Playford Trust Scholarships awarded for 2024

Playford Trust Honours Scholarship recipients Ashwin Subramaniam, Vidit Patel, Professor John Williams, Provost, University of Adelaide, Lina Toben-danzer, and Olivia Webb.

The Playford Memorial Trust was established in 1983 to honour the memory of Sir Thomas Playford, the state's longest serving Premier.

Its initial focus was on supporting PhD students studying horticulture and aquaculture but now assists high-achieving students working in areas of strategic importance to the state, including advanced manufacturing and new technologies, water, energy and climate change, agriculture, space and health sciences.

Since 2010, the Playford Memorial Trust has provided $5.7 million in financial support to more than 670 tertiary students.

Playford Trust Rural and Regional STEM Scholarships

Tyson Blaser | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Civil) | Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences. Tyson was the top student in his Stage 2 classes at Loxton High School last year and is now undertaking a double degree in civil engineering and mathematical and computer sciences.

Dylan Gilgen | Bachelor of Science (Advanced) (Honours). A state finalist in the Royal Australian Chemical Institute titration competition while at Loxton High School, Dylan aims to find a research-related role working with genetic cellular processes or marine ecosystems.

Jemima Lloyd | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Civil). Jemima completed year 12 at Faith Lutheran College and gained scientific achievements to her name through the Science Investigation Awards and the Science and Engineering Challenge; she now intends to major in environmental engineering.

Playford Trust / The Andy Thomas Space Foundation Scholarships

Lucas Cockshell | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mechanical) | Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences. A previous Head Prefect of Loxton High School, Lucas intends to major in aerospace and begin a career where he can contribute to the prosperity of Australia's space industry.

Chloe Htun | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mechanical). A first-year university student, Chloe has already completed Engineering Design and Aboriginal Studies in the Flinders University Extension Program and won the University of Adelaide Space Society's Hackathon as the best in space mining in 2023, with her aim to become an astronaut.

Noah McDonald | Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical). Noah plans to major in aerospace and hopes to pursue a career in the design and maintenance of machinery working in defence and space exploration, with companies like Fleet Space Technologies, Boeing and Southern Launch on his radar.

Shrey Patel | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mechanical). Shrey completed year 12 at St Paul's College and received numerous awards for his efforts as well as commendations from NASA's Dr Michael LaPointe following conversations about his Research Project in Antimatter Physics, Aerospace Engineering and Space Science.

Melson Shi | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mechanical) | Bachelor of Science. Melson completed seven Stage 2 SACE subjects, as well as his Research Project last year, instead of the four mandated subjects and finished with a raw ATAR of 99.95.

Playford Trust Honours Scholarships

Vidit Patel | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Software). Vidit will work with defence sector start-up Fivecast to explore the integration of emerging technologies into Open Source Intelligence Systems, focusing on data analysis pertaining to terrorist groups or activities sourced from social media platforms for his Honours project.

Ashwin Subramaniam | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mechanical). Ashwin was awarded the University of Adelaide Summer Research Scholarship in 2023 to critically analyse and develop new numerical methods to solve the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation and will be turning his attention to three possible Honours projects - ultra-fine attitude control for nanosatellites; submersible control systems; or renewable energy for solar cars.

Lina Toben-danzer | Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Advanced) (Geology). During her undergraduate degree Lina majored in geology, ecology and environmental science. Now she is studying the importance of geological characterisation of mine waste as a precursor to reprocessing and recycling, focusing on the mine tailings at Mount Gunson in South Australia.

Olivia Webb | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Environmental) | Bachelor of Science. Olivia received the Executive Deans Award for Academic Excellence during her undergraduate degree at the University of Adelaide in both 2021 and 2022 and hopes to pursue a career that will help sustainability thrive in diverse industries and support the development of sustainability strategies.

Playford Trust / Capral Aluminium Scholarship

Lucia Alvarez | Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) (Honours) | Bachelor of Finance and Banking. Lucia received a Playford Trust Regional Science and Engineering Scholarship to help with her accommodation at St Ann's College when she was just 16. Now in her third year of mechanical engineering, Lucia is majoring in renewable energy while also tackling a finance degree.

Playford Trust / Codan Electronic Engineering or Signal Processing Scholarship

Seung "Michael" Lee | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Electrical and Electronic) | Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences. Seung started his double degree in 2022 and has become deeply interested in signal processing, including completing a university research project in antenna propagation. He has been an active member of the student community, offering subject selection advice and holding tours during Orientation Week. Once he has finished his studies, he hopes to work in the defence sector.

Playford Trust / Coopers Brewery Honours Scholarship

Harley Young | Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Plant Science). Harley transitioned from nursing to pursue agricultural sciences, in part by participating in the University's ThincAg Challenge as well as getting hands-on experience in barley research through the Grains to Glass tour. He will be exploring a unique salinity tolerance mechanism in barley, which enhances drought resilience by enabling sodium accumulation as part of his Honours project.

Playford Trust / SA Power Networks Scholarship

Jude Varghese | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Electrical and Electronic) | Bachelor of Finance and Banking. Jude, who is also an undergraduate electrical engineer at SA Power Networks, is heavily focused on developing his power system modelling skills because he aims to work in network planning.

Playford Trust / Ultra Maritime Scholarship

Sebastian Cox | Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic). Over the past summer, Sebastian collaborated with researchers at the University of Adelaide, the University of Warwick and the Australian Institute of Machine Learning on a research project looking at stochastic resonance, the phenomenon where noise enhances the response of non-linear systems. In his final-year project, Sebastian is collaborating on modifying a terahertz camera for use in digital holographic imaging, which detects and stores the phase of incident THz waves in a way that allows the retrieval of depth information.

Playford Trust / Chartwells / St Ann's College Residential Scholarships

Sophie Glamuzina | Bachelor of Science (Space Science and Astrophysics). Sophie has been awarded a Playford Trust Scholarship for the second time and has been living at St Ann's College since she began her tertiary studies, taking up leadership roles and creating a sense of community at the residential college.

Heath Green | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours). Heath was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome during his year 11 studies in 2021 and decided to repeat for the best chance of success. He graduated last year and was state and national finalist at the University of South Australia's STEM Innovation Experience competition and, at the end of Year 12, was awarded the Australian Defence Forces Long Tan Youth Leadership Award.

Playford Trust / St Ann's Foundation Residential Scholarship

Hayden Schultz | Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mechanical). Towards the end of his time at Clare High School, Hayden decided to pursue an engineering pathway and moved to St Ann's College in 2022. He was elected First Year Representative, bringing student matters the to the College Club and helping organise social events. This year, he's been appointed Senior Academic Tutor and will be collaborating with the Director of Learning to elevate the college's academic support program.

Playford Trust PhD Scholarships

Rebecca Stevens | Doctor of Philosophy (Agriculture). Rebecca completed her undergraduate degree in agricultural science and researched native bees that use bee hotels across the greater Adelaide area for her Honours project. Having been awarded the Peter Waite Medal for the most distinguished academic record in agricultural science, Rebecca will assess management strategies in netted apple orchards which promote functional biodiversity and specifically enhance biological control and pollination for her PhD.