The Sidney Edelstein Prize recognizes authors who create outstanding scholarly books on the history of technology. Established to honour Sidney Edelstein, founder of Dexter Chemical Company and internationally acclaimed expert on dyes and dye processes. Winners receive $3,500 along with a plaque. Books must have been published within three years prior to award day in English language publication format (prize not open for nominations yet for 2024 award).
Utilizing state-of-the-art technologies and experimental methodologies, SDY has designed techniques that have enhanced ultrafast electron diffraction to the subfemtosecond regime with high brightness sources and radio-frequency pulse compression techniques. His research has broad applications in materials physics ranging from imaging atoms in gases and liquids to understanding crystal structural dynamics – for which he received the distinguished Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Doctoral Prize in 2005.
SDY (also known as Sydney Pools) is a lottery game in which players select numbers with the hope that they correspond with those drawn during a random draw. Although its outcome ultimately lies with chance, some believe they can improve their odds by employing prediction strategies such as studying past results, identifying hot and cold numbers and developing mathematical models to calculate probability.
On Sunday, the Sydney Film Festival (SFF) concluded, and Brazilian director Kleber Mendonca Filho’s social justice drama Aquarius won top honors – winning $50,000 as an SDY Prize! Aquarius depicts the battle of an unscrupulous real estate developer against an determined homeowner and is described as being “witty, seductive and playful”.
As well as receiving a cash prize, the winner of SDY prize will have their work displayed during an exhibition during SFF alongside that of other winners. This is only the second year the prize has been offered – previous recipients include works by Jeremy Deller, David Hockney, and Yves Saint Laurent among many others.
SDY Prizes are open to all Australians. Winners are selected by a panel of judges from diverse sectors such as education, culture, business and the wider community, then presented during a special event at the Museum of Contemporary Art during SFF. SDY provides several additional awards and recognitions beyond its signature prize of $5,000 for films made by Indigenous filmmakers and a $10,000 filmmaking scholarship. Furthermore, eight Sydney Taylor honorees received silver medals, and 10 titles were recognized as notable books. SDY also granted the manuscript award for middle grade novels, with the full list of award recipients available on their website. SDY awards scholarships to creative writing students as well as educational programs designed to give young Australians access to arts and encourage creativity.