SAO Graduation Gallery
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Swinburne University runs two or three graduation ceremonies per year.
For those who cannot attend the Swinburne graduation in person, you may of course organise your
own celebration.
For a list of past graduates, click here.
View the video of the graduation via Youtube. Look for the relevant date/time here.
18 April 2024 Graduation
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| Left to right, back row:
Richard (Dick) Morris Levy (Masters Degree), Dr Sara Webb, Prof. Alister Graham (Past SAO Course Coordinator), Trevor James Kay (top right: Masters Degree), Mark Furlan (middle right: Masters Degree).
Left to right, front row: Dr Simon Richard Goode (PhD graduate), Nathan Gerard Candela (Masters Degree), Dr Mustafa Burak Dogruel (PhD graduate).
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Astrophysicist and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Flagship Initiatives at Swinburne, Prof. Alan Duffy, was the Master of Ceremonies (MC). |
The uniquely talented Reader of Names and presenter of ABC's The World, Beverly O'Connor, read out the (often challenging, domestic and international) graduates' names as they crossed the stage. |
Accomplished and friendly Chancellor of Swinburne, Prof. John Pollaers OAM, delivered the awards and shook the graduates' hands. |
20 December 2023 Graduation
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| Left to right:
Prof. Alister Graham, Fiona Carmody (SAO Grad. Cert.), Milan Ljubincic (SAO Grad. Cert., Dr Mohsen Shamohammadi (CAS PhD graduate), Prof. Virginia Kilborn (SUT Chief Scientist), Prof. Brenton Hall (Chair, Dept. Phys. & Astron.)
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| Above: Five new SAO graduates with their Master of Science (Astronomy) degree. From left to right: Prof. Virginia Kilborn, Zhen (Jane) Zhang, Vanessa Porchet, Tony Radosevic, Jonathan Park, Tomas (Tom) Falzon, Prof. Alister Graham. Missing is Olivia Moll, who was awarded her Graduate Certificate of Science (Astronomy) at the ceremony. (Photographer: Prof. Brenton Hall, Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy).  |
| SAO Masters' graduates plus PhD graduates from the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing (CAS). Left to right: Prof. Virginia Kilborn (former SAO Instructor and current Swinburne Chief Scientist), Prof. Brenton Hall (Department of Physics and Astronomy, Chair), Grace Lawrence (PhD), Prof. Darren Croton, Prof. Chris Blake (behind), Zhen (Jane) Zhang, Ryan Turner (PhD), Tony Radosevic, Geoffrey (Geoff) Bryan, Jonathan Park (behind), Vanessa Porchet, Prof. Alister Graham, Tomas (Tom) Falzon, Prof. Allan Duffy. Missing are Liyualem Tilahun (PhD) and Olivia Moll (Masters). |
30 March 2023 Graduation
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| Left to right:
Prof. Alister Graham, Tim C. Rattray, Dr Adam
Batten, Prof. Sarah Maddison, Dr Brodie Norfolk, Matthias Schmitt, Neal A. Salan, Nathan G. Candela
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View the video of the graduation via Youtube here
16 December 2022 Graduation
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Left to right: Prof. Brenton Hall (Chair, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy), Carolyn Gordon (SAO MSc. graduate), Marcus Lower, Sara Webb, and Jonah Gannon (CAS PhD graduates), Prof. Alister Graham (SAO Course Coordinator, Semester 1, 2022), Prof. Virginia Kilborn (Astronomer and Chief Scientist, Swinburne). |
View the video of the graduation via Youtube here
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Prof. Brian Cox CBE FRS was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science in October 2022 by Swinburne University of Technology for "his significant contribution as a global leader in communicating the world of astronomy, physics and astrophysics". Via video, Prof. Cox delivered an inspirational and congratulatory speech to the graduates at the December ceremony. |
1 April 2022 Graduation
Looking smart! We shoud add blue to Swinburne's red and black colour scheme. It all went by too quick, but was so good to briefly say hello in person.
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Upper-left: Prof. Alister Graham, Andrew Collins, Prof. Sarah Maddison. Lower-left: Will Gauvin, Dr Dian (Pipit) Triani & Dr Nandini Sahu (both CAS rather than SAO). Lower-right: Rami Mandow, Anthony (Tony) Lewis, Dylan O'Donnell. |
View the video of the graduation via Youtube here
2020-2021 Graduation. Many of these were cancelled due to covid-19 lockdowns in Melbourne.
