Mathematics and Statistics staff win 2023 UNSW Science Staff Impact Awards

Congratulations to five School members of UNSW Mathematics and Statistics who won UNSW Science Staff Impact Awards at the Faculty End-of-Year Celebration on Thursday 30 November.

The UNSW Science Staff Impact Awards recognise the outstanding contributions of academic, professional, and technical staff across the Faculty.

Joshua Capel - Education Impact & Innovation Award

Education Impact & Innovation Award

This Award celebrates staff who have made an outstanding contribution to student learning and/or experience. (Won jointly with Dr Jeffrey Black - Chemistry.)

Dr Joshua Capel has significantly enhanced the online assessment platform ‘Möbius’ with many fixes, and improvements.
He not only elevated the digital experience with personalised feedback, but also created a community for educators in this space.
His impact extends beyond the School of Mathematics and Statistics, addressing issues for all Möbius users and generously sharing technical expertise with colleagues.

Feng Chen - Research Innovation Award

Research Innovation Award

This Award celebrates staff who displayed remarkable forward-thinking in their research endeavours and made an outstanding contribution to research innovation. 

Associate Professor Feng Chen has made exceptional contributions to statistical research and computing, particularly in the development of R packages for Hawkes processes, fundamentally transforming the way researchers analyse complex data in a wide range of fields.
This wide adoption and positive feedback of Feng’s R packages underscore the global impact and utility of his work.

Mareike Dressler - Early Career Impact Award (Highly commended)

Early Career Impact Award - Highly Commended

This Award celebrates early career staff who have made a significant impact in their field. Early career staff are generally defined as those within seven years of entering the workforce. I.e., within seven years – relative to opportunity – from PhD to Level A-C. 

Dr Mareike Dressler's research has significantly impacted global optimization and algebraic geometry communities. Mareike’s project was recently awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, and her application was one of the highest ranked successful applications.
She also actively engaged in projects that promote mathematics and science, including the successful Do the Maths Day event at UNSW, 2023.

Russel Morison - Community, Health & Safety, and Wellbeing Award (Highly commended)

Community Health & Safety, and Wellbeing Impact Award - Highly Commended

This Award celebrates exceptional efforts of staff to foster best practices for health, safety, and wellbeing within the Faculty.

Russel Morison led the way in developing and negotiating solutions during the building remediation of the Anita B. Lawrence Building over 1.5 years.
Russel has been proactive and engaged, responding to staff and student concerns with empathy and a solutions-oriented mindset.
His dedication significantly minimised the adverse effects of the building remediation.

Suzie Scandurra - Leadership Impact Award (Highly commended; awarded to the UNSW Science School Managers team)

Leadership Impact Award - Highly Commended

The UNSW Science School Managers are unsung heroes and have not only supported the rollout of new systems and processes but also challenged developments along the way.

They are masters at relationship building, are dependable, and act with the highest of integrity.

(Suzie Scandurra pictured fourth from right)

A very big congratulations to our School members for this recognition of their wonderful contributions.