The 2018 Pearcey Medallist, Hall of Fame Inductees and National Entrepreneur of the Year Revealed
Announcement posted by Pearcey Foundation 02 Nov 2018
Melbourne, Australia – 2 November 2018 – The Pearcey Foundation last night presented its 2018 National Awards as part of the ACS Digital Disruptors Awards Gala Dinner.
The prestigious Pearcey Medal, which recognises a distinguished lifetime achievement and contribution to the development and growth of the ICT industry in Australia, was presented to Dr Dennis Cooper by Mr Adrian Turner, CEO, Data61 at CSIRO.
As Chief of Radiophysics at CSIRO, Dr Cooper led the team that developed the 802.11a WLAN (WiFi) technology. The Pearcey Medal has been awarded annually for 21 years. All previous medallists can be found at https://pearcey.org.au/pearcey-medals.
The Story behind the WiFi Patent – Dr Dennis Cooper
Or: How did a small Australian group defy the odds and develop world-beating technology that changed the way we work and play?
Building on a heritage of radio system development in CSIRO Radiophysics, a deep knowledge of radio propagation, signal processing expertise through a long term involvement in radio-astronomy, a knowledge of computer and mobile networking and, very importantly, some astute marketing predicting the future growth of mobile computing, the Division set itself the task of developing a wireless networking system capable of matching the then fastest wired networks, 100 MBps. This “stretch goal” was met largely because of a breadth of experience in Fourier Transform techniques, some pre-existing microcircuit technology and a thorough understanding of multipath radio propagation (dealing with echoes). And, of course, some very smart people!
The ensuing patent was designated by the IEEE Standards Committee as essential to the practical implementation of WiFi. CSIRO agreed to make the technology available on “reasonable and non-discriminatory” terms and so began the saga of patent litigation resulting in considerable returns to CSIRO and Australia.
Pearcey Hall of Fame
Dr Cooper was also inducted into the Pearcey Hall of Fame, and has been joined this year by Professor Robin Stanton and Professor Reg Coutts.
Professor Coutts has had a distinguished business and academic career in telecommunications. He was a member of the NBN Expert Panel involved in planning and scoping the new network, and has worked tirelessly in promoting the ICT sector over many years through both the ACS and the TSA (Telecommunication Society of Australia).
Since joining the Department of Computer Science at ANU in 1972, Professor Stanton has been instrumental in the emergence of computer science and IT as a leading tertiary education discipline. Rising to Head of Department in 1983, he led the creation of an IT degree and nationally recognised software engineering qualifications, and remains active in computer research, education and governance.
The Pearcey Hall of Fame was established in 2004, and is online at https://pearcey.org.au/pearcey-hall-of-fame.
“Each year the Pearcey Foundation elevates three people to the Pearcey Hall of Fame. This results from a secret ballot amongst industry peers and one of the three elevated to the Hall of Fame is selected as the Medallist for the year. There is no winner per se, rather it is an acknowledgement of the three individuals’ contribution to the ICT sector over many years – the best of the best, so to speak,” said Wayne Fitzsimmons, National Chair, Pearcey Foundation.
Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award
The Hon. Philip Dalidakis MP, Victorian Minister for Trade & Investment, Innovation & the Digital Economy, Small Business (in caretaker mode), presented this year’s Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award to Tony Clark from Rising Sun Pictures, chosen from the 2018 State Pearcey Award winners. The national award gives prominence to one of the State Pearcey winners for inspiring leadership, scale, impact, innovation and acclaim on the world stage.
Commenting on Mr Clark’s win, Susan Andrews (SA Chair of the Pearcey Foundation) said, “Tony Clark is an outstanding founder entrepreneur over the past 20 plus years who has taken big commercial risks, contributed to several important global innovations and continued to passionately grow the computer graphics and filmmaking industry in Australia and South Australia - all with outstanding humility, a sense of fairness and commitment to giving back to the community.”
2018 State Pearcey Award Winners
ACT: the 2018 ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Ken Kroeger on 4 September.
NSW: presented to Nick Molnar from Afterpay on 1 November.
