Science Meets Business | 23 October 2017
‘THE QUANTUM GAMBLE’, the cover story of the first issue of INGENUITY magazine, took out the Single Article of the Year trophy at Ausralia's annual Publish Awards held before a crowd of 500 media professionals at The Westin Sydney.
INGENUITY is a new publication, produced by Refraction Media and styled as a popular science magazine, that applies a journalistic feature-based approach to stories on the best research and innovation at the Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales.
The winning story focusses on the combined efforts of UNSW engineers Andrea Morello and Andrew Dzurak, along with UNSW physicist Michelle Simmons, in their quest to build a universal quantum computer. These could exponentially increase computing speeds and revolutionise cryptography and payments.
Judges praised the article for its clarity and insight, which and also gives an overview of the five leading designs being pursued around the world.
The article overcame stiff competition from the other finalists – a profile of singer Nick Cave by Mark Mordue in Neighbourhood Paper, and a crime investigation by Brett Williams in Police Journal – to clinch the prize for science journalist Wilson da Silva.
Judges praised the article for its clarity and insight, which and also gives an overview of the five leading designs being pursued around the world.
“Science has thrilling stories to tell. Even a complex topic like quantum mechanics has drama, tension and a deeply human story of people on a quest,” said da Silva.
“Science has thrilling stories to tell. Even a complex topic like quantum mechanics has drama, tension and a deeply human story of people on a quest.”
“That’s definitely the case with this story, which has dozens of competing teams, five mind-boggling designs, the world’s best minds and a race to build the most powerful computer ever devised. All I had to do was find a path through one the most complex topics in science in a way that highlighted that drama.
“I am delighted to win, but could not have done it without the help and support of the researchers involved, who patiently worked with me on almost a dozen drafts, and the creativity and tolerance of Refraction Media, who laboured assiduously to make the article a success.”
INGENUITY was also a finalist for the Launch of the Year trophy for Refraction Media, but was ultimately beaten by Camper, published by Adventures Group Holdings. The annual Mumbrella Publish Awards recognises the best work in consumer, business-to-business and custom publishing across print and digital.
You can read a reprint of 'The Quantum Gamble' here.
An abridged version of this story was published in Science Meets Business, 23 October 2017.