Professor Peter Numa Joubert has had a long and distinguished academic career. He was first appointed a lecturer in Mechanical engineering at the University of Melbourne in 1953, specializing in fluid mechanics. In 1954, he visited MIT where he built and tested high-speed catamarans in a towing tank. When he returned to the University of Melbourne he was responsible for the construction of many wind tunnels and supervised much of the initial research conducted in the fluid mechanics laboratory – mainly in smooth and rough wall turbulent boundary layers. He has also designed innovative wind tunnels such as a rotating wind tunnel to investigate the effects of rotation on the evolution of turbulent boundary layers. In the early years, Professor Joubert recognized the importance of fundamental research in fluid dynamics and encouraged distinguished academics such as Professor George Batchelor to visit the University of Melbourne . He also stressed the importance of publishing in quality journals and the impact of citations, long before the use of the ISI Scientific Citation to measure the importance of research publications. Peter laid the foundation for many successful research programs at the University of Melbourne and his inspired vision has made the Walter Bassett Aerodynamics Laboratory an internationally recognized centre of fluid dynamics research.

Pete r Jo ubert was a World War II fighter pilot and while on active duty in New Guinea , personally experienced the role that seat belts could play in saving lives. His research on road safety has led him to be widely sought out as a consultant on road safety issues, and he has often acted as an expert witness in road accident cases. He has been an advisor on road safety to the Commonwealth and State Governments. He chaired specialist committees and is credited with being the instigator of legislation leading to the compulsory use of seat belts in motor vehicles, now adopted in all major countries and proven to have saved thousands of lives. He was awarded a medal in the Order of Australia in 1996 for his contributions to road and yacht safety.

Pete r Jo ubert is also well known for his yacht designs and there have been more than a hundred yachts built to his designs. He has been an annual competitor in the Sydney to Hobart race on 27 separate occasions, each time being in a yacht of his own design. Mercifully he survived the storm of 1998, despite his yacht having turned upside down before being righted. In 1993 he was awarded the Commodore’s medal of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia for outstanding seamanship after his crew rescued eight survivors from a sunken yacht at night in a strong gale.

Peter has authored or co-authored over a hundred scientific papers, including 24 papers in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and 10 papers in the Journal of Ship Research. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He was awarded the AGM Michell medal by the College of Mechanical Engineers in 2001.

Peter Joubert retired in 1989 but has continued his research as an Emeritus Professor at the University. His recent work includes the study of separating flow about a submarine body while engaged in a turning manoeuvre. He has also been advising the Department of Defence and senior naval officers on the shape of a new hull for the Collins class submarine.

This award is to be made to Peter Numa Joubert for his outstanding contributions to engineering research.