2024

Dr Jon Whittle has made a distinguished contribution to ICT in Australia as an exceptional researcher and leader. He advocates that software engineers consider the needs of the many people with different aptitudes, experiences and abilities who will use the systems that they build, as well as the many different environments and contexts in which these systems will be used. He is widely acknowledged as an expert in software engineering and a champion of the responsible application of technology from an ethical viewpoint. His many research contributions often apply this lens to look at the emerging technologies within ICT. When Dean of Faculty of IT, this approach advanced research rankings and consolidated the Faculty’s position both in Australia and Internationally. As Executive Director of CSIRO Data61, Jon demonstrated that establishing policies that consider gender balance and diversity can be effective and be a model for innovation and success.

2024

Professor Paul Haskell-Dowland has made a significant contribution to ICT through extensive media engagement that communicates complex cyber security concepts in an accessible and easy to comprehend fashion to many millions of people. His teaching and research are informed through industry engagement that ensures that his media contributions are relevant and prepares students well to be job-ready graduates. His clear communication in varied formats including online and traditional print-based publications, through social media, and by giving interviews on radio and television has led to a large increase in public awareness of cyber security issues. This broad media engagement enables potential students and their influencers to see cyber security as a worthwhile profession that works in the service of the society, individuals, and other stakeholders. He is valued as a cross-disciplinary mentor and colleague and has advanced the profession through service on national and international committees in his area of specialisation.

2024

Dr Wenjie Zhang has made a distinguished contribution to Australian ICT by elevating the profile of Australian research and by her work in the field of data analytics, where she has made foundational contributions and devised many new algorithms. These have been successfully applied to data-driven decision making in underground mining and solar engineering, fraud detection in financial systems, fire resilient infrastructure, SME business succession planning, learning analytics for neurodivergent students and recently, to analysing cellular systems, impacting significantly both their profitability and efficiency. Her research group has been consistently ranked at number 5 in the world. She is widely recognised for her ability to communicate across a wide variety of disciplines, and also her willingness to address audiences of all sizes and interest to explain the applicability of her work. She inspires and nurtures her colleagues to excel in their academic careers and is generous with her time to encourage the young into ICT.

2024

Professor Asif Gill has made a distinguished contribution to ICT in the field of adaptive enterprise architecture and large-scale secure data systems. His research has led to new adaptive enterprise architecture theory, practical frameworks, and innovative solutions being successfully adopted into practice., His work with the RBA has been acclaimed for leading to increased resilience in the banks’ business technology services; a system which manages the payments that keep Australia’s economy moving. Similarly, the complex customer data architecture project which he led for Revenue NSW, is noted as revolutionising efficiency across many parts the operation. As a founder of DigiSAS Lab and FGEA CoP for industry and government, he has enabled integrated teaching-research-engagement that fosters the translation of research into practical applications and at the same time creates and enhances graduate employment opportunities. Professor Gill is a tireless ambassador for the profession willingly travelling the breadth of Australia to give presentations to government, industry and ACS members.

2024

Dr Rachel Cardell-Oliver has made a distinguished contribution to ICT through multi-disciplinary research that uses machine learning with data from smart water meters and sensor networks. She has gone above and beyond the normal research expectations of her position by closely collaborating with the wider research community, public utilities, and government departments to ensure outcomes from her multidisciplinary research are practical, realisable, and of benefit to the community and environment. This collaboration and the subsequent widespread deployment of her data-driven approach has assisted those organisations to make a step change in water and energy conservation and effective public transport networks. Rachel promotes ICT through national roles that assist and advance professional association and cooperation, research, teaching, and advocacy for computer science and information technology. She has driven schemes to promote and mentor women and minorities in computer science, establishing scholarships for refugees, and through many outreach activities.

