Oliver's supervisor, Professor Geoff Bullock, who entered him for the award and had to provide a citation in support, said the work was of a standard not previously seen in more than 30 years of internal and external examining. Oliver was involved in EU funded research on wave action on steep fronted coastal structures on Alderney in the Channel Islands. In his final year project at Plymouth University, he analysed data from tests measuring wave impact by linking via GPS to testing equipment some 70m offshore.

Oliver Latham began his career last month as a graduate engineer in the Ports and Harbours division of consulting engineers Halcrow at Swindon UK.

MJ Information No: 18811