The President’s Medal is awarded for commitment to Engineering New Zealand and the engineering profession. It can be awarded to an individual or a group. The Gold Medal is awarded to a senior engineer and the Silver Medal to an emerging professional.
This Year the members of the Christchurch Earthquake Expert Engineering Panel were awarded the Presidents Medal. The expert engineering panel was established to support the resolution of outstanding residential insurance claims in the Canterbury region. Panel members were selected for their technical expertise and experience, their ability to clearly articulate engineering principles in a way that non-engineers can understand, and their ability to work with both insurers and homeowners in the challenging post-quake environment.
Since late 2018 the panel has contributed to the resolution of hundreds of claims by supporting the work of the Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service and the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal. The effect of this work in helping to restore the public’s faith and trust in the engineering profession cannot be overstated. The panel members’ dedication, empathy and expertise is a credit to the profession and to Engineering New Zealand as the host organisation for the panel.
We would like to extend our congratulations to the entire panel of 26 technical experts, seven of which are members of the New Zealand Geotechnical Society and we therefore give special congratulations to Geoffrey Farquhar, Jan Kupec, Nick Traylen, Robert Kamuhangire, Mary Ann Halliday, Terry Kayes and Richmond (Dick) Beetham who received the award posthumously.
Many of the panel were able to attend the awards ceremony held in Wellington (Banquet Hall, Parliament Buildings) on August 12, 2022.
