Award for engineering with real-world impact

Associate Professor Jiao Jiao Li is on a mission to bring biomedical innovations into the real world and improve people’s lives.

The leading biomedical engineer has won a swag of national awards for her research, including a Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science, Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research, Premier’s Prize for NSW Early Career Researcher of the Year, and NSW Young Tall Poppy Scientist of the Year.

Now she has been recognised for her real-world impact by winning Professional Engineer of the Year (Sydney) award from Engineers Australia, the only academic researcher nominated from a field of industry professionals.

“As a biomedical engineer, I’ve had the privilege of developing technologies that improve the way we treat complex diseases,” she said.

“For example, I’m harnessing stem cells to produce nanoscale therapeutics for osteoarthritis and helping tackle a crippling disease that affects more than 600 million people across the globe.”

Associate Professor Li is also known for her advocacy work, both for the engineering profession and STEM more broadly, with a passion for getting science and engineering into the community.

“Alongside engineering innovation, I am grateful to have helped define what engineering can mean and where it can have impact,” she said.

“That includes educating future engineers, bringing an engineering voice into policy and leadership, and engaging with communities who may not have imagined engineering as part of their lives.”