David Dewhurst Award
2010 Winner
Professor Alexander John McLean
The Biomedical College Board has awarded Professor Alexander John McLean the 2010 David Dewhurst Award. The David Dewhurst Award is given annually to a professional biomedical engineer who has made a significant contribution to the discipline. The award honors Dr David Dewhurst, one of Australia's first prominent Biomedical Engineers.
Professor Alexander John McLean was awarded the David Dewhurst Award for his outstanding service to biomedical engineering. As the founder and Director of the Centre for Automotive Safety Research, Professor McLean has made an important contribution to road safety in Australia. His research has had a profound influence on the reduction of Australia's road toll through the implementation of road safety policies and programs. Through his research, numerous lives have been saved which is evident through the significant reductions that have occurred in the Australian road toll since his work began.
Previous Winners
- 2009 - Andrew Downing
- 2007 - Geoffrey Wickham
- 2006 - John Symonds
- 2005 - John Southwell
- 2004 - Mark Pearcy
- 2003 - Laurie Knuckey
- 2002 - Barry Seeger
- 2001 - Alex Watson
- 2000 - Klaus Schindhelm
- 1999 - Richard Kirsner
- 1998 - George Kossoff
- 1997 - Peter Farrell
- 1996 - Keith Daniel
The 2009 David Dewhurst Award was presented to Andrew Downing in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the profession of Biomedical Engineering for
- his role as Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Flinders University and subsequently Dean of Engineering, where he was instrumental in establishing and delivering, what is now considered, a pre-eminent teaching program in Biomedical Engineering in Australia;
- his contributions to the community through his passion of applying engineering solutions to enrich the lives of those with disabilities, and empower the elderly in the age of communications and information technology; and
- providing leadership, inspiration, guidance and mentoring to his students and peers, both in the biomedical engineering profession and the community at large.
Geoffrey Wickham was presented with the 2007 David Dewhurst Award for innovation and technical development of implantable cardiac pacing systems that were at the very forefront of biomedical research and development; his role in the formation of Telectronics Pty Ltd and the Nucleus Group of companies - world leaders in the development of implantable medical devices, cardiac monitoring equipment and associated medical devices; and for providing inspiration, guidance and mentoring of his peers involved in cardiac pacing and biomedical research.
In 2006 John Symonds received the David Dewhurst Award. As founding Director of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, John developed a Department which worked closely with his clinical colleagues to integrate biomedical engineering into many of the clinical programs and services offered by the hospital - a model now followed in many hospitals throughout Australia.
John has been a pioneer in the development of aero-medical retrieval systems, developing equipment that has facilitated the safe transport of many thousands of neonates and young children across the vast distances of this country, to healthcare facilities able to provide specialist treatment for the young patient. John's work in this area is recognised both nationally and internationally. In recognition of this, John was made a member of the Engineering Achievers Group of Engineers Australia in 2000. As a founding committee member of the Society for Medical and Biological Engineering (NSW), John worked with the organisation for many years assisting it to grow to the position it holds today as the focus for technical activities for the profession in both city and country NSW.
As an early member, and subsequently Director of the Biomedical Engineering Department of the Alfred Hospital since 1968, when Biomedical Engineering was still in its infancy, John has built a Department which expanded, prospered and enjoyed a professional reputation both in Australia and overseas. In the early years of the profession, John brought knowledge of commercial operations to the biomedical community of Melbourne through his early association with the fledgling medical device industry in Australia, and engendered close co-operation between that industry and the education and healthcare sectors, to the benefit of all.
As a foundation member of the Institution of Biomedical Engineering (Australia), John served for the lifespan of the Institution as Secretary to the Board of the Institution, contributing to the interest in, and growth of membership, by also managing the publication of the Institution Journal. Subsequently John has served on a number of boards and committees of Engineers Australia and the College of Biomedical Engineers representing the profession at both national and state level. John was also instrumental in formation and promotion of the Society for Medical and Biomedical Engineering (Victoria) and acted as Australian Delegate to the IFMBE during those years.
Mark Pearcy was awarded the 2004 David Dewhurst Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the profession of Biomedical Engineering.
The academic engineering quality and clinical relevance of his research has impacted not only on the practice of biomedical engineering but also on the practice of our clinical colleagues. Mark's bi-planar radiographic studies of intervertebral movements have led to definitive measurements which are referred to in all texts on the lumbar spine. His studies into alterations in the mechanics of the spine following degenerative changes in the disc are used by researchers and clinicians alike.
Mark has been recognised internationally for his research with numerous awards and keynote speaker invitations at international conferences. He chaired the biomedical engineering scientific program at the 2003 World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering in Sydney and has served on the editorial boards of several national and international journals. Mark has 130 refereed papers in international biomedical engineering journals and has been a member of the Biomedical College Board.
