Congratulations to Daan Van den Broecke the winner of the 2016 David Sugden Award Young Engineers Writing Award (pictured above receiving his award at the recent WTC2017 held in Bergen from ATS President, Ed Taylor). Daan has relocated to Belgium to continue broadening his working experience after completing his Masters of Science (Master of Fire Safety Engineering) at the University of Queensland. As well as recognition of an outstanding technical paper, the Sugden award prize also includes complimentary WTC registration and a significant contribution towards flights/accomodation for the duration of the event. Daan’s Masters thesis entitled Study on the Effectiveness of Sprinkers in Tunnels was a standout for the judging committee and joins other high quality submissions from previous years.

Below are a few words from Daan on the award and encouragement for 2017 applicants!

I would like to thank the Australasian Tunnelling Society for the incredible experience experience at WTC2017 in Bergen, Norway. It was an absolute pleasure to be part of the Australian delegation. I got the opportunity to follow technical sessions on topics in my field of interest and get practical knowledge from several spectacular site visits. This gave me a great fundamental knowledge on the current state of the art in the tunnelling industry. 
But more than anything, I could connect with some very interesting professionals and forged some true friendships during the the many social events. Can’t wait for the next!
Entries for the 2017 David Sugden close this Friday the 30th of June, with the winner to be presented at the 16th Australasian Tunnelling Conference Dinner.

Image (Left to Right): Keith Bannerman (ATSym Chair and ITAym Steering Committee), Ed Taylor (ATS President), Daan Van den Broeke (2016 David Sugden Award Winner), Alexandre Gomez (ITA Vice-President and Tutor to ITAym), Jurij Karlovsek (UQ Lecturer, past ATSym Chair and past ITAym Chair)