2010 winners

Mark Menhinnitt

Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering
2010 Outstanding Alumni
Award Winner

 

Mark Menhinnitt was appointed Global Head of Public Private Partnerships and Construction with Lend Lease Corporation in 2009. He has been with Lend Lease Group for 22 years holding a number of senior executive positions both within Australia and the United States. In 2000 Mark was appointed Chief Operating Officer and then President of Lend Lease's US-based privatisation business unit, Actus Lend Lease, before returning to Australia in 2006 to become Lend Lease Development's Chief Operating Officer. For two years prior to his current appointment, Mark held the position of Global CEO of Bovis Lend Lease. Mark is now responsible for Lend Lease's Public Private Partnership businesses across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom and Australia. In this role Mark has oversight of Actus Lend Lease, Catalyst Lend Lease, Lend Lease Canada and the Capella Capital partnership. A keen cyclist, Mark supports fundraising efforts for the Amy Gillett Foundation, Entoure and the Day of Difference Foundation. Mark has a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from QIT.

Shaun Scott

Faculty of Business
2010 Outstanding Alumni
Award Winner

 

Chartered Accountant, Shaun Scott, has more than 20 years experience in the oil, gas and energy sectors in Australia, Asia and the USA. In April 2010 Shaun was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Arrow Energy Ltd. Shaun has been with the company for six years during which time he has been instrumental in its transformation from a AU$20 million company with ten staff into a AU$3.5 billion empire with 600 staff in six countries. Arrow is now among the top sixty ASX-listed companies. Shaun has also been at the forefront of development and innovation in the Coal Seam Gas sector, with Arrow announcing the first CSG to LNG project at Gladstone in 2007 combined with its expansion into south-east Asia, India and China. Prior to joining Arrow, Shaun was Group Finance Manager at Energy Developments Ltd, Project Finance Director at NRG and Manager of ARCO's international oil and gas mergers and acquisitions team based in Dallas USA. Shaun gained his Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) from QUT.

Matthew and Daniel Tobin

Creative Industries Faculty
2010 Outstanding Alumni
Award Winner

 

Twins Matthew and Daniel Tobin founded Urban Art Projects, an art-based design studio and workshop specialising in site-specific art and design commissions for architectural and landscape projects, in 1993. With offices in Los Angeles, Houston and Shanghai as well as Brisbane, UAP is Queensland's most successful exporter of public art and design. This achievement was recognised in 2008 with a prestigious Premier of Queensland Emerging Exporter Award. The following year UAP won the Premier of Queensland Arts & Entertainment Export Award along with a Queensland Design Show Award for the facade of 53 Albert Street in Brisbane. The company was also selected from more than 100 international tenders to design sculptures for the eight main entrances of the 2010 World Expo which began last month in Shanghai. UAP also has to its credit a 60 metre cast concrete artwork for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and works for the National Police Memorial, Sydney International Airport and National Gallery of Australia. Matthew and Daniel studied under acclaimed QUT alumnus William Robinson in the Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) program.

Shelly Peers

Faculty of Education
2010 Outstanding Alumni
Award Winner

 

During her 20 year career in education Shelley Peers has made an invaluable contribution to the advancement of science education in Australia. For many years she has provided leadership in curriculum development and the national curriculum having worked for the Queensland School Curriculum Council and the Queensland Studies Authority. In 2005 Shelley was appointed Manager of Education and Public Awareness at the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra then moving to the Academy's position as Director of the Primary Connections Project. The project aims to improve learning outcomes in primary schools by linking the teaching of science and literacy, it has shown significant national uptake and won an Australian Award for Excellence in Educational Publishing in 2006. Shelley is a member of both the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) Working Group and the Advisory Panel for the development of the Australian Curriculum: Science. In 2008 Shelley was awarded the Nancy Fairfax Churchill Fellowship. Her qualifications include a Master of Education (Research) from QUT.

Dr Mick Adams

Faculty of Health
2010 Outstanding Alumni Award Winner
Chancellor's Outstanding Alumnus Award Winner

 

Dr Mick Adams has made a sustained and outstanding contribution to the advancement of Indigenous health. Mick's 30 year career has been dedicated to closing the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians through properly resourced and appropriate health services as part of the overall community development needed to ensure Indigenous people are a part of Australia's future. Mick's public service career, which began in 1977, was mostly spent in the Northern Territory, in liaison, training, policy and senior management roles. From 1997 to 1999, Mick was General Manager of Aboriginal and Islander Community Health Services in Brisbane before moving to Nhulunbuy as General Manager of Miwati Health Aboriginal Corporation. He returned to Brisbane in 2001 to take up his appointment as CEO of the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council. Between 2007 and 2009 Mick was Chair of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO).

Mick is currently Director of Research and Community Development at Fineline Consultancy Pty Ltd. He has kept Indigenous health on the national and international agenda as a member of peak Australian research bodies including the NHMRC ATSI Health Advisory Committee, the NHMRC Research Committee and numerous other national and international fora. He is also board member for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service and Diabetes Australia. In 2009 Mick initiated the Close the Gap campaign urging governments and Indigenous Australians to work in partnership to achieve their aims. He has received several study awards plus a Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. Mick holds several tertiary qualifications including two bachelor degrees and a Master of Applied Science. He gained his PhD in Indigenous male reproductive health from QUT.

