Department of Civil Engineering Annual Dinner and Awards 2019
An important date in the department calendar is the Civil Engineering Annual Dinner and Awards night. A cold and wet night did not dampen the celebrations with over 200 guests joining us to recognise the achievements of staff, students and Alumni. The evening also brings together some of our industry partners who we thank for their support to the department over the past year.
The evening commenced with a welcome from the Dean of Engineering, Professor Elizabeth Croft who acknowledged the outstanding work of the Department of Civil Engineering and congratulated the award winners on their achievements.
A couple of award highlights include Dr Ha Bui who was recognised for his excellence in research. Dr Bui’s research interests are in the areas of computational mechanics and material constitutive modelling. Through his research he aims to push the boundaries of our understanding of physical processes that govern the macro-behaviour of geomaterials. Over the last few years his research has attracted significant funding from Australian Research Council and Industry.
Also, the Award for Excellence in Teaching was presented to Dr Liz Sironic for her continuous commitment to improve the quality of education in her undergraduate program. She embraces a blended learning approach to deliver units that are consistently appreciated and valued by students in the early years of their degree.
On the student front, Xinjun Liu is to be commended for her outstanding efforts, being presented with four awards on the night; The GHD Civil Engineering Award for the highest ranking Civil Engineering Graduate, the Associate Consulting Structural Engineers Prize for best overall performance in Advanced Structural Analysis, the Golder Associates Prize for best overall performance in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering and awarded jointly with Daiheng Shen, the SMEC Structural Prize for best performance in Advanced Structural Design. What an amazing achievement.
This year the Department of Civil Engineering Alumnus of the Year Award was presented to Lucia Cade. Lucia has made a significant contribution to Civil Engineering over her career. Her expertise spans utilities, infrastructure construction, professional services consulting and advisory in the water, irrigation, oil and gas and facilities management sectors. Her current roles include Chair of South East Water where she brings her engineering skills to the boardroom and Global Advisor to the United Nations Global Compact Cities Programme. This program promotes urban development partnerships to achieve fair, inclusive, sustainable and resilient-cities and societies.
Lucia gave an inspirational address at the dinner and we congratulate her on receiving this prestigious award.
A complete list of award winners is below. Congratulations to all the recipients.
Ms Lucia Cade Alumnus of the Year, presented by Prof. Jeff Walker
Ms Xinjun Liu Winner of the GHD Highest Ranking Civil Engineering Graduate, presented by Mr Marcus Weeks (GHD)
Dr Elizabeth Sironic Winner of the Teaching Excellence Award, presented by Prof. Jeff Walker
Dr Ha Bui Winner of the Research Excellence Award, presented by Prof. Jeff Walker
Photos are taken by Derek Chan of Black Avenue Productions. Facebook and Instagram
Staff Awards
| 2019 Professional Staff Member Award | Mr John Rebolledo |
| 2019 Team Player Award | Mr Gordon Privitera |
| 2019 Award for Excellence in Research | Dr Ha Bui |
| 2019 Award for Excellence in Teaching | Dr Lizi Sironic |
| 2019 OHS Award | Ms Brenda O’Keefe |
| 2019 25 Years of Service Award | Prof. Geoff Rose |
| 2019 25 Years of Service Award | Mr Jeffrey Doddrell |
Alumnus of the Year Award
| 2019 Alumnus of the Year | Ms Lucia Cade |
Student Awards
Scholarships
|
Golder Associates Scholarship 2019 For academic merit and commitment to geotechnical engineering | Ms Yiqi Liu |
|
MMG Engineering Leadership Scholarship Awarded to a 2nd year student for academic merit in Resources Engineering specialisation | Mr Harrison Rees & Mr Lingxu Yuan |
