Leading professional services consulting firm, Sinclair Knight Merz, is pleased to announce that Sydney-based civil engineer, Ian Cashen, is the recipient of the 2001 Bruce Sinclair Scholarship.

The Scholarship is awarded to a young professional within the Sinclair Knight Merz Group to further develop their technical abilities through study at a leading international academic institution.

Mr Cashen has opted to undertake a Graduate Certificate of Information Technology Project Management from the University of Ottawa in Canada.

This course is aimed at providing professionals with the necessary expertise to lead complex IT projects.

Ian has been with Sinclair Knight Merz since graduating from the University of Wollongong in 1996.

He has been involved in a range of exciting projects such as the upgrade of the State Hockey Centre and International Aquatic Centre at Sydney Olympic Park, and the redevelopment of Scenic World at Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

During this time, he has also become involved in the introduction of new technologies used in project management.

"I have developed an aptitude for the use of software in project management, in particular the implementation of Prolog Manager and Prolog Web," Ian said.

"I have regularly provided advice and training to other Sinclair Knight Merz project managers considering the use of this software," he said.

"It is expected that the course will not only prove to be of assistance in the area of IT project management, but will be of assistance in current and future ‘conventional’ construction projects," Ian added.

A panel, chaired by Sinclair Knight Merz co-founder, Bruce Sinclair, assessed applicants for the Award.

Ian Cashen is the second recipient of the Bruce Sinclair Scholarship.

The first winner was Darren Frost, who undertook postgraduate study at University of Manchester’s Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST),

During this time, Darren had the opportunity to work and study along side young power engineers from all corners of the globe in undertaking the course work part of the MSc in Electrical Power Engineering degree.

He also took the opportunity to visit the design, manufacturing and R&D facilities of companies such as Alstom Power, Siemens Power Generation and ABB Power Generation.