In 2001, the Faculty of Engineering sponsored the R&D, Training & Processes Award at the IE(Aust)’s Engineering Excellence Awards. The awards showcase engineering excellence and expertise within the Sydney region.

Finalists for the Faculty’s award included Hicom International for the production of novel industrial mineral powders; Hedweld Engineering, for a self-propelled mobile vehicle for the mining industry; Arnold Dix and Roads and Traffic Authority, for their facilitation of the debate on the M5 East tunnel; Transgrid, for its Fibre Optic Current Transducer; and Bovis Lend Lease for its ProjectWeb project management system. Cochlear Limited, the worldwide leader in the manufacture and sale of cochlear implant systems through its Nucleus® product range, won the Faculty’s award for its Contour™ implant.

Cochlear Limited was founded in Australia in 1981. Its Nucleus® Contour™ Cochlear Implant is an electronic device that enables useful hearing and improved communication ability for adults and children who have a severe to profound hearing loss. Cochlear partners more clinical and technical specialists globally than any other cochlear implant company, with more than 600 implant centres in more than 60 countries worldwide.

President of the IE(Aust) Sydney Division, Andrew Leventhal, said the Engineering Excellence Awards demonstrated not only engineering design and innovation, but also business and management skills. "They demonstrate the enormous breadth and strength of engineering skills in the Sydney division, and within Australia," he said. "The entries represent innovative design solution, originality and ingenuity. They provide a benchmark for future comparison."