links QUT Alumni Magazine—Issue Two 2017
Saluting
our leaders
QUT Alumni Magazine—Issue Two 2017 QUT Alumni Magazine—Issue Two 2017
links links
Cover story 4
1 Good night, and good luck
News
4 Making it in the USA 6 We salute our outstanding
alumni
10 Our new Vice-Chancellor 11 Robotic revolution 14 Real-world graduates 16 Research update
18 Scholarship brings healing 20 WILling to work
Alumni update
21 Alumni news with Alumni Manager Ken Gideon
Last word
25 A message from Vice- Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake Editorial
Janne Rayner | Ken Gideon Rose Trapnell | Kate Haggman
Sandra Hutchinson | Mechelle McMahon Karen Milliner | Debra Nowland Shannon Pearson | Amanda Weaver Niki Widdowson | Natassja Bertram
p +61 7 3138 2361 e media@qut.edu.au
Photography
Anthony Weate
Design
Ernesto Bello
Delve further into stories, view short videos from experts and learn more about QUT research through the website version.
www.links.qut.edu.au View the full issue free online
11 18
6
QUT Links is published by QUT’s Marketing and
Communication Department in cooperation with QUT’s Alumni and Development Office. Editorial material is gathered from a range of sources and does not necessarily reflect the opinions and policies of QUT.
Under Professor Peter Coaldrake’s leadership QUT has been transformed into a top university.
It’s no coincidence that the impressive and transformative 15-year span of QUT’s development has aligned with the stewardship of outgoing QUT Vice- Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake AO. The university is a vastly different place today, thanks to his outstanding leadership and commitment to
excellence across our research, learning and teaching, and commitment to establishing world-class facilities.
From 2018, QUT will have a new Vice-Chancellor. Professor Margaret Sheil AO was selected from a field of distinguished candidates, all keen to lead one of the world’s top young universities.
(See more on page 10.)
Professor Sheil will lead a university that truly is for today’s real world.
QUT’s leaders, students, staff and alumni have all helped forge our strong national and international reputation for innovation and excellence.
Now Australia’s ninth largest research university, QUT also ranks in the world’s top 300 universities and ranked 24th in the 2017 global Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings.
QIT became QUT—a university for the real world—back in 1989.
The then Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dennis Gibson AO, guided the new university through its first 14 years, before Professor Coaldrake was appointed to the top job in 2003.
Pause for a moment and think about the world, circa 2003.
It was the year Wikipedia.org, Skype and LinkedIn all launched. Nokia was the best-selling mobile phone (iPhones were still four years away). John Howard was in The Lodge and George W. Bush was in the White House. O Week students were listening to the latest hits on their brand new iPod Classics.
At QUT, L Block—affectionately known as Brisbane’s ugliest building—still stood at Gardens Point, and green grass stretched from Kelvin Grove campus all the way down the hill
to Kelvin Grove Road.
QUT comes of age
“Peter Coaldrake’s
academic and professional work has been underscored by a commitment to
equitable access to higher education. He is someone with a firm belief in reciprocity, that it is incumbent on those with privilege to give
something back.”
QUT Chancellor Tim Fairfax AC
But change was coming.
Over the next 15 years, a massive program of infrastructure works transformed QUT’s campuses to provide today’s world-class facilities for our students and researchers.
The $60 million Creative Industries Precinct opened in 2004 as part of the Kelvin Grove Urban Villagedown the hill from QUT’s main Kelvin Grove campus.
The $50 million Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) further along Musk Avenue was next, with its seven levels of labs and research space opening in 2006.
At Gardens Point, the $230 million Science and Engineering Centre (SEC) was opened in 2013 and brought with it a new Brisbane landmark, The Cube—two showcase levels of interactive digital brilliance.
“Peter’s a very good strategic thinker, he’s very hands on…
He’s very interested in all aspects of the university and has a strong commitment to achievement and excellence.”
Professor Carol Dickenson AM QUT Senior Deputy
Vice-Chancellor
“QUT has been transformed under his leadership, while maintaining high levels of staff satisfaction and staff giving to philanthropy. It is testament to his ability to combine clear vision and decision making with care and respect for others.”
QUT Chancellor Tim Fairfax AC The Cube and SEC have been central
to three highly successful Robotronica festivals (2013, 2015, 2017)—high- tech engagement events that link QUT’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) expertise with the community.
Another successful festival, CreateX, attracted thousands to the Creative Industries Precinct at Kelvin Grove when its digitally enhanced $88 million second stage opened in 2016.
While the future is in sharp focus for QUT, the past is also cherished.
Professor Coaldrake was chair of the Queensland Heritage Council from 2011 to 2016 and chaired Queensland’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2009.
He championed QUT’s five-year, $15 million award-winning restoration of Old Government House at Gardens Point—
which re-opened to the public as part of the Q150 anniversary celebrations.
He has also championed equitable access to tertiary education.
