The Hopkins Lecture encourages discussion of engineering within the profession and public understanding of engineering issues. The inaugural lecture was held in 1978 with Professor HJ Hopkins himself as speaker. It covers broad and social engineering issues rather than being purely technical.
PAST HOPKINS LECTURES
2023
Joanne Mcgregor
C Lund & Son Ltd.
Handshakes and contracts: Can the construction sector improve?
2021
Dr Rod Carr
Chairperson, He Pou a Rangi | Climate Change Commission
'Will science and engineering save civilisation?' (Facebook)
2020
Sir Ian Taylor
Founder and Managing Director - Animation Research Limited
'Covid-19 - Risk or Reward?' (Facebook)
2019
Dr Raymond Wilson
Senior Construction and Infrastructure Advisory Consultant
'Infrastructure - where would we be without it?' (youtube)
2018
Duncan Gibb
Chief Executive Officer – Australia Construction, Fulton Hogan
'The Rise of the Civic Engineer – the difference a 'C' makes' (youtube)
2017
Professor Mark Burry
Founding Director for Swinburne University of Technology's Smart Cities Research Institute
Gaudi - Structural Artist
2016
Lawrence Yule
President of Local Government New Zealand
Mayor, Hastings District Council
'Defining the Brief for Investment in Community Assets' (youtube)
2015
Graham Mitchell
CEO, Crown Fibre Holdings, NZ
'UFB - A Transformational Digital Infrastructure Platform' (youtube)
2014
Dr Kevin Thompson
President of IPENZ
'Accountability of Professional Engineers to Communities they Serve'
2013
Nicholas Davidson
QC
'Pike River. An Accumulation of Observable Risk which Demands our Understanding' (youtube)
2012
The Right Honourable Helen Clark
ONZ, UNDP Administrator
2011
Roger Sutton
Chief Executive of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority
'Getting the Power Back on to Canterbury'
2010
Paul Jowitt
President, Institute of Civil Engineers
'Now is the Time'
Hopkins Lecture 2010 (3.6 MB)
2009
David Salisbury
CEO and Managing Director of NZ Oil and Gas
'Using Technology to Unlock Oil and Gas Resources'
2008
Geoff Henderson
Director and Chief Executive Officer of Windflow Technology
'Wind Power - One of many ways to a carbon-neutral economy'
2007
Professor Henry Petrovski
Professor of Civil Engineering and History, Duke University
'Success and Failure in Design'
2006
Don Elder
CEO, Solid Energy
'The economy and energy: are both sustainable?'
2005
Gavin Cormack
Executive Chairman of Beca Group Ltd
'Engineering Innovation and the Creation of Lasting Value'
Hopkins Lecture 2005 (2.5 MB)
2004
The Honourable Pete Hodgson
Minister of Energy, Minister of Transport, Minister of Research, Science and Technology, Minister for Crown Research Institutes, Convenor of the Ministerial Group on Climate Change
'Energy Planning in New Zealand'
2003
Professor Tom O'Rourke
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, USA
'Lessons Learned from the World Trade Centre Disaster: Critical Engineering Systems'
2002
Dr David Hopkins
Consulting Civil Structural and Earthquake Engineer, Wellington
Hopkins Lecture 2002 (8.9 MB)
2001
Sir Gil Simpson
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Aoraki Corporation Limited
'Emagine'
2000
Professor Bob Park
Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Canterbury
'Improving the Resistance of Structures to Earthquakes' (5.4MB)
1998
Roger Estall
Chairman, New Zealand Fire Service Commission
'Engineering Improvement in Fire Risk Management'
1997
The Honourable Dr Nick Smith
Minister of Conservation
'The Greening of the Engineering Profession'
1995
Her Excellency the Governor-General Dame Catherine Tizard
'Engineering and Its Customers'
1994
The Right Honourable Professor Sir Geoffrey Palmer
Wellington
'International Law and the Global Environmental Challenge'
1993
Sir Miles Warren
Architect, Christchurch
'Engineers and Architects - Love Hate Relationship'
1992
Sir Edmund Hillary
Auckland
'Building Primitive but Effective Structures in Remote Areas'
1991
Dr Roger Blakeley
Secretary for the Environment, Wellington
'Environmental Challenges in the 1990's'
1990
Dr Peter Troughton
Managing Director, Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Ltd, Wellington
'The Future of Telecom in New Zealand'
1989
Sir Robert Jones
Chairman, Robt. Jones Investments Ltd, Wellington
'The Case for Nuclear Power'
1988
R P Carter
Director, Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner Ltd, Auckland
'Consulting Engineering Here and Abroad'
1987
Dr A R Flint
Flint and Neill Partnership, London, England
'Structural Reliability and the Engineer'
1986
R G Norman
Retired Commissioner of Works, Wellington
'Politics and Passions : Adventures in Engineering'
1985
Sir Michael Fowler
Architect and former Mayor of Wellington
'Cities at Risk'
1984
K Piddington
Commissioner for Environment, Wellington
'The Ethic of Environmental Engineering'
1983
J Ingram
Managing Director, New Zealand Steel Ltd, Auckland
'New Zealand Steel Ltd - Opportunities and Obstacles'
1982
I B Reynolds
Director, Kingston Reynolds Thom and Allardice Ltd, Auckland
'Cast in Concrete - The Substance of New Zealand Buildings'
1981
S M J Smith
Project Engineer, Ministry of Works and Development, Twizel
'Big Can Be Beautiful: Hydro Electric Construction in the Waitaki'
1980
Professor P W Taylor
Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Auckland
'Engineers - Leaders or Followers?'
1979
W M Duncan
Secretary of Energy, Wellington
'Energy and Engineering'
1978
Professor H J Hopkins
Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Canterbury
'A Land of Bridges - A Story of New Zealand (PDF, 8.2 MB)
