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An internationally recognised biomechanical engineer from The University of Western Australia has been awarded the prestigious Humboldt Research Award in Germany.

Professor Karol Miller, from UWA’s Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory and School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, was elected a Laureate of Humboldt Research Award for his pioneering work in the field of biomechanics of soft tissues for surgical simulation.

In 2013, Professor Miller and colleagues at UWA and Harvard Medical School developed a new technique to help neurosurgeons predict how the brain would move during surgery.

His research program aims to translate the success of computational sciences to bio-medicine and lead to a new exciting era of personalised medicine based on patient-specific scientific computation.

Professor Miller and colleague Professor Adam Wittek were recognised by Engineers Australia in 2012 with the Sir George Julius medal for their ground-breaking research into the use of engineering computations in image-guided surgery.

The Humboldt award is granted in recognition of a researcher's entire achievements to date and for academics whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future.

The 60,000 Euro award ($88,248 AUD) also involves an invitation to undertake extended research with colleagues at a research institution in Germany.

The Alexander von Humboldt foundation presents the award to internationally renowned scientists and scholars each year. The Foundation promotes academic cooperation between leading scientists and scholars from Germany and around the world.

The award is named after the Prussian nature researcher, scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859).

Media references

Professor Karol Miller (UWA School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering)

David Stacey (UWA Media and Public Relations Manager)        (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716