Achievements and awards

An innovative Swinburne University of Technology education and employment partnership, Deloitte Cyber Academy, has won the award for the Best Program for Empowering Young Individuals in Cybersecurity at the Australian Women in Security Awards.

The recognition demonstrates Swinburne's commitment to celebrating and supporting young women and non-binary individuals during the initial phases of their cybersecurity careers.  

As a partnership between Deloitte, Swinburne and the University of Wollongong, the Academy's degree-apprenticeship program allows school leavers to gain real-world experience while pursuing their education.  

Students work part-time in the cybersecurity industry, earning a diploma in their first year that contributes to their Bachelor of Cyber Security, which they complete over the next two years. This approach has attracted a high 38 per cent of women into a cyber security career (double the industry average) and boasts an impressive 93 per cent retention rate.  

A team of Swinburne University of Technology green steel researchers has won the Best Contribution to Industry-Research Collaboration Award at the Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre (HILT CRC) 2024 Annual Conference: De-risking Decarbonisation. Their winning project tested Australian iron ores in a hydrogen flash smelting process, and was led by Swinburne with primary partners Calix, a global environmental technology company, and the University of Adelaide, alongside industry partners FMG, Roy Hill, Liberty and Grange Minerals.

The project saw Calix run over 80 tests in a pilot plant at their Bacchus March facility. The Swinburne team analysed the results and also carried out high temperature experiments focused on key aspects of the new 'ZESTY' process in Swinburne’s High Temperature Processing Facility. The results will inform a new Swinburne project to further de-risk flash reduction processes, and a demonstration-level version of the 'ZESTY' process by Calix.

The award-winning research team included Swinburne/CSIRO joint Chair of Sustainable Mineral Processing, Professor Geoff Brooks, Professor Akbar Rhamdhani, Dr Shabnam Sabah and PhD candidates Made Natha, Belinda Rich and Tiara Triana.

"Swinburne’s green steel researchers are one of the biggest groups in Australia working towards zero emissions iron and steel, driving Australia’s iron ore industry to adapt to a decarbonised future. My fullest praise goes to Dr Sabah for her key role in the project’s success,” Professor Brooks said.

“Through this industry-research collaboration, we’ve gained invaluable knowledge as to how Australian ores behave in hydrogen direct reduction iron processes. Swinburne is grateful for the support and guidance of our industry and university partners, as well as the HILT CRC.”

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering’s (ATSE) 2024 Batterham Medal has been awarded to Swinburne’s Dr Scott Menegon.

The Batterham Medal recognises an early career Australian engineer who has achieved considerable peer and industry recognition for their work over the past five years. In addition to recognising outstanding achievement, the award also aims to promote the profession of engineering, by promoting the contribution it makes to Australia.

As a Senior Lecturer in Civil and Construction Engineering, Dr Menegon’s research studies existing buildings to quantify how they behave in earthquake scenarios, as well as new structural systems that will respond well to earthquakes.

“I'm really passionate about ensuring that our buildings are safe for the public,” he says. “Earthquakes can be incredibly damaging events.”

The Batterham Medal and $5,000 prize was formally presented during the ATSE Awards Gala Dinner on Thursday 17 October.

Dr Menegon says, “it is a great honour to receive the award, to be recognised by my peers and by other senior academics, engineers and scientists in the academy”.

“It really does give me encouragement to continue to move forward and push on with my research.”

Swinburne University of Technology’s Innovation Studio has won the Best Knowledge Exchange Award at the 2024 Knowledge Commercialisation (KCA) Awards. The award recognises Swinburne Innovation Studio's high-impact knowledge transfer programs.

In the past 18 months, Swinburne Innovation Studio has expanded its program offerings, increased student and staff participation, and developed new ecosystem partnerships while providing more work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities for students within startups and spinouts.

