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CQUniversity has several social networking mediums for you to connect with us and with each other. Whether your preferred platform is Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, general information and discussion topics are shared regularly.
CQUniversity alumni showed a keen interest in staying connected to the University at recent alumni events held at the Brisbane, Noosa, Gladstone and Emerald campuses.
The Brisbane event saw a mix of almost 100 alumni and donors give up a portion of State of Origin night to set foot onto the relocated campus. Some alumni hadn’t been to the new campus and were happy to reconnect with classmates. Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Scott Bowman was a guest speaker on the night and highlighted the importance of staying connected to the University. He expressed appreciation to those who have been volunteering on committees, saying these people were driving the development of the University.
The event in Noosa welcomed alumni to the newly opened building which is only the beginning of the campus expansion expected to occur in the coming years. The new building has plenty of space including the addition of a collaborative learning centre and the campus’ very first library, which alumni now have access to. Alumni who attended, some of whom are now studying towards their masters, were happy to see an accessible campus and were impressed with the new facilities.
Development is in the air, not just at the Brisbane and Noosa campuses, but also the Gladstone campus as discussed at the Alumni and Supporter event. Chancellor Rennie Fritschy announced the campus was becoming a focus for reinvigoration and expansion of programs. Gladstone Mayor, CQUniversity advocate and alumnus, Cr Gail Sellers was among those who attended.
A common theme shared at these events is that alumni and supporters are the drivers of the development of the university. The Emerald event was no exception when a mixture of alumni, donors and regional high school staff gathered for a social forum on CQUniversity’s future direction. Guest speakers Vice-Chancellor Scott Bowman and Mick Nucifora, from BMA, who have recently funded 15 new scholarships for students to attend CQUniversity.
The upcoming and final events for this year will be held in Melbourne, Sydney and Bundaberg in August and September. Through these events, alumni are able to reconnect with classmates and share stories with the University. All the photos from these events are posted on our Facebook page. To ensure you receive your invitation, please update your details. We look forward to seeing you there!
Alumnus Kevin Williams was born in Longreach but grew up 'in the bush' because his father was working on cattle and sheep stations as a stockman and fencer, while his mother was a domestic.
Encouraged by friends who had undertaken tertiary studies, Kevin enrolled for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Rockhampton. In 1988, he was believed to be the first Indigenous male graduate of the Capricornia Institute of Advanced Education - now known as CQUniversity. Using his BA as a springboard, Kevin completed an undergraduate law degree at the University of New South Wales in 1995 and, after being awarded the Lionel Murphy Scholarship in 2000, he completed his Master of Laws in 2001.
Kevin, who has also been a lecturer, says the respect shown and appreciation expressed by his students, over the years, has made his work all the more enjoyable and rewarding.
"I have never lost my thirst for knowledge and am now about to embark on a PhD."
His other achievements include convincing members of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) that the Native Title Amendment Act was in breach of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1998. This led to the UN taking the Howard Government to task about the amendments.
Kevin currently runs a consultancy (Williams Legal) and is writing his PhD proposal on Aborigines and the legal system. He lives on the Sunshine Coast with his wife Kim and daughter Ruby and finds time to be an artist (with one of his works featuring on the cover of a Sydney Powerhouse Museum exhibition book).
We are urging alumni living in or around the UK to update their details as there is a joint alumni event between some of Queensland’s Universities scheduled for 14th of September in London. A delegation from CQUniversity will be attending.
Make sure you don’t miss out on your invitation and update your details today!
CQUniversity could be collaborating with a leading Indian university to get rid of heavy metals from Indian and Australian soil using hyper accumulator plants. If the project gets funding, it will be thanks to groundwork by CQUniversity alumnus Dr Poonam Bhatia, who completed her PhD in 2003 under the supervision of Associate Professor Nanjappa Ashwath and Professor David Midmore.
Dr Bhatia is currently working for the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (as a Research and Evaluation specialist at the Education Evidence Section of the National Schools and Youth Partnership Group). Her major role is to conduct research on education related issues, analyse data and provide policy advice.
"Recently, I got an opportunity to write a research project and establish collaboration between CQUni and Banaras Hindu University in India," Dr Bhatia said.
"It is a phytoremediation project. Australian soil is naturally contaminated with heavy metal but the Indian soil has got both natural and artificial heavy metal contamination.
