NSW Scientist of the Year 2008 Category Winners

Engineering Sciences Category Winner: Professor Veena Sahajwalla
Professor Sahajwalla has invented an environmentally-friendly technology for the recycling of waste plastics in Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaking and demonstrated on a commercial scale that coke and coal used in the production of steel can be replaced by plastics used in shopping bags and bottles.

Computer Sciences Category Winner: Dr Chris Nicol
Dr Nicol established the first Asia-Pacific Bell Labs Research facility in North Ryde and his team invented new circuit techniques that have been widely adopted and deployed in mobile phones and mobile network infrastructure around the world.

Chemistry Category Winner: Professor Gordon Wallace
Professor Wallace established the world's first intelligent polymer research laboratory in NSW, is a pioneer in nanobionics which bridges nanotechnology and human biology, and has successfully used electrical stimulation to significantly enhance growth from nerve cells, offering great potential for repairing damaged hearing and spinal cords.

Plant and Animal Sciences Category Winner: Dr Peter Kirkland
Dr Kirkland's expert and rapid response to the 2007 equine influenza outbreak helped eradicate the disease in record time, limiting its potentially devastating impact on Australia's multi-billion dollar horse industry.

Biomedical Sciences Category Winner: Professor Philip Hogg
Professor Hogg has invented a class of cancer drugs that starve tumours of their blood supply by inactivating the cells that make the blood vessels in tumours.

Physics and Astronomy Category Winner: Professor Benjamin Eggleton
Professor Eggleton is a world leading researcher and pioneer in optical physics and photonics. His research work with colleagues includes efforts to vastly increase the speed of the Internet by developing a photonic chip that uses light rather than electronic signals, replacing the need for routers that slow data transmission.

Mathematical Sciences Category Winner: Professor Matthew Wand
Professor Wand's research has focused on the development of statistical methods to assist public health and medical researchers, and has been a pioneer in the use of "smoothing techniques" to statistically account for random variations in data.

Leadership in Secondary Science Teaching Category Winner: Dr Mark Butler
Dr Butler’s programs have led to a 50% increase in the number of Gosford students taking senior science over the past decade.

Environment, Water and Climate Change Sciences Category Winner: Professor Martin Green
Professor Green's innovative and cutting-edge work has placed Sydney and Australia at the forefront of international efforts to develop more effective solar energy technology