Geoffrey Wickham

He was elected an Honorary Life Governor of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney in 1982, and was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in June 2000 "for service to the design of medical equipment, particularly in the development of the implantable cardiac pacemaker".

[4]Wickham had no formal engineering training, finishing High School at Year 8 to commence work as a radio and electrical repairman.

At age 21 he passed the Year 12 examinations by night study at the South Australian School of Mines and Industries, while working as a technician at the Department of Supply, Long Range Weapons Establishment in South Australia, and being appointed the same year on merit as an electrical engineer at graduate level by T.C.A.

Subsequently, while continuing involvement in bio-engineering (particularly in paediatrics), he studied aerodynamics and structural engineering, which led to construction of a fuel efficient light aircraft which was awarded the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia's Henry Millicer Innovation Award for Best Australian Technical Innovation or Design in 1998.

At age 77, he was the lead co-researcher of a team at Sydney's The Children's Hospital at Westmead developing and clinically trialling a new form of therapy for a childhood condition, funded by a AUS$330,000 grant by the National Health and Medical Research Council.