Annual CQUniversity Alumni Awards
Alumni awardees 2024
Outstanding Alumnus of the Year
Wendy O'Brien
BA 1994; BA(Hons) 1995; PhD 2000
Dr Wendy O’Brien is a legal scholar and human rights specialist working at the global level. Wendy currently works with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC, Vienna) on human rights-based criminal justice reform and equal access to justice, with a particular focus on human rights and technology. Wendy has had a long association with the United Nations, including volunteer positions as a Board Member and National Coordinator of the Human Rights Program of the United Nations Association of Australia, as well as a Committee Member of the Status of Women Committee.
Over several decades, Wendy's research has contributed significant new knowledge in the fields of children’s rights, gender justice, violence prevention, and human rights-led law reform. Wendy’s current work focuses on human rights and criminal justice in the digital age, as part of her broader interest in the human rights implications of the increased use of technology in the administration of criminal justice and social policy.
Wendy’s research has been published in leading international human rights and criminology journals. Her co-edited book, Violence Against Children in the Criminal Justice System, was published in 2020.
Wendy was previously a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Deakin University, and she currently holds the role of Adjunct Associate Professor with this institution. Prior to her role at Deakin, she worked as a Senior Specialist in Research with the Australian Crime Commission for seven years, taking a leading role in the delivery of research and policy advice on gender-based violence and the legal and therapeutic responses to child victims and children in conflict with the law. Wendy was also a Lecturer in Literary and Cultural Studies at CQUniversity from 2000 – 2007, after completing her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
Alumnus of the Year (Industry Excellence)
Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann
BIT 2005
Sarah-Jane founded the technology company ATech in 2007, just two years after completing her Information Technology degree at CQUniversity. Starting as a web developer, Sarah-Jane grew ATech to multi-million-dollar revenues with an impressive list of clients, including Virgin Australia, Seqwater, the South Australian Government, Airservices Australia and Brisbane City Council. Over the past 16 years, ATech has worked with more than 600 local and international customers providing cloud hosting, managed services and web development.
Sarah-Jane is an acknowledged industry leader and has spoken on topics including entrepreneurship, technology, innovation and leadership at events for Women in Technology, Australian Computer Society, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), Women in Digital, River City Labs and the Queensland Government. In 2023, she co-authored and featured in a book on wholehearted leadership which became an Amazon international best-seller.
Sarah-Jane is Vice Chair of the Australian Computer Society Queensland Branch Executive Committee. As a strong advocate for women in technology and entrepreneurship, Sarah-Jane has been a member of the ICT Committee for Women in Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneur Convenor and Queensland Branch Executive Committee Member of the Australian Computer Society, and member of the CQUniversity ICT Course Reference Committee.
Sarah-Jane and ATech have received multiple industry awards over the past decade. In 2023, Sarah-Jane was a finalist for the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards (Business Person of the Year), Women in Technology Awards (Excellence in Industry Leadership), and ARN Women in ICT Awards (Entrepreneur Award).
Sarah-Jane was also the joint award winner of the prestigious 2022 Queensland Pearcey ICT Entrepreneur of the Year Award, recognising outstanding ICT professionals who have demonstrated innovation, taken risks, made a difference and are an inspiration to others in the industry and the wider community.
Alumnus of the Year (Social Impact)
Swapnil Gadgil
MIS 2001
Swapnil is the co-founder and managing director of the multi-award-winning technology company, Therapy Box Ltd, which has a mission to make communication easier for those who require assistance due to physical or cognitive conditions. As well as developing commercial apps to aid communication, Therapy Box is a technical partner that collaborates with academics and clinicians on research projects related to speech, language, and cognition.
Swapnil’s management experience in telecommunications and e-commerce environments, combined with his CQUniversity Master of Information Systems qualification, paved the way to starting Therapy Box in 2009 with co-founder Speech Therapist Rebecca Bright MBE. Their original aim was to develop an iPad app to help people with motor neuron disease communicate more easily. The first product released by Therapy Box Ltd was an app called “Predictable” which responded to an unmet need for people who needed text-based communication aids. In 2014, the company was the youngest to win the United Kingdom’s Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation. In the ten years that followed, the app was released in 10 different versions for different territories and has won numerous awards. Over 50 000 people with speech difficulties have been assisted to date.
Under Swapnil's management, Therapy Box Ltd has now released over 30 specialist apps focusing on communication for healthcare, education and non-government organisations with clients including UNICEF, the United Nations Development Program, Jisc, the National Health Service (NHS) UK, and multiple universities. Therapy Box is currently collaborating with the University of Sheffield’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) “Invention for Innovation” (i4i) grant project to identify the risk of Alzheimer’s disease using speech biomarkers, amongst other projects.
Swapnil continues to support health technology companies through investing in public market companies and buyouts of small established companies.
Alumnus of the Year (Early Career Achievement)
Misty Neilson
BSc(Ecol&ConsBiol) 2021
After founding a successful organisation and working in executive leadership in the Community Services sector for a decade, Misty commenced a Bachelor of Science at CQUniversity in 2012 to take her skills and knowledge in a new direction. During her studies, she accepted a position with the North Burnett Regional Council driving their Economic Recovery programs, working closely with various bodies in the Environmental Science and Agricultural industries and subsequently moved into dedicated environmental science-based roles. Misty co-founded a full-service consultancy – Thriive – in 2019 before completing her degree in 2021.
Misty’s business specialises in supporting clients to improve their long-term capacity, viability, and outcomes through professional, business, and environmental services. Misty is an Accounting for Nature accredited expert and an ecologist and conservation biologist who has collaborated with regional natural resources management bodies, Landcare, and tertiary organisations to implement on-ground sustainable agriculture, environmental, conservation and research projects.
Misty is also part of the team at the Burnett Catchment Care Association (BCCA), using her expertise to undertake natural capital and environmental accounting, grants, tenders and funding acquisition, and developing community projects and action plans through research and strategic assessment. She has led projects including a citizen scientist project for the Burnett Koala Program and the Great Barrier Reef Community Action Plan for the Burnett/Baffle region.
In 2022, Misty commenced her role as a Member of the Regional Community Forum for Wide Bay Burnett and the Fraser Coast for the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
In 2024, Misty was appointed as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Forever Wild (Global), leading the organisation in their mission of protecting wilderness by creating ecological and social equity and driving innovation in non-destructive economic activity.
We congratulate all Alumni Award winners for their outstanding contributions and achievements. If you know alumni who are making a difference in their industry, role or community, please let us know so we can recognise them. Alumni can also be nominated by others or self-nominate for the awards using the Alumni Awards Candidate Proposal Form.
