Susan Oxley, Kris Parikka, Valerie Parkin, Ross Paull, Allan Pearce, Lisa Pendall, Anthony Petsheny, Roland Pianta, Carmen Pochman, Daniel Prentice, David Prior, Robert Rankin, Janet Raymond, John Rees, James Rice, Esma Ross, Len Scanlon, Andreas Schlichting, Craig Schloman, Konstantine Semovskih, Anand Shah, Karen Leigh Sharpe, Peter Shilton, Pauline Sinclair, Lucas Skoufa, Keith Smart, Glenice Spender, Brian Stanway, Geoffrey Stenson, Graham Stenton, John Stokes, Delma Stollznow, Lynne Stratford, Brad Swan, Perry Swanborough, Peter Swann, Leonie Taylor, Rosslyn Taylor, Mitsu Terada, Glen Thwaite, Cameron Tod, Eric Tong, Ann Turnbull, Mal Varitimos, Phuoc Vo, Alan Walker, Mark Wallace, Kenneth Walters, Robert Ward, Geoff Wheeler, Diana Whitaker, Bronwyn White, Peter Wiemers, Ian Woodley and Chris Young.

WITH KIND THANKS

Tony Mitchener

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Generous donors boost collection Generous donors boost collection

QUT’s already impressive art collection has received a boost from an

unprecedented increase in private donations.

Curator Stephen Rainbird said the collection had acquired 104 works over the past year, 96 of which had been donated to the university.

By the start of second semester last year, private donations worth almost $87,000 had been made. Mr Rainbird said two- thirds of this had come from donations by two private collectors.

“We have received donations from a number of sources but two, in particular, stand out,” Mr Rainbird said. “The first was from Lou Klepac. He’s a Sydney- based art historian and

publisher.”

Mr Klepac donated 31 works to the QUT art collection and the other significant donation was from Brisbane’s Dr Bruce Errey, who has given 45 works to the collection.

“Lou Klepac’s gifts were all Australian works and Dr Errey’s gifts were a mixture of

Australian works and

international works by French, British and American artists.”

Mr Rainbird said Dr Errey’s donations included a rare and very valuable etching by French artist Auguste Rodin.

On the other hand, Mr Rainbird said, the donations received from Lou Klepac would add to the university’s substantial holdings of contemporary Australian art.

“The majority of the pieces in the Klepac donation are contemporary,” Mr Rainbird said. “The remainder are more traditional works, including pieces by recognised Australian masters such as Russell Drysdale and Lloyd Rees.”

Mr Rainbird said the depth of the collection had also increased thanks to other significant donations.

“Rhonda Hunt, a Brisbane collector, has given us an important early painting by Australian artist John Coburn,”

he said. “Coburn is perhaps best

known as the designer of the tapestries for the Sydney Opera House. We have collected a number of his works over the years and this donation adds depth to those holdings.

“In addition, Brisbane barrister and QUT Art Collection

committee member Michael Eliadis recently donated major paintings by Michael Heather and Mark Webb, both of whom are notable contemporary Queensland artists.

“Other significant gifts have come from the celebrated Australian painter William Robinson and Queensland Art Gallery Curator Glenn Cooke.”

Mr Rainbird said the recent upswing in donations was in part due to better promotion of the collection, especially through the collections catalogue, and through the high profile QUT enjoyed in Queensland and throughout Australia.

He said the contribution of donors was recognised in labels displayed with all works on public display, in annual reports and other publications on the collection.

QUT Art Collection Curator Stephen Rainbird with some recent donations

Just a 'bushie' Outstanding Alumni Central Tech revisited

Outstanding Alumni Central Tech revisited

Links

January 1997

Issue Number 23

Contents

Vice-Chancellor’s message

The story of QUT’s 1996 Outstanding Alumni shows how rich

partnerships between a university and its graduates can continue

long after graduation. Our overall winner, Dr David Wyatt, is a graduate of QUT, a former staff member, an employer of QUT graduates and a member of the board of the QUT-based

Cooperative Research Centre for Diagnostic Technologies.

David’s illustrious progression from student to academic to general manager of one of Australia’s leading medical diagnostic firms is an example of just how many ways there are for people to interact with universities over a lifetime.

Employing graduates, commissioning

consultancies or joint research projects, donating to the art collection, establishing a scholarship or sitting on a committee are all valuable and mutually beneficial ways of keeping contact with your alma mater.

I hope the achievements of QUT alumni such as those featured in this edition of Links are not only inspiring in themselves but show how people have drawn on and extended their connection with the university to the benefit of themselves and the institution.

Professor Dennis Gibson Vice-Chancellor

QUT Links Issue 23

Bob looks back to

Central Tech days

QUT recognises

The Queensland University of Technology is pleased to announce the winner of its 1996 Outstanding Alumni Award is 1972 Bachelor of Applied Science graduate and Brisbane-based managing director of the successful medical

diagnostics firm PanBio Pty Ltd, Dr David Wyatt