Flinders University biomedical engineer Professor Karen Reynolds has finessed her earlier State award by being named Australian Professional Engineer of the Year at the 2010 Australian Engineering Excellence Awards in Canberra on November 24.
The prestigious national award made by Engineers Australia acknowledges “a professional engineer who has reached a high level of achievement and involvement in engineering and community affairs and who is an example of outstanding engineering practice, ethics and contribution to the community”.
Professor Reynolds was chosen from a field of the winners of individual State awards.
Flinders Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Barber, described Professor Reynolds as one of the University’s most dynamic and entrepreneurial academics.
“Professor Reynolds has made a major contribution to the exciting field of biomedical engineering, and it is very pleasing to see the benefits that her work brings to the wider community recognised at the national level,” Professor Barber said.
In addition to her outstanding record of achievement in teaching and research in her field, Professor Reynolds is Director of the Medical Device Partnering Program. Based at Flinders, the State Government-funded program supports the development of cutting-edge medical devices and assistive technologies by tailoring collaborations between researchers, industry, clinical end-users and government.
Deputy Dean of the School of Computer Science, Engineering & Mathematics at Flinders, Professor Reynolds is also leader of the University’s multidisciplinary Medical Devices and Technologies research group. As well as teaching at undergraduate level, she supervises Masters and PhD students. Students have flourished under her supervision, and have themselves been inspired to achieve excellence.
Professor Reynolds is also a Fellow of Engineers Australia, convener and chair of Engineers Australia’s National Panel for Biomedical Engineering Education and Research and a member of the Medical Device Evaluation Committee within the Therapeutic Goods Administration.