4 tips for victory from an award-winning academic

It was a night of double celebration in 2021 for the Distinguished Professor in Electromagnetic and Antenna Engineering at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) School of Electrical and Data Engineering after he won both the Academic of the Year and Excellence Award at the 2021 Australian Defence Industry Awards.

Defence Connect is thrilled to host the fourth annual awards this year with principal partner KBR and recognise the best and brightest in Australia’s defence industry across 10 individual and 18 company categories.

Scheduled to take place on Thursday, 15 September at the National Convention Centre in Canberra, the black-tie gala awards ceremony will celebrate those professionals and businesses who have gone above and beyond to build a stronger and more innovative defence ecosystem.

At the end of the ceremony, one person will be selected from all individual category winners as the recipient of the coveted Excellence Award.

Submissions are peer-reviewed by a panel of trusted and well-respected judges.

Know your target audience

To impress the judges and increase their prospects of succeeding at this year’s awards ceremony, Professor Esselle urged entrants to be meticulous in addressing the selection criteria.

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Alongside this, he suggested that applicants should customise their submissions based on the judges’ field, background, and interests.

“Target your submissions to the judges and write to the panel,” he emphasised.

“For example, if the panel is entirely academic, write using academic jargon. However, if the panel is filled with engineers, use engineering language. But if it’s a diverse panel of experienced managers, engineers, and scientists, you have to write to a wider audience.

“So, try to understand their background and interests and grab their attention by tailoring your submission.”

Submissions provide an opportunity for award entrants to showcase the depth of their talent, demonstrate their results through the use of figures and metrics, and highlight how they have propelled the Australian defence industry forward.

As such, Professor Esselle advised them to utilise all the space available in their submission forms to illustrate their achievements.

“If you can write 500 words, then try to write as close to that as possible, and use all the space available,” he said.

“Don’t just write 100 words, unless you don’t have anything else to write.”

A picture’s worth a thousand words

Including additional supplementary material such as letters of recommendation, photos and graphics would also bolster the submission quality as these provide a visual demonstration of the entrants’ achievements, according to Professor Esselle.

“Photos, graphics, and figures can catch a judge’s eyes. You need to find something that will set you apart from the crowd and make sure judges take notice,” he said.

Most importantly, applicants should not be discouraged if they fail to win or qualify as a finalist, he added.

“Even qualifying as a finalist is a great achievement. But if you don’t become a finalist, try next time. Just keep trying,” Professor Esselle stressed.

Spurring others to nominate in future

Last year, Professor Esselle was recognised at the awards ceremony for partaking in critical and strategic defence projects for the government, along with a team of participants at UTS, Macquarie University and the University of New South Wales.

In addition, Professor Esselle, in his capacity as an academic, has mentored research and development engineers, research associates and PhD students who have succeeded in securing positions in the Australian defence industry.

With expertise in telecommunications, defence and space technologies (including imaging surveillance from space), Professor Esselle has been involved in the Australian Future Submarine Combat System Program managed by Lockheed Martin Australia.

Since 2002, his research team has been involved with research grants, and contracts with PhD scholarships worth over $20 million, including 15 Australian Research Council grants.

“I was humbled by the Australian Defence Industry Awards last year. It means a lot to me and my team,” Professor Esselle said.

“In terms of real outcomes, it enhanced my career profile. I bumped into several people during defence industry meetings. When I introduced myself, they said they knew who I was and that I had won the awards last year.”

Moreover, Professor Esselle said his victory has motivated his team to nominate themselves for the awards in the future.

“We have teams across several organisations as we collaborate with defence departments. It would be very exciting to potentially nominate several people or teams from multiple organisations for company awards,” he said.

To enter the awards, register your account through our secure awards platform and fill in the details of your submissions. When you’re happy with your submission, press save and lodge it.

Nominations and submissions close on Thursday, 21 July.

Click here to submit an entry or nominate a worthy colleague for a chance to take centrestage and walk home with a trophy.

For more information about the awards program, including categories and judging process, click here.