INDUSTRY CHAMPION AWARD CATEGORIES
Leadership Award
The Leadership Award recognises individuals or organisations that lead the way with advocacy work that strives to improve the commercial and / or technological viability of the uncrewed systems industry.
Nominations for the Leadership Award will be judged against that following criteria:
- Broad Industry Benefit – Has the nominee performed work on behalf of the broad uncrewed systems industry. Describe the body of work that the nominee has performed, identifying benefits to industry and measurable results obtained.
- Persistence of Effort – Has the nominee demonstrated this effort on behalf of industry over a sustained period. Efforts lasting over 5 years or more will be viewed favourably by the judging panel.
- Legacy – Will the advocacy work have an ongoing benefit to the unmanned systems industry.
These criteria will be given equal weighting.
Past Winners of the Leadership Award
- 2019 Winner: LTCOL Keirin Joyce (Australian Army)
- 2020 Winner: UAV Challenge (QUT & CSIRO)
- 2021 Winner: Dr Terry Martin (Revolution Aerospace)
- 2022 Winner: Dr Andrew Tridgell (The ArduPilot Foundation / Aerial Robotics Australia)
- 2023 Winner: Melanie Olsen (AIMS)
- 2024 Winner: Brendan Williams (Boeing)
Innovation Award - Technology
The Innovation – Technology award will go to the organisation or individual that has developed drone technologies including drone systems or sub-systems. (eg. drone, payloads, avionics, powerplants, data exploitation systems) that has had a significant positive impact for end users or the broader uncrewed systems industry.
The Innovation – Technology award will be judged on the inventiveness and relevance of the nominated technology.
A Pre-Condition for nomination is the technology or operational aspect was developed in Australia and has had commercial success or demonstrated market potential. An Innovation will show ‘Demonstrated Commercial Potential’ if, in the opinion of the judging panel, it has reached a distinct ‘market ready’ threshold and the innovator concerned has developed a sound business plan and can point to unsatisfied market demand for the product or service concerned.
Nominations for the Innovation Award will be judges against the following criteria:
- Innovation and Ingenuity– Is this solution cutting-edge and unique from its competitors? Does it creatively solve a problem or leverage an opportunity in a way not demonstrated in other solutions?
- Functionality and Practicality– How practical and useful is the solution? Does it serve a true need in the marketplace?
- Value, Impact and Effectiveness– How valuable or impactful is this solution?
- Ease of Use/Implementation and Scalability– How easy is the solution to use or implement?
- ‘Wow Factor’– Does this solution feature something unexpected, surprising or unanticipated?
These criteria will be given equal weighting.
Past Winners of the Innovation - Technology Award
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2019 Winner: Sypaq
- 2020 Winner: UTS & The Ripper Group
- 2021 Winner: Emesent
- 2022 Winner: Ascent Vision Technologies Australia
- 2023 Winner: AMSL Aero
- 2024 Winner: Wildlife Drones
Innovation Award - Operations
The Innovation – Operations award will go to the organisation or individual that has developed novel and innovative operational capabilities to benefit customers. (eg. airspace integration, swarming, novel applications).
The Innovation – Operations award will be judged on the inventiveness and relevance of the nominated technology.
A Pre-Condition for nomination is the technology or operational aspect was developed in Australia and has had commercial success or demonstrated market potential. An Innovation will show ‘Demonstrated Commercial Potential’ if, in the opinion of the judging panel, it has reached a distinct ‘market ready’ threshold and the innovator concerned has developed a sound business plan and can point to unsatisfied market demand for the product or service concerned.
Nominations for the Innovation Award will be judges against the following criteria:
- Innovation and Ingenuity– Is this solution cutting-edge and unique from its competitors? Does it creatively solve a problem or leverage an opportunity in a way not demonstrated in other solutions?
- Functionality and Practicality– How practical and useful is the solution? Does it serve a true need in the marketplace?
- Value, Impact and Effectiveness– How valuable or impactful is this solution?
- Ease of Use/Implementation and Scalability– How easy is the solution to use or implement?
- ‘Wow Factor’– Does this solution feature something unexpected, surprising or unanticipated?
These criteria will be given equal weighting.
Past Winners of the Innovation - Operations Award
- 2022 Winner: AVCRM
- 2023 Winner: Boeing / QUT Air RIsk Collaboration Team
- 2024 Winner: Sensorem
Education & Safety Award
The Education & Safety Award will recognise individuals or organisations who demonstrate leadership in educating the uncrewed systems industry with particular emphasis of developing a safety-focussed culture.
Nominations for the Education & Safety Award will be judged against the following criteria:
- Safety Objective – Have you implemented an education or training initiative or program with focus of improving safety within the unmanned system industry? Provide a description of the program, who was involved, why it was needed, and at which groups was it aimed. What was the context of the program and what were the key drivers? Describe the objectives of the program and metrics to measure success.
