Congratulations to science award winners

The awards cover all fields of science, including natural, medical, applied and technological science, engineering and mathematics. They are decided by a judging panel led by WA's Chief Scientist, Professor Peter Klinken, and were presented at a gala function in Perth on Monday, 14 August.

ExxonMobil Student Scientist of the Year is David Gozzard, a PhD candidate from the University of Western Australia.

David is completing a PhD in experimental physics, developing stabilised transmission systems to send atomic clock signals over long distances with improved precision. This research has direct application to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project and the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) mission.

David’s award was presented by ExxonMobil Australia Joint Interest Manager Gerry Borghesi.

 “I would especially like to congratulate David for winning the ExxonMobil Student Scientist of the Year award as well as the other award finalists in this category,” said Gerry.

“He is the fifth student to win this award, and like his predecessors, David is an outstanding young scientist involved in amazingly innovative work.

“As a science and technology company, ExxonMobil is acutely aware of the importance for great technical minds like David’s to society’s future wellbeing.

“As the demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics workers continues to increase worldwide, scientists like David, and all the Premier’s Award winners, act as tremendous role models for younger generations.”

Gerry also congratulated the joint Scientist of the Year winners:

• Professor Harvey Millar, Centre Director, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology at the University of Western Australia; and
• Professor Christobel Saunders, Professor of Surgical Oncology, Head, Division of Surgery at the University of Western Australia.