Western Australia Recognises its Brightest Minds at the Aspire Awards 2024

Ten of Western Australia’s researchers, academics and professionals have been announced as the recipients of Business Events Perth’s 2024 Aspire Awards.

For more than two decades, Business Events Perth has been recognising Western Australia’s brightest minds through the Aspire Awards programme. The successful Aspire Award applicants who are outstanding candidates in their field, receive travel grants supporting their attendance at an international conference.

The ten recipients will showcase their expertise on a global stage, network with like-minded professionals, and explore new avenues for collaboration, research, innovation, and trade.

This year the awards represent recipients from BE Perth Award Partner organisations: Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Murdoch University, Perron Institute, The Kids Research Institute, The University of Western Australia, THIS IS FREMANTLE and The University of Notre Dame Australia.

In 2024, Business Events Perth introduced the inaugural Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) Aspire Award as the tenth category. Sponsored by Business Events Perth this Aspire Award invited Australian PCO’s to apply for an international travel grant designed to empower the PCO and a key representative of one of their association clients.

The 2024 PCO recipient is Ms. Jessica Ferguson (below), Head of Business Development and Marketing at Arinex, alongside Dr. Kylie Sandy-Hodgetts, Founder and President of the International Surgical Wound Complications Advisory Panel.

The award is a testament to the work Ms. Ferguson is undertaking with international and national associations to bring together some of the brightest minds from around the world to change outcomes within their fields, in Western Australia.  
 

Alongside this award, The University of Western Australia Aspire Award recipient, Dr. Vikram Singh (pictured below) is making waves in his collaborative efforts to advance the foundations of offshore wind structures. His work is establishing Western Australia as a global leader in offshore geotechnics and is showcasing the State’s efforts in pursuing sustainable energy.

The Aspire Awards continue to demonstrate Western Australia’s excellence and continue to position the State at the forefront of global innovation. Business Events Perth CEO, Gareth Martin, said Business Events Perth is proud to recognise some of Western Australia’s brightest minds who will showcase the State’s leading capabilities to the world.   

“With 125 applications, the programme continues to strengthen, and with ten award recipients it really showcases the broad spectrum of research and leading expertise across Western Australia. The 2024 Aspire Awards present an opportunity for the ten award recipients to attend international conferences globally, that help them connect with their academic peers and also seek the knowledge to further advance their research – we are really proud to be a part of that journey.”

“As Australia’s western gateway to the world, meeting face-to-face facilitates positive collaboration, knowledge exchange and networking opportunities putting Western Australia on the map and potentially attracting these important global business events to the State.”

The Aspire Awards have led to a number of large-scale international conferences being confirmed for Western Australia over the past five years, including the 9th Congress of the International Society for Applied Phycology (ISAP) 2027 in which Murdoch University, 2023 Aspire Award Recipient Dr. Ashiwin Vadiveloo played an integral role in Perth’s successful bid. Hosting ISAP 2027 will attract hundreds of delegates from around the world to Western Australia for the first time to showcase this impressive sector in the State.

With such a large and powerful group of applicants for this year’s Aspire Awards, three additional grants were introduced, recognising early-stage career researchers from the Perron Institute, The Kids Research Institute Australia and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, with  each grant recipient demonstrating exceptional work in their field.
 

2024 Aspire Award Recipients

• Curtin University Aspire Award Recipient: Dr. Chong Wei
• Edith Cowan University Aspire Award Recipient: Prof. Kerry Brown
• Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research Aspire Award Recipient: A/Prof. Elena Juan Pardo
• Murdoch University Aspire Award Recipient: Dr. Biji Kurup
• Perron Institute Aspire Award Recipient: Dr. Matthew Bagg
• Professional Conference Organiser Aspire Awards Recipient: Ms. Jessica Ferguson
• The Kids Research Institute Aspire Award Recipient: Dr. Danielle Rudler
• The University of Notre Dame Australia Aspire Award Recipient: Dr. Alessandro Bressan
• The University of Western Australia Aspire Award Recipient: Dr. Vikram Singh
• THIS IS FREMANTLE Aspire Award Recipient: Mr. Andrew Outhwaite

2024 Early-Stage Career Researcher Grant Recipients

• Dr. Chidozie Anyaegbu from Perron Institute
• Dr. Pamela Laird from The Kids Research Institute
• Mr. Jordan Crane from Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research