QUT’s perpetual Learning Potential Fund (LPF) is the largest fund of its type in Australia and supports the QUT Equity Scholarships Scheme, which helps 3000 bright and ambitious low-income students each year, including Indigenous students.
QUT’s culture of giving means staff lead from the front, with hundreds making donations via the payroll.
This giving is echoed in the wider community—and some of the world’s most generous philanthropists.
Chuck Feeney’s The Atlantic
Philanthropies has donated more than
$65 million to major projects such as IHBI and SEC. And the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has backed a decade of QUT’s “super banana” research—now coming to fruition and set to make a dramatic and positive impact on African nutrition.
As a dual Fulbright Scholar, Professor Coaldrake knows firsthand the value of international research and education collaborations and has served as chair of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, as well as chair of Universities Australia.
He and the university are also proud of QUT’s eight Rhodes Scholars, with five elected in the six years from 2011 to 2016.
Named a Queensland Great in June 2017, Professor Coaldrake’s diverse background—including his childhood growing up with adoptive parents on a remote Aboriginal settlement—
was highlighted in a Courier-Mail QWeekend feature in 2015.
During his final year at QUT he has also been honoured with the annual CASE Asia-Pacific Leadership Award in recognition of his inspirational guidance and development of a strong culture of advancement.
“One of the most distinctive qualities of QUT is its emphasis on real-world outcomes and I think Peter Coaldrake is greatly responsible for steering QUT in that direction. Peter has a terrific ability to build bridges across donors and government. Having government as a dawn route is really critical to achieving the kind of impact a university like QUT is seeking to have.”
Chris Oechsli, President and CEO, The Atlantic Philanthropies
QUT has established a new foundation for our alumni across the Pacific.
QUT has further cemented its links with alumni across North America with the establishment of the Friends of QUT in America Foundation.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake officially launched the foundation last month in Washington, D.C. at the opening of the William Robinson: Genesis exhibition at the Australian Embassy.
Three of the university’s outstanding business alumni have joined the inaugural board: foundation chair and president Greg Creed, who is based in Dallas, Texas, and directors Peter Taylor (Washington, D.C.) and Carolyn Dawkins (New York).
Mr Creed, CEO of Yum! Brands, said he and his fellow alumni were honoured to be part of the foundation.
“QUT has a strong network of about 2000 alumni across North America, and this foundation will give us the chance to further connect with each other, across professions and cities, and to keep us all up to date with what’s happening at the university,” he said.
“I’m proud to fly the flag for QUT and have very fond memories of my time as a student. It is where I found out what I loved and what I wanted to do as my career.”
As well as forging connections among QUT’s American-based alumni, the foundation will promote the university’s culture of philanthropy and fundraising initiatives to support quality research and teaching programs. The foundation is an approved (501)(c)(3) organisation, which allows US donors to make tax- deductible gifts.
“The university has to date received strong philanthropic support from organisations and individuals in the US, and the foundation aims to further that,”
Mr Creed said.
“The tax status makes the giving process simpler and more streamlined, and puts QUT on the same footing as other global institutions. It’s a natural next step in the university’s international growth and reach.”
Pictured above and top right guests at the November launch of the foundation.
Find out more about Friends of QUT in America at
www.friendsofqutinamerica.com
Our friends in America
L-R: Peter Taylor, Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake, and Greg Creed.
Greg Creed
Nicknamed the ‘Aussie fast food king’, Mr Creed took the reins of global restaurant powerhouse and Fortune 500 corporation Yum! Brands at the beginning of 2015. Prior to that he was CEO of Taco Bell, the Mexican-inspired quick service brand within the Yum!
stable. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business majoring in Management in 1978 and was QUT Alumnus of the Year and Business School Outstanding Alumni Award Winner in 2014.
While he has spent the majority of his career working overseas, he remains
“a classic Brissie boy and a very proud Queenslander”.
Carolyn Dawkins
Ms Dawkins has been with Google since 2014, first as Head of BrandLab NYC + Global Curriculum and now as Global Head of BrandLab/Google Creative Academy. After graduating in 2000 with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Communication, she has worked with iconic global brands including L’Oréal, Maybelline, Procter and Gamble, and Kellogg’s, helping them transition from traditional marketing to digital-focused strategies with impressive results. In 2015 she was named QUT Business School Outstanding Alumni Award Winner.
Peter Taylor
Mr Taylor is co-head of the Carlyle Group Global Infrastructure Opportunity Fund. A Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) graduate in 1994, he has previously served as the fund’s managing director. Prior to joining Carlyle he was at Hastings Infrastructure for 15 years, focusing on sourcing new investment, divestment opportunities and portfolio company outcomes. Based in the US for just over a decade, he still has strong ties to Queensland and the university—particularly with son Dan choosing to study for his degree in information technology this year at QUT.
Meet our alumni foundation board.
Outstanding Alumnus of the Year
Faculty of Law Outstanding Alumni Award
Darryl McDonough
Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) 1977 Bachelor of Laws (Hons) 1983
Darryl McDonough is one of Queensland’s most experienced company directors and respected legal practitioners.