QLD: won by Peter Laurie from Junta Pty Ltd on 10 October.
SA: presented to Tony Clark from Rising Sun Pictures on 28 August.
TAS: the 2018 Tasmanian Pearcey Award 2018 was presented to Dr Gary McDarby on 4 October.
VIC: awarded jointly to the co-founders of Rome2rio Bernie Tschirren and Michael Cameron on 28 August.
WA: awarded to Dr Mark Andrich as part of the WAITTA Incite Awards on 15 June.
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About the Pearcey Foundation
The Pearcey Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey. By celebrating the heroes in our industry, past, present and future, the Foundation is looking to attract and encourage young Australians into this most exciting of global high technology sectors of our nation.
Web: www.pearcey.org.au
Twitter: @Pearcey_org #pearceyawards
LinkedIn: Pearcey Foundation #pearceyawards
PEARCEY HALL OF FAME BIOGRAPHIES
Dr Dennis Cooper, 2018 Pearcey Medallist and Pearcey Hall of Fame Inductee
Sydney based Dr Dennis Cooper has worked at the interface of research and application in the fields of radio-physics, telecommunications and IT for almost 50 years. A graduate of the University of Adelaide with a PhD in Electrical Engineering, he joined CSIRO in 1968 to undertake antenna research. Dennis was closely involved in the development of two major breakthroughs at CSIRO Radio Physics namely Interscan a microwave landing system and WiFi.
The WiFi team set themselves the task of developing a system that could match the fastest wired networks. Their breakthrough came as a surprise to international rivals who had tried with less success to solve the same problem
These two important success stories come with an important message.
They remind us that innovation in science and technology is seldom the work of a single individual. It reminds us that many advances build on a body of existing work, painstakingly carried out by teams from a previous generation. They have made possible the next disruptive step.
And, importantly, it reminds us that advances like Interscan and WIFI are achieved through the work of teams. These dedicated groups often involve quite diverse talents and personalities. To succeed they must be collaborative. They must have serious staying power. They face multiple obstacles and frustrations.
Pivotal in this environment is the team leader. Someone like Dennis Cooper. Described as a quiet achiever, Dennis Cooper is said to have ensured the success of others without seeking or securing personal reward or benefit for himself
Emeritus Professor Robin Stanton, Pearcey Hall of Fame Inductee
Professor Robin Stanton is a distinguished academic and researcher in IT. He has been a major contributor to the emergence of the computer science discipline in Australia and to IT governance across the university sector. His background spans industry, R&D centres and universities. He was responsible for education, research and administration IT systems within both institutional (ANU) and national frameworks. Robin joined Univac in 1959, and later joined DEC, Ferranti, and ICT (later ICL).
In November 1972 Robin joined the ANU and was one of the earliest members of its Department of Computer Science. He was Head of Department from 1983 to 1993 where he led the creation of an IT degree and nationally recognised software engineering qualifications. Robin’s work on logic-based reasoning, underpinning expert systems, was successfully applied to DSTO and Barrier Reef planning problems.
Robin was also instrumental in setting up the University-wide Centre for Information Science Research (CISR) in 1988. Links with industry were integral to CISR’s mission. He was Deputy Director of CISR until 1997. Robin played a key role in the development of a collaborative relationship with Fujitsu in computer science and supercomputing applications. This was to play a major long-term role in national projects as well as through research projects within the ANU. At the national level, the relationship underpinned the successful Advanced Computing Systems (ACSys) Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). Robin co-led the CRC proposal and served as Deputy Director from 1993 to 1998. CISR also created productive international supercomputing research collaborations with USA, Japan and UK centres.
The CISR and ACSys initiatives underpinned the establishment of the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (APAC), Australia’s first nationally funded supercomputer research facility with strong links to similar centres internationally.
Robin has taken an active role in the Australian research community, serving on organising committees for national and international conferences and fostering local research communities.
In 1993 Robin became the inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and IT at the ANU.
From 1997 Robin held senior executive positions at ANU carrying responsibility for e-education and e-research portfolios, along with administrative information systems. Many of these systems were developed within the University under Robin’s leadership. He was also responsible for the first unified IP network infrastructure throughout an Australian university. He is acknowledged as the ‘father of supercomputing’ at ANU, which has permeated every aspect of the ANU community.
