Keith Alexander is the Engineering Innovator of the Year

25 November 2010

Associate Professor Keith Alexander has picked up a prestigious award at the New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards this evening.

Mr Alexander was presented with the 2010 New Zealand Engineering Innovator Of The Year award at a gala in Wellington, hosted by Linda Clark and attended by more than 350 people.

He has been an academic staff member at the University of Canterbury since 1996. His earlier career included time as Design Manager with Hamilton Jet, and some time in engineering consultancy. 

Mr Alexander enjoys an enviable reputation for being both an innovative engineering designer and a great practical teacher. Many cohorts of mechanical engineering graduates have benefitted from his skills. He also works regularly with external organisations.

‘At a time when academic staff are being drawn more heavily into published research it is vital that New Zealand has academics like Keith Alexander’ says Institution of Professional Engineers Chief Executive, Andrew Cleland, ‘He is not only a leading teacher of innovation in design and a commercially successful innovator, but also an engineer whose innovative designs are directly serving the community’.

Responsible for many innovative solutions, Mr Alexander has worked on a diverse range of projects including the water jet system of the Hamilton jet boat, a patient lifting system, a quiet propulsion fan for a hovercraft, a snow probe for predicting avalanche risk, and a pin-jointed press system for wool. He has also been involved with the ongoing development of the Martin Jetpack.

However, he is best known for the Springfree Trampoline which has vastly reduced injuries. This design won the 2010 Consumer Product of the Year Award in the United States of America, following earlier awards in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In total, there are 19 patents to protect his novel elements of the design. Over 35,000 units per year are sold worldwide.

Initiated in 2005, the New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards are the premier awards for the engineering professionals of New Zealand. The awards are presented in two major areas: Awards Recognising People, that recognise leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship and our young engineers; and Project and Product Awards, that recognise achievement in the various industry areas, together with a Supreme Award for the best of the Project and Product winners.