One Swinburne: Celebrating our values in action

Swinburne's Vice-Chancellor's Awards recognise and celebrate the remarkable contributions of individuals and teams that are bringing the university’s values to life.

The 11 award categories recognise excellence across Swinburne’s teaching, research and professional areas.

The 2024 winners are as follows: 

Vice-Chancellor’s Fail Forward Award

Team: Abs Seth, Roni Habbal, Thomas Forbes, Caroline Herd, Joan Norton (Founder in Residence Program - Fail Forward)

The recalibration of the Founder in Residence (FiR) program highlights a clear journey of addressing setbacks, fostering collaboration, and ultimately delivering impactful outcomes, aligning closely with the essence of "failing forward."

Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award (Higher Education)

Individual: Geraldene Fleishman (Innovative formative assessment strategies to adapt to diverse student needs)

Geraldene demonstrates innovative approaches to delivering standardized curriculum, showcasing rich opportunities for educators, highlighting creativity and innovation within a constrained teaching environment.

Team: Liam Burke, Andrew Lynch, César Albarrán-Torres, Naja Later, Dan Golding, Karen Horsley (Creating Future Ready Learners through Industry-engaged Screen Studies Curriculum Design)

An innovative program in screen studies showcasing strong industry engagement and creative thinking, translating theory into practical, impactful initiatives that enhance skills and career awareness. While still building measurable impact, it demonstrates significant potential and strength.

Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award (Vocational Education)

Individual: Damian Scott (Innovation through ground-breaking curriculum, Epic Games accreditation, STEAM Games and IP for public domain)

Damian has transformed the teaching and learning experience through his dedication to professional development and innovative curriculum design. His efforts have enriched student outcomes and created a contemporary learning environment for all.

Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award

Individual: Geoffrey Brooks

Professor Brooks has made an outstanding contribution to understanding the fundamentals of pyrometallurgy over the last thirty years, particularly green steel and improving the sustainability of metal production. This award recognises long-term research impact, extensive industry engagement and commercialisation of ideas alongside global recognition including the recent major award and an all-round stellar career achievement. It's endearing that Professor Brooks is also one of the most popular teachers in the school and has a reputation of being an exceptional mentor!

Team: Deanne Fisher, Emma Ryan-Weber Darren Croton, Karl Glazebrook, Rebecca Davies, Barbara Mazzilli Ciraulo, Tania Barone, Simon Parsons (Astro3D Centre of Excellence)

ASTRO3D Swinburne has dramatically impacted the understanding of how chemistry, matter and angular momentum are distributed in the Universe, using the world’s largest telescopes and cutting-edge computing. This award recognises the significant global impact on science and understanding of the universe this work has delivered through an exceptional “team” approach. The championing of diversity, equity and inclusion is a strong part of this story leading pathways to career highlights including top academic and industry recognition worldwide for team members. The HDR focus is a welcome addition to the story of this team and their success. They present as a truly internationally leading impactful team!

Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award (Early Career)

Individual: Rebecca Davies (Pioneering Studies of Galactic Outflows in the Early Universe)

The researcher has pioneered innovative methods for detecting outflowing gas, resulting in groundbreaking findings published in high-impact journals like *Nature* and garnering significant citations. Their exceptional research trajectory, demonstrated through an ARC DECRA and extensive outreach to academic and public audiences, positions them as a leader in their field.

Vice-Chancellor's One Swinburne Award

Individual: Louisa Ellum (Driving integrated ways of working across VET and HE)

Louisa exemplifies the 'One Swinburne' spirit by fostering collaboration between Vocational Education and Higher Education staff to enhance student engagement and success. Her efforts, including securing State Government funding for a Disability Transition Officer and implementing innovative initiatives, have inspired colleagues and improved the educational environment at Swinburne.

Team: Marione Anne Foo, Bibiana Chiu Yiong Lim, Mohamad Safaree Sapuan, Nur Amira Edora Ahmad Pauzi, Aniziatun Basar, Sarah Supahan, Nurlida Mohamad Salleh, Casey Kwang Chee Chong, Nur Hidayah Safarudin, Gloria Enn Li Law, Mohd Shahiran Rahmat bin Zuraini, Muhamad Azizi Syahmi bin Hamidon, Mohd Faizin bin Zainudin (Collaborative Efforts to Improve Educational Access in Sarawak: English Enhancement Program)

The English Enhancement Program (EEP) has made a substantial impact on student success, showcasing exceptional collaboration across multiple teams in alignment with the One Swinburne vision. Similarly, Swinburne Sarawak’s partnership with the Sarawak Foundation has fostered educational equality through an experiential English course, empowering students from diverse backgrounds to transition seamlessly into university life.

