Michael D'Onofrio

Whether it is leading a diverse team of Engineers Without Borders volunteers into remote indigenous communities to engage in sustainable community development, promoting engineering education in the "QUT Real World Engineering TV Campaign", speaking on behalf of the Australian engineering community at international disaster reconstruction symposiums in China or representing Queensland as a Rhodes Scholarship candidate, Michael D'Onofrio has an internal source of energy that never seems to run out. He has a natural ability to understand the scope of complex, multi-disciplinary concepts and to clearly articulate his ideas across cultural boundaries - making him an extremely valuable member and future leader of the engineering team.

Michael graduated with First Class Honours in both his Bachelor of Engineering and Masters of Project Management at QUT, the latter with a perfect GPA of 7.0. However, as an example of his inspiring persona, Michael simultaneously undertook both degrees full-time in his final year while acting as a university tutor for his fellow final year engineering students, participating in full-time employment at global engineering company, McConnell Dowell, and volunteering extensively with amazing organisations including Engineers Without Borders and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Michael has also undertaken a student exchange to the world-class Politecnico di Milano in Italy and backpacked extensively through South-East Asia, the United Arab Emirates and Europe.

As a graduate engineer, Michael is intimately involved in the planning of transformational, multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects in both Australia and Papua New Guinea and aims to play a vital part in the delivery of these projects in 2010. In support of his professional activities, Michael has recently launched a new volunteer program to trek the 92km Kokoda Trail in August to raise vital funds for the Legacy Foundation and promote a greater cultural understanding of Australia's closest neighbour.