Professor Phan-Thien is the most distinguished Australian researching on theoretical aspects of rheology and parallel computing. Since 1977, his early work on mathematical modelling of polymeric fluids has proved to be extremely durable, and citations and applications continue to increase. His work on the stability of flow in common measuring flows (torsional flows, cone-and-plate flows) has far-reaching implications for experimental rheology. Computational work has increasingly dontinated his recent work: a pioneering method of die design, flagella propulsion and suspension mechanics, has Jed to novel uses of parallel computing techniques and to the Gordon Bell award by the IEEE in 1997.