|
Level 2 Traffix Group Scholarship For academic merit and commitment to transport engineering | Mr Ranaan Sha |
|
Level 3 Traffix Group Scholarship For academic merit and commitment to transport engineering | Mr Stefan Kovacevic |
| Resources Engineering Scholarship For best overall student in RSE1010 | Ms Dena Alhaw |
Level 1 Prizes
| Top level 1 student entering Civil Engineering | Ms Olivia Ellis |
| Top level 1 double degree student entering Civil Engineering | Mr Marcus Wong |
Level 2 Prizes
|
SRIA Prize for Concrete Structures Best overall performance in the level 2 Structures unit CIV2226 | Mr Matthew Chau & Mr Daniel Richards |
|
Water Technology Robert Keller Award Best overall performance in the level 2 Water Engineering unit CIV2263 | Mr Benjamin Cressall |
|
(Ndevr) Environmental Energy Efficiency Award Best overall performance in the level 2 Energy & the Environment unit ENE2021 | Mr Benjamin Neve |
|
Coffey geotechnics Prize for Geoengineering at level 2 Best overall performance in the level 2 Geomechanics unit CIV2242 | Mr Michael Natalizio |
Level 3 Prizes
|
Australian Steel Institute Prize Best overall performance in Steel Structures unit CIV3221 | Mr Brayden Morrow |
|
Douglas Partners Prize for Geomechanics Best overall performance in level 3 geomechanics units CIV3247 & CIV3248 | Mr Zhengda Lei & Mr Daniel Richards |
|
GHD highway design Prize To the group who submitted the best highway design project in CIV3283 | Mr George Fitxpatrick, Ms Hannah Matthews & Ms Mari Smith |
|
Water Technology Tom McMahon Award Best overall performance in the level 3 Water Engineering unit CIV3285 | Mr Lachlan Twigg |
| Institute of Civil Engineers Fred Green Award Highest achieving student in their penultimate year | Mr Brayden Morrow |
Level 4 Prizes
|
GHD Civil Engineering Award Top ranking graduate in Civil Engineering 2018 | Ms Xinjin Liu |
|
GHD Prize in Water Engineering Greatest proficiency in both level 4 Water Engineering units CIV4261 & CIV4268 | Ms Ruth Hicks |
|
Foundation industry Prize for Soil Engineering Best foundation design in Soil Engineering CIV4249 | Ms Lauren McCutcheon |
|
Traffix Group Prize at Level 4 Best overall performance in all transport units from levels 2-4 | Ms Charlotte Hawkins |
|
AECOM Civil & Environmental Engineering Practice Prize Highest scoring group in CIV4212 | Ms Fiona Jansen, Mr Sihao Tian, Mr Trevor Hang, Mr Kishan Dissanayake & Mr Trent Radin |
|
Civil Contractors Federation Ian Jacka award Top student in Civil Engineering Construction CIV3203 | Ms Ashley Bardis |
|
The Geofabrics Pty Ltd award Best Geosynthetics final year group project in CIV4248 | Mr Aidan Rawlings, Mr Gunyie Li, Mr Callum Nott & Mr Antony Vlitas |
|
Golder Associates Prize Best overall performance in Geotechnical & Geo-environmental Engineering | Ms Xinjun Liu |
| Assoc. Consulting Structural Engineers Prize Best overall performance in CIV4234 Advanced Structural Analysis | Ms Xinjun Liu |
|
MMG Merit Award Best overall performance in RSE 2030 Fixed Plant Engineering & RSE 3010 Mine Geotechnical Engineering | Mr Lingxu Yuan |
|
MMG Merit Award Best overall performance in RSE4020 Mine Design and Feasibility Project | Mr William Caulfield & Ms Keely Simpson Bull |
|
SMEC Structural Prize Best overall performance in CIV4235 Advanced Structural Design | Ms Xinjun Liu & Mr Daiheng Shen |
|
SMEC Geomechanics Prize Best Geotechnical Final Year Project 2018 | Mr Hemant Salwan |
Postgraduate Awards
| 2019 Master of Infrastructure Engineering and Management Best Student Award for Best Student in the Master of Infrastructure Engineering and Management | Mr Jun Yan Li |
| 2019 Award for Best PhD Thesis for Outstanding doctoral thesis excellence | Dr Zhujing Zhang |
| 2019 Eric Laurenson Award (PhD) for Excellence in their PhD thesis and in communicating their research findings to Industry | Dr Adam Castonguay |
| 2019 SSSI Award (PhD) for Best PhD Student research on spatially distributed data | Mr Liujun Zhu |