New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards

Canterbury engineer in the running for NZ Young Engineer of the Year

September 2007

Canterbury engineer Iain Sutherland was announced a finalist in the 2007 New Zealand Engineering Excellence (NZEE) Awards Young Engineer of the Year.

The New Zealand Young Engineer of the Year Award is awarded to a young engineer, aged 35 years or under, who is judged to have made the most excellent contribution as an engineer and leader through their professional role and community involvement. The winner will receive a trophy and a cash prize of $2,000.00. The other three finalists will each receive $500.00.

In 2005, the Christchurch City Council initiated a project to capture and burn landfill gas from the recently closed Burwood landfill, and harness the gas’s released energy to heat a sports facility in Christchurch. On behalf of engineering consultancy Beca, Iain oversaw the new scheme which included: a network of gas wells, a gas treatment plant, a 3.6 km underground pipeline, a cogeneration plant with infrastructure upgrades and a new building, and significant boiler modifications to facilitate dual fuel capability. This project is an example of sustainable technologies in action, using innovative technologies not established previously in New Zealand. Iain says his love of engineering began at Geraldine High School where he began designing and fabricating items such as working bungee cord suspension forks for a mountain bike.

Iain is competing against three other finalists and is required to will present at Auckland’s Parnell Rose Gardens on Wednesday, 26 September 2007 from 6 pm.

The judges have already marked 80 per cent of the finalists’ scores from their applications; the final 20 per cent will be determined by an audience of judges, family, friends and peers at the live presentation.
“The high standard of entries for this award signals that the future of New Zealand engineering is in very good hands”, says Steve Gentry, Convenor for the NZEE Individual Awards judging panel. “These finalists represent the crème of the professional engineering crop”.

The New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are staged by a consortium of five partners and 10 contributing organisations. The founding partners are: Centre for Advanced Engineering (CAE); Association of Local Government Engineering New Zealand Incorporated (INGENIUM); Electricity Engineers Association of New Zealand (EEA); Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand (ACENZ); and the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand Inc (IPENZ).

Media enquiries contact Verona-Meiana Putaranui, IPENZ Media Co-ordinator:

Email: media@ipenz.org.nz

Phone: 04 473 2028 / 021 479 885