Prize for excellence awarded to robotics expert

At the 2014 NSW Science & Engineering Awards, the prize for ‘Excellence in Engineering and Information and Communications Technologies’ has been awarded to Salah Sukkarieh, Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the University of Sydney.

The NSW Science and Engineering Awards acknowledge the state’s leading researchers in science and engineering for their work that generates economic, health, environmental or technological benefits for New South Wales.

Professor Sukkarieh, who is also director of research and innovation at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics, received the award for his cutting-edge robotic and information systems research and for his engagement in a wide range of automation applications for multibillion-dollar industries, including agriculture, environment monitoring, stevedoring, education, mining and aerospace.

He is an international leader in autonomous systems, with a focus on the research and development of ground, air and space field robotics, intelligent systems and automated software, and their interaction in large-scale complex operations. He has pioneered the development of intelligent remote sensing and adaptive flight control systems for aerospace, ranging from small robotic aircraft to large commercial aviation systems.

He works closely with environment agencies in developing these systems for detection of invasive species and linking these automated tools to ground operations. He has also researched and developed novel data analytic and planning tools for commercial aviation that support greener flight, which are currently being developed and implemented in the commercial aviation industry.

As leader of systems research in the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Autonomous Systems, he has pioneered research in large-scale modelling, data fusion and control of automated software and robotic systems.

The research is driving innovation in mining and agriculture, with a focus on how extensive data collected from autonomous air and ground robots is used for timely in-field intelligence, and for automating decision-making and optimisation of operations using robotic and intelligent software systems.

Professor Sukkarieh says, “As robotics and intelligent systems become more integrated into mainstream society, we are going to see greater interaction between humans and robots.”