Ray Meyer Medal for Excellence in Student Design
-Sponsored by GHD

Nomination/Application form
Background Information
Critera
Award Winners

Entries for the Ray Meyer Medal for Excellence in Student Design 2011 is open.

International professional services company GHD has a vibrant, nine-years young New Zealand business, recognised as one of New Zealand’s Fast 50 companies and, in February 2008, announced as one of New Zealand’s “Best Places to Work”.
 
GHD’s focus is on clients, people and performance.  They are delighted to sponsor the Ray Meyer Medal and support young New Zealanders in their pursuit of fresh ideas and bright futures.

Professor Ray Meyer DistFIPENZ was President of IPENZ in 1982-1983 and Dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Auckland from 1971-1974 and again from 1978-1992. Throughout his career he was actively involved in design and commercialisation of research. He has held and holds positions on the governing boards of a number of companies in all of which excellence in engineering is essential to their business. He was awarded the ONZM for his contributions to engineering and education. This award is named in recognition of his achievements and seeks to encourage a new generation of innovative engineering designers.

The Ray Meyer Medal for Excellence in Student Design is awarded to the student or group of students presenting the best final year design project as part of an IPENZ accredited qualification, as determined against the following judging criteria:

  • Clear specification of requirements and constraints
  • Identification and preliminary evaluation of potential solutions
  • Detailed technical analysis of one or more preferred solution options
  • Detailed evaluation of a preferred solution against the requirements and constraints
  • Consideration of social, environmental and economic impacts
  • Quality of presentation and its communication of ideas

Beyond these formal criteria the judges will be looking for innovation in design solutions recognising that design is essentially a creative activity.

The award is open to all fields of engineering in which IPENZ accredits qualifications. Design projects are not only undertaken in subjects labelled Design Project but may also be found in some final year Research Projects where the object is to design, build and demonstrate a new or improved device.

The Award consists of a medal and certificate presented at the annual IPENZ Fellows’ and Achievers’ Awards Dinner held in a main centre in March following adjudication of entries received at the end the previous academic year in December. The winners and the nominator will be assisted in meeting reasonable travel costs within New Zealand to attend the dinner presentation.

Citations for the Ray Meyer Medal for Excellence in Student Design can be found in the public area of the website in the April issues of engineering dimension.

Award Winners

2010 High Temperature Superconductor Strand Splicing

Avinash Aden Rao, Ben Gadsby, Ben Scott and Nathan Allpress, supervised by Dr David Aitchison.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury

The project was set by Industrial Research Limited, which has a leading group developing high temperature superconductor technology. The problem was to solder the individual strands of a superconducting cable (Roebel Cable) with the extremely demanding specification of achieving joint resistances of 250 + 12.5 nano ohms to ensure the equal sharing of current between strands. This would allow greater lengths of super conducting cable, than are currently available, to be manufactured.

A range of alternatives was carefully reviewed and a selection made, on the basis of tests and analysis, in a particularly methodical way. The consequence was that the method chosen produced results which bettered the specification. Ultimately, a very impressive prototype strand-cutting and soldering station (machine) was designed and constructed. The report on the project was of a very high standard.
2009

Power Blade Instrumented Kayak Paddle

Daniel Barry, Kim Hedley, Samuel Horgan and Mathew Pottinger supervised by David Aitchison
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury

The aim of this final-year project was to develop a system capable of measuring and analysing a kayaker’s performance as a function of their technique, for use by high-performance athletes and their coaches. The system had to be unobtrusive and capable of being used during training on the water.

The Power Blade Instrumented Kayak Paddle group demonstrated considerable skill in producing a fully functioning prototype that has already shown its effectiveness in providing tangible assistance to elite K2 kayakers and their coaches leading up to the Beijing Olympics.

The judges were impressed by the careful way in which the group examined the alternatives, the care with which the chosen solution was implemented and the performance of the final design.
2008

Nifty Lifter

Jason Greaves, Rhys Hayward, Bundit Kijalakorn and Ibrahim Sugawara Ahmad, supervised by Dr Keith Alexander
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury

The Nifty Lifter project designed, built and tested as a self-operated lifting device that would enable a disabled, paraplegic person to move comfortably from the driver’s seat of their car to a wheelchair that had been lowered electrically from the roof.  Working with a disabled person the project impressed the judges with the care that had been taken in determining the requirements that had to be met, the thoroughness with which the alternatives had been examined, the solution that been produced and the testing and modifications that had been made in achieving the final design. The project featured on Campbell Live on TV3 on 29 February 2008.

IPENZ Student Design Award 1999-2006

 


    
Blank space Blank space