Global recognition for Adelaide Engineering Dean

Professor John Beynon, Executive Dean of the University of Adelaide's Faculty of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Sciences.
Photo by Robyn Mills.
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Wednesday, 17 October 2012

The University of Adelaide's Professor John Beynon has been elected the next Chair of the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) - the first Australian Dean to have this role.

Professor Beynon, Executive Dean of the University's Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences (ECMS), was today announced as Chair-Elect at the Council's annual conference, being held during the World Engineering Education Forum in Buenos Aires this week.

Professor Beynon said he was honoured to be elected to this position, bringing international recognition for the University and helping to keep Engineering at the University of Adelaide at the forefront of world best practice.

"Clearly, for the University of Adelaide, it is always good when one of us takes a role in an international body, both to demonstrate the international standing of our University and also to raise our profile on the international stage," Professor Beynon said.

"Engineering at Adelaide is very strong and we do much that is world class. Nevertheless, we still want to improve, and an active role in the GEDC is one way of keeping abreast of best practice in the world and bringing that to bear on our own engineering activities."

The GEDC was established as a world network of engineering deans in 2008 with more than 90 Deans from over 20 countries. Its mission is the advancement of engineering education, research and service to the global community.

Professor Beynon will be Chair-Elect for one year, becoming the Chair at the annual GEDC conference in Chennai, India in October 2013 for two years.

Professor Beynon became ECMS Executive Dean at the University of Adelaide in July and is well regarded for his capacity to build partnerships in both academic and industry settings.

He has just completed two years as President, Australian Council of Engineering Deans and, before coming to Adelaide, was Principal Investigator, Australian Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing (AusAMRC). He was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne from 2005-2012.

In both 2011 and 2012, he was listed by Engineers Australia as one of Australia's 100 most influential engineers. He is Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in the UK, and the Institution of Engineers Australia.

Professor Beynon's research interests include the interaction of materials science (principally physical metallurgy) and applied mechanics to solve engineering problems, using computer-based modelling, experiment and industrial input.

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