2024 Pearcey Medal awarded to Prof Svetha Venkatesh
The 2024 Pearcey Medal has been awarded to Deakin Distinguished Professor Svetha Venkatesh.
The Pearcey Foundation announced the recipients of its prestigious 2024 National Awards at a gala dinner held in Brisbane last night. The Pearcey Medal is an individual award that recognises a distinguished lifetime of achievement and contribution to the development and growth of the Australian ICT industry and has been awarded annually by the Pearcey Foundation since 1998.
Prof Venkatesh was also inducted into the Pearcey Hall of Fame, and has been joined this year by Professor Andrew Dzurak and Jan Kornweibel.
“Professor Svetha Venkatesh isn’t just one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence experts; her lifetime of work in AI has had a profound impact in multiple fields, including public safety and security, mental health, autism and healthcare. In addition, her role as an educator and mentor has contributed towards generational talent and innovation in AI here in Australia and internationally,” said Pearcey Foundation chair, Wayne Fitzsimmons OAM.
“The Pearcey Medal and Pearcey Hall of Fame are the pinnacle of recognition in Australia’s ICT industry, with our medallists and inductees chosen each year by their peers in a nationwide vote. Each of this year’s recipients have been both pioneers and leaders in their fields, and it’s particularly special this year that we are recognising the incredible achievements of both Svetha and Jan in the work they have done to improve the lives and opportunities for people with disabilities. It’s an honour to elevate Svetha, Jan and Andrew to a permanent place in our Hall of Fame,” said Mr Fitzsimmons.
The 2024 Pearcey Foundation Awards Dinner also celebrated the 75th anniversary of the execution of the first digital computer program in Australia on 14 November 1949. It ran on CSIR Mk1 (later renamed CSIRAC), which was designed and built by Dr Trevor Pearcey with assistance from Maston Beard and Geoff Hill. The milestone was marked with a keynote by Emeritus Professor Roy Green AM, a CSIRO board member whose father was one of the first users of CSIRAC.
“CSIRAC was the quantum computer investment of its day. Australia is not new to taking strategic bets. Not all of them come off – but CSIRAC did. It always takes time to know the outcome of the investments we make in technology and innovation, but the point is that we can’t sit on our hands and wait for things to happen,” said Mr Fitzsimmons.