Issue | Putanga 32/2025
Taking to the roads
Transport engineers: Problem solvers and pragmatists
Advancing agritech
Feeding a sector hungry for solutions
Engineers doing project justice
Seismic strengthening and building services replacement hold court
Does a bright (and hot) future await?
“All around the world, people want to be able to plug into an ethical, sustainable, reliable energy source.”
“I was immediately drawn to natural resources engineering because of the positive impact it could have on te taiao, and I’ve never really strayed from that belief.”
“I think about the total experience of the journey, whether that’s in a car, bus or train, or using a bike or simply walking.”
“... when you are out there, part of you is wondering why you’re doing it, but the memories stay with you much longer and more vividly than other trips.”
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This issue of EG was published in September 2025.
08 Geothermal energy “our secret weapon” In New Zealand’s geothermal sector, optimism is high that a bright (and hot) future awaits.
14 Top award for “natural problem solver” Adam Thornton reflects on his more than half a century of engineering.
16 Taking to the roads How transport engineers are at the heart of work to make our country’s roads safer for all users.
22 Advancing agritech Hungry for solutions to increasingly complex challenges, the agricultural sector is turning to agritech for answers.
28 Exceptional early career engineer This award winner exemplifies how engineers past and present can help young people pursue exceptional careers in engineering.
30 Engineers doing project justice Although seismic strengthening and replacement of building services are underway, the wheels of justice keep turning.
38 Putting AI into practice Making the most of some of the AI platforms now on offer.
39 Standards not measuring up Advocating for engineers in the standards debate and driving change to achieve tangible improvements.
40 Taking on governance roles: what to consider Tips from our legal team.
42 Intersection
43 Creating inclusive workplaces Why it matters for engineering.
44 Deepening experience Shining a light on tunnelling.
46 Advocating for technology education What does technology education mean in 2025?
47 Supporting your voice
48 Look to the past for present and future Thoughts from the Chair of Engineering New Zealand’s Heritage Board.
50 Secret life of engineers
53 Leading questions
54 Inside job
56 Bedside table
57 One to watch 59 Obituaries
60 Engineering genius
Engineering Envy #145
Chosen by Te Ao Rangahau staff
Two massive temples, commissioned by Egypt’s King Ramses II in the 13th century BC, carved into a sandstone cliff, guarded by 20-metre-tall statues. So precise and impressive was the ancient engineering behind the Abu Simbel Temples that three of the four “Holiest of Holies” –statues carved into the rear wall – are spectacularly lit by the sun on just two days of the year. The fourth statue is creator-god Ptah, remaining in the shadows as a nod to his links to the underworld. Modern engineers played a role in the continued existence of this historic site. In the mid-1900s – more than 3,000 years after their construction – the Aswan High Dam’s rising waters threatened to submerge the temples. In response, engineers and other professionals painstakingly cut the two temples into more than 1,000 blocks and reassembled them 60m above their original location, maintaining the temples’ solar alignment.
Seeing this temple that was built more than 3,000 years ago was incredible. More so, knowing that it had been moved by modern engineers with such precision, maintaining their ancient counterparts’ accuracy!
– Catherine Drake, Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive
Ka nui taku hari ki te tuhi i tēnei kupu whakataki mō tētahi putanga o EG ki te reo Ingarihi me te reo Māori, hei whakamiha ki Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Hepetema 2025. E tū ana a Aotearoa New Zealand i te haumitanga o te ao auaha me ngā tikanga Māori, arā, he whenua e whakaata nei ōna rongoā pūkaha o nāianei i te mātauranga Māori.
I tēnei o ngā putanga e wānanga ana mātou i te pātai, me pēhea e whakapiki ai ngā rongoā pūkaha mō te ahuwhenua i te whakatupu kai, me te pupuru tonu i te mauri o te whenua, tae atu ki te kaitiakitanga. Ka titiro hoki mātou ki te pūngao ka taea te whakahou, me te arotahi mārika ki te pūngao ngāwhā. He taonga nui te pūngao ka taea te whakahou mā te tini o ngā iwi, ā, ko te pūngao o ngā pūnaha ngāwhā, pērā i ērā i te rohe o Te Moana o Taupō tētahi tino taonga, i takea mai i ngā kōrero o nehe mō te ao wairua, i ngā takahanga o ngā tūpuna o aua iwi.
I roto i ngā mahi pūkaha tūnuku (waka), e hautū ana ngā hapori Māori i ngā rongoā e haumaru ake ai ngā huarahi, mā ngā tikanga hoahoa e anga ana ki ngā āhuatanga o aua rori tuawhenua, me ngā hiahia o te takiwā; nā reira, ka whakaatatia ētahi kaupapa tūnuku e arotahi ana ki te haumaru huarahi i tēnei putanga.
Ka tirohia hoki e mātou ngā mahi whakapakari mō te rū i te Kōti ā-Rohe o Tāmakimakaurau, ētahi āhuatanga whakamere i te ao poka ana whenua, me tētahi tuhinga mai i Technology Education New Zealand (tētahi rōpū aro hangarau nō mātou) e aro nei ki te whakangungu i te reanga pūkaha hou. Hei mea whakamutunga, ka mihia e mātou ngā whakaihuwaka o ngā Tohu o te Amokapua, me ētahi atu tāngata papai.
It gives me great pleasure to write this introduction to an issue of EG in English and te reo, in recognition of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, September 2025.
Aotearoa New Zealand stands at the intersection of innovation and tikanga Māori, where modern engineering solutions also reflect mātauranga Māori. In this edition, we look at how engineering solutions for agriculture can enhance food production while respecting the whenua (land) and ensuring kaitiakitanga (guardianship). We also feature renewable energy, with a focus on geothermal energy. Renewable energy, especially geothermal, is a taonga (treasure) for many iwi, where geothermal systems like those in the Taupō Volcanic Zone are also spiritual and cultural landmarks. In transportation engineering, Māori communities advocate for safer roads through design solutions that account for rural conditions and local needs; therefore, transportation projects that focus on road safety are presented in this issue.
We also feature seismic strengthening work underway at the Auckland District Court, areas of interest in the tunnelling sector, and an article from Technology Education New Zealand (a Technical Interest Group of ours) with a focus on the pipeline of engineers. Finally, we feature our President’s Awards winners and other notable individuals.
Jan Evans-Freeman DistFEngNZ President, Te Ao Rangahau
“It’s an immense honour to take over as Chair as GHD approaches its centenary in 2028.”
Ian Fraser becomes the first New Zealand-based Chair of GHD.
“The goal of this project is to provide long-term sustainability and selfsufficiency for Tongan healthcare providers by equipping local healthcare staff with technical skills to maintain essential medical equipment.”
University of Canterbury Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor Debbie Munro is grateful for a donation to help engineering students travelling to Tonga to carry out essential medical repairs and improvements in the nation’s hospitals.
“The group that I am joining as a life member are people that I esteem so much – amazing engineers.”
Michelle Grant FEngNZ CPEng IntPE(NZ) is the first woman to be made a life member of the Structural Engineering Society of New Zealand.
“They have robotic knives that can strip a sheep’s carcass in six seconds, and to think that is happening here in Dunedin... what they are doing is absolutely at the forefront of world technology.”
Deputy PM David Seymour (a qualified electrical engineer) says he’s “in awe” of Scott Technology's work.
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Join a Group to explore topics you love, connect with like-minded engineers, access relevant resources and enhance your professional engineering journey.
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WRITER | KAITUHI LAURIE WINKLESS
In New Zealand’s geothermal sector, optimism is high that a bright (and hot) future awaits. EG talks to some leaders in the sector about the current status, and what might lie ahead.
New Zealand’s location – astride the boundary between two colliding tectonic plates – shapes our iconic landscape. Take the Southern Alps, Ka Tiritiri-o-te-Moana. They are among the fastest rising mountains in the world, uplifted by 20km in 12 million years, their height kept in check by continuous erosion. The volcanoes of Te Ikaa-Māui, the North Island, tell a different geological story. Under the Taupō Volcanic Zone, the Earth’s crust is thinner than normal, bringing magma close to the surface. With it comes vast quantities of heat – the basis of the country’s geothermal sector.
The reservoirs of geothermal fluid (waiwhatu) – a mix of pressurised water, steam and minerals naturally generated by this heat – provide a renewable and reliable form of energy beneath our feet. For more than 65 years, ever since the country’s first plant opened at Wairākei, geothermal has played a role in the energy mix. Of the 29 geothermal fields known to exist around the motu, eight currently generate electricity or supply heat directly, for use in industry or agriculture.
“Since 2020, we’ve been in a new cycle of growth,” says Kennie Tsui CNZM FEngNZ CPEng IntPE(NZ), CEO of the New Zealand Geothermal Association (NZGA) and Deputy President of Engineering New Zealand.
“We are currently supplying about 1,200 megawatts of geothermal electricity to the grid – about 22.5 percent of the total supply. Our anticipation is that long term, we will double that. Plus, we’ll have more and more opportunities
in direct use too. Essity switching their drying machine to 100 percent geothermal is a good example of that.”
Kennie’s optimism is underpinned by broader changes influencing the sector. Amendments to the Resource Management Act are expected to simplify the consenting process for geothermal energy projects, and in August the Government launched From the Ground up: a draft strategy to unlock New Zealand's geothermal potential In late 2024, funding of up to $60 million was announced to support the development of supercritical geothermal technology in the Taupō Volcanic Zone; drilling to depths beyond 5km, to access even hotter geothermal fluid.
Something else on the horizon is Stage 3 of the National Freshwater and Geothermal Resources Inquiry (Wai 2358).
Focused on Māori rights and interests in geothermal resources, the final hearing stages of this inquiry are scheduled for September. “This is something that I’m keeping an eye on,” says Dr Nona Taute-Hohepa MEngNZ (Te Arawa, Tainui) from the University of Auckland. “I’m on the side of Māori being more involved in all phases of geothermal energy projects.”
Nona’s thesis focused on making the consenting and decision-making processes around geothermal energy more inclusive. One output was a tool that guides people through the impact assessment of a geothermal project, and provides a score on
Opposite: Mōkai Geothermal Station.
the project’s sustainability. He says the assessment process is lengthy, but “pretty intuitive”.
He continues: “The goal for tools like this is to help iwi and hapū articulate their values, goals and vision effectively, and then to incorporate that into an engineering-heavy process.”
This is something that Andy Blair ONZM is also prioritising. She and her team at geothermal research and consultancy firm Upflow are working on a project to support Māori landowners on greenfield sites.
“It can take a long time to get ready for a geothermal development and the process needs a lot of information. We want to help landowners prepare for that.”
Upflow works closely with several Māori landowner groups, including Tauhara North No.2 Trust, a Rotokawa, Reporoa-based trust. “We support and deliver on their geothermal R&D aspirations,” says Andy. “Māori are intergenerational thinkers. This is deeply aligned with both geothermal developments, which are 50-plus year projects, and long timelines associated with R&D. Māori seek holistic and diverse ways to utilise resources, and geothermal is no different. Additionally, geothermal reservoirs are deemed taonga (treasure) that should be cared for long into the future.”
Nona says: “In terms of partnership between iwi, government and companies, we have made some progress,” adding that if the trend continues, “… we’ll see those partnerships become more robust”.
It can take a long time to get ready for a geothermal development and the process needs a lot of information. We want to help landowners prepare for that.
– Andy Blair
“I think if we have clear guidelines and patience, then we can avoid conflict and headaches and get a better outcome for everyone.”
Both Kennie and Nona mention the Tūaropaki Trust’s geothermal field at Mōkai as an example of an innovative and Māori-led use of the underground heat. “We see true vertical integration there,” says Kennie, “From electricity generation, to dairy milk powder drying, to gourmet tomatoes, to green hydrogen production – all using the same resource.” For Nona, it’s the people that make it a success. “There are permanent iwi staff overlooking the management process – that’s what you need to ensure a project incorporates kaitiakitanga.”
The geothermal sector is awash with good ideas, says Kennie, who is particularly excited about industry efforts to reduce carbon emissions at geothermal sites.
“The 18 plants that we have in New Zealand are not carbon-zero. We emit non-condensable gases like CO2.”
