2011 News and Events
Fire Graduates Scoop Inaugural Fire Safety Design
Departmental graduates have taken out the top prizes at the inaugural Fire Safety Design Excellence Awards held in Singapore late last year.
The awards were presented at the 2011 Fire Safety Asia Conference held in Singapore recently, and are organised jointly by the Singaporean National Fire and Civil Emergency Preparedness Council and the Singapore Civil Defence Force as part of the three-day conference.
The awards are given in recognition of individuals and organisations who have contributed towards achieving a high standard in fire safety design in Singapore. Twelve projects were shortlisted for this year’s awards and two were made - one of buildings with total construction costs less than S$100 million and one for total construction costs greater than $100 million.
In the construction costs less than $100 million category, the award was given to the designers of the Underground Ammunition Facility, designed by a team from the Defense Science and Technology Agency which included University of Canterbury graduate Chee Ho and current student Yong (Rick) Tan.
The Underground Ammunition Facility is a large, one-of-a-kind underground ammunition storage facility and the first large rock cavern development in Singapore. The facility, made up of a series of tunnels and caverns, is strategically designed to facilitate efficient operations of Singapore Army Forces.
In the construction costs more than $100 million category, the award was given to the designers of the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, designed by a team from the Arup – Singapore. The team included Master of Engineering in Fire Engineering (MEFE) graduates Ruth Wong, Angela Chen and André Lovatt.
Marina Bay Sands features three hotel towers topped by an extraordinary sky park, crystal pavilions, a lotus-inspired museum, retail stores, trendy restaurants, theatres, night clubs and a Las Vegas-style casino.
Associate Professor Charles Fleischmann (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering), who spoke at the conference, caught-up with many of the Canterbury alumni in Singapore.
“It was gratifying to see the success our graduates are having in Singapore. With nearly 20 MEFE graduates in Singapore it is amazing to see the positive influence they are having on the fire engineering design there.”
UC Survey Reveals High Levels of Full-time Employment for Graduates
12 December 2011
The University of Canterbury’s recent survey of its 2010 graduates has revealed that more than 95 per cent of respondents are either working fulltime or part-time and/or undertaking further study.
More than two-thirds of respondents (68 per cent) reported that their current job either meets or exceeds their expectations as a position for a university graduate.
The survey was conducted ten months after the UC 2010 student cohort graduated from UC and attracted a high response rate of 38 per cent (1404 respondents).
The survey provided clear evidence that UC graduates are engaged in a wide range of occupations and demonstrated that undertaking higher levels of study provides university graduates with greater earning power.
University graduates with a PhD reported that they were paid more than those with undergraduate degrees, with 83 per cent of recent PhDs earning $60,001 or more. This compares favourably with the $40,001 to $50,000 modal income for fulltime employed university graduates with a new undergraduate degree.
Of the respondents who described their attitude to their current employment, 80 per cent reported that they were either already working in their ideal employment ten months out from graduating or that their current employment was a step in the right direction.
A greater proportion of respondents from health and education were employed than those from other fields. Of the approximately 36 per cent of Education graduates who responded to the survey, 86 per cent (288 people) stated that they are currently employed – with the majority of these indicating they are working more than 30 hours a week.
A further 33 university graduates (10 per cent) have continued with fulltime study, with a smaller proportion (8 per cent) studying part-time. Eighty-five per cent of graduate respondents from the fields of Technology and Engineering reported that they were employed fulltime.
The University of Canterbury proved to be a popular choice for further study with two-thirds of alumni respondents who reported that they were undertaking further study indicating that they were choosing to do so at UC.
“The results of the survey prove that University of Canterbury graduates are getting the jobs that they need and want and demonstrate the value of university study to our economy,” said UC Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr.
“A recently-released annual report on the student loan scheme from the Ministry of Education confirmed that university graduates earn more than those who complete level 1 to 3 certificates and diplomas. Their report stated that four years after university study, the median earnings of young bachelors degree graduates were 45 per cent higher than those who completed level 1 to 3 certificates, and 28 per cent higher than those students completing diplomas. The report also states that even in their first after study the media earnings of bachelors graduates are above the national median earnings.
“The fact that University of Canterbury graduates are getting jobs that are in line with their career aspirations and that earn them higher salaries is good for the UC graduates themselves and good for their communities – and that’s great for New Zealand.”
Key points from survey of 2010 University of Canterbury graduates:
High levels of fulltime employment
University of Canterbury graduates are getting jobs that are in line with their expectations and career aspirations
University of Canterbury graduates are choosing UC for further studies
Graduates with higher-level university degrees earn more than those with undergraduate degrees
University graduates earn more than those who complete level 1-3 certifcates or diplomas
For more information please contact:
Jacquie Walters
Public Relations Consultant
University of Canterbury
Ph 027 5030168
Prestigious USA Award for Departmental Fire Engineer
UC academic Associate Professor Charles Fleischmann has become the first New Zealander to receive the Arthur B Guise Medal for his research in fire engineering.
Professor Fleischmann (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering) has been awarded the medal by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), the largest professional society for fire safety engineers based in the United States.
Associate Professor Charles Fleischmann The medal, first awarded in 1983, recognises eminent achievement in the advancement of the science and technology of fire protection engineering and is named in memory of the achievements of Arthur Guise who singularly developed dry chemicals for use as fire extinguishing agents.