He has practised in corporate law, with an emphasis on national and international mergers and acquisitions, takeovers and capital raisings, corporate governance and competition law. He has been judged by his peers to be among the nation’s top legal minds in corporate law and governance in the annual Best Lawyers Australia list.
He is a consultant with legal firm Clayton Utz, which he joined as partner in 1993, and served as board chairman from 2006 to 2008 and chief executive from 2010 to 2014.
Dr McDonough said accepting the awards had given him the opportunity to reflect on his career and his circuitous route to the law.
At school he thought his vocation lay in the church and the order of Christian Brothers, but instead after Year 12 he went to work for the Commonwealth Bank and enrolled in QUT’s Bachelor of Business (Accountancy).
He was not, he confesses, the most diligent of students early on, dropping in and out.
Joining the then Corporate Affairs Office in Brisbane ignited his interest in law and after completing his Bachelor of Business he was part of the first cohort of QUT law students.
It all “clicked” he said, and he went on to obtain a Doctor of Legal Science from Bond University.
Having dual discipline degrees has stood him in good stead, and it is something he believes would serve young people today considering a law career.
“I think there is a greater need for more strings to your bow, to combine a law degree with commerce or economics or something in the sciences,” he said.
While Dr McDonough has gained immense career satisfaction from high- profile commercial cases such as the takeover by Japan Post of Toll Holdings, and market-leading transactions including the floats of Uni TAB (now Tattersall’s) and Billabong, it is his pro bono work over the past three decades that has been most rewarding.
“Being able to use the knowledge that you have gained to assist people who, for one reason or another, have got themselves in a situation I have found has given me my greatest satisfaction,”
he said.
QUT Business School Outstanding Alumni Award
Christine Corbett
Bachelor of Business (Communication) 1989 Bachelor of Laws 1999
Christine Corbett has risen through the ranks of Australia Post to chief customer officer, and along the way helped transform the product and service offerings of the 207-year-old iconic brand to ensure its financial sustainability. She has provided exceptional management across multiple areas of the business. Her commitment to advocating for social inclusion has been a driving force in her career and is something that has strongly influenced her leadership journey.
Faculty of Education
Outstanding Alumni Award
Leeanne Enoch MP
Diploma of Education Secondary (Drama) 1990
Leeanne Enoch has a long list of firsts: first Aboriginal woman to win a seat in Queensland State Parliament, first Aboriginal woman to be appointed a state minister and first member of her family to graduate from university. Before entering politics, Ms Enoch was a high school teacher, where she developed her passion for community and social justice. Today she is the State Member for Algester and Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy, and Minister for Small Business.
ALUMNI AWARDS
Innovation and
Entrepreneurship Award
Joel Pobar
Bachelor of Information Technology 2002
Joel Pobar speaks a language many people will never understand but it is one that has helped land him jobs at Microsoft and Facebook. He speaks code. Mr Pobar has enjoyed an international career, first working with Microsoft in Seattle before being headhunted by Facebook in 2011 to develop a brand new programming language and runtime system. As
engineering director at Facebook, Mr Pobar has helped transform the company and facilitate its global dominance.
Science and Engineering Faculty Outstanding Alumni Award
Michael Dempsey
Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) 1987
Ezidebit co-founder Michael Dempsey started his career as a quarry engineer but soon realised he had an interest and aptitude for developing computer systems. With a career spanning real estate, childcare and
engineering, Mr Dempsey has used his computer skills to become one of Queensland’s leading entrepreneurs. He co-founded Ezidebit as an innovative way to reduce the financial cost of fees in arrears in his childcare business. In 2014 he sold Ezidebit for $305 million.
Creative Industries Faculty Outstanding Alumni Award
Peter Greste
Bachelor of Business (Communication) 1987
Award-winning journalist Peter Greste had spent more than two decades as a foreign correspondent before he was tried, convicted and sentenced by Egyptian authorities in a court case that was widely condemned as a travesty of justice. Mr Greste is now a devoted campaigner for freedom of speech and an advocate for journalists imprisoned around the world. Starting his career in regional television, Mr Greste followed his dream of becoming a foreign correspondent working for BBC World, CNN, ABC, The Australian newspaper and Al Jazeera TV.
Young Alumnus of the Year
Kate Gifford
Bachelor of Applied Science (Optometry) 2004 Graduate Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics 2006
Optometrist Kate Gifford is a pioneer in her profession.
Not only is she the youngest, and only the second woman, to become national president of the profession’s peak body, Optometry Australia, she is an internationally recognised leader in clinical management of myopia (short-sightedness) in children and young adults. Mrs Gifford operates independent practice Gerry & Johnson Optometrists in Brisbane, and is currently completing her PhD at QUT on the optics of contact lenses and eye coordination in children and young adults with myopia.
With her optometrist husband, Dr Paul Gifford, she has established MyopiaProfile.com for practitioners treating young myopic patients, sharing a clinical framework tool she developed, and MyKidsVision.org to help communicate the myopia message to the public.
