Defending human rights, giving voice and growing connection

28 February 2024
Collage of four photos, four people smiling in different locations.
CQUniversity 2024 Alumni Award recipients (clockwise from top left) Dr Wendy O'Brien, Misty Neilson, Swapnil Gadgil and Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann

By Mary Bolling

CQUniversity has announced four inspiring recipients of its 2024 Alumni Awards, and paid tribute to their impacts driving children’s rights and justice, inclusive technology, leadership, sustainability and citizen science.   

Announced on Thursday 29 February 2024, the recipients are: 

Outstanding Alumnus of the Year: Dr Wendy O’Brien, Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and PhD (1994, 1999)

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. 

Alumnus of the Year for Industry Excellence: Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann, Bachelor of Information Technology (2005) 

Award-winning founder, CEO and managing director of mission-critical web development and cloud hosting company ATech, Ms Peterschlingmann has worked with more than 600 local and international clients, and is an advocate for women in technology and entrepreneurship, and wholehearted leadership. 

Alumnus of the Year for Social Impact: Swapnil Gadgil, Master of Information Systems (2001)

Co-founder and managing director of multi-award-winning technology company Therapy Box Ltd, Mr Gadgil and his co-founder and wife Rebecca Bright MBE have developed communication aid app Predictable, giving a voice to more than 50,000 people with speech difficulties.

Alumnus of the Year for Early Career Achievement: Misty Neilson, Bachelor of Science (Ecology and Conservation Biology) (2021)

An experienced business leader and passionate environmentalist, Ms Neilson is 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. 

CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Nick Klomp, paid tribute to the inspiring recipients. 

“CQUniversity takes great pride in the achievements of our alumni, as they advance the common good and challenge us all to grow our impact,” he said.

“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.” 

Dr O’Brien first began her CQUniversity studies in 1991, with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) on campus in Mackay then Rockhampton. 

She 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.  

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 said.

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!”

Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann moved from her hometown of Cairns to Rockhampton at 18, to follow her passion for technology.

“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 explained.

Through the Women in Science and Technology pathway, Ms Peterschlingmann thrived in the 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 said.

“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!”

Ms Neilson also 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,” she said.

During the studies, she began new roles in environmental science, co-founded a business, and supported CQU research and citizen science projects. 

“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 said.

CQUniversity is proud to have more than 130,000 alumni around the world, and to celebrate their impact through its annual Alumni Awards. 

Find out more about our Alumni Award Winners

2024 Alumni Award recipients Dr Wendy O'Brien, Misty Neilson, Swapnil Gadgil and Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann share their stories.