Their careers make us more connected, safer, more sustainable and more empowered, and the four recipients of CQUniversity’s 2024 Alumni Awards are proof that passion can change lives.
CQUniversity announced its four inspiring recipients on Thursday, 29 February, and paid tribute to their impacts – driving children’s rights and justice, inclusive technology, leadership, sustainability and citizen science.
Championing human rights
The Outstanding Alumnus of the Year was awarded to Dr Wendy O’Brien, Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and PhD (1994, 1999) in recognition of the incredible work she does as a legal scholar and human rights specialist with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC, Vienna).
Dr O’Brien works towards equal access to justice, particularly through technology, and has contributed significant new knowledge in the fields of children’s rights, gender justice, violence prevention, and human rights-led law reform.
She began her CQUniversity studies in 1991, with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) on campus in Mackay then Rockhampton.
Dr O’Brien returned for her PhD in the late 1990s, and was also a CQU lecturer, before working with the Australian Crime Commission for seven years, and with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) since 2018.
Recognising industry excellence
Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann, Bachelor of Information Technology (2005), was awarded the honour of Alumnus of the Year for Industry Excellence.
Ms Peterschlingmann moved from her hometown of Cairns to Rockhampton at 18, to follow her passion for technology.
Today, the award-winning founder, CEO and managing director of mission-critical web development and cloud service company ATech has worked with more than 600 local and international clients and is an advocate for women in technology and entrepreneurship, and wholehearted leadership.
Her educational journey is a reminder that not every student follows a traditional pathway to tertiary qualifications.
“I didn’t have a grade 10 or 12 certificate, so it was quite a challenge to get into uni in the first place, but I was lucky that CQU had a great advocate for women in tech, Judith Wooller,” she says.
Through the Women in Science and Technology pathway, Ms Peterschlingmann thrived in her degree, and started her company ATech soon after graduating.
“That training and knowledge that I got at CQUniversity was really quite a few steps ahead of industry, so I really learned to rely on my own skills,” she says.
“When I started, I didn’t think I was going to make a multi-million-dollar cloud hosting company, I was just solving problems for people and doing what I loved.”
Helping people through tech innovation
Alumnus of the Year for Social Impact is Swapnil Gadgil, Master of Information Systems (2001).
Mr Gadgil is the co-founder and managing director of multi-award-winning technology company Therapy Box Ltd. With his wife and co-founder Rebecca Bright, he has developed communication aid app Predictable, giving a voice to more than 50,000 people with speech difficulties.
Based in London, Mr Gadgil said the CQUniversity recognition was a reminder of the long journey to grow inclusion and support for people with different abilities.
“It’s one of those things that gets you the energy to say, what I am doing is worthy and I should keep doing it!” he says.
In 2019, Therapy Box earned a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation – and he said all support inspired him and the growing Therapy Box team.
“That’s the driving force that you need – and I appreciated the Queen, I appreciate CQU, and any other pats on the back that we receive.”
Driving sustainability through science
Last night’s awards also recognised former graduates at the earlier stages of the career pathways, with the Alumnus of the Year for Early Career Achievement given to Misty Neilson, Bachelor of Science (Ecology and Conservation Biology) (2021).
Ms Neilson is an experienced business leader and passionate environmentalist, with a focus on driving sustainability and citizen science as co-founder of Thriive Consultancy, at Burnett Catchment Care Association, and as Chair of Forever Wild (Global), an innovative wilderness protection organisation.
She says she surprised herself with her achievements, as she completed her degree while juggling fulltime work and parenting.
“I was 15 when I first thought of doing environmental science, but it took another 20 years to actually begin – it was offered externally, I had three kids and I worked, and it was the only way I was ever going to be able to do a degree,” Ms Neilson says..
During those studies, she began new roles in environmental science, co-founded a business, and supported CQU research and citizen science project.
“No amount of success is ever in isolation, you can never accept full responsibility for anything you succeed at or are proud of, it’s always a group effort,” she says.
A celebration of trailblazers
The latest award recipients join more than 130,000 CQUniversity alumni around the world.
“CQUniversity takes great pride in the achievements of our alumni, as they advance the common good and challenge us all to grow our impact,” says CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Nick Klomp
“It is particularly rewarding to see the accomplishments of our four Alumni Awards recipients in the fields of human rights, sustainability and inclusion, and to know that their CQUniversity education helped set them on their trailblazing paths.”
