Newcastle’s Young Professional Engineer of the Year and Project of the Year have been announced at the Engineers Australia Excellence Awards – People & Projects Newcastle.
“The Engineers Australia Excellence Awards recognise outstanding engineers who show innovation and resourcefulness in their work and the region’s top engineering projects and the teams behind them,” said Engineers Australia Newcastle Division General Manager Helen Link.
“The Newcastle region is home to some of the globe’s oldest engineering structures, as well as world-class people and projects pushing the boundaries of engineering excellence to provide creative solutions to local problems.”
Project of The Year – Newcastle
Pacific Complete -Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway Upgrade
Joint Venture between Laing O’Rourke and WSP Australia, in partnership with Transport for NSW
The Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway upgrade converted 155km of the Pacific Highway to a four lane, divided carriageway between Hexham and the Queensland border.
The project team navigated two major river catchments, floodplains, soft soil, threatened species habitat, and sensitive heritage areas to provide safer, reduced travel times and better connectivity for local communities.
The size, scale and complex nature of the project provided unique challenges to the project team, who devised innovative solutions to leave an economic, social, and environmental legacy.
Young Professional Engineer of the Year – Newcastle
Steve Adamthwaite, MIEAust
As leader of Arup’s NSW/ACT Water Business Steve Adamthwaite drives sustainable, community-oriented solutions to deliver service and infrastructure excellence to industry and the community.
Adamthwaite represents the next generation of leaders and innovators – driving change, leading projects, and developing skills to underpin a sustainable future for the infrastructure sector, its people and the communities that rely upon it.
He also shapes future strategy through leadership positions with WaterAid NSW (Deputy Chair), Australian Water Association (Vice President NSW) and Engineers Australia (Deputy Chair, National Young Engineers Committee, Shadow Board).
Winners from the Engineers Australia Excellence Awards – People & Projects Newcastle now go into the running for the National Young Engineer of the Year Award and the Sir William Hudson Award – the highest accolade which an engineering project can receive from Engineers Australia.
The national awards will be held at the Sydney Hilton on October 5.