Gary Tilley was one of two Macquarie staff recognised by the Prime Minister for their contributions to science (Images: Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science/Wildbear)

Professor Michael Aitken, Professor of Management – ICT strategy at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, and Gary Tilley, practicum supervisor of Macquarie’s Opening Real Science program, have both been recognised with a prestigious Prime Minister’s Prize for Science.

Professor Aitken was awarded the 2016 Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation for his work creating and commercialising tools that are making global markets fair and efficient. He discovered that governments internationally were making changes to their financial markets without any data or evidence, inspiring him to develop software to increase the transparency of the world’s financial market.

“To see the positive impact of the research on a global scale has been a wonderful thing,” Professor Aitken says. “I hope that by helping our financial markets the research has also contributed to the future funding of innovation worldwide.”

Gary Tilley saw an opportunity to help train science and maths student teachers at Macquarie through the Opening Real Science program and was recognised for this contribution with the  Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools. Gary says he was honoured by this nod to his work and hopes it will inspire others.

“I hope other schools see what we’ve done and consider it as a road forward for them to make science front and centre, and get their students excited by science too,” he says.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Corporate Engagement and Advancement) Professor David Wilkinson, who was present at the awards ceremony in Canberra last week, says both men have made “incredible contributions” to the fields of science innovation and science teaching.

“Their achievements speak to the world-class research taking place at this University,” says David.