University of Sydney’s Dylan Ashton has won Cooperative Research Australia’s Early Career Researcher (ECR) Prize for his work on a ground-breaking project developing the use of kangaroo tendon for knee ligament grafts in humans.
Dylan joined the University of Sydney/Innovative Manufacturing CRC project team in 2018, and enrolled for his PhD in 2019. He is involved in the biomechanical and biocompatible studies in the project. The project has received considerable media attention.
Cooperative Research Australia (CRA) CEO Jane O’Dwyer congratulated Dylan for his achievement, and acknowledged finalists – Matthew Alexanderson (Regenerative agriculture – Soil CRC), Yunru Lai (Better quantification of phosphorus in the landscape – Soil CRC), and Indrani Mukherjee (Detecting fingerprints of ancient life – University of Tasmania).
“We congratulate Dylan for his outstanding work in a very exciting IMCRC project that could lead to a world-first breakthrough in the global orthopaedic medical device industry,” Cooperative Research Australia CEO Jane O’Dwyer said.
“CRA applauds the work of Dylan and finalists Matthew, Indrani, and Yunru. It was an absolute delight to be on the judging panel for this competition. We were given a great insight into the depth of talent we have here in Australia. They are some of the smartest among us.”
O’Dwyer said the ECR Prize finalists busted the myth about the value of a PhD.
“A PhD can be a pathway to a stellar career in business, industry, government as well as academia. They know how to discover the unknown, solve the most complex and baffling problems, see things in a different light and imagine what is unimaginable to many of us. They are the people who have the potential to power up the Australian economy and transform our world,” she said.
CRA thanked CQUniversity for their generous support of the ECR competition.
The ECR Prize winner was revealed at the first instalment (virtual) of CRA’s Collaborate Innovate conference, with an in-person event to take place at Parliament House in Canberra in March 2022. For details, see: https://collaborateinnovate.com.au/