Robin established national research e-infrastructure programs, serving as a director on several boards as ANU’s representative. He played a leading role in developing a governance model for NICTA, the landmark national information science organisation.
Robin also led ANU initiatives in building national information infrastructure through numerous National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) programs. In particular he led the ANU-CSIRO proposal to establish National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), the successor to APAC, as an embedded organisation at ANU. NCI was formed within a collaboration between ANU and CSIRO, and later included the Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia.
Currently Robin is a Director, and Deputy Chair at the NCI. He also chairs NCI’s Data Committee and continues to work on national strategic objectives in advanced IT. As an ATSE Fellow, he is involved in the Academy’s work on ICT.
Professor Reg Coutts, Pearcey Hall of Fame Inductee
Dr Reg Coutts has had a broad spectrum of experience in the fields of telecommunications and wireless technologies covering fixed line, private and public mobile and internet communications. His contributions have been in the fields of business, academia, regulation, government advice, professional associations and small business, particularly start-ups.
In 1993, Reg was appointed as Professor of Telecommunications at Adelaide University, establishing the department and putting in place ground-breaking relationships with industry through the establishment of CTIN (Centre for Telecommunications Information Networking). This appointment followed his 17 years at Telecom Australia (now Telstra) in its Research Labs (TRL) and National Manager, Strategy and Business Development in the newly formed mobiles business in 1988 at the dawn of network competition in Australia. In this latter role Reg was responsible for the technology strategy, including R&D investment and commercialisation, as well as the regulatory strategy for the business.
Reg has advised governments on telecommunication policy, appeared as an expert witness giving opinion on the technical workings of mobile phone networks, and participated as a technology start-up board member. His various public service roles include his participation in the ACMA as a board member.
He has worked tirelessly in promoting the ICT sector over many years through the ACS and the TSA. Basing himself in Adelaide has not restricted his national advisory roles for government and industry. Reg has spoken out often in typically blunt and honest fashion on the significant national ICT issues of the day. His support for, and participation in, the Expert Panel looking at the planning/scoping of the NBN back in 2007, was a classic example of this.
The prestigious Pearcey Medal, which recognises a distinguished lifetime achievement and contribution to the development and growth of the ICT industry in Australia, was presented to Dr Dennis Cooper by Mr Adrian Turner, CEO, Data61 at CSIRO.
As Chief of Radiophysics at CSIRO, Dr Cooper led the team that developed the 802.11a WLAN (WiFi) technology. The Pearcey Medal has been awarded annually for 21 years. All previous medallists can be found at https://pearcey.org.au/pearcey-medals.
The Story behind the WiFi Patent – Dr Dennis Cooper
Or: How did a small Australian group defy the odds and develop world-beating technology that changed the way we work and play?
Building on a heritage of radio system development in CSIRO Radiophysics, a deep knowledge of radio propagation, signal processing expertise through a long term involvement in radio-astronomy, a knowledge of computer and mobile networking and, very importantly, some astute marketing predicting the future growth of mobile computing, the Division set itself the task of developing a wireless networking system capable of matching the then fastest wired networks, 100 MBps. This “stretch goal” was met largely because of a breadth of experience in Fourier Transform techniques, some pre-existing microcircuit technology and a thorough understanding of multipath radio propagation (dealing with echoes). And, of course, some very smart people!
The ensuing patent was designated by the IEEE Standards Committee as essential to the practical implementation of WiFi. CSIRO agreed to make the technology available on “reasonable and non-discriminatory” terms and so began the saga of patent litigation resulting in considerable returns to CSIRO and Australia.
Pearcey Hall of Fame
Dr Cooper was also inducted into the Pearcey Hall of Fame, and has been joined this year by Professor Robin Stanton and Professor Reg Coutts.
Professor Coutts has had a distinguished business and academic career in telecommunications. He was a member of the NBN Expert Panel involved in planning and scoping the new network, and has worked tirelessly in promoting the ICT sector over many years through both the ACS and the TSA (Telecommunication Society of Australia).