"Both the countries have native plants that accumulate heavy metal. It is proposed that effectiveness of Australian native plants in cleaning Indian soil would be studied and vice versa.
Assoc Prof Ashwath says that, once funding is secured, this venture should allow postgraduate students from Australia to spend time in India (and vice versa) working on a common research topic of benefit to both countries. He said the proposed plan could also create an opportunity to offer joint degrees.
CQUniversity alumnus Jason Paul is tackling diabetes everyday but doesn’t let it be an obstacle in life as he embarks on a journey to be a stronger, healthier and more inspirational person.
An inspiration is exactly what he is. Jason, who was diagnosed with type one diabetes when he was 16, has completed multiple marathons, triathlons and is now turning his focus on cycling events. He also dedicates time every year at a local type one diabetes youth camp, where he speaks to children about living a positive life, his experiences living with the disease as well as being an endurance athlete.
Jason says he doesn’t believe he suffers from the disease. “When I achieve success it is much more satisfying due to the additional challenges that diabetes can present. Diabetes has not stopped me doing anything; in fact, it has inspired me to do a lot”.
Jason’s positive attitude and dedication to inspiring others has landed him a spot as a finalist in the 2012 Sweet Talk Awards. The Sweet Talk Awards is held to reward people with diabetes of all ages who have overcome the challenge of living with the disease to achieve success.
The Awards are reliant on public voting and close on August 6th. To vote for Jason, click here.
Editor’s Note: CQUniversity in no way endorses of provides financial support to any individual’s activities, however we encourage you to share your stories with us, as we may be able to find opportunities to link you with other alumni who may be interested in supporting your endeavours.
Growing up in Bundaberg, Nicole Batchler had no family connection to engineering but felt a strong desire to build things. Now in her mid-30s, Nicole is being tipped as a future construction industry leader after becoming the first woman to gain the prestigious Tom Carn Memorial Future Leaders Bursary.
The CQUniversity Civil Engineering graduate is currently working on the $385 million Port of Brisbane Motorway Upgrade project, where she's part of the BMD Seymour Whyte Joint Venture delivery team.
Nicole graduated with honours in 2001 and began her career with Waggamba Shire Council before progressing to Seymour Whyte, where she was soon part of a Bruce Highway upgrade project. Seymour Whyte has acknowledged Nicole's reputation as both a team player and true leader, as she represents the company on various joint venture projects involving representatives from multiple organisations.
She has become the first female Senior Project Engineer employed at Seymour Whyte and is involved in the Queensland Government Women in Hard Hats initiative, which encourages women into non-traditional careers. Nicole's achievements include embracing a broad range of engineering disciplines including roads and structures. She's also had to conquer her fear of heights by jumping from a plane, taking on bridge climbs and accepting bridge construction roles.
Reflecting on her time as a student at CQUniversity, Nicole says the experience started favourably when she met the then Dean of Engineering Erin Jancauskas.
"He was very personable and approachable and I knew from that day on that the engineering degree that CQUni was offering was for me - the lecturers were largely from outside of the Uni rather than full-time professors which gave real-life experience to the theoretical application," she said.
"There was also a broad range of skills from management and communication courses in addition to the technical courses. I think having completed some management, contract management and economic courses gave me a bit of an edge in moving into a contracting environment."
Keen to expand her knowledge, Nicole is currently completing a Diploma in Project Management through Engineers Education Australia. She has also completed personal coaching for leadership skills, through MATRIX GLOBAL, as well a range of in-house professional development courses.
She has pledged to mentor other women through the Seymour Whyte Women in Leadership program and hopes her bursary will enable her to afford a short course or seminar on leadership or strategic management at the Harvard Business School in the USA.
Congratulations to CQUniversity Noosa lecturer Nicholas Ralph who has won the Australian Nurse of the Year (Innovation in Nursing) award of $10,000, thanks to his concept for a multi-functional Mobile Clinical Learning Unit (M-CLU) for the Sunshine Coast...
Nicolas was announced as the HESTA* Australian Nursing Awards 'innovation' winner during a ceremony at Melbourne's Crown Entertainment Complex in May.
Nicolas plans to use the development grant prize money provided by ME Bank to undertake an evaluation of the mobile unit to improve its usefulness to the community. The design includes simulation spaces where health professionals can sharpen their skills. The M-CLU will also visit schools, shopping centres, sports grounds and public parks to give participants a taste of the opportunities a career in health can offer.
