Alumni in focus 2015 to 2016

Glass Artist and UniSA alumna, B. Jane Cowie is the Creative Director at Art Glass Solutions Pte Ltd, a company she established in Singapore. Her elaborate glass sculptures and art installations, which adorn the foyers of luxury hotels and corporate buildings in Singapore and South East Asia, are testament not only to her immense talent as an artist and passion for developing new techniques and experimentation with new materials, but also to her skills as a businesswoman working in the tough Asian marketplace.

Jane has owned and operated Art Glass Solutions Art Glass Solutions since 2008. She travels widely to cultivate business contacts, suppliers and clients in Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. Her company is now well established within the region and has created a diverse range of glass artworks and architectural installations, including “Enchanting…” at Merrill Lynch HarbourFront Place, “Complex Simplicity” at Ocean Financial Centre Singapore, and within numerous hotel lobbies such as the InterContinental Hotel in Foshan, China. Currently she is installing her latest artworks in Singapore’s imposing South Beach Complex within the interiors designed by the renowned Phillippe Starck.

Establishing a new business anywhere is a difficult learning curve, but for a foreigner working in Asia this has presented unique challenges which Jane carefully analyses, articulates and presents.

“When I started Art Glass Solutions with two colleagues, we ventured out into the business world after being employed. With little or no startup capital it was necessary to borrow money to survive. At the beginning we were lucky to get a few good projects, however most of these projects cost more money than what we earnt. Losing money is certainly stressful, especially in a foreign country, which made it increasingly difficult to continue. Yet I believed that creating artworks of excellence was important if the company was to endure and survive. Maintaining a high level of innovative development and unique creativity would ensure the long term survival. Finding the right projects and the right people to work with was hard work,” says Jane.

“Additionally, learning about who actually was the person making the decisions was also difficult to realise in the beginning. It took time and some costly mistakes to realise who was important and who was spinning us around. In the beginning we did a lot of developmental work that we were not paid for and subsequently kept losing money.

“The going was too tough and eventually my business partners went their own way and I was left to pay off the loan and struggle on. With little or no income for many years, my struggle to survive was palatable. I borrowed money just to pay rent, worked long hours, was teaching in the AGS studio, designed and developed artworks in the evening and continued to develop and promote the company. I learnt to not trust anything or anyone as I battled to do the best I could to create unique and innovative artworks. Finally I began to get the attention of a few key designers and developers in Singapore, and the projects started to come in at a regular, irregular rate.”

Jane learnt to make practical decisions, listened carefully and mindfully to observe the work practice of those she worked with in the Asian culture(s).

“Finally I learnt and began to understand the tacit knowledge required to survive. My business partners had left Singapore to find work in other countries and other sectors not as tough as the construction industry, within which AGS was positioning itself. Learning who to rely on, who made the key decisions and who would be paying was important. These were often different sets of people and required different skill sets to deal with each of these different groups.

“At one point I remember being asked ‘who is the most important person?’ My answer was considered and long, ‘Well the client is important as they have the money to spend on the artwork, the art consultant is important as they recommend me to the project, the interior designer is important they need to believe that what I design and create will complement their interior design, the architect is important as they have to like my designs and know it will fit well with the building’s structure, the main contractor is important as I need to work with them to install the artwork, my artist team is important as they have to understand and be able to create my vision, and finally the installation team must have the patience and ability to install the artwork in consideration of the timeline and my directives as the artist – after all my research, development, planning, making and layout composition.’

“As the artist I am part of a larger team of people who all work together to achieve a common goal – to design and build a very big object that is detailed, extra ordinary, interesting to look at and functional.”

Jane learnt to make practical decisions, listen carefully and mindfully observe the work practice of others.

“I have learnt not to trust the people who tell me I can trust them. This was a hard lesson to learn. I now rely more on observations, instinct and watch carefully for any signs that may indicate all is not as it first seems. Talk is cheap and mistakes are expensive. I always ask tough questions of those I work with and the many questions I ask assist me to determine if what people are telling me is correct or not.”

She found the language barrier difficult at first, but through the use of new technologies (Google translate) and her own intuition she now finds it relatively easy to communicate with project coordinators, glassmakers and suppliers.

“Not knowing the spoken language is naturally difficult, yet with translating apps on your phone and a keen eye for body language, I get by in most situations especially when someone is equally intuitive and observant. With my suppliers and the makers I work with we intuitively have a common bond of creativity and making, sharing a keen understanding of the material and process so we can understand each other without a translator, without words, but with gestures and drawings. It is these connections I truly value. Knowing we share the same passion for making, creating and innovating.”

Jane has always known that she would be an artist as her childhood home was filled with many artistic experiments. She studied at Sydney College of the Arts in 1980, one of the first years glass making was offered as a subject at an Australian university. It was here she learnt about glass casting, fusing, and cold working. She later travelled and worked in the USA, UK and Europe, where she witnessed glass blowing for the first time, and thought ‘this is what I will do for the rest of my life.’

In the late 1980s Jane returned to Adelaide as a trainee at Adelaide’s JamFactory - Centre for Contemporary Craft and Design. Living in Adelaide for the next 13 years, she had stints living and working abroad in the USA and Japan, later completed her Master of Visual Arts at the University of South Australia.

Her passion for art and for self-discovery have always led Jane to travel, so after completing her studies at UniSA she ventured again overseas to Asia.

“I had passed through Singapore on several occasions and it seemed like an interesting place to live and work. Taking the time to meet with people during my visits, I was offered the position of Glass Lecturer at Lasalle SIA College of the Arts in 2003. I was then asked to build and manage a hot glass studio at a local Architectural Art Glass Company. I designed, developed and made glass pieces for various standalone artworks as well as large architectural glass installations.

“Managing the hot glass studio meant I took a step away from the making process. I began to focus more on the concept development of an idea, was able to better undertake material research and had time to do the development works required in the early stages of each new project.”

Jane’s advice for graduates wanting to ‘make it’ in the world as an artist or designer-maker is to find a niche for their practice that is unique and specialised.

“Many ideas, beliefs and goals are shared amongst the greater global collective and just about everything can be reproduced and copied. Deciding what to make ‘your thing’ is important. You need to focus, commit and strive to go further than others, always pushing yourself to do the best you can.

“Continue to be creative, try to be one step ahead of current thinking and challenge yourself to continue learning. Remaining committed, true to yourself and nurturing your own individuality and creativity is important.”

New mother Kathryn Crisell was excited to finally head to university and pursue her dream of writing when a shock cancer diagnosis put everything on hold. After fighting the disease, she graduated from UniSA, raised her son and built a successful career in journalism, until the long-term effects of cancer treatment turned her life upside down once more. Today, Kathryn has gained a new perspective on life and has become a role model for those battling cancer and disability, helping others to overcome adversity and live a life full of possibility.

Tell us about your cervical cancer diagnosis and your journey through treatment and recovery. How did it affect your life?

My diagnosis was out of the blue – I was 33, had always been diligent with my pap smears and assumed I was safe. I had a number of tests that showed something was amiss, but I didn’t really think anything could be wrong, partly because my dad had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma in March that year. In my mind, there was no way I could have cancer at the same time as him. When the doctor told me I had cervical cancer, all I could think of was my baby son, Tom. My only hope was that I would survive to raise him. I had applied to study journalism at UniSA a month before I was diagnosed. When I found out I was accepted, I was ecstatic. It gave me the only positive news I would have for some time.

I had surgery just prior to Christmas, then had six weeks of radiotherapy and four rounds of chemotherapy which made me very ill. Once at the beginning I did ask, “why me?” and then immediately I asked myself, “why not me? Children die from cancer.” That thought is something I often share to give people perspective. After my treatment ended, I spent the rest of the year regaining my strength and looked forward to studying journalism. I knew then that I really wanted to provide a voice for people, to write stories that meant something. I’d always wanted to save the world, but now I knew all I could do was make my own small positive contribution, like so many wonderful people had for me when I was sick. I loved studying and the environment at UniSA. Being enveloped in thought gave me confidence in the abilities I always suspected I had but was unable to express.

You had a brief but very successful career as a journalist; what are your favourite memories and achievements?

Working at the Yorke Peninsula Country Times was supposed to be my short-term step to greater things, but it lasted about six years. I never thought community journalism would cut it for me, but it didn’t take long to fall in love with the job and the people I worked with. I covered everything from giant pumpkins to the clash of fishing rights and marine parks and beyond. I was able to find gold in the stories shared with me; there was inspiration and hope to be found in the most tragic events and I was in awe of the resilience of country people and their communities. Journalism gave me access to an incredible array of subjects, and it gave me insight to personal grief and how people deal with it – stories much bigger than mine and incredibly humbling. It’s the best job in the world and my only regret is that I didn’t get to university earlier.

You had to stop working after becoming disabled in 2013, can you share with us what happened?

Cancer treatment saved my life but did leave a number of side-effects, as radiotherapy was not as targeted twenty years ago as it is now. I’ve struggled to manage a damaged bowel since my treatment and have faced a number of cancer ‘scares’ over the years. In 2011 I joined a team in walking the City to Bay, but my legs didn’t seem to recover as they should’ve. I started to fall over occasionally, and my legs would go numb; I had little pain but developed a limp.

It took a year of scans, tests and neurosurgery before a neurologist diagnosed radiation induced plexopathy – my spine and nerves were affected by my cancer treatment in 1998. I have nerve damage in both hips, legs, ankles and feet and have to walk with a stick or walker for very short distances and use a wheelchair for anything else. I was unable to return to work, a devastating blow to someone who had always loved working. I became very bored and stressed, and finally Tom told me that I wasn’t the same person he once knew. He pushed me to study online, and I’m now completing a Masters in Writing part-time through Open University.

Tell us about your love for the not-for-profit organisation Sailability and the opportunities sailing has given you.

Both study and sailing have given me my life back. I’ve met many amazing people through Sailability. Being on the water makes us feel free and happy, peaceful in mild winds and alive when it’s wet and rough. Many sailors of the class of boat used by Sailability have a physical disability, but this has no bearing on sailing ability, so it allows thousands of disabled sailors to compete against able-bodied sailors in competitions across Australia and around the world.

