News from the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering

Faculty Learning and Teaching Awards Presentation

May 2012

Although the 2011 Faculty Learning and Teaching awards were announced last year there had not been a formal presentation of the certificates. This was rectified in a presentation event on Thursday 31st May in the Faculty Common Room in Ingkarni Wardli. Bec Francis received her certificate for Excellence in Teaching for her outstanding contributions to the Architectural Engineering programme. In particular, for development of curricula and resources and approaches to assessment and feedback that foster independent learning. Bec was instrumental in the design and establishment of the Architectural Engineering design laboratory on level 1 of Engineering North.

Craig Willis and Bernadette Foley were presented with their certificates for Excellence in Teaching (Team Award). The award recognises their outstanding contributions to situational learning, the balance between teamwork and individual
work and the inclusion of industry practice in all year levels of Engineering degree programmes. All three recipients are staff in the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering.

Well done to all!

"Civilised" Team the Winners of the Adelaide Corporate Cup 2011

November 2011

The "Civilised" team has won the 2011 Adelaide Corporate Cup. This is the first time that a University team has won this cup in its 31-year history. There were 994 participating teams this year. The team comprised Dr Chenqqing Wu, Dr Chaoshui Xu, Dr Murat Karakus, Dr Togay Ozbakaloglu, Dr Alex Ng and Feifei Zheng (all from the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering) and Dr Yung Ngothai from the School of Chemical Engineering.

Six of the seven members of the winning team are shown in the photograph after the presentation of the cup. From left: Togay Ozbakaloglu, Chaoshui Xu, Murat Karakus, Alex Ng, Chengqing Wu and FeiFei Zheng. The seventh member, Yung Ngothai, was not available for the photograph.

Well done all - very impressive!

Best Paper Award - JK Ravalico, GD Dandy and HR Maier

November 2011

The paper "Management Option Rank Equivalence (MORE) - A New Method of Sensitivity Analysis for Decision-Making" by JK Ravalico, GD Dandy and HR Maier has been named as the best paper published in Environmental Modelling and Software in the "Generic Modelling and/or Software Methods" category in 2010. The award will be presented at the 6th International Congress in Environmental Modelling and Software in Leipzig in July 2012.

Well done all!

Graduate awarded the 2012 Sir John Monash Scholarship

November 2011

Ashley Kingsborough has been awarded a 2012 General Sir John Monash Scholarship, Australia's most prestigious postgraduate scholarship. Ashley holds a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Engineering with first-class honours from the University of Adelaide, and a Masters of Science in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University. He was a founding member of Engineers Without Borders in South Australia, an Australian Youth Ambassador with UNESCO in Vietnam, and worked with an international engineering firm between 2005 and 2011. He currently works with the International Centre for Environmental Management in Hanoi. At the University of Copenhagen, his PhD will address the challenges posed by climate change and urbanisation in the Asia-Pacific.

Well done Ashley!

Graduate awarded the Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholarship for 2012

September 2011

Brittany Coff has been awarded the Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholarship in Engineering for 2012. She will be undertaking a MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge, commencing in October 2012. The Course aims to develop understanding of sustainability issues and explore solutions and new strategies for sustainable development.

Brittany graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2008, with a Bachelor of Civil and Structural Engineering with First Class Honours, and has worked as a Water Resources Engineer at SKM since then. She hopes to apply the knowledge that she learns on the Course to the sustainable management of water resources in Australia. Well done Brittany!

Engineering a Greener Future

August 2011

Thanks to two local University of Adelaide architectural engineering students, builders of the Convention Centre redevelopment have some sustainable and cost-effective construction methods to consider. Students Zoe Last and Duncan Marshall came up with the ideas as part of construction company Baulderstone's competition to update one of their most famous projects using modern methods, materials and techniques. One of their ideas was to recycle concrete and glass from the existing structure, which can save up to 65 per cent in processing costs. Well done Zoe and Duncan!

Dr Willis awarded Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation

2011

Dr Craig Willis was recently awarded an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for 2011, worth $10,000 and presented at the Sydney Opera House in August. This recognition of excellence in teaching at a national level follows on from 2010, when Dr Willis also received four teaching awards at university level, including the Stephen Cole the Elder Award, the university’s premier teaching prize.

For successfully using peer review and engineering verification techniques to build educational feedback into first-year courses, enabling students to learn with confidence and enthusiasm. Teaching first-year courses of up to 550 students, Craig Willis has developed innovative ways of providing continuous formative feedback using interactive teaching techniques, peer instruction, and professional engineering processes. These interactive experiences enable first-year students to make the transition from tentative teenagers to engaged, independent, critical thinkers.

Well done Craig!

Journal Paper Award

July 2011

Professor Michael Griffith and Jerry Vaculik (Postgraduate Student) were recognised at the North American Masonry Conference in Minneapolis with an 'outstanding journal paper' award for the paper titled "Out-of-plane Flexural Strength of Unreinforced Clay Brick Masonry Walls" published in the TMS journal of The Masonry Society (USA). Congratulations!

Dean's Cup Winners - Annual Corporate Cup

December 2010

In the annual Corporate Cup events, the winners of this year's Dean's Cup were members of the team comprising Chaoshui Xu, Togay Ozbakkaloglu, Murat Karakus, Phillip Kwong, Brian Ng, Chengqing Wu and Hu Zhang. The cup was presented at the Faculty Christmas lunch on 16th December.

This very talented team were also successful in winning the "Most Improved Company" trophy for the Corporate Cup - well done!

Professor Maier wins Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Supervision

December 2010

Professor Holger Maier was notified on 17th December that he is the recipient of the 2010 Award for Excellence in Higher Degree by Research Supervision. This award is to recognise and encourage sustained excellence in the supervision and support of Higher Degree by Research students.

This is yet another prestigious educational award for Holger and acknowledges his contribution to research training.

