October 20, 2017

UOW Alumni changing lives, innovating, achieving and giving back

Inspiring graduate success stories honoured at 2017 Alumni Awards.

Four influential University of Wollongong Alumni have been recognised for their outstanding professional achievements and humanitarian contributions at the 2017 UOW Alumni Awards overnight (19 October).

These worthy award recipients; Matt Bullock, Dr John Best, Deng Adut and Sally Riley have been identified for their professional achievement, research and innovation, early career success and notable social impact respectively.

MATT BULLOCK

Professional Excellence Award

An innovator in the world of e-commerce, Matt Bullock’s foresight landed him international success in 1998 after he established online payment gateway, e-WAY in partnership with just one bank, from his home office.

Just over 10 years later, this Bachelor of Computer Science UOW Alumnus’ payment services expanded internationally and in 2009 he set up agreements with the major banks in New Zealand. By 2011 eWAY expanded into the UK, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia in 2014.

He went on to partner with Xero to produce the 'Pay Now' add-on for online invoices and eWAY was awarded Xero Add-on Partner of the Year for 2013 for this functionality. That same year he collaborated with NAB where he used eWAY to launch a new merchant services product.

In late 2015, eWAY became the first Australian payment gateway to offer a mobile integration with Apple Pay. Matt won numerous awards for eWAY and personally for his innovation including the ORIA Industry Recognition Award 2010 and the ACT Pearcey Entrepreneur Award 2011.

Matt’s entrepreneurship skyrocketed in 2016 when he sold eWAY to Global Payments for over $US50m. Matt instantly established Spinify, a new venture focused on workplace engagement and staff motivation. He was awarded the 2016 Exit of the Year award by Australian Growth Company Awards.

Off the back of his profound international business success, Matt established the Spinify Foundation, a registered charity in Australia which supports such non-profit organisations as OzHarvest, Ronald McDonald House, and the Kiln Incubator in Canberra.

“I am passionate about the role of higher education in forming entrepreneurs of the future,” Bullock says. “I hope to foster greater collaboration between the start-up community, universities and government to truly drive Australia's competitive position on the global stage and deliver better quality of life for all Australians.”

DR JOHN BEST

Research and Innovation Award

With an eye for unearthing innovative products and processes, Dr John Best has made his mark on an international scale.

As Vice-President, Chief Technical Officer of Thales Australia, Dr Best oversees the technical capability of the company, encompassing technical strategy, research and development, innovation, engineering process, engineering development and technical audits.

A Doctor of Philosophy (Mathematics) UOW Alumnus, Dr Best spearheaded a visionary research and development program in partnership with UOW’s Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC).

This led to the design and high volume manufacturing of the world’s most successful armoured vehicle, The Bushmaster wheeled armoured vehicle. It has been in service in Afghanistan, utilised in Australia and supplied to several continents. Off the back of its success, the project was recognised with a prestigious Eureka Award in 2013.

Dr Best worked with Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) for 15 years, during which time he contributed to and led programs of work, including underwater weapon effect modelling, mine warfare operations research, synthetic environments and naval combat systems.

“I’m interested in the discovery of new and interesting things, particularly counter-intuitive things,” Dr Best explains. “At this point in my career it’s more about me finding other people who have discovered those things – whether in industry, universities or start-ups – and helping translate those discoveries into commercial and societal value.”

Dr Best sits on the DMTC board and the Industry Advisory Board of the UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT.

DENG ADUT

Young Alumni Award

Out of a seemingly hopeless start to life, emerged a remarkable tale of determination to succeed. Born in South Sudan, at the age of six, Deng Adut was kidnapped and forced to become a child soldier in the brutal civil war which tore his country apart.

At 14, his application for asylum in Australia was granted and in 1998 Deng’s life took a dramatic turn for the better. He was able to gain an education, learn English and through sheer hard work managed to put himself through extensive tertiary studies.

In 2014, Deng graduated with a Master of Laws (Criminal Prosecution) from UOW, before co-founding AC Law Group in Western Sydney with Joseph Correy, specialising in criminal, family, personal injury and employment law.

Offering free legal aid to troubled youth in Western Sydney, Deng’s law firm takes on at least two pro bono cases a week in the interests of fairness and justice.

In 2016, Deng enjoyed a string of high profile successes and notoriety; Former NSW Premier Mike Baird, nominated Deng to give the 2016 Australia Day Address, after seeing his life story in a TV advert.

Last year, he was also awarded the Law Society of NSW President’s Medal, and released a highly acclaimed memoir, Songs of a War Boy: My Story. In a highly contested nomination line up, Deng was named NSW Australian of the Year for 2017. This was closely followed by the Pride of Australia award, which recognises those who have done extraordinary things for their community and society.

After a lengthy process, in December 2016 Deng launched the John Mac Foundation, in honour of his late brother. In Australia, the Foundation operates a Scholarship Fund, which enables people from refugee, humanitarian and other backgrounds to access higher education. In the South Sudan, the Foundation is building a separate fund so they can support the fledgling legal system in the future.

“Though recognition doesn't influence what I do, it amplifies the voices of other people and mobilises them to help others,” explains Adut.

“It is important that we give people that have suffered so much for so many years of their life some hope. If you give them hope, miracles can happen. Change can happen.”

SALLY RILEY

Social Impact Award

Sally Riley has gone from strength to strength in the media world, fulfilling her vision to expand the consciousness of television audiences about Indigenous life and culture.

A woman of the Wiradjuri nation, Sally – a UOW Alumna with a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Theatre) - has carved out a high profile career as a film-maker, writer, developer and producer.

In 2000, Sally won the AFI Award for Best Short Film for Confessions of a Head-hunter. Her continuing enterprise in the film industry as a writer, developer and producer of short films and documentaries led to her appointment in 2002 to the then Australian Film Commission.

From there, she became Head of Indigenous at (now) Screen Australia in 2006, where she fostered the development of a new generation of Indigenous filmmakers. Sally joined the ABC TV in 2010 as Head of Indigenous, where she was responsible for developing and commissioning a number of ground-breaking and critically acclaimed prime-time drama series including Cleverman, Redfern Now, Gods of Wheat Street, and the sketch comedy series, Black Comedy.

After achieving multiple series successes, Sally was appointed as Head of Scripted Production at ABC TV in 2016. She has been a strong and continuing mentor and facilitator for developing artists, a role that has seen her awarded the Australian Public Service medal (2008), the Cecil Holmes Award from the Australian Director’s Guild (2011) and, most recently, her inclusion amongst the Top 100 Foreign Policy Leading Global Thinkers (Washington DC, in 2016).

Sally has substantially contributed to changing the common perception (and misperceptions) of Indigenous life in the Australian community.

“I’ve always had a really strong sense of purpose,” says Riley. “I want to change the face of Australian television; to change hearts and minds and give people a better understanding of Indigenous life and people. I believe that the best way to do that is through entertaining them and engaging them emotionally.”