2024

Professor Ernest Foo has made a distinguished contribution to ICT in Australia by providing innovative pathways for new graduates to gain experience in cyber security pre-employment and by significantly increasing Australia’s cyber security defences. He demonstrated how to bridge the gap between academia and industry, and provided innovative, specialised job-ready training for IT graduates, by leading the establishment and development of the Griffith University Cyber Studio, resulting in practical experience and paid job placements. He established one of the first SCADA security laboratories in Australia, and his research in cyber security, particularly for critical infrastructure and physical systems, has advanced knowledge in the field. Professor Foo's active engagement with the community and professional organisations has raised awareness about the importance of cyber security and positioned him as a leading voice in the field. His extensive mentorship of students and young professionals has also helped nurture the next generation of cyber security experts.

2024

Dr William Yeoh has made a significant contribution to ICT in Australia as an innovative educator, establishing courses and employment opportunities for students in the field of Data Analytics. As a researcher, he has contributed to the development of world-renowned Intelligent Business Analytics applications that have led to significant savings for government and industry. He co-founded the Global Analytics Education Network, a virtual hub facilitating analytics education, and was instrumental in the successful ACS accreditation of Australia’s first Master’s in Business Analytics. He also initiated and led Deakin’s IBM Centre of Excellence in Business Analytics. All these programs fostered student’s abilities and employment opportunities. The global analytics competitions he initiated and organized have provided invaluable opportunities for students to showcase their analytics skills to the industry. His effectiveness as a mentor was demonstrated when his team was named the Worldwide Champions at the IBM Watson Analytics Competition in 2016.

2024

Neil Thelander has made a distinguished contribution to ICT with significant industry volunteer work and mentoring in leadership, project management and governance. He led many successful enterprise-level digital transformations in Health and Higher Education across the public and private sectors, and significant policy and inventive development work at both Federal and Queensland State Government. This resulted in quantifiable improvements in the investment and management of these major projects. He also contributed significantly to regional Queensland through the Queensland Regional Network Organisation. Neil is an evangelist for excellence in IT leadership and governance across the tertiary sector, providing mentoring and a transformational uplift in skills for many future technology leaders. He was instrumental in the creation of the Australian Access Federation which provides federated identity services to all higher education institutions in Australasia and around the World and served as Chair of the Council of Australian University Directors of IT (CAUDIT), and a Board member of the Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet).

2024

Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann has made a distinguished contribution to ICT in the fields of technology, leadership, community engagement, and mentoring. She introduced the concept of the ‘mission critical’ software ecosystem which runs and supports critical infrastructure, and has demonstrated how resilience, reliability and constant availability can be incorporated into this software with examples in aviation, medical systems and during the Brisbane floods of 2011. She was also an early adopter and champion of remote working and flexible employment arrangements, together with proactive support for those who are neurodiverse or disabled. Sarah-Jane is the owner of ATech, an award-winning global technology company, that demonstrates the success of using innovation in software development and cloud hosting. She has shared her experiences as a mentor to many small technology start-up companies that have since flourished, also presenting at numerous conferences and seminars, including National and local ACS events; and co-authoring an Amazon best-selling book on whole-hearted leadership.

2024

Professor Amanda Barnard has made a distinguished contribution to ICT in relation to high performance computing (HPC) infrastructure and its applications to research across a wide range of sciences. She has had pivotal involvement in major national decisions on over $200 million of research infrastructure in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Providing these services to scientific communities has facilitated the work of hundreds of researchers in such areas as the simulation of chemical reactions of protein systems that drive disease. She has also contributed significantly to multiple allocation schemes for computational resources and delivered new research methods to make discoveries that better leverage HPC assets. She has herself conducted pioneering work in data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) in nanotechnology and materials design including vital experimental work leading to the development of protocols and models custom-designed for the particular kinds of data that arise in the physical sciences, shifting beyond computational modelling.

2024

Duncan Roe has made a distinguished contribution to the ICT profession in Australia by freely sharing his acknowledged expertise in the Linux Operating system; the system that runs many of Australia’s servers and smartphones, as well as research supercomputers. He has served this specialised software community for over 40 years via his code contributions and problem-solving abilities in the open-source communities, including Experts Exchange and AskLibreoffice, where he has been ranked at the highest levels. His contribution to the open-source code development community is illustrated by the 19,000 lines of his code available on Github where he is rated as ‘Genius’ for Linux support by the user based ranking system. Duncan also physically volunteers his time as a mentor to Monash University students, a speaker and panellist at Linux conferences, as well as at ACS Branch Forums where he is always welcoming and approachable.

