Professors Vinayak Dixit and Denis O'Carroll have been honoured for outstanding contributions in transport and environmental remediation.
UNSW Sydney researchers who are transforming transport systems and solving complex environmental challenges globally are among the winners at the 2025 Engineers Australia Achievement Awards.
Professors Vinayak Dixit and Denis O'Carroll from UNSW's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering were awarded for their exceptional achievements at a ceremony in Sydney last night.
UNSW Dean of Engineering Professor Julien Epps congratulated the pair, whose pioneering research has improved the lives of people and the world.
"Vinayak and Denis are exceptional engineers and are highly deserving of these awards which honour Australia's best engineers. They are leaders in their respective fields, producing ground-breaking and innovative research, teaching and working with industry to deliver tangible benefits to society. I'm proud to have them as colleagues and I'm excited to watch how their work continues to make an impact in the coming years," Prof. Epps said.
Transforming transport technology
Prof. Dixit, an expert in transport systems and Associate Vice-President of Global Research and Innovation at UNSW, was awarded the 2025 Achievement Award in Transport.
Prof. Dixit works on developing and implementing new technologies into transport systems, such as connected automated vehicles (including self-driving capabilities), electric vehicles and complex transport networks. He has worked extensively with a range of organisations, including Google, IAG (Insurance Australia Group), Ford, DWAVE (quantum computing) and GoGet to improve their technologies and produce better, safer and more user-friendly systems.
As the founding director of the Travel Choice Simulation Laboratory (TRACSLab) at UNSW, a world-first in multi-modal, multi-user transportation visualisation platforms, Prof. Dixit has worked on answering fundamental questions relating to travel choice, drivers' behaviour, risk, safety, automotive technology, and infrastructure design. The technology he developed in the Lab has significantly reduced the cost of driving simulators. It has been used by insurers and car manufacturers to test and develop Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), and has supported Austroads and Transport for New South Wales in designing and developing tunnels and safe cycling paths. It has also been commercialised, with simulators exported to Singapore, India, Nepal and Papua New Guinea.
Prof. Dixit was drawn to transport by the opportunity to tackle difficult, real-world issues.
"Transport has so many inherent complexities that sit at the intersection of economics, communities, engineering and politics, and finding solutions through these complexities has tangible impacts on our communities. It's exciting to be part of a field that 'drives' prosperity," he said.
As UNSW's Director of Global Research and Innovation, Prof. Dixit also manages the University's Global Research and Impact Project seed grants and the Global Landing Pads Awards to help UNSW startups grow globally.
Advancing environmental safety
Prof. Denis O'Carroll, Deputy Head of School (Research) for Civil and Environmental Engineering, was presented with the 2025 Environmental Engineer Achievement Award.
A world-leading researcher, Prof. O'Carroll is known for tackling some of the most challenging and under-addressed issues in environmental engineering. His early work focused on using nanotechnologies to clean up polluted groundwater, and he has more recently emerged as a global leader in addressing PFAS, the persistent "forever chemicals" that threaten human health and ecosystems. His research has led to innovative, scalable treatment technologies to destroy PFAS, solutions that were previously unavailable or prohibitively expensive. His work is also shaping policy, industry practice and regulation in Australia and worldwide.
Prof. O'Carroll said adequate access to safe drinking water was one of the world's great challenges.
"More than 2 billion people around the world don't have adequate access to safe drinking water. I'm passionate about tackling this problem to ensure that this life-dependent resource is available to everyone," he said.
As well as bridging the gaps in current water treatment technologies, Prof. O'Carroll also informs city planning strategies to improve urban climate resilience and mitigate public health risks associated with PFAS contamination.
He has also contributed to the global understanding of environmental contaminants through his prolific research publications and international collaborations. His research has been cited in policy documents, used in court proceedings and applied in field trials worldwide, benefitting communities globally.
Find full coverage of the awards on the Engineers Australia website .
