Daniel Christie

2014 College Recipient, College of Science and Engineering

Mr Christie is currently the Head of Engineering at James Cook University.  At the time of receiving this award he was the Glencore Copper Refinery and Port Operations Manager in Townsville.

After graduating from James Cook University, with a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in 1998,  Mr Christie obtained a Masters of Science degree in Systems Engineering from Loughborough University, UK.  Since 2010, he has been serving as a Manager and Superintendent at Glencore, a leading global natural resource company.

Mr Christie has more than 15 years’ experience in various large-scale engineering projects, ranging from defence projects with the Royal Australian Air Force to international resource projects with leading global mining and resource companies.

Mr Christie has established himself as an expert in project management and asset management in the region.

He also served as a General Manager with QinetiQ’s Australian operations from 2007 to 2010, where he help established QinetiQ in the Australian market and achieved in excess of 30 per cent revenue growth over a three year period.

Mr Christie has also been passionately engaging with James Cook University’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, to promote engineering excellence in the region.

With his strong belief in giving back to his alma mater and the engineering community in general, he has been instrumental in driving industry engagement with JCU.

With Mr Christie’s lead role, Glencore is now an ardent supporters of the company’s Industry Scholar Program, in which the First Year Engineering students are taken to industry tours to motivate young minds to pursue their engineering career dreams.

Mr Christie has also been volunteering as a guest lecturer for many years for a number of engineering undergraduate subjects at JCU.

Mr Christie is also a member of Engineering Advisory Board Subcommittee (Mechanical Engineering) of EPS since its establishment in 2012.

Since 2013, he has been working closely with me in the Workforce Innovation Program to develop an incorporate an industry-based real-life project into EG3000 subject for the third year engineering students.