Professor Archie Johnston
School of Civil Engineering
Professor Archie Johnston served as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies from 2009 until 2017.
Building on a distinguished career as a civil engineer specialising in environmental fluid mechanics and water quality, Professor Johnston guides the educational development of world-class graduates with both technical and interpersonal skills that are required by industry and prepares them for national and global leadership roles.
"My aim is to provide graduates of the University of Sydney with a globally competitive edge in innovation, research and leadership. This involves identifying and addressing the major issues facing contemporary engineering and technical education - particularly with respect to industry needs - and modifying our programs accordingly to develop the appropriate interpersonal and emotional intelligence characteristics of our graduate engineers and technologists. Through such research we believe we are now better preparing graduates for the local, national and global engineering and IT marketplaces.
"I've been an active researcher throughout my professional life, so it has well suited my career path to move from design applications within industry to addressing issues in a broader social, political and environmental context. My university-based research essentially still addresses a wide range of industry-related problems and their solutions.
"Being Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies at the University of Sydney gave me the opportunity to guide the development of world-class education and research programs with a unique group of talented staff and students. It also allowed me to clearly communicate to the broader community both the benefits of a strong academic engineering profession and the value to Australia of having a premier world-leading engineering faculty."
- Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales
- Chair Sydney School of Business, (2014 - ) and Chair of Health Sciences Division Board, The University of Sydney (2011-2014)
Publications
Journals
- Mainali, B., Ngo, H., Guo, W., Pham, T., Johnston, A. (2011). Feasibility assessment of recycled water use for washing machines in Australia through SWOT analysis. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 56(1), 87-91. [More Information]
- Pham, T., Ngo, H., Guo, W., Dang, H., Mainali, B., Johnston, A., Listowski, A. (2011). Responses of community to the possible use of recycled water for washing machines: A case study in Sydney, Australia. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 55(5), 535-540. [More Information]
- Mainali, B., Ngo, H., Guo, W., Pham, T., Wang, X., Johnston, A. (2011). SWOT analysis to assist identification of the critical factors for the successful implementation of water reuse schemes. Desalination and Water Treatment, 32(1-3), 297-306. [More Information]
Conferences
- Lowe, D., Machet, T., Wilkinson, T., Johnston, A. (2018). Diversity and gender enrolment patterns in an undergraduate Engineering program. 46th SEFI - Annual Conference of European Society for Engineering Education (2018), Brussels. Belgium: SEFI.
- Lowe, D., Johnston, A., Wilkinson, T., Machet, T. (2018). The relationship between breadth of previous academic study and engineering students’ performance. 2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE 2018), Piscataway: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). [More Information]
- Wilkinson, T., Lowe, D., Johnston, A. (2015). Success at tertiary level - analysis of factors that impact on improved performance. 26th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2015), Melbourne, Victoria: Deakin University.
2018
- Lowe, D., Machet, T., Wilkinson, T., Johnston, A. (2018). Diversity and gender enrolment patterns in an undergraduate Engineering program. 46th SEFI - Annual Conference of European Society for Engineering Education (2018), Brussels. Belgium: SEFI.
- Lowe, D., Johnston, A., Wilkinson, T., Machet, T. (2018). The relationship between breadth of previous academic study and engineering students’ performance. 2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE 2018), Piscataway: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). [More Information]
2015
- Wilkinson, T., Lowe, D., Johnston, A. (2015). Success at tertiary level - analysis of factors that impact on improved performance. 26th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2015), Melbourne, Victoria: Deakin University.
- Lowe, D., Johnston, A., Wilkinson, T. (2015). The Validity of High School Performance as a Predictor of University Undergraduate Engineering Performance. 43rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI) 2015, Brussels: SEFI.
