For the first time ever, an engineering team from the Engineering Discipline of the University of New England have received a prestigious national medal, the 2014 R.W. Chapman Medal, in the area of Civil Structural Engineering from the Structural College of Engineers Australia. This is a national award perpetually honouring the commitment of a former professor of engineering at Adelaide University, Sir Robert Chapman. It has been awarded since 1935 for the most important contribution to practice of structural engineering in Australia in a particular year.
This medal awarded to the Civil Engineering staff at UNE satisfied the criteria of the award in that their work made a genuine attempt to share data; represented a realistic approach to the subject (i.e. applying appropriate practical techniques); had at its core an important or neglected issue that can have wide application; and developed a sound technical knowledge of the discipline. This achievement was initiated by admission of a new PhD student (Dr John Moore) in Civil Engineering in 2010 who had a genuine knowledge of electronics engineering and a UNE Master of Resource Science degree in electronic monitoring of timber bridge girders (previously supervised by two of the awardees).
John was fortunate enough to have a dynamic supervisory team during his doctoral study at UNE. The project was an extension of his former MResSc thesis, which concentrated on developing a device to monitor the in-service health of timber bridge girders (in terms of reliability and safety). His PhD studies continued that work and were supported by Forest Wood Products Australia (FWPA) under the principal supervision of Dr Saeed Mahini (lecturer in Civil Engineering at UNE). Saeed added complexity to the project by guiding John in mathematical modelling of structural reliability and safety, data interpretation, structural analysis and structural dynamics. A simple laser-based technique developed by John during his Masters study was employed in this project to study the structural health of existing timber bridges in NSW’. This work was initiated and developed by Mr Rex Glencross Grant (Convenor of Engineering at UNE). Dr Bob Paterson (an adjunct A/Prof at UNE) provided a general advisory role on the experimental implementation, field-based testing program and thesis compilation.
Saeed remarked appreciatively by saying that “ … it was a pleasure to join UNE in early 2010 after years of work at the University of Queensland and in industry in Brisbane. I have been the principal supervisor of this research, but worked collaboratively with a dynamic team. I was fortune enough to have the right student at the right time with excellent skills and experience who accepted challenges for further development, especially in analytical investigations. He had a long history in non-distractive testing and in this case, developed a new and cost-effective measuring system. I added complexity to this project using measured data and encouraged him to shift to the dynamic measurements and evaluating responses of bridges in terms of reliability and safety”.
Dr Mahini continued by saying that, “It is an honour and a privilege for us to be listed as winners of a national medal where some very prominent names in structural engineering in Australia are listed. It is in fact, a dream come true for us.”
The Convenor of Engineering at UNE, Mr Rex Glencross-Grant commented that “… it is an honour and a privilege for a team from a regional university to receive such a prestigious national medal. Given that engineering re-commenced in 2008 at UNE, with the Bachelor of Engineering Technology degree, it has taken time to build up our research profile. However, we have found a niche where we can bring together our collective skills to make a significant contribution to the profession and industry. This medal signifies that our own peers recognise our contribution, for which we are humbled. We look forward to continued growth in engineering teaching and research at UNE. I also sincerely thank my colleagues for such an excellent collegiate result.”