Young Engineer of the Year Finalists Announced
14 September 2009
The 2009 Young Engineer of the Year finalists are Michael Newcombe, Jeremy Gibbons and Darren Fidler.
One of the key skills of a good engineer is verbal communication, a skill the judges and audience will consider at a presentation on 30 September 2009 at Parnells on the Rose Garden, Parnell, Auckland. Each finalist will have an opportunity to present his project during a 10-minute presentation followed by a five-minute question-and-answer session. The presentation starts at 6.00pm please email ipenz.auckland@gmail.com by 24 September 2009 to reserve your seat.
The winner of the New Zealand Engineering Young Engineer of the Year Award 2009 will be announced at the New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards on Wednesday 25 November 2009 in Wellington.
Michael Newcombe is a 25 year old Engineering PhD student at The University of Canterbury.
After performing his undergraduate studies at the University of Canterbury, he completed a Masters in Earthquake Engineering at the University of Pavia in Italy. Subsequently, Michael has returned to Canterbury for doctorate research, which focuses on the development of new generation multi-storey timber buildings.
With a renewed interest in sustainable building materials being experienced globally, Michael is investigating new concepts for multi-storey buildings, particularly those designed to function as offices, using solid timber sections constructed of an engineered wood product, Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), held together by high strength steel tendons.
Michael’s research is focused on the design, development and experimentation of new timber buildings that are sustainable, cost effective, safe under extreme events and completely New Zealand made.
Jeremy Gibbons is a civil engineer and an associate of Opus International Consultants. He graduated from the University of Canterbury First Class Honours and has 11 years of practical engineering experience.
Jeremy‘s skills lie in assessing strategic traffic and transportation investigations. He has been involved in numerous projects as the Lead Transportation Modeller, Traffic Engineer and Team Leader and is an advocate of microsimulation modelling.
Darren Fidler has a PhD in Mathematical Modelling of Fire from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
Darren is an experienced transport modeller and has been involved in many significant projects both locally and internationally. His breadth of knowledge is varied, with expertise in modelling levels from strategic multi modal to individual intersections.
Darren’s modeling skills proved an invaluable contribution to the Transmission Gully Toll Road, a high profile project subject to a significant degree of public scrutiny.
Darren has been heavily involved in the formation of the NZ Modelling User Group, helping organise the inaugural conference in 2008 and also sitting on the committee as peer review guideline co-ordinator.
The New Zealand Engineering Young Engineer of the Year Award 2009 is sponsored by The New Zealand Utilities Advisory Group the finalist presentations are hosted by the IPENZ Auckland Branch.
The New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are hosted by a consortium of five partners. 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:
Rebecca Adams, NZEE Awards Media Co-ordinator
Email: media@ipenz.org.nz