2011
- Mainali, B., Ngo, H., Guo, W., Pham, T., Johnston, A. (2011). Feasibility assessment of recycled water use for washing machines in Australia through SWOT analysis. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 56(1), 87-91. [More Information]
- Pham, T., Ngo, H., Guo, W., Dang, H., Mainali, B., Johnston, A., Listowski, A. (2011). Responses of community to the possible use of recycled water for washing machines: A case study in Sydney, Australia. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 55(5), 535-540. [More Information]
- Mainali, B., Ngo, H., Guo, W., Pham, T., Wang, X., Johnston, A. (2011). SWOT analysis to assist identification of the critical factors for the successful implementation of water reuse schemes. Desalination and Water Treatment, 32(1-3), 297-306. [More Information]
2010
- Nguyen, T., Ngo, H., Guo, W., Johnston, A., Listowski, A. (2010). Effects of sponge size and type on the performance of an up-flow sponge bioreactor in primary treated sewage effluent treatment. Bioresource Technology, 101(5), 1416-1420. [More Information]
2009
- Lowe, D., Murray, S., Weber, L., Villefromoy, M., Johnston, A., Lindsay, E., Nageswaran, W., Nafalski, A. (2009). LabShare: Towards a National Approach to Laboratory Sharing. 20th Annual Conference for the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2009), Adelaide: School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide.
- Ngo, H., Chuang, H., Guo, W., Ho, D., Pham, T., Johnston, A., Lim, R., Listowski, A. (2009). Resident's strategy survey on a new end use of recycled water in Australia. Desalination and Water Treatment, 11(1-3), 93-97. [More Information]
2008
- Johnston, A. (2008). Accreditation and Standards. Business/Higher Education Round Table and Australian Council of Engineering Deans, Australia: Australian Council of Engineering Deans.
- Johnston, A. (2008). Building Tomorrow's Engineers. Business/Higher Education Round Table and Australian Council of Engineering Deans, Australia: Australian Council of Engineering Deans.
- Johnston, A. (2008). Industrial Engagement: Promise and Practice. Engineering Education Futures Forum, Australia: ACCESS Group.
2007
- Johnston, A. (2007). Advances and applications of renewable energy in Australia. International Strategic Technology Alliance (China) 2006 Conference, China: International Strategic Technology Alliance.
- Johnston, A. (2007). The Future Requirements of the Profession. Business/Higher Education Round Table and Australian Council of Engineering Deans, Australia: Australian Council of Engineering Deans.
2006
- Johnston, A. (2006). Australia's future in global education industry. Engineering Australia 2006, Australia: Engineering Australia.
- Shon, H., Vigneswaran, S., Ngo, H., Johnston, A., Kim, I., Cho, J. (2006). Performance of Flocculation and Adsorption Pretreatments to Ultrafiltration of Biologically Treated Sewage Effluent: the Effect of Seasonal Variations. Separation Science and Technology, 41(16), 3585-3596. [More Information]
2005
- Johnston, A., Fitzmaurice, M., Watt, R. (2005). Oil Spill Containment: Viscous Oils. 2005 International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC 2005), United States of America.
Recent key achievements
Educational and research alliances since 2013 include:
China
- a $2M biomedical engineering alliance between the University of Sydney and Shanghai Jiao Tong University involving joint research, information exchange and academic mobility across engineering, IT and medicine.
- a $2M agreement with Tsinghua University to collaborate on transformation research and development of energy network projects involving energy service providers and resource companies in both Australia and China.
United States
- joint collaboration with Texas A&M that includes the appointment of a former NASA astronaut to School of Aeronautical Engineering
- strategic partnership with Northrup Grumman which includes research projects and scholarships
South America
- Appointed as Senior Evaluator and Board Member of 'Chilean New Engineering for 2030', an initiative of the Ministry of Economy of the Chilean Government, to review the strategic plans of their leading university engineering schools.
United Kingdom
- A multi-million dollar relationship with British-Australian multinational metals and mining corporation Rio Tinto, renewed in November 2014 for a further five years, aimed at increasing mining automation.
