Engineers in the running for science awards Tuesday, 26 July 2016

An academic working at the intersection of engineering and medicine is one of a number of engineers nominated for the WA Premier’s Science Awards.

Professor David Sampson is Director of the Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis and Head of the Optical+Biomedical Engineering Laboratory at the University of Western Australia.

Internationally recognised for his research in biomedical imaging technology, including the award-winning microscope-in-a-needle used to detect cancer cells, Professor Sampson has been nominated for the Scientist of the Year where he is up against medical researcher Professor Carol Bower, conservationst Professor Kingsley Dixon; and geoscientist Professor Zheng-Xiang Li.

In the early career scientist category, three engineers are in the running.

Dr Kaiming Bi from Curtin University is a specialist in earthquake engineering and structural dynamics. He is the first researcher who has systematically investigated the influence of local soil conditions on earthquake ground motion.

Dr Jun Li, also from Curtin, is developing next-generation diagnostic technologies for monitoring the condition of civil infrastructure such as bridges, buildings and offshore structures.

Dr Scott Draper from UWA is known internationally for his research in offshore fluid mechanics.  He has developed models to optimise the configuration of offshore wind and tidal turbines for renewable energy, predict seabed scour and estimate the stability of offshore structures in extreme wave conditions.

Premier Colin Barnett congratulated all the finalists and said science and engineering was the key to broadening Western Australia's economy.

"These finalists have all played a part in developing the State's scientific capacity," he said.

"Their achievements include influencing public health policy, making breakthroughs in conservation science, progressing our understanding of the earth's history and improving the safety of the State's bridges and other infrastructure."

The awards were established in 2002 to honour the outstanding achievements of WA’s science and innovation community. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday 18 August, during National Science Week.

[Professor Sampson's microscope in a needle. Image: UWA]