Associate Professor Walker & Dr Willis presented Stephen Cole Awards

December 2010

Associate Professor David Walker (pictured left) and Dr Craig Willis (pictured right) were both presented with a Stephen Cole the Elder Award for Excellence in Teaching at a ceremony held in the Basten room on 14th December.

The Stephen Cole the Elder Awards (formerly Prizes) were estabished through a bequest to the University by Mrs Isabella Cole Weinberg who was born at Kingston, South Australia in July 1895. Isabella left SA at the age of 20, eventually marrying and settling in Sweden. Stephen Cole the Elder, a South Australian pioneer, was her maternal grandfather and Isabella was his last living descendant; she chose to honour him and her SA connection by leaving a bequest to the University upon her death.

The Stephen Cole the Elder Awards were first presented in 1991. Educators, either individuals or teams, winning these awards represent some of the most talented and dedicated individuals working at the University.

Professor Simpson awarded the Premier's Water Medal

November 2010

Professor Angus Simpson was awarded the Premier's Water Medal at the Australian Water Associations Awards on November 19th.

The Australian Water Association's Premier's Water Medal recognises an eminent individual for an outstanding contribution to the South Australian Water Industry or management and conservation of water in South Australia. The recipient is chosen by a panel of past AWA SA Presidents on the following criteria:

MEA Wins Award for Programs that Enhance Learning

November 2010

Mining Education Australia (MEA) has received an award for Programs that Enhance Learning, awarded recently at the Australian Learning and Teaching Council National Awards at Parliament House.

The University of Adelaide contingent of MEA (some of who are pictured left) are Professor Emmanuel Chanda, Dr Jim Flatt, Dr Murat Karakus, Dr Noune Melkoumiam, Professor Stephen Priest, Professor John Sturgul and Dr Chaoshui Xu.

As a major export player on the world minerals markets, the Australian mining industry delivers significant benefits to the national economy. Graduating good quality engineers for such an important industry requires world-class education.

Mining Education Australia (MEA) was developed to deliver a common undergraduate course in mining engineering across Australia. This unique initiative was developed in response to increased demand for industry professionals in a climate of limited funding within the university environment, along with a critical shortage of suitably qualified academic staff. MEA is a joint venture between the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales and Curtin University. In 2008, the University of Adelaide became a provisional member of the MEA Program.

The MEA program development was funded by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), and by a $1.325 million grant from the Federal Government. MCA remains committed to on-going operational financial support of MEA. MEA will provide 90% of Australian mining graduates by 2011.

The MEA program provides mining engineering students with a nationally recognised, comprehensive educational program covering all aspects of mining engineering, technical, operational and social issues, with access to a national group of mining academic staff with skills in all major areas. Additionally, students are given the chance to undertake exchange semesters among member universities, with increased opportunities for international collaboration.

Congratulations to all our mining staff, who have contributed to the success of MEA.

Dr Craig Willis Receives Excellence in Teaching Awards

October 2010

The School would like to congratulate Craig Willis on recently receiving an Excellence in Education Award. The University of Adelaide Excellence in Education Awards are presented annually and are designed to recognise and reward academic staff who have made a sustained and significant contribution to the excellence of the educational experiences provided by the University. This award is in addition to Craig earlier in the year being awarded two Faculty Teaching Awards, the ECMS Executive Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the ECMS Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Well done Craig!

Jeffrey Newman wins Prime Minister's Australia Asia Endeavour Award

October 2010

Jeffrey Newman (postgraduate student) is one of four students from South Australia who have been awarded the Prime Minister's Australia Asia Endeavour Award for 2011. The awards are a federal scholarship for studying within the Asia region. Jeff will be attending the Harbin Institute of Technology in China to further his research interests regarding optimisation in the field of water resources. While at Harbin, he will be under the supervision of Yuebin Wu who has been a visitor to our school. Departing November next year, Jeff will spend 14 months in language study, conducting research, and industry internships. The award provides funds for living and educational expenses during this time. Well done Jeff!

Recent Advances in Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering
- The 17th Conference for Final Year Research Projects 2010

October 2010

The 17th Conference for Final Year Research Projects was held by the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering on October 26 2010. The conference had three parallel sessions and one final plenary session this year and it lasted for the entire day. In total, there were 41 groups with 136 students from Structural & Geotechnical, Water & Environmental and Mining Engineering which presented their findings during the conference. The high quality research delivered from the conference is a reflection of the abilities and commitment of the graduating class of 2010 and represents a significant portion of the research effort of the school. The conference was highlighted by its final part, an "Award Ceremony" to recognize the contributions of the conference organization committee to this conference. The conference organization committee was formed by student representatives nominated by supervisors, and its members included Matthew Lukaszewicz and Jonathon Dragos from Structural & Geotechnical Engineering, Andrew Bartel and Adrian Galessi from Water & Environmental Engineering, Jedd Stojakovic from Mining Engineering, Yi Hu and Jiajing Ren representing international students. Dr Chengqing Wu hosted the Award Ceremony and Professor Angus Simpson presented certificates to the conference organization committee members. The conference was supported by the lab staff, the school office staff, computer staff, particularly by Josie Peluso, and it has achieved a great success.

Best Presentation Award at Climate Change Conference 2010

September 2010

Professor Graeme Dandy received the award for Best Presentation at the Practical Responses to Climate Change Conference held in Melbourne from September 29 to October 1, 2010 for a paper entitled "Sensitivity of estimated urban water supply security based on various global circulation models and SRES emission scenarios" coauthored by Fiona Paton, Graeme Dandy and Holger Maier.

Holger Maier Awarded the Biennial Medal by the iEMSs

July 2010

Professor Holger Maier of the Water Research Centre was awarded the Biennial Medal by the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society for “exceptional research contributions to environmental modelling and software and for promoting the aims of the Society.”

