Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins with Faculty of Engineering Distinguished Service Medal award winner, Mr John Laurie AC and the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Tam Sridhar
Around 40 engineering students and five staff were recognised for their outstanding achievements during 2008 at the Engineering Awards Presentation Dinner on the 20th of May 2009 held in the Banquet Room at Monash Clayton.
Students were joined by supportive family members and friends who celebrated their achievements with industry sponsors, staff and the wider Monash community, including Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins, former Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Darvall and former Chancellor Mr Jerry Ellis.
Guest speaker, Mr John Laurie, AC, was also the recipient of the Faculty of Engineering Distinguished Service Medal for 2009. Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Tam Sridhar said, “John has had an illustrious career in engineering and was also on the Board of the engineering foundation and generously provided his connections and contacts for the benefit of the Faculty. Though not an alumnus, John has developed a close association with the Faculty.
Professor Sridhar also took the opportunity to thank Professor Richard Larkins for his attendance to the Faculty as it was Professor Larkins’ last official function with the Faculty in the capacity of VC. Professor Sridhar thanked Professor Larkins for his support of the Faculty and said, “Over the last 6 years Richard has been steadfast in his support for the Faculty. He recognised the distinctive role and needs of each discipline in the University and gave us the space to chart our course. On the national stage, as chairman of Universities Australia, he articulated with passion the profound role that education plays in determining the kind of society we live in.”
Professor Sridhar also acknowledged the generosity of the sponsors who help make the awards scholarships possible, “Tomorrow is graduation day and another batch of Monash Engineers will receive their degrees. I am told this will be one of the largest graduating class. Over the last 40 years Monash has assisted with the development of a whole generation of engineers who now occupy positions of leadership and influence. We rejoice in their achievements as it brings credit to their alma mater. Some of these leaders are here representing their employers and we welcome them back home. Many of them contribute in a variety of ways to ensure that Monash Engineering continues to be the place for engineering excellence. The award donors make such celebrations possible and I thank them for their generosity.”
Students were awarded around $100,000 in prize money, donated by generous industry sponsors including Air Liquide, Aker Solutions, Alcoa, ARC Centre of Excellence Design in Light Metals, Auto CRC, BlueScope Steel, Civil Contractors Federation, Engineers Australia, ExxonMobil, GHD, Golder Associates, Gurit, I Mech E, JK Ellis, Leighton Contractors, McConnell Dowell, Railway Technical Society of Australasia (RTSA), TraffixGroup, Unique Micro Design and Wilson Transformer.