In October this year, Hiroshima will host the 2018 Hansa Class World & International Championships. Up to 60 Australian sailors will attend and I hope to be there with my sailing partner Pip, who had a stroke a few years ago. Competing as a team has given new meaning to our lives and we intend to get to Hiroshima with sponsors helping to raise the $15,000 required to finance our trip.

How has dealing with adversity not once but twice changed you and the direction of your life? How have you grown from it?

Having a child gave me a perspective on life that I never thought possible, but after cancer I realized the urgency of trying to make every day count. I thought more positively about life than I ever had before. Becoming disabled has thrown a lot of new challenges into my life but also enriched it. While I hate that I can’t walk on the beach with my son and my dog I know I was lucky to have ever been able to do it. I want to make a difference by raising awareness of the challenges of disability.

You believe that people facing adversity can contribute to society and put their skills to use in other ways than through business and careers. Can you elaborate on this?

There’s a lot I can’t do anymore, but what I can do, I do well and want to put to good use. Whether working or not, able-bodied or disabled, we all have something to offer. I’ve seen a deaf, non-verbal young man crippled with cerebral palsy pick out a message on his laptop about a boat design change he would like. I’ve seen an autistic lad juggle like the devil and make balloon animals and I’ve seen a blind girl sail solo. These people are contributing by showing what they can achieve and are providing inspiration and humility to the people around them. People with or without professional skills can find so much satisfaction in volunteering, out of helping someone other than yourself.

What advice do you have for others facing their own adversities, whether it be cancer, a disability or something else entirely?

I think talking about adversity is the key to survival. That might mean seeking help for yourself when you’re struggling, pointing someone in the direction of help, or sharing your story so that others don’t feel alone – not trying to outdo them, but letting them know you can relate. I’m not alone in feeling that some good can come out of every awful situation we face; it just takes time to see the bigger picture and find the richness in the detail.

Adelaide comes alive in February and March each year during the Adelaide Festival and the Fringe. This has become Mimi Crowe's world in her new role as Head of Development and Strategy at the State Theatre Company. After beginning her career as an actor, Mimi moved into arts administration and produced the acclaimed TARNANTHI Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, which was a career highlight.

After completing her Master of Business Administration (MBA) with UniSA in 2011, Mimi worked as the General Manager of the Office for Design and Architecture SA before moving on to the Art Gallery of South Australia as the Executive Producer of TARNANTHI.

Mimi started her career in the arts as an actor after graduating from Central Washington University with a Bachelor of Theatre Arts. Upon moving to Australia in 2001, she made the decision to develop her business skills and embark on a career in arts administration.

”South Australia has an incredibly strong and vibrant arts industry and I knew quite early on that I wanted to devote my career to supporting artists to deliver their artistic vision through solid administration and good management,” says Mimi.

It was this decision that led Mimi to complete her MBA.

”I knew a solid understanding of best practice management including economic and financial skillsets would be of importance to the art industry in the future. The MBA was crucial to enable me to best support art organisations with the highest possible level of business acumen required for agile, forward thinking organisations,” she says.

Mimi says her most rewarding professional achievement was producing TARNANTHI at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

“It was such a culturally, personally and professionally rewarding experience. I feel deeply grateful for having been part of such an important national event. Presenting the work of over 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists in South Australia (with over 200 artists coming to Adelaide for the opening weekend) was a truly unique and exceptional experience.”

In her new position with the State Theatre Company, Mimi will be heading up the fundraising team but also taking a crucial role in strategic planning and government relations. She is excited about the challenges ahead.

“I think as economies internationally struggle, and budget decisions become harder, the arts industry has to be more savvy and proactive than ever at demonstrating both our tangible and intangible value in society. One of the elements I enjoy is acting as a translator between artistic vision and the world of business and government funding.”

Mimi says she has heard of too many people who want a change but are afraid to make the first step, so advises graduates to take the chance.

”There is no harm in trying. Put your hand up for opportunities and say yes when they come. If you think you would be great at a job, but not sure of your skillset then either put in an application or develop the areas that you are lacking for that role. UniSA’s MBA provides its graduates with such a broad and useful skillset, the possibilities for success are endless!”

View the Adelaide Festival of Arts and Adelaide Fringe Festival programs.

Stephen Dametto has taken his UniSA degree to the world after recently being appointed as the Senior Investigating Officer leading the Australian contingent into the Malaysian Airlines investigation (MH17) in The Hague.

Stephen studied a Bachelor of Accountancy (class of 1995) and a Diploma of Property (class of 1996) at the University of South Australia.

“When I commenced my degree in 1991 UniSA had a lot of energy as it had just become the University of South Australia. Its accountancy program was considered one of the best in SA and the place was buzzing.

“Once I completed my studies I spent three years working as an accountant at a mid-tier firm in Adelaide and completed the Chartered Accountant program. At the time I became disenfranchised with pure accountancy and started looking at other options. I took a chance and joined the AFP (Australian Federal Police).”

From there Detective Superintendent Stephen Dametto’s life in the AFP has taken him to the frontline of some of the world's biggest issues and events. When the Malaysian Airlines disaster (MH17) occurred, Stephen was sent to Ukraine as the Police Forward Commander and was responsible for setting up the Investigations Team with representatives from Ukraine, Netherlands and Australia. His vital work with the MH17 investigation is continuing. Stephen is currently living in The Hague and leading the Australian contingent into the MH17 investigation as the Senior Investigating Officer.

“The lives of 38 Australian citizens and residents – who were among 298 passengers and crew on board - were lost in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Some of the stories are soul destroying. This is a complex investigation as the plane was shot down over a conflict zone, which makes it extremely difficult to gather evidence".

He wants to ensure, “that I do my bit for the victims and their families, so there can be justice and hopefully some sort of comfort for them.”

Within 12 months of joining the AFP, Stephen became a Federal Agent and worked on one of the biggest fraud and corruption operations in Australia. The investigation involved an ex – Australian Tax Office Assistant Commissioner and resulted in their conviction.

Stephen’s work at the AFP has taken him all over the world, including two secondments in the United Kingdom. Once at the Metropolitan Police Service’s Counter Terrorism Command and the other at the National Crime Squad’s Money Laundering Investigations Team.

“I have had a varied career in the AFP which has had many highlights. Despite moving away from pure accountancy, the degree itself has given me many opportunities within the AFP. I have worked in Fraud and Corruption, Organised Crime, and Counter Terrorism.”

“In over 15 years with the AFP, I am particularly proud of forming and leading the AFP’s Terrorism Financing Investigations Unit (TFIU). This is a multi-agency taskforce with a national and international remit that investigates terrorism financing, uses financial intelligence in terrorism investigations, and provides training and capacity building to both public and private institutions all around the world".

“This has allowed me to present on terrorism financing at many international conferences, and facilitate workshops and training sessions in Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Hong Kong with attendees including prosecutors, law enforcement and financial intelligence experts from around the world.”

Stephen’s journey is the perfect example that you never know where your education will lead you. Even though Stephen is no longer working in his original field of study, he believes that his education at university “opened a lot of doors” for him.

“A university degree is a great thing to have no matter where your life takes you. I learnt many things during that time but in particular the different backgrounds and experiences of the professors and the students gave me an understanding of my place, and Adelaide's place in the world. Also, the importance of looking outward and making a contribution to your community. I am now doing a PhD in law and I believe that study never ends, wherever you are in the world or in your career pathway, you should embrace it and enjoy it. ”

"Adelaide is a great place to live and study. Something unique to UniSA."

Among the thousands of alumni who have reconnected with UniSA during our three month Boarding Call competition is global marketing executive Glenn Davis. His successful career in healthcare has taken him around the world to the USA. where he's a senior executive in the Bay area with a start-up. In 2014 he was Vice President of Sales with Ekso Bionics, a medical device company that has pioneered the field of robotic exoskeletons to augment human strength, endurance and mobility.

Glenn gained his first qualification at UniSA – an Associate Diploma in Radiological Technology in 1986 - before moving to Melbourne to undertake further study and a position in sales at ultrasound company Acuson. He moved on to become their European sales manager in London before joining international healthcare giant Siemens as their Asia Pacific Marketing Manager based in Singapore. His stellar career with Siemens took him to Japan and the USA where he went on to become the Global Vice President, Worldwide Marketing in the Ultrasound Division for this US$700 million company.

You have had a very impressive career in medical devices - ultrasound in particular - with the global giant Siemens. What career achievements do you feel most proud of?

The greatest satisfaction in medical technology is seeing it being used in the clinical environment with patients, to make a difference in their lives. I am very proud of the work in interventional ultrasound with tissue strain imaging; that has the potential to reduce patient biopsies. Having five daughters, I also feel very strongly about improvements in women’s health and feel very proud of the education campaign related to dense breast education.

[Glenn worked for international healthcare giant Siemens from 2001 until early 2014. While working as Vice President, Worldwide Marketing in their Ultrasound Division Glenn was responsible for the Breast Density Behind-the-Scenes Video, which won four prestigious USA marketing awards. Watch the video here.]

You moved from marketing imaging devices to a company pioneering robotic exoskeletons. What excites you about the work Ekso Bionics is doing?

Every day we see and hear news on the topic of wearable medical devices. Until recently robotic exoskeletons have been more science fiction than fact. Today across Europe and the USA, exoskeletons are being used for gait training in the rehabilitation of stroke patients and spinal cord injuries. Robotics and medicine is growing at an unprecedented rate, with universities playing a key role in the development of technologies. When you see an individual walking for the first time since their injury or neurological event, it certainly makes me feel proud of what technology is capable of.

What’s next for 2015?

After working for a multinational across the globe and an exciting medical start-up, I have decided, together with another entrepreneur, to start our own medical device company based in the Bay area. We are still at a very early stage, but hope to achieve A-series funding over the next few months.

Who or what from your experience at UniSA still stays with you today?

My experience at UniSA can be summarized as providing me with the skills necessary to achieve employment straight after graduation and understanding that adaptability is a key for future success. I really enjoyed the diversity of the campus in the city, together with the partnerships the University established with local employers.

What is your advice to a graduate thinking about a career in medical technology today?

Medical technology is still a growth industry with significant investments being made by both start-ups and large multinationals. Disruptive technology and in particular the convergence of medicine, biotech and portable devices will bring exciting changes to people’s lifestyles and quality of life.

