Road safety and ITS specialist Dr Paul Higgins is to receive ITS Australia’s highest honour, the Max Lay Lifetime Achievement Award.
Over more than 45 years, he "has been an active creator and innovator, leading the design and development of dozens of technology-enabled road safety products that have been deployed across Australia and internationally", ITS Australia says.
Higgins says: "I am both honoured and humbled to accept this award. I had spoken to Max Lay several times in the early 90’s at IVHS conferences, the organisation that preceded ITS. His gracious capacity to inspire aspiring engineers has remained with me and has sustained my interest in supporting engineering student research projects."
Beginning his career in the traffic signal unit at Brisbane City Council (BCC),Higgins also pursued an electrical apprenticeship and engineering qualification at QIT, and established the BCC Traffic Signal Laboratory, which was instrumental in developing Brisbane's Bliss wide area traffic management system during the evolution from relays to microprocessors in the mid-1970s.
He established a software engineering company in the late 1980s, followed by Excel Infotech in 1992 and its eventual expansion to the Excel Technology Group (ETG) in 1996.
ITS Australia says ETG’s R&D focus yielded over 30 innovative ITS products, securing five patents and garnering a reputation for reliability and quality.
"ETG has also delivered a highly successful range of detection solutions, which are widely deployed across Australia and internationally," the citation goes on.
"Paul’s pursuit of knowledge and excellence earned him a Queensland Government research Scholarship to attend the Engineering Entrepreneurship Development Program at MIT Sloan School of Management in 2007, further amplifying his contributions to the industry."
ITS Australia also points to ETG’s sponsorship of undergraduate and postgraduate research students: "Paul’s dedication to nurturing future talent was recognised by the Queensland University of Technology in 2007 when he was honoured with an Outstanding Mentoring of Students Award."
He was appointed adjunct associate professor in the School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Queensland in 2013, which became a six-year tenure, and received Life Membership of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers Society, "underscoring his profound impact and influence".
ITS Australia president Silje Troseth says: “Dr Paul Higgins has dedicated his entire career to the creation of products that have enhanced our nation's intelligent transport systems and made our roads and traffic network safer for all Australian road users.".
“Paul’s depth of knowledge, harnessed through an ITS career that includes government, academia and industry is to be celebrated, and his influence will be ongoing through the many transport detection solutions deployed locally and globally to which he has contributed.”
“Paul has also been a trailblazer when it comes to developing the next generation of ITS talent. From introducing a mentoring program for undergraduate and postgraduate students at his company Excel Technology Group, to his ongoing mentoring through the University of Queensland, Paul has ensured the future of Australia’s ITS industry is in capable hands.”
“On behalf of the ITS Australia board and industry, we congratulate Paul on his award,” concludes Troseth.
The Max Lay Lifetime Achievement Award is named in the honour of Dr Maxwell Lay, a pioneer, leader and ITS industry figurehead, who passionately advocated for the advancement of ITS in Australia, Asia-Pacific and around the world.
The trophy will be presented at ITS Australia Awards at the Sofitel Brisbane on 15 February 2024.
