David Gardiner Teacher of the Year
Associate Professor Joanne Voisey
Joanne has shown long-lasting commitment to incorporating Indigenous perspectives in teaching, at the high school student engagement, undergraduate and postgraduate master course levels. Joanne has provided a stimulating teaching environment by using varied digital technologies that enables students to realise their full potential.
Leadership excellence
Associate Professor Jonathan Bunker
As a result of his unwavering commitment and leadership, a broad suite of postgraduate offerings across sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing will create a lasting impact within QUT and in the engineering industry upon debut in 2024.
Dr Senka Henderson
Senka is being recognised for her achievements in the development and implementation of the innovative QUT Turn to Teaching program. She consistently displays visionary leadership by excelling in daily problem-solving and continuously enhancing program effectiveness and sustainability.
The Course Team: QUT Law
Professor Anna Huggins, Mr Andrew Kemp, Dr Peta Stephenson and Dr Alexandra Philp.
The Course Team engaged and inspired staff to embed the curriculum review themes of sustainability, Indigenous Australian perspectives, and digital practices and technology across the core law curriculum.
Teaching excellence
Dr Stuart Bell
Stuart’s teaching practice focuses on clear delivery of concepts, then reinforcing that content through demonstrations, examples and experiments which relate engineering content to real systems.
Dr Lauren Woodlands
Lauren has a deep commitment to improving student learning by developing the university’s learning and teaching staff capacity to provide high quality teaching and increase student engagement.
Radiation Therapy Team
Mrs Julie Burbery, Mr Crispen Chamunyonga, Dr Cathy Hargrave, Mr Neil O'Brien, Ms Trudy Otter, and Dr Natalie Pollard
The team have implemented an extensive range of real-world learning opportunities within a virtual environment that reflects current clinical practice. They connect knowledge and discovery by fostering clinical research for students undertaking honours.
Early career teaching excellence
Mr Samuel Roach
Sam led an interdisciplinary cross-institutional consortium, developed a suite of online placements for students who cannot travel due to work or family commitments, and facilitated domestic placements for hundreds of students.
Dr Mark Limb
Mark has excelled in the learning, teaching and coordination of a large number of urban planning units, at all year levels.
Student learning excellence
Dr Brooke Andrew
Brooke has effectively managed two of the largest and most challenging 1st-year units in the School of Psychology & Counselling since 2019.
Dr Sarah Dart
Sarah is being recognised for her innovative teaching approaches that support learners to achieve excellent outcomes.
The Nursing COMPASS team
Dr Helen Donovan, Associate Professor Joanne Ramsbotham, Associate Professor Karen Theobald and Mr Rob Johnson
This team have undertaken a course-wide analysis which highlighted that students from non-English-speaking backgrounds experienced writing assessment challenges and staff-led literacy support engagement was low. As a result, student learning in first-year professional writing assessment has trended positively from 65% pass prior to COMPASS to 87%.
Sessional staff excellence
Mrs Kirsty Paynter
Kirsty has received outstanding student feedback in teaching surveys as well as unprompted, glowing anecdotal feedback throughout the semester from her students and colleagues.
Mr Seyed Meghdad Ghaseminia
Seyed's intellectual acumen is matched by his diligent work ethic, enabling him to effectively convey complex concepts and promote a positive learning environment among students.
Unit MGB233 – Entrepreneurship team
Ms Sadia Ehtisham, Mrs Ale Rojo de Wiecek and Mr Marvin Fox.
This team has designed and facilitated a workshop where students could not only excel, but also have the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial solutions for the real world.
Service excellence
Ms Christina Hickman
Christina was instrumental in launching our expanded social sporting program on campus, successfully engaging over 7,500 students this year.
Ms Kylie Robison
Kylie is always looking at how processes and practices can be streamlined to reduce wait times for both staff and students.
Venues and Events Team
Ms Alexandra Grosvenor, Ms Alexia Zaza, Mr Alex Leahy, Mr Anthony Whittaker, Ms Ciarn Armour, Ms Elizabeth Kidd, Mr James Millis, Ms Jessica Barron, Ms Mandy Hodgkinson and Ms Shae Storkey
This team consistently deliver in the space of service excellence, managing and supporting hundreds of successful events in 2023, with positive impacts across the university.
QUT Cyber Response
In the face of a crisis, QUT staff exhibited an extensive and collaborative effort across the university to ensure individuals were supported and systems were restored.
Research excellence
Professor Gene Tyson
Gene has revolutionised how the structure and function of microbial communities is studied and has made significant contributions to QUT’s microbiome research profile through his leadership of the Centre for Microbiome Research.
Professor Zhigang Chen
Zhigang has made significant contributions toward reaching zero-emission power generation and refrigeration, as a world-leading pioneer in thermoelectric materials and devices.
Inclusion and diversity excellence
Dr Leah South
Leah is a transformative force in promoting inclusion and diversity at QUT. She initiated a mandatory "Respect and Safety at QUT" training for students to mitigate sexism and racism in group settings which has been adopted faculty wide.