Professor Fleischmann was presented with the medal and $US500 ($NZ660) at the society’s annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, where he also gave a technical presentation.
Professor Fleischmann said his initial reaction to the award was one of “complete surprise”.
“I still find myself looking at the list of recipients and cannot believe I am among them. Many of the previous recipients have been mentors of mine. To be associated with people who have profoundly influenced my career in this way is an extreme honour for me.”
SFPE Engineering Program Manager Chris Jelenewicz said the award was presented to Professor Fleischmann “for advancing the science of fire protection engineering with his broad breadth of research in fire dynamics, fire fighting, furniture flammability, numerical fire modelling and performance-based codes”.
“His career as a fire protection engineer, researcher, and teacher has spanned the globe, giving his impact to the fire protection community an international scope.”
Professor Fleischmann has more than 80 publications, including chapters in two textbooks on the fire testing of furnishings. He was the lead author on the chapter, “Analytical Methods for Determining the Fire Resistance of Concrete Members” in the SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, and he was key contributor to the development of the SFPE Engineering Guide to Piloted Ignition of Solid Materials under Radiant Exposure. Research results from his work have been used in the development of the NIST Fire Dynamic Simulator.
In 2010 Professor Fleischmann received a University of Canterbury Teaching Award in recognition of his outstanding and sustained contribution to the teaching of fire engineering and a demonstrated commitment to enhancing the learning environment.
Pedro Lee Awarded $345,000 in Marsden Funding
Pedro Lee has recently been awarded $345,000 by the Marsden Foundation for research into detecting the position of leaks in pipelines using the fluids in the pipes themselves as the communication medium. This could apply to oil, gas and water pipelines, for example.
Modern pipelines stretch over large distances and contain many connections, branches, valves and mechanical components. They also have unwanted defects such as leaks and material deposits. Finding such defects quickly and easily would potentially decrease service disruptions and save large amounts on service costs.
One way of going about this is to compare fluid systems to electrical systems. Transient signals (short bursts) are vitally important in electrical systems as they allow information to be sent across large distances through electrical channels. These signals are the basis of modern communications systems, including the internet. Analogous to electrical data signals, fluid transients are compressive waves that transmit through pressurised channels at high speeds. Dr Pedro Lee of the University of Canterbury plans to use his Marsden Fund Fast-Start grant to investigate the fundamental behaviour of fluid transient signals.
This research has the potential to allow all fluid conduits – including both industrial and small-scale pipelines – to act as a medium for information transfer. Revolutionising the way such systems are used could result in attractive alternatives to current manual fault detection methods.
Total Funding: $345,000 over 3 years
Well done Pedro!
UC Research Offers Soution to Strengthen Vulnerable Buildings
PhD student Patricio Quintana Gallo (left) and Professor Athol Carr explain the shake table testing.
An innovative solution for strengthening multi-storey concrete buildings was put to the test on the University of Canterbury’s shake table earlier this month.
As part of a seven-year Foundation for Research, Science and Technology-funded project on “Seismic Retrofit Solutions for NZ multi-storey buildings” started in 2004, a three-storey reinforced concrete (RC) model building was put through two simulated earthquakes before an audience of staff, students and local television crews.
The particular research being tested – part of PhD student Patricio Quintana Gallo’s thesis project but related to a much wider body of research being carried out by a team from the Civil and Natural Resources Engineering Department led by Associate Professor Stefano Pampanin– was an investigation of the seismic response of non-ductile pre-1970 RC frame buildings, before and after a rehabilitation or retrofit intervention. The objective was to upgrade the performance of such a structure when it is subjected to strong earthquake ground motions.
The model had been retrofitted with GFRP (Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer) laminates, which are like bandages that can be wrapped around a building’s damaged or vulnerable spots, a solution neither too invasive nor expensive and one that could provide a solution to strengthen this country’s older RC buildings, as well as repair and strengthen the damaged ones, and make them far safer.
The use of advanced composite materials for seismic retrofit prior and after earthquake events is becoming, at an international level, a highly regarded solution as proven by the seismic repair and rehabilitation of many public schools after the L’Aquila earthquake in Italy in 2009.
The first simulation was based on the ground motions recorded in the CBD during last September’s 7.1 magnitude Darfield Earthquake and the second shake test subjected the structure to the same ground motions of Chile’s 8.8 magnitude quake in February 2010, which researchers believe would be relatively similar, in duration and intensity, to what we could expect in Christchurch from major seismic activity on the Alpine Fault.
Patricio said the testing proved that researchers had been able to reverse the “hierarchy of strengths” in the beam column joint region using the GFRP laminates, thus protecting the structure from a soft-storey or “pancake” collapse mechanism, and therefore proved the efficiency of their design for upgrading the performance of these older reinforced concrete buildings.
Interested in pursuing an ME in 2012?
“GIS modelling of contaminant loadings to urban streams”
The Hydrological and Ecological Engineering research group in the Department is seeking a highly motivated and competent student interested in pursuing a Masters of Engineering degree in 2012 on GIS modelling of contaminant loadings to urban streams.
Funding for this project can be available by applying for an ECAN scholarship (10K for 1 year). Applications for this scholarship are restricted to NZ citizens and permanent residents and need to be made directly through the ECAN by 3 October.
