Dr Russ Morrison, a founding member of BMT WBM, has been recognised for his long, distinguished and innovative engineering career by the Senate of the University of Queensland who bestowed on him a Doctor of Engineering honoris causa.
Previously he had been acknowledged by his appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), award of a Centenary Medal by the Commonwealth of Australia, election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering, and award of the 
prestigious AGM Michell Medal by Engineers Australia.
An innovator, entrepreneur, mentor, leader and exceptional engineer, Dr Morrison’s association with The University of Queensland spans six decades. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering with 1st Class Honours in 1962, completed a Master of Engineering Science by research in 1964, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 1969.
After completing his PhD, Dr Morrison co-founded engineering consultancy, Winders Barlow Morrison (WBM), now known as BMT WBM. Specialising in mechanical, maritime, water, environmental and hydraulic engineering, BMT WBM has a deserved reputation for engineering excellence and innovative practice with a workforce exceeding 160 located in nine offices in four countries. A large number of these staff were recruited as graduates from The University of Queensland, including many who completed research higher degrees at this university. In 2013, BMT WBM was named by the Business Review Weekly as the “Best Professional Services Firm with revenue less than $50 million” and “Best Consulting Engineering Firm with revenue less than $50 million”. In the same year the company was listed by that Journal in the top 10 of the “50 most innovative companies”.
During his career at BMT WBM, Dr Morrison has worked on numerous and diverse engineering challenges from improving the reliability and performance of mining equipment, to the development of robotic machines, and the design of hypersonic wind tunnels for scramjet engine testing. By way of example, Dr Morrison’s work in collaboration with the Centre for Hypersonics at The University of Queensland, led to the development of ground-breaking high-speed wind tunnels. These machines can now be found among the experimental facilities of some of the world’s premier universities and the work led to millions of dollars in earnings through sales.
Dr Morrison’s expertise across a broad range of engineering fields has made him highly sought after as an expert witness and arbitrator. Dr Morrison currently serves as Chair of the Industry Advisory Board for the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, a body that provides advice to the School on the relevance of the curriculum and emerging trends in the profession.
Over the last decade Dr Morrison has built and led a specialist group working on a range of smart machines and other mechatronic products, including intelligent collision prevention and remote control systems of large mining and stockyard machines, and robotic vibrators for enhancing the discharge of sticky materials from wagons.
BMT WBM Pty Ltd
BMT WBM Pty Ltd is a leading edge consultancy with more than 45 years of national and international experience in the mechanical, maritime and water and environmental fields. It employs approximately 155 staff, consisting of highly qualified engineers, ecologists, scientists, field and office technicians. Initially based in Brisbane, Australia, BMT WBM has expanded to include offices across Australia and North America and in the UK.
Website: www.bmtwbm.com.au
BMT Group
BMT is an international design, engineering and risk management consultancy, working principally in the defence, energy and environment, marine risk and insurance, maritime transport and ports and logistics sectors.
BMT invests significantly in research. Its customers are served through a network of international subsidiary companies. The group’s assets are held in beneficial ownership for its staff.
Website: www.bmt.org