Excellence awards finalists are engineering a smarter Sydney

The Engineering Excellence Awards Sydney (EEAS 2013) finalists have been announced, with some of the award-nominated projects intent on creating the Sydney of the future. The NINA Access Pathway and TEKTUM SPACE2.0 showcase innovative design and ingenuity to address public needs, paving the way for the urban landscape of the future and demonstrating the possibility for Sydney to be a smart city by harnessing the potential of the existing environment.

The NINA Access Pathway project provides an alternative for utility distribution in cities and urban environments - where more than half of the world’s population lives - replacing the need for power poles by distributing services underground along street curbs.

“Rather than have power lines up poles, water under the road and telecommunications everywhere, the NINA Access Pathways solution provides the way to install all utility distribution systems into the curb, creating a ‘dig once’ solution to infrastructure access needs,” said Guy Dixon, ‎Founder and Inventor at NINA. This is in contrast to Sydney’s current investment in the build and maintenance of power poles and wires, which “creates an ugly and expensive problem for urban environments and is neither environmentally friendly nor energy efficient”.

The SPACE2.0 building platform by TEKTUM is a fully transportable building solution that can be unfolded on a site and assembled within days, creating an immediate housing solution that is energy efficient, sustainable and affordable. TEKTUM Joint Managing Director Nicolas Perren says this solution not only operates affordably but also retains the highest quality execution available in modular housing.

“SPACE2.0 defines the way we will live tomorrow,” he said. “It is architecturally customisable and can be mass-produced in a way that is sustainable by using renewable, recycled or recyclable materials.”

EEAS 2013, presented by Engineers Australia, Sydney Division, will showcase these and other creative solutions to shape Sydney’s future. The most innovative ideas will battle it out to be crowned the winner at the awards gala dinner on 20 September at The Star Event Centre.