NICTA executives win three prestigious ATSE Clunies Ross Awards

NICTA is proud to announce that three of its senior executives have won prestigious ATSE Clunies Ross Awards. The awards recognise Australia’s visionary scientists and technologists who have successfully bridged the gap between research and the marketplace.

Dr David Skellern, NICTA CEO, was a joint winner with Dr Neil Weste for their work in founding Radiata Communications in 1997. Radiata Inc built wireless LAN chips based on research led by Dr Skellern at Macquarie University, in collaboration with CSIRO. Radiata demonstrated the world’s first IEEE 802.11a chipset in September 2000 and was acquired by Cisco Systems later that year.

Dr John Parker, NICTA Chief Technology Officer, Implant Systems, won for his important contributions to the design of the Cochlear implant, or ‘bionic ear’. He led the R&D team that developed Cochlear’s Nucleus 24 implant system and subsequent systems including the Cochlear ‘Freedom’ system.

Dr Terry Percival, Director of the NICTA Neville Roach Laboratory, shares his ATSE Clunies Ross Award with four fellow team members from the celebrated CSIRO group behind the Wi-Fi wireless communication technology that is now found in laptops and mobile devices around the world.

“This year’s ATSE Clunies Ross Award winners have made significant and positive impacts on the lives of many Australians and our economy through the development and commercialisation of health, communication and industrial innovations,” said Mr Bruce Kean AM FTSE, Chairman of the ATSE Clunies Ross Foundation.

A complete list of ATSE Clunies-Ross winners can be found at www.atse.org.au.

Document(s): NICTA executives win three prestigious ATSE Clunies Ross Awards
Contact: Dorothy Kennedy
Phone: +61 2 9376 2098 or +61 488 229 687
Email: dorothy.kennedy@nicta.com.au