2008 winners
(Please note: This is archival information and may not reflect current profiles)
Zimi Meka
Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering Outstanding Alumni Award Winner and 2008 Chancellor's Outstanding Alumnus Award Winner
With over 25 years Australian and international experience in his field, Zimi has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for developing new opportunities through technical innovation and culturally sensitive business practices. Zimi is the CEO and co-founder of Ausenco Limited, a leader in engineering, project management and operations solutions for the global resources and energy sectors. In 2008 Ausenco acquired three leading North American businesses - Sandwell, Pipeline Systems Incorporated (PSI) and Vector. From 26 offices in 16 countries, the group combines the expertise, experience and resource capabilities of 2,800 people to deliver innovative solutions to the minerals, infrastructure, energy, oil and gas and consulting and environmental sectors across the full project lifecycle, from front end solutions, through innovative engineering and EPCM delivery to operational support. Zimi holds a Bachelor of Engineering Honours (Mechanical).
Susan Kelly
Faculty of Business 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award Winner
Susan is Head of Internal Communication at Syngenta, a world-leading agribusiness based in Switzerland. In her role at Syngenta, Susan has developed and implemented highly successful programs that support business growth, brand building, recruitment and cultural change. She has developed initiatives to increase employee engagement, including the Syngenta Awards Program on which she recently spoke at the International Association of Business Communicators Conference in New York. In Australia, Susan has played a leading part in developing Public Relations practice as Vice-President and President of the Queensland branch of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA). She has also served for many years as a judge of the PRIA Awards of Excellence, the national Annual Report Awards, and the Institute of Internal Auditors (QLD) Public Sector Annual Report Awards. Her own excellence in communications has been acknowledged on many occasions with multiple awards from these bodies. Susan holds a Bachelor of Education, Graduate Diploma of Communication Practice and Master of Business (Communication Management).
Sean Mee
Creative Industries Faculty 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award Winner
Sean is Artistic Director and CEO of La Boite Theatre Company which he has led through a period of unprecedented growth and transformation. One of only two companies in Australia exclusively producing Australian plays, La Boite has become a nationally significant generator of new Australian theatre, developing, producing or co-producing twenty-two main-house productions and seventeen premiere works of over twenty writers including nine on professional debut. In particular, Sean has championed the work of Queensland playwrights, encouraging a new generation to tell uniquely Queensland stories. Sean has received two Matilda Awards - in recognition of his contribution to Queensland Theatre, his critically acclaimed performance as Milo in Milo's Wake, and his direction of Leah Purcell's Box the Pony. This play also won the 1999 NSW and 2000 Queensland Premiers' Awards for Best Play. More recently, Sean co-directed and acted in the stage adaptation of David Malouf's Johnno which toured to Britain last year. Sean holds a Master of Fine Arts (Drama).
Rhonda Davidson-Irwin
Faculty of Education 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award Winner
Rhonda has taught more than 10,000 children, performed for Queen Elizabeth, Bill Clinton and Muhammad Ali, composed more than 900 songs for children's TV shows In the Box and Puzzle Play and established one of Queensland's most dynamic orchestras, Viva La Musica. Rhonda has written and directed thirty children's performances with the Queensland Symphony, Philharmonic and the VLM Orchestras. She composed the music for the 2004 Athens Olympics and more recently, the Warner Brothers' Great Outback Spectacular. A talented musician, Rhonda's CDs have been distributed worldwide, one album going Gold. Rhonda initially qualified as a primary school music specialist and wrote both the Australian National Arts Curriculum and the Queensland Music Curriculum. For fifteen years she has also lectured part-time in early childhood and music education at QUT. Recently Rhonda has been working on the Music Council of Australia's new national advertising campaign - Music. Play for Life. Rhonda holds a Bachelor of Music (Music Education).
Margaret Vider
Faculty of Health 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award Winner and Special Excellence Award Winner for Excellence in Contribution to the Community in Healthcare
Margaret joined the nursing staff at Brisbane's Holy Spirit Hospital in the early 70s. During a career spanning more than thirty years, Margaret was the hospital's Principal Nurse Educator, Director of Nursing, and from 1995 until her retirement, its Director of Mission. Margaret has made an outstanding contribution to furthering health care standards and nursing as a profession. A Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing Australia, she has served for many years on healthcare sector boards and committees, including the Queensland Nursing Council and the Florence Nightingale Committee. Here she was at the forefront of a lobby group that was successful in having formal nursing education transferred to universities. In 2005, Margaret was appointed a Deputy Commissioner to the Bundaberg Hospital Commission of Inquiry. Margaret continues to contribute to the profession and is a member of QUT's Human Research Ethics Committee. Margaret gained her Bachelor of Applied Science (Nursing) and Diploma of Nursing Administration from QIT.