The aims of the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society include,

The medal one of three is awarded every two years and Holger is only the second Australian to receive the honour.

Congratulations to Holger for this international recognition of his achievements.

The 8th International Conference on Shock and Impact Loads on Structures

December 2009

The 8th International Conference on Shock and Impact Loads on Structures was hosted by the University's School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering under the Chairmanship of Dr Chengqing Wu with the support of Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) from December 2-4 2009. Mr Mick Gillman from DSTO, conference support organisation, was invited to give an address, Guest of Honour, Professor James A. McWha, Vice Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, delivered a welcome speech and declared the conference opening. More than one hundred eminent scientists and experts from around the world came to Adelaide to disseminate their findings in shock and impact research areas and nine distinguished speakers delivered their keynote lectures in the plenary sessions during the conference. Five Highly Commendable Awards (K&C Award, Simon Perry Award, RNSA Award, Japan Impact Committee Award and CI-Premier Award) were given for ORIGINAL & OUTSTANDING PAPERS presented at this International Conference on "Shock and Impact Loads on Structures". Due to the high standard of the conference papers, following the conference, selected papers from the conference proceedings will be recommended for publication in a Special Issue of the ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. This conference was great success.

Professor Graeme Dandy Delivers the 2009 Munro Oration

December 2009

Professor Graeme Dandy delivered the 2009 Crawford H Munro Memorial Oration at the 32nd Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium held from Dec 1 to 3 in Newcastle, NSW. The C H Munro Oration was established by Engineers Australia in 1978 in recognition of the outstanding contribution made by the late Professor Crawford Munro of the University of New South Wales to the practice of hydrology and water resources engineering in Australia. The Orator is selected by the National Committee on Water Engineering after nomination by the Symposium Organising Committee. The Orator is a person eminent in the field of water resources in Australia. The Orator receives an award which is jointly sponsored by Engineers Australia, the Hydrological Society of South Australia and the Hydrological Society of Canberra.

In the photo, Professor Dandy is shown receiving the award from Professor George Kuczera (Chair of the Conference Organising Committee) on the left and Mark Babister (Chair of the National Committee on Water Engineering, Engineers Australia) on the right.

Professor Dandy is the 22nd Munro Orator and he joins a list of distinguished experts in hydrology and water resources. The previous Orator was Associate Professor Trevor Daniell (also from the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering at the University of Adelaide).

The topic of Professor Dandy's oration was "In Search of the Best". In the oration he outlined the benefits of using the systems approach and optimisation techniques for planning and managing water resources. He described the large number of options that are often available in managing water resources and drew a parallel between the difficulty of finding the best overall solution to the problem (the optimum) and finding a single atom in the universe. Modern techniques of evolutionary optimisation such as genetic algorithms are now being used by research groups at the University of Adelaide and elsewhere to find near-optimal solutions to these complex problems.

A written version of Professor Dandy's Oration will be published in the Australian Journal of Water Resources in 2010.

Final Year Students win Sustainability Award

September 2009

John Baulis, Lisa Lloyd, Fiona Paton and Ben Staniford have been awarded the State Student Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Award for their final year research project "Multi-objective Optimisation of Urban Water Supply Systems at the Regional Scale Incorporating Sustainability". The award is presented by the Society for Sustainability & Environmental Engineering, Engineers Australia, and is designed to encourage the development of a sustainability ethic throughout Australia.

Holger Maier awarded SA Tertiary Science Educator of the Year

August 2009

Professor Holger Maier from the University of Adelaide’s School of Civil, Environmental & Mining Engineering won the Tertiary Science Educator of the Year. Professor Maier teaches in the areas of water and environmental engineering. He is co-developer of the multi-award winning Mekong e-Sim – a computer supported role-play simulation project for second year environmental engineering students.

MODSIM 09 - Commendations for Postgraduate Students

July 2009

Congratulations to Fiona Paton, Joanna Szemis and Brittany Coff, who received Commendations for their presentations at the International Congress on Modelling and Simulation (Modsim 09), which was held in Cairns. Fiona received a commendation for her presentation "Considering sustainability in the planning and management of regional urban water supply systems: A case study of Adelaide's Southern system" and Jo and Brittany received a commendation for their joint presentation "Relating catchment attributes to parameters of a salt and water balance model".

The conference included 90 student presentations, of which 9 were commended. Receiving 2 of these 9 awards is a great achievement for the School and follows on from success at the 4 previous Modsim conferences, including Gavin Bowden in 2001, Greer Kingston in 2003 and Jakin Ravalico in 2005 and 2007.

Welcome for New Students from Iraq

April 2009

21 students from Iraq have recently been welcomed to the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering. The students are funded by an AusAID program to participate in the Water Resources Masters Course for two years. Currently they are undertaking language studies and will begin the program in 2010. The students recently attended two field trips to inspect the water resources infrastructure supporting Adelaide and to appreciate the context of the recent drought for water supply. They visited Happy Valley Water Treatment Plant, Myponga Reservoir, Kangaroo Creek Reservoir, Mannum Pumping Station and the Goolwa Barrages. The School looks forward to their participation over the coming years.

Sarah Jewell - Young Water Professional of the Year 2009

March 2009

Sarah Jewell, who graduated from this School in 2005, and returned in 2009 to commence a PhD in coastal engineering on the Murray Mouth dredging program, has become the recipient of the inaugural Australian Water Association 2009 Young Water Professional of the Year Award. The award recognises exceptional early career achievement, a significant contribution to the water industry and outstanding academic achievement and communication skills. It is awarded to a young water professional with the potential to play a large and influential role in the water industry in the future.