I see you are interested in Italian motorcycles. Which one do you own and where has it taken you?

I must profess to having a love of two wheels, both bicycles and motorcycles. My grandfather used to own a combined bicycle/motorcycle shop, and my mother used to take me to primary school on the back of a motorcycle. I currently have a DUCATI café racer, and two race bikes, having ridden in Asia and Europe. Both my wife and I love cycling, riding in the Berkeley hills three to four times per week. I am pleased to see UniSA contributing to the community through sponsorship of the Tour Down Under, the race where my wife and I first met each other.

As country CFO for global billion-dollar company, Coca-Cola HBC, Slovakia during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Joseph attributes his professional success to being imaginative and resourceful in managing the finance function.

Joseph was living and working in Ukraine, Belarus and Slovakia just after the Berlin Wall came down, when the Soviet Era ended and Eastern European countries became independent states. The political landscape changed dramatically and the economic situation was very challenging to navigate.

“Going from State-run to an emerging free market came with many financial difficulties, as access to foreign currency for imported equipment and materials was really tough,” Joseph says.

“While I was working in Belarus, the local currency devalued 550% during the course of one year, often falling 20% in a week. We would use our intuition and knowledge of the local economy to anticipate the large currency devaluations, in order to purchase locally sourced raw materials and equipment and stock pile them for later use. This included pallets of sugar, resin used for PET manufacture and vehicles – anything that would keep its value and was required for the business.

“We were continually finding innovative ways to enhance the company’s profitability and access to foreign currency (USD). For example, we would purchase resin locally, manufacture plastic bottle preforms and export them to our sister companies in Slovakia and Czech Republic to earn hard currency for international trade.

“Often convincing my Managing Director, an expatriate American, to approve our radical financial ideas was difficult. However, our team achieved great success and the company was able to minimise the impact of foreign currency movements on operating profits.”

Joseph started his successful journey in accounting in Port Pirie, located in rural South Australia. After one year, he moved to Adelaide and continued working for CC Bottlers Ltd, a locally listed public company, while studying a Bachelor of Accounting at UniSA part-time.

“I worked in every type of accounting position for CC Bottlers which gave me great exposure to the industry and the business operations, which has really benefited me in my more senior positions.”

Joe moved to the USA for two years in the 1980s before Coca-Cola Amatil bought CC Bottlers. He believes the biggest differences between working in the USA and Australia compared with Eastern Europe are the infrastructure, business models and level of economic development.

“In Eastern Europe there were strict systems in place, including the order in which you had to pay suppliers. There was such a vast difference in how you go about conducting business.

“One of the more memorable incidents was when our office in Ukraine was raided by the Tax Police, who were walking around with military style guns. A completely different experience to an audit by the Australian Tax Office!

“One of my many fond memories is from my time in Slovakia, for my 40th birthday the whole finance team organised a surprise party. I found the local staff had an amazing sense of community and incredible family values. They were highly educated, multi-lingual and extremely motivated. I experienced this across Eastern Europe.

“I worked with other expats from across the globe and the local staff made us feel so welcome, they really took us in and made us feel at home. They helped us in settling into their countries.”

In 2004 Joseph and his family moved back to Australia and he started working for the billion-dollar Japanese company, Hoshizaki Corporation, as the Finance & Supply Chain Director Asia Pacific of their Australian based subsidiary, Hoshizaki Lancer Pty Ltd. Hoshizaki Corporation is a world leader in Draught Beer and Soft Drink Dispense systems, Ice Machines and Professional Food Service Refrigeration and Freezer units.

“I feel fortunate to have only ever worked for companies who produce products that people enjoy.”

With hindsight, Joseph’s advice for recent graduates is to gain as much international experience and variety in different roles as possible.

“Working in a foreign country is great for your self-development, self-reliance and cultural and business awareness, which in-turn will improve your career.

“My wife has a Bachelor of Visual Arts with Honours and was awarded a University Medal for Academic Excellence, and our daughter completed a Bachelor of Journalism and is now studying a Graduate Diploma in Marketing. So our whole family are UniSA alumni!”

Environmental Science student Michael Dyer has always had a passion for the outdoors and the environment. As the recipient of the 2015 Cowan Young Endeavour Grant he embarked on an adventure that has heightened his interest in the world around him.

After briefly studying Mechanical Engineering, 22-year-old Michael decided it was not the right path for him and switched to a Bachelor of Environmental Science at UniSA. With a keen interest in ecology, ecosystem function, conservation and the role of mathematics in ecology, Michael joined the Biology Society of South Australia as an undergraduate representative in order to further his career in his field of choice. 

“Throughout my life there have been three pillars I have been passionate about: mathematics, problem solving and nature; I wanted to study something which incorporated these themes,” Michael says.

In 2015, Michael received the Cowan Young Endeavour Grant and joined a crew of 23 other young Australians to sail on the World Voyage for 40 days across the North Sea - from Southampton to Amsterdam.

“The adventure on the Young Endeavour was the most awe-inspiring and greatest thing I have ever experienced,” says Michael.

“My most memorable moments involve sitting on the yards of the foremast, laughing with friends in the middle of the North Sea.”

While Michael learnt all the ins and outs of tall ship sailing, including maritime history and the rules of travelling by sea, his favourite aspect of the trip was learning about the ship’s navigation.

“I learnt how to read charts and navigate by the stars, RADAR and GPS – I gained a deep respect for those ancient mariners that traversed the seas with only the stars and a sexton – they truly were on the edge of the Earth.

“The voyage was a physical challenge as well as mentally demanding. It has shown me a world I could only have dreamed to be a part of, and allowed me to redefine my love of nature and history.”

After finishing his degree, Michael plans to move into post-graduate studies at honours level.

“I aim to study ecosystem function and plant movements in ecosystems, on a local and international scale, specifically looking at how invasive species move through ecosystems and what plant mosaics can tell us about disturbance or history.

“Through my whole experience studying Environmental Science I have realised that you never know where a single conversation can take you. It has the power to plant a seed of an idea into your mind, and with commitment, dedication and surrounding yourself with like-minded people, that idea can become an extremely powerful tool to shape your life and change the world.

“The Young Endeavour Grant helped me to follow my personal goals and dreams of visiting places and an old era; I was immersed in the old world of sailing and mateship.

“The grant allowed me to make connections for my own future aspirations in environmental science, specifically in telling the story of plant function and movement around the globe,” Michael says.

Learn more about how you can support scholarships, grants and prizes for UniSA students like Michael.

UniSA alumna Helen Edwards is a multi award winning source of inspiration. She founded an acclaimed diabetes counselling service, has published a children’s book, runs an online homewares store, is completing her PhD, and was a South Australian finalist in the 2015 Telstra Business Women’s Awards and a state finalist in the 2016 Australian of the Year Awards.

Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child, she became aware of a lack of understanding of the condition and wanted to create her own counselling services to connect and support patients. In 2001 Helen founded Diabetes Counselling Online, which has helped thousands of people living with diabetes and their families worldwide.

Helen completed a Bachelor of Social Work with Honours in 1989. After 12 years working in the challenging yet rewarding area of welfare and child protection, Helen decided to pursue a different path very close to her personal life.

“To me social work is the holistic career when it comes to the helping professions because we address mental health and wellbeing alongside societal and political issues,” Helen says.

“I’d reached a point where I wanted help for myself and was unable to find it. At the time I started the counselling services, I basically quit my job and set off to create an online community which was, at that time, pioneering. Nobody was really using technology to support communities and online counselling was rare in Australia.”

But while her idea was much needed in the diabetes community, Helen struggled breaking into the field and faced multiple barriers and the advice that ‘people with diabetes should not work in diabetes as they carry too much baggage’.

Refusing to give up, Helen worked for two years to challenge the system and create a world where people with diabetes had a voice and better quality of life. Shortly after founding Diabetes Counselling Online, Helen studied as a diabetes educator to increase her credibility and knowledge in the field, and 15 years later the organisation is a continuing success.

“We’ve won multiple awards and helped thousands and thousands of people with diabetes and their families across the world to live healthier, happier lives. This hasn’t been an easy road, but I’m proud to use my personal journey to make a statement, because really, what is wrong with baggage?”

In 2014, Helen published a children’s picture book, Diabetes Can’t Stop Me, to help inform and encourage families to discuss diabetes with their children and to lessen the stigma.

“Families with young children with type 1 diabetes constantly live with the threat of high and low blood glucose, as well as terrible complications such as blindness, kidney disease, stroke, and nerve damage. There are double the rates of depression and greatly reduced wellbeing.

“The book aims to help children feel less alone, more empowered, and to make daily diabetes tasks easier. The soft toys which come with the book have spots on their tummies so they can take their injections along with their owner.”

In 2013, with a love of vintage and the stories that lie behind old stuff, Helen started blog and online homewares store Recycled Interiors, to help people create unique, beautiful and sustainable homes that care for the planet. The blog has won multiple awards and was a finalist in the 2014 Bupa Blog Awards.

Helen was a South Australian finalist in the 2015 Telstra Business Women’s Awards and a state finalist in the 2016 Australian of the Year Awards.

In 2016 she will complete her PhD, through which she explores the personal and prominent area of pregnancy and motherhood among women with type 1 diabetes.

“I’ve continually come across a lack of understanding and services to support women during this critical time in their lives. After talking with many women with diabetes about their fears and anxieties and the ultimate joy of becoming a mother - I was drawn to a PhD topic both dear to my heart and under-researched,” Helen says.

“Given I was told at the age of 12 that I’d probably never have children, I have a unique position as an insider. I’m now in fact the mother of three healthy strapping boys!”

Helen has advice for recent Social Work graduates, telling them not to be afraid to try different, unexplored paths of work.

“Never think you can’t use your personal experiences in your work; engage with your clients as human beings and with a genuine desire to help and there will be better outcomes for everyone.”

A career in architecture has taken UniSA graduate, Josephine Evans around Australia, allowed her to push the boundaries of innovation, and connected her across the world. Having worked on a diverse range of projects, including the Athlete’s Village for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, the Walkerville Civic and Community Centre in Adelaide, tourist retreats in Perth and the recent new Learning Centre at Adelaide High School, Josephine’s next exciting project is UniSA’s Great Hall.