So, over the past four years, NZGA has been overseeing efforts to capture and re-inject CO2 back into the reservoir by mixing it with the expended geothermal brine.
“In 2019, there were 604 kilotonnes of CO2 emissions related to geothermal. We are now down to less than 450 kilotonnes for 2024.” Kennie says the sector has achieved a significant reduction by utilising engineering and design skills.
There are numerous new tools and techniques on offer that can optimise the output of a steam field. Engineering consultancy MTL is working with Toshiba to deliver smallscale skid-mounted geothermal power plants that can be integrated into existing systems here and overseas. Companies like Geo40 are extracting minerals like silica and lithium from geothermal fluid at Ohaaki. Upflow received funding from the United States’ Department of Energy to develop GOOML, a machine learning-based optimisation tool that can increase electricity generation by between 1 and 10 percent.
“We developed this using real data from Contact Energy, Ngāti Tūwharetoa Geothermal Assets and Ormat in the US,” says Andy. “We’re on the commercialisation
path now, and are working on how to put GOOML into standard workflows.”
There’s also a growing interest in geothermal energy at both ends of the temperature scale. For Kennie, unlocking the widespread use of low – and medium – temperature geothermal energy (<140°C) would be a “game changer” in helping industry move away from natural gas and oil.
“To us, that is a huge untapped opportunity – it’s a resource accessible all over the country. You don’t have to drill down for kilometres in the Taupō Volcanic Zone to access it.”
Supercritical geothermal fluids are much hotter, offering 10 times more energy than those found at current drilling depths (~3.5 km). Rather than replace conventional geothermal, it is expected to complement it, offering higher efficiency and higher temperatures for specific applications. Andy says: “Supercritical is an amazing long-term opportunity for New Zealand. There’s a lot of science to be solved around materials, handling and utilisation, but both here in Aotearoa and around the world there are great people trying to answer those questions.”
“New Zealanders are everywhere that geothermal energy is being captured,” says Holger Zipfel CMEngNZ CPEng IntPE(NZ) from MTL.
“I think since the very beginning, NZ Inc. has prioritised sharing our knowledge beyond these shores.”
Kennie agrees: “I would claim every geothermal plant in the world has a Kiwi handprint on it. We are the only energy industry that exports – rather than imports –our expertise.”
As early adopters of geothermal energy, our engineers have long been sought to work on overseas projects, starting in 1973 in Indonesia. For 10 years, as part of a government-funded aid programme, Kiwi geothermal engineers surveyed the country’s underground resource, and kickstarted drilling at Kamojang, which became Indonesia’s first geothermal power plant.
“New Zealand has retained a great reputation there,” says Holger. “We’re involved in the Philippines, Taiwan and Kenya on different projects, but Indonesia is a major focus of our work.”
One of MTL’s two Indonesian projects is Muara Laboh Unit 2 – a major expansion of an existing site. “We get to work in a very collaborative way there,” says Holger.
The relationship between Indonesia and New Zealand is broader than delivering new geothermal plants. A key priority is developing the local workforce through the provision of on-site training, and supporting Indonesian polytechnics and institutions. Education is also at the heart of the Geothermal Institute at the University of Auckland. In addition to offering postgraduate courses and a PhD programme, the Institute has delivered training everywhere from Australia, Japan and the Philippines, to the Caribbean, Chile and Mexico.
“All around the world, people want to be able to plug into an ethical, sustainable, reliable energy source,” says Andy. “That’s what geothermal offers. It’s an enabler, opening up so many other opportunities for economies and communities to prosper. Geothermal energy is our secret weapon, but it’s time to shout about it from the rooftops.”
From its inception in 2013, Women in Geothermal (WING) – an international movement co-founded by Upflow’s Andy Blair – promotes the education, professional development and advancement of women in the geothermal community. WING has run projects to support working parents, developed a documentary with the United Nations, sponsored student scholarships, and it hosts a Future Leaders cohort – all with the aim of making the geothermal sector more inclusive. One programme is the WINGman Special Taskforce, providing men in the sector with tools and advice on how to better support their female colleagues. “I think what WING is doing is fantastic,” says proud WINGman Holger Zipfel from MTL. “A lot of my geothermal colleagues at MTL are women, but that’s still unusual. It’s important that we see an increase in the number of women in engineering. I recently joined WING’s board, so I hope to do more.”
WRITER | KAITUHI ALEXANDRA JOHNSON
Adam Thornton reflects on his more than half a century of engineering.
If you take a drive around Wellington’s CBD and its stunning waterfront, you’ll see many iconic buildings that Adam Thornton DistFEngNZ had a significant hand in.
The structural engineer, who in March this year received the Fulton-Downer Gold Medal, has been a prominent structural engineer in the capital for 50 years. Renowned for his innovative engineering knowledge and leadership on projects as diverse as the Museum Hotel relocation, Wellington Regional Hospital, Clyde Quay Wharf and Tākina convention centre, many of the buildings he has worked on involved technical firsts for New Zealand.
Adam says he was pointed in the direction of engineering due to his strength in maths and physics at school.
“My whole family is that way inclined,” he says, “My father was a very practical man, as are my children. We are natural problem solvers.”
It was only after he graduated and started working in the industry that he realised how much he had found his niche. “I found it by accident.”
Early in his career, an employer sparked Adam’s passion for engineering leadership and improving industry standards. In 1986 he established Dunning
Thornton with Cris Dunning and the business has since provided structural engineering consultancy services for projects in Wellington and throughout the country.
He has held numerous key positions in New Zealand and internationally, including with ACE New Zealand, Engineering New Zealand and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers. Additionally, Adam made a significant contribution to the development of Producer Statements, particularly as lead author of Practice Note 1.
“The need for this arose from diversity in producer statement practice, along with significant deregulation and the uptake of new technologies and building materials during the nineties,” he says.
“The government introduced the Building Act in 1991 and during the same period a number of major changes occurred within the building industry. Prior to that, councils had engineering departments that would vet building consents, but in the nineties a lot of regulatory technical expertise was lost through decentralisation.”
He says that the industry was characterised by designer overconfidence and acceptance of producer statements without adequate scrutiny.
“As a result, we had some very poor
outcomes such as the leaky buildings fiasco, which was a great disaster for the country, costing billions of dollars to councils and building owners.”
He continues: “There are 67 different building consent authorities in New Zealand and thousands of practitioners, and many were doing their own thing. Following the revised Building Act in 2004, we realised the engineering profession needed some guidelines to improve consistency of practice and to reinstate confidence in producer statements.”
The standard Engineering New Zealand/ACE New Zealand producer statements are now universally accepted across the country and have become a key tool for demonstrating compliance with the Building Code, he says.
One of Adam’s favourite projects was the relocation of Wellington’s Museum Hotel, for which he earned accolades here and abroad for the innovative way in which the 3,000-tonne, four-storey building was moved along and across Cable Street on railway bogies, to make room for Te Papa.
“The solution we arrived at was a consequence of the fact the government was stripping out disused railway lines, so the bogies, railway lines and bridge beams happened to be available.”
He cites Clyde Quay Wharf as one of his most challenging projects. The building included an under-wharf basement carpark, an engineering challenge thought to be the first of its kind in Australasia. More than 200 new piles were installed through the existing wharf, and 32 concrete slabs, each weighing 90 tonnes, were cast above the hightide level and lowered into place using hydraulic rams to form a 200-metre long car park, which is half-submerged at high tide.
“It was an extremely complex project. It required considerable collaboration with the contractor and with numerous other engineering disciplines and took two years to get resource consent.”
From the slide rule to AI, predominance of reinforced concrete to steel and timber, ecological nightmares to the focus on environmentally friendly buildings, Adam says much has changed in the industry since he started out.
“Also, the sophistication of design,” he adds.
“The design complexity of modern buildings now, enabled by powerful computer analysis and design programs,
is a huge shift from the simply modelled buildings of the seventies and eighties.” Regulations and seismic knowledge have also greatly changed, and around this he offers a caution.
“For structural engineers the increasing knowledge about seismic hazard and building performance means that almost every building currently being consented is destined to become considered as ‘sub-par’ within a relatively short time. We keep raising the bar, which at some point must become questionable, in a business sense, for New Zealand Inc.”
He says engineers need to be aware of the wider impacts of such continuous change. “There are not many countries that have had the number of changes to standards that we have had in the past 40 years, including seismic regulations, new materials, new loading standards, and so forth.”
Adam believes one of the biggest challenges for structural engineers is having to adapt to constant change, and while there are “many brilliant engineers in New Zealand” there are also those who are not keeping up with technological changes and compliance requirements.
He believes the country needs more structural engineers who are both technically proficient and able to see the bigger picture.
“We must develop professionals that have strong consultancy skills, can communicate effectively with a range of stakeholders, can understand the needs of clients and other design disciplines, and know the complexities of running a successful business.”
Adam retired as a Director of Dunning Thornton in 2017 but still works there as a senior engineer and mentor. His current workload predominately involves acting as an expert witness when an engineer’s work comes under scrutiny.
He appreciates that the Fulton-Downer Gold Medal recognises his contribution to the practice of engineering as a whole.
“The recognition from my peers is the most important part of it, acknowledging the work I’ve put into the profession.”
But for his technical expertise, Adam considers the greatest endorsement of his skills to be in the doing.
“If builders like building your designs and clients find them affordable, then to me, they’re signals that you’re doing it right.”
WRITER | KAITUHI MATT PHILP
New Zealand is not a place where you might necessarily feel comfortable behind the wheel. But as problem solvers and pragmatists, transport engineers are at the heart of work to make our country’s roads safer for all users.
Among OECD countries, New Zealand’s road death rate per 100,000 people in 2022 was the fourth worst, behind Chile, the United States and Colombia. There is a world’s worth of blacktop between us and road safety leaders such as Sweden and the United Kingdom.
But it’s not all bad news. Despite some reversals, the long-run trend is that our roads are becoming safer: the 1990 fatality rate was 21.4 deaths per 100,000 people; in 2022, it was 7.3. Last year, New Zealand recorded its lowest per capita toll since the 1920s (289 fatalities), a result that some have attributed at least in part to the previous government’s speed limit reductions – now being rolled back.
How do we maintain momentum? There’s an argument that driver education – all those billboards and media campaigns – along with stricter enforcement to tackle drink- and drug-impaired driving, and safer vehicles have all helped to reduce deaths, and will continue to do so. But road safety thinking has moved on from “blame the driver” and a relentless focus on education. The current Safe System approach acknowledges that drivers will inevitably make mistakes; the point is to reduce the risk so that they don’t pay for a moment’s bad judgement with their life. It’s about smart highway design and making better use of proven road safety solutions, and transport engineers are at the heart of it.
One thing to get out of the way first: why does New Zealand compare so poorly when it comes to road deaths?
Kaye Clark FEngNZ’s 40-year engineering and management career included various roles with NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) including State Highway Manager, Road Safety Programme Manager and Principal Advisor to the agency’s Safety and Environment Group. This year she was presented with Engineering New Zealand’s MacLean Citation, recognising a member who has contributed exceptional and distinguished service to the profession.
“A lot of it is to do with geography,” Kaye says of our relatively high road toll. “New Zealand is an elongated country with a lot of length of roading and much of it is chipseal, and along with the associated infrustructure, it takes a lot to maintain. When you compare it to a place like the UK, which has similar land area but a considerably larger population, we have challenges.”
Statistics make the same point. In 2022, 68 percent of fatal crashes occurred on rural roads. And then there’s the National Road Assessment Programme, or KiwiRAP, which was developed by the AA and the NZTA to assess the safety of our network. In 2010, it rated 90 percent of the state highways using a five-star system. Nearly 40 percent achieved two stars, 56 percent managed three.
Kaye says there is far more in an engineer’s toolkit to improve those roads than when she started her career (“we didn’t even have median barriers”). But there’s also more responsibility under the Safe System approach.
“The engineering now is about trying to reduce conflict areas and trying to reduce the severity if something goes wrong. It’s moved into an ethical space where the system itself is problematic and our duty as engineers is to reduce the harm. What can we do?”
