Alex Hayes has been awarded the 2019 Young Professional Engineer of the Year WA Award at the Centenary Celebration Gala WA held at Optus Stadium at the beginning of August.

Hayes took home the award for his work on asset management projects within WA Health as well as his work with start-up Inova Medical, a company he co-founded. Hayes recently completed his PhD on the mechanical behaviour of tendinopathic tendons and is actively involved in research, particularly in orthopaedic surgery.

Hayes was thrilled he was even nominated for the award.

“I was surprised to be nominated, so I didn’t expect to be a finalist, let alone a winner,” Hayes said.

“It was an honour to be chosen from such a talented field of nominees.”

At Inova, Hayes is currently working on the commercialisation of an abscess draining device known as ‘Abcease’.

The project is moving along quickly, Inova is planning its first human trials of Abcease in the next year.

Hayes says that he is extremely excited about what the next 12 months holds.

“I am looking forward to continuing my work with EMHS to provide world class healthcare to WA,” Hayes said.

“I can’t wait to finally see the Abcease in action and am hoping that more exciting and challenging projects will come my way.”

With so many successful and ground-breaking projects already under his belt, Hayes wants to continue improving the healthcare system in WA.

Hayes says that his mentor, Rob Day, has had an incredible impact on his career and inspires him to work harder.

“My goal is to make a difference in the healthcare system,” Hayes said.

“I’m greatly inspired by my mentor, Rob Day, who has worked at Royal Perth Hospital for over 30 years. He’s worked on some truly innovative projects, and the significant impact he has had on patients, students and colleagues has had far reaching effects.

“My hope is that I can build on the legacy of Rob and the Engineers before him to bring Biomedical Engineering to the forefront of the health system.”

Hayes has faith that the projects he has worked on will make life better for people in Western Australia.

“My hope is that the projects that I have worked on, and those I’m still working on will save and improve the lives of WA patients,” Hayes said.

“I want to help provide state of the art treatment options and above all make healthcare in WA more affordable and accessible.”