In 2001, Emily Voyde sat at the ACG Senior College Graduation Ceremony listening intently as the Principal talked about a special student who had gained 8 Bursary subjects. Emily was busy thinking about the valedictory speech she was about to make and did not realise that a special award was about to be presented to her. Thus began acknowledgement of a wonderful academic career.

Her first scholarship came immediately when she was awarded a Kick Start Affirmative Action Scholarship for financial assistance in her first year of university. In her second year, she was awarded a First Look Scholarship with Maunsell. This scholarship paid half of her Year 2 fees, three quarters of her Year 3 fees and the full fees for Year 4.

Emily completed an unusual undergraduate degree that combined Engineering and Arts. Her conjoint focussed on Environmental Engineering and Geography. It has been no surprise that Emily made the Deans Honours List every year of her undergraduate Engineering degree, since her second year at the University of Auckland.

Emily was awarded First Class Honours for her Engineering degree and went straight to her PhD. Her topic is unique as she is studying storm water mitigation by green roofs in NZ. This involves engineered roof top gardens designed to be light weight and still retain significant volumes of water. Her research will be completed in 2010 and her PhD will be handed in.
Her research is in conjunction with Landcare Research and has been funded by the Auckland Regional Council who support the development of new green technology which is functional. For Emily, her field of study has been exciting as no one in New Zealand is doing this. Similar projects are underway overseas, however, none are exactly the same and none focus on the NZ environment. Emily finds the whole concept of doing something totally unique a real challenge and very exciting.

It was with great pride that Emily published her first work based on quantifying evapotranspiration rates from NZ green roofs. This is currently in press and will be published in the ASCE Journal of Hydrologic Engineering in the United States.
As a result of her initiative and the fine work she is doing Emily was awarded the Tertiary Education Commission’s Top Achievers Doctoral Scholarship. In addition to paying the tuition fees for her PhD, this prestigious scholarship provides a living stipend and funds for conference travel.

It was with great humour that Emily confided that for a brief period of time when she was at school up north, and not being sufficiently challenged, she was seen to be a problem student. I am certain this came about because she innocently corrected her teacher. Upon coming to Senior College in Year 11 Emily was able to work on a combination of Fifth and Sixth Form Certificate subjects and she was challenged. In her words “That’s what I need”.