2023 S+SNZ Awards Evening - Dunedin Conference

2023 S+SNZ Awards Evening – Dunedin Conference

As we joyously commemorated the remarkable 60-year journey of the Otago School of Surveying, it felt only fitting that this year's Conference and Awards ceremony found its home in the heart of the city and the very University where the journey began for some of our members.

The Awards evening - a glamorous black-tie affair proudly sponsored by our long-term sponsor, GSI Partners - unfolded within the elegant atrium of the business school. Adorned with enchanting lights and exquisite centrepieces, the venue transformed into a captivating vision of sophistication and charm.

Every year, the Awards are divided into two distinct categories: the Stream Awards, which are handpicked by the Streams themselves, and the Premier Awards, carefully chosen by a Judging Panel consisting of esteemed Land and Property Professionals. The quality of entries was exceptionally high, presenting the Panel with a formidable challenge in making their selections.

The Winners of the 2023 S+SNZ Stream awards are:

The McCrae Supreme Award for 2023 and Professional Excellence in Cadastral Surveying awards were awarded to Neale Faulkner.

Neale is a leader and educator for the profession. He gained his registration as a surveyor in 1989 and is currently a practicing licensed cadastral surveyor, senior surveyor and former principal of a cadastral surveying company based in Auckland. He has considerable experience with subdivisions and regularly presents seminars and papers on all aspects of Unit Title Subdivision.

Neale has also been a prominent leader within CSNZ and a Cadastral Survey Licensing Board member since 2013. He is currently the chair of CSLB and has been heavily involved in several very significant changes and reviews undertaken by the Board.

For outstanding service to the Land Development and Urban Design industry, Bruce Sinclair was recognised for his successful survey and land development projects in Christchurch and the South Island for more than 50 years, and as such, he is highly regarded and respected as a land development consultant.

Mike Cutfield was this year’s very well-deserved recipient of the Engineering Surveying Award for Outstanding Service to the Industry. Mike has managed some of the largest infrastructure projects in New Zealand over the last 10 years including the Waterview Tunnels, Warkworth to Puhoi Motorway and the City Rail Link. On top of all this, he also provided 9 years of service as Engineering Stream chair for Survey and Spatial as well as being an assessor on the panel for the Certification of Engineering Surveyors.

For professional excellence in the Positioning and Measurement industry, Nic Donnelly was recognised, primarily for his leadership in the emergency management response to Cyclone Gabrielle. He was also heavily involved in the recovery from other events. Nic has a long history of involvement in the P&M stream and plays an international role as chair of WG2 (positioning) of Commission 5 for FIG.

The final stream award was awarded to Simon Ironside for outstanding service to the Hydrography industry. Simon has always been a passionate advocate for hydrography and Survey and Spatial and has made a significant global contribution to the profession over the years. His international involvement with the hydrographic commission enables young professionals to get involved with the work of FIG. Nationally and internationally, hydrographers have benefited from his involvement in our profession. 

Bogle Young Professional of the year Award

Our well-deserving winner of the Young Professional of the Year Award, Géneviève Abrey, is a rising star within the Survey profession and is already making her mark on the industry as both a professional and as an inspiration to many Young Professionals. She has significantly contributed to both the New Zealand and South African surveying profession both through her professional role and as a volunteer.

Technicians Professional Excellence Award

This year the Technicians Professional Excellence Award was presented to Darryl Wymer in recognition of the significant contribution he has made to Survey and Spatial as a senior lead member of the Survey and Spatial Engineering Surveying Certification pilot program as both as a successful candidate in the pilot and as a team assessor in the ongoing program. Darryl is also a member of the Technicians Division Leadership Team and the Technicians representative to the Engineering Stream. He is an outstanding example of the technical profession in his use of cutting-edge technology in his current role as Tunnel Survey Manager for the Link Alliance delivering the City Rail Link Project to Auckland.

S+SNZ Project Excellence Award

The S+SNZ Project Excellence Award celebrates the achievements of our top surveying and spatial organisations and showcases the finest projects we have to offer.

The joint winners of the Project Excellence Award for 2023 are WSP, Waka Kotahi, Toitu Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand, Beca, Aurecon, and Harrison Grierson for their Digital Improvement Project.

Consulting Surveyors Leadership Excellence Award

The inaugural winner of the CSNZ leadership award has been a member of the division for over 20 years. He is a director of a successful multi-disciplinary consultancy where he has been the managing director since 2010. His leadership skills have also shone through for CSNZ, where he has been on the management committee for more than 10 years and where he was the chair from 2019 – 2022. This year the CSNZ Leadership Award winner was Carl Fox.

2022 Cadastral Survey of the Year Award

The Cadastral Survey of the Year Award recognises the outstanding cadastral surveys which have been carried out by cadastral surveyors over the past twelve months. The winner of this award was Ben Smith for DP 572823.

Examination Awards

Percy Dyett Award
This award recognises the best land development engineering candidates in the Professional Entrance Examinations as part of the process of qualifying to be a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor. This year’s Award Recipient is Benjamin Power.

Maurice Crompton Smith Award
The second exam award is the Maurice Crompton-Smith Memorial Award. for the best set of projects for a Certificate of Competency. This year, the winner is Nicki Shaw.