News article written by Corbett Communications. The statements made or opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Engineers Australia.
“Electricity, ICT … are staggering feats of technical and organisational complexity … they prove that human beings are constantly making things that actually work!” is what Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, said at Engineers Australia’s recent Australian Engineering Conference. He also described the meaning of ‘ingeniar’ – engineering in Latin - as “human ingenuity in high concentration”.
Dr Finkel AO FIEAust FTSE, who has an extensive background as an engineer and neuroscientist and is a world leader in the design, development and commercialisation of electronic instrumentation, is the recipient of one of two ITEE-related awards recently bestowed on worthy engineers. He received the M A Sargent Medal, the most prestigious award of the Electrical College Board Awards, in October (the medal is named in honour of Dr Michael (Mike) Anthony Sargent, an outstanding Australian electrical engineer).
And the ITEE College’s Geoff Sizer (pictured), who completes his tenure as Chair at the end of 2016, received a ‘Special Mention’ at the recent Australian Engineering Excellence Awards for the Applied IoT Engineering webinar series.
To enter for a 2017 ITEE award
Entry submissions for the David Robinson Award and the IREE Neville Thiele Award for next year will open in mid-2017. The David Robinson Award is presented in memory of The Institution of Radio and Electronics Engineers (IREE) and named in honour of Australian electronics engineer, Dr David Errol Robinson AM, world-renowned expert on ultrasound and former President of the IREE. The award recognises achievements in information, telecommunications and electronics engineering and enhances the ongoing professional development program of the recipient. The 2017 winner will follow in the footsteps of Dr Derek Rogers who was awarded the honour in 2015.
The Neville Thiele Eminence Award is the most prestigious award of the ITEE College of Engineers Australia. It is presented in memory of the IREE and named in honour of A.N. (Neville) Thiele OAM, another outstanding Australian electronics engineer, former President of the IREE and a world-renowned expert on audio engineering standards and the design of loudspeakers.
The award recognises eminence in information, telecommunications and electronics engineering and will honour an engineer who has made significant contributions to the community and to the art of practice of engineering in the disciplines covered by the ITEE College. In 2015, Matthew James, founder of Distant Curve won this award.
There were three recipients of the John Madsen Medal in 2015 - Peter K.C. Wong FIEAust CPEng, Dr Robert Barr FIEAust CPEng, and Prof Akhtar Kalam FIEAust CPEng NER - for their paper Generation modelling of residential rooftop photovoltaic systems and its applications in practical electricity distribution networks. The John Madsen Medal is awarded for the best paper written by a current member of Engineers Australia and published in The Australian Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
The medal perpetuates the memory of Sir John Madsen who was Foundation Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Sydney from 1920 to 1949. He was one of Australia's great electrical engineers who proposed the founding of a Radio Research Board and a leader in the development of radar in Australia.
For more information on the ITEE awards for 2017 visit the ITEE College section of Engineers Australia website.
Author: Desi Corbett
Image: ITEE College Chair Geoff Sizer with EA National President John McIntosh.