Australian Alumni Awards 2009
Congratulations to the Australian Alumni Award Winners!
The Australian Alumni Awards are a new award scheme designed to recognise outstanding talent, achievements and contributions made to Indonesia by Australian alumni living and working in Indonesia today. The Australian Alumni Awards are an initiative of Australian Education International (AEI) at the Australian Embassy in Indonesia.
Australia’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr. Bill Farmer AO, said he was delighted to congratulate the winners. ”It was just fantastic to see so many outstanding alumni celebrating together at the first ever Australian Alumni Awards. The winners and all the finalists in each category have shown great leadership and achieved remarkable things in their respective fields and I am pleased to think their Australian education has contributed to their success.”
AEI is pleased to congratulate the following winners for 2009. The final decision was made by a panel of fellow alumni.
Australian Alumni Award for Entrepreneurship
Mr. Airlangga Hartarto
Mr Hartarto is President Commissioner of PT Fajar Surya Wisesa, a leading publicly listed packaging paper manufacturer with annual revenue of close to US$300 million and over 2,000 employees. He is a well-known figure in the business community and President Commissioner of PT Ciptadana Capital and many other companies involved in manufacturity, banking and property. Mr Hartarto was awarded a Master of Management Technology from the University of Melbourne in 1996 and a Master of Business Administration from Monash University in 1997.
As Chairman of the Environment, Energy, Mineral Resources, Research and Technology Committee, Mr Hartarto contributes to a range of worthwhile economic and democratic developments in Indonesia. He is also a motivational speaker who has presented at various international conferences, including recently at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali in 2007. Mr Hartarto is Deputy Treasurer of Golkar, Secretary-General of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations and President of the Indonesia Institute of Engineers
Australian Alumni Award for Sustainable and Economic Development
Dr. Denny Indrayana
Dr Indrayana has extensive experience contributing towards a better Indonesia through his work in governance, academia and humanitarian activities. Dr Indrayana completed a PhD in Law at the University of Melbourne in 2005 on an Australian Government Scholarship. Whilst completing his doctorate, in January 2005 he established the Committee for Indonesian Tsunami Relief, Brunswick. The Committee drew great support from the Indonesian Muslim Community and raised funds to send to victims in Aceh and North Sumatra.
As a passionate constitutional law scholar, Dr Indrayana has been a high profile advocate against corruption. He has written several books and published widely in academic journal articles on Indonesian Constitutional Reform. Dr Indrayana is a former Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Studies Centre of UGM in Yogyakarta and is currently Special Adviser of the President of the Republic of Indonesia for Legal Affairs.
Australian Alumni Award for Creativity and Design
Ms. Sally Koeswanto
Sally Koeswanto’s flair for fashion has placed her on the cutting edge of Indonesian fashion as a national style icon. Her unique and expressive collections are internationally recognised and she is known for her creative outlook and daring and exotic designs. Ms Koeswanto graduated from The Whitehouse School of Design in Sydney in 1994. During that time, she was a finalist in the Cotton Foundation Awards, as well as selected to represent Australia in the Smirnoff Fashion Awards.
After opening her own studio at Darmawangsa Square and hosting numerous successful solo fashion shows. Ms Koeswanto launched her third clothing line ‘SKIN’ in 2008. ‘SKIN’ is a range of elegant, beautiful evening gowns. Ms Koeswanto was voted nationally by Nokia as one of the 12 “inspiring people” and was awarded Favourite Designer by DEWI Magazine in 2004. Her clothes are worn regularly by many well-known public figures in Jakarta and her latest fashion show was a huge success. Ms Koeswanto has made a profound impact on the fashion community, both in Indonesia and Australia.
Dr Djoko Hartanto
Djoko Hartanto is the founder of Concept Magazine- the leading graphic design magazine in Indonesia. After completing his Advanced Diploma in Graphic Arts at the Billy Blue School of Graphic Arts in Sydney in 1997, Mr Hartanto was awarded his Master of Design from the University of Technology in Sydney in 1999. He spent time working as a freelance graphic designer in Australia before returning to Indonesia in 2001 to work as a Graphic Designer/ Art Director.
In 2003 Djoko and his wife Fifi established Kineto a boutique graphic design company that serves many national and multinational clients. Since its publication in 2004, Concept has become the major creative influential literature for the graphic design industry in Indonesia. In 2008, Djoko also published Babyboss, an urban art and experimental design magazine and ALiA, an Indonesian superhero comic.
Australian Alumni Award for Journalism and Media
Mrs. Ratih Hardjono
Since graduating from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts in 1984, Ms Hardjono has gone on to become one of Indonesia’s leading journalists. She worked as a foreign correspondent for Kompas for 14 years, specialising in political reporting during times of conflict or transition, and while based in Australia, she covered Australian social and political news. Having travelled extensively, Ms Hardjono’s informative and influential writing includes numerous freelance articles and publications and regular contributions for the Nieman Report. She remains the only Indonesian woman to be awarded the prestigious Nieman Fellowship from Harvard University.
While working as Wahid Abdurrahman’s Presidential Secretary in 1999, Ms Hardjono notably set up the first civilian Indonesian presidential office since 1965 and introduced press freedom at the Presidential Palace. She spent time as Programme Coordinator for Information and Publications for the United Nations Development Programme in Indonesia in 2000. Her published works include “White Tribe of Asia” (1993) and the recent book she co-edited for the World Bank and Partnership for Governance Reform entitled “The Poor Speak Up, 17 Stories of Corruption”.
