Winthrop Professor Mark Randolph from The University of Western Australia's Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems has been named Western Australia's Scientist of the Year.
Professor Randolph is a world-leading scientist specialising in developing geotechnical solutions for the offshore oil and gas industry. He has built a world-class research group in WA, attracting industry investment and providing practical solutions to real-world problems.
Premier and Science Minister Colin Barnett made the announcement at the 2013 Western Australian Science Awards presentation evening held last night. He said the awards celebrated the outstanding work of the State's best scientists and science communicators.
"I congratulate all winners and finalists. The projects, in fields ranging from medical research to plant biology and community outreach, are all quite extraordinary and really demonstrate the value of science to the whole community," Mr Barnett said.
"WA provides world-leading opportunities for scientists and the State has developed an international reputation across many science disciplines. This means we attract some of the world's best to our State and retain much of our home-grown intellectual capital."
The Premier also named Associate Professor Shazzad Hossain from the UWA Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems as the Woodside Early Career Scientist of the Year, and UWA PhD candidate Tristan Clemons as ExxonMobil Student Scientist of the Year.
The Science Ambassador of the Year was awarded to Professor Myra Keep from Structural Geology and Tectonics UWA, while the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology at UWA was named the Chevron Science Engagement Initiative of the Year.
Mr Barnett also paid tribute to the tireless work of Chief Scientist Professor Lyn Beazley in her promotion of science and scientists in WA. Professor Beazley was last night inducted into the Western Australian Science Hall of Fame.
For the first time the WA Science Awards have been supported through corporate sponsorship. The Premier thanked Chevron, ExxonMobil and Woodside for their generous contributions to the award prizes.
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