Promising Civil Engineering Graduate Awarded 2011 Hume Fellowship
Courtney Groundwater, who completed her Bachelor of Engineering degree with first class honours in 2010 as been awarded the 2011 Hume Fellowship. Courtney, a talented civil engineer specialising in transportation engineering, will use her Fellowship to study for an MSc (Engineering) in Transport Planning and Engineering at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, in 2012/2013.
Courtney is employed by Abley Transportation Consultants in Christchurch, where she has been involved in a number of innovative projects. Courtney developed a 3D visualisation model for the Ilam Road enhancement, showing the interactions between pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and motor vehicles. Abley Transportation received an international award for this work at a recent conference in Japan.
Courtney was Head Girl at Timaru Girls High School in 2008 and She is a member of the IPENZ Transportation Group and presented a paper, “New Urbanism – is it really applicable in New Zealand”, at the 2010 Transportation Conference. She is a Futureintech Ambassador in schools, is involved in Neighbourhood Engineers and is also a Women in Engineering member.
Dr Kenneth Kuhn recognised by IBM
A proposed course, developed by a University of Canterbury academic and aimed at providing future engineers with the skills to manage modern transportation engineering problems, has received backing from one of the world’s largest technology companies.
Dr Kenneth Kuhn (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering) has been awarded a Smarter Planet Faculty Innovation Award by IBM. He is one of only 50 academics worldwide from 40 universities to receive the award.
The awards, worth US$10,000, were set up by IBM to help universities develop innovative curricula that address the global challenges of transportation, health care, water, energy and other systems.
Dr Kuhn’s award was for a proposed course he had developed called “Improving Transportation System Efficiency and Safety through Asset Optimisation”. IBM will make Dr Kuhn’s course notes and materials publicly available through its Academic Initiative.
“The idea behind the course was that a lot of the challenges associated with managing transportation systems today require balancing competing objectives and also require data analysis,” said Dr Kuhn.
“One of my favourite examples is when an airline pilot chooses a route to fly in an area where there is bad weather. The pilot and airline want to minimise how much fuel they use, but also the risk of making passengers uncomfortable. An air traffic controller has to ensure that the decisions of different pilots don't lead to conflicting flight paths. Decisions might be influenced by passengers' flight connections. The problem can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Another example would be figuring out when to change traffic signals. This sounds like quite a different problem, but again you need to trade-off safety and efficiency to some degree.”
Dr Kuhn said decisions should be based on data describing what happens in different situations.
“Transportation domain knowledge is the most important but expertise in areas like probability and statistics, mathematical programming, economics and computer programming is very helpful for addressing modern transportation problems. I think companies like IBM realise this and are trying to influence how transportation engineering is taught.”
Well done Ken!
ACENZ Best Practical Work Report Award 2011
Pictured (from left) are Carol Hirschfeld, Nick Borren (University of Canterbury), Stephanie Miller (University of Auckland), Richard Gray (University of Canterbury) and Tonkin & Taylor New Zealand Managing Director Doug Johnson. Photo supplied by www.christinesyme.com.
Nicholas Borren and Richard Gray two of our 3rd Pro students have won two of the three prizes for ACENZ Best Practical Work Report Awards for 2011.
The awards are open to fourth-year engineering students and highlight the importance of written communication skills, essential for report writing in the business of engineering. UC scooped two of the three awards presented this year.
Stuents are invited to submit practical work reports they had prepared as part of their engineering degree.
The reports were judged on report writing and the students’ ability to describe the work they carried out and their experience gained, rather than on the duties undertaken.
Nicholas’s work report on Hanlon & Partners, Dunedin, was praised by judges as a standout report which clearly showed how much he had learned.
Richard’s report on Beca, Auckland, was described by the judges as “commercially astute” with a good understanding of work scheduling processes and project phases. It showed both his enthusiasm and how much he had learned technically.
Each award winner received a framed certificate, a cash prize of $1500, complimentary delegate registration to the ACENZ annual conference and travel expenses allowing them to attend the INNOVATE NZ Awards of Excellence, held in Rotorua on 6 August, where they received their awards.
Managing director of Tonkin & Taylor, Doug Johnson, said the “insightful and succinct report writing skills shown by this year’s Best Practical Work Awards winners are exactly what the business of engineering needs”.
“Concise, readable reports are essential in our industry. T&T is pleased to sponsor this award in conjunction with ACENZ to encourage the next generation of consulting engineers to develop good written communication skills.”
To be eligible for the award, students must be studying towards a Washington Accord Bachelor of Engineering (BE) and their practical work experience must be with an ACENZ Member Firm.
Congratulations Nicholas and Richard!!
Design of Earthquake Proof Building
Recently Stefano Pampanin and David Carradine from this Department featured on CTV news discussing the seismic performance and relocation of the post-tensioned timber Expan building located which is located here on campus.
The building was originally a 2/3 scale specimen tested by former Ph. D. student Michael Newcombe, and because the building had so little damage after being subject to numerous simulated earthquakes in the laboratory, it was decided that it should have a second life as a real building. It was carefully deconstructed, re-engineered by Holmes Consulting Group and reassembled on the lawn next to the Student Services Building off Engineering Road. |
Thom Craig provided architectural services so that the structural frames and walls could be enclosed to create functional spaces that include an office for STIC (Structural Timber Innovation Company) CEO, Robert Finch, a meeting room and a space for displaying models and older test building has been part of research going on since 2004 and did have to be modified to create two full height storeys and comply with Christchurch City Council building requirements. It has been instrumented with accelerometers and has shown no distress or damage following any aftershocks or the earthquake of 22 February. The activity and interest in the building has been incredible and the post-tensioned timber technology will most surely be a part of the Christchurch rebuilding process.
