Annual prizegiving awards

Congratulations to all students who have graduated over the past few weeks, either with an undergraduate or postgraduate degree from UNSW Sydney. 

UNSW School of Optometry and Vision Science had students graduate in the Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Clinical Optometry, PhD, Master of Optometry and Graduate Certificate of Ocular Therapeutics courses on Wednesday 12 May 2021.  Our class of 2019 optometry students who did not get to graduate in person during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, returned to meet up with their old cohort to graduate together which was wonderful to see.

Alumnus and Optometrist, Professor Deborah Sweeney, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice President (Research, Enterprise and International) at Western Sydney University, gave an inspiring occasional address at the graduation ceremony, where she talked about “being open to opportunities, understanding that the skills learnt at Uni are translatable to other areas, knowing yourself, understanding what your values are and being true to those.” 

Our prizegiving awards were held on the same day to recognise our top-performing students.  Prize donors, alumni, key stakeholders, industry representatives, staff, and students came together in celebration.  This prizegiving event has been celebrated at the school for well over 20 years and is still going strong!  Our sincere thanks to Scientia Professor Vlado Perkovic, Dean of Medicine and Health, for attending and presenting awards to our students.

Prizegiving keynote speaker, Associate Professor Maria Markoulli imparted some wise words of wisdom for our graduating students. She touched on “the importance of resilience and adaptation and commended all who had to demonstrate these traits to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. She encouraged graduates to become lifelong learners, to absorb knowledge from the world around them to define their vision, purpose, and direction and lastly to be humble.”

Congratulations once again to our 2020 prize winners below:

The Stage 1 Optics Prize: Rosana Lee
for the best performance in Geometrical and Physical Optics and Visual Optics
Donor: Transitions Optical (Essilor)

The Stage 2 Clinical Optometry Prize: Reynard Tay
for the best performance in The Clinical Environment and Optical Dispensing
Donor: BOC Instruments

The Stage 3 Ocular Diseases Prize: Kylie Zhang
for the best performance in Disease Processes of the Eye 1 & 2
Donor: Essilor

The Stage 3 Environmental Optometry and Dispensing Prize: Lina Shen
for the best performance in Environmental Optometry and Dispensing
Donor: UVEX Safety, Australia and New Zealand

The CooperVision Prize in Contact Lenses: Aaron Tse
for the best performance in Contact Lenses in Stage 1 of the Master of Clinical Optometry program
Donor: CooperVision Australia

The Optometry NSW/ACT Prize in Ocular Therapeutics: Louisa Deng
for the best performance in Anterior Eye Therapeutics and Therapeutics and the Posterior Eye in Stage 1 of the Master of Clinical Optometry Program
Donor: Optometrists Association Australia NSW/ACT

The ACBO Prize in Binocular and Children’s Vision: Alanah Luu
for the best overall performance throughout the Master of Clinical Optometry program in Binocular and Children’s Vision
Donor: The Australasian College of Behavioural Optometrists

The Dr Andrew Whatham Prize for Stage 5 CFEH Clinical Excellence: Danny Lee
for the best performance in the Centre for Eye Health (CFEH) Stage 5 clinical rotation (Master of Clinical Optometry Stage 2)
Donors: Mrs Val Whatham and The Centre for Eye Health

The Designs for Vision Prize: Saya Hiidome
for the best overall performance throughout the Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Clinical Optometry program in Primary Care Optometry
Donor: Designs for Vision

The Research Project Prize in the Master of Clinical Optometry: Brian Peng
for the best overall mark in the research project in the final year of the Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Clinical Optometry program
Donor: Optometric Vision Research Foundation

The Specsavers Award for Excellence in Patient Management: Amanda Duffy
for excellence in the patient management by a student in the final year of the Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Clinical Optometry program
Donor: Specsavers

The Specsavers Prize for Overall Excellence in the Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Clinical Optometry Program: Paula Gu
and for the best overall weighted average mark (WAM) in the Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Clinical Optometry Program
Donor: Specsavers

The Mivision Prize in Recognition of Excellence in Social Engagement: Judy Nam
to recognise students that have demonstrated excellence in communication, advocacy or in promoting eyecare to the community or other professions
Donor: Mivision

The Brian Kirby Prize for Research Excellence in Optometry: Mahjabeen Khan
for the Doctoral student in Optometry with the best thesis
Donor: The Brian Kirby Foundation

Australian College of Optometry Award: Stephanie Huang
recognised as the most outstanding graduate for the Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Clinical Optometry program
Donor: Australian College of Optometry