Primarily, road safety is about physics, she says, “… about what the human body can survive”. You can reduce speed limits, of course. But for engineers, the focus is on removing those abovementioned conflict areas. Intersections are a fatality hot spot – so you use roundabouts, which are far more forgiving. Head-on crashes at speed are prevented by median barriers, while fencing and other roadside treatments can save the day if a vehicle leaves the road. Separating cyclists from traffic is another winner.
“There’s better understanding now of the things you can do to improve safety, and they’ve started to standardise these treatments,” says Kaye.
The newly opened 11.5km replacement for the Manawatū Gorge Highway is a case in point. Known as
It’s moved into an ethical space where the system itself is problematic and our duty as engineers is to reduce the harm. What can we do?
– Kaye Clark
Te Ahu a Turanga Manawatū Tararua Highway, it features two 100kph lanes in each direction with a flexible median barrier, roundabouts at either end, three rest areas, four lookouts and a shared pedestrian/cyclist path.
Kaye calls it an excellent example of the Safe System approach to road design. Conversely, the Government’s rollback of speed limit restrictions raises the risk of harm. “When you look at our roads, a lot of them aren’t safe at the speed that’s posted,” she says. Regarding the efficiency argument for raising speeds, she says: “The quickest way to bring a road to a stop is having a bad or a fatal crash.”
Whatever happens with speed limits, she adds: “Engineers will work around it and keep doing our best with the tools and the funding we have. We’re problem solvers.”
Engineers are problem solvers, but pragmatists too Aurecon senior civil designer Stuart Hamilton MEngNZ was the roading technical lead on the highway rebuild following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, an event that took out 200km of SH1 and around 190km of rail line. Working closely with a NZTA safety engineer, Stuart oversaw the design of the new coastal route, squeezed in beside the railway and between the base of the Kaikōuras and the ocean. It is not a setting in which you can roll out your full bag of road safety tricks. Nevertheless, the team was able to introduce practical solutions, including smoothing corners, installing concrete barriers to prevent rail line ballast falling onto the road, improving drainage and building safe roadside stopping areas.
“It’s hard to quantify, but I believe it is safer,” he says.
Elsewhere, Stuart has been involved in roading projects that capitalised on modern road safety staples. In Marlborough, for instance, he designed a roundabout to replace the hazardous intersection of two high-speed roads, Rapaura Road (wine country’s “Golden Mile”) and SH6.
“Roundabouts reduce your conflict points and make things much easier to define – and there’s only one movement you have to worry about, which is from your right,” he says.
“Median barriers also reduce death and serious injuries. However, they have been also very divisive in terms of the impact to local road users and there has to be a balance found.”
He has also been a safety auditor, which he describes as “effectively doing a peer review” of road design.
“A design team can get lost in the detail and miss the bigger picture. You’re asking things like ‘Have you considered what happens if a car leaves the road here? What about cyclists? What about maintenance? How does that feature fit in?’”
His own design work is influenced, subtly but materially, by his other job as a Hato Hone St John ambulance officer.
“I've seen the consequences on the occupants of vehicles that have hit objects – the human body does not cope well with high forces. This has strengthened my approach to ensuring that during design we either remove objects or ensure that they are protected from being hit.
I think about the total experience of the journey, whether that’s in a car, bus or train, or using a bike or simply walking.
– Mike O’Halloran
Sometimes this means questioning what ‘the book’ says and applying real-world experience to really challenge whether something it the optimum solution.”
It’s a question of mindset. Mott MacDonald New Zealand Managing Director Mike O’Halloran FEngNZ CPEng IntPE(NZ) advises anyone involved in designing or improving a road to think about the vulnerable users.
“I think about the children who travel to school on our roading network and what they might encounter along the way. I think about the total experience of the journey, whether that’s in a car, bus or train, or using a bike or simply walking. And I always think of drivers having to negotiate roads at night, especially during bad weather.”
Mike has delivered major transport projects over his 35-year career. The fundamentals still apply – good signage, effective traffic signalling and appropriate lighting all make a difference, he says. And road safety continues to be about more than engineering out risk.
“It involves a comprehensive approach, including improved vehicle safety and better driver behaviour.”
That said, he’s also excited about the potential of new solutions. When sitting in an Auckland traffic jam, he sometimes imagines vehicles being guided by sensors along the motorways to regulate traffic flows more evenly.
“There are so many applications and opportunities for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) to improve our transport networks,” he says, citing recent real-world developments including tidal flow traffic management systems, Vehicle to Everything (V2X) technology, and drones, which may have a role in monitoring traffic patterns and responding to accidents.
“Like any innovation, it’s just a matter of our willingness to embrace and consider.”
In the buildup to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, Kiwi engineer Martin Peat CMEngNZ CPEng IntPE(NZ) was assigned a very specific task. Ticketholders for events at Deodoro Olympic Park, where the rugby sevens was to be staged, would need to cross the rail corridor and a safer alternative was needed. “The plan was to build a temporary scaffolding bridge,” says the Senior Principal Transportation Planner at Stantec, who won the Engineering New Zealand Young Engineer of the Year Award that same year. “My role was working out how wide the bridge needed to be to get people in and out.”
Rio was Martin’s third Olympics, after London in 2012 and the winter games two years later in Sochi, Russia. He specialises in crowd modelling, helping to design temporary infrastructure that ensures enough space to move people safely and efficiently at stadiums and major events. “You’re looking onscreen at people moving through a 3D environment, looking at how they move along footpaths, across intersections and pedestrian crossings, calculating how much space you need for the volume of people likely to turn up,” Martin says. He adds that his job also includes making recommendations about how to queue people and how long queue times are likely to be. “You can’t just let everyone go; it needs to be a managed environment.”
In the 13 years since London, there have been significant changes – notably the advent of rideshare and scooters to get people to and from events. Another trend is the increased targeting of crowds by hostile vehicles. All of it must be fed into the mix, says Martin, who continues to be involved in international events and venue development with Stantec.
And back to that bridge in Rio? How wide? “The answer was 12 metres.”
WRITER | KAITUHI RINA DIANE CABALLAR
Agriculture is integral to Aotearoa’s economy, but it’s facing increasingly complex issues including climate change, environmental sustainability and food security. The sector is hungry for solutions, and it’s turning to agritech for answers.
“Agritech is synonymous with innovation in agriculture,” says AgriTechNZ CEO Brendan O’Connell. He estimates the agritech industry generates around $2.5 billion in revenue – encompassing both domestic and export revenue – for New Zealand.
“It’s very much in a high-growth state not only in size but also in impact.”
Innovation-related priorities are high on KPMG’s 2025 Agribusiness Agenda, with past agendas recognising the potential of the country’s agritech sector. As a vital component of agritech, engineering cultivates innovations that have the power to revolutionise agriculture. From advances in machinery and farm automation to drones for crop monitoring, water-efficient irrigation systems, and other sustainable farming practices, engineers are helping primary industries to grow and thrive.
AgResearch has been at the forefront of innovation within the agricultural sector. The research institute (now part of the newly formed Bioeconomy Science Institute) won the 2024 Prime Minister’s Science Prize for the team’s fungal discovery that boosts grass yields and lifts gains in meat and milk production. It has also partnered with overseas companies like Helogen to manufacture advanced biotech materials in space. While science and technology are major aspects of its research, engineering is essential, too.
Mos Sharifi is a Senior Science Engineer with AgResearch’s Research and Development engineering team. He’s immersed in the entire design and build process, from proof of concept to prototyping to technology transfer for commercialisation. His
background in electrical engineering and mechatronics engineering underpins his work in digital and precision agriculture systems.
For instance, he was the technical lead for Clarospec™ , a technology that helps meat processing plants measure meat quality. Clarospec™ extracts information from the chemical signatures captured via hyperspectral imaging technology, then uses AI and machine learning to analyse the information in real time.
“From that, you’re automating a manual visual inspection process, but you’re also generating a vast amount of data that can be fed through the whole value chain,” Mos says.
“You can feed it back to the farmers and breeders to improve breeding programmes and farming practices, and you can use the same information to grade the quality of meat and target different markets.”
Mos says that if there’s no farming, there’s no food for the future. So, as an engineer in agritech, his goal is to not only craft more efficient solutions that make farmers’ lives easier but also to add “… a level of excitement for new technologies that the new generation of farmers can embrace”.
Like Mos, Emily Walker works behind the scenes through Tupu Strategic, her consulting company focused on strategy development and evidence-based decision-making for primary industry organisations and businesses.
“Where many might jump into the solution, the approach I take is looking at the why first before the how,” she says. “Integrated holistic thinking is critical in agriculture.”
Above: Mos Sharifi, Senior Science Engineer at the New Zealand Institute of Bioeconomy Science –AgResearch Group. Photo: AgResearch
With a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in engineering management, Emily gained experience as a structural engineer and worked in investment management before transitioning to the primary sector. She’s also the co-founder and co-host of Ag in Conversation, a podcast that aims to bring a deeper level of discussion and understanding to the issues and opportunities faced by agriculture and rural communities both across the motu and around the globe.
“Engineers have a lot to offer. You just have to open your eyes, be willing to look beyond traditional engineering, and apply your transferable skills into one of New Zealand’s key industries,” says Emily.
As a woman in agritech, Emily remains optimistic about diversity in the field. “It’s much like the engineering sector, where there has been a big change from being a traditionally male-dominated sector to now being much more diverse.”
Engineers are also at the helm as agritech business founders.
“They’re using their engineering mindset and approach, looking at problems from a pragmatic viewpoint and translating that into product solutions. As well as building a product, they’re building a business around it,” Brendan says.
He cites Gallagher Animal Management and Waikato Milking Systems as examples of established companies that have achieved international success with engineering as their backbone. He also notes startups like Halter and Bovonic as current standouts in the sector.
Founded by biomedical engineer Liam Kampshof, Bovonic’s QuadSense device uses a patented milk sensor and its latest algorithm for accurate, automated and instant detection of cow mastitis in its earliest stages.
Meanwhile, Halter’s solar-powered cow collars pair with an app for virtual fencing and herding and remote health monitoring. Founder Craig Piggott graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and worked at Rocket Lab before launching his own venture. Craig was recently appointed as a member of the Prime Minister’s Science and Technology Advisory Council, demonstrating the value of engineering and agriculture to the government.
While increasing productivity is an inherent objective in agriculture and agritech, it must not come at the expense of the environment. In fact, transitioning to climate-resilient systems is on the top 20 list of priorities in KPMG’s 2025 Agribusiness Agenda.
“Environmental sustainability is at the heart of our food systems and farming practices,” Mos says. He adds that even though agriculture is about efficiency,
producing more with less can be realised sustainably by reducing water consumption, decreasing pollutants, and minimising damage to the soil and surrounding environment.
Climate change is another important consideration for agritech. Brendan is seeing more farm tools and processes moving to electric power, as well as engineering solutions targeting lower emissions, such as reducing or removing methane, and accounting for carbon within farms.
“You can’t manage what you don’t measure, so the focus becomes what it is you consider precious, and therefore, what it is you need to measure and make sure you are protecting,” he says.
Maintaining environmental sustainability and mitigating climate change are also innately tied to respecting the whenua and ensuring kaitiakitanga.
“A solution that applies in one location is not going to be the cookie-cutter solution you can apply in another location, much like geotechnical engineering where you’ve got to look at the structure of the ground below before you can start designing a solution,” says Emily.
Agriculture in New Zealand is a living, nature-based system, and it’s so entwined with the local climate and the local geology and geography.
– Emily Walker
“Agriculture in New Zealand is a living, nature-based system, and it’s so entwined with the local climate and the local geology and geography.”
Engineering innovations in agritech continue to transform the agricultural sector, yet there’s still room for improvement, especially in terms of creating more tailored, cost-effective technologies.
Brendan acknowledges Aotearoa’s excellence in innovation and the country’s good fortune in having “… farmers and growers who are open to technology, respond well to adopting it, and participate in early
innovation cycles, but our challenge lies in scaling those solutions internationally”.
Mos echoes the sentiment, noting that solutions should not only be considered a local product for the local market but as something that could have global impact.
Indeed, signing high-quality trade agreements and developing resilient supply chains are the second and third priorities in the Agribusiness Agenda, given that global markets are in flux due to the United States’ tariffs and other disruptions. The report suggests looking to India and Southeast Asian nations like Vietnam as alternative markets.
