UNSW dominates list of Australia’s top engineers

UNSW has again dominated the annual Top 100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia list with a total of 22 researchers and alumni appearing in this year's list.

Compiled by Engineers Australia magazine and in its 12th year, the list is a who’s who of the country’s engineering movers and shakers. A record 19 women appear this year (up from 11 last year) – including UNSW engineers Rose Amal and Veena Sahajwalla.

UNSW is home to the country’s largest engineering faculty with almost 11,000 students, and annually produces the biggest fraction of Australia’s engineering graduates. It again took pole position with seven of its research academics making the grade, and another 15 alumni – among them captains of industry such as Origin Energy CEO Grant King, Wesfarmers Chairman Bob Every, Cochlear CEO Chris Roberts and Medibank Private’s George Savvides.

“UNSW Engineering strives to be the creator of Australia’s foremost innovators in technology and industry, propelling our society and economy in a modern world,” said Faculty Dean Professor Mark Hoffman. “I am particularly pleased to see this recognised by the presence of 22 of our staff and alumni amongst Australia’s 100 most influential engineers.”

UNSW Engineering is ranked among the world’s top 50 engineering faculties and is home to Australia’s largest cohort of engineering undergraduate, postgraduate, domestic and international students. It is comprised of nine schools, 21 research centres, and is a partner in, or leads, 10 Cooperative Research Centres.

In 2014, UNSW ranked #1 in Australian Research Council funding with $68.3 million awarded. UNSW is also ranked #1 in Australia for producing millionaires (and #33 globally), and ranked #1 for graduates who create technology start-ups. It is one of the country's largest universities, with 52,000 students from 120 nations.

UNSW researchers and alumni in the Top 100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia:

UNSW Research Academics

Rose Amal, School of Chemical EngineeringChristoph Arns, School of Petroleum Engineering Gernot Heiser, School of Computer Science and EngineeringStuart Khan, School of Civil and Environmental EngineeringNigel Lovell, Graduate School of Biomedical EngineeringVal Pinczewski, School of Petroleum EngineeringVeena Sahajwalla, School of Materials Science and Engineering

UNSW Alumni

David Caspari, Vice President Products, Solutions & ICT - Singtel Optus Bill Cox, Managing Director – Aurecon engineering group Bob Every, Chairman of Wesfarmers Mick Farrell, CEO of Resmed, the global medical instrument maker Mehreen Faruqi, Greens MP - NSW Legislative Council Andrew Harding, CEO of Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chris Jenkins, CEO of Thales Australia Grant King, CEO of Origin Energy Shireane McKinnie, General Manager Joint, Systems and Air – Defence Materiel Organisation Judy Raper, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research And Innovation) - University of Wollongong Chris Roberts, CEO of Cochlear, the global medical device manufacturer George Savvides, Managing Director and CEO - Medibank Private David Stewart, Director-General - Queensland Department of the Premier and Cabinet Elizabeth Taylor, Chair of the RedR Australia humanitarian relief agency Guy Templeton, President & CEO - Parsons Brinckerhoff engineering group

The Top 100 list is published by Engineers Australia magazine. The full list can be viewed online here.