After graduating, Sarah worked in water treatment and desalination process design at SA Water. Since 2007, Sarah has worked as a consulting engineer with URS Australia Pty Ltd, where she has had experience in various aspects of water management, including dams engineering, hydrology and management of environmental flows in River Murray wetlands. She has volunteered with both the SA and national Young Water Professionals committees and is currently also actively involved with the AWA WASH (Sustainable Water and Sanitation for Developing Communities) Specialist Network. She has also been directly involved in the promotion of water industry and engineering careers to high school students and teachers, and undergraduate students.

As the winner of the 2008 SA Young Water Professional of the Year Award, which was announced in January 2009, Sarah attended OzWater '09 in Melbourne. The 2009 Young Water Professional Award was announced at the OzWater Gala Dinner on March 17th, and presented by the national YWP president, Erin Cini.

Final Year Students win Hodgson Award

December 2008

Liam Harnett, Jason Nicolson and Rebecca Tennant were awarded the Australian Water Association's Hodgson Medal, which is open to final year undergraduates (including Honours students) enrolled at South Australian universities and who have completed projects or investigations in a water-related subjects. Congratulations also to John Baulis, Lisa Lloyd, Fiona Paton and Ben Staniford, who made the final three out of 11 entrants, ensuring that the School had strong representation at the presentations of the three finalists tonight. The research of both groups focussed on the optimisation of the sustainability of urban water supply systems, with Liam, Jason and Rebecca concentrating on the cluster scale and John, Lisa, Fiona and Ben on the regional scale.

The Hodgson Medal - won by Liam, Jason and Rebecca - honours the pioneering South Australian environmental engineer Harry Hodgson, who died in 1992 after a distinguished career in the water industry. In their research, the students demonstrated the feasibility of grey water reuse schemes at an urban cluster scale with the reclaimed water being used for toilet flushing and garden watering.

James Daniell - General Sir John Monash Award winner 2009

26 November 2008

James Daniell, a graduate from this School in 2006, has been awarded a General Sir John Monash Award 2009. This Award, honouring Australia's great wartime general in WWI, is Australia's most prestigious award for postgraduate study and is Australia's equivalent of Britain's Rhodes and the U.S. Fulbright scholarships. Each year only 8 scholarships of $150,000 for 3 years are awarded. James received his John Monash Award from the Governor-General, Ms Quentin Bryce [pictured left], at Government House on November 26 and attended a luncheon at Parliament House.

James has a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil and Structural) with 1st Class Honours and a Bachelor of Science (Geology and Geophysics) from the University of Adelaide. He was awarded the Honours Alumni University Medal 2007 and a University Medal 2006 by the University. James has a University Blue, is a past President of the Adelaide University Volleyball Club and is a former Australian Volleyball League player. In March 2009, he will complete a Master of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology from the Université Joseph Fourier, France, and the Università Degli Studi di Pavia, Italy.

James will use his John Monash Award to study for a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, which is linked with the Geo-Forschungs Zentrum, Potsdam. James will also have ties to the United Nations University in Bonn and ANU. It is the first time that a John Monash Scholar will study in Germany. James is determined to become a world leader in vulnerability assessment and risk management of cities, leading to better policy, early warning systems and relief efforts.

James is not the only member of his family to receive the Award. His sister, Dr Katherine Daniell, also a University Medallist of the University of Adelaide, was a General Sir John Monash Award winner of 2005. They are the first siblings to be John Monash Scholars.

James is the third John Monash Scholar (joining Katherine and Olivia Thorne) from this school from the 48 so far selected; a remarkable achievement for the School and Faculty.

Dr Matt Gibbs wins Postgraduate Research Award

November 2008

PhD graduate Dr Matt Gibbs from the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering was awarded the Postgraduate Research Award at the annual Australian Water Association South Australian Water Awards night. The Postgraduate Research Award is open to any post-graduate research in a water related field. Matt won the award for his work for his work in applying Genetic Algorithms to the optimisation of Water Distribution Systems, specifically looking at methods to assist in the calibration of the algorithm. With a great deal of water related research currently underway, the field was very competitive, including fellow postgraduate students in the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, Robert May and Darren Broad. [Media Release]

Travelling Scholarship Awarded to Wenyan Wu

November 2008

Recently, PhD student Ms Wenyan Wu from the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering has been awarded both the Research Abroad Scholarship and the D.R. Stranks Travelling Fellowship for a visit to the Technical University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands next year from April to July. The Research Abroad Scholarship is for supporting research travel overseas by enrolled research students. The D.R. Stranks Travelling Fellowship provides assistance for meritorious students enrolled in a research higher degree at the University of Adelaide to travel outside South Australia.

Ms Wenyan Wu is currently working on multi-objective optimisation of water distribution systems (WDSs) accounting for sustainability. Her supervisors are Professor Angus Simpson and Professor Holger Maier. In her research, a new paradigm for the design of WDSs, which takes into account sustainability objectives from three aspects of sustainability (economic, environmental and engineering or technical) is being developed. During her visit to the TU Eindhoven, Ms. Wenyan Wu will be working with Dr. Arris Tijsseling, Prof. Wil Schilders and Dr. Jan ter Marten. Prof. Wil Schilders and Dr. Arris Tijsseling both have extensive experience in mathematical modeling and numerical methods development for solving non-linear equations for determining flows and pressures in WDSs. Dr. Jan ter Marten has experience in multi-objective optimisation framework development. Both Prof. Wil Schilders and Dr. Jan ter Marten hold joint positions at the TU Eindhoven, as well as NXP (the mobile phone chip manufacturing unit that was spun-off in 2006 from Phillips Electronics whose world headquarters is in Eindhoven), where the performance of electronic chips is optimised accounting for multiple criteria. Ms. Wu's visit to the TU Eindhoven will promote the exchange of ideas from different multi-objective research areas and increase the prestige and involvement of University of Adelaide at an international level.

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Climate Change Research

31 October 2008

Work carried out as a final year research project on climate change, urban heat islands and the coast caught the attention of the Advertiser environment writer, leading to an article in Friday October 31st's edition.