Young Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award
Michael Brett
Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace Avionics) 2005 Executive Master of Business (Complex Project Management) 2013
At just 33 years of age, Michael Brett has made quantum leaps as an innovator and entrepreneur in the field of avionics and computing. He is an expert in complex systems with extensive experience in developing and accelerating adoption of early stage technologies and delivering projects in aerospace, defence, high-performance sports and data analytics. As co- founder and CEO of QxBranch, Mr Brett has created a leading US-Australian company with world-class expertise in systems engineering, advanced data analytics, machine learning, quantum computing and risk analysis across sectors.
Faculty of Health
Outstanding Alumni Award
Tina Coco AO
Diploma of Applied Sciences (Nursing Management) 1991
Graduate Certificate (Health Management) 2008
For 26 years Tina Coco AO has devoted her life to advocating organ and tissue donation and transplant services in Queensland. Her interest in this life-saving bequest began while she was working at the Princess Alexandra Hospital as a theatre nurse involved in kidney and liver transplant surgeries. Ms Coco’s oversight of the state-wide organ and tissue donation agency, DonateLife Queensland, has helped the service grow into an extensive network of specialist health professionals who are trained to care for donor families.
ALUMNI AWARDS
QUT Special Excellence Award
Wayne Denning
Master of Business Administration 2006
Wayne Denning is the founder of Carbon Creative, a creative agency designed to give a positive voice to Indigenous Australians. Mr Denning established Carbon Creative over four years in QUT’s Creative Enterprise Australia incubator. Today the company has grown into a staff of 30, producing documentaries, Indigenous- themed commercial work, and children’s shows for the National Indigenous Television Channel, ABC, SBS, corporations and governments. Carbon Creative was the first Australian company to work with Sesame Street, and the segment has had 780 million views, in 140 countries.
Our new Vice-Chancellor
Steering QUT with clarity and confidence.
QUT Chancellor Mr Tim Fairfax AC has announced the appointment of Professor Margaret Sheil AO as the university’s next Vice-Chancellor, effective February 2018.
Professor Sheil is currently Provost, deputy to the Vice-Chancellor and the Chief Academic Officer, at the University of Melbourne where she has led the implementation of the online strategy and other curriculum reform, business transformation and the recruitment and development of academic leaders.
A highly respected chemist, she is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry (ANZMS); the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI); and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).
In 2016, Professor Sheil joined the ATSE Board and the Board of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
QUT’s incoming Vice-Chancellor is an established university leader having a successful academic career at the University of Wollongong prior to her appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Research Council (ARC) from 2007 to 2012; a role that saw her lead the development of the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) evaluation of Australian university research and the implementation of a range of initiatives to support women, early career and Indigenous researchers.
Professor Sheil said she was honoured and delighted to be appointed to lead QUT.
“Peter Coaldrake and his leadership team have placed QUT in a wonderful position and I look forward to working with new colleagues to ensure we deliver outstanding educational experiences and opportunities for our students and staff;
together with the best possible outcomes for the Queensland and national
economy,” Professor Sheil said.
Mr Fairfax congratulated Professor Sheil on her appointment.
“QUT enjoys a global standing, has a ‘real-world’ focus and is one of Australia’s fastest growing research universities,” Mr Fairfax said.
“I believe our success has been achieved as a result of clear and strong leadership, an ambitious agenda and a highly strategic approach which is reflected in our rising international rankings.
“Professor Sheil is an entrepreneurial and inspirational leader who will take our institution into the future with clarity and confidence.”
QUT’s home-grown robots took centre stage in future-focused festival.
Does Brisbane love bots? A crowd of around 22,000 people can’t be wrong!
Robots of all shapes, sizes and abilities came, saw and conquered QUT’s Robotronica festival in August, much to the delight of families, tech heads and the plain curious.
Held at QUT’s Gardens Point campus, QUT’s signature public engagement event delivered on its promise of giving the public a peek into our increasingly automated future and at how the robotics revolution will affect our work, leisure and even relationships.
Among world leaders in robotics innovation, QUT has established the biennial festival to educate the public about the growing role of robotics in our lives and inspire the next generation of scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs.
Robotronica visitors swarmed across all attractions, which included:
keynote talks from Georgia Tech’s Professor Ron Arkin and Australian artist and astronaut candidate Dr Sarah Jane Pell; panel discussions on everything from Indigenous perspectives on technology to life with robotic coworkers; and challenges, creative activities and roving robotic displays.
Alongside QUT’s hard-working robots, like Harvey the capsicum picker and Cartman, the 2017 Amazon Robotics Challenge world champion, were a host of art- inspired machines designed to make us rethink our relationship with technology. Art Center Nabi’s Robo-Panda delighted crowds with its emotive expressions while Chair Walker made it clear to the public it didn’t want to be sat upon.
The Cube launched its new STEM installation Code-A-Bot. It’s the first Cube experience that can be played in teams, in a race to equip and code the most recycling robots in a virtual recycling plant.
