Head of the Internet of Things discipline at James Cook University Professor Wei Xiang has been named Cairns Regional Engineer of the Year.

Professor Xiang was one of the youngest full professors and discipline heads ever appointed at JCU when he came onboard in 2016 and was charged with developing Australia’s first IoT Engineering degree at JCU Cairns.

Under his leadership, JCU’s Bachelor of IoT Engineering (Honours) course was successfully accredited by Engineers Australia in November 2016, becoming officially Australia’s first and only IoT engineering degree.

He also played an instrumental role in securing government funds to build the Cairns Innovation Centre.

Iain Brown from GHD and Sumit Khadka from Transport and Main Roads were joint winners of the Cairns Regional Young Engineer of the Year Award for 2017.

Mr Brown was recognised for his work locally and internationally on projects involving hydrologic and hydraulic risk assessments and design.

Mr Khadka is a civil engineer specialising in the delivery of major infrastructure projects and has worked as the TMR Far North District manager of Delivery and Operations.

The upgrade of the Deep Creek sewage pump station was awarded Project of the Year for Cairns Regional council and GHD.

The project covered complex engineering challenges involving hydraulics, mechanical, structural and geotechnical elements. Work involved an existing structure 14 metres deep and cutting into live sewerage infrastructure. Judges noted the project had set a new benchmark in wet well rehabilitation.

Engineers Australia general manager Queensland Stacey Rawlings said the calibre of the 2017 nominees was outstanding.

“All the judges agreed that the future of engineering in Cairns is strong with applicants demonstrating exceptional standards in technical, commercial, leadership and development,” Ms Rawlings said.