Indian scientist wins Australian award

CANBERRA, MAY 15. The CSIRO Minerals scientist, Dr. Bill Mathew, has won a 2000 Clunies Ross National Science and Technology Award for research that led to on-line analysis techniques worth millions of dollars to the Australian minerals industry.

Dr. Mathew, a nuclear physicist, recognised that natural gamma radiation could be used to perform instantaneous analysis of coal and ore while it was transported on conveyor belts.

His research led to the development of several on-line analysis instruments, which now bring millions of dollars worth of benefits to the minerals industry and significant opportunities for their Australian manufacturers.

``The technology is a very simple one,'' says Dr. Mathew. ``It is based on the fact that all geological materials, such as coal, have minor traces of radioactive elements such as Potassium, Uranium and Thorium.'' This radiation could be used to measure the composition of coal and ores.

Dr. Bill Mathew's home town is Kallooppara, near Thiruvalla, Kerala. He studied for B.Sc. and M.Sc. (Physics) at Union Christian College, Alwaye, Kerala. Took Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Joined CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) in 1971 to work in nuclear geophysics. Received the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy's Mineral Industry Operating Technique Award in 1988.

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