2024

Associate Professor Michael Cowling has made a distinguished contribution to ICT in the fields of technology enhanced learning, and the impact of technology on society. He founded The CREATE Lab, which provides outreach and engagement to educators, students and the general public. Thousands of academics, teachers, and students from kindergarten to doctoral level have learned directly and indirectly from him, through his award-winning workshop series ‘Weaving Technology into the Fabric of the Classroom’ training numerous educators, and his CSIRO-supported ‘Professor Tech’ program engaging students in K-12 schools - all while delivering his mantra of 'pedagogy before technology' and his commitment to technology as a driver to enhance the student educational experience. Michael is an Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion, and a recipient of the Universities Australia AAUT Award for Teaching Excellence (Physical Sciences). He has made numerous contributions to Australian radio and print media on the topics of educational technology and technology ubiquity.

2024

Dr Clarence (Clarrie) Baxter has made a distinguished contribution to ICT with his original research and knowledge in the field of mobile health, using built-in phone sensors for diagnosis and therapy. Clarrie has a passion for leveraging ubiquitous mobile ICT technology of smartphones and wearable devices to realise population and individual health improvements. He has combined his knowledge of clinical respiratory measurement with his computing expertise. This has led to robust and easy to use gamified software that virtualises a novel approach to an established clinical tool for respiratory therapy. His research and app development have the potential to reduce morbidity and mortality, and significantly improve health for many sufferers of respiratory disease worldwide, and also reduce health inequalities in remote and low-income communities and countries, with the reduced cost of using a smartphone applications.

2024

Professor Ryan Ko has made a distinguished contribution to ICT through his influence and development of significant Australian and International Cyber Security standards, and curricula development. He was a principal co-contributor to the development of the Cyber Security Certification Australia standard SMB1001 for small and medium businesses, and also led the development of the global ISO/IEC 21878 standard. He is renowned for his trailblazing approach to the research and teaching of Cyber Security, encompassing multi-disciplinary expertise from computer science, criminology, business management, risk and compliance, policy studies, and psychology. He recognised the need for youths to develop cyber skills through gamification, and in 2022 co-founded the highly successful Oceania and International Cybersecurity Challenges, establishing Australia’s reputation as a leader in Cyber Security innovation. In recognition of his Cyber Security education expertise, he was appointed to Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Australia for accreditations that review computer science, IT and cyber security academic programs in Australia.

2023

Mr Jason Garland has made a distinguished contribution to the ICT industry as a catalyst and long-term advocate for the development of ICT activity and educational opportunities in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast region. He was a founding member of the Sunshine Coast Tech Industry Alliance which works to encourage and support local ICT industries, and is on various other local committees with similar aims . His belief in the value of education and the need to remain abreast of emerging technologies is modelled for the employees of his own company, and led him to establish a certified exam centre in the Sunshine Coast, which is one of only two in Queensland outside Brisbane. This enables regionally based staff from all companies to gain and maintain their industry certifications. He works closely with the University of Sunshine Coast, local TAFE colleges, and ACS to provide career opportunities and pathways for their ICT graduates.

2023

Johnny Smoes has made a distinguished contribution to the ICT industry by initiating a cultural shift towards greater inclusivity and diversity, and by providing small and medium sized businesses with a practical pathway towards this in ‘An Introduction to Diversity and Inclusion and Implementing Diversity and Inclusion – A Reference Guide’. He has provided practical examples of the advantages and innovations that result from embracing diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and volunteers his time as a guest speaker, mentor and advisor on the topic. His belief in the value of education and positive encouragement led him to personally fund awards for Excellence at the University of Melbourne in both Programming and Software and Information Systems Strategy and Governance. He is renowned for his tireless dedication to the advancement of the ICT profession including actively taking ownership and driving the completion of multiple publications and policy submissions for ACS and other organisations.