(Nathan Candela, Vaughan Gregory, Darrel McQuienn, Brittany Trubody, Bernard de la Coeur)
26 March 2019 Graduation Four SAO graduates attended the March 2019 graduation ceremony: Congratulations to Albany Asher, Brittany Trubody, Timothy Jonson and Dion Spoljar (David Gardiner, Charles Auer, Muhammad Hussain, Daniel Lambeth).
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| Left to right: Albany Asher, Prof Sarah Maddison, Brittany Trubody, Timothy Jonson, Prof Michael Murphy, Prof Virginia Kilborn. |
View the video of the graduation via Youtube here
August 2018 Graduation Five SAO graduates attended the August 2018 graduation ceremony: Congratulations to Gerald Bissett, Joan Hancock, Michael Foster, Nalayini Davies, Robert Hunt (Luke Davis, Benjamin Goodsell, Sharika Jeyakumar).
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March 2018 Graduation Seven SAO graduates attended the March 2018 graduation ceremony: Congratulations to Alexander Cherney, Franco Di Dio, Jennifer Gull, Andrew Harman, Andrew Jackling, Donald Radford and Craig Wallis.
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March 2017 Graduation Eight SAO graduates attended the March 2017 graduation ceremony: Congratulations to Raymond Palmer, Phil McBean, Daniel Puser, Samuel Watkins, David Young, Timothy Holt, Elise Leins and Mark Suhr.
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| Left to right: Prof. Sarah Maddison, Mark Suhr, Ray Palmer, Elise Leins, David Young, Daniel Puser, Samuel Watkins, Tim Holt, Phil McBean, Prof. Michael Murphy. |
August 2016 Graduation: We did not have any graduates attend the ceremony - the awardees were - Graduate Certificate of Science (Astronomy): Edward Roberts, Christopher Johnson and Christopher Benton - Master of Science (Astronomy): Andrew Fraser, Geoffrey Hayward, Christopher Tylor, Thilo Hanisch Luque and Thomas Woodrow. Congratulations to all.
March 2016 Graduation Twelve SAO graduates attended the March 2016 graduation ceremony: Congratulations to Richard Levy, John Clarkson, Kim Cook, John Drummond, Anthony Gregory, Stephen Harper, Andras Hidas, Eris John O'Mara, Stephen Renneberg, Saeed Salimpour, Sherie Sunderland, and Anthony Tanner..
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| Left to right: (bottom row) Richard Levy, Eris John O'Mara, Andras Hidas, Sherie Sunderland, John Drummond; (2nd row) Stephen Harper, Tony Gregory, Stephen Renneberg; (top row) Kim Cook, John Clarkson, Tony Tanner. |
August 2015 Graduation Three SAO graduates attended the August 2015 graduation ceremony: Congratulations to Fiona Collins, Debbi Stockhammer and Robert Yeoh.
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| Left to right: Fiona Collins, A/Prof Christopher Fluke and Robert Yeoh. |
April 2015 Graduation Five SAO graduates attended the April 2015 graduation ceremony: Congratulations to Mike Coward, Brett Hall, Paul O'Brien, Colin Robson and Peter Velez.
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| Left to right: Colin Robson, Brett Hall, Peter Velez, Paul O'Brien and Mike Coward. |
September 2014 Graduation Three SAO graduates attended the Sept. 2014 graduation ceremony: Zoltan Vilagosh and Anne Gaides visited Swinburne for a short AstroTour prior to the ceremony. Brian Warburton also attended the ceremony and joined us all afterwards.
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| Left to right: A/Prof Virginia Kilborn, A/Prof Michael Murphy, Brian Warburton, Zoltan Vilagosh and Anne Gaides. |
March 2014 Graduation Six SAO graduates attended the March 2014 graduation ceremony: Luke Rasborsek, Orlando Andico, Bob Davis, Christian Derrick, Constance Kordell and Peter Starr. Luke, Bob and Constance and friends/family visited Swinburne for a short AstroTour and visited the Supercomputer prior to the ceremony.
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| Left to right: A/Prof Virginia Kilborn, Christian Derrick, Bob Davis, Luke Rasborsek, Constance Kordell. |
August 2013 Graduation Four SAO graduates attended the August 2013 graduation ceremony: Errol Malta, Trevor Leaman, Mervyn Millward and Jim Shanks. Trevor and Jeff and family visited Swinburne for a short AstroTour and visited the Supercomputer prior to the ceremony.
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| Left to right: Jim Shanks, Trevor Leaman and Mervyn Millward. |
March 2013 Graduation Six SAO graduates attended the March 2013 graduation ceremony: Len Dobbin, Ken Davis, Kathryne Hughes, Clare Kenyon, John Lyes and Stephen Wilkinson. Paul Feldstein from Sacremento, CA planned to attend but was unable to at the last minute. Len and Ken visited Swinburne for a short AstroTour and visited the Supercomputer prior to the ceremony.
