Warm congratulations to our amazing PIANC 2024 award winners!
Six major PIANC awards were presented at the APAC2024 Conference dinner ( Dinner kindly sponsored by Arup), held at Sofitel Wentworth on August 29th. APAC2024 was the third conference held in PIANC’s new Asia Pacific biennial conference series. Held in Sydney from 27 – 30 August it was a wonderful success in its aim of ‘Connecting Asia Pacific ports in a changing world’ with 320 attendees from 21 countries.
PIANC APAC 2022 Young Author Award
Awarded for the best paper presented by an Australian or New Zealand author under the age of 40 and is assessed based on the extended abstract as well as the presentation.
Congratulations to Jarryd Barnes for his winning paper ‘Field measurement and numerical modelling of re-suspended sediment due to tugs.’
Jarryd is a Senior Consultant at BMT, specializing in coastal engineering. He obtained his B.Eng in Civil Engineering and M.Eng in Port and Coastal Engineering from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Before joining BMT, Jarryd worked for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa. He enjoys all aspects of coastal engineering and is passionate about applying his expertise to address complex coastal challenges.
Jarryd thanked his BMT co-authors: Linden Clarke, Ian Teakle and Hamid D. F. for their involvement and contributions.
PIANC APAC 2024 Outstanding Author Award
Awarded to an outstanding APAC Conference paper and presentation.
The 2024 winner is Damian Dryden, for his paper on ‘Potential Acid Sulfate Soils Management for 1.5 million m3 of dredged material.’
Damian is the Civil Project Engineer for the Channel Upgrade at Port of Townsville.
The Port is northern Australia’s largest container and automotive port, a growing cruise port, and a vital link for regional industries. However, at just 92m wide, the shipping channel was one of the narrowest in the country and could only accommodate ships up to 238m in length.
The Channel Upgrade project, which commenced in 2020, will see the Platypus channel (Port end) widened to 180m, tapering to 120m offshore, to accommodate vessels up to 300m in length when completed at the end of 2024.
Peter Fountain Awards – new for 2024
Peter Fountain (1946-2021) was a longstanding member of PIANC AU-NZ who led the Maunsell/AECOM maritime engineering practice in Australia for decades. Peter had a stellar reputation in the maritime engineering industry within Australia and New Zealand and internationally.
In recognition of Peter’s contribution his family in collaboration with PIANC AU-NZ created the Peter Fountain Memorial Fellowship Fund. The fund is to support young engineers to attend PIANC AU-NZ conferences and make a career in port and maritime engineering. In 2024 Peter’s daughter Mimi Dennett presented awards to two outstanding young students.
2024 Winners: Caelan Hearne – Final Year BE (Hons) UNSW and Lauren Ilano – Final Year BE (Hons) USyd.
For Caelan, who is currently completing his undergraduate research thesis on coastal protection at the UNSW Water Research Laboratory, the Conference, ‘was an amazing experience to learn from and meet such inspiring professionals in the coastal and maritime industry. A special thank you to Peter’s family for presenting this award. A huge thank you as well to the entire PIANC community for hosting such a welcoming and insightful event. Looking forward to continuing to grow and contribute in this field!’
Lauren who is currently studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) (Civil Engineering) and a Bachelor of Science (Adv Physics) at the University of Sydney, also shared on social media. ” I am grateful to have met the wider PIANC AU-NZ community and learn from inspiring changemakers who are pioneering the design and construction of global maritime and waterborne infrastructure. I learned that through greater connectivity and the sharing of knowledge, we can keep the resilience of coastal communities at the heart now and in the future. At the Conference I truly witnessed what Peter Fountain believed – that the work of PIANC members is indeed a ‘labour of love for the maritime industry and the common good’.”
Congratulations to Caelan and Lauren. We look forward to your continuing progress.
PIANC APAC 2024 Progress Award
This award, chosen by the PIANC AU-NZ Board, is presented to someone who has increased the positive influence of Waterborne Transport Infrastructure through initiatives relating to equality, diversity and using their work to improve the lives of others.
Congratulations to 2024 winner Claire Treeby, Regional Chapter Lead on the PIANC AU-NZ Board.
Claire, who is the Director of Ports and Terminals Australia and Asia for international engineering consultancy Hatch, is passionate about sharing knowledge and making connections within the ports & maritime field.
As Regional Chapter Lead, and previously as YP Com Chair for AU-NZ, Claire has led the transformation of PIANC AU-NZ from a Sydney-centric Board to a multi-sited regionally active organisation which empowers and involves members from the ground up.
Claire has been the driving force behind so many innovative PIANC projects, such as the inspiring and very successful YP Leadership Breakfast series around the region, in hosting or co-hosting Women in Maritime events, and in forging new student/industry connections, connecting undergraduate students and PhD researchers with the maritime community. She was also a key player in the success of our very first PIANC APAC Conference held in Fremantle in 2020. We are lucky to have her!
PIANC APAC 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award
For outstanding involvement and contribution to the Waterborne Transport Infrastructure industry. The 2024 Award is awarded posthumously to Peter Fountain.
Peter Fountain served on the PIANC AU-NZ Board from its inception in 1998 to 2014.
From 2014 he was our region’s lead for MarCom, responsible for identifying and guiding experienced and emerging Australian and New Zealand leaders in the sector to take up their place in PIANC’s Working Groups – to share their expertise with and learn from the world’s best.
During his professional working life with the multinational infrastructure engineering company Maunsell/AECOM, (1984 – 2019) Peter was instrumental in the delivery of major port and marine projects in every state of Australia, involving container terminals, oil and gas facilities, coal terminals, general cargo wharfs, ferry and passenger terminals, residential maritime developments, coastal protection, and vessel studies.
He was also involved in over 50 major port and marine projects globally, including in PNG, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, New Caledonia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Guinea.
At the time of his passing in 2021, Peter was involved in the setting up of MarCom Working Group 240: Guidance for ports in small island countries. He was particularly passionate about this WG as concerns grow in our region about climate change impacts in the Pacific.
Peter was enthusiastic and committed to the PIANC mission of technical advancement and knowledge sharing, professional and astute in his decisions, a wise, softly spoken and supportive leader.
PIANC APAC 2024 Contribution Award
This award is presented to an individual for their commendable input to supporting PIANC including on working group/s and commissions, conferences and promotions.
2024 Award Winner: Mary O’Connell
Mary manages communications for a growing PIANC AU-NZ. Experienced in engineering comms, she has built and strengthened our connections with PIANC members and the wider ports and maritime community through emails, newsletters, web stories, Annual Reports, videos and LinkedIn posts.
Attendance at our events and awareness of our work has risen, and not just locally. She has raised our region’s profile within the international PIANC community to such an extent that HQ wanted her to come and work with them!
Although she has never studied an engineering subject in her life, she recognizes kindred spirits everywhere within PIANC – a shared delight in detail, a need for accuracy in reporting, a love of the ocean, a desire for positive change for our world, and a drive to get the work done!
Congratulations to all our award winners! Thank you to the LOC and the PIANC AU-NZ Board for their work in organising the awards.