Hume Fellowship

Recipients of Hume Fellowships in 1996

Jenny Hart

Two Fellowship awards were made 1996 because of the high calibre of two of the applicants. Jenny Hart, aged 27, a Graduate Engineer at Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner in Auckland studied for a post-graduate Diploma in Port and Costal Engineering at the Delft Institute of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering in the Netherlands.  Jenny, an IPENZ Board member at the time, was also Secretary of the IPENZ Auckland Branch, Coordinator of the Association of Women Engineers in Auckland and Committee member of NZ Society for Coastal Engineering and Sciences.  She had a BE (Civil) with Honours from Canterbury University and completed an ME in Costal Engineering in 1993 at Auckland University.  Jenny's written application for the Fellowship was of particularly high standard.  Her explanations of how the Delft course would benefit her future career and the engineering profession in NZ were very well presented. Delft Institute has a world reputation for hydraulics and costal engineering was an ideal location for Jenny to study port and costal engineering work overseas. She had already been involved in coastal protection and jetty construction in Indonesia. 

At Delft Jenny studied coastal engineering, sediment transport, wave theory, breakwater design, merchant shipping and port planning and design.  Her final thesis was entitled “Megayacht Facilities: Design Considerations”.  Very little had been published about the elements of berth and marina design that needed to be considered for mega yacht facilities, including depth and width of entrance channels, fairways and berths, dock loadings, walkway widths, freeboard and services.

Richard Cowley

Also in 1996, Richard Cowley, aged 25, was a warded a Fellowship to study for a Master of Science in Soil Mechanics and Engineering Seismology at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine London.  Richard was a Graduate Civil Engineer at Connell Wagner in Wellington who graduated BE (Civil) with First Class Honours from Canterbury University in 1995.  Richard felt that there is an increasing need for specialist geotechnical engineers to meet the needs of the Resource Management Act for all new development, particularly in relation to site hazards and their mitigation.  Geotechnical engineers are called upon to accept a greater liability and accountability for the safety of structures.  Highly skilled people are required

Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London has a world reputation in Geomechanics engineering where Richard studied for his MSc degree and Diploma of Imperial College.  His dissertation was on “The effect of Pile Geometry on the Design of Piles using the new Imperial College Pile Design Method.” Richard looked at the performance and behaviour of piles in clays and sands.  He undertook analysis of square piles, H piles and sheet box piles in sand and clay soils, and used the load tests on 42 piles to verify his analysis.

At the conclusion of his study Richard applied to the Trustees to work in London for two years at Ove Arup and Partners.  The trustees agreed to this request on the basis that it gave Richard the opportunity to gain experience and utilize his studies on major projects in London and Portugal.  He returned to New Zealand in 2000 to continue his employment at Connell Wagner Ltd.