From Italian cooking to aged care: Churchill fellows go forth

Dr Victoria Cornell, who completed a PhD investigating 'How does the lived experience of older people influence their preparedness for emergency events?' is now a senior manager at ECH.

Flinders medical biomechanics research fellow Dr Rami Al-Dirini is one of 10 South Australian Churchill Fellowship Award recipients this year.

He joins Flinders graduates Dr Victoria Cornell, Paul Triglau and Ewan Marker on exciting overseas study tours in 2020, with Flinders College of Science and Engineering research fellow Dr Al-Dirini heading to the UK, Italy and US to investigate application of advanced biomechanical modelling and 3D printing for personalised prosthetic design.

Dr Cornell, who completed a PhD at Flinders in 2014, is now Research and Evaluation Manager (Home Share) at leading aged-care services group ECH. With an AV Jennings Churchill Fellowship, she will travel to the US, Germany, Denmark, Japan and Singapore to investigate alternative, affordable models of housing that could help older Australians to age-in-place.

Flinders research fellow Dr Rami Al-Dirini, who graduated from the University of Jordan and UniSA, uses medical and synchrotron imaging to experiment with prostheses performance and to understand injuries common in older people including bone fractures and pressure sores.

Paul Triglau, who completed an education degree at Flinders in 2008, has gone on to an exciting career as lecturer at Regency TAFE. With the Dr Susan Nelle Churchill Fellowship, he also will go to Italy to learn artisan baking and patisserie to establish an Italian-focused course at TAFE SA.

Ewan Marker will head to the UK and Belgium to learn the art of stone letter carving and observe the operation of a commercial stone work studio.

The Winston Churchill Trust this year awarded 115 fellowships to a wide range of visionary young Australians, valued at around $3.4 million, who will collectively expand their research and knowledge in more than 30 countries over 5000 days.

Churchill Trust chief executive Adam Davey says: “Churchill Fellowships recognise people with passion and drive, providing an unrivalled opportunity and freedom for people to experience world’s best practice on issues that matter to Australian communities.”

“Each and every one of the 115 Churchill Fellows will return to Australia armed with the practical knowledge and experience needed to advance their projects and create new opportunities in Australia,” Mr Davey says.

Trischa Baff, Elspeth Grant, Briony O’Shea, Anastasia Read, Jared Thomas and Aaron Tucker are the other SA winners for 2019. The 2020 Churchill Fellowship applications open again on 1 February 2020.

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