UQ Vice Chancellor Peter Høj congratulates Information Technology Services Network Operations and Incident Response Manager Chris Teakle for his 25-year service at the University.
UQ Vice Chancellor Peter Høj congratulates Information Technology Services Network Operations and Incident Response Manager Chris Teakle for his 25-year service at the University.
2 November 2012

Staff who began work at UQ 25 years ago - about the same time as email arrived on campus - were honoured for their long service last month.

Chancellor John Story presented awards to staff at the 25 Year Service Award Ceremony at the BEL Faculty Rooftop Terrace on October 18.

Vice-Chancellor Peter Høj expressed appreciation and said long-serving staff had reserves of knowledge and experience that could not be easily replicated but were likely to be complemented by those brought in by new recruits.

“Being a new member of UQ staff, it is heartening to find that the University has given people opportunities to develop and be satisfied in their careers for such an extended time,” he said.

Information Technology Services Network Operations and Incident Response Manager Chris Teakle, who was one of the long-serving staff recognised, said when he began in 1987, the concept of email was just being introduced to some staff.

“Email was unknown outside computing departments. Where it existed it was only for internal communication between users on one computer system,” he said.

“Within computing departments, only a few staff had PCs and most had terminals with serial connections to mainframes or minicomputers.

“IP networking was almost unheard of and there was no Internet connection to UQ.”

Mr Teakle said being involved in the remarkable advances in IT at UQ had been a source of excitement and enjoyment during his time.

Daniel Schwartz, technical officer at Central Glasshouse Services said the 2011 floods were the biggest event he had experienced in his 25-year service at the University, and he recalls when the waters threatened to destroy projects some of which had been on going for years.

“The day the floods hit, we hung around for a few hours to save some of the experiments,” Mr Schwartz said.

“Later, when we were able to return, I managed to salvage my identification cards and money from the ruined wallet.”

Mr Schwartz said the main enjoyment he gained from his work, was the chance to develop more knowledge of plants and trees and to be a part of a talented team.

Safety Manager of the School of Biomedical Sciences, Robyn Oram said she appreciated the backing of senior management when implementing change in the workplace over the years.

She said flexible working hours and an on-campus childcare centre had allowed her to continue work at UQ while being a mother to two children.

Recipients of the 2012 Staff Service Awards are:

Miss Lien Banh Scientific Officer, Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Sciences
Mr David Cassin Finance Officer, Information Technology Services
Mrs Jill Findlay Technician, School of Biomedical Sciences
Miss Faye Hamilton Receiving and Reporting Manager, Faculty of Science
Mr Daniel Schwartz Technical Officer, Central Glasshouse Services, Faculty of Science
Mr Mark Smith School Manager, School of Dentistry
Mr Christopher Teakle Manager, Network Operations and Incident Response, Information Technology Services
Mr Danny Thomas Specialist Systems Programmer, Information Technology Services
Mr Graham Webber Multimedia Officer, School of Medicine
Mrs Helen Wong Dental Radiographer, School of Dentistry
Mr Ross Alexander Bourne Technical Officer, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences
Mrs Maureen Freer Cleaner, Property and Facilities – Cleaning Area 1
Ms Barbara Flynn Team Leader, Enrolments and postgraduate Coursework, School of Medicine
Mrs Robyn Oram Safety/Biosafety Manager, School of Biomedical Sciences
Mr Fraser Reid Senior Laboratory Manager, School of Civil Engineering
Mr Allan Wright Information Technology Assistant, Property and Facilities – Administration and IT
Mr Salvatore Zammit Technical Officer, Science IT