Since joining the Department of Computer Science at ANU in 1972, Professor Stanton has been instrumental in the emergence of computer science and IT as a leading tertiary education discipline. Rising to Head of Department in 1983, he led the creation of an IT degree and nationally recognised software engineering qualifications, and remains active in computer research, education and governance.
The Pearcey Hall of Fame was established in 2004, and is online at https://pearcey.org.au/pearcey-hall-of-fame.
“Each year the Pearcey Foundation elevates three people to the Pearcey Hall of Fame. This results from a secret ballot amongst industry peers and one of the three elevated to the Hall of Fame is selected as the Medallist for the year. There is no winner per se, rather it is an acknowledgement of the three individuals’ contribution to the ICT sector over many years – the best of the best, so to speak,” said Wayne Fitzsimmons, National Chair, Pearcey Foundation.
Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award
The Hon. Philip Dalidakis MP, Victorian Minister for Trade & Investment, Innovation & the Digital Economy, Small Business (in caretaker mode), presented this year’s Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award to Tony Clark from Rising Sun Pictures, chosen from the 2018 State Pearcey Award winners. The national award gives prominence to one of the State Pearcey winners for inspiring leadership, scale, impact, innovation and acclaim on the world stage.
Commenting on Mr Clark’s win, Susan Andrews (SA Chair of the Pearcey Foundation) said, “Tony Clark is an outstanding founder entrepreneur over the past 20 plus years who has taken big commercial risks, contributed to several important global innovations and continued to passionately grow the computer graphics and filmmaking industry in Australia and South Australia - all with outstanding humility, a sense of fairness and commitment to giving back to the community.”
2018 State Pearcey Award Winners
ACT: the 2018 ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Ken Kroeger on 4 September.
NSW: presented to Nick Molnar from Afterpay on 1 November.
QLD: won by Peter Laurie from Junta Pty Ltd on 10 October.
SA: presented to Tony Clark from Rising Sun Pictures on 28 August.
TAS: the 2018 Tasmanian Pearcey Award 2018 was presented to Dr Gary McDarby on 4 October.
VIC: awarded jointly to the co-founders of Rome2rio Bernie Tschirren and Michael Cameron on 28 August.
WA: awarded to Dr Mark Andrich as part of the WAITTA Incite Awards on 15 June.
--
About the Pearcey Foundation
The Pearcey Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey. By celebrating the heroes in our industry, past, present and future, the Foundation is looking to attract and encourage young Australians into this most exciting of global high technology sectors of our nation.
Web: www.pearcey.org.au
Twitter: @Pearcey_org #pearceyawards
LinkedIn: Pearcey Foundation #pearceyawards
PEARCEY HALL OF FAME BIOGRAPHIES
Dr Dennis Cooper, 2018 Pearcey Medallist and Pearcey Hall of Fame Inductee
Sydney based Dr Dennis Cooper has worked at the interface of research and application in the fields of radio-physics, telecommunications and IT for almost 50 years. A graduate of the University of Adelaide with a PhD in Electrical Engineering, he joined CSIRO in 1968 to undertake antenna research. Dennis was closely involved in the development of two major breakthroughs at CSIRO Radio Physics namely Interscan a microwave landing system and WiFi.
The WiFi team set themselves the task of developing a system that could match the fastest wired networks. Their breakthrough came as a surprise to international rivals who had tried with less success to solve the same problem
These two important success stories come with an important message.
They remind us that innovation in science and technology is seldom the work of a single individual. It reminds us that many advances build on a body of existing work, painstakingly carried out by teams from a previous generation. They have made possible the next disruptive step.
And, importantly, it reminds us that advances like Interscan and WIFI are achieved through the work of teams. These dedicated groups often involve quite diverse talents and personalities. To succeed they must be collaborative. They must have serious staying power. They face multiple obstacles and frustrations.