Gordon Moyes
Faculty of Information Technology 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award Winner
Since graduating in 1995 With Distinction in a Bachelor of IT, Gordon has enjoyed a stellar career in the video game industry. After the worldwide smash hit Dark Reign in 1997, Gordon gained experience in Los Angeles before joining Pandemic Studios Australia in 2002, becoming their Senior Producer in 2004. Gordon played a key role in developing many award winning game projects, including the Game Developer's Association of Australia's Best Game of 2006 - Destroy All Humans! 2. Favourably reviewed by the New York Times, this game and its predecessor achieved nearly three million sales and resulted in significant expansion of Pandemic's Australian operation. The success significantly increased Brisbane's national and international profile in the games industry, enabling QUT to offer a new Bachelor Degree in Games and Interactive Entertainment. In 2007, Gordon completed an Executive Master of Business Administration. He has recently been appointed Executive Producer of Krome Studios.
Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig
Faculty of Law 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award Winner
Senator Ludwig has had a long, outstanding career in public life. The Minister joined the Queensland public service in 1978, working as an Industrial Inspector, before moving to the Australian Workers Union as an Advocate. In 1998, he entered the Senate, serving as Parliamentary Secretary and Manager of Opposition Business. During that time, he completed a Bachelor of Arts, a Law degree at QUT, a Graduate Diploma in Law at ANU and was admitted to the Bar.
Following the 2004 election, he was appointed to the Shadow Ministry in the portfolios of Justice and Customs, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, and in March 2007, became Shadow Attorney-General. Following the 2007 Federal election, he was appointed Manager of Government Business in the Senate and Minister for Human Services. In this role, he is at the forefront of the major social, health and welfare agenda being implemented by the Rudd Government.
Professor Alan Cowman
Faculty of Science 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award Winner and Special Excellence Award Winner for Excellence in Medical Research
Alan is Head of the Division of Infection and Immunity at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. An internationally renowned researcher in the field of infectious diseases, primarily malaria, Alan has had a major impact on understanding of the key mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of this major parasitic disease. He is focussed on developing vaccines and new drugs to counter the parasite's ability to develop resistance. Alan's extensively published research has been cited more than 9,500 times and has been supported by grants and consortia worth more than (AUD) $26 million. His work has been recognised with numerous honours, including Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science; International Research Scholarships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; a Wellcome Trust Fellowship; the Glaxo-Wellcome Australia Medal; the Australian Academy of Science Gottschalk Medal; the Boehringer Mannheim Medal; the Lemberg Medal of the Australian Society for Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and a Commonwealth of Australia Centenary Medal. Alan is also an inaugural NHMRC Australia Fellow. This illustrious career began with the attainment of a Certificate in Biological Laboratory Techniques.
Gail Reid
2008 Special Excellence Award Winner for Excellence in Early Career Fashion Entrepreneurship
At only 26, Gail has already tasted success. In her graduate year, she won the Queensland Mercedes-Benz Start-Up Awards with her collection "Angel at My Table", which enabled her to show at Australian Fashion Week 2005. In 2006, Gail Sorronda (Gail's label), was one of a select group representing Australian fashion at G'Day LA and she was again invited for G'Day USA in New York 2007. Gail has now produced five contemporary collections, having shown them in trade shows in Paris, London, Los Angeles, New York and Berlin. Her designs have appeared in UK Harpers Bazaar and Elle, Australia's Vogue and Oyster, French magazine Fairytale and books, The Party Dress: A history of fashionable occasions, published by Thames and Hudson, and Young Asian Fashion Designers by Daab Books. Last year, Gail was selected to design for Target. She has opened her first retail outlet in Fortitude Valley and supplies exclusive boutiques in Berlin, New York, Los Angeles and New Zealand. Gail holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Fashion).
Michael Bonning
2008 Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Winner
Michael won a Dean's Scholarship to study a Bachelor of Applied Science (Biochemistry), which he gained With Distinction, and thereafter completed an Honours degree in Microbiology. By the time he had completed his first degree, Michael had also been awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards. Michael is currently in the fourth year of a medical degree having won Defence Force and John Flynn Scholarships to assist with his studies. Michael has made a significant contribution to medical and community organisations. He has been both Chair of the Queensland Medical Students Council and President of the University of Queensland Medical Society. Currently he is President of the Australian Medical Students' Association and a Federal Director of the AMA. Michael has participated in State Government advisory groups and taskforces, having significant input into government policy on issues surrounding medical education. Michael is also Chair of the Ashintosh Foundation, a charitable focus for the medical faculty at The University of Queensland.
The QUT Alumni Board also recognises outstanding achievement of graduates who are thirty years and under. Though not having had the time to develop the depth of experience and career history of earlier graduates, the winner of the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award is already acknowledged as a high achiever.
