Matt claims top CQUni honours

CQUniversity student Matt Thompson will receive two special acknowledgements when he graduates with honours.

Allan Reinikka

A PASSION for understanding how things work through physics will see Matt Thompson awarded a special medal today when he graduates his honours degree.

Matt will receive CQUniversity's University Medal and the Chancellor Stan Jones Scholarship as he celebrates the completion of his Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Applied Physics) First Class.

He will join about 230 graduates at the Rockhampton Campus graduation ceremony from 2pm at the CQ Community Sports Centre, Rockhampton.

Such is his love for physics that he is arranging to become a PhD candidate, thus signing up for three or four extra years of intense work.

"I've been interested since high school," Matt said.

Matt's honours project examined the corrosion of steel in the alumina industry.

"It's an interesting area," he said.

For his PhD project, Matt plans to examine structures of materials, with a potential focus on new materials for solar panels or damage to metals at high temperatures.

During his degree, Matt was able to experience an industry placement with CSIRO Livestock Industries; programming to interpret GPS data.

Last year, Matt earned a $5000 scholarship from the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering. It was one of only 10 honours scholarships awarded by AINSE in 2011 based on academic excellence.

This support enabled him to access national physics laboratories, furthering his understanding of the corrosion of mild steel in heat exchanger tubes in the digestion phase of alumina production.

Meanwhile, PhD graduate Jesmin Nahar has completed a thesis on computational intelligence for the diagnosis of cancer and heart diseases.

PhD graduate Mohammad Mazid's thesis was on Intrusion Detection Using Machine Learning.

Other awards to be presented include the Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Learning and Teaching (to Michael O'Malley and Assoc Prof Peter Reaburn); the VC's Award for Emerging Researchers (to Dr Mitch Duncan); and the VC's Award for Excellence in Research Higher Degree Supervision (to Prof Brenda Happell).

Graduation

• What: CQUniversity graduation ceremony
• Time: 2pm today
• Where: CQ Community Sports Centre on Rockhampton Campus