Each year we celebrate the outstanding achievements of our people and partners at the CSIRO Awards. We honour achievements of innovative solutions to industry, society and the environment that are solving our greatest challenges.
In 2021 we recognised the following teams and industry partners.
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The Sir Ian McLennan Impact from Science and Engineering Medal
This award recognises exceptional individuals or research teams who have created value for customers through innovation that delivers impact for Australia.
Awarded to: Dual Purpose Canola Team
For conceiving, developing, and translating the novel and now widely adopted practice of dual-purpose canola for both grain and grazing with profound impact on crop productivity, sustainability, and resilience of mixed farming systems. The team worked with industry partners Grains Research Development Corporation (GRDC), Delta Agribusiness and Kalyx.
[Images on screen demonstrates the Dual Purpose Canola Team’s work in a field of canola crops. This footage is accompanied by female narrator’s voice and soft music playing in the background]
Female video narrator: In Australian cerial dominated farming systems, developing an effective rotation crop that could be grazed by sheep, and then produce a high value oil seed will significantly increase productivity, profitability, flexibility, and resilience of these farms.
The multidisciplinary science team engaged with industry partner, Grains Research and Development Corporation to conceive, develop and translate the dual-purpose canola concept.
Dual-purpose canola has now been adopted on 200,000 hectares of Southern Australian farmland with an estimated $1 billion value to date and a growth rate of 200 million per annum.
[Image changes to navy patterned background, CSIRO logo in top left corner and winner’s name listed in white text: Seminal contributors John Kirkegaard, Susie Sprague, Julianne Lilley, Lindsay Bell, Hugh Dove, Tim Condon (Delta Agribusiness), Peter Hamblin (Kalyx), Peter Brooks (Princess Pastoral Company), Kershaw Family (Iandra Pastoral Estate). Significant contributors: Tony Swan, Melanie Bullock, Scott McDonald, Bruce Isaac, James Cheetham (Delta Agribusiness). Industry partners: Grains Research Development Corporation (GRDC), Delta Agribusiness, Kalyx]
Led by the agriculture and food business unit, the Dual Purpose Canola Team in collaboration with industry are a prime example of profound impact on crop productivity, sustainability, and resilience of mixed farming systems.
Dual Purpose Canola Team, winner of the Sir Ian McLennan Impact from Science and Engineering Medal.
This medal recognises individuals with a record of sustained and meritorious achievements in science, technology, and innovation.
Awarded to the following four recipients:
Surinder Singh, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Surinder Singh
For establishing CSIRO as a world leader in metabolic engineering and developing the next generation of commercial oil crops with triple bottom line impact. Surinder has demonstrated incredible leadership over two decades, both in his field and as an inspiration to others. He has brought people together, pushed the boundaries of science with collaborative innovation, and he has helped to grow the next generation of science leaders.
For leadership in creating new knowledge about the role of the Southern Ocean in regional and global climate, including motivating international collaboration, inspiring early career researchers, and translating knowledge for policymakers. He has led the design, resourcing and implementation of major field programs including 16 research expeditions to the Southern, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Rai Kookana, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rai Kookana
For pioneering new areas of science which provide the foundation for CSIRO’s research platforms on emerging chemicals of concern for environmental protection in Australia and globally. Over 30 years of outstanding research, Rai has established himself as an absolute leader in his field. He has put CSIRO at the forefront of this research and through scientific excellence and incredible dedication, today he is recognised around the world as an authority on organic chemicals.
Cathy joined CSIRO in 1985 as a research scientist, working with our manufacturing teams and following an impressive career journey, ultimately became CSIRO’s Chief Scientist in August 2018. Among her many achievements, her team's breakthrough work in 'SQUID' systems for mineral exploration were commercialised in LANDTEM technology, which has led to mineral discoveries worth more than $6 billion.
As CSIRO’s Chief Scientist, Cathy led the development of a Quantum Technology Roadmap for Australia, the Future Science and Technology for CSIRO, and has always been a high-profile and strong advocate for science. Her scientific excellence and influential leadership have been recognised with numerous awards and fellowships, including a Eureka Prize for the promotion of science and NSW Woman of the Year, culminating in receiving an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2020.
The CSIRO Medal for Diversity and Inclusion
This award recognises an individual who promotes outstanding work in Diversity and Inclusion, either by directly advancing CSIRO’s Diversity and Inclusion objectives, or by demonstrating impact arising from inclusive and diverse teams.
