Erskine visits a catalyst for collaborative research
01 November 2011
Teaching into the undergraduate programme on his first Erskine visit to the University of Canterbury in 2007 was the catalyst for a number of successful research collaborations, says return Erskine Fellow Professor Jonathan Fannin from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada.
Dr Elisabeth Bowman (left) shows Rob Hunter's laser-image test cell to Kaley Crawford-Flett and Professor Jonathan Fannin.
Teaching into the undergraduate programme on his first Erskine visit to the University of Canterbury in 2007 was the catalyst for a number of successful research collaborations, says return Erskine Fellow Professor Jonathan Fannin from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada.
“One of the highlights of my first visit in 2007 was the realisation that, in many ways, the South Island of New Zealand is so familiar to me, it is very much like coastal British Columbia – steep ground, high rainfall, glacial soils and seismicity. Many of the challenges on which I and my colleagues are working at UBC have a striking similarity to those encountered here in the South Island.”
A registered professional engineer, Professor Fannin has specialist technical interests in seepage-induced erosion in earth dams, rainfall-induced landslides, and soil stabilisation using geosynthetics. He recently finished up a month-long Erskine visit in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, hosted by Dr Elisabeth Bowman.
Professor Fannin credits the engagement he had with the students and faculty on his first Erskine visit to Christchurch as having laid the foundation from which a number of important research partnerships have followed. One promising student he taught in 2007, Kaley Crawford-Flett, decided to pursue graduate studies at the University of British Columbia.
“Kaley has since distinguished herself in our doctoral programme and received a prestigious UBC Four-Year Fellowship in support of her studies on erosion in earth dams,” he said.
In addition to teaching once again into the UC undergraduate programme, he set two additional goals for his return Erskine visit of 2011.
One was to connect Kaley with Dr Bowman’s expertise in the micro-mechanics of material behaviour.
“I believe it is a vital piece of the puzzle on which my research team is working in Canada."
Professor Fannin encouraged Kaley to apply for an UBC International Research Mobility Award and the proposal, written in collaboration with Dr Bowman, was successful. It led directly to Kaley working on laboratory experiments using UC facilities, alongside Rob Hunter, one of Dr Bowman’s MSc students.
“International collaboration is critical to the successful generation of new insights, new knowledge and new solutions. The fact that our work is equally relevant to the engineering sector in New Zealand and Canada makes it all that more special,” he observed.
A second goal was to foster knowledge-transfer, through a collaboration between UC and the New Zealand Society on Large Dams (NZSOLD). To this end, a one-day workshop on internal erosion was held at UC, to coincide with Professor Fannin’s Erskine visit. Close to 100 engineers, industry representatives and UC graduate students attended the workshop at which Professor Fannin and Dr Bowman co-presented with Kaley and Rob on the findings of their respective work. A series of companion industry presentations was followed by a joint panel discussion on the international state-of-practice.
In between Erskine visits, Professor Fannin also found time to meet with Pat Kailey, one of Dr Bowman’s PhD students nearing completion.
“Pat was planning fieldwork on debris flows in 2009 and I travelled down to join them for a part of that work in advance of hosting Pat with one of my students in 2010 when, on a truly epic trip, we surveyed one of the largest debris flow events in British Columbia.”
Professor Fannin said the story of his Erskine experience is a great example of the Erskine legacy.
“I am delighted to observe how in fulfilling the mission to teach into the undergraduate programme in 2007, so many other benefits have subsequently developed from that engagement; benefits that are accruing to the University of Canterbury and to New Zealand at-large, as well as to my university and our companion research efforts in Canada.
“The Erskine programme brings so much more than an out-of-Canterbury ‘voice’ to the undergraduate lecture room. It is a truly brilliant catalyst for promoting student mobility and international research collaboration between members of faculty, which I believe are the pillars of a truly competitive university.”
Professor Fannin’s current Erskine visit has been scheduled over sequential years, and he will return to Canterbury in mid-2012.
For further information contact:
Maria De Cort
Communications Officer
Communications & External Relations
DDI: +64 3 364 2072
Mobile: +64 27 299 0741
maria.decort@canterbury.ac.nz
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