Alumni Focus
A new era
Enrolling in a higher degree, you anticipate it will have a positive effect on your life. But for Gunjan Pradhan, who had always dreamed of studying in Australia, her MBA (2013) from MQ set off a chain of events that have not just landed her the position of Director Payments at Netflix India and South Asia, she’s now at the forefront of fintech innovation in the region – one of the fastest...
The grand plan
When Dr Prashan Karunaratne commemorated 25 years in Australia with a LinkedIn post, sharing his journey from Sri Lanka to Australia and his gratitude for the role MQ has played in his life here, he couldn’t have anticipated the overwhelming response it would receive. Still, it reflects the warm regard he is held in within the MQ community, and his story highlights how his experience has inf...
Finding your true north
When you speak with MQ Bachelor of Psychology graduate James Pham, you can tell he’s really listening. His natural empathy and desire to understand people have not only been enhanced by his studies and honed as a Telephone Crisis Counsellor at Lifeline, but the skills he has gained from placements at Sport Scholars and Career Advantage, while undertaking a Masters in Organisation Psychology,...
A whale of a time
As a young girl growing up on a farm outside Canberra, with family trips to the South Coast her only connection to the sea, Dr Vanessa Pirotta dreamed of one day working with whales. A Masters and PhD in Biological Science from Macquarie University later, marine biologist Dr Pirotta has well and truly exceeded her childhood ambitions. Still, at the heart of her research, her pursuit of innovativ...
Third-culture kid
Who is Andrew Nip? It’s a good question, and one he’s spent a long time trying to understand. Having spent his formative years between Hong Kong and Australia, Andrew says he identifies as both Chinese and Australian. After completing a combined Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) and Bachelor of Human Resource Management at MQ, he moved to Shanghai, where he is thriving in what he calls the middle ...
Citizen of the world
Wasin Praditsilp graduated from MQ in 2019 with a PhD in International Communication. But that doesn’t begin to cover his research into soft power and how a country like Thailand can harness its gentler attributes when influencing other nations, or how Wasin’s decision to enrol at MQ would be a driving factor in connecting Thais studying in Australia … Speaking with MQ alu...