Awarded to: CALD Assist
For the development of the CALD Assist communication app to help patients from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, when interpreters are not available. It is a free app, endorsed by NSW Health, that helps clinical staff to deliver safe, high-quality care to a potentially at-risk and vulnerable population. It has had fantastic results in multiple trials and is an incredibly important tool helping to improve equity and accessibility in healthcare delivery. The team worked with industry partner Western Health.
[Images on screen in the hospital setting demonstrating how the CALD Assist application is used in hospital setting to communicate with patients. The video is narrated by a female speaker while soft music plays in the background]
Female video narrator: Miscommunication in the healthcare setting can have serious impact on patient safety and health outcomes.
This is particularly relevant to Australia's multicultural community, where over seven million people are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, or CALD for short.
In response, CSIRO partnered with Western Health to develop CALD Assist, a free app to improve a clinician's ability to deliver safe, high quality care to potentially at risk and vulnerable populations at times when a translator is not available.
The CALD Assist project team sought expert input from clinicians, interpreters, designers and researchers to ensure clinical and inter-cultural communication relevance and sensitivity, quality, safety, and acceptability by patients.
On completion, CALD Assist contained 200 commonly used phrases, professionally interpreted into 10 languages across seven different disciplines including allied health and COVID-19, with each phrase available in written and audio formats.
[Image changes to galaxy background, CSIRO logo in top left corner and winner’s name listed in white text: Contributors Jill Freyne, David Silvera, Dana Bradford, Karen Harrap, Vanessa Smallbon. Industry partner Western Health]
Over 90 percent of healthcare workers involved in the app's extensive trials indicated that it was useful, with more than 85 percent of patients indicating that the app improved their ability to communicate with clinical staff.
The app is freely available globally, removing financial barriers to use, and is the first patient-facing app endorsed by New South Wales Health, New South Wales multicultural health communication services, and the COVID-19 response team.
CALD Assist winner of the CSIRO Medal for Diversity and Inclusion.
This medal recognises the most outstanding cross-business unit project involving staff members from three or more business units to resolve a significant challenge for CSIRO.
Awarded to: Surgical Mask Testing Team
For establishing Australia’s first NATA-accredited testing facility for single-use surgical masks, working together as a multidisciplinary team, and assisting Australian companies and Governments with this vital facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.
[Images on screen with a female narrator’s voice accompanying the footage explaining what the CSIRO Surgical Mask Testing team did during their process and finishes with a list of project contributors. Soft music plays throughout]
Female video narrator: In 2020, a different kind of crisis emerged. Our frontline workers were running out of surgical face masks. The COVID-19 pandemic had increased demand and disrupted supply chains, with local manufacturers unable to keep up.
At the time, the tests required to ensure the quality of surgical masks met Australian standards could only be done overseas.
This posed a significant health risk to the community, particularly our frontline workers, as the first wave of the pandemic took hold.
In response to the shortage, a multi-disciplinary team formed to provide manufacturers with access to accredited facilities within Australia for medical mask testing, prior to their TGA registration and then sale.
The CSIRO mask testing team designed and built equipment to provide this service from a new facility, before seeking third-party NATA accreditation.
[Image changes to galaxy background, CSIRO logo in top left corner and winner’s name listed in white text: Seminal contributors Louis Kyratzis, Geoff Dumsday, Sue Barrett, Nicholas Ebdon, Jacinta Poole, Heng Taing, Yen Truong, Jurg Schutz, Shaun Smith, Christopher Preston, Peter Haggar, Roshan Dodanwela, Sally Johnson, Greg Blease, Ali Green, Emma Malcolm, Hishani Prabaharan, Jyothi Ramamurthy. Significant contributors Wayne Ganther, Lucy Cotter, Yvonne Douglas, Isabelle Miller, Tony Pierlot, Dung Ngo, Mark Burgess, Damien Hewish, Shane Caulfield, Mark Ridgway, Michael Hayes, Mark Hogan]
The facility has seen 84 manufacturers and distributors rely on their tests and has generated 1.7 million dollars for CSIRO, delivering immediate support to the commonwealth government and PPE manufacturers and importers, the facility provided surety of supply of compliant PPE to healthcare workers and the Australian public.
Surgical Mask Testing Team, winner of the CSIRO Collaboration Medal.
This medal recognises teams or individuals who support, through projects, initiatives or service delivery, the creation of value for our customers through innovation that delivers positive impact for Australia.
Awarded to: Our digital front door: CSIRO.au redevelopment
For redeveloping the CSIRO.au website, improving our customers’ experience and creating a contemporary digital front door for industry, collaborators and the community.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Impact Excellence Medal
This medal recognises achievements of our people in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement, participation, service delivery and research services.
