Engineering Alumni News July 2014 | A Newsletter for Engineering Alumni | Number 31 Message from the Dean better organised and stronger for ChallENG2! Graduation Day in early May was a Welcome to the July edition of the magnificent event and as Dean of Engineering Engineering Alumni News. it made me especially proud to see the vast We are already half way through the academic number of students receiving their degrees. A year, that to-date, has already been filled with degree in Engineering, even for our most gifted both exciting teaching and innovative research students is a difficult and challenging progress. These continue to be delivered undertaking. As a faculty, we acknowledge through the commitment and passion of our their achievements and wish them every academic staff and the fantastic support success in their chosen field. Graduation, like provided by our professional staff, ensuring many of our important celebrations is an that our students are fully assisted both acknowledgement of the successful completion academically and pastorally in their of one phase and the excitement and potential the next one represents. Many of our students engineering education. are now heading into graduate entry roles in When I was an undergraduate at Auckland in industry whilst some are pursuing further academic challenges with postgraduate study in the early 90’s I can remember the iconic Professor Nic Smith engineering competitions we organised, often either here or further afield. We look forward with disastrous consequences and a dip in the to welcoming all of them back as alumni of this were recently appointed Fellows of IPENZ for Auckland Harbour. With this history in mind, university in the years ahead. their outstanding achievements and and perhaps a more appropriate concern for Our Newmarket campus development is contribution to the industry. Details of the health and safety, to further enhance the making excellent progress and I look forward recipients and the awards are covered within student experience in our faculty, we have to transitioning many of our researchers, the newsletter. initiated a series of events designed to build students and staff, to new state-of-art research departmental spirit amongst Part II students You are all, as alumni of this faculty, a lasting facilities. These facilities will shape our and staff, using a surprise engineering reminder of our teaching and research success. research outcomes for the next 40 years and challenge. The first event in the ChallENG Thank you for your continued support of the we very much look forward to the move to our series required the construction of a structure, work we do, through your generous new surroundings. We hope to start moving points awarded for height, weight, design, scholarships and donations and your advice into the first three Newmarket research creativity and team work. The fact that the and engagement with our faculty at industry buildings in the second half the year, with the materials were marshmallows, spaghetti, and social events, both formal and informal. Structures Hall planned for completion and chocolate and fruit gums added a new handover in early 2015. dimension to perhaps a more traditional I look forward to seeing many of you at the engineering challenge. Particularly interesting If you are interested in seeing the Newmarket Alumni Dinner in September when we will was the degree of innovation in each of the Campus first hand, I hope that you will join us particularly celebrate our graduates from the designs with the structures optimising the for the annual Alumni Dinner on Saturday 27 “4” years, 64, 74, 84, 94, and 2004. balance between ambition and practicality in September at the Pullman Hotel. As part of Thank you for sharing in our progress as we different and creative ways. the dinner registration, we look forward to continue on our journey of discovery together. showing you the new facilities as part of a Civil Engineering did a magnificent job in guided tour event taking place on the same taking out the first ChallENG trophy, narrowly day as the dinner. beating the Professional Staff. Sadly our Heads of Department collected the wooden spoon for Lastly, and by no means least, I would like to Professor Nic Smith this event but assure me they will be back, congratulate five of our academic staff who Dean of Engineering The transformation of building 901 in the Newmarket Campus Faculty news Sir Ron Carter was recognised for services to and Student Commons, and the Fale Pasifika. He Queen’s Birthday engineering after a lifetime dedicated to then took up the position of Vice-Chancellor of the honours helping build one of New Zealand’s most University of Oxford from 2004 to 2009, the first successful companies, Beca. Under Sir Ron’s person in the institution’s 900-year history to be The University of Auckland’s Faculty of leadership, Beca grew into a world-class appointed from outside the University’s then Engineering warmly congratulates our engineering company whose name is current academic body. He was elected Chair of two alumni, Sir Ron Carter and Sir John synonymous with some of New Zealand’s the Rhodes Trust in 2011 and is currently Hood, for their well-deserved recognition biggest construction projects including the President and CEO of the New York-based in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours. Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter and Auckland’s Robertson Foundation. Sky Tower. Sir Ron graduated from what was Distinguished alumnus Sir Ron was appointed then Auckland University College in 1958 after a Member of the Order of New Zealand, New completing a masters degree in Civil Zealand’s highest honour, while Sir John Engineering and was awarded an Honorary receives a knighthood for services to tertiary Doctorate from the University in 2001. education. Sir John graduated with a BE and PhD in Civil “Both have made outstanding contributions to Engineering from the University of Auckland and New Zealand and we are very proud that both went on to lead the University as Vice-Chancellor are alumni of the University and of our from 1999 to 2004. He was instrumental in the faculty,” says Dean of Engineering Professor completion of major new building projects at the Nic Smith. Sir Ron Carter and Sir John Hood University including the Kate Edger Information of Business, Innovation and Enterprise and, Academic promotions with colleagues around the country, is assisting Promotions to Two of the Faculty of Engineering’s Christchurch to build back better. Associate Professor associate professors were promoted to full professor in the annual promotions Professor Kevin Sowerby (Department of The faculty is also proud to announce that which concluded just before Christmas. Electrical and Computer Engineering) began his the following staff have been promoted to Congratulations to Professor Suzanne research on cellular radio system design and associate professor earlier this year. The Wilkinson and Professor Kevin Sowerby wireless communications as a postgraduate promotion to associate professor on their success. student at the University of Auckland in 1986, represents a significant step in an before the deployment of cellular systems in academic career. Professor Suzanne Wilkinson (Department of New Zealand. As cellular systems have evolved Civil and Environmental Engineering) is the first through four generations and wireless • Associate Professor Thor Besier woman to be appointed professor in the communications have become almost (Engineering Science, Auckland Department of Civil and Environmental ubiquitous, Kevin’s research has contributed Bioengineering Institute) Engineering. Suzanne completed her BEng techniques and tools for measuring, modelling • Associate Professor Peng Cao (Hons) in Civil Engineering and her PhD in Civil and optimising the performance of both (Chemical & Materials Engineering) Engineering (Construction Management) at outdoor and indoor wireless systems. Oxford Brookes University and joined the • Associate Professor Leo Cheng University in 1996. She is the Director of the He was appointed as a lecturer at the (Auckland Bioengineering Institute) University of Auckland in 1990 following a Centre for Disaster Resilience, Recovery and • Associate Professor Mark Jones postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Reconstruction which develops research to (Chemical & Materials Engineering) improve the resilience, recovery and Liverpool. He has been an Adjunct Professor at reconstruction of the built environment Simon Fraser University (Canada) and held • Associate Professor Andrew Mason affected by disasters. Suzanne’s research is visiting research positions at universities and (Engineering Science) research labs in the USA, Hong Kong and the interdisciplinary and has two distinct areas of • Associate Professor Partha Roop Netherlands. Within New Zealand he has activity: construction management and post (Electrical & Computer Engineering) disaster reconstruction. Suzanne’s research on served on government advisory committees post-disaster reconstruction assesses the ways and study groups concerned with the • Associate Professor Ashvin Thambyah in which reconstruction after a disaster can management of radio spectrum. He is currently (Chemical & Materials Engineering) rapidly and effectively be managed and the the Asia-Pacific representative on the global construction systems required to facilitate IEEE Admission and Advancement Committee. reconstruction. Since 2004, Suzanne has been researching different disaster recoveries including