13 August 2012
Stormwater specialist Allan Leahy wins ACENZ President’s Award 2012
Stormwater specialist Allan Leahy has won the Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand (ACENZ) President’s Award
for 2012.
The ACENZ President’s Award is present to an individual within the membership to recognise outstanding service and
special efforts performed on behalf of the Association.
Mr Leahy, of Mt Albert, Auckland, graduated from Auckland University with a BE in Civil Engineering in 1985.
He began his career at Connell Wagner as a civil engineer then spent 15 years at Harrison Grierson Consultants, seven as
a director, where he established and led the Water Resources Management Team. He moved to MWH in 2009 were he is the
National Technical Lead for stormwater.
Mr Leahy is widely regarded for his stormwater expertise and currently contributes to a wide range of stormwater
management projects across the country. He has attended and presented papers at many national and international
conferences and has presented expert evidence at planning, mediation and court hearings.
A founding member of the Management Committee of the Stormwater Special Interest Group of Water New Zealand, he is
passionate about better managing the potential impacts of land use changes on stormwater and is highly regarded for his
experience at managing these impacts during master planning or structure planning projects.
ACENZ President Graham Chapman said Mr Leahy had made an enormous contribution both to the industry and to ACENZ having
represented the organisation as an area representative, as a board member and, for the past five years, as Convenor of
the ACENZ INNOVATE Awards judging panel.
“Allan has invested enormous time and effort to ensure the highest standards of judging are achieved for the many
entries received each year,” said Mr Chapman.
“This year, 2012, is his final year in this role and he will most surely continue on as a judge on the panel."
Mr Leahy’s son Mathew has recently decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and study engineering at the University
of Auckland.
ENDS