Pivotal in this environment is the team leader. Someone like Dennis Cooper. Described as a quiet achiever, Dennis Cooper is said to have ensured the success of others without seeking or securing personal reward or benefit for himself
Emeritus Professor Robin Stanton, Pearcey Hall of Fame Inductee
Professor Robin Stanton is a distinguished academic and researcher in IT. He has been a major contributor to the emergence of the computer science discipline in Australia and to IT governance across the university sector. His background spans industry, R&D centres and universities. He was responsible for education, research and administration IT systems within both institutional (ANU) and national frameworks. Robin joined Univac in 1959, and later joined DEC, Ferranti, and ICT (later ICL).
In November 1972 Robin joined the ANU and was one of the earliest members of its Department of Computer Science. He was Head of Department from 1983 to 1993 where he led the creation of an IT degree and nationally recognised software engineering qualifications. Robin’s work on logic-based reasoning, underpinning expert systems, was successfully applied to DSTO and Barrier Reef planning problems.
Robin was also instrumental in setting up the University-wide Centre for Information Science Research (CISR) in 1988. Links with industry were integral to CISR’s mission. He was Deputy Director of CISR until 1997. Robin played a key role in the development of a collaborative relationship with Fujitsu in computer science and supercomputing applications. This was to play a major long-term role in national projects as well as through research projects within the ANU. At the national level, the relationship underpinned the successful Advanced Computing Systems (ACSys) Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). Robin co-led the CRC proposal and served as Deputy Director from 1993 to 1998. CISR also created productive international supercomputing research collaborations with USA, Japan and UK centres.
The CISR and ACSys initiatives underpinned the establishment of the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (APAC), Australia’s first nationally funded supercomputer research facility with strong links to similar centres internationally.
Robin has taken an active role in the Australian research community, serving on organising committees for national and international conferences and fostering local research communities.
In 1993 Robin became the inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and IT at the ANU.
From 1997 Robin held senior executive positions at ANU carrying responsibility for e-education and e-research portfolios, along with administrative information systems. Many of these systems were developed within the University under Robin’s leadership. He was also responsible for the first unified IP network infrastructure throughout an Australian university. He is acknowledged as the ‘father of supercomputing’ at ANU, which has permeated every aspect of the ANU community.
Robin established national research e-infrastructure programs, serving as a director on several boards as ANU’s representative. He played a leading role in developing a governance model for NICTA, the landmark national information science organisation.
Robin also led ANU initiatives in building national information infrastructure through numerous National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) programs. In particular he led the ANU-CSIRO proposal to establish National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), the successor to APAC, as an embedded organisation at ANU. NCI was formed within a collaboration between ANU and CSIRO, and later included the Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia.
Currently Robin is a Director, and Deputy Chair at the NCI. He also chairs NCI’s Data Committee and continues to work on national strategic objectives in advanced IT. As an ATSE Fellow, he is involved in the Academy’s work on ICT.
Professor Reg Coutts, Pearcey Hall of Fame Inductee
Dr Reg Coutts has had a broad spectrum of experience in the fields of telecommunications and wireless technologies covering fixed line, private and public mobile and internet communications. His contributions have been in the fields of business, academia, regulation, government advice, professional associations and small business, particularly start-ups.
In 1993, Reg was appointed as Professor of Telecommunications at Adelaide University, establishing the department and putting in place ground-breaking relationships with industry through the establishment of CTIN (Centre for Telecommunications Information Networking). This appointment followed his 17 years at Telecom Australia (now Telstra) in its Research Labs (TRL) and National Manager, Strategy and Business Development in the newly formed mobiles business in 1988 at the dawn of network competition in Australia. In this latter role Reg was responsible for the technology strategy, including R&D investment and commercialisation, as well as the regulatory strategy for the business.
Reg has advised governments on telecommunication policy, appeared as an expert witness giving opinion on the technical workings of mobile phone networks, and participated as a technology start-up board member. His various public service roles include his participation in the ACMA as a board member.
He has worked tirelessly in promoting the ICT sector over many years through the ACS and the TSA. Basing himself in Adelaide has not restricted his national advisory roles for government and industry. Reg has spoken out often in typically blunt and honest fashion on the significant national ICT issues of the day. His support for, and participation in, the Expert Panel looking at the planning/scoping of the NBN back in 2007, was a classic example of this.