With over 5,000 employees managing hundreds of research projects that stretch from deep earth imaging to atmospheric modelling, from tracing the mechanics of viral infection up to preventing country-wide breakouts of foot and mouth, it’s easy to see our hands are always full.

It’s just as well then that we put down our work for a moment to give ourselves a well-earned pat on the back with the CSIRO Awards!

The CSIRO Awards, now in its 31^st year, highlights teams and individuals whose research specially benefit Australian industry, society, and environment. There are a series of awards, rewarding commercially incisive science, positive impact science, and more. The crowning achievement though is the Chairman’s Medal. Here are three of the twelve winning teams:

CSIRO Entrepreneurship Award: BuildingIQ

BuildingIQ were the winners of the 2016 Entrepreneurship Award for taking research opportunities and turning them into commercial successes. BuildingIQ is a smart air-conditioning system that reduces unnecessary costs, benefitting the environment in the process.

The CSIRO Medal for Impact from Science: WIRADA

The Medal for Impact from Science went to WIRADA — the Water Information Research and Development Alliance — for quantifying our country’s water resources, in collaboration with the Bureau of Meteorology, to better understand, manage, and conserve our water use.

The Chairman’s Medal: Kebari Barley^TM

This year’s Chairman’s Medal goes to the team behind Kebari Barley^TM for the development of the world’s only gluten-free barley. Kebari Barley^TM has gone on to be used by Radeberger, a German brewer to make the world’s first gluten-free barley-based beer.

You can find out more about all of our amazing award winners here.