Academic receives top honour for contribution to engineering

The Australian National University's Emeritus Professor Brian Anderson has been recognised for his remarkable contribution to the field of engineering. Emeritus Professor Anderson has been awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - the highest honour conferred by Engineers Australia. His connection to the award goes back a long way. "I had a close school friend whose father, David Myers, was President of the Institution of Engineers around 1958, and later a recipient of the Peter Nicol Russell Medal in 1977," Emeritus Professor Anderson said. Emeritus Professor Anderson has been recognised with various awards throughout his career, including the Centenary Medal in 2001, and appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1993, and Companion of the Order of Australia in 2016. He even has a building named after him on the ANU campus He says this latest accolade has caused him to reflect on the changing nature of engineering. "Engineering is always directed to the service of people, and undoubtedly will address some of the big challenges of our time." In the future, he believes that engineers will be central in addressing issues like energy sustainability, and our aging population.