The article cited results derived by the group indicating the extent of the urban heat island effect and its effect on the coastal sea breeze which is occurring more frequently and is also strengthening. This, it is believed, will be important for future coastal management.

The students are Ross Mc Connell, Patrick Moody, Nick Byrne and Daniel Osborne. They have also been invited to present their work to a meeting at the Bureau of Meteorology in November.

New Engineering Textbook

October 2008

A new textbook "Engineering Modelling and Analysis" has just been published by Taylor and Francis in the UK. It has been written by four academics from the faculty: David Walker, Michael Leonard and Martin Lambert from the School, and Andrew Metcalfe from mathematics.

The book is based on material developed over the years for the School's undergraduate computing courses but also brings together the research interests of the four authors - a mix they believe is important for a good university education.

Abigail Goodman wins Prize

September 2008

Abigail Goodman, PhD student in the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, received the Student Prize (best presentation by a PhD or Masters student) at the Australian Society of Limnology conference, which was held in Madurah in WA from 29 September to 3 October. The title of Abby's presentation was "Investigating the impact of a pulsed salinity regime on four aquatic macrophytes". [Media Release]

Research Award for Safeguarding Public Buildings

August 2008

Dr Chengqing Wu and Professor Deric Oehlers have been awarded a grant of $220k to help design buildings that can withstand terrorist attack from explosive devices. Chengqing and Deric will lead a national project to safeguard high-risk public buildings against terrorist attach by developing construction guidelines for new, ultra-strong concrete that is ten times stronger than conventional construction materials.

The University of Adelaide will partner with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), international company VSL Australia and the State University of New York on the three-year project.

Federal Defence Science and Personnel Minister Warren Snowdon said the program would evaluate and develop materials and engineering solutions to minimise the effects of terrorist explosions aimed at civilian and military facilities.

Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citations

August 2008

This year's Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning 2008 include three members of staff from the Faculty: Assoc Prof David Walker (School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering) Dr Katrina Falkner and Prof Hemanta Sarma. The awards were presented by Tim Besley, AC, Chair of the ARC and Professor Richard Johnsone, Executive Director of the ALTC, at a ceremony in the National Wine Centre on 7 August.

Assoc Prof David Walker's citation was for providing a supportive learning environment while improving learning outcomes through the implementation of a self-paced learning program for engineering modelling and analysis.

Second Best Paper Award on Water Distribution Systems and Sustainability - WDSA Conference

August 2008

Recently Professor Angus Simpson of the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering presented a paper at the 10th International Water Distribution Systems Analysis (WDSA) Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers held in South Africa 17-20 August, 2008. There were 106 papers presented at the conference. A paper written by Wenyan Wu, Angus R Simpson and Holger R Maier entitled "Water distribution system optimisation accounting for a range of future possible carbon prices" won an award for the 2nd best paper at the conference. Criteria for the selection of the best papers included 20 points for the written paper (4 categories including 1. Knowledge Contribution and 2. Innovation and Originality) and 20 points for the presentation (4 categories including 1. Communication and Clarity and 2. Preparation and Organization). The paper is based on Ms. Wenyan Wu's PhD work on Multi-objective Optimisation of Water Distribution Systems Accounting for Sustainability that she commenced in February 2007. Professor Simpson and Professor Maier are joint supervisors of Wenyan's PhD work.

Considerable research has been carried out on the optimisation of water distribution systems at the University of Adelaide over the last 18 years. In previous research genetic algorithm optimisation has been used given to minimise the cost of water distribution system networks. There has been a recent increase in the awareness of climate change, especially in relation to global warming, that has led to consideration of accounting for sustainability in the optimisation of the design of water distribution systems. Carbon dioxide equivalent gases are generated during the mining, manufacture and installation of components in a water distribution system. In addition electricity usage for pumping produces greenhouse gases. Research into multi-objective genetic algorithm optimisation of water distribution systems from a sustainability perspective where more than one objective is considered is being pioneered at the University of Adelaide. Objectives to be optimised include 1) the minimisation of cost, 2) the environmental sustainability criterion of minimisation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 3) the minimisation of risk and 4) the maximisation of robustness of the system to changes in parameters of the design. Results of the research to-date indicate that the inclusion of GHG emission minimisation as one of the objectives in addition to cost results in significant tradeoffs between the economic and environmental sustainability objectives in terms of a Pareto-optimal front. The tradeoffs generated during the optimisation process can be presented to decision makers so they can understand the implications of their decisions on both the cost of the network and on the potential greenhouse gases that will be produced during the lifetime of the project.

The abstract of the award winning paper follows:

Abstract
Climate change, especially global warming caused by human activities presents serious global risks. Mitigating global warming by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a unique challenge facing our generation. In order to tackle this challenge, many measures are being developed, among which carbon trading is a popular one. In this paper, a new paradigm for the design of water distribution systems (WDSs) is being developed under a possible emission trading scheme. In this paradigm, minimisation of the costs of GHG emissions is incorporated into the optimisation of WDSs either as one part of the objective or as a second objective. A multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) called WSMGA (water system multi-objective genetic algorithm) has been developed to solve this problem. The time value of both the system costs and the costs from GHG emissions has been taken into account by using present value analysis. Following the Stern Review Report there is controversy as to what discount rate should be used in present value analysis for mitigation of climate change, consequently two different discount rates have been used in this study. The impacts that the carbon prices used in the emission trading scheme have on the optimisation of WDSs have been explored for two hypothetical case studies. The optimisation results show that the different carbon prices used lead to different solutions in the single-objective optimisation formulation. In general, a network with larger pipes is chosen when a higher carbon price is used. In contrast, the carbon price used has no impact on the multi-objective optimisation results. However, different carbon prices lead to different amounts of savings in greenhouse gas costs resulting from the same amount of increase in system costs for the same ordered set of Pareto-optimal solutions.

