ATNF divisional awards

Each year, work of merit and excellence within CSIRO is recognised through Divisional Awards, CSIRO Awards and CSIRO Medals. Awards are typically merited in only a subset of the range of categories considered. This year's ATNF Divisional Awards recognising exceptional achievements were recently announced by the Director, Professor Brian Boyle. The winners go on to become candidates for CSIRO Awards when there is a corresponding category.

Two groups of staff received ATNF Divisional Awards in 2004, one in the "Partner or Perish" and another in the "Go for Growth" categories.

The Partner or Perish award recognises the efforts of the entire staff of the Parkes Observatory in ensuring the outstanding success of the Mars tracking contract between the ATNF and NASA. Partner or Perish awards are for projects that have a long term benefit to CSIRO through the development of a strategic alliance with another R&D provider. The Parkes Observatory staff were recognised for their "cohesive teamwork, commitment and adaptability" that has played a significant role in ensuring that the strategic alliance between the ATNF and NASA will continue.

The Arecibo Multibeam Team, represented by the project manager Graeme Carrad, received the Go for Growth Award for the successful completion of the Arecibo Multibeam receiver, built by the ATNF receiver group under contract to the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Cornell University. Go for Growth awards recognise achievements that open national or international markets in which CSIRO previously had a minimal presence. The Award to the Arecibo Multibeam Team recognised the success of this project "of international significance ... [which ] opens up the world market for ATNF built receivers and other innovative technical equipment ...[and] confirms the ATNF as the major world player in supplying such equipment to the world radio astronomy community".

Two ATNF Divisional awards were made to individual staff, one for "Leadership" and the other for a "Lifetime Contribution".

Dr John Reynolds received a Leadership Award for "Outstanding leadership as Parkes Officer-in-Charge since 1998", acknowledging his "success in forging a committed and tremendously effective team [which] routinely ensures that the Parkes Telescope operates as a world-class facility".

Dr Dick Manchester received a Lifetime Contribution award for his "Outstanding contributions to pulsar research". Dick's award acknowledges an "outstanding career of over 35 years beginning with the discovery of the first pulsar glitch, spanning a series of large-scale surveys which have made the Parkes radio telescope the pre-eminent instrument in the world for the discovery of pulsars, recently crowned by the first ever detection of a double-pulsar system".

The ATNF Divisional awards were celebrated at a number of social functions and recipients were presented with a small memento. The Parkes Observatory Staff and the Arecibo Multibeam Team have been nominated for CSIRO awards in the Partnership Excellence and Go for Growth categories respectively.

Lakshmi Saripalli, Lewis Ball
(Lakshmi.Saripalli@csiro.au), (Lewis.Ball@csiro.au)