Remembering Professor Paul Austin

It was with great sadness that the School of Engineering and Computer Science learned that Professor Paul Austin died in Cambridge, England on Saturday the 13^th October, following a long battle with cancer.

Paul joined the Faculty of Engineering part time in 2009 as Professor of Control Systems Engineering, while also holding a part time research post at Cambridge University Engineering Department. Professor John Hine remembers that “Paul’s experience with IPENZ and the accreditation process was invaluable in establishing the BE at Victoria”. He was also a member of the Communications and Signal Processing Group.

Paul obtained his BE (Chem) degree from the University of Canterbury, and his PhD from Cambridge University, England. He held senior academic positions at Auckland and Massey Universities during the late 1970s and 1980s, and was a Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge University. His main area of research was systems modelling and optimal control systems design for multivariable systems.

Paul also held a number of consulting engineering positions in the UK and Europe, and was a Director of a small high-technology company in Cambridge. In New Zealand, he developed and managed a joint research project with Industrial Research Ltd in partnership with CHH Kinleith and the Whakatane Board Mill. His particular interest in industry was the development of control systems to enhance energy efficiency and production, and reduce the use of chemicals. He was well known in the New Zealand engineering community, and will be sadly missed.