Melbourne Wednesday 6th July 2011: The 2011 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Dr Elaine Saunders by the Victorian Minister for Technology, the Hon Gordon Rich-Phillips MLC, as part of the annual Victorian iAwards ceremony held today in the River Room at Crown. This annual award is presented to a person in mid-career who has "taken risks and is making a difference" in the ICT industry.
Dr Saunders is a widely recognised pioneer, expert and entrepreneur in technology for the hearing impaired. Over her 20 year career she has worked in public health systems, University research and as an executive in leading edge technology companies. In 2001, she became CEO of Dynamic Hearing which today supplies award winning digital signal processors to the hearing aid and Bluetooth headset industries. Previously, Dr Saunders led the Cooperative Research Centre team that developed a new electrode for Cochlear Ltd which won an Australian Design award in 2000.
Today she is Managing Director and co-founder of Australia Hears, a company undertaking world class research and supplying advanced (Australian) scientifically designed hearing aids to consumers over the internet. Dr Saunders is widely involved in academia, industry and the wider community. This includes being on the Board of Children's Charity Network, University Industry Boards and the Board of Alfred Health.
Chairman of the Pearcey Victorian Committee Rick Harvey commented that: "Dr Saunders is an outstanding entrepreneur who is having a notable impact in her field, as well as being an inspirational role model for anyone seeking to make a career in ICT".
About the Pearcey Foundation
Founded in memory of Trevor Pearcey, who built Australia's first and the world's fourth programmable electronic digital computer, CSIRAC, in Sydney in 1949, the Foundation is a group of concerned individuals encouraging the best and brightest to make careers in the Australian ICT industry. Celebrating its 62nd anniversary this year, CSIRAC is the oldest surviving computer in the world. The Pearcey Foundation's objective is to reinforce the recognition, knowledge and appreciation of Australia's ongoing contribution to the development and growth of our ICT professions, research and industry.
For more information please visit http://pearcey.org.au/
About the iAwards program
From new coding genius and hardware innovation to the power of transcendent business models or the driving force of an individual's contribution over the course of a single year - the iAwards is about recognising industry achievements that provide the foundation for today's economy and tomorrow's digital community. Over 17 years, the iAwards has become the premier technology awards platform in Australia. The iAwards program has expanded in 2011: the Australian Information Industry Association has joined forces with the Australian Computer Society and the Pearcey Foundation to deliver the most comprehensive national and state-based awards program in the technology industry today.
For more information please visit iAwards.com.au
