Tauranga-based Bay Eye Care optometrist, Alex Petty, has been awarded the 2017 Cornea and Contact Lens Society (CCLS) Scholarship to further his knowledge in rigid contact lenses.

Petty, a therapeutic optometrist and contact lens (CL) specialist, with interest in orthokeratology, myopia control, dry eye and glaucoma, has lectured locally and internationally on contact lenses and ocular disease, writes a popular column on specialty CLs in NZ Optics and has published several articles and case reports in clinical optometry journals. In 2016, he was one of the first New Zealanders to become a fellow of the International Academy of Orthokeratology and is currently a board member of the Orthokeratology Society of Oceania and the Fellowship Committee of the International Academy of Orthokeratology.

Alex has been awarded $1,000 by CCLS to learn more about the manufacturing process of rigid lenses - how they are made and modified and what can be done with coatings, edge and thickness profiles and material properties - to further his knowledge to benefit his often, quite unique patients. Graeme Curtis and his team at Corneal Lens Corporation in Christchurch will be helping Petty achieve his goal.

The annual CCLS Scholarship is worth up to $2,500 to cover the costs of upskilling and education in either cornea and or CL specialty fields. For more, visit www.contactlens.org.nz.