Middle East
- A multi-million dollar chemical engineering project, expected to expand further into the areas of clean energy, smart (electrical power) grids, cyber security associated with infrastructure, and desalination plant related research.
- A research collaboration in combustion supported by the Qatar Foundation.
- Several research collaborations with Masda Research Centre in UAE.
- PhD Scholarships in both Jordan and Lebanon.
- Exchange staff and student collaboration with King Saud University.
Recent keynotes, invited talks and presentations
- Sustaining a Strong Curriculum Foundation in Engineering Faculties, Building a World Class Engineering Faculty Forum 2014, Kuala Lumpur, November 2014.
- Strengthening the University - Industry Partnership: An Indo-Australian Perspective, Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce, Chennai, November 2014.
- Engineering better health outcomes, The University of Sydney and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Research Biomedical Engineering Research Alliance, Shanghai, October, 2014.
- Collaborating to enable Innovative and Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Unlocking Resources for Regional Development, World Economic Forum, Istanbul, September, 2014.
- Energy, Water & Food Nexus, Policy Forum, Austrade, Commonwealth Government of Australia & Council of Australian Arab Relations, Riyadh, May 2014.
In the media
-
New partnership with UBTECH to explore the future of AI[8-Jun-17]
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies
The University of Sydney has launched a new $7.5 million research centre in partnership with world-leading robotics company UBTECH Robotics to explore untapped opportunities in Artificial Intelligence (AI).More..
-
Innovation: United we stand and united we move forward[19-May-17]
China Daily
Innovation and the way it is learned and taught come in many diff erent forms, and this multiplicity and complexity is driving change in universities and industry alike.More..
-
悉大教授为何在中国当“空中飞人”[12-Apr-17]
WeChat (Beijing Research Center of Science)
半年时间，阿奇·约翰斯顿教授已经飞来中国两趟。从成都到杭州到上海再到北京，从电子科技大学到浙江大学到上海交通大学再到清华大学，每次来中国，他都飞来飞去，辗转于中国各大城市的高校之间More..
-
共同科技挑战让中澳两国跨学科合作更加紧密[26-Jan-17]
今日悉尼 SYDNEY TODAY
中澳两国面临的技术挑战非常相似, 并且解决它们所需的创新文化对我们来说也是共通的。More..
-
The fruit of an education partnership of equals[23-Sept-16]
Australian Financial Review
The technological challenges that China and Australia face are very similar, and the innovative culture needed to tackle them is common to both of us.More..
-
Engineering change[1-July-16]
China Daily Asia
Archie Johnston has been given many accolades in his long and distinguished academic career. But the most unexpected came from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where he is a “lifetime advisory professor”, which named him among the world’s top 200 scholars.Read online.More..
-
Tianjin University honors Sydney professor[11-Mar-16]
China Daily ASIA
The oldest university in China has honored its Australian counterpart by appointing a dean of the University of Sydney as an honorary professor.More..
-
Education key to Australia-Asia ties[11-Mar-16]
China Daily ASIA
Australia has a golden opportunity to make a big difference in Asia. However, first it has to embrace the region and education is the key.More..
-
从悉尼港到天津港 中国大学授予悉尼教授重要荣誉[31-Dec-15]
China Daily ASIA
天津大学，中国历史最悠久的大学，通过聘请悉尼大学一位学院院长为荣誉教授，给澳洲最古老的大学增添了荣誉。More..
-
A boost for innovation in medical technologies and pharmaceuticals sector[11-Dec-15]
University of Sydney
The new industry led Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Growth Centre will help the sector become more productive, innovative and internationally competitive.More..
-
An honorary fellow[20-Nov-15]
University of Sydney
Professor Archie Johnston has been recognised by the nation’s peak industry body for his leadership in engineering education and research.More..
-
Archie Johnston among Australia's top 100 engineers[19-Aug-15]
China Daily ASIA
The University of Sydney's Professor Archie Johnston has been named as one of Australia's most influential engineers by the profession's peak industry body, Engineers Australia.More..