Another opportunity involves AI. For instance, AgResearch and the University of Canterbury are exploring the potential of chatbots in agricultural systems. Mos and his team are working with a PhD student on developing a conversational agent that interfaces with farmers to help
Hot Lime Labs is an emerging powerhouse for greenhouse growers. Founded by chemical engineer Dr Vlatko Materic, the agritech startup’s technology offers a renewable source of carbon dioxide while helping increase yields.
The Hot Lime system works in two cycles. The charge cycle draws carbon dioxide from waste wood combustion, then the discharge cycle releases the captured gas into the greenhouse. Patented limestone pellets power the process.
“Our technology is based around a material that can act as a CO2 sponge. These little pellets separate CO2 from combustion gases and make it clean enough so it can be used in a greenhouse,” Vlatko says.
The benefits are twofold: carbon dioxide enrichment augments crop growth, and renewable sourcing promotes sustainability. “By recovering it from biomass, we are providing an environmentally friendly solution with no increase in CO2 emissions,” says Vlatko.
Additionally, Hot Lime Labs eliminates reliance on fossil fuels. According to Vlatko, greenhouse growers tend to use natural gas because it’s the only fuel that provides CO2 at the same time as heating. “Now that they have a solution for CO2, it liberates them to choose more energyefficient heating systems,” he says. “We have an upside effect on the whole industry – it’s a little hinge that moves the big door.”
Engineering serves as an integral part of Hot Lime Labs’ solution. “Almost everything we do is around engineering, and that involves a combination of different kinds,” says Vlatko. This includes materials and mechanical
them navigate the immense volumes of farm-related data.
“We need a solution for this massive challenge that the farming sector has with data and digitalisation,” Mos says. “Our farmers are dealing with a variety of digital tools and systems, and these systems are not integrated and interoperable, so it creates a lot of hassle for farmers to deal with.”
Moving forward, engineering will remain crucial in helping the agricultural sector and the agritech industry flourish into the future.
“Engineering plays an important role in changing our food production system, and it needs to be done in a way that is embracing our planetary constraints and trying to create more options within that,” says Brendan. “We need our best and brightest engineers to solve the problems we have in agriculture, which is fundamental for human life.”
engineering for the nuts and bolts of its small industrial plant, as well as automation, chemical, combustion and process engineering for the underlying operations.
The company, which was a finalist at this year’s NZ Hi-Tech Awards for Most Innovative Hi-Tech Agritech Solution, is now at the cusp of their Research and Development ending and commercialisation beginning after the plant’s successful trial at Gourmet Mokai’s greenhouse in Taupō. As their technology evolves, the team hopes to expand their range of feedstocks to include waste from the greenhouse itself, coming full circle in their renewable journey.
WRITER | KAITUHI ALEXANDRA JOHNSON
An award-winning engineer exemplifies how engineers past and present can encourage and empower young people to pursue exceptional careers in engineering.
A passionate advocate for instilling tikanga and te reo Māori into the profession, Emerging Professional Member of Engineering New Zealand Alyce Lysaght (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Pākehā) was recently awarded the Fulton-Downer Silver Medal. It recognises her unique and inspiring contribution to the profession, which includes time as an emerging director on Engineering New Zealand’s Board.
But even by Year 13, Alyce hadn’t chosen her future path.
“I had chosen subjects such as physics and chemistry because I really enjoyed them, but they also happened to be the prerequisites to engineering.”
Her physics teacher, a former engineer, mentioned the career pathway to her parents at a teacher and parent meeting, and that night she began to look into it.
“I was immediately drawn to natural resources engineering because of the positive impact it could have on te taiao, and I’ve never really strayed from that belief. Even now, the same passions keep me here.”
Her studies at the University of Canterbury included a Diploma of Global Humanitarian Engineering which involved taking papers in environment and sociology, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“These papers helped me to broaden my perspective and I realised that it’s difficult
to have sustainable engineering without understanding the past and present political environment.”
After graduating in 2022, Alyce became a consultant water engineer for WSP New Zealand. She’s recently started as Infrastructure Advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, focusing on infrastructure delivery for the Pacific.
At WSP, Alyce was involved with mana whenua hui, understanding how engineering projects impact the environment and ensuring mana whenua and their aspirations are involved in projects.
Alyce is the first person in her immediate family to formally learn te reo Māori.
“My journey with that began with the knowledge that my granddad was beaten for speaking te reo Māori when he was a kid. At the start of reo Māori courses it’s common to share why you are there, and I discovered that’s a reality for so many Māori. We want to honour those who came before us, acknowledge that intergenerational trauma, and look forward so the world is a better place for our tamariki and mokopuna.”
Alyce has been actively increasing the visibility of Māori in engineering with her podcast, Māori in engineering where she has interviewed more than 30 Māori engineers from a diverse range of disciplines.
“I started the podcast because at university there were few other Māori in my cohort. And, at the same we were learning how mātauranga-ā-iwi, mātaurangaā-hapū and mātauranga-a-whānau
are important to understand to support engineering projects in a sustainable way.
“I was really intrigued to learn from engineers who were doing this, but didn’t know where to look,” she says.
“The purpose of my podcast was to delve into that, to ask, who are the Māori engineers that are championing this? What are their stories?”
A common theme was the importance of being a good ancestor, which Alyce says is rooted in a lot of her decision-making today.
“It was also interesting to learn about the paralysis some feel when engaging with Te Ao Māori, causing reluctance because it raises discomfort, being scared you’ll do something wrong, so you do nothing at all.”
She encourages all engineers to use the resources available and just give it a go.
More generally, as an early career engineer, Alyce has thoughts on how employers can help augment the success of other early career engineers – create inclusive spaces to empower them to thrive and to get to know them to understand their aspirations.
Receiving the Fulton-Downer Silver Medal in the presence of her whānau and peers is a career highlight to date. “The awards night truly embodied the spirit of creating a space where people could show up and celebrate as their authentic selves. It was a night of cultural celebration.” She adds that she loved seeing Māori and Pasifika leaders whom she admires for their impact on the engineering industry being celebrated as new Fellows on the night.
WRITER | KAITUHI KATHY YOUNG
Seismic strengthening and replacement of building services in the country’s largest and busiest court complex is underway, all while the building remains fully operational.
Timeline: June 2023 – December 2028
Capacity: 33 courtrooms, 10 percent of New Zealand’s total courtrooms
Work schedule: 24/7 operations, 6 days/week, 52 weeks/year
Seismic upgrade: Grade C to A rating
The Ministry of Justice’s Auckland District Court was built in 1985 and provides 28,000m2 of floor space within a five-level podium structure and nine-storey tower above. Today, it’s Aotearoa’s busiest court complex. With 33 courtrooms, it handles hearings six days a week, some of which are scheduled 12 months in advance. It is critical infrastructure that can’t simply shut down for renovations.
“We’ve got to keep this place running while we completely rebuild it from the inside out,” says Glenn Ellis CMEngNZ CPEng, Technical Director, Building Services Kaitohu Hangarau at WSP.
The scope of this remediation project focuses on installing new elements to improve the seismic resilience of the concrete structure while also improving energy efficiencies through building services. Physical work started on site in June 2024 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2028.
The project is being led by Crown Infrastructure Delivery, the specialist infrastructure delivery agency that partners with other government agencies to support the delivery of large-scale construction projects around the country. WSP is the primary engineering consultant and LT McGuinness is the main building contractor.
Senior project manager at Crown Infrastructure Delivery, Rhett Calvert MEngNZ, explains how the project was approached: “We deliberately stacked this project with engineers from top to bottom – steering committee, project control group, even the construction team. When you’re opening up ceilings and finding problems that need solving immediately, you need engineers who can solve complex issues fast.”
With engineers across all disciplines – structural, mechanical, electrical, fire, acoustics and lighting –the team operates in scheduled shifts. Daytime is for meetings, inspections and planning. Drilling and other noisy activities can only take place from 6.30pm to 6.30am, to ensure that staff and visitors to the courts remain unimpeded.
“Courts are demanding environments, including the need for speech intelligibility and audio recordings,” Rhett explains.
“Noise during a trial can lead to a trial being postponed. Any drilling into the structure has to occur outside operating hours.”
This project broke new ground by becoming one of the first large developments to use the new NZS 3910:2023 engineering construction contract standard, updated in collaboration with Engineering New Zealand. And the team has taken a forward-thinking approach to seismic design. The building is being upgraded from a Grade C seismic
rating, which is typical for most existing structures, to a Grade A standard.
“Design work was underway during changes to Section C5 of the Non-Earthquake-Prone Building Seismic Assessment Guidelines,” explains Carl Ashby FEngNZ CPEng, WSP’s Structures Director, who was part of the committee developing the new standard.
“We incorporated the latest C5 outcomes into our project before C5 was officially ratified. This has effectively future-proofed the building for the next 50 years.”
Access to the building is another key issue.
“Courts have several separate circulation paths for the public, the judiciary and the defendants, which cannot cross over each other,” Rhett says.
“Keeping all these circulation paths available has presented significant challenges.”
The solution involved a six-stage approach, creating temporary spaces outside the building, fitting them out, and relocating staff when necessary, in order to bring in the new infrastructure and remove the old. This allowed entire floors to be taken offline in the Court Tower, avoiding a half-floor approach.
With work in the Court Podium, Glenn says: “We’re building new infrastructure alongside existing infrastructure to allow all spaces to remain operational. Only when all spaces on a floor have been connected to the new central systems can we come back and demolish
the old infrastructure.”
Beyond seismic upgrades and building services enhancements, the project also embraces decarbonisation and sustainability measures. One of the project’s most innovative aspects focuses on air quality, by implementing fresh air rates that are 50 percent higher than the Building Code minimums.
“High fresh air rates are proven to improve occupant alertness, critical in a courts environment where the judiciary and jury must focus on the case being presented,” explains Glenn. “Reduced sickness through higher fresh air rates is also attractive to staff.”
The engineering solution uses demand-control ventilation with real-time air quality monitoring.
Glenn says this means they can get increased rates to spaces where they are needed while maintaining a lower overall rate, balancing peak performance with energy efficiency.
“The decision to upgrade and maintain the building, as opposed to building new, has had a tremendous saving in embodied carbon,” says Glenn. Additional sustainability measures include LED lighting, occupancy sensors, low-emission electric heat pumps and comprehensive energy monitoring.
Rhett says the work by the Ministry of Justice’s decanting project team, with their knowledge of courthouse operations, has been crucial in facilitating
Left: A tidy up of existing power and cabling infrastructure.
Centre: Refreshed registry counter for the public.
Above: Existing in-ceiling services were removed to allow installation of new fresh air ducting.
Photos: Crown Infrastructure Delivery
delivery of the works. “For example, planning for the temporary relocation of 90-plus registry staff to other floors, and of the six floors either completed or underway.”.
Ministry of Justice’s Group Manager, Courts and Tribunals Regional Service Delivery Jacquelyn Shannon says that despite the daily disruptions such as personnel relocating to other floors, temporary access restrictions to lifts and building entrances, and occasional noise, staff appreciate that the project has also enabled the remodelling of many spaces within Auckland District Court.
“Examples of this include the fitting out of a new non-custodial courtroom and the installation of a new public family and civil registry counter with improved staff safety features.”
With completion scheduled for the end of 2028, this project is an example of how innovative engineering can still happen while business-as-usual continues for those people who need it most.
left: Craig West, Transformational Leader Award; Kepa Morgan, on behalf of Mahi Maioro Professionals, Te Toa Takitahi Te Ao Māori Engineering Impact Award; Adrian Dickison, Innovative Engineer Award; Philippa Martin, Engineering Educator Award; Phoebe Moses, Sustainability Champion Award; Sabina Piras, Young Engineer Award; Timani Samau, Diversity and Inclusion Award; Stan Schwalger, Community Impact Award Absent: Finn Trass, Student Engineer Award
Snapshot Congratulations to all the inspiring finalists and winners of Engineering New Zealand’s 2025 ENVI Awards who were recognised and celebrated Under the Dome at the Auckland Museum in late July. Category winners are shown here, from
At McConnell Dowell, we are passionate about nurturing the next generation of engineering talent. Here are some of the programmes we use to help our people grow and succeed:
Graduate Programme • The Wonder Project - Engineering New Zealand • Specialist Trades Programme • Evolving Scholarship Programme
apply please visit www.mcconnelldowell.com/careeropportunities • The Summer Intern Programme
Engineering New Zealand’s Engineering Practice team has embraced AI and explored various platforms, helping to transform how we approach documentation, quality assurance and member support.
