Engineering student awarded for Cambridge doctoral studies

Media Release

University of Auckland

10th October 2013

Engineering student wins award for doctoral studies at Cambridge

Outstanding engineering student, Alex Kendall, has been awarded a prestigious four year Woolf Fisher Scholarship to further his study of mechatronics at the University of Cambridge.

The Woolf Fisher Scholarship is awarded each year to three of New Zealand’s top graduates and recognises outstanding academic ability and other qualities such as integrity, leadership, boldness of vision, exceptional zeal, keenness and capacity for work.

“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” says Alex, an undergraduate student at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Engineering. “I’ve been working towards this for a few years and I’m very grateful for this opportunity.”

The Woolf Fisher Scholarships will enable Alex to study for a doctorate at the University of Cambridge. Each Woolf Fisher Scholarship is worth up to $100,000 per year, making them among the most valuable scholarships of their kind awarded in New Zealand.

Alex (from Christchurch), is this year finishing a Bachelor of Engineering Honours degree in mechatronics engineering via the Faculty’s accelerated pathway programme. Last year he designed and built a quadcopter UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), and this year he completed his final year research project on ‘An on-board autonomous object tracking control system for a quadcopter’.

At the University of Cambridge he hopes to join the Control Engineering Research Group to continue studying control of autonomous aircraft.

“I’d like to develop new modern state space control theory to control non-linear systems in uncertain and challenging environments”, he says.

The 21 year old already has an impressive CV including school prefect and academic dux at Christ’s College (Christchurch) in 2010, where he also represented his college at national level in debating, and was awarded school colours for his contributions to the first XI hockey team. He was also awarded a Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award when he was 17.

After gaining a University of Auckland Scholarship to pursue his passion for engineering in Auckland, Alex continued his interest in combining academic, sporting and cultural excellence. After living at O’Rorke Hall in his first year, Alex was part of the 2012 Residential Assistant team.
He was elected to the Auckland University Engineering Society in 2011 and for the past three years, and is also captain of the University’s successful Premier Reserve hockey team.

Alex’s passion for engineering started young with ambitious ideas to build tree huts and underground forts as a youngster, leading to making a functioning prototype of a tidal electricity generator at 12 years old. Two years later he delivered plans to his school board to transform an old building into a sport and technology complex.

“It’s my inquisitive nature that led to my studies in engineering at Auckland’” he says. “I chose to specialise in mechatronics because it required mastery in mechanical, electrical and software engineering and satisfy my curiosity about the world’s technological systems.”

“Mechatronics systems are able to provide tangible benefits to society,” says Alex and this fits with his desire to use his technological knowledge to help society. “I hope one day to have the responsibility of technical leadership, to bring control technology, and in particular robotics, to innovate New Zealand’s economy.”

ENDS

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