Two STEM leaders join Australian Research Council's College of Experts

Professors Elaine Wong and Michelle Watt have been appointed to the Australian Research Council College of Experts for 2022-2025 in recognition of their outstanding international research leadership.

Professor Wong is Associate Dean (Diversity and Inclusion) of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology (FEIT) and has made exceptional contributions to optical communications and networking research.

Among many notable contributions, Professor Wong is internationally recognised for having advanced the technique of self-seeding and injection-locking of lasers for broadband optical networks to provide cost efficiency.

She has also made numerous significant contributions in the fields of Tactile Internet, energy-efficient transceiver technologies and networking, multi-access edge computing and cloudlets, integration of optical/wireless/cellular networks, network resiliency, performance monitoring, and resource allocation of optical, wireless, LTE, 5G and beyond networks.

Professor Michelle Watt holds the Adrienne Clarke Chair of Botany in the Faculty of Science’s School of BioSciences.

Professor Watt uses imaging and sensor technologies in the field and lab, undertaking modelling to understand how roots function in the world’s increasingly dynamic climates. Her research aims to reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment, while increasing farmer productivity, by breeding and managing more resource-efficient root-soil systems.

She has worked on multi-partner projects with Australia, the USA, India, the Philippines, UK and Germany in the under-studied, but critical area of plant roots.

The Australian Research Council appoints experts of international standing from the Australian research community following a rigorous process. The Council’s College of Experts assists the Council with identifying research excellence, supporting the advancement of knowledge through research and contributing to national innovation.