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| Left to right: John Lyes, Ken Davis, Kathryne Hughes. |
September 2012 Graduation Three SAO graduates attended the September 2012 graduation ceremony: Robert Yeoh, Sharon Harnett and Cristian Chavez. (A seperate graduation for those in absentee will be held in October.) Sharon and Cristian visited Swinburne for a tour of the Centre and a flight through the universe prior to the ceremony.
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| Left to right: Robert Yeoh, Dr Glen Mackie, Cristian Chavez, A/Prof Alister Graham and Sharon Harnett. |
March 2012 Graduation Four SAO graduates attended the March 2012 graduation ceremony: Jim Katsifolis, Howard McLaughlin, Therese Albers and Rob Davie, all from Melbourne. This was the first of the new graduation ceremonies where only attending students can graduate. (A seperate graduation for those in absentee will be held next month.) Jim, Therese and Rob visited Swinburne for a tour of the Centre and a flight through the universe prior to the ceremony (Howard was running a little late!).
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| Left to right: Dr Chris Fluke, Therese Albers, Jim Katsifolis, Howard McLaughlin and A/Prof Alister Graham. |
August 2011 Graduation Two SAO graduates attended the August 2011 graduation ceremony: Phil Weber from the USA and Alan Ross from Victoria. Prior to the ceremony Phil and his family visited CAS, saw our VR Theatre, toured our supercomputer and met Sarah and Glen.
March 2011 Graduation Five SAO graduates attended the March 2011 graduation ceremony: Amanda Ryan from Ireland, Lynn van Rooijen-McCullough from the Netherlands, Warwick Hooke from Sydney, Peter Hart from Melbourne, and Frederic Delstanches from the USA. This was our first graduation ceremony at the Melbourne Convention Centre, so after the ceremony we had lunch in the city at a resturant in Southbank. After lunch we trekked back to Swinburne and had a tour of the Centre and a flight through the universe.
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| Master Warwick Hooke, Sarah, and Masters Amanda Ryan, Lynn van Rooijen-McCullough and Fred Delstanches (Peter was hiding!) |
October 2010 Graduation One SAO graduate attended the October 2010 graduation ceremony: Fernando Lopez Blanco from Spain. Fernando and his wife Julia, along with Dr Lee Spitler (CAS PhD graduate) and partner Anna, along with Sarah and Glen and other CAS staff and students enjoyed a celebratory lunch at a nearby restaurant.
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Chris Fluke and Glen Mackie (back row). Fernando Lopez Blanco, Sarah Maddison, Lee Spitler (front row). Photo: Glen Mackie. |
April 2010 Graduation Six SAO graduates attended the April 2010 graduation ceremony: Livio Fasiani from Italy, Pekka Rautajoki from Finland, Kevin Sweeney from Ireland, Matt Walkington from New Zealand, and Nancy Torry and Barry Clark from Australia. All six visited the Centre prior to the ceremony, and after the ceremony the graduates (minus Nancy) and their families, along with Glen and Sarah, enjoyed a delicious Greek meal and Australian wine.
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December 2009 Graduation Two SAO graduates attended the international graduation in December 2009: Raymond Auclair from Canada and Keng Yin Fong from Malaysia. Both visited the Centre, along with family members, prior to the ceremony.
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| Master Keng Yin Fong and Master Raymond Auclair. |
October 2009 Graduation Four SAO graduates attended the October 2009 graduation ceremony: John Field and Marilyn Head from New Zealand, Andrew Maddingly from Sydney, and Martin Azzopardi from Melbourne. All four visited the Centre prior to the ceremony, and after the graduation John, Marilyn and their families, along with Glen and Sarah, all went out for a delicious Greek meal.
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| John Field, Master Martin Azzopardi and Dr Glen Mackie (top row) Master Marilyn Head and Dr Sarah Maddison (bottom row). Photo: Vivienne Field. |
March 2009 Graduation Two SAO graduates attended the March 2009 graduation ceremony: Steve Heaton from Gorokan, New South Wales, and Stewart Southam from Melbourne. There were also three astronmy PhDs awarded that day to people who may have been your project supervisors! These were Dr Tim Connors, Dr Adam Deller and SAO alumni Dr Emil Lenc. Steve and Stewart visited the Centre prior to the ceremony, and after the graduation they and their familes, along with Glen, Sarah and Tim Connors, all went out for a delicious Greek meal.
