Bob (Dusty) Prickett - BE
Engineering alumnus Bob Prickett, otherwise known as Dusty, began his engineering career when he graduated from the University with a Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering in 1952.
Some of the highlights of Dusty's 30-year career include working for the Rangitikei Catchment Board on soil conservation and river control; the construction of Prestwick Airport in Glasgow, Scotland; and rebuilding the war-damaged Devonport Dockyard for the Royal Navy in the UK.
In the 1960s, Dusty was the was the first dedicated water supply engineer with the Commonwealth Department of Works in Darwin, Australia. During this time, he completed a Master of Public Health Engineering from the University of New South Wales, and received the Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship to study sanitary engineering at masters level at the School of Public Health at Berkeley.
Back in Darwin, Dusty was involved in the construction of wastewater treatment ponds for Darwin, Alice Springs and native settlements; and water supply and distribution systems.
On Christmas day in 1974, Cyclone Tracy passed directly over Darwin, with torrential rain and winds reaching over 217km per hour. The aftermath was severe: 70% of Darwin's homes were destroyed, and all services - communications, power, water and sewerage - were severed. Dusty's training at the Mount Macedon Civil Defence Training School and subsequent development of a cyclone preparedness plan were crucial to Darwin's quick recovery.
In 1984, Dusty retired to Cairns, and taught himself chillagoe (marble) sculpture, applying the engineering principles he knew so well to the grinding and polishing of the marble. While the technology involved in was right up Dusty's alley, the art was a new challenge for a man who confesses he'd only ever drawn straight lines.
Dusty has produced over 600 pieces, many of which are now in private collections in Germany, Belgium, UK, US and New Zealand. In April 2005 we will install a recent piece, entitled "The Kno", in the Dean's Suite at the Faculty of Engineering - Dusty's generous gift to the Faculty.