2023

Peter Maynard has made a distinguished contribution to ICT by developing the first useable, understandable, and non-technical hybrid cyber security framework designed specifically for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), enabling improved security practices among SMBs in Australia at a time when this was a significant national risk. This framework was adopted as the ISO/IEC TS 27110:2021 standard several years later. He co-authored Australia’s first multi-level cyber security Certification process specifically for SMEs, for which the certification is offered online via one of the many innovative companies Peter has founded. He also holds patents and provisional patents in this area. He is an Industry Fellow at the University of Queensland, helping to transition academic research and discovery into usable practice, and provides his expertise as a member of the cyber risk leadership committees for the Australian Computer Society (ACS), Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), and the Tech Council of Australia.

2023

Paul Gampe has made a distinguished contribution to ICT by creating opportunities for employment and skills in the latest high technology hardware and software platforms, and by proving that Australia can be globally competitive in these areas with awareness, education, and support in emerging technologies. He is credited with establishing one of the three non-US based Red Hat Research facilities in Australia and transferring the Internet address registry (APNIC) for the Asia-Pacific region to Brisbane. His work with Standards Australia in establishing the use of ISO/IEC 27001 for data centres in Australia played an important role in the 2020 Covid epidemic, and he has since successfully expanded this work into using software interconnectivity methodologies globally. He has served on boards and committees for the Open-Source Industry Australia, the Linux Foundation, CoderDojo, and the IT/MM advisory board for the University of Queensland, and has played a significant role supporting young entrepreneurs as Chair of the Queensland Pearcey Foundation.

2023

Professor Alan Liew has made a distinguished contribution to ICT by advancing fundamental knowledge in Computer Science, particularly in the field of computer intelligence with pioneering work in novel unsupervised learning that led to a US patent and later adoption by industry. He is recognised worldwide for his academic scholarship but also as a researcher who encourages the best from his colleagues and allows them to develop and shine in their own right. This leadership led to a significant uplift in the ranking of the Computer Science discipline when he was Deputy Head of School (Research) at Griffith University and hence the ability to attract grants and researchers to the discipline. He has not only contributed to the profession as an academic but also as a members of Standards Australia AI committees, by promoting IT to high school students and helping ACS Queensland with its Gold Coast chapter activities.

2023

Geoff Augutis has made a distinguished contribution of ICT via his leadership in volunteering, specifically with his advocacy and practical programs to ensure a high standard of ICT education in schools and his work to ensure that areas in regional Queensland have access to ICT training and technology. His work, both in his professional life and volunteer activities, is credited with making a significant contribution to the growth of the ICT industry in Queensland. He has served on the reference and Advisory Boards of both CQU and QUT universities, as well as for the Queensland government and CSIRO. He is an active volunteer for ACS, serving as Chair for the ACS Bundaberg chapter, and is an accredited columnist on ICT matters for the Bundaberg press. His voluntary work has made possible the donation of over 1000 used computers that are repurposed for those in need in the community.

2023

John O’Callaghan has made a distinguished contribution to ICT in Australia through his very early recognition of the potential of high-performance computing (HPC), in particular for vision and image processing; his collaborative and successful leadership of research teams developing the application of HPC to the areas of remote sensing, mapping and Geographic Information Systems; and his ability and drive that motivated governments, funding agencies and universities to recognise HPC's strategic nature. He played a pivotal role in the establishment, management and success of Australia’s first HPC network which has evolved into the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (APAC) and the National Computer Infrastructure (NCI) and makes HPC facilities available to Australian research organisations. Much of the strategically important success from collaborations between universities, government, researchers and commercial enterprise in HPC is attributed to the foundations created by his work. He has also encouraged young Australians through his support of the Olympiad program.