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| Master Steve Heaton and Dr Tim Connors | Dr Emil Lenc and Master Stewart Southam |
December 2008 Graduation One graduate came to the international graduation ceremony in December 2008 - David Kiefer of Brooklyn, NYC, USA. David and his wife visited the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing then left on a months visit around eastern Australia.
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| Master David Kiefer. | ... and his Andromeda tatoo! |
October 2008 Graduation Three graduates attended the October 2008 graduation ceremony: Chris Lindemann of Adelaide, South Australia; Matthew Robinson of Perth, Western Australia; Simon Turner of Melbourne, Victoria.
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| From left to right: Chris Lindemann, Matthew Robinson and Simon Turner. |
March 2008 Graduation Eight graduates attended the March 2008 graduation ceremony: Graeme Knight of Strathdale, Victoria; Lawrence Toomey, Sydney, NSW; Marion Martin, Melbourne, Victoria; Sheridan Lacey, Melbourne, Victoria; Julian Foster, Sydney, NSW; Mike McDowell, Sydney, NSW; Albert White, Dulbin, Ireland; Richard Fell-Marston, Lisarow, NSW.
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| Bottom row from left to right:
Julian Foster, Sheridan Lacey, Prof Matthew Bailes. Second row L to R: Dr Sarah Maddison, Marion Martin. Third row L to R: Lawrence Toomey, Graeme Knight. Top row: Dr Glen Mackie, Dr Chris Fluke, Mike McDowell, Albert White, Richard Fell-Marston. |
December 2007 Graduation Just one graduate came to Melbourne to SAO's inaugural participation in the international graduation ceremony in December 2007 - Eduardo Manuel Alvarez. Eduardo and his wife visited the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing for a tour of the Centre and a lovelyl Thai lunch with Sarah and Glen.
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| From Left to Right: Dr Sarah Maddison, Master Eduardo Manuel Alvarez and Dr Glen Mackie. |
October 2007 Graduation Two graduates came to Melbourne to attend the October 2007 graduation ceremony - Nancy Torry and Elizabeth Winters. Graduates and their families visited the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing for a tour of the Centre.
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| From Left to Right: Elizabeth Winters, Dr Chris Fluke and Nancy Torry |
March 2007 Graduation Three graduates came to Melbourne to attend the graduation ceremony - David Hall from Canberra, David Burton from South Australia and Huseyin Topuz from Turkey. Graduates and their families visited the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing afterwards for a tour of the Centre. They visited the supercomputer and took a 3D flight through the Universe in our Virtual Reality theatre. Then followed drinks at the Glenferrie Hotel and an SAO celebratory dinner at a Himalayan restaurant.
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| From Left to Right:
Huseyin Topuz (Turkey) and David Hall (Australia). Photo: Ayse Topuz |
October 2006 Graduation Four graduates came to Melbourne to attend the graduation ceremony - Richard Heggie from Sydney, Tim Hunter from the USA, Christophe Lienhard from France, and Brett Hawton from South Africa.
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| From Left to Right: Dr Glen Mackie (SAO), Master Brett Hawton (South Africa), Master Tim Hunter (USA), Dr Sarah Maddison (SAO), Master Christophe Lienhard (France) and Master Richard Heggie (Australia). Photo: Carol Hunter |
March 2005 Graduation This was our largest gathering of graduates in SAO history, with 8 graduates attending the ceremony. these included: Trevor Barry, Gordon Briggs, Phil Evans, Brian Irven, Ari Hypponen, Margaret Turner, Vinh-Dieu Lam and Brian Crowley. To join the celebrations, SAO alumni Emil Lenc and Jan Barker also attended the dinner. (Note that Sarah was 7.5 months pregnant and is not normally so large!)
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| Back Row: Trevor Barry (NSW, Australia), Gordon Briggs (ACT, Australia), Phil Evans (Cook Islands), Brian Irven (Vermont, USA), Ari Hypponen (Finland), Glen Mackie (SAO). Front Row: Sarah Maddison (SAO), Margaret Turner (NSW, Australia), Vinh-Dieu Lam (NSW, Australia), Brian Crowley (NSW, Australia), Chris Fluke (SAO). Photo: Jan Barker |
March 2004 Graduation Three graduates attended the March 2004 graduation ceremony - Emil Lenc, Jan Barker and Terence Dougherty.
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| From Left to Right: Master Terence Dougherty (Australia), Dr Sarah Maddison (SAO), Master Emil Lenc (Australia), Dr Margaret Mazzolini (SAO) and Master Jan Barker (Australia). Photo: Wendy Lenc |