Chevening Scholarship

August 2008

Ashley Kingsborough, who graduated from the school in 2004, has been awarded a 2008/09 British Chevening Scholarship. He will undertake a Masters in Science (Environmental Change and Management) at the University of Oxford beginning in October 2008.

Since graduating Ashley has been employed as an environmental engineer in KBR's Natural Resource Management group in Adelaide, gaining experience in environmental management and hydrology. In 2006-2007, Ashley completed a 15-month placement with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Hanoi, Vietnam as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development, where he managed the cultural heritage component of a feasibility study to upgrade the water system within the Hue World Heritage Area. In addition, he worked with Halong Bay Management Board to improve their management capacity and the Hoi An Centre for Monuments Conservation to improve their disaster preparedness planning.

The Chevening Scholarships programme is funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and administered by the British Council of Australia.

Teaching Prize

24 July 2008

Staff from across the Faculty came together on Thursday 24 July to celebrate the teaching achievements of Dr Cheryl Pope and Associate Professor Martin Lambert.

Dr Cheryl Pope from the School of Computer Science was awarded a Faculty Prize for Teaching Excellence and the Executive Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching, while Associate Professor Martin Lambert from the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering was awarded a a Faculty Prize for Teaching Excellence and a Faculty Award for Excellence for Higher Degree by Research Supervision. Awards were presented by the Faculty's Executive Dean, Professor Peter Dowd, and were followed by a celebratory morning tea.

Adelaide Living Beaches Study

July 2008

A research project, supported by the Adelaide Living Beaches initiative, is in progress on the local beaches. The aim is to assess the suitability of significant deposits of fine sand as a source for beach restoration. The work is being carried out by a group of final year students with some assistance from a visiting French engineering student who is in Adelaide to work with Dr Walker. The photo shows (left to right) Brendan Scott (PhD student), James Koronis (final year student), Camille Couzi (French engineering student) and Ryan Buckley (final year student) carrying out infiltration and penetrometer tests at Henley Beach.

The Water Down Under Conference

April 2008

The conference was very successful, with a large number of delegates (~450), many of whom commented that this was one of the best organised and best run conferences they had ever attended. This is primarily due to the hard work and expertise of the organising and technical committees, including Graeme Dandy as Committee Chair, Trevor Daniell and Martin Lambert as Co-Chairs of the Technical Program Subcommittee, and Michael Leonard, Alex Osti and Steven Need as members of the Technical Program Subcommittee. Well done to everyone involved. Trevor Daniell was selected to give the Munro Oration, which is a great Honour and a reflection of the many great achievements and contributions Trevor has made in the field of Hydrology over his career. Trevor's oration was outstanding, which was acknowledged by many of the delegates.

Martin Lambert and Angus Simpson (with Pedro Lee, Dalius Misiunas and John Vitovsky) were recipients of the G.N. Alexander medal best paper award. This award is well-deserved recognition of Angus and Martin's groundbreaking work on leak detection using transients, which they have taken from the conceptual stage, to laboratory trials to contract work with SA Water. This award was also won by Bernie Foley and Trevor Daniell in 2003 for their work on sustainability, further highlighting the quality and innovation of the research in water engineering occurring in our School.

Michael Leonard received the award for best presentation by a recent graduate. This adds to a long list of awards for our postgraduate students, the last of which was the Best Presentation award Jakin Ravalico received at the Modsim conference in Christchurch last December. Many of our past graduates were at the conference, one of whom Katherine Daniell, received the award for best poster presentation.

Engineering Challenge and BBQ

March 2008

The tradition of the Engineering Challenge, a design competition for all the School's students, continued with an event that was held in the first week of semester. The Challenge culminated with a Welcome BBQ followed by the testing session on the Barr Smith Lawns on Friday 7th March.

This year the event involved the construction of a structure, made only of newspaper and sellotape capable of supporting a 2kg weight. The catch was that all elements of the structure had to fit inside a standard 5 ream photocopy paper box (a 35cm cube approx.) and be assembled on the day in only 5 minutes. The event was generously sponsored by Parsons Brinckerhoff who provided cash prizes for the teams based on the final height of the structure.

The winning team, who took away $500, finished with a structure 2.22 metres high. Most teams worked with a fairly traditional truss type structure but there were some very innovative designs too, showing real engineering flair.

Professor Graeme Dandy Elected to Fellowship

November 2007

Professor Graeme Dandy was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in November 2007, placing him among Australia's leaders of technology and engineering. Professor Dandy was one of 30 new Fellows elected to the Academy, and one of only three from South Australia.

Prof Dandy was honoured for his international achievements in the development and commercial application of genetic algorithms and AI techniques in water resources engineering.

The Academy is an independent body of eminent Australian engineers and scientists established to promote the application of scientific and engineering knowledge to practical purposes.

The Academy's President, Professor Robin Batterham, said the new Fellows were "joining the ranks of the most eminent scientists, engineers and technologists in Australia". "Our Fellowship is comprised of world-class performers and all are acknowledged as leaders in their field," he said.

Engineering Text Book Launch

November 2007

A second edition of the popular "Planning and Design of Engineering Systems" by Professor Graeme Dandy, Associate Professors David Walker and Trevor Daniell and Emeritus Professor Robert Warner was launched by the Vice Chancellor at a function on Tuesday 20th November in the Barr Smith Library.

In launching the book, the Vice Chancellor outlined the history of the first edition with its emphasis on problem solving, creativity in design, environmental assessment, decision making and optimisation. He noted it had been used widely by universities in Australia, the UK and the USA and that the demand had led to the need for a reprint by the original publishers.

The Vice Chancellor suggested that the second edition reflects some of the changes that have occurred in engineering over the years, with new chapters on management skills, project management, communication, ethics and law and risk and reliability.