Our experience with multiple AI platforms has revealed that each offers different capabilities – currently we’re using Google Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT and Manus.
Google Gemini is great for rapid web searches and research tasks, leveraging Google’s search engine rather than Bing, like ChatGPT. ChatGPT offers strong allaround capabilities, making it our go-to choice for general tasks that require versatility. We like Claude’s educational approach to presenting information. It’s particularly good at explaining complex concepts through analogies, which is valuable when communicating technical information to diverse audiences. Manus is the most sophisticated option, building agents and offering powerful research capabilities, though it requires more patience and has a steeper learning curve. Despite being more expensive, Manus provides excellent research options. It can conduct comprehensive research before drafting reports and guidelines tailored to specific audiences, including building managers, building consent authorities, particular engineering disciplines, architects and planners.
One productivity gain has come from AI-assisted email management. We use AI to handle routine email responses that previously consumed significant time. The technology speeds up our
response times and often phrases replies more professionally and clearly than we might achieve under time pressure. We recommend all organisations develop an AI use policy or guidance for staff.
AI has transformed our quality assurance processes, particularly with documentation review. We now use AI to verify our documents against international standards and benchmarks, ensuring comprehensive quality control that would be time-intensive to achieve manually. This technology enables us to assess the usability of future guidelines and identify potential gaps in our documentation. We’ve also instructed AI to utilise problemsolving methodologies, such as TRIZ, to resolve complex issues and generate innovative solutions.
Perhaps one of our most innovative applications involves creating different personas to evaluate our documentation. We consider whether our reports will be read by clients or engineers, identifying where information might be missing or could be phrased differently. This approach extends to testing whether our guidelines are usable by our members and other stakeholders. We can instruct AI to identify potential stakeholders in a project, create representative personas, and have these personas evaluate our documents. This feedback loop enables us to continually improve our work.
We’ve also found that breaking down large problems into distinct stages has proven most effective. We solve each stage individually, then verify results using our expertise or alternative AI systems. When
errors occur, we ask the AI to explain why it made mistakes and identify necessary changes for proper completion.
We’re exploring the development of AI agents that can evaluate documents for regulatory compliance, and adherence to Standards and client requirements. While this capability isn’t yet reliable enough for critical applications, we anticipate significant developments soon.
Our journey has taught us that AI is fundamentally a tool, albeit a powerful one, that continues to evolve rapidly. AI possesses knowledge, not intelligence, but it can work collaboratively with humans to significantly enhance capabilities. However, AI systems will attempt to please users and may not clearly communicate their limitations. They might even claim task completion when they haven’t finished the work.
At the beginning of any project, we recommend working with AI to clearly define expectations. Ask it to outline the best process to achieve those expectations and to identify potential issues or limitations.
Our AI experience means we can effectively guide members in adopting these technologies through tools and resources currently under development.
See engineeringnz.org for tools to keep you up to date and ensure safe, appropriate, ethical use of AI.
Martin Pratchett CMEngNZ CPEng is Engineering Practice Manager at Te Ao Rangahau, assisted here by Claude.
Engineers have told us loud and clear: the standards system is not working and needs urgent change. We’re committed to advocating for engineers in the standards debate, driving change to achieve tangible improvements.
Outdated, underfunded and increasingly out of step with both local regulations and global best practice, the standards system is creating growing challenges for those tasked with designing and delivering the infrastructure and services our communities rely on. At the heart of the issue is an unsustainable userpays model. The current approach shifts the cost of maintaining and accessing standards onto those who use them most – including engineers, consultancies and businesses – creating a disproportionate burden. For small- and medium-sized firms, the high cost of standards can be a major barrier.
On top of this, New Zealand’s standards system depends heavily on the goodwill of unpaid volunteer experts. These professionals donate significant time and expertise, often without reimbursement for travel or time. While their dedication is admirable, the model itself is flawed. It’s unreasonable and unsustainable to rely so heavily on voluntary contributions for such a critical national system.
The result is a reactive environment, where many standards remain untouched for decades. Some haven’t been reviewed in more than 30 years – a far cry from international best practice, which recommends reviewing every
five to seven years. Engineers are left to work with documents that don’t reflect current knowledge, technologies or risks, undermining quality and consistency.
Standards out of step with regulations and global best practice Engineers have also voiced frustrations with the frequent disconnect between regulations and standards. It is not uncommon that standards cited in the Building Code don’t exist any more or require changes to remain workable.
Additionally, we are missing opportunities to adopt international standards that reflect global practice, putting us behind the rest of the world. International standards are underused and undervalued, and their wider adoption would save time and money, and support higher quality outcomes. Accessing international standards can be arduous and expensive for engineers.
We know these issues are creating unnecessary barriers for engineers, from design to delivery, so Engineering New Zealand is actively engaging with government, regulators and the public to push for reform. We’re calling for a strategic overhaul of the standards system. We are urging the Government to do the following:
Bring in a sustainable funding system, using existing industry levies (such as the building levy) to better fund Standards New Zealand. Greater transparency around levy use is essential.
Expand the range of funded or subsidised standards, and cover volunteers’ travel expenses.
Ensure legislation consistently references the most-up-to-date standards.
Commit to regularly reviewing and updating standards that reflect international best practice and adopt and integrate international standards more widely.
Develop a standards strategy and plan that drives these changes and prioritises areas of highest risk. Modernise the model, including looking at how volunteers are used and how standards are accessed.
The standards system underpins the work engineers do every day, and a modern, well-resourced system is essential not only for engineering practice but for the wellbeing of all New Zealanders.
While this won’t be a quick fix, the longer change is delayed, the greater the risk. We’re committed to leading the charge and ensuring engineers’ voices are heard as we work toward a smarter, stronger standards framework. Other representative bodies are equally concerned about the system and are joining with us for change. We’re heartened by the recent announcement that Standards Australia are advocating for removal of their paywall.
Dr Richard Templer FEngNZ is Chief Executive of Te Ao Rangahau.
KATE KERRIGAN
Taking on a governance role can be a great opportunity for engineers to give back and influence positive change in the community. But there are some key legal considerations to keep in mind, whether the role is on a school or sports club board, or something more significant.
A key issue you might come across in any governance role is conflicts of interest. Any board you join should have its own policy on conflicts of interest and it is important you familiarise yourself with this, in case a conflict arises.
Conflicts of interest may be actual, meaning you have interests that may conflict with the interests of the board you are serving on. Alternatively, they may be perceived, meaning a third party may reasonably believe you have a reason not to be impartial, even if no actual conflict exists. Both types of conflict should be treated with caution as even the perception of bias can undermine the integrity of the board.
You will need to constantly evaluate potential conflicts throughout the role. Perhaps you are a member of a board looking to engage an engineering firm for some work and your firm is one of the contenders. Similarly, the board may be applying for a government grant, and the engineering firm you work for is submitting
a separate application for similar funding from the same agency. Typically, this information should be disclosed, and if appropriate, you may need to recuse yourself (step away) from the matter. Appropriately recording any conflicts is also important as it can give the board its own record of how the matter was handled, if issues arise further down the line. Internal conflict policies and the board should help guide you on this.
You should also consider how you are keeping your role as a professional engineer and your governance role separate. Maintaining professional boundaries ensures as little risk as possible to you and to the organisation you are acting for.
While you might be inclined to put your engineering skills to use in your governance role, any engineering advice or services you provide in a governance role, even informally, can still raise the same duties of care and ethical responsibilities as you have in your engineering role. Additionally, your professional indemnity insurance might not cover you where you have performed engineering services or provided engineering advice as a part of your governance role. For that reason,
providing engineering services or advice in a governance role has the potential to create significant personal liability. Performing engineering services in your governance role can also in itself be a conflict of interest. As a member of the board, your advice may be, or at least be perceived to be, impacted. This could create further personal liability, as well as potential liability for the board itself. You should be cautious about giving any professional advice or services in your governance role – even if just an informal comment.
Taking on a governance role can be a rewarding and meaningful way for engineers to contribute to other causes or the community and keeping these considerations in mind will help to protect you from encountering legal difficulties.
The information in this article is not intended to be legal advice. For specific legal advice please consult a lawyer.
Kate Kerrigan is a legal advisor at Te Ao Rangahau.
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The Prime Minister’s new Chief Science Advisor Dr John Roche always planned to be a farmer, but went to university first to play Gaelic football (and, he adds, to get a degree). Never thinking he’d be a scientist, he’d even bought a farm. But he was offered an opportunity to complete a Master’s degree, then progressed to a PhD and never looked back. In 1995, John left Ireland for Australia, then five years later he and his wife moved to New Zealand, which he describes as “our dream come true”. Of his career as a scientist, John says: “I would recommend it to anyone. You get paid to be a child – constantly asking questions. I’ve put in a lot of hours, but I can genuinely say, I’ve enjoyed every hour. I’ve made lifelong friends and have worked with legends in my lifetime. Science, like engineering, is cool!”
How do you work with engineers in your role?
I’m new to the role of Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, but it will be important to work with experts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to ensure we can deliver the science and innovation system for the future of New Zealand. The importance of engineering is recognised in the make-up of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council, with CEO and Founder of Halter, Craig Piggott (a mechanical engineer), and biomedical engineer Professor Merryn Tawhai bringing key innovation and technology skills to our little team.
How does your work impact on engineers?
A key part of my role will be helping to deliver a new structure for the public science and innovation system. Also, prioritising areas for investment to boost New Zealand’s economy and ensure we have the services that make this country the best place in the world to live. Our engineers are a critical part of the science and innovation pipeline, so the outcomes of the reforms will be directly relevant to those that work in this space.
How do engineering decisions impact on your work?
We need New Zealand to grow its economy sustainably. This requires innovation, and science and engineering qualifications are at the core of innovation. Furthermore, our future infrastructure needs, whether physical or digital, will require world-class engineering graduates to continue to find better ways to grow our economy sustainably. Challenges with climate change and extreme weather events make this even more pressing in our physical environment, and some of the solutions to greenhouse gas emissions will be engineering-led.
What are three observations you’d make after working with engineers?
I’ve only just started in this role, so check back in with me in a few years for a good answer. However, if they’re anything like the engineers I went to uni with, I expect a great time with plenty of laughs while we get on making positive things happen.
Dr John Roche
Based in: Te Whanganui-a-Tara
Wellington
Role: Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor
Education: Bachelor of Agricultural Science, University College Dublin, Ireland, 1993; Master's degree in Pasture Management and Farm Systems, University College Dublin, Ireland, 1995; Doctorate in Nutritional Biochemistry, University College Dublin, Ireland, 1999
What do engineers all seem to do well?
Confuse us poor scientists with angles, theorems and complicated mathematics. Sometimes, I think they are making things up just to make me feel foolish (only kidding!).
What do you wish all engineers understood better about your role?
That I’m just an average Joe trying to leave things better than I found them. I’m here to help. We all want a stronger economy; we all want to enjoy our wonderful unique environment; we’re on the cusp of a digital transformation, with data availability, artificial intelligence and machine learning; and we’re facing down some of the biggest challenges ever. The opportunities and challenges will require all of us working together. I look forward to playing my small part to future-proof a thriving and resilient New Zealand.
PROFESSOR PHILIPPA MARTIN FEngNZ
Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) are talked about in terms of politics, fairness, compliance and doing the right thing. For engineering there is another compelling driver: the quality of engineering.
Research has repeatedly shown that the quality of engineering is affected by the diversity of the team. Higher diversity leads to better problem solving, an expanded set of possible solutions and different viewpoints leading to breakthroughs. Have you ever prepared better or worked harder because you knew there would be diverse views at a meeting? Me too. Diversity not only allows the organisation to do better, but it also pushes us to do better.
The engineering profession is still struggling to get diverse people around the table. An inclusive workplace is crucial to not only keep diverse people but make it possible for them to contribute meaningfully and build successful careers.
