Homepage Pearcey Foundation newsroom
Register as BUSINESS Register as PR AGENCY Register as JOURNALIST

Pioneering Founder of BrainChip Peter van der Made Recognised with 2024 Western Australian Pearcey Award

Announcement posted by Pearcey Foundation 19 Aug 2024

The Pearcey Foundation today announced Peter van der Made, founder of BrainChip, as the recipient of the 2024 Western Australian Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The award was presented as part of the 33rd annual WAITTA INCITE Awards, Western Australia's longest running Tech Awards program.

Peter van der Made has been at the forefront of computer innovation for 45 years, and the pioneer of neuromorphic artificial intelligence (AI). The word neuromorphic means "like the brain" and the human brain was Peter's inspiration for designing a novel and innovative AI technology that replicates the way the human brain processes sensory data. BrainChip, the company founded by Peter in Perth, developed Akida, the world's first and only commercially available neuromorphic AI processor.

The significance of this breakthrough is globally important. Peter's neuromorphic design overturns more than 75 years of chip design based almost exclusively on " Von Neumann architecture", which is the common design template for virtually all current modern silicon chips used in data processing.

The secret to BrainChip's Akida neuromorphic processor is that it works on a "Spiking Neural Network" or SNN, which is an event-based neural processor. This means Akida (which means "spike" in Greek) only consumes power when it processes new data and detects a spike, which makes it ideally suited to edge AI applications as consumers look for more sustainable and responsible alternatives to the existing power-hungry chip design.

"I first met Peter in late 2012 when he joined what was then known as the Innovation Centre of WA as an incubator tenant. At the time, he was in the early stages of developing BrainChip and the Akida technology. His visionary boldness in imagining a completely different approach to chip design was fascinating and incredibly inspiring to watch," said Pia Turcinov, who nominated Peter for the award, and was the Pearcey WA Entrepreneur of the Year award recipient in 2023. 

"Peter's ability to transform this vision and build BrainChip into an ASX-listed company with a market value of over $491M is to be celebrated and showcased. There are not many WA-born companies outside of the resources sector that can demonstrate this outsized achievement on the global stage. Today, Brainchip is one of the highest traded stocks on the ASX by volume and is a valued ecosystem partner of many of the world's largest and most influential technology companies."

Accepting the award via video, Peter said: "I'm deeply honoured to accept the Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award for WA. BrainChip is renowned globally as a pioneer in neuromorphic processing hardware for artificial intelligence, a testament to the dedication of our incredible team. Starting from our roots at the Curtin University Innovation Centre, we have forged partnerships with major corporations worldwide, achieving milestones that once seemed beyond our reach. This award is a testament to the collective efforts and unwavering commitment of everyone at BrainChip."

As the WA Pearcey Award recipient, Peter van der Made will represent the state in the Pearcey National Awards to be held on 18 November 2024 in Brisbane.

For more information about previous Western Australian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award recipients, go to https://www.pearcey.org.au/awards/state/wa.

Other State Awards

The 2024 Pearcey Oration

The 2024 Pearcey Oration will be delivered by Dr Ian Oppermann. Ian is co-founder of ServiceGen, helping governments accelerate digital service delivery. He is an Industry Professor at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and member of the board for multiple deep technology start-ups.

During his Oration, Dr Oppermann will explore the exciting future for Australia as we embrace the latest in digital technologies and services to improve our lives, strengthen our economy and bolster our competitive position globally. He will explore challenges, issues and opportunities for equity, AI, privacy, standards and collaboration.

For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://www.pearcey.org.au/events/orations/2024-oration-booking.

--

About the Pearcey Foundation
The Pearcey Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey. By celebrating the heroes in our industry, past present and future, the Foundation is looking to attract and encourage young Australians into this most exciting of global high technology sectors of our nation.

Web: www.pearcey.org.au

X: @Pearcey_org #PearceyAwards

LinkedIn: Pearcey Foundation #PearceyAwards