Tell us about the Great Hall project.

The Great Hall is not as traditional as it sounds. It will be a highly functioning place 24/7, a new home for UniSA Sport and a place for celebration. We very much see this building as a public realm for the city and the campus with green gardens and outdoor terracing, an indoor plaza that connects with and opens to Høj Plaza and specialised facilities for sports and wellbeing including a 25m pool. It will be a destination with a hall that acts as a chameleon, transforming itself into a theatre and events space. Most importantly it will be designed for the unexpected, with hidden services and integrated technology, ensuring the building performs well into the future.

What is your involvement in the project?

To be working with my own university to realise such a vision is quite a defining moment in my career. It’s a unique opportunity to be working and learning from both the Norwegian firm Snøhetta and Adelaide’s own Jam Factory, who form the lead design team in association with JPE Design Studio. JPE is the lead consultant on the project and my role is to lead the consultation with the various university groups and users, working closely with the UniSA project team. I will gather all of the requirements needed to successfully deliver the University’s vision for the project and translate that to the design team both here and in Oslo. Once the design is fully developed I will take the project lead role during the construction of the building to ensure the team delivers a centre of excellence.

What is special about this project?

The Great Hall evokes great expectations. The idea to create a place that not only showcases the University brand and its presence in the city but also reflects UniSA’s culture and attitude is not unique. What is unique is that this building does not facilitate study and will bring people together to share a new university experience that is social, inclusive and also accessible to the public. The culture of the University is to foster collaboration and enterprise, encouraging students and staff to think broadly about what is possible in the 21st century. Bringing a global cultural understanding of public and educational buildings, Snøhetta will inform this conversation. These ingredients will result in a defining project, not only for UniSA’s City West Campus but also for the city and the State of South Australia.

What is the best thing about being an architect?

There is never a dull moment. I really enjoy working on a diverse range of projects and I live and breathe design. The contribution to how we express ourselves through the built environment has a gravitas that can be long lasting way beyond the immediate future. Making and crafting a building or place and learning about different materials and construction techniques is also fascinating for me, especially with technology moving so fast. How we communicate is going digital but our physical environment has a huge impact on how we experience a place and how we do things. I suppose I have always been interested in people and the environment and I go to work every day to explore this relationship. It is a demanding but rewarding career if you can get the balance right and also spend time relaxing and enjoying life, to feed your inspiration.

What has been the highlight of your career?

The first of many highlights was winning a national interior design award for my first interior design, working for Cox Architects in Melbourne on the Chisholm TAFE, Access and Languages building in Dandenong. As a graduate I was assisting across the project on many aspects of the design and took the lead on the interior as the office was so busy. Little did I know how innovative the client would allow me to be. The design set a benchmark for me of what is possible.

What do you still hope to achieve in your career?

I hope to build on my experience in education and public buildings but I’m also very open to any design related projects. I believe in collaboration, particularly between disciplines, and hope to continue working with other designers and passionate clients for years to come.

Highly regarded by its graduates, the 2015 Good Universities Guide rates the Architecture program at UniSA in the top category for Good Teaching, Generic Skills and Overall Satisfaction (Source Australian Graduate Survey). Find out more about studying Architecture visit unisa.edu.au/architecture

UniSA PhD student and physiotherapist Joel Fuller (Bachelor of Physiotherapy with Honours 2012), who is investigating the connection between running strides and sports injury, will travel to the United States to further his research as part of the prestigious Fulbright scholarships program.

Joel will use his Fulbright South Australia Postgraduate Scholarship to visit the University of Massachusetts.

He says he will use his time in the US to investigate whether there is a connection between running stride and injury risk.

“Running is an inherent component of most sports, so it’s important for understanding injuries,” he says.

“We’re looking at whether the structure and pattern of your running stride gives an indication of the health of your neuromuscular system – similar to how the structure and pattern of your heartbeat gives an indication of the health of your cardiovascular system.”

He says he will use his time in the US to investigate whether there is a connection between running stride and injury risk.

“We’re looking at whether the structure and pattern of your running stride gives an indication of the health of your neuromuscular system – similar to how the structure and pattern of your heartbeat gives an indication of the health of your cardiovascular system.”

Joel will set off in August with the goal to further investigate a stride assessment technique developed as a spin-off from his PhD project on footwear and running injuries.

“We developed some novel biomechanical assessment techniques that we thought had potential clinical application,” Joel says.

“We use a sensor inside the shoe to detect foot strikes and measure running stride rhythm.

“When running, no stride is the same as the last one. Previous work in motor control shows this variation is not just white noise, but instead contains a purposeful structure that results from fine-tuning of the running stride by the central nervous system.

“If certain stride structures and patterns can be proven to predict certain types of injury, our technique to assess running stride will give a good idea of a runner’s risk of injury.

“Currently biomechanical assessment can be equipment-heavy and time consuming. This technique is much simpler, and will be easy to use in practice. The complexity is in processing the stride information, not in collecting it and this processing can be automated.”

The University of Massachusetts will offer Joel the opportunity to work with a large group of high-performance athletes from the institution’s sporting programs. Joel says he is looking forward to tapping into the university’s expertise.

“This is a great chance to stay at the forefront of my field and investigate questions that have come up in practice,” he says.

“Down the track, I hope to translate my findings to clinical work, to benefit patients and end users.”

The Fulbright Program has been providing opportunities for educational exchanges between the United States and Australia since 1949.

UniSA’s second Fulbright Scholar of 2015, Adjunct Professor Rob Fowler, will travel to George Washington University on the Fulbright Professional Scholarship in Climate Change and Clean Energy.

For more information on Prof Fowler, Joel and the Fulbright Scholarship program, visit the Australian American Fulbright Commission website.

Gavin Hirschhausen’s passion for sport has taken him all over the world. His adventures have eventually led him back to Australia, as a Deputy Principal and Mayor Candidate in Greater Geraldton, where his focus is now on the importance of health and activity in schools.

While working as a teacher, Gavin realised how important physical education and living an active lifestyle are to children, and that Australian schools need to place more focus on students’ physical and mental health.

“Mental health issues are on the rise, and the focus is on treatment, not the root issues – not a lot of work is being done to understand the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle; people need time for recreation and play,” Gavin says.

After graduating from UniSA with a Bachelor of Education (Secondary Physical Education) in 1995, Gavin Hirschhausen flew straight over to America to pursue a dream of working in sport, unaware of exactly how far a summer job at camp would take him.

“I had a couple of good PE teachers who believed in me, and I wanted to continue in a career with my love of sport.

“I travelled extensively after each summer and kept coming back to Camp Deerhorn in Wisconsin because of the positivity of the place and the huge impact they had on shaping young boys into men of respect, honour and compassion.”

In 1998, Gavin trekked north to Canada, where he struggled with money until a local ski school said they would offer him a job if he passed his Level 1 ski instructor course.

“I volunteered to take extra ski lessons and was awarded Ski Instructor of the Year at the end of the season – that little journey taught me humility and to be truly thankful for every opportunity. By that time I was well and truly addicted to the mountains,” says Gavin, who began working as an avalanche controller at Castle Mountain Resort in Alberta.

“This job involved a steep learning curve utilising all my outdoor specialist skills from UniSA. I loved every second of it; there’s nothing like having a stick of explosives between your legs on the edge of a steeply packed snow face to let you know you’re alive.”

After six adrenaline filled years in North America, Gavin returned home to Australia to decide where his career would take him next. His continued passion for sport brought him to Geraldton, Western Australia, where he worked as Sports Coordinator and PE teacher at two schools.

“It wasn’t until I got a job at Strathalbyn Christian College in Geraldton, that I found what I was looking for. As I built the Outdoor Education program there it became really clear to me how inactive and disconnected from creation a lot of kids were becoming. I became quite passionate about it and found myself leading more and more by example.”

Throughout his life and career journey, Gavin has discovered a lot about the pursuit of dreams and goals, and the importance of grasping onto opportunity. He recently ran for Mayor of the City of Greater Geraldton, and while unsuccessful, believes it was a valued experience that has expanded his horizons.

“I returned from twelve weeks study leave last year where I visited Germany and the US to look at innovations in education and leadership as part of my postgraduate studies, and had my eyes opened to the opportunities that exist back home.

“You should live your dreams, and dream big! Be humble and open to the opportunities that present themselves as there are many paths you may need to go down to discover which is right. It will take you longer than expected to achieve your goals, but trust yourself to have a go.”

The signing of the Australia-China Free Trade Agreement on 17 June 2015 heralds a new era in trading relations between the two countries. UniSA alumna Dr Caroline Hong has been a part of the evolving relationship since she participated in a trade mission to Shandong province almost three decades ago. She has an impressive career in health administration, consulting and public speaking and is widely recognised as an Australia-Asia SME Expert.

Asian born, Caroline grew up in Adelaide, and began her career as a dentist. She found herself drawn to the health administration path and progressed to become first woman CEO of the Australian Dental Association NSW & ACT.

Caroline runs her own consultancy CH Asia Australia advising on Australia-Asia cultural and business issues. She is a sought after public speaker and is a regular columnist on business topics.

With an equally impressive list of honorary positions, Caroline is currently Vice Chair, Sports Aviation Flight College Australia (SAA) and Co-Founder of Sydney School of Protocol Asians in Australia.

We spoke to Dr Hong about her career and her insights on doing business with Asia.

Tell us about the career achievements of which you are most proud.

My most proud achievement was when I became the first woman and first Asian to become the CEO of the Australian Dental Association NSW & ACT in 1997.

At that time, it was newsworthy. Some people perceived that I broke the glass ceiling for women and for Asians living in Australia.

That led me to an amazing next 10 years in the medical sector as the first CEO of a medical ultrasound peak association, the Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine, responsible for Australia and NZ. Then I became the inaugural foundation CEO of the SME Association of Australia, leading me to my current international consulting business and public speaking.

You travelled to Shandong Province in 1987 as part of an Australian delegation to China during the early days of the South Australia - Shandong Province sister-state relationship. How far have we come in our dealings with China?

A lot has changed! It would be hard for most people to understand the pride I felt to be an Asian face representing South Australia travelling on a Diplomat passport to China in 1987. China was starting to connect with the outside world, encouraged after Deng Xiaoping took office in 1978, setting into motion the economic transformation of modern China.