Magistrate Jacqui Payne

Faculty of Law
2010 Outstanding Alumni
Award Winner

 

There are a number of 'firsts' in the career of Jacqui Payne. In 1986 Jacqui was the first Indigenous Australian to achieve the distinction of admittance as a solicitor in Queensland. A decade later she was the only woman in Queensland to have established her own highly successful criminal law firm. Jacqui is also Queensland's first Indigenous magistrate, presiding in both the Brisbane Magistrates Court and the Murri Court. Following graduation from QIT with a Bachelor of Laws in the early 80s Jacqui completed her articled clerkship with Brisbane commercial law firm, Power and Power. Until the early 1990s Jacqui worked with the ATSI Corporation Legal Service. She worked for fourteen years in criminal defence prior to her appointment as a Magistrate in 1999. During her magisterial career Jacqui has presided over a number of high profile cases including the 2007 Dr Haneef case. Jacqui has also had a positive impact on working conditions for women in the legal profession in Queensland.

Bernie Hobbs

Faculty of Science and Technology
2010 Outstanding Alumni
Award Winner

 

A two-decade devotion to initiatives that bring together the world of science and the world of people has made Bernie Hobbs a nationally and internationally recognised figure. Bernie has a talent for making science accessible, exciting and entertaining for a general audience. She is best known as a judge on The New Inventors program, and is a reporter for the ABC's Catalyst program, the nation's premier science show. Bernie also has weekly science spots on ABC Local Radio and does fortnightly features on science basics for ABC Online. Bernie is the recipient of the Prix Italia for Digital Communication and an Australian Interactive Media Industry Award. Bernie has done much to remedy one of the primary deficits in our society: the understanding and appreciation of the contribution of science and scientists. Bernie's qualifications include a Diploma of Education and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Microbiology with first class honours in Life Science from QUT.

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.

Richard Malouf PhC, MPS

2010 Special Excellence
Award Winner

 

 

Richard opened his first pharmacy in Albert Street, Brisbane in 1962 two years after graduating with a Diploma of Pharmacy from the Central Technical College. Through the years he grew the business to 29 retail outlets from Melbourne to Cairns. With an annual turnover in excess of AU$100 million and more than 550 employees, Malouf Group Pharmacies is now one of the major suppliers of pharmaceutical products in Queensland and the largest privately owned pharmacy group. For several years Richard has supported the development of QUT Pharmacy students through his membership of the Pharmacy Advisory Board, guest lectureships in the Bachelor of Pharmacy course, career mentoring, industry placements and sponsorship of awards and events. Malouf Group is also a supporter of the McGrath Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Richard is a Fellow of the Australian College of Pharmacy Practice and a recipient of a Pharmacy Guild of Australia Distinguished Service Award.

The QUT Alumni Board also recognises outstanding achievement of graduates up to 35 years of age at the time of nomination. The winner of an Outstanding Young Alumnus Award is recognised as a high achiever, though yet to develop the depth of experience and career history of earlier graduates.

Emma Griffiths

2010 Outstanding Young Alumnus
Award Winner

 

 

A year after Emma Griffiths joined the ABC as a cadet journalist in 1997 she won the prestigious Andrew Olle Scholarship and was working for Four Corners, ABC Online and the ABC's London and Jakarta bureaux. Back in Brisbane, she presented the Queensland edition of Stateline before joining the ABC's parliamentary reporting team in Canberra. In 2004, Emma was posted to Moscow as a foreign correspondent covering events for ABC TV and Radio News, The 7:30 Report, Lateline and Foreign Correspondent - events such as the Ukraine's 'orange' revolution, the London bombings, the death of Pope John Paul II and Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah. Her coverage of the Beslan school siege won her a commendation at the 2005 Walkley Awards. Emma also received the UN Media Peace Award for her report on Romanian children still recovering from the Ceausescu regime. Since 2009 Emma has worked at the ABC's Parliament House Bureau in Canberra. Emma gained her Bachelor of Business (Journalism) from QUT.

Anthony Smare

2010 Outstanding Young Alumnus
Award Winner

 

 

Since completing his studies in QUT's Bachelor of Applied Science (Geology) / Bachelor of Laws dual degree program in 1998, under a Sir John Crawford (Australian Development) Scholarship, Anthony Smare has emerged as one of Papua New Guinea's leading lawyers and company directors. A partner at age 31 with Allens Arthur Robinson, in a stint spanning its Melbourne and Port Moresby offices, Anthony made contributions in areas of structural reform and resource development. Subsequently, he led the expansion in PNG of the world's largest gold miner, Barrick Gold, as General Manager, Corporate & Legal and director of its PNG subsidiaries. Anthony's national contributions continue through directorships on national telco Telikom, mining regulator PNG Mineral Resources Authority, mobile telco Bemobile, retail conglomerate City Pharmacy, radio station FM 100 and on the foundation board of fast growing microfinance institution Nationwide Microbank. Anthony is executive trustee of the PNG Halivim Wantok Disaster Fund, which raises funds for disaster relief and restoration projects.