A key objective has been to build a pipeline for Swinburne Ventures Limited, the university's in-house VC fund, with more startups progressing through multiple programs, increasing touchpoints, and driving startup growth. This has resulted in program alumni securing funding from Swinburne Ventures Limited, as well as from external investors.

KCA is the peak body for Australasian research organisations involved in knowledge commercialisation and technology transfer. The annual KCA Awards recognise the high-impact and innovative outcomes from member organisations, including universities, with a focus on contributions made by research commercialisation teams. 

Professor Rachael McDonald, Director of Swinburne’s MedTechVic research hub, has been jointly awarded the Allied Health Impact & Innovation Excellence award at this year’s Allied Health Awards.

This award recognises excellence across the breadth of the allied health workforce and brings into focus the key role of innovative practice within the sector.

With qualifications in occupational therapy, biomechanics and higher education, Professor McDonald is dedicated to positively contributing to the allied health workforce through her directorship and her supervision of higher degree by research students. She has supervised more than 30 students, specialising in the care of people with complex disabilities and the evaluation of assistive technologies’ effectiveness.

At MedTechVic, Professor McDonald oversees a team of research professionals from diverse backgrounds who bring together individuals with lived experience of disability, their supports, health professionals, engineers and designers to co-create life-enhancing assistive technologies and services.

“Co-creation and collaboration are at the heart of inclusive health care,” says Professor McDonald. “By uniting diverse perspectives at MedTechVic, we are able to ensure that our innovations are tailored to the real needs and challenges of end users, ultimately leading to more meaningful and impactful outcomes.”

“I’m very honoured to have been recognised at the awards, and hope to continue to work with industry professionals from across healthcare and beyond to bring impactful innovations to end users.”

Swinburne alum Fazil Mohammed has been awarded the Emerging Leader - International Alumni of the Year award at the Victorian Government's International Education Awards.

This award recognizes the achievements and contributions of Victoria’s recent alumni, highlighting those who serve as role models for international students. Recipients demonstrate exemplary leadership, career success and significant community involvement.

"It was like getting a 'pat on the back'…the community is recognising me for the work I so passionately do. It’s a full circle moment where my hard work has paid off," Fazil says.  

Fazil is a distinguished leader and community advocate from India, excelling in both community and industry engagements. After graduating with a Bachelor of Information and Communication Technology at Swinburne, Fazil is now a Cloud Operations Engineer at PwC Australia.  

An avid content creator, Fazil’s YouTube channel promoting the life of international students in Melbourne has received more than one million views. His initiatives make him a recognised figure in Victoria’s international student community.  

Director of Swinburne’s Optical Sciences Centre, Distinguished Professor David Moss, has been elected as a 2024 Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) Fellow.

Elected by peers, Distinguished Professor Moss will join the Academy to help Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems.

Distinguished Professor Moss has made seminal contributions to photonics and optics, particularly his work with microcombs – devices that can link the electronic and optical frequency regimes. 

He reported the first integrated microcomb in 2010, a game-changing advance with potential applications across spectroscopy, communications and optical clocks, among many fields. This breakthrough addressed energy and bandwidth bottlenecks for on-chip and chip-to-chip communications.

“I’m greatly honoured to be elected a Fellow of the ATSE,” says Distinguished Professor Moss.

“I look forward very much to contributing to the Academy and continuing my 30-year contribution to science and engineering in Australia generally. This recognition means a great deal to me.”

Swinburne second year Bachelor of Media and Communications student Marika Tsourekis is the national and Victorian winner of the 2024 Ad Student X TikTok Competition.

Majoring in Advertising herself, Marika had to create a video to inspire high school students to make an advertising major their first preference for university education. Marika has won an internship at Melbourne Advertising Agency Cummins&Partners, a career guidance chat/mentoring with Paul Nagy (Chief Creative Officer of VML) and free entry to an IAB Industry event in Melbourne.

Marika says that the competition was initially quite intimidating, as she had never actually created a TikTok before. 

