Chief Defence Scientist Dr Alex Zelinsky has received the prestigious 2015 MA Sargent Medal from Engineers Australia.

Dr Zelinsky received the award in Sydney last night for his significant contributions to engineering, including technical innovation and leadership.

Dr Zelinsky leads the Defence Science and Technology Group and has held other senior positions at the Australian National University and CSIRO.

His achievements include pioneering both the scientific development and engineering application of planning methods in robotics, specifically autonomous robot navigation.

He is also regarded as a world leader in the field of Intelligent Vehicles.

Dr Zelinsky was Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Seeing Machines, a high-technology company developing computer vision systems.

He has also researched in robotics and computer vision at the AIST Electrotechnical Laboratory in Japan and has taught and conducted research in computer science at the University of Wollongong.

The World Economic Forum named Dr Zelinsky a Technology Pioneer in 2003, 2004 and 2005. He has been included in Engineers Australia’s list of the 100 most influential engineers since 2009.

Dr Zelinsky said he was deeply moved by the recognition.

“My career has given me the opportunity to work with many brilliant engineers over the years and without their support I would not have received this award.

“I am particularly moved to receive the M A Sargent Medal. Dr Sargent is an eminent Australian engineer whom I admire and I have had the pleasure of working with him.”

The M A Sargent Medal is awarded annually by the Colleges of Electrical Engineering and Information, Telecommunications and Electronic Engineering in honour of Dr Michael Anthony Sargent, an outstanding Australian electrical engineer and past President of the Institution of Engineers, Australia.