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Bionic ear pioneer Professor Graeme Clark with Felix Williams and his... |
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Professor Clark with IPRI Director Professor Gordon Wallace (left), a... |
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Dean of Science Professor Will Price with one of the Bionics for 2020... |
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Dean of Science Professor Will Price with one of the Bionics for 2020... |
Lecture by bionic ear pioneer Graeme Clark
World-renowned scientist and pioneer of the bionic ear Professor Graeme Clark gave a free public lecture today (Wednesday 19 August) at the Wollongong Science Centre and Planetarium as part of National Science Week.
The national week aims to promote science to the general public and UOW has been hosting a number of events throughout the week to make the exceptional research happening at the university accessible to the public.
Professor Clark, a Chief Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Electromaterials Science (ACES), is responsible for the pioneering research and development of the bionic ear - a multiple channel cochlear implant. Since 1978 more than 100,000 people all over the world have been fitted with a bionic ear and it has been hailed as one of the most important breakthroughs in medical science.
Director of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute Professor Gordon Wallace said Professor Clark was the ideal person to speak at the Science Week event.
“This week is all about celebrating the achievements of science and raising the profile. There could be no more appropriate speaker than Graeme Clark. He pushes and challenges all of us to do better things in medical bionics.”
In his lecture, titled “Big thinking, small technologies” Professor Clark took the audience through some of the implications of nano-bio-technology, including how it may help with spinal cord repair, drug delivery and the development of a visual prosthesis – the bionic eye.
He also spoke about the development of the cochlear implant and showed how there is room to improve the technology using advancements in nano-technologies. He said the implant works well for hearing speech, but no so well for music and other sounds.
“We should never lose sight that our real goal is to relieve human suffering and help people with disabilities.”
Attending the lecture to hear the pioneer of the bionic ear, were a number of people, or relatives of people who have cochlear implants. Also in attendance with his parents Joanne and David was four-month old Felix Williams, who is due to have his implants next month.
“We wanted to meet Graeme,” Joanne said. “We’ve read as much as could about the implant and we just wanted to come and talk with him.”
The lecture was sponsored by ACES, UOW and the Science Centre & Planetarium and supported by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.
Bionics for 2020
At the end of Professor Clark’s lecture, Dean of Science Professor Will Price announced the winners of the Bionics for 2020 competition which was open to high school students in years eight and nine to design what they think is the future of bionic research.
Some of the winners are pictured, right.