14 April 2010
Going global in a sustainable way
Dr Anita Hill (CSIRO) presents the CNR Rao Award to Blake Plowman.
Dr Bart Follink (CSIRO) and Dr Megan Clark Award recipient, Hailey Reynolds.
RMIT Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Margaret Gardner AO, with Professor CNR Rao and Professor Suresh Bhargava during Professor Rao’s most recent visit.
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PhD student Blake Plowman will be heading to India, courtesy of the inaugural CNR Rao Award for outstanding contribution in materials sciences.
The award was one of many presented as industry and government joined RMIT University’s School of Applied Sciences to celebrate student excellence with a ceremony at Storey Hall.
India’s leading scientist, Professor CNR Rao, FRS, (a former RMIT visiting Fellow) said materials science was an important frontier area of interdisciplinary research.
"I look forward to seeing Blake when he visits my laboratory at the International Centre for Materials Research for a month," Professor Rao said.
Mr Plowman’s award was presented by Dr Anita Hill, CSIRO.
Guest speaker, Dr Bart Follink, Chief, CSIRO Division of Engineering Processing, presented the Dr Megan Clark Excellence Award to Hailey Reynolds for her work in the resources sector.
Dr Follink said: "According to my chief executive, Dr Megan Clark, ‘interdisciplinary research is the key to finding solutions to Australia’s national challenges’.
"We need scientists with a sound knowledge of their given discipline and the vision to develop and deliver new innovations. They come from research institutions such as RMIT’s School of Applied Sciences.
"The School delivers academic programs designed to equip students with an industry-relevant knowledge base, while also encouraging an interdisciplinary approach to stimulate research and innovation," Dr Follink said.
Dean of the School of Applied Sciences, Professor Suresh Bhargava, said the theme of the awards evening was “going global in a sustainable way”.
"We are celebrating the enthusiasm, commitment and sheer hard work of our students. To me, it is the most important day of the year at the School of Applied Sciences, celebrating student academic and research excellence.
"The CNR Rao Award reflects our international standing and comes at a time when we have just signed an agreement for a new RMIT-IICT research centre at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad.
"The Centre will host PhD students working on collaborative projects driven by the needs of ordinary people in India, such as the integration of nano-materials into water pots to purify dirty drinking water.
"I thank our many industry partners for sponsoring research awards, such as Agilent Technologies, Particle and Surface Sciences and Perkin Elmer," Professor Bhargava said.
Awards were presented in categories including physics, OHS, environmental science, chemistry, consumer science, food science, biotechnology and School Research awards.