Meanwhile, 40 bots battled for the 2017 Australian Robowars Championship in heats across the weekend. Robowars veteran Jake Anderson took the title with his machine, NC.
Robotronica 2017 marked QUT’s third robotics festival and the most successful yet.
Robotic revelry
3D printing was a big hit in the Hospitals of the Future room.
Korea’s Art Center Nabi brought Robo-Panda to Robotronica, showing the public the emotional side of companion robots.
Georgia Tech’s Professor Ron Arkin provided keynote addresses on robots built to deceive and robot intimacy.
The public tested their bedside manner on QUT’s robotic patient in the Hospitals of the Future room.
Creative Industries dance student Jacob Watton explored the relationship between a human and a robot camera in his performance 1:1.
Large and small, complex and simple—there was a robot for everyone at Robotronica.
Crowd favourites the Star Wars Redback Garrison 501st Legion baled up fans.
Large and small, complex and simple—there was a robot for everyone at Robotronica.
Australian artist-astronaut Dr Sarah Jane Pell showed us the future of public presentations with her ground-breaking keynote performance that incorporated augmented reality.
The Plastic Waste Elimination Challenge was so popular you may see schools in future using these littler-collecting robo-boats in local waterways.
Robotronica expanded into the QUT Art Gallery and included the mechatronic sculptures of Cake Industries’ Machination exhibition.
The Cube launched its latest installation, Code-A-Bot, with teams battling to equip and code robots to make the most efficient robotic recycling plant.
Electric Puppet proved very popular for people using real-time motion tracking to bring the virtual puppets to life on the screen.
2017
San Francisco-based Sam Senior is the latest face of QUT’s ‘real world’ campaign.
The boy from Hervey Bay became the man of the moment with television and online content highlighting his life in Silicon Valley as a global strategy consultant with Bain & Company.
Sam did a double degree in business and IT, achieving a near-perfect grade point average. He represented QUT at international business case competitions and won Australia’s CPA Big Break Project after tackling a real-life business challenge for charity.
“QUT’s global connections really gave me a kick start for my career,” Sam said.
The award-winning Graduate Success series—created in conjunction with BCM—showcases the success of QUT alumni and QUT’s positioning as ‘a university for the real world’.
San Francisco Sam a QUT ‘graduate
success’ star
Real-world links
...Out and about with our alumni...
Hoodlum
Ever heard of Hoodlum? Maybe not, but chances are you’ve watched or engaged in their work since 1998 when this international multiplatform content creator and passionate storyteller company hit the scene.
QUT alumni Tracey Robertson (Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts)) and Nathan Mayfield (Bachelor of Business) met not at uni, but on the job of a TV show being filmed in Gold Coast’s studios. They started making short films on weekends and from that grew the Emmy and BAFTA award-winning Hoodlum.
Hoodlum has had many high-profile projects, among them a 10-week interactive experience for fans of the iconic BBC series Spooks which lets them become MI5 agents. Vikings aficionados were treated to a companion
series integrated with the on-air story giving insights into major characters and clues about future episodes.
“We have had amazing people working with us,” Tracey said. “We’re always looking for people who think outside the box, think globally, and have big ideas.”
Her advice for creating an international creative company: “Be bold with your ideas and also learn how the world and business of media works. Travel as much as you can and build your network.”
Hoodlum is shooting a new drama called Harrow for ABC Australia with ABC Studios International.
Jo Lambert—in a New York state of mind
Since Jo Lambert graduated from QUT with a Bachelor of Business in 1995, she has become a global success story for her alma mater.
The PayPal Vice President is based in New York and is leading the company’s efforts to democratise financial services and make the management and movement of money more effective, especially for financially underserved communities around the world.
Today, PayPal serves more than 210 million customers in more than 200 markets, and has established a brand synonymous with trust and security.
Her next challenge?
“We are focusing on customer- centric design principles to create more accessible, affordable, and convenient financial solutions that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of billions of people around the world,” Ms Lambert said.
Research update
Biological factors contributing to post-traumatic stress
A world-first study investigating the genetics of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam veterans could help explain why some people develop PTSD after exposure to trauma while others do not. QUT researchers identified biomarkers which contribute to a predisposition to PTSD and can be passed down to future generations.
Published in the international psychiatry journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, the research was led by Senior Research Fellow Dr Divya Mehta, pictured, conducted in collaboration with the Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation and funded by RSL Queensland.
We’re designing robots that see for Aussie SMEs
QUT is at the helm of an $8 million design robotics research project to develop vision-enabled, agile and adaptable robots that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use easily to make high-value products that open export opportunities and create more jobs in Australia.
The five-year design robotics project is in partnership with UAP, the newly- established Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), RMIT University and construction company Laing O’Rourke.
QUT interaction design expert Dr Jared Donovan said SMEs couldn’t afford to employ a full-time engineer just to program a robot, so his team was designing a system that was agile, adaptable and easy for technical staff to re-task day to day.
