It's the future of engineering in the spotlight. The GT Murray Award provides undergraduate engineering students the opportunity to showcase their creativity, curiosity and passion while presenting their research in front of industry professionals and future colleagues.
See the potential of Auckland engineering's future as students present their fresh thinking and innovative solutions. Get your front-row seat and take a glimpse at what the next generation of Tāmaki Makaurau engineers are working on – register now to attend the 2025 GT Murray Award.
Date: Thursday 11 December 2025
Venue: Auckland University of Technology, 55 Wellesley St East, Auckland
GT Murray, circa 1931.
Named in honour of distinguished civil engineer and surveyor George Thomas Murray (1859–1947), the GT Murray Award strengthens the connection between the Engineering New Zealand Auckland Branch and Auckland's tertiary institutions and professional organisations.
After his passing in 1947, the Auckland Branch created the GT Murray Award. The event provides undergraduate engineering students a platform to showcase their abilities: thought articulation, communication of their research and discussing it in a professional context, and demonstrating their creativity and curiosity.
Engineering disciplines have developed significantly. It's no longer unusual for undergraduate students to conduct cross-boundary research within the engineering fields, and research cross-disciplines (eg. research between engineering and medical science is increasingly common).
Students are challenged to captivate the audience for 10 minutes and demonstrate the human skills required of a well-rounded engineer. Each presentation is followed by a 5–10 minute Q&A session.
Entry details
Entry is free and open to final-year engineering students undertaking a BE, BEngTech or NZDE in Auckland. All entrants are required to be members of Engineering New Zealand. There is no minimum period of membership or service to Engineering New Zealand.
Each tertiary institution may put forward up to two entrants of their own choosing for the award. If research has been undertaken by a team, an individual will be nominated to present on their behalf. The presentation topics of the two nominated participants/teams should be different.
The institutions must provide the name, email, a brief bio, photo in JPG format and presentation title of the nominated student for the awards to the Auckland Branch by the closing date each year.
The award is judged based on the presenter's communication skills, audience engagement, enthusiasm for their topic/research, audio-visual quality, overall audience experience, and general interest in the topic presented. To avoid subject bias, the technical content of a presentation is not used as a judging criterion – ie. "method" rather than "matter". A panel of up to five people will judge the presentations. First, second and third prizes are valued at $500, $300 and $200 respectively.
Prize winners and finalists will be announced on the night, following the judging of the presentations.
Celebrate past winners
Past winners of the GT Murray Award were making waves in the profession before they'd even graduated. Check out the inspiring recent winners:
|
Year |
Winner |
Discipline |
Institution |
Presentation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Year 2024 |
Winner Danny Dingxin Su |
Discipline Mechatronics Engineering |
Institution University of Auckland |
Presentation Development and validation of a telerobotic system for ophthalmology |
|
Year 2023 |
Winner Dylan Maurice |
Discipline Electrical/Mechatronics Engineering |
Institution UNITEC |
Presentation Design of a micro hydro turbine generator to power a self-sufficient leak detection system for water pipes |
|
Year 2022 |
Winner Strahan Kelly |
Discipline Mechatronics Engineering |
Institution Massey University |
Presentation Knowledge transfer with mixed reality |
|
Year 2021 |
Winner Sabrina Naseem |
Discipline Construction Engineering |
Institution Auckland University of Technology |
Presentation Hapori Akonga o AUT - AUT's New Student Community Accommodation Centre |
|
Year 2020 |
Winner Michelle Delves |
Discipline Engineering Science |
Institution University of Auckland |
Presentation Modelling ventilation and the movement of aerosol based infectious particles within a room |
|
Year 2019 |
Winner Andrew Chen |
Discipline Computer System Engineering |
Institution University of Auckland |
Presentation Optimal control of multirotor drone for agricultural applications |
|
Year 2018 |
Winner Yihong (Amy) Wang |
Discipline Chemical Engineering |
Institution University of Auckland |
Presentation Creating an environmentally friendly and low-cost filter for the removal of heavy metals |
|
Year 2017 |
Winner Zoltan Hrotko |
Discipline Mechatronics Engineering |
Institution University of Auckland |
Presentation The design, build and test of a novel actuator system for a robotic hand |
|
Year 2016 |
Winner Thomas Van Eerden |
Discipline Mechanical Engineering |
Institution University of Auckland |
Presentation A study of the failure of composite materials |
|
Year 2015 |
Winner Daniel van der Meulen |
Discipline Chemical and Materials Engineering |
Institution University of Auckland |
Presentation Assessing the potential of using bio-oils as a fuel in New Zealand |
