Early December is a special time at ChemCentre as it is a time to celebrate the excellence, passion and dedication of our staff, with the presentation of the annual Ian Ritchie Awards.
Established in 2010, these Awards recognise the contributions of ChemCentre employees who have achieved excellence in all aspects of their role and beyond. They are awarded in honour of the late Professor Ian Ritchie: a distinguished scientist, educator, mentor and administrator, tireless champion of chemistry and its role in the community, and long-time supporter of ChemCentre.
This year two key chemists were recognised for embodying ChemCentre's values of technical excellence, innovation, integrity and respect. We would like to congratulate Dr Chris May who was awarded the Ian Ritchie Achievement Award, and Ryan Fillingham for winning the Ritchie Early Career Award.
Chris' analytical knowledge and expertise are intricately linked to ChemCentre’s ability to deliver high quality research outcomes in the Primary Industry areas of honey, hemp and medicinal cannabis. His work in the characterisation of Western Australian honey through the Research and Innovation group has made ChemCentre the leading agency in this area.
Chris is the driving force behind ChemCentre’s participation in the National Residue Survey, and his intimate knowledge of inorganic analytical instrumentation has facilitated our successful involvement in a range of national provenance projects.
Still in the early stages of his ChemCentre career, Ryan's exceptional skills were instrumental in the design of the fibres database that was used to provide evidence in the Claremont serial killer case.
His passion for and strength in IT has enabled the implementation of multiple improvements within the Forensic Science unit’s Physical Evidence team, significantly increasing the team’s efficiency and allowing for a greater range of analysis to be undertaken electronically, resulting in a greater confidence in the interpretation. These innovative solutions work to cement ChemCentre’s position as one of the nation’s leading laboratories in the characterising of trace evidence.
The dedication and excellence of ChemCentre's staff as well as the passion and commitment demonstrated every day through their work is something we're proud to celebrate.
