New Agreement Important For Construction Industry

Media Release
4 February 2005

New Agreement Important For Construction Industry

The construction industry in New Zealand is set to benefit from a new agreement between The University of Auckland's Faculty of Engineering, Golden Bay Cement and Pacific Steel.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has signed a five-year agreement with the two companies to further research and teaching into cement and reinforced concrete.

As part of the agreement, Golden Bay Cement and Pacific Steel will provide the Faculty with more than $400,000 over five years.

The funding will be used for the development and teaching of a postgraduate course in advanced structural concrete design, research into the uses of cement and reinforced concrete, and participation at local and international conferences.

Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Bruce Melville says the agreement is a good example of how industry and academics can work together for the benefit of the country.

"The civil engineering industry is going through a busy period with major construction projects in progress and many others in the pipeline throughout the country.

"This agreement signals the importance of the civil engineering discipline with industry prepared to significantly fund teaching and research into structural concrete design and construction. It also furthers our long relationship with the reinforced concrete industry," says Professor Melville.

Golden Bay Cement Market Development Manager Len McSaveney says the agreement is important for advancing the local industry.

"There is a lot of development taking place around the world in structural concrete design and new high-performance concrete. We think it is vital for students to be exposed to these new concepts.

"Concrete is New Zealand's preferred construction material with consumption per capita growing by 26 percent over the last two years. We need more research and teaching focusing on structural applications of reinforced concrete to advance the local industry," says Mr McSaveney.

The Advanced Structural Concrete Design course will be offered primarily at the postgraduate level but will be available as an option for final year undergraduate students, and also open to professional engineers. The first intake for the course will take place in July this year.

ENDS

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