Associate Professor Kerry Bissaker was recently presented with an award from the Governor of SA for her innovative work in education, while GoMicro’s Sivam Krish has won significant support from Bayer Crop Science.
Education innovator receives distinguished award
Associate Professor Kerry Bissaker from the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work was recently presented with the Australian Council of Educational Leaders (SA Branch) award for Distinguished Contribution to Research in Education Leadership. The presentation ceremony was held at Government House with the Governor of SA Hieu Van Le presenting Associate Professor Bissaker with her award.
She had been was nominated by peers for her sustained contributions to a range of areas including the development of inclusive education in developing countries and the importance of teachers’ professional learning in creating innovative and inclusive learning organisations. Her research has provided a substantial contribution to understanding the relevance and importance of leadership in generating inclusive schools and informing current practices and education policy through promoting educational rights, social justice and inclusivity for all children and young people.
Associate Professor Bissaker’s research impact continues, having won an Australian Government tender with colleagues Dr Amy Hamilton and Dr Michael Bell to support 25 Indonesian educational leaders to develop innovative Indonesian school curriculum with a specific focus on embedding 21st century learning skills. COVID-19 restrictions have restricted the program to online engagement, but the partnership developing between the Flinders University team and Indonesian participants has already generated some very exciting projects. The short course will continue for the rest of this year and provide participants with opportunities to connect with a range of local schools and the Zoo Education program.
Flinders alumni win big at 40 Under 40 Awards
Solstice Media’s annual 40 Under 40 Awards for 2021 – recognising the achievements of South Australia’s most outstanding business leaders and entrepreneurs aged younger than 40 – featured a high proportion of people who studied at Flinders University. Alumni featured among the 40 award winners were Ben Morton, Executive Director/CTO, Bygen, (BA ’12, BSc(Hons) ’13); Ben Tripodi, CEO, Lumin Sports/ Hoap (BHlthSc ‘16); Craig Rivett, Managing Director, Helping Heroes/Community Assist ( BBehavSc ‘06) and Emily Welyhorskyj, Chief Operating Officer, HenderCare (LLB/LP ‘12). Flinders New Venture Institute past participants in the list of 40 winners included Adam Grocke, Founder & CEO, Sherlok; Alice Fitch, Founder, Whola; Allison Nikula, Founder & CEO, CareApp Group; James Preuss, Managing Director and Founder, Concierge Genetics; and Nick Berry, Founder/Managing Director, Seed Terminator.
GoMicro gets big grant support
Sivam Krish, CEO and founder of GoMicro, which has benefitted from Flinders New Venture Institute support to introduce a clip-on magnifier that works in tandem with smartphones, is one of 24 scientists selected by Bayer Crop Science for its prestigious Grants4Ag program. Having beat out over 600 proposals from around the world, the grant will help continue his research into detecting pests and plant disease with low-cost AI technology. Further details about his research can be found on this blog post by the Halo project.
Navy pays tribute to alumnus
Ted Huber, founder and chairman of Acacia Systems – who studied biophysics, physical chemistry and neurophysiology at Flinders University – has been awarded the Australian Naval Institute’s McNeil Prize for 2021. The McNeil Prize, sponsored by Lockheed Martin Australia, is awarded to “an individual from Australian industry and academia who has made an outstanding contribution to the capabilities of the Royal Australian Navy”. Mr Huber and Acacia have worked with the Australian Navy’s capability over almost three decades, on such important projects as bolstering the anti-submarine capabilities of the Hobart Class destroyers and the fleet with the Onyx Advanced Sensor Tracking Optimisation System.