Staff and Postgrads assist City Council in Building Checks
For the first few days and weeks after the Christchurch Earthquake many of our staff and postgrads were in the CBD assisting the Council with their building inspections. The inspections were primarily to assess which buildings were safe to enter, which ones were no-go areas, and which ones could be accessed on a temporary basis to retrieve valuables. The process helped in defining the cordoned areas, and the systematic reduction of the cordons as the days went by.
For our Fire Engineering staff and students, the work is still ongoing as major damage to fire safety systems has been observed all over the city. Currently they are assisting the city in the recovery process by helping to identify immediate fire protection problems and document details of active and passive fire protection failures, apparent access and egress issues, water supply failures and sprinkler system failures. The project is to help the recovery in the short term and improve fire safety design in the long term.
Summer Scholarship Research Opportunity – Green Roof Technology
Green roofs are emerging internationally as a low impact design (LID) for stormwater management in dense urban centres. They have been successfully operating in other parts of New Zealand but have not yet been trialled in Christchurch.
It recently emerged from the Christchurch Expo that residents strongly expect Christchurch to be rebuilt as a more sustainable and ecologically connected city – something that is afforded by including green roof systems. In late 2011, Christchurch’s first green roofs will be trialled at the University of Canterbury campus on the newly constructed ‘Oval pods’.
The research will investigate the best technical designs and preliminary performance of pilot-scale green roofs under Christchurch’s climate. The work can extend into Masters Research opportunities for 2012, and is being supported by New Zealand’s leading green roof experts from the University of Auckland and the Christchurch City Council. Contact Dr Aisling D. O'Sullivan for more information.
Staff on Expert Panels for Christchurch Earthquake
Associate Professor Stefano Pampanin, a structural engineer in our department and Emeritus Professor Nigel Priestley, a former staff member of our department and now an Emerius Professor have been elected to serve as members of the expert panel which has been set up to assist the Department of Building and Housing with the technical investigation into the performance of the Canterbury Television, Pyne Gould Corporation, Forsyth Barr and Hotel Grand Chancellor buildings.
Emeritus Professor Richard Fenwick, a graduate from this department and now an Emeritus Professor is on the Royal Commission of Inquiry which was set up to look at the collapse of buildings in the Christchurch central business after the earthquake on 22 February. The inquiry will examine issues around the built environment in the Christchurch CBD including, but not limited to, the CTV and PGC buildings, as well as the adequacy of the relevant building codes and standards into the future.
Emeritus Professor Ian Wood Awarded Prestigious Selim Yalin Award
Congratulations to Ian Wood who will be awarded the Semin Yalinin at its IHAR Congress which is to be held in Brisbane in June this year. This award recognises his experimental, theoretical or numerical research which has resulted in significant and enduring contributions to the understanding of the physics of phenomena and/or processes in hydraulic science or engineering. It also recognises his demonstrated outstanding skills in graduate teaching and supervision. Well done Ian!
Charley Fleischmann wins UC Teaching Award
Charley Fleischmann, Associate Professor in Fire Engineering was recently awarded the UC Teaching Award for 2010. The award recognises his excellence in teaching (including thesis supervision) in both undergraduate and graduate programmes. Congratulations Charley.
SOLGM (Society of Local Government Managers) Prize 2010
Congratulations to Georgia Whitla, Richard English, Andrew Campbell, Nicholas Borren and Richard Gray for receiving the SOLGM Local Government Careers Prize for excellent performance in the ENCI363 'Infrastructure Management' course in 2010.
They each received $600 for their effort.
Understanding the Darfield Earthquake
In the early hours of September 4 2010, the Canterbury community was rudely awoken by a violent magnitude 7.1 earthquake. What caused such a significant natural disaster to happen so suddenly without any prior warning? How did our infrastructure, homes and historic buildings cope as the earth unleashed its power, and what was the impact on our communities, families and organisations?
Experts from this Department and others will be presenting a series of lectures between February-March 2011. For enrolment and list of topics please visit Community Education
Award for a HydroEco Researcher
Joe Good, ME Candidate (2010-2011) supervised by Dr Aisling O’Sullivan, has been awarded a UC Masters Scholarship for 2011. Congratulations are in order for Joe who has been researching the hydraulic and treatment efficiencies of rain gardens. Joe will be presenting his second conference presentation at the IWA Sustainable Cities Conference in Sweden in May and is near submission of his first journal article emerging from his research so far. In a double strike of excellence, Joe’s partner Kate in Biology was also awarded a UC Masters Scholarship.
HydroEco's water quality monitoring system profiles on International Waterlink site
A recent journal article published by members of the HydroEco group in Water Science & Technology IWA Publishing, by Cochrane, Wicke & O’Sullivan, which describes the development of a web portal for enhancing community awar
eness and engagement of water quality in urban waterways in New Zealand, has just been profiled on International Waterlink – (online platform for best practices and technical solutions in water management).
The data acquisition system is unique in the use of coupling a wireless mesh network technology and real-time monitoring of stream health. The system was developed using a mesh network of radio transmitters linked to flow and water quality parameters (i.e. turbidity, pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen) so that real-time water quality data can be seen by end-users anywhere through the free webportal. Results are displayed on the dedicated Urbanwaterways New Zealand.
