More than 4,400 students are set to celebrate the completion of their Deakin University studies in a series of graduation ceremonies over the next two weeks, marking the University's largest ever graduating class.
Joined by Deakin faculty, council members, friends and family, the graduands will don their ceremonial robes to receive their degrees across 14 different ceremonies at Geelong Waterfront Campus from 13 to 22 February. This will be followed by a 15th ceremony in Warrnambool on 14 March.
The record-setting graduating class is composed of students from all of Deakin's faculties and institutes, from medicine, engineering and teaching to creative arts, law and many more disciplines.
Deakin University 2024 Round One Graduation in numbers
- 4,400+ students attending a graduation ceremony
- 2,788 students graduating in absentia
- 7000+ total students graduating across February and March
- 10,500+ friends and family members expected
- 15,000+ people attending Waterfront campus, many for the first time
- 10,000+ Deakin cupcakes served
Deakin Vice-Chancellor Professor Iain Martin said the University's Geelong graduation ceremonies are among the most important events on the Deakin calendar.
'These celebrations are a significant milestone for our university and our graduating students. It represents the culmination of years of academic pursuit, personal growth, and perseverance,' Professor Martin said.
'I extend my heartfelt congratulations to each graduate and commend them for their resilience, determination, and commitment to excellence. As they transition from students to alumni, I am confident that they will continue to make meaningful contributions to their communities and beyond.'
Each graduation ceremony will feature a student address, as well as a special guest speaker. Notable presenters for this graduation round include CEO of the Geelong Cats Steve Hocking and Geelong Mayor Councillor Trent Sullivan.
Deakin Honorary Doctorates will also be conferred to three distinguished members of the Deakin community:
- Former Police Minister and Bellarine MP Lisa Neville, for eminent public leadership.
- Mabo counsel Dr Bryan Keon-Cohen AM KC for distinguished service to Australian society and the law.
- Founder President of Centurion University of Technology and Management in India Professor Mukti Kanta Mishra for outstanding achievements in education, skill development and social entrepreneurship, and his contribution to Deakin University’s partnership initiatives in India.
Deakin graduates enabling a sustainable world
New graduate Dr Ben Newman is somewhat of a black sheep in his Geelong family. His parents and three sisters all work in healthcare, but Ben decided to become a different kind of doctor.
Ben graduated this week with a PhD in chemistry from Deakin's Institute of Frontier Materials (IFM), researching ways to improve the fibres obtained through the recycling of carbon composites used in wind turbine blades and aeroplanes.
As a high school student at St Joseph's in Newtown, Ben originally thought about pursuing a medical career, given his family history.
But by year 12 the subject he liked best, and was best at, was chemistry.
'What I love about chemistry is that it's a discipline where the theoretical meets the practical,' Ben said.
'It's like playing with atomic Lego.'
After an undergraduate degree in science at Deakin, and then honours, Ben started an industry-based PhD placement at IFM working with carbon fibre recycling company Gen 2 Carbon.
Ben explored both organic and electrochemical pathways to improve recycled carbon fibres in ways that might make them more appealing for reuse or open more applications for them to be reused in different ways.
'The issue is that not a lot of carbon fibre products currently get recycled. So, you see concerning footage of giant wind turbine blades just getting buried as waste,' he said.
'There's not a huge demand for recycled carbon fibres, what is recycled is typically relegated to second tier products. We want to change that.'
Now Ben is applying the learning he gained during his PhD for another series of industry projects, this time through a postdoctoral fellowship supported by Fortescue Future Industries looking into the development of 'green iron'.
Ben said the industry connection and sustainability goals of his PhD project were huge motivations.
'It was fantastic to be able to build a professional network during my PhD and for my work to have a clear real-world connection and application,' he said.
'It was also very nice that a fundamental goal of the project was waste reduction. That's a good thing to be working on in the 21st century, being part of an overall force for something good in the world.'
