Meet the universities’ most innovative educators: Shaping Australia Awards

The Shaping Australia Awards has named five education programs that have gone above and beyond to prepare their students for the future, including by creating a student-managed investment fund, and a course that readies ­defence students for the world under AUKUS.

The second Shaping Australia Awards, conceived by Universities Australia and supported by The Australian, recognise universities’ achievements in solving the nation’s biggest challenges in three areas of university endeavour: research; teaching; and engagement with community.

The five finalists in the Future Builder Award are all innovative educators who are equipping their students with the knowledge and skills to make a positive impact in the future.

UniSA, in response to the Universities Accord, launched Australia’s first higher degree apprenticeship program, known as the Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours), which blends academic study with full-time employment.

Tom Raimondo, dean of programs, said: “This opens up an entirely new student market. Students who don’t typically consider university education because they may not want an inherited debt – this solves that problem … They are paid to work.”

The University of South Australia has launched an 18-month Global Executive MBA in Defence and Space, delivered across three countries and designed to meet the critical needs of the AUKUS agreement between Australia, Britain and the US.

Lan Snell, director of MBA and dean of programs (postgraduate), said the program was conceived three years ago “in anticipation of (the AUKUS agreement)”, adding “We knew there was going to be a greater demand for different workforce capabilities”.

A team from The University of Melbourne led a postgraduate program that allows students from the Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Biomedical Engineering (MBE) to work together to identify unmet medical needs in the field, develop medical device prototypes and craft business plans.

John Fan and Robert Bianchi from Griffith University are finalists for their establishment of the student-managed investment fund. Through the fund, students gain hands-on experience in socially responsible investing, analysing real data, researching company ethics and making investment proposals.

Academics from the University of Technology Sydney, led by Gillian Smith, have developed the UTS Shopfront program connecting students with grassroots community organisations to work as external “consultants”, offering their expertise to non-profits that often lack resources.

“I’m really amazed by the students, I’m just thrilled with the ideas that they come up with. But then also afterwards the amazing sorts of work they get into whether it’s their own start-up companies, or product design companies or other firms,” David Grayden said.

You can still vote for your favourite entries until January 19, 2025 at: https://www.shapingaustraliaawards.com.au/the-finalists

The winners will be announced at an official ceremony on February 25, 2025.