Live Demonstration of HydroEco's innovative web-linked water quality monitoring system
The HydroEco group will be demonstrating their real-time water quality logging set-up to a wider Ilam Community during the UC Orientation Week. Catch them at the footbridge outside of Civil/NRE/Mech Building and Old Maths at 2pm on Thurs, Feb 26th. More information
2010 News
Book a mix of science and anecdote about the Amazon
A book that is the culmination of 50 years of passionate research on the Amazon has been published by Dr Tom A Cochrane (Natural Resources and Civil Engineering) and his father, Dr Tom T Cochrane.
The book, Amazon Forest and Savanna Lands, is a guide to the climates, vegetation, landscapes and soils of central tropical South America.
As a young boy, Dr Tom A Cochrane was taken through the Amazon by his father who worked there in a variety of roles as a soil scientist. “I grew up with Dad being passionate about the Amazon region. He would sometimes take us on trips through the area which were very fascinating for a boy.”
Dr Cochrane has followed in his father’s footsteps, although his research focus is agricultural land use, soil and water conservation, and the conservation of natural resources world-wide. Dr Cochrane the elder is currently supervising Agrotecnologica Amazonica´s forest-savanna ecological conservation reserve in the Bolivian Amazon.
“Dad was contracted to Bolivia in 1963 by the British Tropical Agricultural Mission to study some of the least-understood lands of the Amazon. He loved the area and has stayed working in the Amazon region for more than 50 years,” Dr Cochrane said.
“We have gathered all this information over the years — people ask us for information all the time — so we thought why not put it all together in a book. It has been really nice getting together, working with Dad again, and has brought up some really nice memories,” said Dr Cochrane.
The book is a result of their research in the region and is intended to increase people’s understanding of it. It also includes technical information for better understanding tropical lands in general, and more specifically statistical prediction of fertiliser needs, calculations of osmotic potential and the development of a theory of solution flow through soils and plants, which Dr Cochrane said should be of interest to all soil scientists.
“The book is an overview of the land resources of the Amazon in terms of its complex of climates, landscapes, vegetation and soils found throughout this vast, often misunderstood region,” he said.
“The Amazon is a very special place and deforestation is a big concern. The soil is very poor, so although people cut down trees with the intention of turning it into agricultural land, it will not be good for that purpose. The book is a resource so that people can look at the region and use the information to better use and protect it.
“I feel very strongly about the Amazon — it is the last large natural resource left in the world. Losing this is shameful and a huge concern.”
Amazon Forest and Savanna Lands is also a personal book for Dr Cochrane and his father and contains anecdotes about their time in such a special place.
“Once we were living for three weeks on a boat in the Amazon. One day we took a canoe out to get some soil samples, but where the river branches into flood plan tributaries we got lost. It started to get dark, the mosquitoes were biting badly so we put these big black plastic bags over our heads with small holes to see and breathe. We tried to sleep on this canoe, but luckily we were woken by a small light that was moving towards us. It turned out to be an Indian fishing in the river. He was able to navigate us back to the boat in the morning. Why wasn’t he scared of us with black bags on our heads? We must have looked funny. We have included some of these stories to make the book more interesting.”
Pedro Lee wins Inaugural Research Award
Three University of Canterbury projects have been recognised at the inaugural Tech Jumpstart awards, each receiving $20,000 to help the flow of ideas out of the lab and into the community.
The projects include a new colour model for digital movie cameras, a new algorithm that enables the flow of fluids to be measured in pressurised pipes, and the development of a novel prototype probiotic to improve animal health and wellbeing.
The awards, hosted by UC’s Research & Innovation, attracted 18 new ideas from UC.
Speaking at the awards function on 12 October, Research & Innovation Director Nigel Johnson said funding for the Tech Jumpstart competition came from the Pre-seed Accelerator Fund (PSAF), funding intended to “take an idea with commercial potential, that already has established proof of principle and proof of concept and get it ‘investor ready’”.
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He said Tech Jumpstart was created because the Unicom Investment Committee – a consortium with UC, WaikatoLink, AUT, Lincoln and Victoria universities – wanted to “flush out more ideas that might have commercial potential that could then be evaluated and developed into applications for PSAF”.
“The best way of flushing ideas out of universities is to offer money – hence the competition with the offer of $20,000 each to three projects at each university. The Tech Jumpstart funding will enable initial technology development of the idea by employing student researchers and purchasing the necessary consumables.”
Dr Johnson said he was delighted at the success of the inaugural competition, with the 18 ideas put forward from UC the most of any of the participating universities.
Dr Pedro Lee (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering) said he was “very excited” about the progress that could be made with the additional funding.
Dr Lee and PhD student Ayaka Kashima are working on a high speed, non intrusive unsteady flow meter.
“The technique is a non-intrusive method of obtaining instantaneous flow data from any pressurised pipeline system at up to the sampling limit of pressure sensors – 250,000 samples per second. This speed is far beyond the capability of flow meters currently on the market and makes it ideally suited for the measurement of flows in biomedical and fuel injection systems as well as characterising the pumps and turbines behaviour.
Dr Lee said the practical applications included real time measurement of blood flow in biomedical systems to monitor the behaviour of hearts and artificial heart components, and real time measurement of fuel injected into internal combustion engines to increase fuel efficiency.
“This will have application in any piping systems where you may need to know the flow rate at high speed.”
