{"id":31767,"date":"2026-07-30T15:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T07:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=oasis-news&#038;p=31767"},"modified":"2026-07-30T15:51:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T07:51:00","slug":"curtin-phd-researcher-recognized-at-35th-waitta-incite-tech-awards","status":"publish","type":"oasis-news","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/oasis-news\/curtin-phd-researcher-recognized-at-35th-waitta-incite-tech-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtin PhD Researcher Recognized at 35th WAITTA INCITE Tech Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Reading time: 1 minute.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Curtin University PhD researcher Shanelle Tennekoon has secured two awards at the 35th annual WAITTA INCITE Awards gala ceremony, held on July 17, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shanelle was recognized in both the Research &amp; Development Solution and Diversity &amp; Digital Inclusion categories with 2 merit awards for her work on SmartWheel\u2014 an AI-powered guidance system for assistive wheelchairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SmartWheel integrates computer vision and artificial intelligence to assist wheelchair users with complex physical disabilities. The technology automates high-precision navigation tasks such as doorway traversal and obstacle avoidance to improve safety, independence, and spatial mobility for users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the INCITE Awards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Organized by the Western Australian Information Technology and Telecommunications Alliance (WAITTA), the INCITE Awards are Western Australia\u2019s longest running and most prestigious technology awards program. The annual event serves as a premier showcase for local research and tech innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shanelle\u2019s dual victory highlights the strength of Curtin\u2019s research environment in turning complex artificial intelligence and computer vision research into accessible, real-world solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Curtin University PhD researcher Shanelle Tennekoon has secured two awards at the 35th annual WAITTA INCITE Awards gala ceremony | Reading time: 1 min<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4499,"featured_media":31768,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"6783,7238,8338,4558,26882,7726","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_oasis-categories":0,"footnotes":""},"oasis-categories":[250],"class_list":["post-31767","oasis-news","type-oasis-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","oasis-categories-student-profile"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Shanelle-Tennekoon1920-x-1080-px-1920x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Mangoba","display_name":"Alex Mangoba"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-06 21:03:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/31767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/oasis-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/31767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-categories?post=31767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}