Entrepreneur of the Year Gernot Heiser recognised for contribution to Australia’s tech industry Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Pacemakers can be hacked, cars can be hacked and cash machines get hacked… but there is a team at the National Information Communications Technology Research Centre (NICTA) who are researching and building software systems that are provably trustworthy. Their work aims to design software to completely eliminate these types of exploits.

Named Entrepreneur of the Year in the 2014 Sydney Engineering Excellence Awards by Engineers Australia, Sydney Division, Gernot Heiser is leading 80 researchers, engineers and students with the aim of improving the reliability of software systems.

Having had an illustrious career leading and developing operating systems, and with his technology running the security processor in all the recent Apple iPhones, Gernot Heiser is a wealth of information on technology, the future and Australia’s place in it.

Speaking on behalf of the award, Stephen Finlay, General Manager Engineers Australia Sydney Division said, “Gernot was selected as the winner of this award by Engineers Australia Sydney Division because of his dedication to the progression of the industry and enormous contribution both nationally and internationally to the safety of operating systems that our country relies on every day”.

“This award recognises the leading engineers and what they have accomplished for the industry. It is engineers like Gernot that are changing and developing new technology; pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. This type of engineering is the very foundation of what engineers do; developing solutions that enable the progression of our society.

One of the major projects that stood out for Gernot to win this award was the development of the L4 microkernel; the core building block in the design of trustworthy systems and the foundation on which everything else is built.

Having collaborated with Apple, Boeing, Department of Defence Australia, Google, IBM and Intel to name a few, Gernot Heiser is a leader in his field and a deserving recipient of the Engineers Australia Sydney Division Entrepreneur of the Year title.

This article has been posted by Engineers Australia Sydney Division. For enquiries please email EA Sydney.