Dr Judy Beausang
Judy has made a significant contribution to ensuring the business program at the QUT College is safe and inclusive for all students.
KickSTART Team
Miss April Shao, Mrs Karlee Davies, Miss Rachele Tran, Ms Sanne Van Os and Mr Stephen Chinnery.
KickSTART focuses on being accessible for a range of cohorts including first-generation university students, remote area newcomers, individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds, non-traditional students, and those from diverse cultural backgrounds or STEM fields.
Innovation and creative practice excellence
Associate Professor Zhanying Zhang
Zhanying has led the development of innovative technologies with real-world impact through industry collaboration and partnerships.
Mr Aarron Bowden
Aarron successfully transitioned the management of our on-campus fitness and aquatic centres from YMCA to QUT.
Mrs Ingrid Larkin
Ingrid has led a series of engaging and impactful events that have been thoughtfully designed to align with QUT’s priorities and values.
Innovation Central Brisbane Student Prototypes Program
Mr Andy Clarke, Ms Crystal Cooke, Mrs Eleni Gill, Mrs Gemma Alker, Mrs Laura Hurtado Lopez, Mr Peter Townson, Mrs Stephanie Martin and Mr Vibhor Pandey
This signature student prototype program involves a 4-stage competitive ‘pitch to prototype’ program running each semester awarding up to five student teams $15,000 to build a working prototype, culminating in an industry showcase event for Minister and partners.
Z10-Z13 Redevelopment team
Mr Asa Broomhall, Dr Daniel McKewen, Mr Ian Copson, Dr Levi Swann, Mr Nic Hjertquist, Associate Professor Rafael Gomez, Mr Ross Buchanan, Dr Shayne Beaver Mr Scott Klupfel, Ms Samantha Wigman, Mr Nigel Oram, Mr Ian Ashworth, Dr David Pyle and Mr Steve Nowers.
The team successfully redesigned existing studio and workshop spaces, and creatively and technologically innovated to create cutting-edge facilities that rival the best in Australia and internationally.
Commercialisation excellence
Banana Biotechnology Team
Miss Alexandra Tabrett, Mrs Amba Phillips, Dr Anthony James, Dr Benjamin Dugdale, Miss Haylie Andrews, Dr Jacinta Watkins, Dr Jean-Yves Paul, Mrs Jen Kleidon, Ms Joanne Simpkins, Ms Li Cao, Miss Lily Drummond, Ms Maiko Kato, Mr Mark Smith, Dr Pradeep Deo, Professor Rob Harding and Dr Taj Arndell
The team has developed Cavendish bananas that are genetically modified to be resistant to a devastating soil-borne disease. The research has reached a significant milestone where the resistant line, named QCAV-4, has been submitted to Australia’s internationally renowned regulatory agencies for assessment towards granting of a licence for commercial release.
Partnership and engagement excellence
Associate Professor Paul Wu
Paul built a collaboration with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) from a single VRES student project in 2016 into a $577,000 AIS-QAS-QUT strategic alliance, a substantial AIS grant, and a multimillion-dollar NGGP consortium.
Associate Professor Paige Little
Paige is being recognised for forging the QUT and Sealy Australia partnership over many years culminating in the launch of the QUT-Sealy Centre for Biomechanics and Sleep Research in 2023.
‘From the Ground Up: A QUT partnership to grow leadership in the early childhood workforce’
Mrs Cathy Nielson, Dr Julia Mascadri, Dr Marie White and Associate Professor Megan Gibson
This ground-breaking partnership engaged the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia, a peak body representing over a quarter of all early childhood centres nationally, to address the workforce crisis and build the next generation of leaders for the profession.
Mentorship and sponsorship
Professor Louisa Coglan
Louisa is a champion for economic literacy. She is the President of the Women in Economics Network (Queensland), mentoring a community of exceptional women economists driven to making real changes.
Adjunct Professor Paul Trotter
Paul has shared his significant influence and leadership in the architecture profession, leading key stakeholder organisations and shaping the direction of the profession, nationally.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander excellence
Mr Rickie Dodd
Rickie has forged valuable relationship with community stakeholders and orchestrated sports-technology-focused workshops and activities, reaching over 2,000 students and community members through the Widening Participation program.
Mr Brent McKnoulty
Brent has demonstrated exemplary leadership and deeply thoughtful execution of QUT’s pilot program of Get Uni Ready with an inaugural cohort of 159 students.
QALT AFHEA Indigenous Perspectives Lead Reviewers
Ms Celise Gibson and Mr Tain Lloyd
Celise and Tain have supported hundreds of non-Indigenous QUT staff to think deeply to make Indigenous knowledge and perspectives more visible within the curriculum. They have strengthened the Indigenous Perspectives module and plans for reaccreditation with Advance HE.
Previous years' recipients
View our Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Excellence recipients from previous years.