David Sugden was the driving force behind the successful design of mechanical full-face rock excavation machinery over a number of years, resulting in the successful excavation of countless tunnels across the world.

David continually showed a commitment to innovation and design throughout his career, often custom making machinery to solve problems that arose and for which no existing devices were available or appropriate. As a result of this attitude, David is listed as the inventor on over 40 patents.

Beginning his career in 1938 as a Cadet Engineer with the Public Works Dept of WA he continued with a number of appointments at the Hydro-Electric Commission of Tasmania. Whilst at the HEC, David was instrumental in introducing the Commission and subsequently Australia to Machine tunnelling. In 1967, David began a long and internationally recognised consultancy career that continues to this day. Notably he had significant involvement with both the Robbins Company of Seattle, USA and Terratec Asia Pacific.

David was actively involved in an honorary capacity on various community organisation boards, CSIRO committees, various educational and professional committees and the Industrial Design Council of Australia.

Not restricted to designing tunnelling equipment, David designed a new violin, which is cheaper to produce but still maintains a quality sound, opening up the learning of the violin to a greater number of people and which has been favourably received by the conservative music world.

David was been recognised for his contribution to tunnelling and the mentoring of young engineers involved in the field, with the Allen Neyland Tunnelling Achievement Award in 1996, an Order of Australia in 2002, and the 2003 A.G.M. Michell Award for his outstanding contribution to Australian Mechanical Engineering.

In 2004 the Australian Tunnelling Society started the David Sugden Award to encourage young engineers to develop the art of technical writing.

1. The competition is open to all ATS members and university students 35 years of age or younger (as at 31 August 2026).
2. The applicant will be actively involved in the Australian tunnelling industry at the time of their application.
3. The task is to write a technical paper on any subject relating to tunnelling and underground construction – not less than 2,000 words and not more than 5,000 words, with a 10-page limit (including words and figures), and no smaller than 12pt font. PLEASE NOTE – A submission template will be available by mid-April.
4. The best paper is to be judged by judges as nominated by the Australian Tunnelling Society Executive Committee.
5. Only papers with individual authorship will be considered.
6. The paper must not be written using any AI tools.
7. The paper must not previously submitted on other platforms
8. Only one nominated paper is allowed per author in a given area of tunnelling and underground construction.
9. The author needs to be based in Australia and committed to travel across states for roadshow presentations (at the expense of the ATS).
10. The paper needs to be written in fluent English and fully proofread with correct spelling and grammar.
11. Submissions open April 1 and close on 16 August 2026.

Submission Guidelines:

You must provide the following with your online submission:

1. Nominated technical paper
2. Nominee’s current CV including employment history and achievements
3. Nominee’s current biographical information
4. Nominee’s portrait photo

Prize:

Sponsorship to attend the World Tunnel Congress (up to the value of $5000).