Awarded to: Indigenous Research Group, Australian e-Health Research Centre
For championing the co-design and co-development of potential e-Health solutions as prioritised by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Community Controlled Models of Care.
The Indigenous Research Group are championing innovative health e-Health solutions.
The Chief Executive Team CSIRO Award
This award recognises members of Team CSIRO who not only deliver brilliant solutions and make life better for Australians – but for all of us here at CSIRO.
Awarded to the following recipients:
Sandra Oliver
For her ability to bring teams together across boundaries and business units, collaborating broadly and giving generously with her time and expertise. She has been instrumental in building the trusted relationship that CSIRO shares with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment today, and has taken a leadership role in key activities like COP26.
COVID-19 Situation Management Team and the COVID-19 Business Transition Team
For keeping our people safe by collaborating to bring clarity and reassurance to our people in an environment of volatility, complexity and uncertainty. Thrown into an urgent and ambiguous situation, this team innovated to solve challenges and implement rapid solutions, while considering the diverse circumstances of our people.
The CSIRO HSE Award
This award recognises an innovative solution or contribution made to a difficult health and safety and or environmental challenge.
Awarded to: Concentrated Solar Thermal Engineering Team
For dedication and due diligence to safety, risk assessment and world-first engineering design of a high-temperature sodium test-loop and containment system for next generation concentrated solar thermal plant in partnership with Australian industry that sets CSIRO among the world’s best. The team worked with industry partner VAST Solar.
[Images on screen showing detailed 3D demonstration of the test loop design. It is narrated by a male speaker while soft music plays in the background]
Male video narrator: Sodium metal has thermal conducting properties that make it an ideal coolant for high temperature solar applications.
But, could this reactive metal's thermal heat transfer technology be adapted from other industries to capture heat from the sun and operate at even higher temperatures?
That's what ASTRI wanted to know when they approached the Concentrated Solar Thermal Engineering team with a multi-year, multi-million-dollar project to be demonstrated at the CSIRO Newcastle Energy Centre.
A world-first if successful, the team were tasked with safely operating an industry scale experiment in an R&D environment.
The site alone would require 250 kilograms of sodium metal in stock to support this challenge.
Leveraging the HSE knowledge and networks in CSIRO, industry, and international linkages, the team worked with industry partners to design a solarized sodium test loop around strict environmental and safety principles.
To support these principles, they then developed detailed processes, training, and procedures for storing, handling and solar heating of the most reactive liquid metal chemical under high temperature conditions.
[Image changes to galaxy background, CSIRO logo in top left corner and winner’s name listed in white text: Seminal contributors Wes Stein, Wil Gardner, Renata Payne, Daniel Potter, Jin-Soo Kim, Michael Rae, Mike Collins, David Grillmeier, Scott Morgan, Daniel Maher, Gregory Wilson, Rob McNaughton, Leigh Wardhaugh, Kurt Drewes (VAST Solar), Graeme Arnott (VAST Solar), Claude Reeves (Argonne National Laboratories). Industry partner VAST Solar]
By rising to the challenge, the concentrated solar thermal engineering team's solarized sodium test loop allowed the operation of a next generation concentrated solar thermal plant at 600 degrees centigrade, and a pathway to industry adoption and impact for CSIRO.
Solar Sodium Hazop Team, winner of the CSIRO HSE Award.
The John Philip Award for the Promotion of Excellence in Young Scientists and Engineers
This award provides opportunities for young scientists and engineers to extend their professional development by gaining further career-related training and experience.
Awarded to the following recipients:
Alejandro Vargas Uscategui
For instrumental contributions to cold spray melt-less additive manufacturing from coatings and repair applications to sophisticated, digital methods that create solutions to real-world problems.
Ruhani Singh
For developing a technique to encapsulate vaccines using metal-organic frameworks which enables them to be stored and transported without refrigeration. The work offers an affordable and equitable solution for temperature-dependent vaccines.
The CSIRO Entrepreneurship Award
This award celebrates those who use passion, persistence, and resourcefulness to turn an opportunity into reality.
Awarded to: Conductive Polymers for Aerospace
For developing a unique, large-scale process that produces a high-grade conductive polymer and transferring the technology to local SME Boron Molecular, enabling them to enter Boeing’s global supply chain and creating manufacturing jobs in Australia.
Conductive Polymer Team.
The Chief Executive Professional Development Awards
This award provides opportunities for the people supporting our scientists to extend their professional development by gaining further training and experience related to their careers and work in CSIRO.
Awarded to the following recipients:
Staci Lander, winner of the Chief Executive Professional Development Award.