Economic, trade and culture links for South Australia with its sister-province of Shandong, hold greater significance in doing business with China. It is ingrained in the Confucian philosophy of mutual respect by building and nurturing relationships with “family” and “guanxi” networks.

We have to start thinking of ourselves as part of the Asia region and Asia time zone. It is important to cross borders and oceans to get onto the other side of the equator to visit businesses and government bodies in Asia.

The China Free Trade Agreement, which was signed on 17 June 2015, will bring unprecedented benefits from a reduction in tariffs and ease of doing business for the South Australian people who are smart enough to think of themselves as part of the Asian Century, if not the China Century.

You say that doing business successfully in Asia is not just about market research, branding strategy and building long term relationships. How important are the soft skills, such as cultural understanding and learning an Asian language?

Very vital! Studies by Harvard University, The Carnegie Foundation and the Stanford Research Institute have shown that 85per cent of success in getting a job, keeping a job, and moving up in an organisation is due to people, or “soft” skills. Technical skills and knowledge account for 15 per cent.

It is complex, particularly when dealing with Asia. Businesses and government bodies that seek to understand and embrace culture to better position themselves in Asia generally do better than those who stay complacent.

Learning an Asian language is useful, but learning the culture is very important regardless of whether you speak the language or not.

What advice do you have for young graduates looking to a career in international business?

Have courage to venture outside Australia. Do that early in your career.

Stay connected with your University Alumni. The Alumni can play a pivotal role in connecting you to the outside world.

If you are lacking in soft skills, invest early to get personalised professional help to master those skills instead of waiting for decades to develop them through trial and error.

Follow your heart. Network incessantly. Travel widely.

For more about Dr Caroline Hong visit:

carolinehong.com.au

SportsAviationAustralia.com

SydneyschoolofprotocolAsiansinAustralia.com.au

ChinaHr.com.au

or connect with her on Twitter @CarolineHong, Weibo or WeChat: DrCarolineHong

Dr Ariadne Juwono’s interest in physics developed in high school and led her to an academic career at the University of Indonesia spanning 26 years. She works as a researcher in nanocomposites and other materials, and is responsible teaching quality and improvement.

Ariadne credits her father for sparking her interest in science as a child.

“My father, who was an aircraft engineer, introduced his children to science. I became interested in physics when I was in high school. I thought by learning physics I would know more about the world and science,” she says.

She has been an active promoter of science careers among young people, especially among women.

“I am very grateful when I see young girls become scientists. I would love to share my story on how challenging it is to become a scientist, especially a woman scientist, in Indonesia,” says Ariadne.

Over the past decade she has seen an upward trend in the level of participation of women in science and increasing numbers of Indonesian young women have achieved international recognition in science.

She was introduced to the discipline of materials science and the study of composites in particular, while studying for her undergraduate degree in Physics at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Since the development of powerful microscopes gave scientists the ability to see nano-sized materials and study and manipulate their properties, research into composites and nanocomposites and related areas has led to discoveries in a huge range of scientific and industrial applications, from drug delivery to clothing manufacturing, and from chemical clean-ups to structural applications in vehicle and building design.

Ariadne’s interest in composites led her to pursue her Masters in Materials Engineering at UniSA in 1994-1996, under her supervisor Professor Strafford who was an expert in the same research field. Current Masters students can study materials science at UniSA’s Ian Wark Research Institute.

Ariadne obtained her doctoral degree from Monash University in 2005 with a dissertation on the behaviour of clay/ epoxy nanocomposites. She later returned to Monash for six months under the Endeavour Fellowship Program to study nanofiber fabrication using a force-spinner.

“For the last five years, I have been involved in biodegradable polymer research – still in the area of composites and nanocomposites,” she says.

“I have been working in research collaboration with the Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) company and the Agency for Assessment and Application Technology Republic of Indonesia. The polymer based composites have been used for structural applications. In the future, the biodegradable polymers – either the polymer itself or in composites and nanocomposites - will be used for medical application in a wide range of functions,” she says.

In her role as Senior Lecturer in the Physics Department between 1998 and 2010 she was responsible for organising the Basic Physics Laboratory for Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Engineering Faculties, where she saw student numbers almost double from 800 to 1500 students.

Since 2010 she has been responsible for academic staff teaching skills development and is now Vice Head of the Academic Quality Assurance Board, where she coordinates academic quality assurance among faculties in the university level.

Ariadne won the Best Researcher in Sciences from the University of Indonesia in 1997 as recognition of her achievement and contribution in physics and she is currently Chairperson of the Jakarta Chapter of the Indonesian Physics Association.

Engineering graduate, Jo La Spina, who is one of South Australia’s first engineers of water sensitive urban design (WSUD), has been recognised for the quality of his work, winning the 2015 Institute of Public Works Engineers Australia SA Division Professional of the Year award.

Joe, who works for Wallbridge and Gilbert Consulting Engineers, has designed many water sensitive projects in Adelaide. He says it was a real surprise to win the award but is grateful to be recognised by his peers.

“I had no idea I had been nominated for the award, and was quite surprised when my name was read out at the awards presentation. I’m grateful that my work has been acknowledged by the Civil Engineering industry”, Joe says.

Joe calls himself a ‘Green Engineer’, and says his work is a mix of delivering environmental outcomes and civil engineering.

“I explain my job as a mix of engineering and caring for the environment. WSUD is about integrating the urban water cycle, including stormwater, into the planning of urban design and infrastructure”, he says.

Joe’s design work includes the Adelaide Zoo, Victoria Square Redevelopment, UniSA’s M2 building at Mawson Lakes and Springwood Wetlands. Joe’s work has also revived a plant species on the brink of extinction.

“I’m proud to say I have completed a range of projects in this area. One of my first projects was at Aldinga beach, where my design discharged stormwater into a conservation park to reinstate water flow, bringing back a plant species that was thought to be extinct”, Joe says.

Joe also took his passion to his home, installing water sensitive design techniques throughout his house, which drove his peers to nominate him.

“My peers noticed I practice what I preach through my use of WSUD in my family home, which is one of the reasons I was nominated. I can boast that no stormwater leaves my house, I harvest and utilise it all year round”, Joe says.

Joe thanks the UniSA Civil Engineering teaching staff for where he is today, saying they introduced him to WSUD.

“I have to credit Professor Simon Beecham and Adjunct Professor John Argue from my study at UniSA, they have influenced me in Civil Engineering and WSUD techniques relating directly to my career. UniSA's Civil Engineering programs are practical, realistic and reflect what the industry needs, so I’m thankful to have studied there,” says Joe.

Applications for UniSA’s Master of Engineering with specialisations in Water Resource Management, Civil and Infrastructure or Transport are open now. Find more information here.

IT professional turned graphic designer, Chris Martin, joined Adelaide app developer company Shifty Jelly as their designer 18 months after he graduated with a Bachelor of Design, Visual Communication in 2013. In May this year he travelled to San Francisco with colleagues to receive a Google award for their podcast app, Pocket Casts.

Shifty Jelly received its award for the “seamless browsing” that Pocket Casts delivers. It has been downloaded more than 100,000 times in Google’s Play Store and has half a million users.

The four-person team from Adelaide was one of only six companies in the world to win.

Chris says that last year's release by Google of its new app design software, Material Design, was a turning point for Android apps.

"There was a lot of scattered design thinking – every app looked different to the next one. Google took it upon itself to create a system to tie the apps together aesthetically," says Chris.

The release of Material Design spurred a flood of redesigned apps onto the market, but Shifty Jelly spent six months perfecting improvements to their Pocket Casts app before releasing the new Android product.

“We actually launched Pocket Casts in 2011. It was mainly a reaction to the Apple Podcasting app. A lot of people felt like it (the Apple app) was being neglected and not offering enough features. With podcasts especially there is a really passionate community of people who listen," says Chris, whose company is now applying the design improvements they made on Android to upgrade their iOS version of the app.

To a graphic designer working with interactive software in a small city like Adelaide, the experience of travelling to San Francisco and meeting other people who are passionate about a niche area of design was fantastic.

“I met some really influential people, including the Head of Design at Google,” says Chris, who experienced some unique opportunities like attending a Google meet-up for some 400 specialists in interactive design.

“Chris began his career in IT where he worked for a long time before he became interested in design.

"I used to do a lot of IT design support work so I constantly kept getting people coming to me with things they didn’t understand about software, so I reckon I must have internalised that," he says.

Chris went back to university to study graphic design without really knowing how to merge his IT knowledge with his design skills. He knew that working in graphic design in advertising wasn’t for him, so after graduating he went freelancing for 18 months before landing this job with Shifty Jelly.

Chris says the app design community in general is very good at sharing ideas and he gets his inspiration from reading design news on Twitter and sites like Designer News and Site Inspire.

“I think a lot of other apps provide inspiration for me. I usually work on a particular problem for a while then I might go and research how other apps address the specific problem. I find it really interesting to look at another app through the lens of having already worked on the problem.”

Opportunities are opening up for graphic designers in app design.

"A lot of the big digital companies in the US are hiring graphic designers to work just on product design. Facebook has famously hired some of the top designers in the world."

His advice for new graduates breaking into design is to keep on top of the industry, get involved and to put their work on the internet through sites like Dribble.com

As someone who straddles the twin worlds of designer and developer, Chris believes it is important to be involved in the development process so you learn to speak the language of developers.

He finds listening to design podcasts is a way to feel more connected to the global design community. The San Francisco-produced podcast series Design Details features interviews with some of the best designers in the world - and naturally you can subscribe to Design Details through Pocket Casts.

Clive was Editor of The Australian from 2011 to 2016.

Editor of News Corp’s national daily newspaper, The Australian, Clive Mathieson began his career as a cadet at The Advertiser in Adelaide 23 years ago. The product of a style of in-house training that has disappeared from many news outlets, he has witnessed some massive changes in news delivery over the past two decades.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from UniSA in 1995, Clive cut his teeth working in The Advertiser's business section, before moving to Sydney to be business reporter at The Australian. He spent three years as business correspondent at The Times in London before returning to The Australian in 2002 to become business editor. After working in several senior editorial roles at the paper he was appointed editor in 2011. He enjoyed a stint on secondment with The Wall Street Journal in New York in 2013.

