Highest individual award for biomedical champion
Professor Andrew Downing is the recipient of the 2011 Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal, the highest individual award presented by Engineers Australia.
Downing has made major contributions to biomedical engineering as well as the profession in general.
As professor of biomedical engineering at Flinders University he established teaching and research programs in biomedical engineering, particularly in the development of assistive devices for persons with disabilities.
He was a driving force in the establishment of the College of Biomedical Engineers within Engineers Australia and was College chair in 1995-97. He was president of South Australia Division in 2000 and 2001 and national president of Engineers Australia in 2005.
He launched Engineers Australia's Engineering Enterprise Partnerships which contributed to outstanding growth of 50% in industry sponsored professional development programs for 3200 graduate and experienced members.
He is currently chair of the Engineering Education Australia Board.
