SMEC’s Dr Richard Kelly wins prestigious technical excellence award
Dr Richard Kelly, Chief Technical Principal – Geotechnical Engineering at SMEC, has been awarded the prestigious Roads Australia Award for Technical Excellence for 2019.
Dr Richard Kelly, Chief Technical Principal – Geotechnical Engineering at SMEC, has been awarded the prestigious Roads Australia Award for Technical Excellence for 2019.
Presented to Richard on Friday, 29 November at the Roads Australia Annual Luncheon in Sydney, the award recognises Richard’s remarkable contribution to the transport industry in his academic research and work in soft soil engineering.
With more than 25 years of experience as a Geotechnical Engineer and academic, Richard led the creation of the National Soft Soil Field Testing Facility with the University of Newcastle and organised an international numerical prediction symposium based on this work. He has shared his research and learnings through over 100 publications and holds honorary positions with several universities in Australia.
“I am honoured and proud to receive this award from Roads Australia,” said Richard. “I have a passion for being a bridge between academia and practice, connecting the two closely together to create tangible and practical industry outcomes. I feel this award not only acknowledges my work, but also the work of the many passionate people of the Ballina Bypass Alliance and the Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering, who helped to create and then develop the National Soft Soil Testing Facility. It’s exciting to see the industry starting to adopt the outcomes of this work.”
Roads Australia CEO Michael Kilgariff said the alumnus of past award winners had made an immeasurable contribution to the science of road and transport infrastructure design and construction.
“We’re delighted to welcome Richard to this alumnus of technical greats,” Michael said. “His innovative approach to geotechnical science, as demonstrated on projects like the Ballina Bypass, not only delivers immediate efficiencies and benefits, but pays forward to future projects.”
Read more in our media release.