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The recipients of a pioneering engineering scholarship program established by one of WA's foremost engineers, Dr Harold Clough, will have the opportunity to salute their benefactor at The University of Western Australia tonight.

UWA Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Robson congratulated Dr Clough for his foresight in creating one of the first successful university-industry partnerships, the Clough Engineering Scholarship program.

The program ran over 35 years, from 1969 to 2004, and recipients include some of the State's top government , business and industry leaders.

Scholarships were awarded to the best engineering undergraduate students in UWA's Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, providing financial assistance to students in their third and fourth (final) years of study.

After winning a Clough engineering scholarship, students were given the opportunity to undertake vacation work with Clough Limited.  At the time, vacation jobs were difficult to find due to the limited number of private contractors operating in Perth as well as the limited number of major projects available for tender.

"A groundbreaking aspect of this program was that it did not tie students to working for the sponsoring organisation after completing their engineering studies at UWA," Professor Robson said.

"This reflects Harold's extraordinary vision and understanding that young engineering graduates had much to gain from working in more than one organisation, and from working in the global business community, as well as in Perth."

Professor Robson said the university had enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Clough Limited over more than 40 years, while the Clough family's links to the University dated back more than 60 years.

"Our partnership has involved industry membership to the UWA Futures Foundation for Oil and Gas Education, funding for scholarships, vacation employment, student prizes, research collaborations and the Clough First Year Engineering Centre," he said.

Media references

Quang Ly (UWA Office of Development)  (+61 8)  6488 4772  /  (+61 4) 01 824 362
Sally-Ann Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 7975  /  (+61 4) 20 790 098