New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards

Kupe continues to steer in the right direction

15 October 2007

Picture a railway track inspector high on the Makatote viaduct – or on the edge of a chasm in the Southern Alps. Imagine his apprehension that the light in the distance could be a freight train rumbling towards him.

Currently, he has only his understanding of where an approaching train is supposed to be to counter the nagging doubt at the back of his mind. Now imagine he has his own mobile monitor letting everyone on the rail network know where he is – to keep him and others on the network safe.

The Kupe Mobile Controller pinpoints the location of traffic on the network and provides mobile radio contact. It was developed for use in rail maintenance vehicles and suburban trains.

The Kupe Mobile Controller was announced a category finalist in the 2007 New Zealand Engineering Excellence (NZEE) Awards today.

The third New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are the premier awards for New Zealand engineering professionals. The awards are presented in two major areas: Individual Awards, that recognise leadership, entrepreneurship, and our young engineers; and Category Awards, that recognise achievement in the various industry areas, together with a Supreme Award for the best of the Category winners.

The Kupe Mobile Controller is part of Project Kupe, initiated in April 2005 to use GPS tracking systems to tell Network Train Control where trains and track workers are and to improve mobile communications.
The organisation managing New Zealand's railway infrastructure, ONTRACK searched the world for an off-the-shelf product, but when they couldn’t find one, they worked with Xworks of Te Awamutu to fill the gap. Kupe will deliver greater safety, faster and more effective emergency response and more efficient use of the track network.

David Elms, Convenor of the Category Awards judging panel said that the calibre of finalist projects highlighted the contribution that professional engineers make to New Zealand on a social, economic and environmental scale.

“These projects made the finalist cut because they each are outstanding examples of engineering innovation”, says Mr Elms. “This year’s finalists impressed the judges by demonstrating how their projects contributed to the national economy and the reputation of New Zealand engineering and impacted on quality of life in their communities”.

Winners of both individual and category awards will be announced at a black-tie gala dinner at TE PAPA, Wellington on Wednesday, 21 November 2007.

The New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are hosted by a consortium of five partners and 10 contributing organisations. The 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, NZEE Awards Media Co-ordinator

Email: media@ipenz.org.nz

Phone: +64 4 473 2028 or Cell: +64 21 479885