Person

Wenham, Stuart Ross (1957 - 2017)

FTSE

Born
15 July 1957
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died
23 December 2017
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Electrical engineer

Summary

Stuart Wenham was a pioneer in solar engineering and at the forefront of commercialisation of solar power technology for nearly 40 years. He invented or co-invented suites of solar cell technologies. One of these was advanced hydrogen passivation, which uses lasers to control the charge of hydrogen atoms in the silicon wafers of solar panels, and significantly increases the efficiency of solar cells. With Martin Green and Shi Zhengrong, Wenham developed the thin-film cells CSG (crystalline silicon on glass), the large-scale manufacture of which significantly reduced production costs of silicon wafers. These technologies were adopted by energy companies world-wide had a major impact on renewable energy generation.

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Details

Chronology

? - 2017
Career position - Director of Academic Studies, University of New South Wales
? - 2017
Career position - Director, Centre of Excellence for Advanced Photovoltaics and Photonics, University of New South Wales
1980
Education - BSc and BEng, University of New South Wales
1986
Education - PhD, University of New South Wales
1988
Career event - Appointed Lecturer, University of New South Wales
1989 - 2003
Career position - Professor, University of New South Wales
1990 -
Career position - Associate Director, Photovoltaic Special Research Centre, University of New South Wales
1992
Award - CSIRO External Medal (with Martin Green)
1992
Career position - Senior Member, Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, United Kingdom
1992 - 1998
Career position - Member, Editorial Board, Progress in Photovoltaics
1996
Award - Special Investigators Award, Australian Research Council
1997
Career position - International Co-Chair, 26th Institution of Engineering and Technology Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Anaheim, California, U.S.A.
1999
Award - Australia Prize in the field of energy science and technology (with Martin Green), Commonwealth of Australia
1999 - 2017
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)
1 Jan 2001
Award - Centenary Medal - for service to Australian society in electrical engineering
2003 - 2017
Career position - Scientia Professor, University of New South Wales
2005 - 2017
Career position - Chief Technology Officer, Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd
2008
Award - Clunies Ross National Science and Technology Award, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
2009
Award - Cherry Award, 34th Institution of Engineering and Technology Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
2011
Award - Award for Climate Change and Environment, New South Wales Science and Engineering Awards
2011
Award - J. J. Ebers Award, International Electron Devices, Group, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
2013
Award - A. F. Harvey Engineering Prize, Institution of Engineering and Technology, United Kingdom
2017
Award - Fellow, Royal Society of New South Wales

Related Awards

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • Anon, 'Stuart Wenham remembered as a pioneer of energy research', ATSE focus, 205 (2018), 43, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-603686632. Details
  • Corkish, Richard, 'The genesis of the first specialist PV Bachelor of Engineering program: the educational legacy of Stuart Ross Wenham', Progress in photovoltaics: research and applications, 29 (11) (2021), 1149-57, https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3183. Details
  • Green, Martin, Barnett, Allen, Honsberg, Christiana, Ciesla, Alison and Ashworth, Paul, 'Editorial for Stuart Wenham special issue', Progress in photovoltaics: research and applications, 29 (11) (2021), 1147-8, https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3471. Details

Newspaper Articles

Resources

See also

  • Who's who in Australia 2012 (Melbourne: Crown Content Pty Ltd, 2012), 2430 pp. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 29 May 2018, Last modified: 17 January 2023

EOAS ID: biogs/P006055b.htm

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