Barry Ramsay, Chairman of the University of Canterbury Foundation, Professor Ian Town Deputy Vice Chancellor University of Canterbury, David McConnell MD McConnell Group, Quin Henderson Southern Region Manager Hawkins Construction signing the scholarship agreement.

Partnering in Scholarship

Peter Smeele, Development Coordinator for UC, says that the recovery of Canterbury is recovery of a community not a whole lot of individuals, an opportunity for the worlds of academia and business to work closer together.

It is this spirit of partnership that has seen Hawkins Construction establish a scholarship with UC, a three-year PhD research scholarship in civil engineering.

“Known as the Hawkins Construction PhD Scholarship in Engineering, it will be an opportunity for a graduate student to combine academic research with real world application. Given the events of the past year we hope that the first recipient is focused on an area which increases seismic understanding, perhaps around
building performance and lifecycle value,” says Quin Henderson.

Applicants for the inaugural scholarship will be interviewed prior to Christmas for a 2012 start.
The successful recipient will have access to Hawkins resources and facilities.

“Through being a part of Hawkins they will have our support and mentoring and be able to test their ideas in a very relevant environment.”

For the McConnell family the scholarship cements a long family association with the university.

“My father Malcolm and I earned our engineering degrees at Canterbury and I have a nephew who is currently on campus,” says David McConnell.

“Developing innovative thinking or the ‘smarts’ is part of our DNA within McConnell Group as it is within UC. Bringing business and academia closer together for relevant innovation is fundamental to driving growth and success in this country,” says David.

So who is McConnell Group?

McConnell Group is made up of a group of complementary businesses - Hawkins, McConnell Property, Steelpipe, Harker Underground Construction and Element NZ. As one of New Zealand's largest privately owned construction, property and infrastructure groups our passion is 'creating and building project based businesses.' More>>

Who leads McConnell Group?

The leadership of McConnell Group is made up of the combined leadership resource of Hawkins, McConnell Property and Steelpipe. Chris Hunter, CEO Hawkins; Peter Alexander, CEO Steelpipe and Commercial Manager McConnell Group; Nigel Richards, General Manager McConnell Property; and David McConnell Managing Director McConnell Group; are part of the McConnell Group leadership team.  They see value in being part of a group, sharing and learning from each other through the complementary 'project focused' nature of the businesses. John McConnell is Executive Director and Mike Wardle Chief Financial Officer.

What is the role of McConnell Group?

The role of McConnell Group is to support and strengthen the operating businesses. McConnell Group is not an operating company. It ensures that, if and when required, targeted resources are found and put in place to support and strengthen the operating businesses.