Top honour for young MBA student
by Michèle Nardelli
A
student of the Masters of Business Administration at UniSA, Julian
O'Shea, has just been named Young South Australian of the Year for
2009.
O'Shea is a firm believer in the power of education and has
developed not only excellent engineering qualifications, (B Eng
Hons, Adelaide University; M Eng Sc Australian Defence Force
Academy) but also the management and leadership skills to apply his
knowledge in a range of settings.
O'Shea is an engineer and serving as an officer in the
Royal Australian Navy where he is managing, West Head Gunnery Range
in Flinders, Victoria, a 15-acre live-fire training facility
associated with the Navy's premier training facility, HMAS Cerberus.
In his citation for the award from SA Great, O'Shea was
said to be an "inspiring young leader within the engineering
profession, the Australian Defence Force and the wider community as
an active volunteer".
His professional expertise has seen him represent Australia
at international conferences as well as young engineers on the
National Information, Telecommunications and Electronic Engineering
College Board. Late last year Julian was an Australian delegate to
the World Engineers convention in Brazil. He has also received the
South Australian Department of Trade and Economic Development
Achievement Award and the 2009 Advertiser Pride of Australia Medal
in the Serving Australia category, which is presented to service
personnel who show extraordinary courage and devotion to duty under
extreme circumstances.
Given credit at UniSA for his officer training as part of a
Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian Defence Force, at
just 25 O'Shea is a surprisingly young MBA student.
Program Director for the MBA, Bob Gilliver, said the
average age of MBA students is about 37 years.
"It is unusual to take on a 25-year-old, but he impressed
us from the very beginning," Gilliver said.
"This award is a fitting tribute to his focus, his
maturity, his determination and his vision."
Among the other awards, UniSA Adjunct Research Fellow in
Psychology, Rosemary Wanganeen, was named winner of the Community
category for her outstanding work in psychology through counselling,
research and teaching. Wanganeen, herself very much impacted
by difficult experiences in her life, is the founding director of
the Australian Institute for Loss and Grief. Through the Institute,
she runs the Sacred Site Within Healing Centre, which
provides counselling and support for Indigenous and non-Indigenous
clients.