UTS Alumni

UTS Faculty of Design and Society alumni are making their mark at the Sydney Film Festival 🎬
From directing to leading industry conversations, our alumni are contributing to the evolving screen landscape in meaningful ways:

'Boss Cat' film - https://www.sff.org.au/program/event/boss-cat/
Genevieve Clay-Smith, Director (screening 7 & 8 June)

Microwave Festival - https://www.sff.org.au/program/microwave/
• Jason De Santolo – Creative Screen Through a First Nation Lens
• Andrew Pippos – Creative Practice Pedagogy
• Alex Munt – Microbudget Now!
(sessions on 4 & 6 June)

Across storytelling, education and creative innovation, these alumni are helping shape the future of film - both on screen and behind the scenes.👏

and Emeritus Professor David Eager has had an extraordinary career as one of Australia's leading playground engineers🛝 After graduating from UTS: University of Technology Sydney, David’s career has been anchored in his belief in the importance of risk-taking. For over 30 years, he's helped thousands of kids become more resilient and physically capable by engaging with play-based risk, while inspiring students as a professor at UTS.

Now, David is helping pave the way for the next generation through a generous gift 🌟 The Professor David Eager Medal celebrates outstanding academic achievement in mechanical and mechatronic engineering. Each year, one undergraduate student will be awarded the medal, recognising perseverance, ambition and the courage to step beyond their comfort zone.

'The medal is an incentive for students to strive to achieve. Competition is good. Some people say we shouldn’t push our kids too much, but you don’t grow unless you take a risk and move outside your comfort zone.' - Professor David Eager

With his gift, David has joined an inspiring UTS Alumni community whose generosity is helping open doors to opportunity and make a real difference for students, both now and into the future.

Read more: https://www.uts.edu.au/news/2026/03/paying-forward-giving-back?utm_source=social&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=May-news-stewardship-donor-impact-report-launch-alumni--&utm_content=post-

UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT

'My experience at UTS gave me a really interesting perspective...'

⚖️ Eastman AM SC is one of Australia’s most distinguished human rights lawyers and a trailblazer in the legal profession. With a career spanning over three decades, she has consistently championed justice, , and access to the law for society’s most vulnerable. From representing victim-survivors of sexual harassment and sexual violence to advocating for children with disability seeking access to , her legal work has had transformative impact both nationally and globally.

⚖️ A graduate of UTS with a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (1991) and a Master of Laws (1997), Kate has remained closely connected to the university through mentoring and teaching (between 1995 – 2010). Her leadership in reforming the gender pay gap at the Bar and her role in shaping equitable briefing policies have opened doors for women and diverse practitioners across the legal profession.

Kate Eastman AM SC received the Faculty of Law Award, to watch the full video click the link 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ_zpQ_kFH4

UTS Faculty of Law

REMINDER: The UTS Alumni Awards are back in 2026 and nominations are now OPEN!

Here is your chance to celebrate our extraordinary graduates in our refreshed suite of UTS Alumni Awards for 2026.

View award categories, general award information and nominate via our website.

Nominate now: https://www.uts.edu.au/for-students/alumni/alumni-awards?utm_source=social&utm_medium=linkedin&utm_campaign=2026-04-20-comms-engagement-alumni-award-ctn-alumni-wave-1&utm_content=post-

Southern Australia's Great Southern Reef is a global climate change hotspot - and home to one of the ocean's most extraordinary creatures.

The weedy seadragon is found nowhere else on Earth. But recent environmental disasters off NSW and South Australia have caused mass strandings of thousands of seadragons, threatening their long-term survival.

That's why Seadragon Conservation has been formed - a partnership between UTS Fish Ecology Lab, jeweller and conservationist (and former UTS student) Jordan Askill, and SeaLife Sydney Aquarium - to strengthen research, raise awareness, and fight for this iconic species.

Led by Professor David Booth, preeminent seadragon researcher globally, the initiative spans field research into climate-driven sea warming and kelp loss, public outreach through sculpture and film, and improving captive populations as a safety net for the wild.

The weedy seadragon is now listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List. Seadragon Conservation is leading the charge for its survival.

📸 Weedy Seadragon photography: Alice Wesley-Smith

To read more, click: http://www.fishecologylab.com/

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