2008 winners
Sarah Moran
2008 Student Leader of the Year
Sarah's contribution to QUT and the community is extensive and varied. As Queensland Young Volunteer of the Year, the journalism student offers her time and talents to support QUT's Brisnet, Students in Free Enterprise, SIFE and Initiate programs. She was the first student invited to join the QUT Student Support Networking Group; is an advisor to the Engineers Without Borders Executive Committee; and is an active member of the Creative Industries Faculty. Her work within the faculty included re-establishing the QUT Journalism Society.
More recently, Sarah was the only Australian delegate to attend the Global Engagement Summit in the USA - with only 17 international delegates selected worldwide. She also shares her volunteering experience and encourages others through the Business Advantage???s Community Engagement module and the Workshop: Volunteering Gen Y Style which she developed in conjunction with Volunteering Queensland. She is also strongly dedicated to her role as a Youth Ambassador of Reach Out - the web-based mental health service for young people.
As an aspiring journalist, Sarah already has a list of news credits to her name working on QUT News, youth radio shows such as Random Outburst and Are You*th Being Served, and Reach Out podcasts. She co-hosted the 2007 Federal Election coverage on Switch 1197am and has completed work experience at The Courier Mail online and on ABC radio. Sarah will travel to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games next month as part of QUT's journalism contingent.
David Adams
2008 Student Leadership Excellence Award Winner
David is an active member of the QUT community representing and promoting the university as part of its various recruitment, careers and orientation activities. He is a peer mentor; senior student ambassador; and the founding Vice President of the very successful Information Technology Students Association. In addition, David creates aspiration to attend university amongst those from less fortunate backgrounds as part of the Q-Step program. David's enthusiasm and commitment has led him to further develop himself personally and professionally. He has completed extra curricular activities as part of five Business Advantage modules while completing his Bachelor of IT (Networking) and Bachelor of Business (Electronic Business).
Yasotha Balakrishnan
2008 Student Leadership Excellence Award Winner
Studying a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) and a Bachelor of Law, Yasotha has achieved distinctions and above in 79 percent of her subjects and has achieved the highest academic result in numerous subjects. In 2005, she was inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society and included in the Faculty of Business Executive Dean's List for her academic excellence. Yasotha is a student ambassador and peer mentor; is involved in the Business Advantage Wellness, Accounting Connexions, and Buddy programs; and has been a career assistant for the past three years at QUT's Careers and Employment Service. She also volunteers for a range of charities and community organisations including Lifeline, Oxfam, The Red Cross and Cancer Council Qld.
Daniel Brennan
2008 Student Leadership Excellence Award Winner
With the goal of being a business consultant by 2011, Daniel is the only youth member on the Business Icon advisory board. He is currently Vice-President of Brisnet, is involved in QUT's Business Advantage and Initiate programs and was last year selected to represent QUT at the Queensland Student Leadership Forum on land degradation. His work in the wider community is equally noteworthy. Daniel is about to leave for South Africa as part of his commitment to Oakfree Foundation - Australia's first youth run aid and development program. While he is there, he hopes to film a documentary on the positive impact volunteering in Australia is having on South Africa. This passionate humanitarian is also involved in Reach Out.
Kelly McNamara
2008 Student Leadership Excellence Award Winner
Kelly McNamara's leadership qualities and attributes are evidenced by her role as a mentor and camp leader at the School of Human Movement Studies Orientation Camp. Kelly is also a member of the "women's room" - an anti-sexist and pro-choice group; and a note taker for students with disabilities. She has completed volunteer work in East Timor; is a member of the Mullen Creek Rural Bushfire Brigade; and has assisted the Red Cross. Kelly hopes to pursue other volunteering opportunities in the Solomon Islands later this year. Studying Human Movement and Nutrition, she works with the Diet Monitor at Brisbane Private Hospital and is a pilates instructor within the Wesley Rehabilitation Dynamic Clinic. She has also attained the Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
Ellen Nicholas
2008 Student Leadership Excellence Award Winner
In 2007, Ellen received a Faculty of Education Executive Dean's Service Award for her outstanding work in supporting and promoting the faculty. This followed her role as a peer mentor; her work with academic staff on trials and review panels; and her efforts on the faculty's orientation website Connect - Explore. Ellen also represented QUT by presenting a paper at a national early childhood conference and has worked as a research assistant within the faculty. Ellen's strong commitment to social justice, equity and service has also prompted her to accept the student position on the faculty's equity committee, and support related issues in the wider community. She is one of three project managers currently raising funds for a not-for-profit program aimed at 'sustaining humanity and the cultural integrity of village communities in Bali'.
Timothy O'Shea
2008 Student Leadership Excellence Award Winner
Timothy is currently completing a Bachelor of Medical Engineering Dean's Scholars Program and Masters of Engineering Management. With a course GPA of 6.815, he has been awarded a place on the Dean's List for Excellent Academic Performance for five different semesters. Timothy is executive member of the QUT Chapter of Engineers Without Borders and project leader for the Dean's Scholarship for the Development World - a program which involves developing medical technology with a partner hospital in India. He recently returned from India after designing and constructing a respiratory monitoring device and hopes to return to not only complete the implementation but to also volunteer his own time to establish more functional and sustainable practices.
Tiara Shafiq
2008 Student Leadership Excellence Award Winner
Tiara's passions are youth, creativity, alternative education and writing. She owns and manages Educate Deviate blog - a well-known resource in Malaysia for youth learning and empowerment. This has extended to her sharing her ideas and work on alternative education throughout the region and the world. Tiara has represented youth and related issues at a range of forums including the Asia Pacific Cities Summit Youth Forum, the UN's 4th Annual Youth Assembly, Brisbane City Council's Youth Entrepreneurship Summit and the GK3 Young Social Entrepreneurs Forum. Tiara is actively involved in the QUT community via the Career Mentor Scheme and Student Guild and as a participant in Business Icon and ActNow Incubator. In the wider community, Tiara supports youth-related causes and furthers her own passions including writing, working on Channel V International, web designing and managing stage productions.
Helen Stylianou
2008 Student Leadership Excellence Award Winner
As a budding journalist, Helen is the sole host and producer of Radio 4EB's weekly Greek youth program, and edits and contributes to various publications. As President of Page3, Helen edits their quarterly publication and has helped the society expand to more than 300 journalism student members. While completing her five-year double degree in Journalism and Law, Helen has undertaken work experience at various media outlets and top-tier law firms and will next month represent QUT as a media volunteer at the Beijing Olympics. Helen was one of 14 QUT students who attended the international student conference Education Without Borders to help generate innovative solutions to global challenges. She was also on the organising committee for last year's Asia Pacific Cities Summit Youth Forum.
James Ward
2008 Student Leadership Excellence Award Winner
James' career aspiration is to make a positive impact on the built environment. He has already embarked on this quest as the sole Built Environment and Engineering student involved in AIESEC. The Bachelor of Urban Development (Property Economics) student is leading an expansion of AIESEC at QUT and an exchange opportunity for Built Environment Engineering students to gain international exposure in environmental sustainability and community development. Through an internship with AIESEC, James travelled to India to facilitate a Youth Summit on Earth Care. While in the country, he also helped run a youth festival on HIV/AIDS, assisted with English classes for disadvantaged children, and visited slum communities to help publicise their struggle to survive. James received a Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship and has a course GPA of 6.5, and was recognised on the Dean's List of Students with Excellent Academic Performance last year. He recently commenced work at Ernst and Young in their Real Estate Advisory Services.