He said the award money will be split between market research, putting together a patent for the technology, consumables and equipment for testing, and supplementing Ayaka’s scholarship.
Park and Paulay Fund
A fund to commemorate the achievements and contributions of two of our department's renowned civil engineers has been officially launched at the University of Canterbury.
The Park and Paulay Fund, promoted by the University of Canterbury Foundation, has been established to honour the groundbreaking work of Professor Bob Park (1933-2004) and Professor Tom Paulay (1922-2009), both academics in the Department made significant contributions in the fields of structural and earthquake engineering.
Professors Park and Paulay received international recognition for their work, which they undertook both separately and together. Their major work, Reinforced Concrete Structures (1975), became a seminal work on capacity design and has been translated into many languages.
The fund, launched at a gathering of colleagues, family and friends, will be used to make awards to outstanding young engineers to help them develop into professionals able to contribute strongly to the fields of structural and earthquake engineering. The fund was initiated by Wellington consulting engineer Dr David Hopkins, a former student of both Park and Paulay.
Speaking at the launch, Dr Hopkins described the pair as “special people” and said it was fitting that a fund had been established in their honour.
He said the fund would encourage young engineers to emulate the work carried out by the two men and to aspire to the personal qualities demonstrated by the pair.
The fund was officially launched by Professor Paul Jowitt, President of the UK-based Institution of Civil Engineers, who was in the country to present the 2010 Hopkins Lecture. He said professors Park and Paulay notched up many outstanding achievements of worldwide significance.“Tom and Bob made a fabulous team and they were fantastic mentors and teachers as well as researchers.”
Executive Officer of the University of Canterbury Foundation, Shelagh Murray, said donations have already been received from around the world. “We are hoping to achieve our target of $200,000 to establish a capital fund for awarding of scholarships.”
Engineer calls for new approach to engineering infrastructure
The President of the Institution of Civil Engineers made a case for a 21st century engineering renaissance in the 2010 Hopkins Lecture held on campus recently.
Professor Paul Jowitt, who is also Professor of Civil Engineering Systems and Executive Director of the Scottish Institute of Sustainable Technology at Heriot-Watt University, delivered the annual lecture with a presentation titled “Now is the time” in the Ngaio Marsh Theatre.
Professor Jowitt discussed the need for a renaissance that would see the world’s infrastructure built and rebuilt to ensure it could meet the challenges posed by climate change, environmental disasters, a burgeoning world and economic crises.
Head of Department Associate Professor Roger Nokes said Professor Jowitt’s lecture provided a global perspective on the challenges facing the world today, with a clear focus on how civil engineers, in particular, have a major role to play in ensuring a sustainable future for the planet. He said the message was particularly timely given recent calamitous events around the world, and one that politicians, economists and community leaders needed to hear.
Professor Jowitt was an Erskine Fellow at UC in 1997 and his areas of interest lie in the development and application of systems-based solutions within civil engineering, the water industry, environmental management, risk assessment and sustainable development.
The annual Hopkins Lecture, hosted jointly by the University of Canterbury and the Canterbury branch of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, was established in recognition of the distinguished service in the engineering field of Professor Harry Hopkins, who was head of civil engineering at the University from 1951 until 1978.
The lecture is delivered by an eminent speaker on a subject that will encourage discussion of engineering matters within the profession and promote public understanding of engineering issues.
Earthquake engineering a priority for UC engineers
Canterbury’s recent earthquake reinforces the importance of research projects being undertaken in UC’s College of Engineering.
Academic staff members within the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering have recently succeeded in securing two interim grants for major research projects as part of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology’s (FRST) Natural Hazards Research Platform, which was launched last year.
The platform is hosted by GNS Science, with NIWA and GNS Science acting jointly as “anchor” organisations. They have partnered with the University of Canterbury, as well as with Auckland and Massey universities, and Opus International Consultants. The platform brings together leading researchers to examine how natural hazards occur, their effects, and how we deal with them. It involves scientists and engineers from a range of fields, and provides long-term funding to projects focusing on geological hazards, weather hazards, engineering, including structural and geotechnical engineering, risk analysis and social aspects of natural hazards research.
The University of Canterbury is leading the world in damage-free or damage-resistant systems with applications to concrete buildings and bridges, steel and timber.
One of the projects currently being funded is on low damage structure technology, with a focus on long-term durability of structures. The technology is being applied to both steel and concrete structures but applicable to structures of other materials. The project is being led by Associate Professor Greg MacRae (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering) and Professor Geoff Chase (Mechanical Engineering).
The second grant is funding a research project on non-structural elements, which includes ceilings, facades, windows – the skin of a building – and internal partitions. Professor Greg MacRae and Associate Professor Stefano Pampanin together head this project.
“In a moderate level of earthquake, like the one we had in Christchurch, structural engineers provide buildings with strength so there is no structural damage, but some damage to cladding and ceilings is possible,” Professor MacRae said.
“In a strong — or design level — earthquake, the strength of buildings is expected to be significantly exceeded. To prevent collapse and loss of life during this shaking, structures are provided with ductility by careful detailing to avoid a sudden or brittle failure. This means that while buildings should remain standing they may have large permanent displacements and significant damage. Because of this, these buildings may need replacing. We are not protecting our infrastructure during this level of shaking,” he said.
“With the new technologies we’re developing, structures will have no permanent damage after a much bigger earthquake than the design level earthquake, and this will be able to be achieved at almost no extra cost.