Vice-Chancellor's Future-Focused Award

Team: Christopher C. Berndt, Andrew Ang, Ashok Meghwal, Roni Habbal, David Kay, Naveen Jason, Greg Lindsay (Unlocking the future of Advanced Materials)

An exceptional collaboration and innovation across Schools, researchers, and commercialization efforts, has resulted in valuable IP creation and significant commercial outcomes for Swinburne. The team’s work aligns strongly with the innovation cycle, overcoming barriers and achieving sustainable, technology-driven solution. 

Vice-Chancellor's Engaged Award

Individual: Associate Professor Rachael Fullam (Consultation and evaluations lead CFBS)

Rachael Fullam is an outstanding academic who leads the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science. The core of this award is centred on reaching out to industry and making connections and impact; these consultancy activities include a range of supporting efforts that elevate the delivery of services into products that industry can actually utilise facilitating immediate impacts on justice and mental health services policy and practice and deepening industry connections across Australia. They have achieved $5m in revenue from industry over 29 projects. Substantial leadership to train, uplift capability, provide resources & tools for research staff to better translate research outcomes that can be understood by industry. Multiple awards have been won, and the work has led to significant changes in policy and practice across multiple government and non-governmental agencies.

Team: Rachael McDonald, Paris Triantis, Alyse Brown, Julian Chua, Hana Phillips, Claudia Bridge, Kayt Macdonald, Mark Hanson, Mohammad Mosayed Ullah, Sameer Moore, Cliff Warren, Joseph Araniakulathil, Lacey Zhang (MedTechVic – driving impact through industry collaboration and co-design)

MedTechVic propels innovation by promoting local manufacturing, developing assistive technologies, and advocating for policy reform within the disability sector. This is an outstanding team with incredible impact on their community, working diligently and effectively with a range of companies and communities. Demonstrates substantial external engagement, not just manufacturers but also community, end-users, other collaborations. Multiple life-enhancing assistive techs were designed with substantial end user impact.

Vice-Chancellor's Empowered Award

Team: Yvonne Newell, Rowena Ulbrick, Robin Irvine (RISE: Empowering educators to design solutions for digitally confident students)

RISE demonstrates innovation in empowering educators with a clear roadmap and practical resources for curriculum development. The program fosters collaboration across disciplines and focuses on digital literacy and critical skills for students. Engaging 70 educators across 35 projects since its launch, RISE has impacted thousands of students, with scalable benefits projected for future cohorts. 

Vice-Chancellor's Accountable Award

Team: Genevieve Lazzari, Lauren Steer (Taking accountability for the VET & TAFE growth opportunity)

Lauren and Gen demonstrated strong collaboration and accountability by partnering meaningfully to address the significant growth opportunities for VET. Their innovative approach to tackling critical enrolment challenges, supported by stakeholder engagement and new strategies, shows promising results in reversing previous trends and driving growth. 

Vice-Chancellor's Reconciliation Award

Team: Courtney Owens, Simone Hamlin, Grace Winchester, Montana Brown (Project Delivery and Launch of Swinburne Indigenous Learning Circles)

The Indigenous Learning Circles project across the three Melbourne campuses, through the engagement of key internal and external stakeholders has been impactful in serving as a reminder to the University and broader community of the long history of teaching and learning of the Indigenous population and supporting the University’s progress towards reconciliation. The team should be proud that the spaces are regularly used for a variety of purposes. This project has had a significant impact across the university in galvanising interest in Indigenous perspectives. It will make a long-lasting contribution to the Swinburne environment.

The highly commended recipients are as follows: 

Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award (Higher Education)

Highly commended individual: Marione Anne Foo (Empowering EEP Students: Innovative, Inclusive English Teaching for University Success)

A great program showcasing innovative teaching approaches and effective use of technology platforms to engage students in Sarawak, delivering clear benefits to students and the broader community.

Highly commended team: Scott Rayburg , Boris Eisenbart (Transforming the student experience: student representatives and student tutors)

A standout project enhancing first-year engineering students' transition and experience through a novel, peer-supported approach integrated into the curriculum, showcasing impactful, student-centred learning.

Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award

Highly commended individual: Professor Rachael McDonald

Professor Rachael McDonald is leveraging a co-design approach, centred on collaboration and accessibility, to drive MedTech and health innovation research. She embodies Swinburne’s ethos of ‘bringing technology and people together for a better world’ by placing individuals at the centre of her research and leveraging Swinburne’s capabilities to improve lives. Professor McDonald’s research is attracting international attention, partnerships, and the impact will continue to grow over time.

Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award (Early Career)

Highly commended individual: Weijie Hu (Innovative Rural Vitalisation: Pioneering Research in Sustainable Development & Cultural Preservation)

Weiji Hu's research demonstrates strong innovation, global relevance, and alignment with multiple UN SDGs, supported by significant scholarly recognition and funding success. His impactful community engagement highlights the potential for broader policy and practical applications.

Vice-Chancellor's One Swinburne Award

Highly commended team: Palaneeswaran Ekambaram, Bryan Ornsby, Anagha Karandikar, Morshed Alam, Amanda Huang, Chris Ho (HE & VE Synergies through Construction Simulation Hub)

The creation of the novel Construction Simulation Hub at Swinburne showcases a unique collaboration, enhancing teaching and research across engineering higher education and professional and vocational education sectors. This initiative also strengthens pathways for VE graduates into HE courses, such as the Bachelor of Digital Construction Management, highlighting its transformative impact on education and career progression.

Vice-Chancellor's Future-Focused Award

Highly commended team: Shella Georgina Beatrice, Irine Runnie Henry Ginjom, Sueh Ing Su, Kwang Jing Yii , Chui Ching Ling (STREAM Sparks: Uncovering Hidden Gems in the Next Generation)

This impactful project has created meaningful change within communities in Sarawak, showcasing transversal innovation and strong alignment with Swinburne’s broader ecosystem. Through a unique approach, it has effectively connected technology and talent, reaching impressive numbers of students and demonstrating measurable outcomes for Swinburne.

Highly commended team: Michelle Carter, Emad Gad, Caitlin Mountford, David McCall, Beth Bundy (Negotiating and Implementing a modern, contemporary and Fit for Purpose Employment Agreement to support Horizon 2025 and Beyond)

The new Academic & Professional Staff Enterprise Agreement 2024 is a strategically significant achievement required exceptional collaboration, resilience, and patience, delivering an enabler for the University’s future strategy with a lasting impact, while highlighting the need for continued mobilization to fully harness its potential.

Vice-Chancellor's Engaged Award

Highly commended team: Prem Prakash Jayaraman, Sharad Menon, Vikram Sachdeva, Vince Lorefice, Abhik Banerjee, Abdur Rahim Mohammad Abdur Forkan, Genevieve Reid, Adriana Mare, Felip Marti, Roleen Sharma, Shivani Tyagi, Merryl McHugh, Shuo Wang, Suresh Palanisamy, Mats Issakson, Michelle Dunn, Liam Bradley, Yong-Bin Kang, Rizwan Abdul Rahman Rashid, Novana Hutasoit, Travis Keating, Boris Eisenbart, Rob Mackinnon, Thuan Pham, Jiong Jin, Priyanwada Jayasinghe (Factory of the Future - SME Manufacturing Digital Readiness Program)

The SME Manufacturing Digital Readiness Program is an end-to-end bespoke digital strategy, implementation and training program. Impressive program, with substantial impact in terms of volume of business but also contribution to an important economic challenge. 

Vice-Chancellor's Empowered Award

Highly commended Individual: Sarah Jellie (Empowering Educators, Empowering Growth: My VET LEAP Experience)

The application demonstrates alignment with the value of empowerment, showcasing the VET LEAP program’s impact on educators through the VET SWINLearn Framework and professional development initiatives.

Vice-Chancellor's Reconciliation Award

Highly commended team: Leanne Caira,Thelma-Jean Spence, Dhivyaa Ambikavathi, Simone Berger, Stanley Low, Samantha Burchett, Lisa Williams, Mahdi Rezaie-System, Nicholas Monaco, Shalom Cormaty, Kulari Lokuge Dona, Miranda Madgwick, Lukas Gehrig, Raunak Oberai, Pagrash Monohanran, John Rankin, Stacey Warers, Manu Sharma (Empowering Indigenous Students with Digital Tools for Regenerative Farming Success)

KIOSC Indigenous Program was able to be delivered in a collaborative, culturally appropriate, and learner-centric approach which delivered outcomes that were geographically specific. Partnering with Indigenous communities, these programs equipped learners with essential techniques, empowering them to continue cultural practices while innovating for the future, fostering a new generation of land custodians.