The Australian Road Transport Suppliers' Association (ARTSA) is focused on providing technical expertise and representation to improve safety, productivity and efficiency in many aspects of the road transport vehicle industry. Its members include leading manufacturers of road transport equipment and services.

ARTSA sponsors an annual Prize to encourage student and post graduate engineers to become involved with the transport industry early in their careers. The Prize has a value of up to $8,000 (inclusive of GST), directed towards the completion of senior year design or post graduate research projects that will provide direct benefits to the road transport industry.

What is an eligible project?

Anything that will provide direct benefits to the road transport industry. Examples of possible projects are:

Safety

• Side and rear under run protection on trucks
• Curtain sided trucks - load restraint issues

Productivity

• Freight density: where is it heading?
• Measuring the life of shock absorbers

Efficiency

• Wide single tyres - fuel and other benefits
• Dynamics in transport suspensions

Terms and conditions of the Prize are as follows:

Eligibility

Open to all students who are currently undertaking an Engineering bachelor's degree or post graduate studies through an accredited Australian-based University in the coming calendar year. Students may enter as individual but group entries from two or more students are also acceptable. One student must accept the role of lead applicant and only one student would be sponsored to present the paper at the annual ATA / ARTSA Technical and Maintenance Conference.

Schedule

Call for nominations are announced in July of each year. The ARTSA Executive Officer must receive nominations, in the required format, by the 1st of October of the same year. Nominations are evaluated by the ARTSA Executive Committee during October, and the Prize recipient is announced at the annual ATA / ARTSA Technical and Maintenance Conference in November of that year. The Prize recipient is required to present a paper on their findings to the same conference in the following year.

2006 Prize Schedule:

• July 2006: Advice to all applicable Australian Universities announcing the Prize
• 1 October 2006: Nominations close
• November 2006: Prize recipient announced at the 2006 T&M Conference
• November 2006: Prize winner presents a paper at the 2006 T&M Conference

Conditions:

1. The proposed research or design project must be directly related to improving safety, productivity and/or efficiency to the road transport vehicle sector of the Australian Transport Industry.
2. The proposed research or design work must be conducted within Australia.
3. Nominations must be received in the format required by ARTSA.
4. The proposed research or design project must be approved by the participant's university as an eligible final year project or thesis.
5. The decision of the ARTSA Executive Committee is final; the Prize may not be given to the highest academic achiever, rather to the nomination deemed most pertinent to the Australian transport industry at that time.

The Prize

The Prize grant shall be provided from the ARTSA general account. ARTSA will provide / pay for:

1. Air travel and 4-star accommodation expenses for the recipient (or person nominated for a joint entry), from their place of residence anywhere in Australia (if required) to the Technical & Maintenance Conference in Melbourne in the year of nomination to receive the award.
2. Air travel and 4-star accommodation expenses for the recipient, from their place of residence anywhere in Australia (if required) to the Technical & Maintenance Conference in Melbourne in the year of presenting the results of the sponsored project or thesis.
3. Full delegate status to the award recipient for the Technical & Maintenance Conference for two consecutive years.
4. A cash grant of $5,500 (inclusive of GST) (for the 2005/06 award; value of the grant to be reviewed in subsequent years) to contribute directly to the cost of performing the nominated research or design work.

Nominations

Nominations must include comprehensive answers to the following areas:

1. Name, residential address, telephone, e-mail details of the nominee.
2. Name and address of the sponsoring University.
3. Name and position of the sponsoring University staff member. (Preferably Head of Engineering Department or similar)
4. Short working title of the project.
5. Executive Summary of the project of no more than 250 words.
6. Detailed description of the proposed project, in no more than 1,500 words.
7. Detailed cost estimation for the project, including the items that the grant will assist to fund.
8. Official statement of academic performance of the student in the last 2 _ years of their bachelor's degree.
9. A signed agreement that the project will be completed within 12 months of receiving the initial grant.
10. A signed agreement that the nominee will make themselves available to present a technical paper on the results of the project, 12 months following the award being granted. The presentation will be 20-30 minutes in length.

ARTSA details

For further information and for submission of Prize applications, contact

Mr Rob Perkins,
Executive Officer,

Australian Road Transport Suppliers Association Inc.,
PO Box 2230,
Hawthorn LPO Vic 3122
Telephone: 03 9818 7899
Fax: 03 9818 6534
Mobile: 0411 402 832
Email: exec@artsa.com.au
Web: www.artsa.com.au

Closing date for applications for 2006

The submission must be in the hands of the ARTSA Executive Officer by 1st October 2006 in order to be considered by the ARTSA Executive Committee. The decision of the Executive will be final. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the Prize award. hide this