The Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Michael Noonan announced the winner of the Australian Naval Institute’s McNeil Prize for 2020. The recipient is Professor Jason Scholz, The Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Cooperative Research Centre – Trusted Autonomous Systems.
The McNeil Prize is presented to “an individual from Australian industry and academia who has made an outstanding contribution to the capabilities of the Royal Australian Navy”. The Prize is sponsored by Lockheed Martin Australia.
The McNeil Prize is named in honour of Rear Admiral Percival McNeil CB RAN (1883-1951). He could be regarded as one of the great champions of Australian shipbuilding. McNeil played a pivotal role in the design and construction of the famed Bathurst class corvettes as well as helping to maintain a local warship construction capability in the post-war period.
Professor Scholz, who is also the Innovation Professor at RMIT University, has made an outstanding contribution to Navy capability and its long-term efficacy, by consistently applying his world-class expertise, experience and energy in the field of autonomous systems and artificial intelligence. He has been central to developing business partnerships between all levels of industry and academia towards innovative autonomous systems and artificial intelligence. This has required exceptional skill, noting the diverse interests between ship-builders, systems integrators and deep level research, to optimise delivery of cutting-edge solutions for Navy capability.
For Editorial Inquiries Contact:
Editor Kym Bergmann at kym.bergmann@venturamedia.net
For Advertising Inquiries Contact:
Director of Sales Graham Joss at graham.joss@venturamedia.net