Designing a robot at Urban Arts Projects are L-R: QUT Creative Industries alumnus Matt Tobin (UAP Founder and Managing Director), Bruce Blundell (Design Documentation Lead at UAP), Dr Glenda Caldwell and Dr Jared Donovan (QUT Design).
QUT creates Australia’s first lithium-ion battery
QUT researchers have produced Australia’s first lithium-ion batteries after establishing the country’s only facility capable of such manufacturing at our pilot plant precinct at Banyo.
Professor Peter Talbot from QUT’s Institute for Future Environments said the batteries were based on commercial battery formats comparable to those used to power Tesla vehicles.
“Importantly, as part of this project we identified the best lithium-based powders to use to create a battery of the highest energy-efficiency standards,” he said.
“The powder is a combination of lithium and other compounds. We tested various compositions of chemicals until we were satisfied that we had achieved the best powder possible.
“Our process enables us to rapidly test and prototype rechargeable lithium-ion batteries of various shapes and sizes.”
He said the research could be used to kick start a commercial lithium-ion battery manufacturing industry in Australia, with the batteries being one of the most popular types of rechargeable batteries used in portable electronics from mobile phones, to power tools and drones.
“This process could be automated to enable Australia to have a competitive advantage in a manufacturing space that is currently dominated by China.
“As the middle class in the Southeast Asian region grows, so too will the demand for lithium-ion battery operated goods.”
Using tweets to decrypt the personality of Donald Trump and other powerful people
An international research team, led by QUT’s Associate Professor Martin Obschonka from the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research, employed a revolutionary new, computerised scientific method of analysing digital footprints to decrypt the personality profiles of 106 superstar business leaders, including Donald Trump prior to his Presidency.
Researchers found Trump shows stronger features of an innovator personality than the other influential business leaders—he scored higher in openness to new experience (being high in this trait means listening to new ideas and being open for unconventional solutions) and, at the same time, lower in agreeableness (being low in this trait means a strong focus on competition, social distinction, and Machiavellianism).
Mark Quinlan manufacturing a lithium-ion battery at QUT’s pilot plant precinct.
Daniel worked hard at school to earn a place into QUT. He’s in the second year of a pharmacy degree and doing well.
Daniel had to survive years of family turmoil to reach this point. At one stage he, his mum and siblings found refuge in a garage after discovering a local domestic violence shelter was for females only. They lost all of their belongings in this move.
Despite everything that occured at this time, Daniel continued to work hard to succeed in Year 12. He felt honoured to have been appointed school captain and managed to achieve high grades in Maths C, Maths B, physics, chemistry and graphics—all the while having no access to the internet at his North Queensland home.
“I admit, the stresses I faced were greater than those of the typical Year 12 student, but I didn’t want to let myself develop a victim mentality,”
said Daniel.
“I remember only having a $50 budget for my Year 12 formal but when you don’t have a lot of money you have to get creative. I found myself a jacket and borrowed a supermarket trolley so my formal partner could arrive in style!”
At year’s end, Daniel won a place at QUT, but a lack of money meant he was on the verge of putting off his studies so he could work to support himself.
“After Mum had flown me down to Brisbane and I settled into a place to stay, I was left with $60 in my pocket,”
he said.
“At just the right time the people from the Learning Potential Fund got in touch and told me I’d qualified for a Tim Fairfax Scholarship, which meant I gained the financial support I desperately needed.
“From waking up every day thinking
‘What next?’ and wondering how I’d buy food and pay rent, I was suddenly able to stop worrying. It was a sort of miracle,”
Daniel said.
“I realised the funds were just a small part of what I was gaining. I actually received much-needed rehabilitation and healing.”
Daniel is thankful for the support he has received from kind strangers who donate to the QUT Learning Potential Fund (LPF).
LPF Committee Chair, Dr Hugh Nalder, recognises the inspiration that scholarship provides extends far beyond the financial support.
The Learning Potential Fund:
coming to a young man’s aid
Learning Potential Fund is award winning
The QUT Learning Potential Fund was recently recognised at the Universities Australia Marketing, Communications and Development Awards, receiving Best Fundraising Campaign or Initiative – Established.
The judging panel praised the fund, saying:
“It goes right to the heart of what QUT stands for—social justice, opportunity for non-traditional learners, and widening participation for under- represented groups … An inspiring example of great fundraising that powerfully projects the university’s values.”
The panel also recognised the wide impact of the program, which expands far beyond the benefits of scholarships for disadvantaged students by
inviting them to take part in a student ambassador program. The fund is also the driving force behind what is the largest staff giving program in the sector.
If you’d like to find out more about the QUT Learning Potential Fund, please visit www.bit.do/qut-lpf
You can also make a gift to the fund by visiting www.bit.do/links-give or completing the donation form on the magazine coversheet.
“What often drives someone to continue their education despite the huge challenges they face, is the knowledge that a stranger somewhere believes in them enough to put their money behind them,” said Dr Nalder.
Since it was launched in 1998, the LPF has awarded scholarships and bursaries to support more than 15 000 students.