- Safety Outcome – What have been the results of the program / initiative? How practical and useful is the solution? Does it serve a true need in the marketplace?
- Value, Impact and Effectiveness– How valuable or impactful is the safety initiative or program?
These criteria will be given equal weighting.
Past Winners of the Education & Safety Award
- 2019 Winner: Aviassist
- 2020 Winner: Aviassist
- 2021 Winner: Rural Drone Academy
- 2022 Winner: Aviassist
- 2023 Winner: Hover UAV
- 2024 Winner: FPV Australia
Social Impact Award
The Social Impact Award replaces the Humanitarian Achievement Award and will recognise individuals or organisations who demonstrate a mission, capability or technology that has a positive impact on society or has focused on the betterment of the uncrewed industry as a whole.
Nominations for the Humanitarian Achievement Award will be judged against the following criteria:
- Social or Industry Benefit Objective – Has the nominee performed work on behalf of the broad uncrewed systems industry? Describe the body of work that the nominee has performed, identifying benefits to industry and measurable results obtained.
- Social / Industry Impact– Has the nominee demonstrated this effort on behalf of industry over a sustained period. Efforts lasting over 5 years or more will be viewed favourably by the judging panel.
These criteria will be given equal weighting.
Past Winners of the Social Impact Award
- 2019 Winner: Team Rubicon Australia
- 2020 Winner: John Fardoulis (Mobility Robotics)
- 2021 Winner: Swoop Aero
- 2022 Winner: Dendra Systems
- 2023 Winner: Dept Climate Change Energy the Environment and Water
- 2024 Winner: AUAVS Shark Surveillance Program
Diversity & Inclusion Award
The Diversity & Inclusion Award will recognise individuals or organisations who have made an outstanding contribution to supporting diversity and fostering inclusion within the uncrewed systems industry.
Nominations for theDiversity & Inclusion Award will be judged against the following criteria:
- Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion – Describe the achievements of the nominated individual or organisation and how the relevant activity, program or initiative had the intended reach in promoting and supporting diversity and inclusion within the uncrewed systems industry and beyond. Examples include, access, recruitment, participation, retention, support, culture or success for staff, students and/or the broader community.
- Impact– Describe the positive impact the nominee/s achieved and the extent their contributions benefitted those directly impacted or the broader uncrewed systems industry.
These criteria will be given equal weighting.
Past Winners of the Diversity & Inclusion Award
- 2022 Winner: Dr Karen Joyce (She Maps, Geonadir and James Cook University)
- 2023 Winner: Chris Warrior (Wiru Drone Solutions)
- 2024 Winner: Sue Osborn (Mirragin and Skyshows)
NextGen Achievement Award
The NextGen Achievement Award will recognise young individuals that demonstrate elite capability and leadership in their field within the uncrewed systems sector.
Nominees must be 35 years old or younger.
Nominations for the NextGen Achievement Award will be judged against the following criteria:
- Elite Capability – Provide a description of the capability possessed by the Nominee in the field of uncrewed systems and why it is considered elite against their peers.
- Achievements – Describe the relevant achievements of the Nominee during the past 18 months.
- Value, Impact and Effectiveness – How valuable or impactful has the Nominee’s achievements been to the organisation or broader industry.
- Leadership – Describe the Nominee’s leadership attributes.
These criteria will be given equal weighting.
Past Winners of the NextGen Achievement Award
- 2019 Winner: Anthony Marsh (AirAssess)
- 2020 Winner: Amy Steiger (Cardno)
- 2021 Winner: Mitchell Bannink (OVRL)
- 2022 Winner: Matthew Gardiner (Shoal Group)
- 2023 Winner: Tom Putland (CASA)
- 2024 Winner: Isaac Palmer (DCCEEW)
RULES & ELIGIBILITY
- We are seeking champions of the Australian Unmanned Systems Industry.
- The Industry Champion Awards are open to Australian individuals and organisations including Australian subsidiaries to overseas parent companies.
- An Australian company has an office in Australia and conducts operations in Australia. It also has an Australian Company Number (ACN) and/or Australian Business Number (ABN).
- Nominations are invited for Innovation-Tech, Innovation-Ops, Education & Safety, Social Impact, Diversity and Inclusion and NextGen Achievement Awards for work performed during the 12 months. Nominations for the leadership award are for larger bodies of work over many years.
- Nominators can nominate any Australian individual or organisation. Self-nomination is welcome.
- The AAUS appointed judging panel will judge nominations against the judging criteria for each award category.
- Submissions for any award must be received by 5:00 pm (AEST) Monday May 12, 2025 .
- Finalists for each award category will be announced on May 22, 2025.
- Award Winners will be announced that the AAUS Gala DInner (held in conjunction with the RPAS in Australian Skies conference 2025) in Canberra on Tuesday June 17, 2025.
