Event report – YPG – NZSOLD/ANCOLD Conference Events

The Young Professionals Group (YPG) was busy at the NZSOLD ANCOLD 2019 Combined Conference presenting papers, networking, and organising events. This segment includes a few observations and photos from the Welcome Function, Young Professionals Networking Lunch, and the NZSOLD Young Professional Best Paper.

Welcome Function

A unique welcome function for the conference was hosted this year by the Young Professionals of NZSOLD and ANCOLD in collaboration.
The function was held at the Harbourside Ocean Bar and Grill. There were plenty of opportunities for networking throughout the evening at the venue and balcony overlooking the Auckland waterfront.

The YPG ran a dams-themed pub quiz, with great prizes, including T-shirts specially designed for the evening. We also tried something a bit different, by running the quiz on the Mentimeter app.

T-shirt designed for the Welcome Function

As NZSOLD YPG co-chairs, Cameron and I would like to thank our Aussie counterparts Nicholas Glover and Francesko Strano for making the preparation and night itself such fun. We are also thankful for the support of the NZSOLD Management Committee, Cheryll Wagener, Jacobs as sponsors, and our YP volunteers on the night, Rebecca Polvere, Tung Hoang, amongst others.

Young Professionals Networking Lunch

Young Professionals from NZSOLD and ANCOLD were invited to a networking lunch with the NZSOLD and ANCOLD Executive Committee Members. This was well attended, and also proved to be a great opportunity to mingle and meet fellow YPs from Australia and New Zealand, and talk about shared technical interests and challenges.
The President of ICOLD/CIGB, Michael Rogers, spoke to the YPs at the networking lunch about insights from his own career and life. He also invited and gave thoughtful answers to difficult questions raised by YPs. His experience and openness were genuinely appreciated and valued by attendees at the lunch.

NZSOLD Young Professional Best Paper

Congratulations to Bill Veale for winning NZSOLD YP Best Paper for “Dam-Break Consequence Assessments: Framework for estimation of population at risk” (link to paper here).
We are thankful also to Engineering Geology Limited for their ongoing sponsorship of this award.

Closing Comments

All in all, the Young Professionals were an active part of the conference, and got a lot out of the experience in return. We are looking forward to the next NZSOLD event!
Cheers Dewi Knappstein and Cameron Paintin NZSOLD YPG Co-Chairs