Nicolas believes the unit can aid efforts to tackle a looming skills shortage in a region that will require 50,000 new health professionals over the next 20 years. It also has huge potential for remote areas such as mining towns, where initiatives like this are of great value to the community.
"The aim of this initiative is improve healthcare in the region - whether it be through opening up career opportunities in health to the public, up skilling the regional health workforce or improving the health of our communities using health promotion strategies," Mr Ralph said.
*HESTA is one of Australia's largest superannuation funds
We are delighted to launch a range of new benefits and initiatives for graduates of CQUniversity Australia. In support of our graduates' careers and to recognise your achievements, the benefits are designed for you to use throughout your life. Do you have suggestions for initiatives that would benefit you? If so, contact the Graduate Relations Manager by email graduate-enquiries@cqu.edu.au.
CQUniversity offers electronic database access (free of charge) for alumni. Due to changing vendor license conditions the range of databases available to CQUniversity alumni may alter at any time. Please refer to the webpage regularly for the latest information. Databases include:
Graduates can apply for free membership of CQUniversity library but must be able to borrow in person.
Visit the library website to access further details about borrowing information and regulations.
Click here to access information about the benefits designed specifically for our graduates.
CQUniversity is currently offering a collection of other alumni benefits. For more information, click here to visit our website.
Three years ago CQUniversity set off on an ambitious renewal plan to be a great Australian University within ten years. So far the plan has been a great success with CQUni reaching its two year goal of sustainability and is well on track to meeting its five year goal of becoming a ‘strong’ university.
Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Scott Bowman has recently brought up the discussion of ‘What is meant by becoming a Great Australian University”, the goal hoped to be achieved by 2020. In late June this year, the University’s leaders gathered to discuss this very idea.
Professor Bowman is now turning to the university communities, including alumni to spark debate about this important issue. He says he is eager to hear your thoughts and ideas on what you think define greatness? How will be know when we get there? What needs to happen on our journey to greatness?
“Let’s start 2013 with a very clear idea of what we mean by greatness, have metrics put around our vision and then set sail for 2020”.
Alumni will have recently received and email about this. Please send through your feedback to communicate@cqu.edu.au by Friday 31 August.
CQUniversity’s School of Engineering and Built Environment is entering a new era as it welcomes redevelopment of the CQUniversity Rockhampton Engineering precinct and new leadership with Professor Euan Lindsay as Dean of School.
With the launch of the $10.7 million refurbishment, CQUniversity is looking forward to delivering thousands more Engineering graduates for the region over the coming years. The new precinct has brought an abundance of new facilities and will also feature an Alumni walk, which allows past graduates to purchase pavers and be recognised for their donation to the University.
Other new facilities within the Engineering Precinct include labs for fluids, thermodynamics, thermofludis, geotech, concrete and structures and electronics. There is also a new lecture theatre, a postgraduate area, a materials-testing area, and acoustic test cell, soils store and a multi-purpose project-based learning lab.
A trained mechatronic engineer, Professor Lindsay joins CQUniversity from Curtin University in Western Australia – an institution renowned for its Engineering expertise – and holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne. Some of his aims as Dean of School include setting up new research programs, expanding the PhD cohort, and positioning CQUniversity as premier of a research and professional destination for engineering and built environment.
For more information about the Alumni Walk, click here.
A Senate Inquiry released recently into the skills shortage in agriculture has provided timely support for CQUniversity's decision to introduce a new science degree program specialising in agriculture and food science.
The Inquiry heard evidence that Universities produce only 700 graduates a year, but the sector needs 4,000 graduates. Employers are also reporting difficulties in recruiting qualified staff, with national agribusiness company Elders only filling 40 per cent of advertised positions in 2010.
CQUniversity Professor of Horticultural Science Phil Brown said CQUniversity's new science degree in Agricultural and Food Science program aims to address the tertiary skills shortage in agriculture in Queensland.
"Students have the opportunity to undertake work integrated learning, taking advantage of our location in a major production centre to gain first-hand knowledge of the industry" Professor Brown said.
The programs, which are offered by distance education, aim to give students from all over Queensland the opportunity to pursue a future career within agricultural industries and in turn refuel the starving industry with job-ready graduates.