Clive shares some of his career highlights and insights into the craft of journalism in the digital age.

Which stand-out moments in your career are you most proud of?

Personally, getting a page one splash in The Times of London, one of the world’s great newspapers, stands out. Professionally, seeing the positive effects of some of the campaigns we have run on issues such as the education and living conditions of indigenous Australians. It might sound like a marketing line, but getting justice or action for the voiceless, changing the place for the better, is what it’s all about.

With the pressures of the 24 hour news cycle, fragmented audiences and multiple delivery platforms, what are key challenges you face to keep a national daily newspaper afloat?

There’s been an enormous change in the newspaper industry in the past 20 years. When I started at The Advertiser in Adelaide, there were words and pictures published once a day (in black and white). Today, we publish 24 hours a day on multiple platforms – the newspaper, tablets, websites, mobiles and, soon, watches and who knows what else.

But the underlying business has not changed; it’s quality content that keeps readers coming back and, hopefully, paying for it. If, like The Australian, you hope to charge readers for your content, you need to provide something that is unique, compelling and not available elsewhere. We can’t compete with the Daily Mail for celebrity news, for example. Chasing traffic with ‘clickbait’ would just destroy what the paper stands for. Instead, we can provide the best political and business news in the nation - news that a smaller but dedicated audience is prepared to pay for.

Some outlets – new, like Buzzfeed, and established, like the Daily Mail – will give their content away for free in the hope of building an audience large enough to make money through advertising. Others, like The Australian and other major newspaper groups, believe subscriptions are the way to go. Some have a mix. It’s a real challenge and no media outlet has found the perfect solution.

You must have met some impressive people in your time as a journalist in London and Sydney. Can you think of three or four with whom you'd like to share a long Sunday lunch?

I’ve had fleeting interactions with Clive James, in London 15 years ago and in my current role more recently. He’s one of the nation’s greatest exports, a true genius, and would definitely be there. This will sound like sycophancy, but one of the advantages of working at News Corp is the opportunity to spend time with Rupert Murdoch. He’s controversial, of course, but he’s among our most successful global business leaders, he’s incredibly insightful, passionate about topics such as education and health, and constantly curious – about the world, about technology, about the future of the media. More recently, I’ve met the former NSW Governor Dame Marie Bashir. I’d often wondered what the fuss was about when others raved about her, but she truly is an extraordinary, deeply engaging woman. What she has given to the country, and to worthy causes, is beyond measure. If there’s a theme there, it’s older Australians who’ve lived a life and have something to offer younger generations.

What advice do you have for today's graduating journalists trying to break into news — is deep-end therapy still part of the learning curve?

Despite all the technological advances, it’s the story-telling that keeps people coming back. And the basic rules apply: break news; be concise; be fair to all sides; be accurate; keep comment out of straight news reports; humanise stories.

Sadly, there are fewer old hands in journalism these days to help the younger ones. There’s less formal training so it’s much easier to pick up bad habits (I see so much commentary masquerading as news these days – and some grammatical howlers). Thankfully, some outlets, like News and the ABC, remain committed to in-house training. There is nothing better than learning on the job.

Despite all you read about the decline of ‘old media’ there is no more exciting time to be in journalism. Your opportunities for story-telling are greatly expanded – words, pictures, video, graphics, documents posted online. For good or bad, your interaction with readers is immediate. Your news-gathering sources are limitless thanks to the digital age. You have far greater access to people and information from all over the world.

It’s daunting because new competitors come along every week. But that keeps you on your toes and your journalism at its best.

Find out more about our Journalism and Professional Writing courses.

As a shy teen Sophie approached the University's Indigenous Support Services and had a tour of UniSA with her family to see what her tertiary options might be. From there she has completed a full circle and immersed herself back into the UniSA community; as student, scholarship recipient and staff member. Sophie is an active member of the Deadly Alumni Chapter, and as one of the 25th Birthday Enterprising Faces.

Sophie’s enthusiasm for education was instilled in her at a young age by both of her parents. Sophie’s late father and her mother - who is a primary school teacher - both valued the importance of education.

Sophie completed a Bachelor of Sport & Recreation Management in 2013 with the support of two University of South Australia scholarships.

“These scholarships were incredibly helpful for my studies. I lived two hours away from the Mawson Lakes Campus and the financial assistance covered my petrol costs. I learn through conversations, so to be able to afford the petrol to attend my classes was essential.”

“I believe that everyone should look into their opportunities and apply for scholarships and grants. Anything is possible regardless of who you are. Study your passion and find out about your pathway options.”

While Sophie was studying she worked as a Community Development casual employee for the Port Adelaide Football Club. When she graduated from UniSA she was offered further employment with Member Services throughout the Adelaide Oval transition and continued involvement in Indigenous and Multicultural Engagement.

“Working for Port Adelaide Football Club is like working with family. However, I realised that I am community minded and wanted to spend more time working with youth and support services.”

Sophie started working with Mission Australia's Youth Drug and Alcohol Services providing support for five different programs, and also found time to volunteer for Green Team, which is an Encounter Youth Services program, to increase her skills. While the experience was highly valuable for personal and professional development, Sophie decided to return to UniSA and study her Masters in Aboriginal Studies.

“I was seeking new challenges and this was something I had wanted to pursue for a while.”

As well as her studies, Sophie is also employed at UniSA’s Indigenous Support Services and is providing advice to potential and current students – just as she previously received.

“It is important to me to make sure other people are supported when considering tertiary education and while studying at UniSA, like I was.”

She is also an active member of the Deadly Alumni Chapter, which is an initiative for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander UniSA graduates to connect with each other. Sophie is hoping to draw upon her community experience and assist in establishing a mentoring service within the Chapter. She is also working on new events for Chapter members and encourages others to join.

Sophie Murray’s personal and professional motto is inspiring; “if you have an opportunity to help others, then take advantage of it.”

Sophie’s advice for new graduates is, “Always say ‘yes.’ Volunteer your time and work as a casual to gain experience and find out about what you want to pursue. Find an organisation that you admire and start small to gain the relevant skills and network. The opportunities are endless.”

For the past 14 years, UniSA alumna Merlin Nathan has been volunteering her time and professional expertise to support children with disabilities and injuries in the worn-torn Gaza Strip and the West Bank in Palestine through the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).

Among the many horrors of a continued war are the injuries and permanent disabilities innocent children unnecessarily receive from bullet wounds and explosions and subsequent psychological trauma.

The PCRF is a non-political, non-profit organisation that was established in 1991 by concerned people in the U.S. to address the medical and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian youths in the Middle East. It has since expanded to help suffering children from the region, based only on their medical needs.

As the former Head of Occupational Therapy for the Head Injury Rehabilitation Service, a department she established, Merlin has certainly acquired instrumental medical and organisational wisdom. Funds raised by the PCRF allow Merlin to travel to the Middle East twice a year to meet with professionals in clinics and care facilities so she can share her wealth of information and further educate and mentor staff. As well as treatment, Merlin assesses the local facilities, determines the most effective way for them to operate and the equipment required to care for the children in need.

“The most important aspect of any world-class voluntary health organisation is its primary objectives, which should be to develop eventual self-reliance and autonomy through direct health care and education of its focus group. We are hopefully meeting these objectives with each visit to Palestine for its clientele and its professionals,” Merlin says.

“One of the reasons why Occupational Therapists and other medical professionals in Gaza Strip and West Bank benefit from mentoring is because they are restricted to where they can travel, so their potential for further learning is limited. By going there, I am bringing with me new information, treatments and specialised equipment.

“On one trip I visited Farah Centre in Nablus City (West Bank), and was asked to assist in the assessment of the children attending and training of staff. I had the opportunity to offer to extend their skills base and facilitate a number of new treatment approaches and planning strategies for the team to consider. Some primary concerns for the mothers of the children with disabilities other than mobility was the management of toileting, feeding and general requirements. We were able to look at their wheelchair seats and modify them accordingly with the financial support from PCRF.

Merlin’s husband, who is an Eye Surgeon, first visited Palestine while on a trip to Jerusalem. He witnessed the incredible need for more medical treatment and equipment and started volunteering with PCRF in 2000 with the support of Australian Friends of Palestine.

“Although my husband’s skills were greatly needed, he realised how essential mine would be. I started volunteering with PCRF in 2002. The dedicated staff running PCRF are incredible, especially Steve Sosebee, who established the organisation of which I am very proud to be a part.

“While studying the Health Counselling Degree at UniSA, I reflected upon the concepts of empathy and sympathy. I realised that empathy is not just about reflecting back a client’s feelings, but actually putting those reflections into use and doing something to make a positive change.”

“Volunteering in Palestine has also helped me personally. It is the antithesis of everything I have here in Australia; I am a woman travelling often unaccompanied through the Middle East, a Catholic in a predominately Muslim area who is living a privileged life by comparison. This has taken me out of my comfort zone for the better.

“Our Australian Government Officials in Palestine have been very supportive of our work, and have provided funds for new equipment and made us feel very welcome.

“Travelling from Tel Aviv – where I fly into to – to Palestine, Gaza Strip and West Bank is difficult as there are numerous check points, heavily armed by the Israeli military along the way. However, travel for me with an Aussie passport is much easier than for my Palestinian support team, who can often be held up for hours.

“Life for children with disabilities in Gaza Strip and West Bank can be really challenging. The roads are really narrow and uneven, it is densely populated, settlement camps have now become 2 to 3 storey homes and often there are large extended families living in the one house. This is not ideal for someone in a wheelchair.

“One of my favourite memories is when I met some children and adults at the El Wafa Rehab centre in Gaza, who had never been to the beach before. We helped the children from their wheelchairs and carried them into the ocean, some for the first time – it was a really a beautiful experience to observe.

“Over time, I have seen Palestinian’s opinions about disabilities evolve. Families come together to support the children, especially as more wives become widows and an increasing number of children become disabled, which are sadly the realities of war.

“I feel very fortunate to be in a position of a lucky Australian where I am able to give back to ‘the world.’ I have been provided with this opportunity, and I am so grateful that I can share my professional knowledge to help people living in this devastating situation.

