Recent awards

• David Smith appointed to the ARC College of Experts
• Frank Caruso awarded the Le Fèvre Prize
• Frank Caruso appointed to the ARC College of Experts
• Dr Sandra Kentish awarded Universitas 21 Fellowship
• Prof David Solomon elected a Fellow of the Royal Society
• Prof Geoff Stevens elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
• Professor Rod Tucker placed on the ISI Highly Cited Researcher list
• Professor Rao Kotagiri Fellow of The Australian Academy of Science

Professor David Smith appointed to the ARC College of Experts

Professor David Smith of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering has been appointed to the Engineering & Environmental Sciences area in the ARC College of Experts. The College of Experts form discipline-based groups comprising two members in each area of expertise and are responsible for assessing applications for the ARC National Competitive Grants Program.

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Emeritus Professor David Wood awarded Honorary Doctorate from the University of Surrey

Le Fèvre Prize

Professor Frank Caruso from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering is the recipient of the Le Fevre Prize of the Australian Academy of Science. The R.J.W. Le Fèvre Memorial Prize commemorates the work of the late Professor R.J.W. Le Fèvre, FAA, FRS. The purpose of the prize is to recognise outstanding research in chemistry.

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Professor Frank Caruso appointed to the ARC College of Experts

Congratulations to Professor Frank Caruso from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering for being appointed to the ARC College of Experts.  The College of Experts form discipline-based groups comprising two members in each area of expertise and are responsible for assessing applications for the ARC National Competitive Grants Program.

Len Stevens awarded an Order of Australia

Emeritus Professor Len Stevens from the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering has been awarded an Order of Australia, for service to civil engineering, particularly through the theory and practice of structural engineering, and to tertiary education as an educator and administrator.

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New ARC Research Networks awarded to Engineering

The Faculty of Engineering has successfully secured, as lead institution, two ARC Network Grants, bringing approximately $4.2 million of research funding to the Faculty. Engineering secured 2 of the 3 Research Networks awarded to research teams at the University of Melbourne out of a total of 24 awarded nationally. The Faculty will also be a major participant in two other networks based in the Universities of Queensland and Western Sydney.

The Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA), convened by Associate Professor Priyan Mendis from the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering has been established to strengthen Australia's research capacity for protecting critical infrastructure from natural or human-caused disasters, including terrorist acts. This network will receive approximately $1,950,000 over five years.

The ARC Research Network on Intelligent Sensors, Sensor Networks and Information Processing will be based in the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering and convened by Associate Professor Marimuthu Palaniswami. The aim of the network is to take a collaborative research approach to the area of sensor networks to ensure Australia plays a leading role in sensor network development and implementation. The network has been awarded approximately $2,250,000 over five years.

The Dean of Engineering, Professor Jannie Van Deventer congratulates Associate Professors Mendis and Palaniswami, and all those associated with the two bids on their success.

Engineering Celebrates Teaching Excellence

Friday 3rd September

The Dean of Engineering Professor Jannie Van Deventer announced the recipients of the Engineering Teaching Excellence Awards last night at the Faculty's annual Dean's Presentation Ceremony. The Presentation Ceremony is an opportunity for the Faculty to recognise the achievements of its students and its teaching staff. The recipients of the Awards were selected by panel and were each awarded a $10,000 prize to support their research activities. The highest ranked of the three recipients was awarded the Kelvin Medal and a year's membership to the Kelvin Club, courtesy of the Kelvin Club.

The recipients of the 2004 Teaching Excellence Awards are:

• Dr Philip Collier - Department of Geomatics
• Dr Sandra Kentish - Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
• Dr Andrew Ooi - Department of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

Congratulations to Dr Sandra Kentish on being the awarded the Kelvin Medal for 2004.

Dr Sandra Kentish awarded Universitas 21 Fellowship

Sandra Kentish's U21 Fellowship will take her to four U21 institutions that teach chemical engineering undergraduate courses - the Universities of Nottingham, Edinburgh, and Birmingham in the UK, and the National University of Singapore.

Her interests fall in three areas: facilitating undergraduate student exchanges between U21 institutions; studying in depth 'exit transition' - the movement of students from university into their first employment positions; and to present a teaching-related paper at the World Congress of Chemical Engineering in Glasgow in July 2005.

Dr Kentish plans to draw on her U21 Fellowship investigations to publish and distribute course advice for students planning exchanges between the University of Melbourne and the four institutions she visits.

She also sees the experience gained as being useful in advising and mentoring undergraduate students who are planning exchanges and those who come to Melbourne on exchanges.

Previous Awards

Professor David Solomon

The Faculty of Engineering is proud to announce that Professor David Solomon from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). Professor Solomon's election is in recognition of his outstanding contribution to "polymer research and especially for free radical polymerisation studies and mechanistic control which led to novel block, graft and monodispersed polymers".

The Royal Society is the world's oldest scientific academy dedicated to enquiry and discovery. Fellows of the Royal Society are selected from amongst the most eminent scientists of the day and have included the likes of Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. They are elected for their contributions to science, both in fundamental research, and also in leading and directing scientific and technological progress in industry and research establishments.

Professor Solomon is one of only two Australians elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2004. Professor Graeme Clark, also from the University of Melbourne, has been elected as a Fellow for his research resulting in the development of the cochlear implant.

Professor Geoff Stevens

The Faculty of Engineering would like to congratulate Professor Geoff Stevens, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, on being elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. This election is formal recognition of the importance of Professor Stevens research in the areas of separation processes, interfacial phenomena and emulsion stability.

Professor Rod Tucker

Congratulations to Professor Rod Tucker, from the Department of Electrical & Electric Engineering, on being placed on the ISI Highly Cited Researcher list. Individuals placed on the Highly Cited list are the most highly cited within one of 21 categories, and comprise less than one-half of one percent of all publishing researchers, a great accomplishment. Professor Tucker is the only Highly Cited researcher in the Faculty of Engineering and one of only 6 at the University of Melbourne.

Professor Rao Kotagiri > Fellow of The Australian Academy of Science

The Faculty of Engineering has great pleasure in congratulating Professor Rao Kotagiri, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, on his election as a Fellow of The Australian Academy of Science.

The Fellowship of the Academy is made up of approximately 350 of Australia's top scientists, distinguished in the physical and biological sciences and their applications. Each year sixteen scientists, judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field, are elected to Fellowship of the Academy. Election is subject to a searching appraisal of the candidate's published works, including reference to leading scientific researchers around the world.

There are now 6 Engineering academic staff elected to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science and this most recent election is a fitting recognition of Professor Kotagiri's research endeavours.