The ANU College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics (CECC) gathered at the Australian National Botanic Gardens to recognise and celebrate valued professionals who deliver outstanding services to our community.
Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell, who is currently serving as the College’s Interim Dean as well as School of Cybernetics Director, stepped up to the microphone to announce the recipients of the Dean’s Awards for Professional Staff.
“These individuals and teams contribute to supporting and enhancing the reputation and position of the College, and deserve to be recognised and celebrated,” Distinguished Professor Bell said.
Rising star
The Rising Star Award went to Pip Chan, who helps academics prepare research grants and supports funded research activities. Chan’s colleagues said they appreciate the compassion, honesty, integrity with which she goes about her work.
“She is also a supportive and collaborative team member who has taken newer staff under her wing and provided them with training and guidance,” Distinguished Professor Bell said, who posed for photographs with all the winners who were present, along with CECC General Manager Matt Cousins.
An award of Commendation in the Rising Star category went to Breanna Reilly who commenced with the College in February 2022 and made an immediate impact with her extensive project management and event expertise. Reilly coordinated the first in-person graduations celebration that the College since the start of the pandemic, along with a student welcome event for Orientation week, both within the span of a week in July.
Ongoing excellence
The Ongoing Excellence Award is a new award created to acknowledge professional staff with years of service to the College who have consistently demonstrated excellence in their work.
The Ongoing Excellence Award winner was Erasmo Scipione who serves as the Electrical Technical Lead, for the School of Engineering and has been providing excellence in teaching support for 16 years.
“There is no limit to the effort he puts into every course he supports to ensure it goes smoothly and to schedule,” said Distinguished Professor Bell. “He will test run every lab to ensure componentry has been correctly selected and train tutors in advance of the course running.”
Because of the pandemic, procurement of parts has been difficult, but Scipione has been able to source them from many suppliers all over the word to ensure continuity of the program. Where procurement has not been possible, he has redesigned circuits and offered complete solutions to the convener.
An award of Commendation in the Ongoing Excellence category went to Maia Gould, who serves as the Strategic Services Lead for the School of Cybernetics.
Gould has been a member of the CECC community since 2018 when she joined as the then 3A Institute. She has driven the engagement and impact program for the Institute, and now the newly-launched School of Cybernetics, helping to bring in $3 million in funding revenue for the University through industry partnerships.
Outstanding individual
The Outstanding Individual Performance winner was Gabrielle Vannithone, Executive Officer, School of Cybernetics. Gabrielle has been an integral part of the School’s re-organisation, working with her school leader peers and the Director, exhibiting a level of diligence, foresight and planning to ensure the transition would be a seamless and straightforward as possible.
“This is a large and often complex task which Gabrielle helped make comprehensible, digestible and clearly communicated,” Distinguished Professor Bell said.
And award of Commendation in the Individual Performance category went to Mike Hanauer, Senior Service Consultant – Industry & Engagement.
Hanauer is a passionate and dedicated individual who strives to help those around him, from supporting his teammates through difficult times to making sure a researcher gets the best advice on how to cost a project.
“Mike never shy’s away from a challenge or a difficult problem and will work with stakeholders to find common ground,” Distinguished Professor Bell said.
Outstanding team
The School of Computing Educational Technology Team received the Outstanding Team Performance award.
Ashleigh Johannes, Belinda Bergin, Ehsan Mazloomi Noubandegani, Harrison Shoebridge and Scott Rickard were recognised for being extremely service-oriented and adopt the attitude “what can I do to help”.
This team is less than 12 months old and have already become a fantastic support for the School,” Distinguished Professor Bell said. “I particularly appreciate that the team look for ways to make processes more efficient.”
An award of Commendation in the team performance category went to the School launch and Exhibition Team at the School of Cybernetics, comprised of Adrian Schmidt, Amelia Dimitrovski, Cole Cooney, Danni Liu, Ellen O’Brien, Gabrielle Vannithone, Hannah Simpson, Jacqueline (Jackie) Randles, Janelle Ireland, Michael Wright, Mai Trinh, Makoi (Mark) Popioco, Murray Johnson, Sharon Lopez, Sherice Kazzi, Vikas Sharma and Yan Wang.
The School of Cybernetics officially launched on 29 November, coinciding with the official opening of the Birch Building and the Australian Cybernetic exhibition. This diverse team of professional staff and academics from across the College contributed to this landmark event, as well as 16 programmed activities around the launch, and a program of tours of an exhibition that looked at the interactions between humans, technology and environments.
Congratulations to all award nominees, winners and commendations!