Dr David Hawking of the CSIRO ICT Centre has been awarded the inaugural Chris Wallace Award for Research Contribution from the Computing Research and Education Association (CORE).

Dr Hawking is one of Australia's foremost researchers in the field of internet search, leading the team that developed Panoptic^® - an enterprise search engine enjoying ever-growing popularity.

Dr Hawking says that organisations are increasingly aware of the importance of enterprise search to their success.

"Internet search engines like Google make it easy to locate a business or other organisation - but that is only half the job," says Dr Hawking.

"Enterprise search is what allows visitors to locate goods, services and relevant information, once they have found your site."

Dr Hawking's research interests encompass both improved methodologies and technologies for search, and novel applications of search.

The team's most recent success is the development of an integrated Panoptic^® search function as part of the AnnodexTM plug-in for Mozilla Firefox. AnnodexTM is CSIRO-developed technology for seamless browsing and searching of video, audio and other time-continuous media.

The Chris Wallace Award was presented on 31 January at the University of Newcastle as part of Australian Computer Science Week.

Renamed in August 2004 in tribute to Professor Christopher Wallace, one of the greatest and most influential thinkers in computer science in Australia, the award recognises research undertaken within a university or research institution in Australia or New Zealand. The awardee is chosen by a panel of peers from an extensive field of nominees.

CORE is a professional association of university departments and research institutes of computer science and information technology in Australia and New Zealand, which facilitates professional development, assists in the advancement of research and teaching, and to provides a forum for discussion of matters of common interest.