“With a moderate level shake, we still had $4 billion damage. The level of earthquake we design for is a political decision,” Professor MacRae said.
Preliminary discussions with the Natural Hazards Platform several months ago indicated that further research efforts to reduce both structural damage, using low-damage technologies, and non-structural damage were likely to be a priority. The recent earthquake highlights the necessity of this work as part of making robust building systems for New Zealand.
Another large research programme being undertaken by the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering is on soil liquefaction led by Associate Professor Misko Cubrinovski. A series of projects focusing on liquefaction, lateral spreading and ground related damage during earthquakes are funded by the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and Environment Canterbury (ECan) including a long-term EQC Capability Funding in geotechnical engineering (CNRE) and geological sciences (GS). Seismic characterisation of Christchurch soils and in particular liquefaction has been the central theme in this research. The relevance of these studies has been highlighted by the recent earthquake in which liquefaction caused major damage to houses, roads and lifeline services such as cables, water, and sewage. Soil-structure interaction is an interdisciplinary research area where more work is needed to determine the best way to prepare soil for new construction, and reinstate structures affected by liquefaction or lateral spreading.
Such research has been stated to be of very high priority during discussions by reconnaissance teams at the earthquake information clearinghouse meetings and it is likely to be funded by EQC and FRST in the future.
Christchurch needs to prepare buildings for the 'big one'
7 September 2010
As Canterbury recovers from the 4 September earthquake and attention begins to focus on rebuilding the city centre, two structural engineers from our department are warning that this is not a time for complacency in setting building codes and earthquake research.
Professor Andy Buchanan and Associate Professor Greg MacRae said their concern was that some people were saying that the current standards were more than enough because everything survived so well.
“But others of us are saying let’s be very careful here because the seismologists tell us that an even larger earthquake could occur at some time in the future,” said Professor Buchanan.
“From a structural point of view the surprise is the low level of damage in Christchurch and the reason is that although it was a large magnitude earthquake, the level of ground shaking affecting most of the buildings we have in Christchurch was only about 60% of what we design for, and it was definitely not as much as it will be when we get the big one.”
Both Professor Buchanan and Professor MacRae cited Chile as a perfect example for Christchurch to consider. It had an earthquake in 1985 and, because its buildings all survived, it did nothing to strengthen its building codes. In 2010 it had a much more severe earthquake with very serious damage and loss of life.
“Because this is the first major earthquake in an urban area since Napier in 1931, there are many lessons we can learn for the future,” said Professor Buchanan.
“Basically, the unreinforced masonry buildings in Christchurch that had been re-strengthened have done very well and many of the ones that have not been strengthened have had a lot of damage.
“Concrete buildings fared better, but that was more to do with the size of the quake. We know that this will not be the case when a bigger quake strikes.”
Professor Buchanan said that research work carried out at the University in earthquake-proofing buildings was a key factor in restricting damage in the city to a predicted $4 billion.
“Money spent on research has saved hundreds of millions of dollars, but we need to continue this investment if we are going to future-proof buildings against potentially bigger earthquakes.
“We are fortunate in that the university has close working relationships with industry and with research organisations such as GNS Science, BRANZ, the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology as well as the Earthquake Commission.”
Professor Buchanan said that the key focus at present was researching how to economically protect buildings from the biggest of quakes.
“If this earthquake was bigger there would have been some concrete buildings that would have had to be demolished. What we are trying to do is come up with ways to design and protect buildings so that in the biggest of earthquakes they do not have to be demolished.
“The first question that needs to be asked is: ‘Are the specifications we have at present good enough?’ And the answer is no. The second question is: ‘What do we need to do?’ That’s simple. Continue to invest in research to make the protection of buildings more affordable.”
Engineer signs off after 42 years at UC
After 42 years at UC, Professor Athol Carr has retired — but he hasn’t yet left the building.
There’s still a course to finish teaching this year, possibly another next year, a course in Italy to teach and Iceland to visit. He is also still helping supervise seven PhD students.
“I like to keep busy. I’d rather be busy than bored,” he said.
His research interests include structural mechanics and dynamics, finite element analysis, computer-aided engineering, bridge vibration, earthquake engineering and engineering software. He is the co-author of two books, more than 300 academic papers and has supervised 46 masters students and 29 PhD students.
Professor Carr started at Canterbury when the University was on the town site in 1960 and moved in his second year to the new Ilam campus, finishing his degree in 1963. After a short stint working with a consulting engineer in Christchurch he went to the University of California, Berkeley, where he did his masters and PhD degrees. Before returning to New Zealand he looked for work and approached Harry Hopkins, the then head of department, to see what was happening at UC.
“He told me that there was a job opening coming up. I sent in my CV and a copy of my thesis for the positions which closed on the 30 June and, surprisingly, on 13 July I got a cable to say that I could start as a lecturer on 1 February for $4000 a year.”
When Professor Carr took up his job at the University in January 1968, the Ilam campus was still in the early stages of being built. That same year the University got the new IBM360 computer.
“I had heard rumours from the US about the 360, in particular about the poor precision and poor accuracy, which turned out to be true.”
The IBM360 was one of the first mainframe computer systems. It used microcode to implement the instruction set, featured 8-bit byte addressing and binary, decimal and floating-point calculation with 128 kilobyte of main storage. For the next computer purchase, Professor Carr was instrumental in ensuring that no further IBM 360 series computers were bought and the University instead acquired a Burroughs 67600 computer. At the time Professor Carr and postgraduate students were responsible for 10 per cent of all the
University’s computing.
