Two University of Western Australia undergraduates with big plans for the future are among six students nationally to receive life-changing scholarships from the Order of Australia Association Foundation.
The scholarships, awarded to second-year students following a rigorous selection process, recognise academic excellence as well as leadership, community service, and a commitment to shaping Australia’s future.
Each comes with $45,000 in financial support and a rare opportunity to be mentored by a recipient of the Order of Australia who is eminent in the student’s chosen field.
Jake Barnett, who is undertaking a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) with a major in Mechanical Engineering at UWA, is particularly looking forward to the mentorship after a period of self-reflection that saw him upend his studies to pursue a path more aligned with his passions.
Now 26, he had already spent two years studying postgraduate medicine at the University of Melbourne before acknowledging his heart wasn’t in it.
“I chose medicine at 18 because it was the hardest subject to get into and I’ve always loved a challenge,” Jake said.
“It wasn’t until later that I realised it wasn’t a challenge that reflected what I valued or wanted to be – the problems I wanted to be solving in the world.
“I wanted to work on problems I really cared about – not at an individual level but large-scale projects involving maths and science, which have always been strengths for me."
After taking a year off to consider alternative pathways, Jake returned to WA and enrolled in engineering at UWA – a degree he plans to use as a launching pad for a career in the renewables sector. He is particularly interested in coastal and offshore renewables, including wave energy.
“The significant challenges the world faces due to climate change need to consider not just the science but also the economic, infrastructure, health and human implications,” he said.
“I hope to one day be leading projects that are making a difference."
As well as his academic discipline and desire to make meaningful change Jake’s scholarship, donated by the Goodeve Foundation, also recognises his leadership and teamwork across volunteer and extra-curricular activities including rowing, rogaining, a community gamelan orchestra and an alt-rock band.
Similarly, fellow UWA recipient Ockert Visser, 20, was recognised both for his studies and leadership qualities honed via community contributions including rugby refereeing and surf life-saving – a role that saw him rescue multiple people while still a teenager.
Currently in his second year of a Bachelor of Advanced Computer Science (Honours) with a major in quantum computing, Ockert moved to WA from Queensland earlier this year.
Originally from South Africa and raised on the Sunshine Coast, he was initially dreading the move but eased the transition by joining a local surf life-saving club, the Army Reserves, and the committees of two UWA clubs who took him on as one of their own.
“That helped settle me down quickly, but I also have a really close relationship with my parents and brother so if things get tough I can always spend time with them and it brings me back to my core,” Ockert said.
While planning his transfer from the University of Queensland, where he had already completed one year of a computer science degree, Ockert was thrilled to discover UWA was offering quantum computing as a new major.
“I’d always had my eye on it as potentially something to follow my undergrad degree,” he said.
“My main interest at the moment is just the technology itself – being able to understand what’s going on – but down the line I’d love to be working on cutting-edge research, helping to move the technology forward.”
Ockert, whose scholarship was donated by the McCusker Charitable Foundation, is excited about potentially being mentored by Australian quantum physicist and 2018 Australian of the Year Michelle Simmons OA.
“Quantum computing is such a new, almost niche developing field – it’ll be really interesting to see where she thinks things are going to go and where I can explore.”
All six awardees travelled to Canberra last month to receive their scholarships at Government House, where they lunched and met one-on-one with Governor-General, the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC.
The cohort brings to 66 the number of scholarships awarded by the Order of Australia Association Foundation since the foundation’s inception in 1999.
Image above, left to right: Nazia Safdari; Jake Barnett; Isum Malawaraarachchi; Dr Helen Nugent AC, Chairman of the Order of Australia Association Foundation; the Governor-General, Her Excellency the Hon. Sam Mostyn AC; Ockert Visser; Zeph Hardie; Miriam Grice.