Rewards and recognition round-up

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Bill Ashraf is among the Macquarie staff who have been recognised this month.

Queen’s Birthday honour for Dr Harvey Dillon

Linguistics Adjunct Professor Dr Harvey Dillon has been made an Officer of Australia (AO) in the Queens’s Birthday 2018 Honours list.  Harvey was recognised for his ‘distinguished service to science, and to engineering, as a researcher in the field of hearing loss assessment, electrophysiology, and rehabilitation, and to improved auditory technologies.’

Of his “unexpected” award, Harvey says: “Like most researchers, I obtain great satisfaction from just doing research, so awards feel unnecessary. I have been lucky to work in a great organisation, with great colleagues, doing research directly aimed at helping people whose lives are made more difficult by their hearing problems.  Our environment at Macquarie, and in the Australian Hearing Hub in particular, has created such a cross-flow of ideas between National Acoustic Laboratories researchers and Macquarie University researchers, I am sure there will be lots more recognition coming to members of the Hearing Hub in the coming years.”

Bill Ashraf the first MQ/HEA Principal Fellow

The first Principal Fellowship in the Macquarie Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellowship program was awarded earlier this month to microbiologist Bill Ashraf. Bill is the Convenor of Macquarie’s HDR Supervision Enhancement Program and is leading the HDR Supervision Fellowship program.

Fellowships are typically awarded to those demonstrating institutional strategic leadership and policymaking in learning and teaching, and leaders who have strategic impact and influence on teaching and learning that extends beyond their institution. There are around 900 Principal Fellows globally, and fewer than 50 in Australia.

Read more about Bill in Teche >

 Gala raises over $160,000 for MND research

It’s been a big month for MND research at Macquarie, with two high-profile activities generating significant donations to Macquarie’s Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research.

The Centre’s annual gala dinner – held last Friday night – saw over $160,000 being raised to support research, clinical care and clinical trials in the Centre. 275 supporters attended the gala at Doltone House.

A cover story on Professor Dominic Rowe in the 26 May edition of the Good Weekend Magazine also led to over $20,000 being donated to the Centre by reader

Two Macquarie finalists in Fresh Science

Dr Annemarie Nadort (Department of Physics and Astronomy) and Dr Mohsen Asadnia from (School of Engineering) recently represented Macquarie as finalists in Fresh Science – a national competition for early career researchers.

Ten finalists presented their research to business and government at the Australian Museum before heading to the Three Wise Monkeys pub nearby for a ‘pitch in the pub’ session.

“It was exciting to be selected for Fresh Science, which turned out to be an intense, colourful, and informative workshop ranging between fun and hard work,” says Annemarie who was highly commended for her pitch.

David Christian makes Bill Gates’ best books list

Bill Gates has recommended Distinguished Professor David Christian’s new release Origin Story: A Big History of Everything as one of his top five summer reads.

“Bill Gates is a fan of Big History because it links knowledge from many different disciplines into a single, universal story that can help us understand where we are today,” says David.

“His support has allowed us to bring Big History into school curricula. Macquarie’s Big History Institute is now designing new courses for primary schools, high schools and senior high schools.”

Read more about David’s book in The Lighthouse > 

NSW iAward for Modular Photonics team

Macquarie’s Modular Photonics team won the Consumer Markets category at the NSW iAwards, run by the Australian Information Industry Association. The team – which includes Distinguished Professor Michael Withford and Dr Simon Gross of the Department of Physics and Astronomy –  will now represent NSW at the National iAwards in August.

“We were thrilled to win this award and look forward to competing at the National awards,” says Michael. “We anticipate this event will help trigger the interest of ICT influencers and local investors. We are grateful to those who have supported us on our journey – Macquarie University, ANFF, CSIRO ON and Jobs for NSW.”

Whale researcher runner up at FameLab international final

Macquarie University PhD Student Vanessa Pirotta from the Department of Biological Sciences says she was “overwhelmed” to be named runner-up at the 2018 FameLab International Final in the UK earlier this month. One of 12 finalists, Vanessa presented her research on the use of drones to collect health information from free swimming whales.

More recognition for The Incubator

The Macquarie University Incubator has beaten 57 other entries from across the Asia-Pacific to win Learning Environments Australasia’s Annual Excellence in Educational Facilities Award for 2018.

The Incubator has also been named an official partner in the Optus Innovation Hub, as reported in the Daily Bulletin. Macquarie and Optus will be driving joint-programming and innovation challenges to generate solutions for SMEs, including the Hub’s first Innovation Challenge which will be held in the Incubator on 9 July.

UBar wins best new campus facility award

Manager of Campus Services Peter Fasogiannis attended a Gala Dinner in Melbourne for the 2018 CampusLink Awards in Melbourne, where UBar was awarded ‘Best new or refurbished building or facility – up to $600K’. 

Silver for Firies campaign

Congratulations to the Advancement team, whose Firies Climb for MND fundraising campaign was awarded Silver in the 2018 CASE Circle of Excellence awards, which recognise outstanding work in advancement services, alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing.

In praising the campaign, the judges said: “The execution of the Firefighters Climb for MND targeted campaign was flawless – very moving and a great use of marketing, volunteers, and a community organisation.”

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