Hail To The Chief Of Science

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday October 24, 2008

Deborah Smith Science Editor

TURNING problems such as climate change into business opportunities for the state will be a priority of its first chief scientist and scientific engineer, Mary O'Kane.

Professor O'Kane, a former CSIRO board member and a one-time vice-chancellor of the University of Adelaide, who was appointed yesterday, said NSW's manufacturing base and excellent scientific and engineering research made it well suited for building new green industries.

"We have the best solar technology in the world here," she said, referring to photovoltaic solar cells developed at the University of NSW by a team led by Professor Martin Green, who received the inaugural NSW Scientist of the Year award last month.

Announcing the appointment of Professor O'Kane, the Premier, Nathan Rees, said she would also advise the Government on issues including public health, science education, nanotechnology, genetically modified food, and other emerging technologies. "Professor O'Kane will consult widely with academia, industry and government to ensure scientific knowledge and research can be adapted and used to benefit NSW," the Premier said.

Born in central Queensland, and an expert in computerised speech recognition, Professor O'Kane has sat on many high-level committees, including the Australian Research Council and the panel for the Federal Government's recent Review of the National Innovation System.

She recently chaired reviews of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Co-operative Research Centres Program.

Although much of her career has been spent interstate, Professor O'Kane said she felt at home in Sydney, where she has run a business advising governments, universities and the private sector on innovation for the past six years. "Sydney is an exciting city," she said.

Compared with Queensland and Victoria, NSW has been slow to appoint a chief scientist.

Professor O'Kane said the state had also tended to "undersell" itself as a centre for scientific research and innovation.

"We may be late getting going, but we're probably going to surge forward and surge past them [the other states]," she said.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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