Every dollar donated by an individual or organisation is matched by QUT.
Each year, the LPF supports more than 2300 disadvantaged students.
To continue providing opportunities to students to realise their potential, QUT is doubling its efforts to grow the fund from
$50 million to $100 million in the next few years.
To offer your support, please make a gift to the LPF online at www.bit.do/links-give or complete the donation form on the magazine coversheet.
Daniel (right) with fellow Learning Potential Fund ambassadors (L-R), Tia, Christopher and Tamara.
Jasmin Fuller wants a career in property economics and she knows the relevance of real-world experience.
The second-year student is just one of 21000 who engage in work integrated learning (WIL) placements as part of their study, a core aspect of QUT’s commitment to ensure graduates are ready for the workforce.
Completion of her placement led to a paid part-time role with Savills, one of the world’s leading property advisers.
“I started working during one of the busiest times at the company and I was immediately part of a big team where your input counts,” the 19-year- old said.
Savills National Head of Valuation and Advisory Neil Murphy said the company took great pride in helping to mentor students as they took the next step into the real world.
“The first step is the hardest but once you have gained some real experience in the workplace it opens many more possibilities for their careers going forward,” Mr Murphy said.
“It feels good to know we had a small part in their career and are able to give them the work ethic that I know will hold them in good stead for any challenges as they progress.
“It is great to see how quickly they develop on what they have learnt at university and grow within our organisation.”
QUT has been rated first in Australia and 10th in the world for employer- student connections based on the 2016 QS Graduate Employability Ranking.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching), Professor Suzi Derbyshire said the university would continue to adapt to provide transdisciplinary, entrepreneurial connections and
opportunities for graduates to develop the skills and capabilities to thrive for the long term.
“This is deeply within our mission, within our grasp and within our capacity and ability,” Professor Derbyshire said.
“We are proactively supporting QUT students and alumni as they move between roles and switch careers so they can jump to customise personalised learning to better support them through their lives.”
QUT now has more than 6300 partnerships with industry and community partners and has set a target for all graduating students to have completed a work integrated learning unit on completion of their degree by 2020.
Connections that lead to careers
Work integrated learning is a win-win-win for students, employers and QUT.
Alumni news
With Ken Gideon, Alumni Manager
Thank you for your support of the 2017 QUT Phone Appeal.
Our second annual phone appeal took place in August and September, with QUT students making calls to alumni like you.
These Learning Potential Fund scholars made calls in an effort to find out how we can keep alumni connected with QUT, and also helped raise awareness and funds for QUT students in financially tough circumstances.
All 40 of the student callers employed for the appeal have received support from the Learning Potential Fund in the past themselves, and expressed their appreciation for the wonderful conversations they had with alumni.
If you received a call, thank you for taking the time to share your experiences at QUT and offer your support to the Learning Potential Fund. Thanks to you, our phone appeal results are:
• More than $70000 pledged towards the Learning Potential Fund.
• More than 1500 conversations between alumni and our student callers.
• 160 alumni updating contact details so we can keep in touch in the future.
If you did not receive a call but would like to update your details or make a donation to the Learning Potential Fund, you can:
• Update your details online at www.bit.do/update-details
• Make a donation at www.bit.do/links-give
Chapter and Group news
Jean Ferguson Memorial Lecture and Award
The Early Childhood Chapter of QUT would like to thank all the alumni and early childhood professionals who attended the 16th Jean Ferguson Memorial Lecture.
Jean Ferguson OAM is honoured by the Memorial Lecture for her gracious and tenacious early childhood work.
The lecture discussed ‘What does STEM look like in the early childhood contexts’. Thank you to the panel chair, QUT’s Professor Ann Farrell, and guest speakers, QUT’s Dr Chrystal Whiteford and Associate Professor Peta Wyeth, Co-Director of Springwood Community Kindergarten Sue Southey and Centre Director for Joey Club Lisa Pikulyk.
The Jean Ferguson Memorial Award was also given on the night—and is for projects and activities with direct impact upon the development of children from birth to eight years.
QUT School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education congratulates Marie White, the winner of the 2017 Jean Ferguson Memorial Award.
Golden Graduates Morning Tea
Graduates from 1967, and earlier, gathered for the annual QUT Golden Graduates Morning Tea, held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 28 October.
QUT would like to thank all of those who were able to join this wonderful event, filled with plenty of story- telling, selfies and laughter.
Check out the new alumni map
The alumni featured in our “Real World” ads aren’t the only ones gallivanting about the globe. You can catch a glimpse on our virtual map of where in the world your fellow alumni are living. There, you will be able to see how many alumni are living in which parts of the world, as well as statistics including age groups and what they studied.
You’ll soon also be able to submit a personal profile to show your fellow alumni what you’ve been up to – stay tuned for this feature in 2018. Visit www.bit.do/alumni-map to find out more.
QUT Estate Master Plan
QUT campuses offer high-quality learning, teaching and research environments on our Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove campuses as well as a network of distributed sites for external research. To maintain this high quality QUT is embarking on a new Estate Master Planning process which will take a high-level, long-term view of potential change scenarios and development of QUT’s physical estate into the future.
