To be eligible for the Oustanding Young Alumni Award nominees must:
Tailor your work to what you are passionate about, that fuel will carry you through the hard yards.
Dr Luke Gordon is a neuroscientist and Study Director at Neuralink, where he specialises in developing brain-computer interfaces to assist people with paralysis and neurodegenerative disorders. His work plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and effectiveness of innovative brain-computer interface and surgical robotics technologies.
Before joining Neuralink, Luke was an entrepreneur in the biomedical engineering sector and undertook his PhD at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health. His doctoral studies focused on photobiomodulation, a technique that utilises light to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
As an entrepreneur, he successfully led teams to transition technologies from initial research stages to commercialised medical products, including spearheading the rapid development and production of PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During my time at USYD, I got to work on several challenging projects and collaborate with great people. I had the privilege of collaborating with leading neuroscientists and individuals with neurodegenerative conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, to develop a light-based treatment. With support from the Sydney Knowledge Hub and Incubate, my mates and I launched a startup to rapidly develop face shields for local hospitals during the peak of COVID. As an academic, I was given the chance to develop curricula that empowered students to deliver meaningful work for communities in India, Samoa, and New Caledonia. These experiences significantly built my confidence to pitch and execute ideas and grounded my work in real-world challenges.
After completing my PhD with publications and strong academic momentum, I intentionally stepped away from conventional post-grad opportunities. Instead, I chose to start fresh, applying for industry roles globally—a decision that felt risky at the time. Despite a steep learning curve, this shift has led me to work I am passionate about. Now at Neuralink, I'm developing technologies that hold promise to restore autonomy to people with paralysis, creating immediate and meaningful change in their lives.
Phoebe Saintilan-Stocks is the Founder of Missing Perspectives, a journalism start-up focused on amplifying underrepresented young female voices in the news industry. She began her career as a human rights lawyer, working in policy at the United Nations, the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
She founded Missing Perspectives in 2021, prompted by the experience of watching an all-male panel of journalists and commentators discuss women’s issues in Afghanistan. Since its inception, Missing Perspectives has reached an audience 1.5 million across 120 countries and earned global praise, including from actress Reese Witherspoon and her production company, Hello Sunshine.
Margaret Zhang has forged an unconventional path in the fashion industry. She launched her website, Shine By Three, at 16 years old and steadily grew her reputation as a photographer, filmmaker and consultant. While still studying her Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Laws, she attended her first New York Fashion Week.
In 2021, Margaret was appointed the Editor-in-chief of Vogue China. At just 27 years old, she is the youngest Editor-in-chief in Vogue’s history. Bringing a unique cross-disciplinary insight to her role, Margaret has championed young Chinese creatives and pulled together diverse perspectives to rise to the challenges of her new role. Having achieved so much so early in her career, her future is sure to be worth following.
At 32 years old, Nicole Seebacher MD PhD is an extraordinary and outstandingly promising cancer researcher and doctor currently studying at the University of Oxford. Over the last 12 years, her research has focused on developing novel agents targeting drug-resistant cancers, those that are the most aggressive and hard-to-treat manifestations. Her innovation, creativity and dogged persistence have contributed to current clinical trials of a new drug for treating advanced cancer patients in Australian hospitals.
Nicole’s research contributions are internationally recognised. Since starting research, she has received 31 awards and over $120,000 in scholarships and prizes. She has authored 22 research publications in high impact journals, including Nature and the British Journal of Pharmacology. She has received over 1,000 citations and has presented her work at over 40 national and international cancer conferences. Nicole also authored the Senate submission “Gender segregation in the workplace and its impact on women’s economic equality” (Parliament of Australia, 2017), and the gender policy “Gender Equity in Medical Specialties.
In addition to her research, Nicole has worked full-time as a ward doctor caring for COVID-19 patients since 2020. She has also held numerous leadership positions, including the Graduate Studies Committee of the USYD Academic Board, Non-Executive Board Director of the Australian Medical Students Association, and a Council member of SUPRA.
Nicole was a NSW finalist for the 2019 Young Australian of the Year for her remarkable contributions to science and the community. In 2018, Nicole made the prestigious 2018 Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list. In 2017, she was the NSW Young Woman of the Year, receiving this recognition for her continuing voluntary work as a mentor for Aboriginal students.
Nicole has already made significant contributions to the Australian community and is an inspiring role model for young Australian women.
Anastasia is a pioneer leading the way to the future of precision agriculture: a future where farmers use the latest in technology to maximise yields while minimising environmental impact. After completing her PhD at the University of Sydney in autonomous drone navigation, Dr Volkova realised that she could use her skills to improve crop yields. She went on to develop software that can spot changes in crops by comparing the satellite pictures of a particular field with a reference set of readings.
Dr Volkova founded FluroSat, a startup that provides technological services to agricultural businesses around the world. The service works by subscription and helps farmers to obtain various data on the state of their crops. FluroSat is accelerated by Telstra’s muru-D and is now monitoring farms using drones and satellites in 5 states in Australia.
FluroSat’s customers include the biggest names in agriculture such as Lamb Weston, supplier of potatoes to much of America, and Syngenta, the largest crop protection company in the world.
Dr Volkova’s work has brought over $8M in investments from leading venture capitalists, and government science organizations, including becoming the first ag-tech investee of Microsoft.
In 2020, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology included Dr Volkova in their list of innovators under 35. In addition to this she has been awarded the Soroptimist International Women Creating Change Award, the Amelia Earhart Fellow award and the Cicada Innovations - Outstanding Founder Award.
As the Executive Director of Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Dr Hussain Nadim provides policy advisory to the Government of Pakistan on matters of security and peace. He received an Outstanding Service Award from the Government of Pakistan in 2015 and was recognised as a global leader in the 2016 Forbes Magazine ‘30 Under 30’. During his scholarship-funded PhD in government and international relations at the University of Sydney, he advised the Australian Federal Police and other governing bodies on how to tackle extremism.
Explore the annual Alumni Awards, featuring six Graduate Medals and six Alumni Awards.