The launch was attended by representatives from industry and the university and included a good number of current and former students who have benefited from their introduction to engineering through the first edition.

Student Annual Awards Dinner 2007

August 2007

The School's annual awards dinner regularly attracts over 200 people made up of current students, alumni, industry presentatives and staff. Pictured right is Luke Luey, Michael Quince, Nicole Anderson and James Daniell being awarded the Structural/Geotechnical Research Group Award for 2006, awarded by Professor Deric Oehlers.

The dinner provides a formal occasion where students can meet prospective employers, graduates can renew contact with classmates and academic staff, and for industry to catch up with the achievements of students and staff of the School over the past 12 months. Pictured left is Hamish Banks being awarded the Steel Reinforcement Institute of Australia Award for 2006, awarded by Dr Togay Ozbakkaloglu. Hamish was also awarded the Robert Warner Medal for outstanding achievement in Structural Design III (Concrete)

James Daniell wins the Honours Alumni University Medal 2007 of the University of Adelaide

July 2007

James Daniell, who graduated in Civil and Structural Engineering (First Class Honours) and Science in 2006, has been named the Honours Alumni University Medallist 2007. This medal is given for outstanding academic merit and is the highest award for an Honours graduate of 2006 across all the Faculties of The University of Adelaide. James was also awarded a University Medal for Civil Engineering and Science at the same commemoration ceremony on the 31st July. As well as his academic awards, James has excelled in sport, representing the university at numerous university games and receiving a Blue for volleyball in 2005 and a Bob Heddle Sports Scholarship in 2006.

This year James worked as a geophysicist with Santos Pty Ltd. In September he commenced a Masters in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology at The European School for Advanced Studies in Reduction of Seismic Risk (ROSE School) incorporating the University Degli Studi di Pavia, Italy, and the University Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France. James won the John Crampton Travelling Scholarship, the George Murray Scholarship and a MEEES (European Union) Scholarship for his postgraduate studies in Europe.

South Australia's New Mining Engineers - Field Trip

June 2007

The new mining engineering programme in the University of Adelaide has been successfully launched and it has attracted 58 students this year. The mining engineers have recently embarked on a 10 days field trip to visit mining operations and mineral processing plants around the area. Their first stop is Zinifex's lead smelter in Port Pirie, followed by two days visit to BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam operation. The group then visited Leigh Creek coal field and Beverley uranium mine before spending two days in Broken Hill, visiting Perilya southern operation and CBH's Rasp mine. BeMaX's mineral sand processing plant at Broken Hill and Ginkgo operation at Pooncarie were also on their exploration menu.

"The mining companies we visited were very supportive and the students did get a very positive message out of this trip. The students can almost hear the crying of the industry for qualified mining engineers", said Professor Ian Plimer, who lead the field excursion. "A lot of time and effort from both members of staff and personnel from industry have been spent to make this trip happen and I am glad the trip went well and that the students enjoyed it. I am sure the knowledge the students gathered will be extremely beneficial to their studies in the next couple of years as well as motivational for them", commented Professor Mike Griffith, head of the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Adelaide. Some students have also commented: "It was simply great!", "It's really great to have the chance to see what is really like in the mining industry and talk to the real people working in the mines.", "I now have much better idea what this course is really for. Just can't wait to finish the course and to start my career in such an exciting industry.", "The scale of the industry is phenomenon. Can't image our industry without mining. It is so great to be part of something so big!" The program was inaugurated in August 2006 at National Wine Centre and was attended by State Government representatives, industry personnel, community leaders, teachers and school students.

Holger Maier receives the Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Engineering Education' Award

December 2006

Professor Maier has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to Engineering Education by receiving the 'Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Engineering Education' award from the Australasian Association for Engineering Education, which is a Technical Society of Engineers Australia.

The award was presented at the 17th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education, which was held in Auckland, New Zealand from December 10-13. During the conference, Associate Professor Maier also received a High Commendation for his presentation titled 'Meeting the challenges of engineering education via online role-play simulations' [more details].

Holger Maier wins National Teaching Prize

28 November 2006

Associate Professor Holger Maier was today presented with a $25,000 Australian University Award for Teaching Excellence by the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education at a ceremony in Parliament House, Canberra. [more details] [article from Adelaidean, Dec issue]

Michael Leonard Awarded The AWA's 2006 Postgraduate Research Award

20 October 2006

Michael Leonard, who is a PhD student in the School, won this award for his project titled: 'Rainfall Modelling Techniques for Engineering Risk Assessment'.

The Australian Water Association SA Water Awards were established in 1996 to recognise outstanding recent contributions related to water in South Australia. Judging of this award is based on a written submission and a 15 minute presentation. The written submission is to be of 1000 words, describing the nature and benefits of the research.

James Daniell Awarded Rod McGee Medal

September 2006

James Daniell (final year student) has been awarded the national 2006 Rod McGee Medal and $2000 prize, for his submission the importance of public works engineering and the contribution of engineering to the community. [media statement]

Three of the School's Academics Win Teaching Awards

Three of the School's academic staff have recently been awarded national, university and faculty prizes for excellence in learning and teaching. Assoc Prof Holger Maier and Dr Mark Jaksa have both been presented with the Carrick Institute's 2006 Inaugural National Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. These build on Holger's many learning and teaching related awards, including those from the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education, Commonwealth of Learning Awards for Excellence in Distance Education, UniServe Connections and Stephen Cole the Elder Prizes for Excellence in Teaching. In 2005, Mark was also presented with the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Stephen Cole the Elder Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the ECMS Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.

In addition, Dr David Walker has recently been awarded one of the 2006 ECMS Faculty Awards for Excellence in Teaching. This award recognises David's contributions to outstanding teaching in the School's undergraduate program.