We would be interested in hearing what you think our physical estate could be like in the next 10 years.
For more information visit www.bit.do/qut-master-planning or email estatemasterplanning@qut.edu.au
A life-changing blend
The Cancer & Ageing Research Foundation (CARF) supports research to develop drugs and therapeutics to target and prevent cancers, and other ageing diseases such as Alzheimer’s and arthritis.
You can now support this life-changing research whenever you get your coffee fix, thanks to the research team’s new fundraising venture: CARF Coffee. Every purchase of CARF Coffee contributes directly to cancer research. Visit
www.carfcoffee.com.au to find out more.
Young Alumni Chapter update
The QUT Young Alumni Chapter relaunched at the beginning of 2017 with an energetic and dedicated committee of young
professionals. The chapter’s 2017 Launch Party at Limes Rooftop Bar was attended by over 65 young alumni, who enjoyed drinks, food and free Doughnut Time doughnuts, and heard from alumnus and communications expert Helen Burns including tips for networking and branding yourself.
The chapter has since hosted its increasingly popular Monthly Community Drinks events at various venues across Brisbane city.
We hope to see you at one of these events soon.
Keep up to date with upcoming Young Alumni Chapter events via their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/QUTYA
Reunions
2017 has been an exciting year for alumni reunions. Groups from the classes of 1967, 1977 and 1987 have been able to reconnect with old friends and share memories of their student days at various reunion events held on and off campus.
If you’d like to hold a reunion for your class group, contact alumni@qut.edu.au or phone 07 3138 4778 to see how we can assist you.
The Young Alumni Chapter Committee enjoying the chapter launch party at Limes Rooftop Bar.
It is almost universally acknowledged that universities are vital institutions and that higher education and research can change lives for the better, but in some ways universities can be the victim of their own success. Governments are quick to acknowledge the importance of universities to a transforming economy that is part of a volatile and globalised world, but they struggle to fully underwrite the scale of growth that is needed.
Australian higher education policy remains in a holding pattern, this being the fourth year where the Federal Government’s plans to rebalance the support of higher education away from public to private funding have been blocked in the Senate. Research funding, which was largely left unaddressed in this year’s Budget, has also been getting steadily tighter, although there are prospects for more money for medical research.
We should not assume that any change of government would provide budget salvation. The financial pressures on all governments are relentless and the lesson from experience over the last ten years is that the funding even of important and worthwhile reforms, such as the demand-driven system, is difficult to sustain in the long term.
But while we should expect better than policy paralysis from our governments and political leaders, Australian universities have still been able to thrive and to drive their own change, none more so than QUT.
At the start of this century QUT had been a university for only eleven years, and while it was developing strongly it was still a fledgling in research terms, ranking 18th among Australia’s then 37 universities for research income. When the first global ranking of universities was produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2003, QUT did not appear.
Now QUT occupies ninth place in Australia for research income and is in the top 300 in what is now the Academic Ranking of World Universities. However, these abstract statistics are much less meaningful than the real world impacts that we have seen emerge as QUT has grown as a university.
To our longer standing research strengths in fields such as creative industries, education, plant biotechnology and allied health we have added exciting new strands such as materials science, robotics, big data and biomedical engineering, and across the full range of our work we have inspirational people dedicated to using advanced knowledge and technology to make the world a better place.
This growth in research has by no means come at the expense of our commitment to educating students. We have
transformed the physical environments on our Kelvin Grove and Gardens Point campuses so that they are among the best campuses in the world and exciting and stimulating places to learn.
Major changes have been made to improve student support, with the launch this year of the HiQ initiative being a good example, and we are working on comprehensive integration of online and face-to-face aspects of the QUT education experience. There is much more to do to prepare students for the challenges of technological and workplace disruption, but the reforms we have made have already made a positive difference to students, and we are seeing the results in survey data, including a strong showing in publications such as the Good Universities Guide.
With the Vice-Chancellor
Last word
This will be my last column for Links;
it has been a great privilege to be part of QUT’s journey, to work with so many wonderful colleagues at all levels across both academic and professional groupings, and to lead such an institution in partnership with members of the senior leadership team and QUT Council.
Partnership is indeed a fundamental feature of this university, with its multitude of productive internal and external linkages that tie together the strands of the QUT community.
Above all it has been gratifying to see many thousands of students benefit from a QUT education and to maintain communication with the global network of QUT alumni.
We all should be enormously proud of the achievements of the QUT community over the years and I believe that QUT has limitless potential to develop as one of the finest universities linking academic knowledge with real world challenges.
I close this column by offering a special tribute to our Chancellor, Mr Tim Fairfax AC, for his leadership and personal support.
In addition, I extend warmest wishes to my successor, Professor Margaret Sheil AO.
Professor Peter Coaldrake ao
Vice-Chancellor
CRICOS No. 00213J © QUT 2017 22983
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