The University of Western Australia has a continual roll call of awards, scholarships and prizes presented to staff and students.

To recognise these achievements, an article is published on the UWA news page on the website and in UWA Forward on the first week of every month. If you know of great awards or achievements across the University please email [email protected]

Name: Professor Enrico Valdinoci, Emeritus Professor Cheryl Praeger, Winthrop Professor Mohammed Bennamoun

Achievement: Top ranking scientists for mathematics and computer science published by research.com
Two professors from UWA’s Department of Mathematics and Statistic have been listed in the first edition of top ranking scientists for Mathematics published by Research.com. Professor Valdinoci was ranked 14 nationally with 16,691 citations and 267 publications.  Senior Honorary Research Fellow and Emeritus Professor Praeger was ranked 20 nationally with 8.377 citations and 402 publications. Winthrop Professor Mohammed Bennamoun was ranked 47 nationally in the Computer Science category with 15,751 citations and 309 publications on DBLP in the 7th edition of top scientists ranking for Computer Science. Professor Ajmal Mian ranked 119 nationally in the same category with 9,443 citations and 185 articles on DBLP.

Name: Thomas Moorcroft

Achievement: Back-to-back winner of the WA State Championships 800m
The UWA engineering science student has backed up his 2021 gold medal win in the 800m at the WA State Championships, with another first place podium finish at this year’s titles.
Thomas, who runs for Frontrunner, also took home bronze in the 1500m this year. He’ll head to the National Championships in Sydney at the end of March. 

Name: Sean Dondas 

Achievement: ACT state recipient of Young Australian of the Year 2022
UWA graduate Mr Dondas attended the national ceremony for Young Australian of the Year in Canberra, taking home the award for the ACT for his work with CanTeen, an Australian not-for-profit that provides free and tailored support for young people aged 12-25 who are impacted by cancer. He joined the organisation in 2008 after his mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis and has spent the past 13 years helping many young people in similar situations cope with a cancer diagnosis in their family. With a keen interest in public policy and economics, Mr Dondas moved to Canberra in 2019 where he works as a senior policy officer with the Attorney-General’s Department.

Name: Victor Arul 

Achievement: Mr Arul, from the Conservatorium of Music, has been accepted into Harvard University to study for his PhD in composition. Mr Arul completed his undergraduate degree at UWA in 2020 under the tutelage of Head of Composition James Ledger. The clarinet player plans to take up his position at the Ivy League university in late August to study under Chaya Czernowin and Hans Tutschku. Mr Arul composes primarily for Western classical instruments and while he does not have a preferred musical genre for his compositions, he cites disco as his favourite genre of music to listen to. 

Name: Aaron Wyatt

Achievement: The UWA Conservatorium of Music graduate became the first Aboriginal man to conduct an Australian state orchestra in a public performance. The Noongar man, who grew up in Perth, is a conductor, violist and violinist. On February 9, Mr Wyatt conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for Long Time Living Here, the live musical Acknowledgement of Country, at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. 

Congratulations UWA staff and students.