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AutoCRC recognises some of its best research with the Technical Conference Awards 2011

Given the range and quality of AutoCRC research projects and the number of people involved, it was difficult to whittle the award recipients down to just two, however the AutoCRC Project Review Committee finally agreed on the following:

Research Excellence Award

Colin Hall (Research Fellow) of the University of South Australia received the award on behalf of the university and SMR Automotive for their innovative work in producing a low-cost, lightweight durable plastic mirror which replaces the traditional components of glass and backing plate. SMR recently opened a facility in South Australia for manufacture of the mirrors and subsequent global exportation.

Research Collaboration Award

Thomas Dittmar (Team Leader, Engineering) of the Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing and Gary Carroll (Manager, Innovation) of GM Holden received the award on behalf of the project team for their project “Virtual Paint Process”. This project aims to work on developing two virtual key manufacturing capabilities in oven bake simulations and fluid access and drainage simulations. The project team was commended particularly for their track record in working closely together in a global context.

Additionally a best poster award was decided on the day  and judged by Dr. Gary White, AutoCRC Research Manager and Project Review Committee Chair.

Best Poster Award at the Technical Conference 2011

RMIT students Brendan Visser, Vipil Varghese, Vignesh Rajan and Sam Brok were recognised for their poster on Acoustic Modelling of Interiors for EV Applications. This project team is part of the AutoCRC undergraduate programme which aims to give university students exposure to industry, in this case in the form of Futuris Automotive Interiors. The team was commended for their clear research aims, interesting content and clean and attractive presentation of the material.

Above and beyond recognition for research group co-ordinators

Additionally five reseachers were recognised for their contribution "above and beyond" acting as co-ordinators for PhD research interest groups and acting as mentors for PhD students. These were:

• Dr Michelle Dunn from Deakin University for her work with the Lightweight Materials interest group
• Dr Gunther Paul from the University of South Australia for his work with the Human Factors interest group
• Dr Bernard Rolfe from Deakin University for his work with the Complex Modelling interest group
• Dr Mehran Ektesabi from Swinburne University for his work with the Intelligent Transport Systems interest group
• Dr Martin Leary from RMIT for his work with the Sustainable Manufacturing interest group

AutoCRC would like to congratulate all recipients of awards and also all researchers at the conference presenting their work, who made the day the success that it was - well done!