It is tempting to say it is someone else’s responsibility, but honestly, it comes down to every single engineer to create an environment where all people can contribute, excel, thrive and belong. Research has shown that the burden of DEIB work is disproportionately falling on the very people such efforts should be supporting, namely members of marginalised, under-represented and underestimated groups. It is everyone’s responsibility to upskill and contribute to DEIB efforts.
Inclusion is not a “one and done” thing.
It requires consistent, intentional effort and stepping outside our comfort zones. Even after many years of research and practice I still catch myself in implicit bias at times. The key is to develop awareness, get curious and then make a conscious and informed decision about what to do next. We all need to role model and champion inclusive language, behaviour, systems, processes and policy. What we turn a blind eye to is what we accept.
There are organisations supporting companies to improve their DEIB success, including the Diversity Agenda, Diversity Works and Mind the Gap, as well as coaches and consultants. In addition, you can ask yourself who you are hiring, retaining, promoting, rewarding (pay and perks), letting go, putting on high-profile projects and celebrating. Look at who is and who isn’t engaged, speaking up and being heard. Check the adjectives you use to describe team members for bias.
Having positive survey results and diversity certifications does not guarantee the experience someone will have in your organisation. While psychological safety should be something felt by everyone in workplaces, it isn’t. So, it is on all of us to create that safety. It can be built in simple moments like sharing pronouns through to bigger moments like sponsoring someone for a high-profile project. The combination of diversity and psychological safety has been shown to result in more adaptable teams.
A simple first step is to ask the staff on your team (one on one) how you can best
create an environment in which they can thrive. Then listen to understand. We can’t solve problems or create solutions we don’t see or can’t imagine. Diversity in all its forms leads to different perspectives and increases the creation and solution spaces. To fully realise these benefits, all people need to feel included, heard and valued, and be empowered to meaningfully contribute and advance their careers. If we want a world that serves all people, then we need all people involved in its design. Engineers are privileged to be able to have a massive impact on how humanity lives, works and plays, which comes with responsibility to do so wisely and equitably.
If there’s one thing you can do right now, it’s get curious – curiosity is the antidote to judgement. Embrace curiosity to increase awareness, actively listen, and examine your assumptions, biases and expectations. Step into discomfort and learn. Making your workplace and team more diverse and inclusive could be the key to your next big breakthrough.
Dr Philippa Martin FEngNZ is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Canterbury and a Leadership Coach at Philippa Martin Coaching. Recent winner of the Engineering Educator Award at the 2025 ENVI Awards, she’s passionate about empowering leaders, sustainable high-performance, and creating inclusive engineering environments, where all people can belong, contribute, excel and thrive.
When it comes to tunnelling, New Zealand is skilled at incorporating international experience, but we also contribute valuable insights to the global community.
New Zealand’s collaborative style and openness to international expertise have been a driving force behind many of our largest infrastructure projects, from early hydropower schemes to recent major tunnels like Auckland’s Waterview Connection, City Rail Link (CRL) and Watercare’s Central Interceptor wastewater tunnel. We’re skilled at taking international expertise and tailoring it to the New Zealand context.
I am an expat myself, having come here to deliver the first Earth-Pressure-Balance Tunnel Boring Machine (EPB TBM) projects like Hobson Bay Tunnel (a wastewater outfall), then on to Waterview and now the CRL. Over that time, I’ve witnessed the local industry evolve, developing homegrown expertise tailored to our unique geological and seismic conditions, particularly Auckland’s volcanic fields. With future projects such as the proposed tunnels in Wellington and the Waitematā Harbour Crossing in Auckland (where a tunnel is one option), blending local insight with global innovation remains vital. That’s why attending the recent Rapid Excavation and Tunnelling Conference in Dallas, Texas, was such a privilege. I presented a paper coauthored with my colleague, Technical Director Shu-Fan Chau on the use of steel fibre reinforced segments for largediameter TBM tunnels, offering significant
advantages such as reduced construction costs and enhanced durability. This approach was used on Waterview but has developed much further in Australia, on Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel, Sydney’s Western Harbour Tunnel, and Melbourne’s Northeast Link. It is, however, unusual in the Northern Hemisphere, reminding us that while we often draw from global best practice, Aotearoa is also contributing to it.
Across the 120 presentations, there was a huge amount of knowledge shared, and it’s clear that automation, technological advances and robotics are reshaping the delivery of major tunnelling projects. And all the presentations reinforced the importance of collaboration –multidisciplinary teams working together to respond to unexpected situations.
I could see immediate application for the use of crossover machines (tunnelling machines with a hybrid of pipe-jacking machine and segmental-line capabilities) for constrained sites. The machine can be launched in small shafts, building the first 100m of tunnel using the pipejacking feature and then switching to the segmental lining, utilising the initial pipe-jacked tunnel to assemble the machine. There were also presentations on designing tunnels across active fault zones, which is relevant to Wellington.
Subaqueous tunnelling also featured prominently, with techniques like ground freezing and Canadian case studies offering valuable insights – of interest as we explore options for the Waitematā Harbour Crossing. Another presentation showed how automation was being used
to accelerate the as-built analysis of the concrete rings that line TBM-bored tunnels. Robotics also featured heavily, and Aurecon is seeing this technology being used already on the Western Harbour Tunnel, where the TBM has robotic tool-changing capability.
The potential for AI is huge; however, the relatively small number of presentations on its use likely reflects the fact that the technology is still new. Some of the applications for AI I can see include interpreting geotechnical data to increase the accuracy of predicting subsurface conditions (which could assist with route planning for tunnels). Also, helping with asset management and predictive maintenance.
As the industry increasingly embraces AI, we must be careful to continue to build engineers’ technical capability, as some challenges will always be too complex for the technology. The best results come from human insight and experience, working together with AI and automation.
As New Zealand enters its next phase of major tunnelling and infrastructure development, looking outward for global thinking and best practice remains essential. But our small scale and distinctive geography also give us the licence to innovate. The techniques we refine here don’t just serve local needs; they can offer valuable insights for the global tunnelling community as well.
Tom Ireland is Major Projects Director, Tunnelling at Aurecon and a Board member of the New Zealand Tunnelling Society.
CLAIRE WIGLEY / RUTH LEMON
What does technology education mean in 2025 and how can current engineers help to ensure a healthy pipeline of future engineers?
What is technology education?
You might think back to your school days where tech meant woodwork, metalwork, home economics or sewing. It’s not. You might think it’s about computers and devices – only partly, as tools used in technological processes. The foundation of the technology curriculum, since its introduction in 1993, is “intervention by design”, referring to the problem-solving approaches we use to develop a product, space, or technological outcome for stakeholders. Technology education is essential for preparing the next generation of engineers, with early exposure to engineering concepts beginning at primary school.
What does technology education focus on?
In Aotearoa, there are two curriculum frameworks: the New Zealand Curriculum, used in English-medium contexts; and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, which guides Māori-medium educational contexts.
Technology/hangarau, as a learning area, is about problem solving and intervention by design, working with stakeholders to address their needs. Today, technology education focuses on equipping students with the knowledge, skills and critical thinking needed to navigate and shape a world increasingly defined by technological devices. It’s about being
tech-literate and future-focused. For ākonga, learning through technology/ hangarau involves the practical application of their skills in real-world scenarios.
What does it mean in practice?
Much like engineering, technology education is practical, collaborative and deeply tied to problem solving. Through the curriculum frameworks, students analyse situations, experiment, find solutions and create innovative outcomes. In practice, this includes activities such as creating simple machines, building prototypes and designing software, which all help develop the analytical skills needed in engineering.
Supporting technology education
Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ) is a non-profit professional, collaborative association supporting all levels of technology education. A Technical Interest Group of Engineering New Zealand, it is organised by teachers for teachers. TENZ aims to enhance technology learning and teaching by creating a well-informed, well-connected, supportive, sustainable professional community with a strong voice, providing effective advocacy for technology education. TENZ has a wellsupported network of tertiary and council members working together to help train teachers and students.
With just over 2,000 members already, numbers continue to grow, reflecting a strong, well-supported professional
network. TENZ members work with educators across all levels of technology education (early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary) informing and improving each other’s practice and creating a strong professional cohort. We advocate for members’ needs and interests, helping them reach their goals. TENZ’s teacher-led team collaborates with industry and the Ministry of Education.
How can engineers get involved?
TENZ warmly welcomes engineers as members. But why should engineers join the group? To help shape the future problem solvers of Aotearoa. Engineers can contribute by joining online forums (ako.tenz.org.nz), attending our biennial conference or collaborating with schools, giving pupils insights into the profession, and educating technology/hangarau teachers about industry needs.
By working with engineers, we can develop units of work that highlight the profession’s needs, in addition to inspiring learners. For engineers, it’s an opportunity to influence and engage with the evolving curriculum landscape. That’s why investing in future engineers and technologists must start in schools, where curiosity is sparked and eyes are opened to the possibilities of these careers.
Claire Wigley and Ruth Lemon are Kaiārahi (leaders) at Technology Education New Zealand. Claire is a technology educator and STEM advocate, and Ruth is an educator and PhD candidate.
Thank you to all the members, engineering groups and affiliated organisations who have contributed to Engineering New Zealand’s advocacy work. Participation is growing and this is critical as it allows us to target key topics; hone our messages and suggest realistic solutions to key matters impacting on the sector.
A key ongoing focus, as discussed on page 39, is seeking improvements to the Standards system. This is driven by strong member input on their experiences and reform ideas.
We are seeing small successes with our collective ideas being picked up by Government to help remove some of the blockages in getting infrastructure work to market more quickly.
We will continue to strongly advocate on solutions to help stem the loss of much needed future engineering skills.
A growing advocacy area is resource management. Resource management law interacts with the work of engineering in many important ways. This can include ensuring designs and practices align with sustainable management, identifying risks, managing environmental compliance during construction, advising on environmental impacts, and providing technical assessments.
The Government is overhauling the whole resource management regulatory system in stages. We are working closely with, and learning from, affiliated organisations and a growing network of groups and engineers in developing our views on these proposals. Broadly, the reform stages are:
The Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill – while yet to become law, this makes targeted changes that can be progressed quickly across infrastructure and energy, housing
growth, farming and the primary sector, natural hazards and emergencies, and system improvements. It is pleasing to see that a number of ideas that we submitted have been incorporated into the updated Bill.
National direction – policy documents set at a national level by the Government aim to support local resource management decision-making and planning. The Government consulted on packages of changes on infrastructure and development, freshwater and the primary sector. There was additional work being done on enabling housing to inform the future system. Draft documents were out for consultation in June/July and are due to be finalised for use by the end of 2025.
New replacement laws – this is likely to start its Parliamentary journey this year, with the new system expected to start in 2026 (this will be made up of two Acts). We’re interested in many of the things the Government has said it will focus on in the new law. The new system is intended to be more streamlined and nationally consistent. This should include faster and more predictable consenting processes and more enabling policies that prioritise economic benefits while balanced by environmental baselines. Our only opportunity to review and comment on this will be during the Parliamentary process.
Find out more at engineeringnz.org/ programmes/advocacy
Dianne Patrick is Acting General Manager Policy and Advocacy at Te Ao Rangahau.
Test your knowledge around the lunch table. (It’ll pay to read through EG first if you want full marks.)
1. Practice Note 32 details an engineer’s roles and responsibilities related to addressing what?
2. *Professor Charles Clifton CNZM DistFEngNZ was recognised in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to what?
3. *Why were Egypt’s ancient Abu Simbel temples cut into more than 1,000 pieces and relocated in the 1960s? A) They blocked the neighbour’s view of the Nile. B) They were under threat of destruction by the Aswan High Dam’s rising waters. C) The cliff they were carved into was found to be unstable.
4. SIGIE is the Engineering New Zealand Special Interest Group for whom?
5. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be what?
6. What mainstay of livestock management did Kiwi Bill Gallagher engineer in an attempt to stop his horse, Joe, from using his car as a scratching post?
7. *Where are Auckland District Court’s hearings taking place while seismic strengthening is undertaken? A) Hamilton District Court B) Online C) Auckland District Court
8. How often must a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) undergo reassessment to maintain their CPEng status?
9. *Which were the only three countries to rank worse than New Zealand in 2022 for road deaths per 100,000 people?
