Beca Announces Winners Of 2011 Engineering Scholarships

Nine students from the University of Auckland have received major recognition, winning Beca’s engineering scholarships, worth a combined value of $27,000.

A panel of judges from consultants Beca and the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Engineering selected the winners based on a range of factors including academic ability, impact on the community and potential to contribute to the engineering profession in the future.

David Carter, Executive Director at Beca, says: “We are delighted to be able to assist New Zealand’s talented future engineers in progressing their careers.

“Standards were very high this year, and we believe all the winners will make excellent ambassadors for their profession in future years.”

Professor Michael Davies, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, highlighted the value of an education in engineering, saying: “It is an opportunity to play a leading role in society. Graduates from this faculty have underpinned New Zealand’s technological, social and economic development for 100 years.”

The Beca Rotary Club of Auckland Scholarship ($5,500), which is awarded to the most outstanding all-round fourth-year engineering student, went to 21-year-old chemical and materials engineering specialist, Niancen Miao.

The former Macleans College student has received multiple accolades while completing his degree. He has been nominated to the Dean’s Honour List twice and has been awarded a number of scholarships, including the Energy Education Trust Undergraduate and Honours Scholarship in 2010 and the Freemasons Charity University Scholarship earlier this year.

Niancen is dedicated to assisting local communities and using his skills to help others. This year he was elected President of the Auckland student chapter of Engineers Without Borders, an organisation of professional and student engineers who share a vision to confront global challenges of poverty.

“Working as a green process engineer and industrial ecologist has always been an aspiration of mine. I feel that a career in this area will provide me with a platform to benefit society, using my technical knowledge and passion for the environment,” says Niancen.

Niancen is one of nine Beca scholarship winners this year. Other winners include fourth year students Michelle Brock (Mechanical Engineering), Sarah Mitchell (Mechanical Engineering) and Sarah Milsom (Biomedical Engineering) who were each presented with $3000 Beca Engineering Scholarships. Second year students Victoria Shrimpton, Hannah Sheahan, Alice Bates, Mengbin Ye and Sara Bailey were recognised for their academic performance, communication skills, personality, and their drive to make a difference to the profession, all winning $2,500 Beca Engineering in Society Scholarships.
Beca, one of Asia-Pacific’s leading engineering consultancies, has been recognising aspiring engineers since 1990 through scholarships with Canterbury, Auckland and recently Waikato Universities.

About Beca
Beca is one of Asia-Pacific’s largest employee-owned engineering consultancies, with over 2,500 employees working out of offices across the region. It operates out of hubs in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore.

As well as a broad range of engineering consultancy services, Beca offers cost management, project management, architecture, land information, valuations and software development. Beca supplies engineering and related consultancy services to many markets including buildings, water, power, defence and transportation.