NSW Pearcey Award Goes to Fibre Optics Specialist
Thursday 16 November 2000 - A fibre optics components specialist has won the NSW Pearcey Award in IT for 2000, which was announced in Sydney last night by NSW Minister for Information Technology and Western Sydney, Kim Yeadon.
An initiative of the Pearcey Foundation, which was established to honour the memory and work of Trevor Pearcey and other IT pioneers, the 2000 State Pearcey Award seeks to recognise an individual's innovative and pioneering achievement and contribution to research in IT.
The award is jointly sponsored by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) , AIIA and the NSW Government Office of IT, and was presented at NSW Branch Annual Conference Dinner, which was held in conjunction with the Advancing Information Technology in Western Sydney Industry conference.
In accepting the award, 25 year old Clinton Paddison said the recognition by his professional colleagues encouraged him to try and emulate the example of technology pioneer, Trevor Pearcey, who designed CSIRAC, Australia's first working computer.
"This award gives me the motivation to try and optimise what Trevor Pearcey basically did a few decades ago in helping to develop a technology industry in Australia. I think it's wonderful that the Pearcey Foundation is recognising the efforts of young Australians who have made technological contributions to Australia," he said.
The 25-year old optoelectronics engineer, a graduate of Macquarie University, is employed as Product Implementation Manager with JDS Uniphase, a fibre optics components manufacturer which produces optical fibre filters for network installations.
Chairman of the Pearcey Foundation, Ian Dennis, said Mr Paddison was a worthy winner who had developed a significant level of competence in his professional field.
"Clinton is a very impressive young man who has established strong credentials in the area of fibre optics, an industry which is the basis of major technological advances due to the convergence between computing and telecommunications.
"He was nominated by his Managing Director as someone who has made and is making a major contribution towards establishing Australia as a centre of excellence in this highly advanced technology," he said.
Mr Paddison was chosen from an impressive list of nominees by an expert panel which included ACS representative Richard Bridge.
"We were delighted with the calibre of people who were nominated for this year's award," said Mr Bridge.
"It's exciting to see how much young talent there is in the industry and to know that many of our young professionals are leading the world in their chosen field of expertise," he said.
This media release is available on the ACS Web site at http://www.acs.org.au/news/16a1100.htm
ENDS
The Australian Computer Society is the recognised association for information
technology (IT) professionals, attracting a large and active membership from
all levels of the IT industry and providing a wide range of services to its
members. It is the public voice of the IT profession, the guardian of professional
ethics and standards in the IT industry, with a commitment to the wider community
to ensure the beneficial use of IT. See the ACS
Home Page for more information.
Media Enquiries:
John Ridge, ACS President, el: (02) 9223 9499 or (0407) 913 992, Email: jridge@mra.com.au
Caroline New, Caroline New PR, Tel: (02) 9980 8060 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@acslink.net.au
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