“Navigating TikTok helped me bring my creative ideas to life and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was excited to find out that I have won both state and national awards and feel very grateful and look forward to these amazing opportunities!” 

Swinburne Advertising Lecturer and Academic Lead for Victorian competition entrants, David Reid, says the competition ignited a spark in the next generation, showcasing how creativity can drive real-world impact. 

"By crafting captivating TikTok videos targeting prospective students, current university students successfully promoted advertising undergraduate study at universities across Australia, unveiling the exciting career paths awaiting them in the dynamic world of advertising."

Swinburne University of Technology, along with partners Pacific Energy and CSIRO, has been awarded the 2024 Engineers Australia Victorian Project of the Year for our Victorian Hydrogen Hub (VH2) and CSIRO Hydrogen Refuelling Station.

The award was part of Engineers Australia’s annual Engineering Excellence Awards, which recognise Australia’s most outstanding engineers and engineering projects, and showcase the profound impact their work has on society.

Launched in 2023, the $2.5 million state-of-the-art Hydrogen Refuelling Station uses green hydrogen produced with electricity from renewable sources, allowing hydrogen cars to travel over 600km emissions-free on a full tank.

As one of Australia’s first all-in-one fast hydrogen refuelling stations, the Hydrogen Refuelling Station represents a major step forward in decarbonising transport.

The innovative facility enables the production and dispensing of green hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and provides critical infrastructure for the future of hydrogen-powered transport.

With its compact, integrated design, the station also serves as a scalable model for hydrogen refuelling, offering a solution to one of the key challenges in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. 

Swinburne’s winning VH2 team will go on to represent the Victoria division at Engineers Australia’s national awards gala dinner on 21 November 2024.

Swinburne’s Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research Quality), Distinguished Professor Qing-Long Han, has been named President-Elect of the Asian Control Association (ACA) at the ACA Steering Committee Meeting. He will serve as the 11th president of the ACA in 2026-2028 and will be the first Australian to serve in the role.

The ACA, formed from the Asian Control Professors Association (ACPA) established in 1996, promotes control science and engineering in Asia. It consists of volunteers dedicated to supporting these fields.

Reflecting on his election, Distinguished Professor Han said, “I am very pleased to be elected as President-Elect of the ACA. I'm honoured to be recognised for my contributions to control communities in Asia and Oceania, and proud to represent Swinburne — a leading university in the area of control engineering."

Swinburne has won an approximately $25 million tender to expand a ground-breaking program that is helping job seekers build their skills and secure jobs through stronger reading, writing, maths and computer skills.

The Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) has awarded Swinburne a new contract to continue delivering the Skills for Education and Employment program (SEE) for 10 years at Croydon and Wantirna. The program will also expand to Hawthorn.

Skills for Education and Employment training has helped more than 3,000 students over the past 16 years. It has provided a personalised and tailored approach for each student’s abilities and goals. It has helped students like young mum Emily Foster-Davies, who went from being lost and in limbo, to completing a Certificate IV in School-based Education Support in 2023 after completing SEE at Swinburne in 2022. Emily is now working as a teacher aide at a primary school and credits SEE with providing the “breakthrough” she needed to reach her education goals.

Anthony Green-Cooper had a disrupted primary school experience and ‘dropped out’ of school in Year 7 due to patchy attendance. By undertaking SEE at Swinburne, Anthony has been able to complete his VCE and is considering studying psychology at university – a goal that would have been unattainable without SEE.

45-year-old Darren Cop was a disengaged secondary student and drug and alcohol user from an early age.  He made several unsuccessful attempts at getting back into education before finding SEE at Swinburne’s Croydon campus. Fast forward to 2024 and Darren has graduated with a Certificate IV in Youth Work. Like other SEE students, Darren benefitted from support from a SEE Life Mentor, who helped him access support to overcome housing instability and tackle mental health issues.

Swinburne is proud to have supported more than 3,000 students on their educational and career journey through SEE over 16 years, and looks forward to continuing this important work for the next decade.