Outstanding Young Australian Alumni Award
Mr Alex Hansel Simanjuntak
After schooling at Carey Baptist Grammar, Mr Simanjuntak was awarded a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in Media and Communication) from Monash University in 2005. After graduating he spent time working in Melbourne, before returning to Jakarta in 2006 to become the first Indonesian editor of Jakarta Java Kini magazine. Long established as Jakarta's city magazine, Jakarta Java Kini highlights the lifestyle and pursuits of expatriates and Indonesians living in Jakarta. Jakarta Java Kini is regarded as Indonesia's leading entertainment, lifestyle and culture magazine.
As the Editor of Jakarta Java Kini, Alex manages the entire editorial team as well as the marketing, promotion and design departments. He has recently transformed the magazine’s format to give it a more modern and refined look and made it more accessible, engaging and exciting to readers. Alex has proven a great source of inspiration for the younger media generation and has made a significant impact on the media and arts industry in a very short time.
Australian Alumni Award for Excellence in Education
Professor Hendra Gunawan
Professor Gunawan has enjoyed a successful career in both research and teaching and has made an impressive contribution to Indonesian national education. He obtained his PhD in Mathematics from the University of New South Wales in 1992 and since then has been a prominent lecturer in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at ITB in Bandung. Professor Gunawan teaches a number of subjects in mathematical analysis, one of the core areas of mathematics. He has published widely in over 30 international journals as well as contributing to many national papers by raising his concerns with national education. In 2000, Professor Gunawan was awarded a Merdeka Fellowship by the Australian Government and he went on to assist the Educational Assessment Centre with the development of quality assurance of national examinations material. He is currently the Head of the Quality Assurance Commission at ITB.
Starting his professorship in 2006 at age 41, Professor Gunawan was recently appointed Secretary of the Council of Professors at ITB. He also finds time to run workshops for school teachers and offers support to many regional universities. He has built up exceptional collaboration not only with Indonesian colleagues, but also with educators in Australia, Japan, Oman, Turkey and the UK.
Professor Edy Tri Baskoro
Professor Baskoro is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Technology of Bandung (ITB) and is currently supervising 11 PhD candidates from Indonesia and Pakistan. He became the youngest head of the Mathematics Department in ITB history and during his tenure received a competitive grant by a joint World Bank and Indonesian Government initiative, which strives to attain international standards in Mathematics. Professor Baskoro has been the leader of the Combinational Mathematics Research Group at ITB since 2006, and was awarded Best Professor by the Ministry of National Education in 2008. Additionally, he was appointed visiting professor at the School of Mathematical Sciences, GC University in Lahore Pakistan from 2006.
Professor Baskoro received an Australian Government Scholarship to study his Master Degree and he obtained his PhD in 1996 from the University of Newcastle. Since that time, he has published widely in many national and international publications and has been a keynote speaker at conferences in Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Pakistan, Slovakia and Australia. His research interests include Graph Theory and Combinatorics, Latin Squares and Coding and Cryptography.
Australian Alumni Award for Research and Innovation
Dr. Ines Atmosukarto
After completing a Bachelor of Science degree with First Class Honours in Biochemistry at the University of Adelaide in 1995, Dr Atmosukarto was awarded a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology by the same institution in 2001. Through her groundbreaking research, she has become an internationally recognised research scientist and her reputation epitomises in many ways the generational change that is taking place between Indonesia and Australia. In Indonesia, Dr Atmosukarto has experience as a Research Scientist at LIPI and as Chief Scientific Officer for PT Indo Pertiwi. In Australia, she has been the Chief-Scientific Officer since 2007, for the Canberra-based biotechnology company Lipotek Pty Ltd, where she is focused on the development of novel vaccine technologies for cancer and infectious diseases.
Dr Atmosukarto has won numerous awards including the UNESCO L’Oreal Fellowship for Young Women in Science in 2004 and the Femina Award, which recognises the top 35 professional women for contribution to their field, in 2007. She has won many competitive grants, is the editor of a life sciences journal on the latest advances in biotechnology research and is currently a Research Fellow at the John Curtin School for Medical Research at the Australian National University.
Australian Alumni Award for Business Leadership
Dr. Muhammad Syafii Antonio
Dr Antonio has demonstrated significant leadership, expertise and commitment to responsible business in his field of Islamic banking, and he continues to play a key role in central Indonesian financial institutions. Dr Antonio has over 17 years of experience in Islamic banking and is a renowned expert on Islamic economics and finance. Dr Antonio was awarded his PhD in Micro Finance from the University of Melbourne in 2004. Recognised for his ability to articulate and advocate, and his expertise in progressing economic prosperity in Indonesia, Dr Antonio is also a well know media commentator and has published numerous articles on Islamic banking.
Currently Dr Antonio is Chairman of Batasa Tazkia Consulting as well as the Board of Commissioner and Shariah Advisor for several Islamic financial institutions. He is also Chairman of the Bina ‘ul Ummah Foundation in Jakarta and Co-Chairman of the ‘Masyarakat Ekonomi Syariah’.
Australian Alumni Award for Culture and Arts
Mrs. Mira Lesmana
Mira Lesmana is an extremely talented and well known member of the arts industry. Together with the production and direction of numerous works, her popular films Petualangan Sherina, Ada Apa Dengan Cinta, and the most recent, Laskar Pelangi have established her as one of Indonesia’s most celebrated film producers.
In 2002, Mira was awarded the Citra Trophy (Indonesian National Film Award) for excellence in film direction. After graduating from the Australian International Independent School in New South Wales in 1985, Mira Lesmana completed her Bachelor of Arts at the Jakarta Institute of the Arts. She went on to establish the renowned film production company Miles Production in 1996, where she is currently director and producer. Ms Lesmana is also a teacher of Film Production at the Jakarta Institute of the Arts.