Frater, Robert Henry (Bob) (1937 - )

Summary

Bob Frater is Vice President for Innovation at ResMed Ltd. He currently holds several other consulting and Board positions. Frater has researched electronics, telecommunications, radioastronomy instrumentation, electroacoustics and biomedical devices for over 40 years. He was responsible for ground-breaking techniques in instrumentation and systems for radioastronomy and optical astronomy and obtained funding and directed the construction of the Australia Telescope at Narrabri, NSW. In the 1980s and 90s, he played critical roles in CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) as a science administrator. Bob Frater has been awarded many honors for his work.

Details

Chronology

1954 - 1959

Career position - Trainee Engineer at AWA Ltd. (Amalgamated Wireless Australasia)

1958

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Sydney

1958 - 1960

Education - Bachelor of Engineering (BE), University of Sydney

1960

Career position - Engineer with the Overseas Telecommunications Commission

1960 - 1961

Career position - Applications Engineer at Ducon Industries

1961 - 1963

Career position - Research Assistant then Senior Research Assistant in the School of Engineering, University of Sydney

1963 - 1967

Career position - Nuttfield Research Fellow, University of Sydney

1967

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Sydney

1968 - 1974

Career position - Lecturer then Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, University of Sydney

1972

Award - Fellow, Institution of Radio and Electronics Engineers, Australia (FIREE)

1972

Career position - Member of the International Astronomical Union

1974 - 1980

Career position - Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Sydney

1978

Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1979 -

Career position - Member of the International Astronomical Union

1980

Career position - Chief Designate of the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Division of Radiophysics

1980

Award - Norman W.V. Hayes Medal, Institution of Radio and Electronics Engineers

1980

Career position - Professor Director of Fleurs Observatory (University of Sydney)

1980 - 1986

Career position - Chairman, National Committee for Radio Sciences of the Australian Academy of Science (Member 1976 -1980)

1981 - 1988

Career position - Chief of the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics

1982

Education - Doctor of Science in Engineering (DScEng), University of Sydney

1982 - 1987

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (FTS)

1982 - 1988

Career position - Director of the Australian Telescope Project and Chair of the Australian Telescope Advisory Committee

1983

Award - Pawsey Lecturer for the Australian Institute of Physics

1984 -

Career position - Member of the Australian Optical Society

1984

Career position - Senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Inc. USA

1984

Award - Centennial Medal - for Radioastronomy and Electroacoustics, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

1984 - 1987

Career position - Vice-Chairman of Commission J of the International Union of Radio Science

1985

Career position - Member of the COSPAR (Committee On Space Research) ad hoc Committee of Space VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry)

1985 - 1988

Career position - Member of the Very Long Baseline Array Advisory Committee of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, USA

1986 - 1989

Career position - Chair of the Australian Telecommunications and Electronics Research Board / Radio Research Board (Member from 1981, Deputy Chairman from 1984)

1987 -

Career position - Member of the National Committee for Astronomy for the Australian Academy of Science

1987

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) [Awarded by AATS 1982]

1987 - 1990

Career position - Chairman of Commission J of the International Union of Radio Science

1988

Career position - Director of Ausonics Pty. Ltd.

1988

Award - Fellow, Astronomical Society of Australia (FASA)

1988 - 1989

Career position - Director of Siromath Pty Ltd

1988 - 1996

Career position - Director of the CSIRO Institute of Information Science and Engineering

1989 -

Career position - Member of the Australia Telescope Steering Committee

1989 - 1990

Career position - Director of The Preston Group Pty. Ltd.

1989 - 1991

Career position - Director of Triune Pty. Ltd.

1989 - 1993

Career position - Chairman, Anglo-Australian Telescope Board (Member since 1981)

1991 - 1992

Career position - Director of the Australian Computing and Communications Institute

1991 - 1993

Career position - Director of the Technology Development Corporation Board of South Australia

1992

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1993 - 1995

Career position - Chairman of IR&D Board Information, Communications & Electronics Committee (Member from 1991-1993)

1995

Career position - Member of the Review Committee for CSIRO

1995 - 1997

Career position - Director of AWA Ltd.

1996

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) - In recognition of service to radio astronomy.

1996 - 1997

Career position - Vice President of the Australian Academy of Science (Member of Council from 1995-1997)

1997 - 1999

Career position - Deputy Chief Executive of CSIRO

1998 - 1999

Career position - Director of XRT Pty Ltd

1999 -

Career position - Vice-President for Innovation at ResMed Ltd.

1999

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), honoris causa, Macquarie University in New South Wales

1999 - 2000

Career position - Special Adviser to the Chief Executive of CSIRO

1999 - 2004

Career position - Member of Council at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

1999 - 2004

Career position - Adjunct Professor of Electronics at Macquarie University

2000 -

Career position - Chief Technology Officer at Innovation Capital Associates Pty. Ltd.

2000 -

Career position - Chair of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Consortium

2001

Award - Centenary Medal - For outstanding service to industrial research and radio astronomy.

2001 - 2004

Career position - Member of the Australian Astronomy Board of Management

2001 - 2004

Career position - Board member of RMIT International University in Vietnam

2002 -

Career position - Director, Neuromonics Limited

2002 -

Career position - Council member, Australian Academy of Science

2003 -

Career position - Board member, Australian Business Foundation

2004 -

Career position - Vice President and Secretary of Physical Sciences, Australian Academy of Science

2005 -

Career position - Member of the CRC (Cooperative Research Centre) Committee of the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Bhathal, Ragbir, Australian Astronomers: Achievements at the Frontiers of Astronomy (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1996), 243 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Frater, R. H.; and Ekers, R. D., 'John Paul Wild AC CBE FAA FTSE. 17 May 1923 - 10 May 2008', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 58 (2012), 327-46, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2012.0034. Details
• Frater, R. H.; and Ekers, R. D., 'John Paul Wild 1923-2008', Historical Records of Australian Science, 23 (2) (2012), 212-27, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR12011. Details
• Frater, R. H.; and Goss, W. M., 'Wilbur Norman Christiansen 1913-2007', Historical Records of Australian Science, 22 (2) (2011), 215-28, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR11012. Details
• Frater, R. H.; Goss, W. M.; and Wendt, H. W., 'Bernard Yarnton Mills AC FAA. 8 August 1920 - 25 April 2011', Biographical memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 59 (2013), 215-39, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2013.0015. Details

Resources

• 'Frater, Robert (19370812-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-504150. Details

Resource Sections

• Ward, C., 'Robert Henry (Bob) Frater', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Frater-Robert-Henry. Details