His interest in simulating shell structures led to work for the Marine Department analysing ferro-cement fishing trawlers. He was also interested in earthquake responses of buildings and bridges.
“The 80s was easier with the introduction of personal computers. They were slow, but they were a big change and with that my teaching of mathematics increased,” he said.
In 1981 he was asked by the Dean of Engineering to investigate the possibility of a computer-aided design facility (EngCad) for the School of Engineering. The first computers were obtained in the mid-1980s and later the first ethernet cabling on campus was used to link the EngCad laboratory and the four engineering department’s computers.
As computer capabilities developed so did Professor Carr’s research in modelling, numerical analysis and methods for seismic behaviour of different structures including a wide range of materials and systems including concrete, steel, unreinforced masonry, energy dissipation devices and base isolation.
In 1986, a 20-year collaboration began with the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand (WRONZ) at Lincoln into the modelling of wool yarns.
“Initially this was real ‘blue skies’ research, we had no real idea that this might be really useful. However, after two PhDs and one masters student we could model the yarn in tension, bending, twist and compression. At that stage the rest of the world was coming to see what WRONZ was able to do.”
Although Professor Carr retired last month, his year ahead is still very full of academic commitments. In his spare time he intends to spend a bit more time restoring old tractors. He will also work on further developing his computer software products that are currently used in 110 universities and building research institutes, as well as a few consulting practices around the world.
New Zealand Order of Merit to Richard Fenwick
Adjunct Associate Professor Richard Fenwick was awarded the ONZM yesterday for Services to Engineering.
Richard completed his PhD research, which was supervised by Professor Tom Paulay, in 1966. He worked for the Christchurch City Council for a year and a half before leaving to work for consulting engineering firms in the UK and Auckland.
In 1975 he joined the staff at the University of Auckland, retired in 2002 and returned to Christchurch, where the Department of Civil and Natural Resource Engineering offered him office space, library and computing facilities, and later made him an Adjunct Associate Professor.
Since 2002 Richard has been involved in writing NZ Structural Design Standards, working on design precast concrete floors and working with staff and post graduate students on a number of research projects.
Management Camp, Wainui
Engineers must be able to manage the technology that they work with.
Student engineers must learn how to manage - to lead, to work as teams, to communicate, to work professionally and effectively to solve engineering problems.
For many 2nd pro students the management camp that they attend at Wainui is a baptism of fire (well, water) into these aspects of engineering.
The project that they undertake, in teams of 10, is to design, document and have constructed a raft that is sea worthy and will carry a pay load of sand. Having done that they have to test the effectiveness of their work by using the raft they designed on Akaroa harbour to carry sand in competition with other teams.
The work involves not only the design but the drawing up of contract documents, the 'letting' of the contract, supervision of the contractor who wins their contract (another team), testing and safety checks as well as the sea trials. Each team both designs a raft and also works as contractor to build another team's raft.
Most students enjoy the experience, all get wet but most important all begin to develop the essential attribute of an engineer - management skill.
Students win Awards at IPENZ Transportation and NZSEE Conferences
ME Student Anthony Stubbs, and MET Student Bridgett Burdett recently won awards at the IPENZ Transportation Conference. Anthony won the Best Young Author Award for his poster paper with Mofreh Saleh titled "An Investigation of the Validation of the Shell Fatigue Transfer Function and Bridgett won the Best Presentation award for her Technical Note about a Transportation Group Study Tour as well as being highly commended in the Best Paper category for her poster paper with Alan Nicholson on "Speed Management on Rural Roads".
Our students also did well at the NZSEE Conference held on the weekend of 26-28 March. These include:
- Euving Au – Best student poster
- Masoud Moghaddashi – NZSEE research scholarship
- Ben Leslie – Best student presentation
- Michael Newcombe – Best research paper
Congratulations everyone!
Fire Engineers go live on Science Hub
15 February
Charley Fleischmann and Mike Spearpoint's contribution to fire engineering recently took another step forward when they went live on Science Learning Hub. Science Learning Hub is a national project designed to support the effective teaching of science in New Zealand schools. It is funded by government through the Ministry of Research, Science & Technology.
UC researchers develop smart way to manage water
29 January
Groundwater is in decline worldwide but a new method to allocate groundwater among commercial users, developed by researchers at Canterbury University, could solve this part of the world’s water crisis.
In a paper titled “A Deterministic Smart Market Model for Groundwater", published in the journal Operations Research, members of the University’s Water Markets Research Group – Dr John Raffensperger (Management), Associate Professor Mark Milke (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering) and Adjunct Professor E. Grant Read (Management) – outline the “smart market” method for groundwater management.
The “smart market” consists of a daily or weekly auction in which commercial users could trade water, cleared by a computer model. The computer model balances water in the catchment over time, ensuring rivers have flows and aquifers have sustainable levels.
Rather than having to find a buyer or seller and then get government approval, users buy and sell through a common “pool.” A catchment manager pays users who are willing to sell, and gives more water to those who would pay for it.
Dr Raffensperger said the work is “a triple win all around. Users benefit from better allocation, the environment benefits from better flows, and government benefits from a simpler allocation system. We can’t make it rain, but we can allocate the available water more effectively.”