Rate My Professor Ben Taylor

Associate Professor Benjamin Taylor is Head of College for Engineering and Aviation in the School of Engineering and Technology at CQUniversity, based in Bundaberg. He holds a PhD in water resources management and a first-class honours degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Southern Queensland in 2009, along with a postgraduate research scholarship in 2009 from the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. A Chartered Professional Engineer in Civil and Management, Taylor has worked at the University of Southern Queensland and CQUniversity. In his leadership role, he oversees the development and delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in engineering across campuses in Cairns, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Brisbane, and Sydney, as well as aviation management and flight operations in Cairns, emphasizing industry partnerships for graduate work-readiness. He teaches foundation engineering practice, creative engineering, and supervises Honours thesis projects.

Taylor's research focuses on engineering education, water resources engineering, water sensitive urban design, water resources management, urban hydrology, rainwater harvesting, urban stream restoration, and behavioural mass-balance simulation. Ongoing projects include smart water metering, irrigation water efficiency in agriculture, enhancing environmental benefits of urban rainwater harvesting, developing carbon-negative green energy for the built environment, and humanitarian engineering. He developed UrbanTank, a simulator for dual-duty rainwater tanks optimizing alternative water supply and urban stream hydrology restoration. Key publications are 'Developing a skilled workforce for future industry demand: The potential of digital twin-based teaching and learning practices in engineering education' (Sustainability, 2023), 'Effective use of Zoom technology and instructional videos to improve engagement and success of distance students in Engineering' (2017), 'Barriers and measures to improve adoption of irrigation technologies: A case study from the Bundaberg region in Queensland, Australia' (Irrigation and Drainage, 2021), and 'Predicting normalised monthly patterns of domestic external water demand using rainfall and temperature data' (Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, 2012). His scholarship has over 300 citations. Awards include the 2012 International Water Association scholarship, selections for the Australia-Korea Next Generation Leaders Program (2011, 2012), 2010 National Student Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Prize, and 2009 Queensland undergraduate thesis of the year in sustainable engineering. Professional memberships encompass Engineers Australia, International Water Association, Australian Water Association, and Society for Sustainability and Environmental Engineering. He supervises PhD and Master of Research students in civil engineering and related areas.