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Three graduates of The University of Western Australia are among 26 Australians recognised as Fulbright Scholars in 2011.

Anna Rakoczy, a law firm senior associate, has been named a 2011 Fulbright Western Australia Scholar.  She will use her scholarship to complete a Masters in Law at Berkeley Law School.  Her aim is to make practical recommendations regarding the delivery of the Australian Employment Covenant, a national initiative which plans to place 50,000 Indigenous people into sustainable employment.  Since its launch in 2008, Ms Rakoczy has been working with the AEC as its only lawyer.

"If successful, the AEC has the capacity to break the cycles of unemployment, welfare dependency and disadvantage suffered by many Indigenous Australians," Ms Rakoczy said.

Stephen McAnearney has recently completed Bachelors of Science and Engineering degrees with First Class Honours. He has been named a 2011 Fulbright Postgraduate Scholar and is planning to undertake a PhD in the United States to develop small medically implantable devices for cancer detection and monitoring.

"One of the main challenges in minimising the impact of cancer lies in early detection," Mr McAnearney said.  "A new focus in cancer research has been on the monitoring and detection of tumours through devices small enough to fit into the bore of a biopsy needle."

Gar-Wing Truong is the winner of the 2011 Fulbright Postgraduate Alumni (WG Walker) Scholarship and is the Fulbright Telstra Scholar.  He will further his PhD research in high-sensitivity measurements of gas properties using a novel optical analysis technique based on laser spectrometry at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland, US.

"This research is of particular significance to Australia, if it is to take the lead in global warming abatement policy and research," Mr Truong said.

The prestigious Fulbright program is the largest educational scholarship of its kind, created by US Senator J. William Fulbright and the US Government in 1946.  Aimed at promoting mutual understanding through educational exchange, it operates between the US and 155 countries.

Media references

Ms Rosie Schmedding (Communication Manager  (+61 2)  6260 4460  /  (+61 4) 06 883 669
Australian-American Fulbright Commission)
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716