Jakin Ravalico wins the IEMSS Student Prize

August 2006

Congratulations to Jakin Ravalico, who is a PhD student in the School, for receiving the IEMSS (International Environmental Modelling and Software Society) Student Prize at the recent World Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software, which was held in Burlington, Vermont, USA.Jakin received the prize for her paper and presentation titled 'Rank-Equivalence Method for Sensitivity Analysis of an Integrated Model of a River Catchment' .Jakin's success follows a string of High Commendations for PhD students from the School at related conferences, including Gavin Bowden (MODSIM 2001), Greer Kingston (MODSIM 2003) and Jakin herself at MODSIM 2005.

Launch of the new Bachelor of Engineering in Mining Degree

17 August 2006

State Government representatives, industry personnel, community leaders, teachers and school students joined with staff from the University of Adelaide to launch the new Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) degree at the National Wine Centre on Thursday, 17 August 2006.

State Government representatives, industry personnel, community leaders, teachers and school students joined with staff from the University of Adelaide to launch the new Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) degree at the National Wine Centre on Thursday, 17 August 2006.

Professor Peter Dowd, Executive Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences chaired the event. Speakers on the day included the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide, Professor James McWha, the Honourable Paul Holloway, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Dr Roger Higgins who is the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (Australia) of BHP Billiton, and Professor Ian Plimer who is the Professor of Mining Geology at the University of Adelaide.

Also in attendance was the Honourable Paul Caica, Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, and Mr Mitch Williams, Shadow Minister for Mineral Resources Development indicating the strong endorsement from both sides of the State Government for the new degree.

The clear message from speakers at the launch was mining is critical to the sustained growth of South Australia and the nation, and the University is committed to supporting the development of both the skills and capabilities necessary to build this strategic sector.

Minister Holloway said, "South Australia was experiencing an exploration and mining boom, unprecedented in the State's history. More and more local, national and international mining companies are turning their attention to our State, and our rich mineral and resource deposits. The new mining degree at the University of Adelaide will play a significant role in ensuring that skilled workers are available to meet the increasing demand for our resources. The degree will also prepare young South Australians for rewarding careers in the State's mining industry."

Professor Plimer said, "Australia has been producing just 40% of the mining engineers required to satisfy industry needs. The new four-year Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) degree is designed to help redress the nation's serious shortage of mining engineers."

The Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) Degree

A new degree to be offered by the University of Adelaide in 2007 will position South Australia at the forefront of mining education in the country. Up to 30 students will be offered places in the inaugural Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) intake in the first semester of 2007.

The University recruited Professor Ian Plimer from the University of Melbourne early in 2006, specifically to develop mining geology courses and lead the recruitment drive for the new mining engineering degree. He holds a joint appointment in the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences and the Faculty of Sciences.

"This University - in conjunction with the State Government - has been incredibly astute to realise that the world is undergoing a global restructuring of commodities and we can play a huge role in that," Professor Plimer said. "The population explosion in India and China - which collectively numbers more than two billion people, had placed pressure on the world to supply their energy and manufacturing feed-stock needs. What we're experiencing is not a mining boom or bubble, but a fundamental re-evaluation of commodities against real estate and cash. It means we will have to do a lot more exploration and to do that we need highly skilled people."

Professor Plimer has spent the past two months on a statewide recruiting drive for the first cohort of mining engineering students.

Details of the new degree can be found a on the Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) page.

Katherine Daniell wins SA Young Achiever Environment Award

8 April 2006

On Saturday night April 8th, Katherine Daniell, who graduated in 2004 from our School, won the South Australia Young Achievers Environment Award sponsored by SA Water. This was one of eight categories for which the awards were given for young achievers between the ages of 14 and 26 years.

The Awards applaud high achievement, vision and commitment while fostering the pursuit of excellence and highlighting the efforts and success of young people making meaningful contributions to their field of endeavour. Well done Katherine!

Paper Award

29 March 2006

PhD student, Darren Broad, has received the CRC for Water Quality and Treatment 'Excellent Publication Award' for the paper:
Broad, D.R., Dandy, G.C. and Maier, H.R. 2005 'Water Distribution System Optimisation Using Metamodels'. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management - ASCE, 131 (3): 172-180.

Staff v Student Softball Match

27 March 2006

The annual Staff - Student softball match was held on Monday 27th March. The School's hydrology guru Trevor Daniell had been busy in the morning checking the latest weather radar data from the Bureau of Meteorology and predicted flooding north of Clare but dry conditions at the Graduate's Oval.

The match started with a BBQ cooked, as usual, by the very capable laboratory staff under the direction of 'Chef' Greg Atkins. Following frenzied practice (mainly by the students) a coin was found, tossed and the first of six innings was underway.

Despite the lack of match practice there were 38 runs in total over the day with the staff winning narrowly by 20 to 18. As in life, it's amazing what four or five academics can do when amply supported by a host of postgraduate students and professional staff!!

Passing of a Former Academic

27 March 2006

Dr Maurice Arnold, Former Senior Lecturer in the School, passed away today. Maurice is well known in the Geotechnical Engineering Community for his work on the mineralogy of clays, expansive soils and the pressure meter test. Our sincerest condolences to his family.

Winners of the WH Warren Medal 2004

presented August 2005

In August 2005, Professor Andrew Downing presented the 2004 Warren Medal to Ms Bernadette Foley and Associate Professor Trevor Daniell for their joint winning papers: 'A Sustainability Tool for Intrasectoral and Intersectoral Water Resources Decision Making' and 'Are Traditional Thinking and Decision-Making Techniques Adequate for Developing Sustainable Water Systems?' The Warren Medal perpetuates the memory of Professor WH Warren who was the first President of the Institution of Engineers Australia. Established in 1929, this award is given annually by the Civil College of Engineers Australia for the best paper in the discipline of civil engineering. Congratulations to Bernadette and Trevor.