Since his appointment as Foundation Chair in Medical Engineering at Queensland University of Technology in 1996, Mark has developed a world class undergraduate program. He has supervised successful Masters and PhD students and largely due to his efforts QUT now hosts four major orthopaedic research units in collaboration with three Brisbane hospitals.
As founding Engineer of the Medical Electronics Department at Prince Henry Hospital in 1970, when Biomedical Engineering was still in it's infancy, Lawrie built a Department which expanded, prospered and enjoyed a professional reputation both in Australia and overseas. Lawrie has been a tireless activist at both the national and international level in the development of electrical safety standards to protect both the patient and the clinical user. He has been a member and Chairman of numerous Standards Australia Committees responsible for preparation of product standards, installation requirements and safe practice codes for medical equipment. As Chairman of the International Electrotechnical Commission Sub-committee TC 62A, he has had carriage of the review and implementation of the ‘parent' standard - IEC 60601 - dealing with the safety and essential performance of medical electrical equipment. This forms the basis of over a hundred other standards in this area, and these standards have been adopted by many countries, including Australia, as a basis for harmonization of national requirements.
Barry Seeger was awarded the 2002 David Dewhurst Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the profession of Rehabilitation Engineering:
- As founding Director of the Recency Park Rehabilitation Engineering Centre, Barry established an internationally recognised Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering in Australia.
- His pioneering insight into the application of electronics for assistive technology equipment, in particular augmentative and alternative communication.
- His early involvement in the establishment of the only Australian NATA registered testing laboratory dedicated to the testing of assistive technology equipment.
- His foresight in the initiation of the Australian Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Association, now a major organisation in Australia that provides a forum for issues in rehabilitation and assistive technology.
As founding Director of Biomedical Engineering at the PHH/POW Hospitals Alex developed a Department which worked closely with his clinical colleagues to integrate biomedical engineering into many of the clinical programs and services offered by the hospital group - a model now followed in many hospitals throughout Australia. His pioneering research work led to publication of Electrical Thresholds for Ventricular Fibrillation in Man in 1973 in the Medical Journal of Australia - a defining work which forms the basis of most of the national and international electromedical devices safety standards developed to this day.
His foresight and leadership has seen the development of formal training courses and mentoring programs for biomedical engineers and technicians, not only in Australia, but also overseas in many parts of South East Asia, establishing a well earned reputation for the profession of biomedical engineering in Australia.
Richard Kirsner was awarded the 1999 David Dewhurst Award in recognition of his distinguished career in Biomedical Engineering.
The academic engineering quality and clinical relevance of his research work has not just impacted upon the practice of biomedical engineering but also on the practice of our clinical colleagues. Richard's work in ultrasound evaluation of mitral valve regurgitation has meant interventional evaluation of the problem has become a thing of the past for many patients. Richard has been a tireless activist for both the national and international associations of our profession holding key positions on the Boards of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering, the Australian Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering, the Institution of Biomedical Engineers, and the Society of Medical and Biological Engineering (Victoria).
Professionally Richard has trained, nurtured and mentored more biomedical engineers than anyone else in Australia, with the possible exception of David Dewhurst himself, and is held in high esteem by all who know and have worked with him.
About David Dewhurst
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David John Dewhurst, AM, BA(Hons), MSc, PhD, FIEAust, FIPEMB, was an outstanding teacher, pioneer in the field of biophysics and medical instrumentation, Honorary IFMBE Life Member and former IFMBE President. David was born in 1919 in a country town in Victoria. He intended to follow his father into the ministry, but after serving in a Signals unit during the Second World War, he studied for his Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Electronics. By 1949 he was appointed Lecturer in Physiology at the University of Melbourne. He soon transformed a small electrophysiology laboratory into a renowned centre of medical instrumentation. Of the early years, David would quote Rutherford: "We had no money so we had to think". David's contributions to Biomedical Engineering included design work on: cardiac defibrillators, magnetic resonance imaging, intracellular recording, electromyography, the first cochlear ear implant, standards for medical equipment, computing as a tool for biomedical research and the establishment of a course in Medical Electronics for biological researchers. |
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David was also involved in the fledging International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE), and formation of the Society for Medical and Biological Engineering (SMBE) in NSW and SA, following its inception in Victoria. His interest in improving the status of biomedical engineering in Australia was a major factor in the formation of the IBME (Aust), which later became Engineers Australia's College of Biomedical Engineers.
From 1977 to 1988 he wrote a column for the IFMBE newsletter called "On the Real Axis". The articles ranged widely; observations on the practice of biomedical engineering, its human relationships, and ethics. In1991 the IFMBE published a selection of these very popular articles. David was delighted that some articles were translated into Swedish and published in Medicinsk Teknik.
David's disabled son Peter inspired his strong commitment to the needs of disabled people. This found expression in FRED, an interactive teaching device that gave many severely disabled people a degree of independence and achievement. This work was recognised in 1990 when he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for 'services to biomedical engineering.