2023

Marissa Shipley has made a distinguished contribution to ICT as an active trailblazer for the important contributions that neurodiverse people make to the profession. She has demonstrated this with a stellar career in ERP security and governance, a discipline in which she has world renown, but also by publicly sharing her journey to overcome the challenges that she has faced. She has worked with a wide variety of organisations where both her technical and leadership abilities, together with her ability to successfully manage unconscious bias, has allowed her to provide concrete examples to encourage and motivate others, so that they may follow more easily. She is actively involved in a number of industry groups that foster the development and support of women in the ICT industry and Neurodiversity in Technology, including the Girls in Schools Program, Women in Tech, She Leads Tech, Women in IT, and the QUT Mentor initiatives.

2023

Sharon Singh has made a distinguished contribution to ICT through her evidence-driven advocacy, which has led to ground breaking improvements in ICT and STEM education in Australia, and internationally. Her work has been incorporated in the IFIP Zanzibar Declaration, and is found in digital curricula across the world. She discerned the problems in ICT and STEM curricula, particularly for girls, and designed and innovatively tested and proved the suggested improvements. This enabled her to provide data that showed when and how the suggested changes worked. Under her leadership, the ACS ICT Educator’s Committee commissioned the first ever survey of ICT education in Australian schools; work that has provided such valuable data to government, educators and policy makers, that such surveys will continue. Her status as a successful innovator is illustrated in the award-winning STEM Design Centre at St John’s Anglican College, which is a model now used by schools globally.

2023

Dr Vikram Sharma has made a distinguished contribution to Australian ICT both as an outstanding researcher in the evolving field of security defences in a quantum computing environment but also from the notable achievement of commercialising his research such that the IP, associated technology and skilled employment stays in Australia. Dr Sharma is one of the few Australians to have his name on several patents in ICT related subjects and, as a result of his leadership and technical ability, has ensured that his active research into the quantum computing security results in practical and useful implementations. He has contributed significantly to government consultations on cyber security and is a member of the National Quantum Advisory Committee. In academia he has developed partnerships with the Centre for Excellence in Quantum Computing and Communication Technology, the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre, The Australian National University, The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the University of Newcastle and the University of Queensland.

2023

Christopher Jeffery has made a distinguished contribution to ICT in Australia by making it possible for marginalised groups in our society to access and use ICT technology successfully. He has used his skills across ICT hardware and software platforms on a voluntary and pro bono basis to assist a wide variety of such groups, including remote and isolated communities, the Syrian Mosaic Community in Brisbane, menALIVE Ministries, the Invictus Community College that supports disengaged and disadvantaged youth, and a number of Seniors groups. He is particularly recognised for his work in upskilling educators in both the secondary and VET (Vocational Education and Training) sectors enabling them to maintain industry currency and to provide and deliver authentic learning experiences to their students. He is involved in the community as a judge for awards, a member of ACS course accreditation panels, mentoring students, and presenting on ‘staying safe online’.

2023

Dr Maria Milosavljevic has made a distinguished contribution to Australian ICT by revolutionising the way data is aggregated and used in large organisations. Using cutting edge research, she has pioneered the use of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics across applications that range from modelling thermodynamic processes, the one stop services provided to citizens, international money laundering, whole of government cyber security and in the defence department. The information revealed by the techniques that she has made possible has enabled previously unobtainable functionality and outcomes in these application areas. Her ability to innovate and lead has been demonstrated by her appointments as the first Chief Data Officer in two organisations where she has defined the role and built teams able to deliver these often world first applications. Dr Milosavljevic chaired the ACS Cyber Security committee for 5 years and is an Honorary Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Australian National University.

2023

Distinguished Professor Jie Lu has made a hugely significant contribution to Australian ICT by developing Machine Learning and Fuzzy Systems algorithms such that they can be used on the disparate and evolving data that are found in real world applications. Her ground-breaking ‘fuzzy latent feature’ can work out which of several sources of data is the best to use to reach specified outcomes and also react to the changes that often occur in the data over time. This is useful in applications that make predictions based on conflicting and incomplete data sets such as is often found in streamed data. Her methods have been successful commercialised and used in applications ranging from predicting the occupancy of train carriages, business strategy success, telecommunication loads, mortality rates and recently, to analysing genome sequences. Distinguished Professor Jie Lu is renowned for her leadership in research and for her activities as a role model to women in STEM.

