Engineering Excellence 2007

The Thompson coupling has no load-bearing sliding surfaces and has true constant velocity up to an angle of
15 degrees. Photo: Thompson Couplings Ltd

Sunswift III, developed by the UNSW Solar Racing Team holds the Transcontinental World Record (Perth to Sydney) of 5.5 days, set in 2007. Photo: University of NSW.

Part of the underground cavern at Warragamba Dam accessed during construction work. Photo: Sydney Catchment Authority

OPAL's reactor pool was one of the reactor's key components that
required extensive development
and testing. Photo: ANSTO

Each year, the Sydney Division of Engineers Australia conducts an awards program to showcase outstanding engineering projects. The projects highlighted here indicate the diversity and quality of the entries in the 2007 Awards and are on display at the Powerhouse Museum from 20 December 2007.

This exhibition is brought to you in association with Engineers Australia, Sydney Division.

The Bradfield Award: Thompson Coupling
The JJC Bradfield Award is presented to the overall winner selected from the winners of all categories. It recognises an accomplishment of exceptional engineering merit.

This year’s Bradfield winner was the Thompson coupling, the world’s first and only true constant velocity shaft coupling. The coupling has no load-bearing sliding surfaces. It combines the best features of existing universal and constant velocity joints, and has broad application for automotive, marine and industrial purposes.

MonkeyBar
MonkeyBar is a new system for joining lengths of steel reinforcing bars in concrete construction. The MonkeyBar system has interlocking components which improve installation times and quality checking and use substantially less steel than existing methods.

It can be used for everything from residential to commercial high-rise development, roads, bridges and tunnels.

University of Notre Dame (Darlinghurst Campus)
Relocating a historically important mosaic wall that weighed more than 90 tonnes proved a unique engineering challenge for Meinhardt (NSW) Pty Ltd. As part of a site redevelopment, the mosaic had to be cut free from its old location within an existing church, lifted in one piece and moved to a new position 10 metres away.

The task involved months of preparation, planning, and collaboration with construction managers, conservation specialists, the architect, and many sub-contractors.

Sunswift
Sunswift is a full-scale, multi-disciplinary engineering project led by students at the University of New South Wales, run by the UNSW Solar Racing Team. Over the past 10 years, hundreds of students have volunteered their time and skills to design, build, fund, manage and race a state-of-the-art solar car. The project has allowed them to combine theoretical learning with hands-on experience.

The current car, Jaycar Sunswift III, is capable of travelling at an average of 100 km/hr and up to 800 km a day, running on about 2kW of energy. It holds the transcontinental World Record (Perth to Sydney).

Warragamba Dam Deep Water Recovery
The Warragamba Dam Deep Water Recovery project provides access to previously inaccessible water towards the bottom of Warragamba Dam. The deep water provides an extra six months supply to the greater Sydney area in the event of continuing severe drought and increases the long-term water supply by 40 billion litres per year. This project involved complex diving and underwater construction work.

OPAL Reactor
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) opened its new research reactor in April 2007. OPAL is a 20MW pool reactor which uses low-enriched uranium fuel and is cooled by water. The multi-purpose facility is used for medical radioisotope production, irradiation services and neutron beam research.

This facility utilised design and construction specifications unique to the Australian engineering profession for radiation protection, rapid shutdown, earthquake and aircraft impact standards.