"Queensland needs more graduates to support its agricultural and food industries," Professor Brown said.
According to Professor Brown, the public were often not aware of the broad range of career opportunities available within the agribusiness industry, from unskilled manual labour through to highly-qualified and experienced academic researchers.
The Mackay music community recently farewelled well-known local musician, CQUniversity lecturer and alumnus Kim Kirkman in his final performance with the Mackay Choral Society.
Kim has been instrumental as the conductor of the Mackay Choral Society in Mackay and worked with hundreds of young aspiring artists through the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music.
Originally trained as a violist, Kim has also had extensive voice training, having been musical director and a member of the Ten Tenors for six years. He is also a well known harpist, playing at local weddings and events throughout Mackay.
Kim will relocate to Maleny, near the Sunshine Coast, with his family in August. When asked about what’s next on his agenda he said he was looking to focus on harp therapy and sound healing.
"Harp therapy involves playing the harp in hospices when people are at end of life.
"It can bring great beauty, solace and comfort at a time when conventional medicine steps back.
"There is often no longer a cure at this time of a person’s life, but there is healing that can happen."
As Kim sets off on a new journey he offers some words of advice. "Try not to be afraid to follow your heart and your intuition. Money is not everything."
Editor’s Note: Quotes compliments of the Miner’s Midweek.
Running is a pastime for many, and is even considered a hobby by those who consider it their main form of exercise. But many runners suffer from a range of injuries and conditions that could easily be solved by wearing shoes that best fit their feet. The question is: how do you pick the right running shoes?
CQUniversity's Professor Erik Hohmann and Associate Professor Peter Reaburn have teamed up with Professor Andreas Imhoff from the University of Technology in Munich, Germany to find out how much runners really know about their feet, and how it might help in injury prevention.
The study examined the knowledge of perceptions held by individual runners about their foot type.
"Every foot, whether it be flat, regular or high arched, requires a specific shoe. Appropriate running shoes can potentially reduce the incidence of injuries by absorbing ground reaction forces,” said CQUniversity's Professor Hohmann.
"In contrast, incorrect footwear may make the recreational athlete more prone to injury".
Previous research has linked conditions such as shin splints, tibia and fibia fractures and plantar fasciits to the relatively simple error of selecting the wrong type of running shoe. But Hohmann, Reaburn and Imhoff's study has found that this error is not as simple as once thought, and their findings have attracted significant interest in Australia and overseas, including with US magazine Men's Health.
In order to properly match a shoe to their foot type, runners need to have some basic knowledge about their anatomy and be able to identify their own individual arch correctly. Most runners are unaware of the anatomy of their own unique foot, and often pick shoes that don't necessarily meet their personal needs. The study says that the clinical definition of a 'normal' foot remains unclear, but that a high or flat arch can be determined.
The University schedules a range of events throughout the various campuses, which may be of interest to graduates of the University.These events include academic conferences and presentations on a range of topics, performing arts events at the Mackay Conservatorium of Music as well as concerts and events in other locations.
CQUniversity Melbourne: 20th August
CQUniversity Sydney: 13th September
London: 14th September
CQUniversity Bundaberg: 25th September
Free Entry. Register online or upon arrival. www.postgradexpo.com.au
Adelaide: Thursday 6 September 2012, 12noon-7pm Adelaide Town Hall, King William Street
Sydney: Tuesday 11 September 2012, 12noon-7pm Sydney Town Hall, George Street
Brisbane: Thursday 13 September 2012, 12noon-7pm Sebel-Citigate Hotel, King George Square
Canberra: Tuesday 18 September 2012, 12noon-7pm National Convention Centre, Constitution Ave
Melbourne: Thursday 20 September 2012, 12noon-7pm Melbourne Town Hall, cnr Swanston & Collins Sts.
CQUniversity Gladstone: Friday 3 August 2012 3pm-7pm, Bryan Jordan Drive, Gladstone
CQUniversity Noosa: Sunday 5 August 2012 10am-2pm, 90 Goodchap Street, Noosaville
CQUniversity Bundaberg: Sunday 12 August 2012, 10am-2pm, University Drive, Bundaberg
CQUniversity Mackay: Sunday 19 August 2012, 10am-2pm, Boundary Road, Mackay
CQUniversity Rockhampton: Sunday 26 August 2012, 10am-2pm, Bruce Highway, North Rockhampton
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