“There are many ways in which people can get involved besides volunteering. By increasing your knowledge or awareness of the issue or considering involvement with the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement. The smallest gesture here can really be of impact there.

If you are not in a position to donate money, you can donate your time to help another person in need. I have been touched by the random generosity of many people who upon hearing of my work have donated goods and services that have gone on to make a big difference to the lives of the children and staff.”

Suntrix, a business that won both the Telstra SA Business of the Year and Telstra SA Medium Business of the Year in 2013, Jenny says was started over the kitchen table.

“My husband and I started the business from home, doing residential installations, firstly for family and friends and then finding out that there are actually a lot of people out there looking for a company that was value for money, that knew what they were talking about, that had that honesty and integrity,” she says.

Jenny manages the strategic direction of Suntrix, Suntrix Commercial and Suntrix Monitoring, and is now helping her residential, commercial and wholesale clients save money and reduce their carbon footprints, as well as overseeing continued growth and diversification of the brand and its processes.

Jenny was able to share her knowledge and experience by speaking at the Node’s Industry Friends of Low Carbon Living forum in August this year, where she addressed the importance of good designs and panel placement when it comes to solar systems and optimising performance.

Richard is a member of the Research Node’s Strategic Management Committee and says his role involves looking at ways to educate the community and home builders, not only on technology that is available but the economic benefit of building more sustainably.

“I chose this industry because I care about the planet, but having a background in business I understand there won’t be a behavioural shift in the population until there are more economical options,” Richard says.

“We are not going to shift the mass population’s behaviour until we produce homes and technology that is simply a better economical choice than building cheaper poorly-designed homes and paying a lot for dirty coal power ongoing through the old model.

“People now have the choice of taking control and having independence from the old electricity model.

“It is important to tackle anthropogenic climate change because we have no choice – business as usual will see a four-degree temperature rise over this current century which spells disaster for our future generations!”

Jenny agrees with Richard and believes low carbon businesses have huge growth potential and will provide many long-term benefits.

“Low carbon living, renewable energy, all types of technology relating to that is the way of the future and I think it’s admirable and the university, in particular, should be commended for the work they’re doing and the foresight they’ve had to set this team up, to actually focus on it,” Jenny says.

“We want to make the world a better place any way we can.”

Jenny was named the 2016 Telstra South Australian Business Woman of the Year in October 2016, and  then won the national award, the 2016 Telstra Business Women’s Entrepreneur of the Year in November 2016.

“My days are started with the assumption that lives can be better, and that people can do more to add value to our society.”

UniSA alumna, Jessica Perrin, has travelled all over the world working for not-for-profit organisations driving social change and helping those with debilitating health conditions. This includes meeting the parents of the last child to be diagnosed with polio in India while supporting UNICEF to eradicate the virus, interviewing refugees in Jordan and managing communications for a children’s charity in Vietnam – just to name a few.

As the Head of Global Programs at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jessica is determined to free the world of human trafficking and slavery. Her focus is on social policy and finding solutions to empower women worldwide. Even in her spare time Jessica is working towards a better future. She recently co-founded an app, Not My Style, which provides information to shoppers about the treatment of garment workers.

Please provide further information about your work at the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

My career has given me unique insights into the world of NGOs, corporate foundations, social enterprises and the United Nations, and on the other foot, into the corporate sector and the business of social good.

I have always been impact focused and mission driven. I’ve been at the Thomson Reuters Foundation for close to 3 years and am now the Head of Global Programs. In this role, I face the daily challenge of determining how best we can serve a vibrant community of 2,500+ NGOs and social enterprises across 170 countries. This means building effective and innovative systems, driving strategic change, leading a team split across seven countries, and generally having fun while we make lives better.

I am responsible for scaling the Foundation’s legal pro bono program, TrustLaw, globally, introducing pro bono in emerging markets, obtaining pro-bono legal support for leading NGOs and social enterprises and developing strategic research programmes on crucial policy issues, such as women’s rights and social innovation. Our impact at TrustLaw is significant, and it is my job to ensure every organisation we support meets our due diligence criteria, that our regional managers encourage the growth of pro bono through strategic relationships with law firms, and ultimately, that we’re driving social change.

I also lead the Actions from Trust Women - an annual conference committed to finding real solutions to empower women and to fight slavery worldwide. At each conference, speakers and delegates propose innovative solutions to address social challenges. These Actions have included the establishment of a financial working group to fight human trafficking, legislation to protect two million Filipino domestic workers and legal strategies to combat human trafficking in India.

If you could draw more attention to one particular challenge or situation happening in the world right now, what would that be?

There are 36 million people currently enslaved across the globe, more than at any other time in history. The trade of human trafficking and slavery is unfortunately thriving instead of declining, with an astounding USD $150 billion in yearly profits – that’s more than three times the profits of Apple.

These faceless people are the children working in mines to extract minerals for our mobile phones, the fisherman trapped at sea so we can make a cheap prawn stir fry and the women making our clothes. I discovered that I have four times more clothes than my mother had in her wardrobe 30 years ago, and I paid a lot less for them. Today, the lead time from a designer's sketchbook to my wardrobe is just weeks, even though 97% of our clothes are made overseas. More clothes, faster and cheaper: fast fashion. It seems like an efficient system, until you stop to think about who makes your clothes. There are around 40 million garment workers, most of them women, in the developing world.

Outside my day job, I have always committed to volunteering my skills to support social change, and the plight of human trafficking was a cause so profoundly disturbing that I knew I had to do something. In 2014, I co-founded Not My Style, an app to be launched in July that will rate how much fashion brands share about how they treat the women and men who make our clothes. The app will give shoppers what they want (access to information - no one wants to buy clothes made in sweatshops!), and ultimately, push for garment workers to receive the fair treatment and wages they deserve. Fashion brands have repeatedly told me that shoppers don’t care about the conditions in which their clothes were made, as long as they’re cheap. We’re here to disrupt that myth and create a consumer movement to push fashion brands to improve the conditions for women who make our clothes.

You have travelled all over the world working for NGOs and charity organisations. Which moment stands out the most?

I have been so fortunate in my career to have experienced some remarkable moments, from interviewing refugees in Jordan, to living in Vietnam as a Communications Manager for a local children’s charity, and cycling 500km through Laos supporting the work of CARE Australia - however the one memory that stands out was in India. I moved to India in 2011 to work for UNICEF and support the efforts to eradicate polio. We were charged with the responsibility of launching an emergency response campaign following a newly identified case of polio. I travelled to a small district called Howrah in West Bengal just outside Calcutta to meet the family of the child who had been diagnosed. It was the middle of the Indian summer and we travelled from dawn on motorbike and on foot to reach the village in the scorching sun. I observed the activities of the thousands of volunteer health workers who were proudly moving from house to house, and door to door to ensure that every child under the age of 5 had been vaccinated. Houses were marked with chalk to note if the children had been vaccinated, posters on light posts shared the urgency, and Imams in mosques were speaking to their congregations about the importance of vaccinations. Every effort was being poured into the fight to ensure no child in India would again suffer the debilitation on polio. Unbeknownst to us at the time, that case of polio in this small village in West Bengal is now recognized as the last known case of polio in India. As we headed back to Calcutta late into the evening, fatigued and hungry, I remember feeling an unexplainable optimism, which years on was rewarded when India was officially declared polio free.

What is your best piece of advice for recent graduates?

I have loved transitioning from being a student who tried to absorb all I could from peers, colleagues, tutors and role models, to helping students as they embark on their careers. Many of the roles I’ve been fortunate to take on have been through an introduction or an idea from someone I respect. We’re not meant to take on the world alone, so network, you’ll be amazed by the people you meet and their willingness to help you on your way. I like to think that behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back – make sure you meet them. I have a million favours to repay for where I stand today, and so will never say no a coffee with a student starting their career. It is your job to ask for that coffee!

UniSA alumnus Andrew Pridham has paved a successful career bridging two industries, blending sharp business acumen with a passion for sports. An esteemed investment banker, Andrew is the Chief Executive Officer of Moelis & Company, and has previously held leadership positions at UBS and JPMorgan. Andrew joined the Sydney Swans Board in 2002 and became Chairman in 2013.

As the 2016 Australian Rules Football (AFL) season kicks off at the end of March, we caught up with Andrew to hear more about his journey and explore how his time at UniSA provided a launching pad for his success.

Tell us about your time studying Property Resource Management (PRM) and how this equipped you for your career.

I had a great time undertaking the PRM Course. The fact that the course essentially involved 30 or so students in each year journeying through the course as a group meant that we all became very good friends. It was a very personal and nurturing experience. The curriculum was very progressive/advanced for the times and the lecturers and tutors very dedicated. The course was also very practical and we all enjoyed the numerous field trips. I still catch up and even work with a number of fellow alumni – all of who are now lifelong friends.

The degree has had a profound impact on my career. I quickly discovered that the analytical techniques we had been taught were considerably ahead of what was being practised in business, both in Australia and overseas. Having a jump start on what are now basic methodologies enabled me to progress in business far more quickly than otherwise may have been the case.

You’ve had a successful career as one of Australia’s most eminent investment bankers. Tell us about your journey.

After graduation in 1988 I moved straight to Sydney to work in development and funds management. Ultimately through happenstance I found myself in investment banking, specialising in property. In the late 80’s and early 90’s Australia was in a deep recession and there was turmoil in the property market. Things were very bad. This was particularly evident in the unlisted property sector where very large funds had to freeze redemptions and commercial property was almost impossible to sell. I had a very strong view that the only solution was to list these funds, therein starting the dramatic growth in the Listed Property Trust (now known as REITS) sector. It was right place at the right time for me.

In 1999 I was appointed to the UBS Global Management Board, and relocated to London as the Global Head of Real Estate. I returned to Australia in 2002. After a brief period in retirement (working in the primary school tuckshop) I was coaxed back into investment banking by a number of old clients and I founded my own investment banking boutique. This was very successful and in 2004 I sold the business to JPMorgan, where I became its Head of Investment Banking and ultimately Executive Chairman of Investment Banking. In 2009 I left JPMorgan and established a joint venture with New York Headquartered Investment Bank Moelis & Company.

