Consult Australia Awards Celebrate Innovation and Collaboration

Collaboration for Project Excellence

Sydney Modern, Arup

A complex, ambitious multidisciplinary project, Sydney Modern was delivered through close collaboration between multiple parties. Arup developed strong relationships with three clients, designers across various continents and time zones, and many project partners to ensure Sydney Modern opened on time, in December 2022. Arup’s team overcame significant site constraints and challenged standard design practices to deliver innovative engineering solutions, none of which were possible without genuine, cohesive teamwork. The result? An extraordinary new public space for people to experience and enjoy art in all its forms.

Future Leader Award

Dr Michael Vinod, EIC Activities

Dr Michael Vinod is Senior Geotechnical Engineer at CIMIC Group’s specialist engineering and technical services business, EIC Activities. Michael’s achievements include the completion of a groundbreaking PhD from the University of Technology Sydney in geotechnical engineering, with a focus on landfill settlement prediction for transport infrastructure. Michael’s integration of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar technology into monitoring strategies now extends to a diverse projects range of projects. In addition to Michael’s technical prowess, the award recognises his mentorship of junior staff, publication of influential research papers and dedication to innovation.

Champions of Change Award for Diversity & Inclusion

Rich Hayers, Vice President – Asia Pacific and Middle East, Jacobs

As the Vice President and General Manager for Jacobs People and Places Solutions for Australia and New Zealand from 2018 to July 2023, Rich Hayers championed and amplified an ambitious diversity and inclusion agenda. Rich was the driving force behind several significant achievements, improving gender balance in key management positions, overseeing Jacobs’ Reconciliation Action Plan and actively promoting the LGBTI+ Annual Workplace Equality Index. As a genuinely inclusive leader, Rich has inspired teams across Australia to be inclusive, fair and respectful by example.

People First

Arup Race, Ethnicity and Culture Action Plan, Arup

Recognising that racial equality requires proactive action, Arup made a fundamental shift from being a non-racist firm to an anti-racist one. In collaboration with Diversity Council Australia, Arup has developed a best practice Race, Ethnicity and Culture Action Plan. By centring the voices of racially marginalised people and hearing their experiences of workplace racism, Arup has developed an action plan that directly addresses the barriers and inequalities within its systems, processes and workplace behaviour.

Consult Australia President’s Award 

Stuart Manley

A former co-vice president and board member of Consult Australia, Stuart Manley is an experienced leader, director and engineer with a career spanning 35-plus years. Stuart has held executive, project delivery and governance roles in small and global businesses, and has delivered complex multi-disciplinary projects in excess of $5 billion. Stuart was chair of Consult Australia’s Nominations and Remunerations Committee and contributed to CEO succession planning and implementation, as well as important reviews of the association’s strategy, charter and Code of Ethics. A mentor and advisor to many, Stuart has had an enduring influence on the engineering profession in Australia.

Small Firm of the Year

Geotron

An emerging structural engineering consultancy, Geotron was established in 2015 by Peter Geoghegan. Today, Geotron has eight employees who have amassed an impressive portfolio of projects. These range from schools to sports facilities, mid-rise residential to bespoke homes, community infrastructure to industrial developments. Geotron’s intuitive technology platform, Gmetrik, was presented with the Planning for a Digital Future Award for a solution that supports the development of sustainable and efficient designs, reducing rework and budget overruns. This is the second consecutive year that Geotron has been named Small Firm of the Year.

Medium Firm of the Year

Tonkin

Tonkin is an engineering and environmental professional services firm with more than 200 employees in eight offices across Australia. Tonkin’s team is committed to serving local communities, and designs intelligent solutions for the buildings, environmental, land development, maritime and riverine, transport, waste, and water sectors. Tonkin’s ethos was on display during its work to construct temporary levees to protect communities and critical infrastructure during devastating floods along the Murray River and was awarded the Collaboration for Project Excellence – Working with Government for its efforts.

Large Firm of the Year

SMEC

SMEC’s origins date back over 70 years to the iconic Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme, recognised as one of the civil engineering wonders of the modern world. Today, SMEC is a trusted partner for major highway projects all over the world. SMEC’s transformative pacemaker lighting solution on Melbourne’s Burnley Tunnel was recognised with the Innovation for Excellence Award. SMEC’s approach presents a blueprint for broader applications from highways to city streets, in Australia and globally, to regulate speed, reshape road safety, modify driver behaviour and enhance energy efficiency in infrastructure.