The Australian Research Council (ARC) today announced the award of $27 million for 8 Industry Laureate Fellowships, bringing industry together with Australia's outstanding researchers to translate innovative ideas into outcomes that benefit industry partners, end-users, and the Australian economy.
ARC Chief Executive Officer, Ms Judi Zielke PSM said Industry Fellowships will help build skills and networks across universities and industry to conduct ground-breaking, internationally competitive research while achieving tangible outcomes.
"Complementing the early and mid-career Industry Fellowship schemes, these outstanding laureate researchers bring experience and leadership to industry challenges," Ms Zielke said.
"I look forward to seeing how these researchers translate their skills and knowledge into real world outcomes for industry partners and the Australian community - from speeding up decarbonisation with green hydrogen, to the manufacture of material that will transform internet speeds."
"Australia can only benefit from the collaboration between researchers and industry."
The 2023 ARC Industry Laureate Fellows are:
Associate Professor Phillip Cassey, The University of Adelaide ($3.8 million) - develop new digital and wildlife forensic tools to improve the surveillance and detection of the illegal killing and trade of wild animals and plants, to safeguard Australia's biodiversity and natural environment.
Professor Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem, The University of Adelaide ($3.3 million) - improve the purity and manufacturing scale of fluoride glass optical fibres which promises faster internet speeds, communication, and laser surgery applications touching many aspects of Australian lives.
Professor Timothy Fletcher, The University of Melbourne ($3.5 million) - to enable a market-driven smart-grid of stormwater storages, providing consumers with nonpotable water supply, while financially rewarding them for contributions to flood mitigation and environmental flows to waterways.
Professor Alexander Hamilton, The University of New South Wales ($3.8 million) - develop a groundbreaking silicon quantum computer technology and create new quantum components to dramatically speed up quantum computing capabilities. These advances will enable Australia to maintain its global lead in quantum technologies.
Professor Shizhang Qiao, The University of Adelaide ($3.5 million) - design and commercialise safe, cost-effective, long-lasting, and fast-charging sodium-based batteries to store renewable energy and manage the release of excess energy into power grids during peak demand in Australia.
Professor Veena Sahajwalla, The University of New South Wales ($3.5 million) - develop approaches that can be implemented locally anywhere in Australia, for using waste as a resource, recovering metal alloys, rare earth elements, generating jobs, skills and new business opportunities.
Professor Jennifer Smith-Merry, The University of Sydney ($2.5 million) - address deficits in the National Disability Insurance Scheme for people with psychosocial disability, to make the scheme more effective and efficient for this group, with community benefits for all Australians.
Professor Gerhard Swiegers, University of Wollongong ($3.7 million) - accelerate the decarbonisation of industry by advancing the manufacture of high efficiency water electrolysers, a key component of green hydrogen, an energy-dense renewable fuel.
