General

PhD & Masters Thesis Awards

The PhD Thesis Award and Masters Thesis Award are offered annually by the RTSA to the author of an outstanding doctoral and research masters degree on a topic concerned with the rail industry. The work completed in the thesis shall have been undertaken in Australia or New Zealand.

The following review criteria are used as part of the process of evaluation of applications for the Award; details in the thesis; level of research and referencing; accuracy of research; applicability and validity of research; level of experimentation and/or modeling and degree of innovation.

The Award comprises; a cash prize of $5,000 or NZ$ equivalent (PHD Thesis Category) / $3,000 or NZ$ equivalent (Master Thesis Category) ; one complimentary CORE Conference registration plus travel and accommodation; a commemorative certificate and one year free Membership of the RTSA.

2021 Post Graduate Thesis Award Winner

Dr. Yong Pang, Monash University, Australia

Dr. Yong Pang is awarded with RTSA 2021 PHD Thesis Award, whom his thesis addressed technical challenges of using laser speckle, develop optical sensors for non-contact, non-destructive and remote strain measurements and investigated the performance of these optical sensors under laboratory and field conditions.

2021 Post Graduate Thesis Award Runner Up

Dr. Nick Pelham, Melbourne University, Australia

Dr Nick Pelham’s thesis explored the reasons for the success of the Regional Trains Revitalization project which avoided the fate of so many complex projects by being completed on time and on budget.  He studied the governance model and the role of the Board in this achievement and from this articulated a novel theory on project governance.

Railway Engineering Student Thesis Award

The Railway Engineering Student Thesis Award is offered annually by the RTSA to the author of an outstanding final year undergraduate thesis on a topic in railway engineering.

The principal criteria that are use as part of the review process are as follows; details in the thesis; level of research and referencing; accuracy of research; applicability and validity of research; level of experimentation and/or modeling and degree of innovation.

The Award comprises; a cash prize of $2,000 or NZ$ equivalent; one complimentary CORE Conference registration plus travel and accommodation; a commemorative certificate and one year free membership of the RTSA. At its discretion the Awards Sub-committee may make up to three awards in any one year.

2021 Railway Engineering Student Thesis Award

Joint winners: Elizabeth Kalou and Navsimran Singh

Elizabeth Kalou, Western Sydney University

Thesis: A comprehensive review of railway sleepers and comparative testing of pre-stressed concrete and fibre-reinforced sleepers

Elizabeth’s thesis included a comprehensive review of railway sleepers and comparative testing of pre-stressed concrete and fibre-reinforced sleepers She is an honours student in Civil Engineering at Western Sydney University and has had work experience on the Western Sydney airport project working for Bechtel.

Navsimran Singh, Monash University

Thesis: How Australian-developed low-cost printable photo-voltaic panels could be integrated into the architecture of railway infrastructure

Navsimran is completing an honours degree in Mechanical Engineering at Monash University.  His innovative thesis explored how Australian-developed low-cost printable photo-voltaic panels could be integrated into the architecture of railway infrastructure to provide quantifiable carbon-reduction benefits in an unobtrusive manner.

 

Congratulations to all of our 2021 thesis award winners!