10. According to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, how much of New Zealand’s electricity was provided by hydroelectric generation on average between 2010 and 2021? A) 37 percent B) 47 percent C) 57 percent
*This issue of EG holds the answer you’re after – hunt around and get reading!
Got a question that’ll leave your peers stumped? Submit it to eg.quiz@engineeringnz.org
GARRY LAW FEngNZ
While productivity has lagged in New Zealand in recent times, we can look at some key projects in the past for examples of how capital investments have created opportunities for new markets, increased resource utilisation and improved transport.
New Zealand has not had a great recent record with productivity growth. This is often associated with our modest economic growth. Occasionally productivity gets the Government’s attention, but nothing seems to change much. Productivity taskforces and commissions have come and gone.
Economists say productivity growth depends on investment. This means not only making things more efficient, but also opening new areas of commerce with products not previously conceived. Our economy is marked by long work hours and low capital employment – factors which respectively impact on opportunity and restrain productivity growth.
Capital investment sounds like the work of engineers – building things – and that is true, but not quite in the way it was in the past. The nature of the economy is changing: today services are approximately 70 percent of gross domestic product, part of a long upward trend, which may seem to have a lighter engineering component. But while productivity improvements may come from things like new roads reducing costs of services, they also come from innovative new services – ones sparked by investment in education and facilitated
by communication links and computing power. Some people who are utilising the electronic tools will call themselves engineers and never get near to building traditional infrastructure. So, engineers are inevitably at the productivity coal face. When we do that well, everyone will benefit. Where, then, is the heritage link? One ambition of Engineering New Zealand’s Heritage Group is that engineers use their knowledge of engineering heritage to reflect on changing social, cultural and environmental contexts and to make informed decisions about current practice. For example, the Wairākei Power Station, the world’s second geothermal power station and the first to utilise flash steam from geothermal water as an energy source to generate electricity, was completed in 1963. The bore field and the plant have since been redeveloped but the innovation that went into them has resulted in many more geothermal stations. Installed geothermal capacity is 10 percent of the national total now and through high availability, they deliver almost twice that proportion in power, and with low emissions.
The high voltage direct current (HVDC) link between Benmore and Haywards is a transmission link that integrates power supply between the South and North Islands. When built in 1965 it was the world’s largest and longest, incorporating the world’s largest submarine cable. Many technically complex matters were involved in its innovative engineering achievements. It allowed untapped power
in the South Island to pass to the North. The energy market that operates today has transmission elements like this at its heart.
The Kaimai Rail Tunnel opened in 1978. There was a Bay of Plenty rail link before, through the Karangahake Gorge, but it was severely limited. The problematic construction of the tunnel included a fatal portal collapse, with an ill-suited tunnelling machine that had to be shifted to a different portal and only completed about half of the job. It has a heritage listing as our longest railway tunnel. It is a great productivity story, with traffic soon exceeding forecasts and the rail link being a key driver in making Tauranga our largest export port. The port too has a deserved listing for it is a story of growth through prudent and timely investment.
These three examples show how capital investments boosted productivity by opening opportunities for new wealth (Wairākei), opening opportunities for markets and allowing fuller utilisation of a resource (HVDC) and facilitating transport services (Kaimai). Two involved significant innovation while the Kaimai Tunnel tried an innovation that did not deliver, but nevertheless produced a significant benefit to service delivery when completed. Innovation certainly helps, but capital investment at the right scale at the right time remains a fundamental.
Garry Law FEngNZ is Chair of Engineering New Zealand’s Engineering Heritage Board.
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57 One to watch
Jon Hind’s career began at Mott MacDonald in the United Kingdom where he started as a roading design engineer focused on modelling. He spent 24 years working for the company on roads and highway engineering, progressing to leadership and project management. Jon then took a secondment in New Zealand, intending to stay for two years, but: “Twenty years later, here I am.” He’s seen Aurecon’s transport team grow from 12 people to more than 250 and he’s enjoyed working on projects including the Waterview Connection and Western Ring Route, Southern and Northern Corridor improvements and SH1 Papakura to Drury. If you’re looking for Jon outside of work, look up!
When and how did you first get involved with mountaineering?
My first taste of mountaineering was in 1999 on the Three Peaks Challenge, which involves climbing the three highest peaks in England (Scafell Pike), Wales (Snowdon), and Scotland (Ben Nevis) within 24 hours. My team and I did it in around 22 hours and then I got the bug.
What is your current involvement with climbing?
I have been fortunate to travel all over the world and climb – to Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Alaska, Europe, East Africa, Northwest India, Nepal, Russia, Mongolia and New Zealand and continue to do so. This year I will attempt the third-highest peak in North America. I have climbed Kilimanjaro (5,895m), Mont Blanc (4,808m), with overall four peaks over 6,000m, nine over 5,000m and 22 over 4,000m. I’m also attempting to complete the Munros in Scotland which are 282 mountains over 3,000 feet. I started
when I lived in the UK and I currently have 90 to go, but it’s challenging when I live so far away. I also climb a lot in New Zealand.
How do New Zealand’s mountains differ from those elsewhere?
They offer much tougher climbs than most I have done overseas due to weather conditions and remoteness.
What achievement with climbing makes you most proud?
A trip to Bolivia where we aimed to climb four tall mountains up to 6,500m and we managed to scale all four. Often, that doesn’t happen as the weather turns, or altitude sickness or fatigue set in. (Illimani at 6,500m also happens to be my highest peak.)
What is one climbing experience you’d rather forget?
A really tough climb on Malte Brun in the South Island, which is about 3,200m high and considered one of the more technically challenging in New Zealand. It was a four-day trip up the Tasman Glacier, right across the valley from Mt Cook. On our second day we headed for the summit – a beautiful, crisp, cold blue-sky February day up high; the snow was perfect, and the crampons were biting just right. Halfway up the steep glacier there were a lot of crevasses – some 15m wide and very deep. Suddenly the weather just turned with cloud rolling in and the temperature rising quickly. Then there was a rockfall followed by a wet snow avalanche right on top of us, with a yawning crevasse right below. After we got through that, we figured it was time to call it a day on that particular climb.
How do you handle fear when climbing –any tips for readers?
I approach climbing in a very calculated way: I put in a lot of planning and assess risk – much like I do at work. While there are obvious risks on a mountain that you can’t do much about, you can reduce the chances of those objective dangers through good planning and picking the best conditions to climb in, not pushing on if things turn bad.
What do you enjoy most about mountaineering?
I think it’s the challenge – when you are out there, part of you is wondering why you’re doing it, but the memories stay with you much longer and more vividly than other trips.
Tell us something about mountaineering that might surprise people. Many mountaineers aren’t that keen on heights, including me!
Is interest in climbing growing or dwindling in New Zealand?
I still have a lot of connections with the Alpine Club in New Zealand, and I think they would say it’s a challenge to maintain and grow the membership as interest is dwindling a little. Maybe that’s because, from the outside-in, it doesn’t look particularly appealing, and there are so many other things to appeal to young people now. Things that are less hard grind, more instant gratification, maybe.
What’s next for you?
I’m travelling to Mexico in October, where I plan to climb the third-highest mountain in North America, Pico de Orizaba, which is 5,636m.
Based in: Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Role: Major Projects Director at Aurecon Education: Higher National Certificate, Southampton Institute of Higher Education, United Kingdom, 1986
Recognised in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to structural engineering, Professor Charles Clifton CNZM DistFEngNZ is quick to acknowledge “the late great” Professors Bob Park and Tom Paulay who taught him reinforced concrete design for his bachelor’s degree, followed by Peter Moss FEngNZ for his master’s degree. He left university with the strong desire to design iconic reinforced concrete buildings – and so he did.
After a stint with Beca, Charles’ work for a London-based firm included designing Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University entrance gate, which he still rates as the most spectacular building he’s designed. In 1983, Charles established the Structural Division of New Zealand Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA) with a focus on multistorey residential and commercial buildings. He spent the next 25 years helping to build up the country’s steel industry, including helping to establish what is now Steel Construction New Zealand (SCNZ) and being an expert advisor to the National Association of Steel Framed Housing since its formation in 1989. In 2008, he joined the University of Canterbury’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, specialising in structural steel and composite engineering in both heavy and light gauge steel and focusing on the performance of steel structures in severe earthquakes and fires. He’s a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and a Life Member of New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering, and Structural Engineering Society New Zealand.
What attributes make you a good leader?
I don’t really consider myself a good leader as such. The factors that have got me to where I am now are a passion for the topic and for teaching people, curiosity to develop new and better ways of doing things, perseverance, excellent support from my colleagues and very loving family, and a good element of luck.
At the end of each day, what tells you whether you’ve been successful? Whether I have got through everything I set out to do. That has quite a variable success rate!
What inspired you to become an engineer?
I grew up on a farm in Hawke’s Bay and my dad, an engineer in the army, introduced me to engineering at an early age. This manifested itself in some less than successful attempts to answer electrical engineering questions, such as if you throw a metal grill over powerlines, what happens? (Quite a bit, as it turns out.)
While there was some uncertainty over what branch of engineering to study at university, I settled on civil (structural) engineering and haven’t looked back.
How do you connect your work with a sense of greater good?
With the opportunities it has brought to structural steel, the profession and the industry. This has involved seeing the market share for structural steel framing in multistorey buildings grow from zero percent in 1983 to almost 50 percent in 2007 and more than 60 percent now. With that, the industry has expanded and developed into a world class industry.
Based in: Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Role: Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Auckland
Education: Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) (Civil) University of Canterbury, 1978; Master of Engineering, 1979; Doctor of Engineering, the University of Auckland, 2005
What mistake have you learned from most? When developing new concepts, design procedures and design guidelines, be sure these are as straightforward to use as practicable and will deliver dependable outcomes, before publishing them.
Who are some engineering leaders in New Zealand you admire and why?
They include Troy Coyle, the excellent HERA Director, Darren O’Riley who leads SCNZ, and Greg MacRae from the University of Canterbury, who developed the basis of the current seismic design procedures for steel structures from his PhD in the late 1980s. Also, John Scarry, a consulting engineer who has been “the conscience of the profession” for many years, campaigning against poor practices.
What questions have you been asking yourself lately?
Now in my 70th year, I should be asking “when will I retire?”. This is starting to pop over the horizon, but I am not there, yet.
Based in: London, United Kingdom
Role: Mechanical Engineering Lead, Airbus Defence and Space
Education: Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (First Class Hons), University of Canterbury, 2016
Fun fact: If we miss the launch window then the project gets pushed back by two years until Earth and Mars line up again. The planets literally have to align for us to get this done!
I describe my role to non-engineers as… trying to land on Mars! I’m working on the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover and lander mission which aims to search for life on Mars. Right now, I’m focused on the mechanical aspects of the Lander (spacecraft that piggybacks the rover to the Martian surface).
The part of my job that always surprises people is… that sometimes we have to build spacecraft components in the wrong position here on Earth, so they end up in the right position once they’re in space. On earth everything is influenced by gravity (1g), which might cause parts of a spacecraft to sag or bend under their own weight. In space, there’s effectively no gravity (0g), which means these parts will “relax” into a different shape or position.
The best emoji to sum up me on a typical workday is…
The best thing I’ve introduced at my workplace is… a fresh set of eyes. I came into the aerospace industry from a different background with no assumptions about how things should be done.
In my role, I always challenge… the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset. A lot of issues come from blindly copying past work without questioning it.
At work, I’ve never been afraid to… get stuck in. Whether it’s rolling up my sleeves to help out on the ground or jumping into something I’ve never done before, I’ll say yes and figure it out as I go. I think technicians respect it when you’re handson and not just another engineer standing
around with a clipboard. I’m also happy to speak up and throw ideas out there.
In the past year, I’ve pushed boundaries by… making the most of my time in the UK and Europe – most weekends I’ve been travelling or exploring.
I admire engineers who… can explain complex ideas clearly and simply.
At school, teachers always described me as… easily distracted but with “a lot of potential”. I’d get bored quickly if something didn’t grab me, but switch on if I was interested in the topic.
My luckiest break was… landing a job at Rocket Factory Augsburg in Germany without any aerospace experience. I started as project manager for the launch team, which eventually took me to the Shetland Islands in Scotland to help build the launch site.
