CIBSE Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) announced the winners of its 2026 Young Engineers Awards at a ceremony held in Sydney on 21 October. The event brought together students, graduates, engineers and industry leaders from Australia and New Zealand to recognise achievements in building services engineering.
The 2026 awards focused on the theme “Circular Economy – Paying it forward for the future generation.” Entrants submitted video pitches addressing circularity challenges in the built environment. Harriet Smith, Manager for Responsible Products & Materials at the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), delivered a keynote presentation on applying circular economy principles in practice.
Four professionals received awards across the programme’s categories. James Wahbe, Undergraduate Electrical Engineer at Goldfish & Bay and the University of Technology Sydney, received the Mark Griffin Student of the Year Award. Alice Meacher, Graduate Mechanical Engineer at Arup, won the Haris Moraitis Graduate of the Year Award.
Liam Kearns, Principal Mechanical Critical Systems Engineer at Cundall, received the Jack Pirie Young Engineer of the Year Award. Peter Young, Principal and Mechanical Section Manager at Northrop Consulting Engineers, won the Jeff Robinson Engineering Advocate of the Year Award. CIBSE ANZ Young Engineers Network Chair Enda Seyama-Heneghan introduced the categories and announced the winners.
CIBSE ANZ Vice Chair Jennifer Elias also announced “Future-proofing through resilience” as the organisation’s theme for the coming year. The announcement comes ahead of CIBSE ANZ’s 40th anniversary in 2027, with much of its upcoming technical content set to focus on resilience.
“It’s a natural next step. A building that is designed for reuse, adaptation and a changing climate is a building that is still doing its job for the generation after ours,” said Jennifer Elias, CIBSE ANZ Vice Chair and event co-host.
