News Archive

Earlier this year, the Office of Development and Alumni Relations devoted part of its annual alumni appeal to raise funds for several Science Futures Foundation projects.

The result? Alumni pledged some $267,000 to enhance scientific research and the student experience at UWA. The projects to benefit include the Scholarship fund, supporting our Rising Stars, Unigym, and the Travelling Scientist program.

As part of the campaign, students – primarily from the science faculties – contacted Alumni and explained our recent research developments and academic successes, and the university’s future direction as it heads toward its centenary celebrations.

To get a better understanding of specific needs, the students received visits at the call centre from guest speakers such as Lyn Beazley, Chief Scientist for West Australia.

They also visited research areas such as Unigym, where Director Kerry Smith outlined her 25-year involvement with the program, first as a volunteer and then as coordinator.

Kerry, who received the 2010 Chancellors Medal for her work, is passionate about helping children with a disease or disorder that seriously impedes their movements.

“I know first hand what Unigym can do to help children with mobility problems – my child was one of the first in the program,” Kerry told the students.

Kerry spoke of her desire to fund a metabolic cart and specialty treadmill. “At the moment we share adult-size equipment with sports science,” she said.

“This limits both the amount of research we can do and the number of children we can take into the program.”
Kerry also highlighted the problems associated with trying to adapt the equipment to small children.

Her message obviously got through – the students raised nearly $40,000 in pledges which will buy the treadmill and put a healthy deposit on the metabolic cart.

The Science Futures Foundation was established to raise awareness of the important role science and innovation plays in Australia’s economic and social growth, and to raise funds to enable us to create a real difference in areas where UWA has established major breakthroughs.

As we say, our role is to give Extraordinary People – Amazing Futures.