07 May 2008

Golden Boys
Engineering Alumni Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of their Graduation

Fifty years ago, 71 students of the Faculty of Engineering had their degrees conferred on Saturday 19 April 1958 at the University’s seventh graduation ceremony. This year on Friday 18 April, 27 of those graduates returned to their alma mater for a day of celebration and reminiscence.

Joined by their family members, the ’58ers braved the dismal weather and started the festivities with a bus tour of the Kensington campus. Some had not been to the campus in many years, and were amazed to see firsthand how it has developed from the expanse of undeveloped land it once was. The Golden Jubilee celebrations continued in the Tyree Room, where the graduates were met by current and former Engineering staff and treated to a delicious lunch. A photographic montage of the campus then and now was screened, which highlighted some of the many changes that have taken place during the life of the University.

In his speech, the new Dean of Engineering, Professor Graham Davies, outlined some of the upcoming developments planned for the Faculty, and thanked the graduates for helping to make Engineering at UNSW what it is today. ‘You are our best ambassadors,’ he said. ‘You enhance our profile because of the achievements you have made in your professional lives.’

Vice-Chancellor Professor Fred Hilmer also addressed the graduates, commenting how Engineering is the heart of the University and is now the largest and best engineering faculty in the country. ‘I don’t think we would have such a reputation today if you hadn’t helped build the credibility of the education that is provided to engineers,’ he said.

Next on the agenda was a chance for the 1958 graduates to share memories of their time at the University. Messrs Ernest Armstrong (Civil Engineering), Charles Sapsford (Mechanical Engineering) and Dr Malcolm Somers (Chemical Engineering) regaled the guests with stories of campus life and colourful characters, and Mr Armstrong also detailed some of the professional achievements of the graduates in the last half-century. The event concluded with a re-enactment of the 1958 graduation ceremony, but this time instead of receiving degrees, each graduate was presented with a pair of commemorative champagne flutes.

Mr Jeno Toppler, a 1958 Civil Engineering graduate who had travelled from the Netherlands to attend the event, said: ‘It has been a very emotional day, and a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends.’