Staci Lander
For research into practices and procedures across a variety of comparable organisations to understand how to better prepare for, manage during and continuously deliver throughout national disasters and global pandemics.
Kate Wines, winner of the Chief Executive Professional Development Award.
Kate Wines
For significant and ongoing contribution to the development and management of CSIRO’s financial strategy and performance.
The Chair's Medal for Science and Engineering Excellence
This medal is awarded to a team that has made significant scientific, engineering or technological advances that create value for our customers through innovation that delivers positive impact for Australia.
Awarded to: PhotonAssay Team
For breakthrough innovation of photonassay technology delivering rapid, safe and accurate analysis of gold and other precious metals in mining applications and commercialisation for industry deployment through the start-up company, Chrysos. The team worked with industry partner Chrysos Corporation.
[Music plays and an image appears of a machine in operation and the CSIRO logo appears]
[Image changes to show signs on the inside of an office “Chrysos Corporation” and “MinAnalytical” and then the camera zooms in on a computer on a table in the room]
James Tickner: PhotonAssay is a brand-new technology for measuring gold in mineral samples.
[Image changes to show James Tickner talking to the camera and then the image changes to show a machine in operation and text appears: James Tickner, Inventor and Chrysos co-founder]
It uses really high power, high energy x-rays to blast away the sample, activating any gold that might be present and then we can measure a signal that tells us very accurately the concentration of metal.
[Image changes to show James Tickner working on a computer and then the image changes to show James talking to the camera and then James working on the computer again]
The technology has come out of about 15 years’ worth of development work at the CSIRO and that work’s included both basic scientific research, commercialisation and then looking at how we can bring the technology to market.
[Image changes to show a furnace in operation and then the camera zooms in on molten metal being poured into moulds next to the furnace]
Dirk Treasure: The PhotonAssay technology can replace Gold Fire Assay in almost all of its installations.
[Image changes to show Dirk Treasure talking to the camera and text appears: Dirk Treasure, CEO, Chrysos Corporation]
We would like to see the PhotonAssay technology become the main gold analysis technique within Australia and within the gold mining industry around the world.
[Images move through of metal being taken out of the moulds, James working on a computer and a machine with sample pots inside]
Compared to traditional assay methods, PhotonAssay is extremely quick, very accurate and can measure very large samples without destroying them.
[Image changes to show James talking to the camera and the camera zooms in on James’ face]
James Tickner: Once we’ve completed all the research and development on PhotonAssay, then setting up a commercial company was the natural way for us to actually bring this technology to market.
[Image changes to show Dirk talking to the camera]
Dirk Treasure: Chrysos was formed as a collaboration between CSIRO and industry to bring the PhotonAssay technology to market.
[Image changes to show a close-up of a machine in operation]
This first installation is a huge moment for the company.
[Image changes to show a screen displaying diagrams and then the image changes to show sample pots stacked up]
It allows us to showcase the technology to the industry for laboratories and for mining companies alike.
[Image changes to show Dirk talking to the camera and the camera zooms in on Dirk as he talks]
Chrysos’ relationship with MinAnalytical was developed right back when the company was formed back in 2016.
[Image changes to show a cupboard with computer equipment inside and the camera pans up the cupboard to show a touch screen inset in the top and a display screen above]
Ausdrill has been a significant partner to us who’s the owner of the MinAnalytical Laboratory.
[Image changes to show Andrew Broad talking to the camera and text appears: Andrew Broad, COO, Ausdrill Australia]
Andrew Broad: For Ausdrill this is an exciting opportunity to be involved in.
[Image changes to show a view of a machine in operation on a screen]
It provides us a more stable platform for our earnings going forward which enables us to reinvest in the business and to look for how we can apply this technology to the market.
[Image changes to show the Chrysos Corporation sign on the top of a doorway and then the camera zooms downwards to show two males at work inside the room]
Dirk Treasure: In the future we would like to see PhotonAssay deployed directly on to mine sites.
[Image changes to show Dirk talking to the camera and then the image to show a machine in operation and then the image changes back to show Dirk talking to the camera again]
I think that there is a significantly higher benefit to a mine site deployment than for a laboratory, particularly when you can make use of a near real time analysis to improve your process control.
[Image changes to show Andrew talking to the camera]
Andrew Broad: The really exciting thing for us is how Chrysos could change the industry.
[Image changes to show a sample pot being moved along in a machine]
Already we are getting clients talk to us about how they’re going to change their process on site.
[Image changes to show Andrew talking to the camera]
Seeing where that goes is really exciting.
[Music plays and the CSIRO logo and text appears: CSIRO, Australia’s innovation catalyst]
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