OBITUARY

David Feng died on 04/05/2024.

Emeritus Professor Dagan (David) Feng was elected to the Academy in 2005. 

Dagan’s research interests were at the intersection of biomedical science and multimedia information technology. His approach focused on the use of information technology to manage and leverage the large amounts of data available to biomedical professionals. 

Most recently, he was working on ways of improving the early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer and dementia by enhancing the use of medical data from scans and other imaging. He was looking into the computer-assisted diagnosis of dementia through improved use of data from PET scans. 

He studied in China and received a PhD in the United States before moving to Australia and joining the University of Sydney in 1988. He progressed to become Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Head of School of Information Technologies. 

He was a member of the ATSE Health Forum from 2011 to 2024, and was Deputy Chair in 2012 and 2013. 

Professor Feng, Head of School of Information Technologies, University of Sydney, is internationally renown for developing innovative enabling techniques, and has made eminent contributions to the application of Technological Science and Engineering. More than 10 of his landmark contributions, such as Feng's novel method for biomedical parametric imaging, non-invasive approach for brain function quantification and early detection of liver cancer, have been applied worldwide and made tremendous improvements to the quality of life. While working in industry he developed 15 highly significant technical innovations, improved manufacturing efficiency and productivity by a factor of 10, and brought huge commercial success.