UNSW's record-breaking solar car racers, Sunswift, and one of the University's most innovative graduates have taken out two of the state's most prestigious engineering prizes at the 2007 Engineers Australia Engineering Excellence Awards.
UNSW's record-breaking solar car racers, Sunswift, and one of the University's most innovative graduates have taken out two of the state's most prestigious engineering prizes at the 2007 Engineers Australia Engineering Excellence Awards.
The Sunswift project took out the Excellence award in the Welfare, Health, Safety, Education and Training category of the Engineering Excellence Awards in Sydney last Friday, delivering a massive boost to Sunswift's dedicated volunteers as they prepare for the World Solar Challenge.
Gary Zamel, a UNSW mining engineering graduate and advisory board member of UNSW's new Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, was named Entrepreneur of the Year.
Sunswift project leader Yael Augarten said the win, announced at a black-tie awards dinner, took the team of 12 volunteers by surprise.
"It's absolutely huge - it's brilliant," Ms Augarten said.
"They are saying, basically, that our project is the best education and training project in NSW and it's run by students."
One of the three judges in the category won by Sunswift, consulting engineer Dr Chris Simpson, said the team had demonstrated a strong work and training ethic and enormous self-discipline.
"You had a lot of people who were welded into a successful team," Dr Simpson said.
"They were doing something with a sense of enthusiasm and it was achieved by sheer force of personality."
Mr Zamel, who graduated from UNSW in 1975, operates a private equity investment company and has long had a focus on developing business models around smart technology and working with industry.
He has established a number of companies in the field of mining technology and water recycling technology and is also a member of the UNSW Minerals Industry Advisory Council within the School of Mining Engineering.
Alongside his other activities he is now working with UNSW to encourage and enhance entrepreneurial activity and innovation in Australia through the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The Sunswift team is now in the final stages of preparation for the 2007 World Solar Challenge, a 3000km race from Darwin to Adelaide which will start on October 21.
The team recently launched its 2007 campaign at UNSW, with Jaycar Electronics once again behind the team as major sponsor.
The team unveiled the latest incarnation of the Jaycar Sunswift III, which they have managed to lighten by 15kg to around 205kgs this year despite having to enlarge the driver's canopy to comply with new helmet requirements.
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