Your two positions, Chief Executive Officer of Moelis & Company, and Chairman of the Sydney Swans Football Club, are – at least on the surface – quite different. Do the two positions require similar skills or different capabilities?

I often hear people say running a professional football club is no different to running a business. This has not been my experience. I consider both activities to be materially different, requiring different skills and ambitions.

Running an investment banking business is all about hiring and retaining the best possible people, having the correct business model and capital structure and providing services that clients need and value. If you get this right, revenue and profits follow. The aim is to maximise profit on a sustainable basis.

Running a football club has many of the same attributes, namely people, business model and capital. However, that is where the similarity ends. Football is far more about passion and delivering happiness to the millions of people who follow every aspect of the code. Winning games is profit, premierships are special dividends. Member and supporter loyalty is the balance sheet. There are many things we could do as a football club to increase profit. However, if this is at the expense of winning games and making our fans proud we will not pursue it.

I think many hard-nosed business people would find it difficult to run a football club if they apply the same principles and skills, as the motivation of those in the football industry is generally different than in business.

Serving on the board of the Sydney Swans is a coveted role. What do you enjoy most about it?

Being on the Swans board has been a great privilege and I have enjoyed every minute, especially winning the AFL Premierships in 2005 and 2012. At the conclusion of the 2013 season I was appointed as Chairman. This has been an interesting ride. AFL is never short of passion, controversy and is occasionally a lightning rod of important social issues, often forming an important component of the national debate. Nothing can really prepare you for this aspect of the role, excepting perhaps the common sense I learnt in life, including at UniSA.

Do you have any words of advice for today’s graduates?

Follow your instincts, be straightforward, be truthful (especially to yourself) and always do what is right, not just what is easy. Pursue what you are passionate about and give it everything you have.

The employment landscape is far more competitive than when I started. Your first step is to get as good a grades as possible – this will assist getting the attention of employers, getting an interview. However, contacts often open the doors. Don’t be shy. Utilise any networks you have to get a start in your chosen career. Contacts and introductions are still a major way people get employed.

In hindsight if you could go back in time would you change anything?

The way the Swans played in the 2014 AFL Grand Final comes to mind. I have no regrets, I have had a very fortunate career – could have been better could have been worse.

What can the Sydney Swan supporters expect to see from the team this year?

I think we still have a very strong team. If we can keep our best players on the track we will be more than competitive. Our youth could well flourish and complement our most experienced players. Never underestimate the Sydney Swans.

Born into a family of viticulturists, Mary Retallack has carved her own path in the wine industry to become an award-winning business owner and a champion for women in the male-dominated agriculture industry.

Winner of the Australian RIRDC National and SA Rural Woman of the Year in 2012, and the Emerald Grain 100 Women in Australian Agribusiness, Mary is a passionate advocate for women in the wine industry.

Mary grew up on a ‘fruit block’ in the Riverland and comes from a family of third generation viticulturists. She left home at the age of 16 to study a Bachelor of Applied Science (Conservation and Park Management) at the University of South Australia. After completing her degree she continued into post graduate studies in Natural Resource Management.

“I fell back into the wine sector as the vineyard planting boom took off and over the past two decades I’ve worked in Australia and overseas as a viticultural lecturer, project leader, extension specialist, vineyard manager, in cellar operations, and as a viticulture consultant and researcher.”“During this time I also completed a Bachelor of Education, Graduate Diploma in Viticulture and participated in the Wine Industry’s Future Leaders program and the Australian Rural Leadership program,” says Mary.

In 2009 she started her own business, Retallack Viticulture www.viti.com.au, which offers a broad range of viticultural consulting services.

Her advice to other women making their way in the industry is to focus their efforts on the things they are most passionate about.

“Don’t overcommit and maintain healthy boundaries between work and personal life. Take time out to reflect and recharge. Look after your health as it underpins everything you do. Be brave and persistent, generous and kind. Put your ‘hand up’ for opportunities. Don’t take no for an answer if you know there is a better way or if you can create one!”

Mary says that winning the awards has opened doors to a range of opportunities. She currently sits on the ‘Women of the Vine’ Global Symposium Advisory board, which is dedicated to supporting and advancing women employed in the wine industry around the world.

She also a participant in Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA) ‘Women Influencing Agribusiness and Regions’, a government initiative which allows her to encourage and mentor other women into the industry by highlighting rewarding career pathways and opportunities for development.

“I also actively work behind the scenes as a mentor and am working on an initiative to encourage not only more women into the wine sector but also the next generation,” says Mary.

She says that fantastic opportunities exist for women in agriculture.

“However, in the wine community viticulturists and winemakers each make up less than 10% of the team. It is important for us to not only be seen and heard, but to be actively contributing at the decision making table. There is an opportunity to encourage more women into agriculture roles, to demonstrate career paths and ensure women have equal access to all aspects of agriculture. This includes ensuring workplaces are family friendly and flexibility is offered to support those with young families, so we don’t lose women who are at the top of their game.”

“Gender diversity is a financial imperative to all agribusinesses and it is well recognised that diversity also helps facilitate better decision-making,” she says.

Mary currently sits on the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (Wine Australia) board, and is undertaking her a PhD researching beneficial companion plantings of native insectary plants in vineyards.

Mary advises recent graduates to “find a range of mentors who can offer support and share their networks and most importantly ‘sponsors’ who can actively help open doors to opportunities”.

Alexandra (Alex) Richardson has made her distinct mark on the field of corporate human resources at the global billion dollar company, PepsiCo, by developing more opportunities for women. She has been widely recognised for her inspiring work, including receiving The International Alliance for Women World of Difference 100 Award in 2014 for her contribution to the economic empowerment of women across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. 

Alex is currently the Vice President of Organisation Transformation at PepsiCo in Dubai – a company that values the importance of investing in equal opportunities for women in the workplace. PepsiCo is the world-wide manufacturer of household brands such as Smith’s Chips, Quaker Oats, Doritos, Tropicana and Gatorade, with an estimated annual net revenue of US $64 billion.

“PepsiCo has a long history of women role models, we were the first major company to have a woman on the Board of Directors in the 1950’s. Our current Chairman and CEO, Indra K. Nooyi, is one of the most inspiring and influential women in the world,” Alex says.

Alex has received multiple awards for her work in the corporate human resource sector, particularly for women’s rights and support in the workplace. In 2012 Alex received an external Global HR Leadership Award for her work at PepsiCo, which the same year was also voted as Asia’s Most Women Friendly Employer by WIL Forum Asia, the Best Company for Women by AmCham and received the HKIHRM Award for excellence in Talent Management. In 2013 Alex received a PepsiCo Global HR Award for excellence in her work on a joint venture for the company’s Vietnam Beverage business.

Alex has been extremely adventurous in looking for opportunities to develop her professional career, and has changed the corporate world for the better through her initiatives to increase diversity.

“It is critical that we have a workforce that reflects the consumers we serve, and women dominate consumer purchasing decisions for food and beverages.

“As part of our talent management agenda, my team and I led programs that were recognised for increasing executive female representation to above 40 per cent in some markets, through a combination of flexible work practices, gender inclusion initiatives and we set targets in leaders annual objectives to improve female representation linked to their annual merit and bonus scores.

“Key to women’s leadership initiatives are including men, enlisting men to advocate for and pull more women up is critical. Other initiatives that have been impactful are gender intelligence workshops aimed at understanding and appreciating gender differences in the workplace, and fostering more gender inclusion.”

“We also support programs that address the gender imbalance in the workforce, such as encouraging girls to stay in school in Pakistan and encouraging mothers to return to work in India,” Alex says.

Alex believes having more female representation at board and executive levels, and supporting programs that allow women to balance work and family are the biggest challenges facing the corporate workforce.

“There is not enough critical mass of women influencing decisions around the table. I believe both lead and lag indicators are necessary, such as mentoring or sponsorship initiatives, and ensuring gender diverse slates in hiring as well as having representation KPI’s impacting leader’s performance ratings.

“Supportive programs that enable women to balance work and family are also critical to stop the leaking pipeline of women mid-career.”

Prior to moving to Dubai, Alex was based in Hong Kong as Senior Director Talent Management for PepsiCo’s Asia Pacific Region, encompassing 23 markets.

“I feel very fortunate to have lived in worked in Asia (Hong Kong) and now the Middle East (Dubai). My family have also benefited from the cross cultural experience living abroad and my nine year old son is almost fluent in Mandarin,” Alex says.

Her advice for women returning to the workforce following maternity leave is to keep in contact with management and take the initiative to communicate career aspirations.

“Try and stay in touch during any break in work. Returning to work post maternity leave can be daunting and for some it can be a whole new world, so maintaining contacts with colleagues and management can help ease the transition.

“Take the initiative to contact your manager regarding your return to work plan and take advantage of any flexibility options that the organisation may have. Once ready to get back on the track be bold and communicate your career goals with people of influence - don’t run the risk of assumptions being made about your career aspirations.

“For women - don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t have it all, you can with some trade-offs.”

Daniel Rogers

PhD in high performance sport candidate with Port Adelaide Football Club

Bachelor of Applied Science (Human Movement and Health Studies) with Honours 2011

July 2015

Daniel Rossetto

CEO of Climate Mundial, London

Bachelor of Building (Hons) 1997

July 2015

Chantelle Rowe

How a scholarship is transforming a single mother’s life

Bachelor of Midwifery

January 2016

Derek Sargent

Exploring identity through art

Bachelor of Visual Arts (Specialisation Sculpture)

November 2015

Tim Satchell

UK Managing Director, Global Publisher, Ole Media Group

Bachelor of Arts (Journalism), 1989 

September 2016

Matt Simpson

On the frontline of the fight against Ebola

Master of Business Administration

December 2015

Melissa Tan

Fighting chikungunya

Bachelor of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Honours)

May 2015

Richard Turner

Founder of ZEN Energy

Bachelor of Business (Marketing), 1984

September 2016

Professor Shudong Wang

Professor of Medicinal Chemistry

May 2016

Kirsty Welsh

Personal Trainer

Bachelor of Applied Science (Human Movement)

January 2016

Kellie Wilkie

Managing Director, Bodysystem Physio
Lead Physiotherapist for Rowing Australia

Bachelor of Applied Science (Physiotherapy) Hons

August 2016