2023

Professor Dian Tjondronegoro has made a distinguished contribution to the ICT industry as a recognised expert in transdisciplinary research in artificial intelligence, information systems, and mobile technologies with specialised knowledge in computer vision, multimodal sensors analytics, and eHealth. Hundreds of cancer survivors have used his work on eHealth systems for women's wellness promotion. His AI-enabled mobile apps have improved young people’s mental health and supported children with chronic pain. Dian’s research has led to the design, implementation and comprehensive evaluation and benchmarking of novel image analysis techniques that use cutting-edge AI and machine learning techniques for visual analysis applications across sectors. His work on multichannel content delivery projects has developed new technologies which has transformed and brought competitive advantage to the traditional media industry by tracking and analysing emerging information across digital platforms in real time. Professor Tjondronegoro was a finalist in the ICT Researcher of the Year category in the 2018 ACS Digital Disruptor Awards in recognition of his transformational research outcomes.

2023

Lynn Warneke has made distinguished contributions over three decades of leadership of enterprise ICT transformations and emerging technology innovations in several sectors, and as a role model for women. Lynn led digitisation of the student experience in higher education, including pioneering a digital Centre-of-Excellence and award-winning Smart Campus program. She has been recognised as one of Australia’s most innovative CIOs, for an innovative ways-of-working blueprint and workplace transformation for state government. As a non-executive director of not-for-profit and social enterprises, Lynn applies her deep ICT and transformation expertise, to support governance of cyber and technology risks and the development of new organisational capabilities and solutions essential for success in the digital era. Lynn has made a sustained contribution to technology diversity and inclusion advocacy, and volunteers as a start-up founder mentor, providing expertise to help grow early-stage Australian technology companies.

2023

Johnny Serrano has made a distinguished contribution to the ICT industry as an exceptional leader and a fervent advocate of innovation, diversity and inclusion. Johnny firmly believes that innovation comes out of diversity, and is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, particularly for international students and professionals. As CIO of GroundProbe, he successfully harnessed augmented reality to change the business model of operations and maintenance and solve issues where engineers who were not physically able to visit sites. GroundProbe has been awarded recognition of its successful adoption of this innovation. He has been an active member of the ACS National Diversity and Inclusion Council and has established an internship program with leading universities to create career pathways and provide organisations with access to the best talent. He was awarded the ACS President’s Award in 2021 in acknowledgement of his leadership through the adoption of emerging technologies and promoting a culture of innovation, diversity and inclusion.

2023

Trina Myers has made a distinguished contribution to ICT in the field/s of higher education and research in emerging new technologies. She recognised there was an immense gap in what is now known widely as Work Integrated Learning. She helped to pioneer this important area of higher education and graduate employability movement. Trina has been an active member of numerous working groups that aimed to shape ICT higher education, including the Chief Scientist, Dr. Alan Finkle’s, “closing the gap working group” (2017) and the ACS “CBOK refresh” working groups. Trina has played an integral role on the Australian Council of Deans of ICT (ACDICT) that aims to promote and advance ICT education, research and scholarship on behalf of Australian universities. Her work in longitudinal learning to create design thinking graduates earned her multiple L&T awards nationally and internationally.

2023

Paul Herring has made a distinguished contribution to ICT as an educator, creating pioneering initiatives to take new and innovative digital technologies into the community by engaging with senior school age students and their parents. This work encompassed technological innovation in software and infrastructure. He is recognised for setting up the first internet connections into Queensland schools via satellite and then demonstrating the value of this then new tool, to enhance the curricula. He went on to influence the course structures of senior level digital courses over many decades as a member of the Technologies Learning Area Reference Group and as a Lead Confirmer for the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank Digital Solutions subject. This work emphasised how adopting new technologies can lead to the development of new enterprises and applications. He modelled this by creating an application for school fund raising that was spectacularly successful for the schools that used it.