The bravest thing I’ve done to get where I am today… taking on the 2019 Mongol Rally: driving 27,000km through 23 countries in a tiny 1100cc Fiat Panda. I’d quit my job and bought a one-way ticket to Europe, ready to wing it.
Best career advice I’ve received… work-life balance is a myth. If you’re working nearly as much as you’re living, something’s wrong.
I’d advise other people interested in my type of role to… say yes to opportunities. Also, to know that while working overseas can be an incredible experience, the strong foundation I built in New Zealand really helped set me up.
things I love about my job:
Being part of the space industry. It’s exciting to work in aerospace, a field I’ve wanted to join for a long time.
I get to work on unique design challenges you wouldn’t normally face on Earth – like how things behave in zero gravity. It keeps the job interesting and makes you think differently.
It’s pretty cool to be working at a company like Airbus and to collaborate with organisations like NASA or the European Space Agency.
reasons why I chose to study engineering:
I was always into maths and physics at school, even before I really knew what engineering was.
I’ve always liked figuring out how things work, solving problems and building stuff. Engineering just felt like the natural next step.
thing I wouldn’t change about my workday:
Being able to use the word Martian in serious meetings.
Based in: Ōtautahi Christchurch
Role: Recently retired after 34 years teaching engineering
Education: New Zealand Certificate in Engineering, Wellington Polytechnic, 1982; Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) (Honours), University of Canterbury
Having recently retired from Ara Institute of Canterbury, Steve Tomsett MEngNZ’s career began in 1979 as a cadet draftsman in the mechanical design office at New Zealand Railways’ head office in Wellington. He completed his first engineering qualification part time while working, then his degree, eventually settling in Christchurch for the remainder of his career. This has included roles as a site engineer at Addington Railway Workshops and production engineer for Atlas Appliances. He then spent more than 34 years teaching mechanics, strengths of materials, thermodynamics, machines and vibration at Ara. Steve’s achievements at Ara include establishing a YouTube channel with 15 videos, reaching 1.2 million views, “flip class” teaching (more on this later), and extensive involvement with the New Zealand Diploma of Engineering (Mechanical) programme, including as Ara’s programme leader.
What’s on your bedside table?
Amazon Echo Spot Smart alarm clock to play New Zealand bird sounds to go to sleep with, a Bible, a tablet for doing Sudoku puzzles to unwind at night. Smart watch, phone, power cables. Chocolate.
Any books?
Being mildly dyslexic, books and I have never really been good friends. Reading books is more for necessity than for pleasure. Online resources, however, have greatly supported my learning and influenced the way I teach.
Tell us more about these online resources. Developing web-based resources in the late 1990s proved popular with the students. In the early 2000s I started a YouTube channel with 15 videos, which has now reached 1.2 million views. The work done by the educational organisation Kahn Academy inspired me to change my teaching to a “flip classroom model” whereby students can access information when they need it. Viewing online content before class frees up class time for the important thing: getting them to think like an engineer.
What books or other resources have had the most impact on your career?
I believe a good engineer must have the ability to draw information from a wide range of engineering and science fields, including information on engineering history, and “how stuff works” in general. An example of a book is The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World, by Simon Winchester, exploring how precision changed the history of engineering. I use more online resources than books, for example TED talks and technology news sites like Interesting Engineering and smartereveryday.com
What topic are you keeping a close eye on?
AI. In the same way that calculators and the internet changed the way we learnt over the years, so will AI revolutionise the way we learn. But we need to ensure that
AI is a support for our knowledge, not the source of it – we need to have more understanding than the AI.
What do you read for fun?
People read for fun? But seriously, recently I’ve been getting into crime novels – Lynda La Plante, Lee Child. Beyond reading, I enjoy animated movies, mountain biking (electric) and renovating.
After decades of teaching, what’s your top piece of advice for engineering students?
Don’t study to get a job – find the thing that excites you and study for that. You will be working for 40 years, so you might as well enjoy it.
What are your plans now that you’re retired?
In 2022, my wife and I did a four-month, 7,500km caravan trip around the North Island. We’re planning on more caravan trips and doing the Great Walks and some of the country’s great bike rides.
Ebooks/paper copy About technology it’s online, for novels I like paper. Borrow/own Both, but never keep them once read.
Bookmark/turn down page I can’t bring myself to damage a book.
“ the biggest rainfall event in living memory”
By the time winter was only halfway through, a number of regions across the country had been hit with devastating weather events, from tornadoes to severe gales and storms that wreaked havoc on communities and livelihoods. The Nelson Tasman region was particularly hard hit, enduring two bouts of severe weather and widespread flooding in June then again in July. EG checked in with Tasman District Council Group Manager –Community Infrastructure, Richard Kirby FEngNZ.
How do these recent weather events differ from anything you’ve seen in the past?
In specific parts of the district this has been the biggest rainfall event in living memory. Council hydrologists say the peak flow in the Motueka River had the same characteristics as a flood recorded in 1878.
What storm damage caused most widespread disruption?
The impact on the roading network with more than 60 roads damaged to varying degrees, the flooding of dwellings, silt and gravel deposited on orchards and farmland, and the erosion of productive rural land next to rivers.
What is the process for prioritising repairs?
For the roading network the priority is to implement temporary repairs to restore road access by road hierarchy and then returning at some time in the future to effect permanent repairs. Also, assessing the state of the rivers and prioritising
restoration work to minimise risk of damage from flooding in future events.
What has worked well in this event?
The excellent and coordinated response from our contractors, dispatching more than 250 personnel, heavy machinery and equipment into the flood damaged areas to restore roading access and water supplies, respond to wastewater overflows and clear stormwater drains. The stop banks protecting Motueka were very effective and worked well.
Any recently upgraded infrastructure that fared particularly well?
Council gratefully received some Kanoa funding to upgrade the level of stopbank protection on the Motueka River, protecting Motueka township. These were designed for a two percent annual exceedance probability (AEP) (1:50 year event) and we experienced a one percent (1:100 year) event in the Motueka River catchment. The freeboard design in the two percent AEP design was sufficient to contain this one percent AEP. The work is still continuing to extend and strengthen these stopbanks.
How are engineers integral as you work through the coming weeks and months?
The geotechnical, roading and river engineers have provided excellent advice and support during the response and will continue to be integral in restoring infrastructure during the recovery period.
FEngNZ
1941–2025
Tony Bowen FEngNZ was a pioneer in wind flow modelling: comparing field measurements to wind tunnel results and then computer models. His family moved to Christchurch from England when he was seven and his father, William Bowen, lectured in electrical engineering at the University of Canterbury. Tony followed suit but in mechanical engineering, graduating from the University with a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in 1963 and a Master of Engineering in 1965. After several years in industry in the United Kingdom and then with the New Zealand Electricity Department, he joined the staff at the University of Canterbury in 1970. His interest turned to fluid mechanics and he undertook a doctorate on the flow of strong winds over escarpments. Local field tests in Canterbury and international collaborations led to participation in the Askervein Hill project in Scotland. This project and its associated wind tunnel and computer models informed hill flow prediction techniques, Australasian wind loading standards and the evolving field of wind energy generation.
Tony taught at the University until he retired in 2005. A Fellow of Engineering New Zealand, he also served the Association for Engineering Education in Southeast Asia and the Pacific and was made an honorary member in 1994. Tony will be remembered as a generous, humble, collegial man who inspired a generation of engineers and researchers in New Zealand and beyond.
1940–2025
University of Canterbury Emeritus
Professor Athol Carr FEngNZ has been described as a world-renowned expert in structural dynamics and nonlinear analysis who has left an indelible mark on the University and the wider structural and earthquake engineering community over his many decades of dedication.
After finishing his schooling at Christchurch’s Linwood College, Athol gained a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours) (Civil) from the University of Canterbury. He worked as a Structural Design Engineer, then gained a Master of Science in Engineering in 1966 and a Doctor of Philosophy (Structural) in 1967 from the University of California, Berkeley. He joined the University of Canterbury in 1968 where his focuses were teaching and research in finite element and structural analysis, computational methods, and earthquake engineering.
Athol’s most enduring legacy is the structural analysis programme RUAUMOKO, which he conceived and developed. It continues to be used by thousands of researchers and practising structural engineers around the world. Athol retired from the now Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the early 2010s, but remained actively engaged in research and collaboration. His impact on generations of students, and his immense contributions to the field and the Department, will be remembered and he is deeply missed.
1933–2025
Steve Gentry DistFEngNZ was born in Lower Hutt, educated at Nelson College, and studied engineering at the University of Canterbury, where he developed his lifelong passion for the outdoors and skiing, and met Doff, who would become his wife. Steve joined consulting engineering firm Morrison Cooper and Partners in 1956. He soon won a fellowship to Berkeley University in California, where he completed a master’s degree in earthquake engineering. Back in New Zealand, marriage and three sons followed, as Steve spent the next few decades becoming an international expert in freezing works. Known affectionately as “Mr Cool” this work took him to places including Afghanistan, Uruguay, Bolivia and Papua New Guinea.
Throughout much of this period, Steve also served as a Captain Engineer in The Territorial Force. He became Managing Director of what became Kingston Morrison and his leadership was central to the negotiations leading to the merger with the much larger Australian consultancy group, Sinclair Knight Merz.
Steve was a member of Engineering New Zealand for 65 years, an Honorary Member of ACE New Zealand, and former President of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).
Retirement for Steve meant new adventures. He transitioned to a nonexecutive director career and turned his focus to research and historical writing, publishing two books.
Microclimate control – through wool’s dynamic thermal regulating properties, the diaper microclimate humidity was 10 percent lower than with polypropylene.*
Dryness – wool’s crimped structure traps moisture and air, enabling neweFlex to stay 3-14 times drier than other biobased alternatives.*
Founder and CEO of Kiwi materials and innovation company Woolchemy, Derelee Potroz-Smith, an electrical engineer by training, says her company has taken one of nature’s most advanced fibres and engineered it to perform at scale in a sector dominated by plastic. And what is that fibre? Strong New Zealand wool. Derelee says studying under Sir Paul Callaghan shaped her belief that the country’s future lies in knowledge-led innovation. “Engineering helped turn that vision into reality, connecting biochemistry, materials science and manufacturing with sustainable thinking to reimagine wool for an entirely new purpose: replacing plastic in everyday products.” Enter neweFlex: a patented, high-performance, absorbent, plastic-free range of nonwovens for hygiene products like diapers and sanitary pads. It’s made from wool and plant-based fibres and is certified 100 percent biobased. Woolchemy is scaling production through manufacturing partners in Europe and Asia, with several hygiene brands trialling neweFlex in diapers, femcare and wipes. Commercial orders are expected to begin in late 2025.
Odour reduction –neweFlex reduces ammonia odour by 57 percent naturally, without added treatments.*
Engineered fibre blend – made from renewable, 100 percent biobased fibres with tailored hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties to optimise moisture distribution and breathability for user comfort.
The powerful and versatile new bracing solution for open plan homes, the PLX Column supports structural performance without sacrificing space in floor plans.
Compact strength
Up to 120 bracing units in a space-saving 400 x 90 or 360 x 90 glulam column
Complete design flexibility
Maximum bracing in minimal wall lengths – for wider openings, better flow & more light
Simple, build-ready system
Supplied as a kitset with prefabricated column and foundation connection
Specify with certainty
Tested in accordance with the BRANZ P21 methodology for use in NZS3604 compliant buildings
A wide range of applications
For single-storey homes and the ground floor of two- and three-story builds
Building better together
Finn Trass STUDENT ENGINEER
Timani Samau DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CHAMPION
Phoebe Moses SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPION
Mahi Maioro Professionals TE TOA TAKITAHI
Sabina Piras YOUNG ENGINEER
Adrian Dickison INNOVATIVE ENGINEER
Craig West TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER
Philippa Martin ENGINEERING EDUCATOR
Stan Schwalger COMMUNITY IMPACT
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
These nine inspiring winners represent the best of engineering in Aotearoa. They’re the trailblazers, leaders, innovators and collaborators of your profession – and they’re all deserving winners of a 2025 ENVI Award. Read about their achievements and view the full album.
Meet the winners at envis.nz
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