Ronald Hicks Memorial Award sponsored by Mott MacDonald

The Ronald Hicks Memorial Trust Fund was established in 1984 to recognise and commemorate the contribution that Ron Hicks made to water and wastewater management in New Zealand from the mid-1950s until his death in 1983. Ron joined the Auckland Metropolitan Drainage Board from the UK as Chief Chemist at the time when the Manukau Sewerage Purification Works was under development. He became widely respected as an international authority on domestic and industrial wastewater treatment practices, and it was through his efforts from 1957 to 1959 that the NZ Sewage and Industrial Wastes Association, the forerunner of Water New Zealand, was formed. Ron Hicks legacy is remembered annually through the Ronald Hicks Memorial Award made to the author(s) of an article or paper considered significant in solving or clarifying sewage treatment or water pollution problems in New Zealand.

The Trust Fund is administered by three trustees who together comprise the judging panel for the award. The current trustees are:

• Mark Milke, Christchurch (Chairman)
• Nick Dempsey, Auckland
• Paul Barter, Nelson

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Nomination

Nominations for articles or papers considered significant in solving or clarifying sewage treatment or water pollution problems in New Zealand can be submitted to the Chair for consideration by the trustees. These should include:

• a copy of the article or paper,
• the name(s) and address(es) of the author(s) and,
• a brief justification of the significance of the contents.

Where the nomination is by a third party, their name and address should also be provided.

Any queries regarding this Award should be made to the Chairman in the first instance.

Nominations for consideration should be addressed to the Chairman of the Memorial Trust:

Prof Mark Milke
Department of Civil & Natural Resources Engineering
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
CHRISTCHURCH 8140
Phone: 03 364 2248
Email: mark.milke@canterbury.ac.nz

Nominations are open to the Water industry, membership of Water New Zealand is not required. 

Prize

This award will be made to the author(s) of an article or paper considered significant in solving or clarifying sewage treatment or water pollution problems in New Zealand. Awards may take the form of cash, books, equipment, etc, as seen appropriate to the Trustees in each case.

Special thanks

Water New Zealand acknowledges the services of the Trustees, namely Chairman Dr Mark Milke, from the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Canterbury; Paul Barter from the Cawthron Institute and Nick Dempsey from Mott MacDonald. The Trustees comprise the judging panel.

Water New Zealand and the trustees would like to acknowledge Mott MacDonald for its generous sponsorship of the award. 

2019 Recipient - Martin Neale and Andrew Schollum of Puhoi Stou, Kris Fordham of CIVIX LTD. and Nick Brown of Auckland Council

for the paper presented at the 2018 Stormwater Conference entitled; Safeswim: A sea change in assessing beach water quality risk 

The paper provides an overview of the SAFESWIM programe which greatly improves communication to the public of the risks of swimming at Auckland’s beaches, with consequential improvements in health.SAFESWIM incorporates diverse information souces within risk prediction methods, and uses advances in programming and communication technology to provide real-time information on risk.This world-leading platform has had a great impact already on the public’s view towards the risk of beach use, and has applied a spotlilght to the need for infrastructure investment to reduce pollution. This large innovative project was developed quickly with a wide team.In addition to the 4 awardees, important contributions were made by Surf Livesaving Northern Region, Auckland Regional Public Health Service, University of Auckland, NIWA, Morphum Environmental, DHI, Mott MacDonald, and Translate Digital, with particular acknowledgement due to Craig McIlroy at Auckland Council.

The 4 award recipients have agreed to donate their $1000 prize to Surf Livesaving Northern Region.

Ronald Hicks Recipients